Self-contained air-conditioner of the wall-mounted type

Abstract: Internal air-conditioning unit (1) to be installed at the top of a wall (7), in which suction of the air (A) introduced in the room is performed in the top part of the casing, the evaporation set being provided in the vicinity of the rear wall thereof. The invention solves the problem of introducing into the room fresh external air (E), without having to use other external air-driving means.

Description: The present invention relates to the sector of self-contained wall-mounted air-conditioners and in particular to that part of the air-conditioning plant which is installed inside the building, the conventional external part known as the "motor/condensation" unit remaining unvaried. In the sector it is known of air-conditioning plants (see, for example, JP-A-56 049 823) in which there is a physical separation between the so-called "internal unit", which may also be multiple, and the so-called "external unit" which has installed inside it the cold-generating compressor, the condensing set and a motor-driven fan designed to produce forced ventilation through the condensing set. In these known plants, the so-called "internal unit" and the external unit are connected to one other via a dual duct (usually consisting of copper piping) for conveying the cold-generating fluid, associated with a multiple electric cable, and a flexible pipe for discharging the condensate produced inside the internal unit. In such known systems, the internal unit comprises a containment casing, usually of parallelepiped shape, comprising an evaporating set, a motor-driven fan, and an electric and/or electronic control board, operation generally being performed by means of infra-red ray remote control. In such a known internal unit, the air to be processed generally enters the front/upper part and the processed air is expelled from the bottom part; said unit is in fact intended for installation at the top of a wall, in the vicinity of the ceiling. Said known internal unit, moreover, does not allow the room air to be changed, said air in practice being completely recirculated inside the unit. In these known systems, in fact, in order to change the room air, separate motorized air-driving means must be installed, so as to cause an excess pressure or reduced pressure, inducing the change-over. Moreover, frequently the change-over is obtained, also for the sake of simplicity of the driving means used and the maintenance operations, without filtering of the air introduced, with all of the negative consequences which adversely affect the hygiene of the environment. The object of the present invention is to provide an internal air-conditioning unit for rooms which allows and facilitates changing of the room air, without having to make use of separate driving means. A further object is to ensure that the external air introduced into the room may be subjected to filtration, without further complicating the normal procedures for construction and maintenance of the equipment. A final, but no less important object is to ensure that the noise emission in the room due to operation of the equipment is reduced so as to be even lower than the normal emission levels. These objects are obtained, as expressed by the meaning of claim 1, by positioning inside the internal unit the evaporation set in the bottom part of the machine and consequently allowing the introduction of air in the side facing the wall. The invention will be understood more clearly from the description of an example of embodiment provided hereinbelow with the aid of two illustrative plates. In said plates, Figure 1 shows a schematic sectional view, along a vertical transverse plane, of an air-conditioner constructed according to the invention; Figure 2 shows a partially sectioned front view thereof. With reference to these figures, 1 denotes in its entirety the wall-mounted air-conditioner; 2 the front part of the casing thereof; 3 an upper cover which can be pivoted about the hinge 4. 5 denotes an upper stiffening ribbing along the entire length, having fixed to it an upper bracket 6 for fixing to the wall 7. 8 denotes a similar lower wall-fixing bracket anchored to the rigid longitudinal ribbing 9. 10 denotes a bottom closing wall of the air-conditioner 1. 11 denotes a movable deflector supported by ribs 12 fixed to the rotating axis 13 which is designed to be of the motorized type in accordance with known devices not illustrated herein for the sake of simplicity. 14 denotes a grill for sucking back in the room air A, located between the upper ribbing 5 and the lower ribbing 9 15 denotes a filtering panel supported by suitable lateral-slide guides and designed to be extractable at the top through the opening provided by the pivoting cover 3. 16 denotes an evaporating set connected to known cold-generating fluid pipes not shown in the Figure; 17 denotes a known tangential fan driven by the coaxial electric motor 18. Said fan 17 produces a reduced pressure inside the collection chamber 22, expelling the processed air externally via the deflector 11. 20 denotes an opening communicating with the external environment; 21 denotes a flow-regulating shutter which may be remote-controlled. The apparatus is completed by known accessory devices such as an electronic control and command or remote-control board, electric protection devices, condensate collection basin with associated drainage pipