Air conditioning/heating facility

A road side airconditioning and/or heating facility in, or adjacent, a parking bay for a vehicle, including and supporting, in use, an airconditioning unit and/or heating unit, or reverse cycle unit (11), relative to the vehicle and for temporary association with the vehicle, and having a flexible supply duct (14a) and a flexible return duct (14b), and having means (15) to, in use, associate the ducts with the interior of the cabin of the vehicle, whereby conditioned and/or heated air may be supplied to the cabin of the vehicle. The unit (11) is supported on a pillar (19) via a pulley arrangement (22) to allow the unit to be raised and lowered relative to the vehicle, and an arm arrangement (20) pivotable in a horizontal plane to allow lateral adjustment of the unit into and out of the parking bay.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
This invention relates to an airconditioning or heating facility, or both 
an airconditioning and heating facility, such as a reverse cycle facility, 
adapted specifically for providing airconditioned air or heated air, or 
selectively both, for vehicles such as trucks. 
BACKGROUND ART 
With trucks hauling loads over long distances it is common practice for 
drivers to stop for periods of rest or sleep at roadside parking areas, 
sometimes associated with restaurants or other facilities, whilst the 
truck has sleeping facilities for the driver. Such trucks are 
conventionally airconditioned and heated via their own vehicle mounted 
airconditioning or heating units which operate whilst the prime mover's 
engine is running and which is satisfactory when the truck is in motion. 
However, when the truck is stopped for the driver to have rest or sleep it 
is not practical for the engine to remain running for what may be many 
hours. As a result, during hot or cold days and nights the interior of the 
cabin of the truck becomes hot or cold which is not conducive for driver 
comfort whilst resting or sleeping. 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a road side 
airconditioning or heating facility, or facility for both airconditioning 
or heating, whereby airconditioned and/or heated air as required can be 
introduced into the cabin of the vehicle. 
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
The invention therefore envisages a road side airconditioning and/or 
heating facility in, or adjacent, a parking bay for a vehicle, including 
and supporting, in use, an airconditioning unit and/or heating unit, or 
reverse cycle unit, relative to said vehicle and for temporary association 
with the vehicle, and having an outlet from the unit, and means, in use, 
to associate the outlet with the interior of the cabin of the vehicle, 
whereby conditioned and/or heated air may be supplied to the cabin of the 
vehicle. 
Preferably the means to associate the outlet with the interior of the cabin 
of the vehicle is a supply duct connected to the outlet and supplying the 
cabin of the vehicle. 
Preferably the supply duct is a flexible duct. 
Preferably the operation of the facility is controlled by a coin, token or 
card operated control means controlling electrical power supply to the 
unit. 
Preferably the outlet is associated with means adapted to be jammed between 
the top of the window frame of the door of the vehicle and an adjustable 
window panel within the door frame. 
Preferably the unit further has at least one inlet with means to also, in 
use, associated the inlet with the interior of the cabin of the vehicle 
and return air to the unit. 
Preferably the means to associate the inlet with interior of the cabin of 
the vehicle is a return duct, and preferably the return duct is a flexible 
duct. 
Preferably the unit is supported by means allowing the height of the unit 
to be adjusted. 
Preferably the means supporting the unit also allows from lateral 
adjustment of the unit into and out of the parking bay.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION 
Referring to the drawing, there is shown schematically a supply unit 10 for 
conditioned air, or heated air, or both, such as by a reverse cycle unit. 
In the particular example of the invention the supply unit incorporates an 
airconditioning unit 11 which may be a domestic airconditioning unit of 
the type that conventionally may be permanently mounted through walls or 
window spaces of a dwelling. The airconditioning unit 11 supplies 
conditioned (cooled) air to a box shaped supply chamber 12. 
A flexible supply hose 14a is provided and adapted to be plugged into an 
outlet from the chamber 12, or permanently attached to the outlet, and of 
a length sufficient to reach the window space of a door 16 through which 
access to the cabin of a vehicle is obtained. A flexible return hose 14b 
is also provided adapted to be plugged into an inlet to the chamber 12, or 
permanently attached to the inlet. The ends of the hoses 14a and 14b carry 
a window engagement panel 15 of either rigid material, or of canvas or 
like material, with a rigid frame, and adapted to be jammed between the 
top of a window panel 17 and the top 18 of the window frame of the door 16 
with the window panel being partially wound down to accommodate the panel 
15. 
The supply unit 10 may be supported at an appropriate height above the 
ground by a support pillar 19 with an adjustable arm arrangement 20 
carried by a sleeve 21 moveable up and down the pillar by a pulley 
arrangement 22. More particularly the pillar 19 may be of hollow 
rectangular cross-section, and the sleeve 21 of similar cross-section but 
being larger to closely surround the pillar but capable of axial sliding 
movement up and down the pillar. The sleeve 21 carries a pair of 
vertically spaced apart lugs 23, the uppermost one of which carries an 
eyelet 24 to which a cable 25 is attached to extend upwardly therefrom and 
over an upper pulley 26 mounted on an axle 27 within the upper end of the 
pillar with a slot 28 being provided through the wall of the pillar to 
allow access for the cable to the pulley which is mounted such that its 
circumference extends partially outside the wall of the pillar at the slot 
28. The cable extends downwardly within the hollow interior of the pillar 
to a take-up pulley 29 onto and off which the cable can be wound by a 
handle 30 associated with the pulley. A locking mechanism should be 
incorporated with to lock the pulley 29 against rotation when the required 
height of the sleeve 21 for the height of a particular vehicle is reached 
whereby the supply unit 10 is positioned appropriately relative to the top 
part of the window space with which it is to be associated to supply 
cooled or heated air. 
One end of an inboard pivotable arm 20a of the arm arrangement 20 is 
received between the lugs 23 carried by the sleeve 21 and pivots about a 
vertical axis via a pivot pin 31, whilst the opposite end of arm 20a 
carries upper and lower lugs 32 between which are received one end of an 
outerboard pivotable arm 20b of the arm arrangement which pivots relative 
to the inner arm about a vertical axis via a pivot pin 33. The outer end 
of the arm 20b is pivotable connected to the supply unit 10 via a further 
pivot pin 34. 
As will be apparent when a road transport vehicle, or other type of 
vehicle, is parked next to the facility, raising or lowering of the unit 
10 on the pillar via the arm arrangement 20, sleeve 21 and pulley 
arrangement 22, combined with manipulation of the arms 20a and 20b of the 
arm arrangement 20, allows the unit to be positioned adjacent the top part 
of the vehicle window space through the door of the vehicle, and, with the 
window panel wound down sufficiently, the engagement panel 15 can be 
positioned to engage beneath the lower edge of the top 18 of the window 
frame of the door whereafter the window panel 17 can be raised to engage 
beneath the lower edge of the panel 15 to jam the panel in position 
between the lower edge of the top of the window frame and the top edge of 
the window panel. 
The cable for electrical power supply to the unit 10 may extend upwardly 
through the hollow interior of the pillar 19 then along, or through, the 
arm arrangement 20 if the arms 20a and 20b are hollow, although many 
alternative ways of coupling the unit 10 to an electrical power supply 
will be apparent to those skilled in the art, such as up the outside of 
the pillar 19 and across the arm arrangement 20, with loose couplings 
between the cable and the pillar and the arm arrangement, with sufficient 
slack in the cable to accommodate up and down movement and lateral 
movement of the unit 10 relative to the parking bay. The power supply may 
be linked to the unit 10 via a coin, token or card operated controller 
such as a Nobo Orion 512 controller as supplied by the Cothern Pty Ltd of 
Melbourne Australia, and either mounted on the pillar 19 or on the unit 10 
itself. 
In the embodiment described the facility is permanently fixed to the 
ground, although alternatively the facility may be mounted on a frame 
having means, such as wheels, whereby the facility may be moved around. In 
addition, forms of mechanisms other than a pulley and cable mechanism, or 
an arm arrangement, may be used for raising and lowering, and laterally 
manoeuvring, the supply unit 10 relative to the parking bay.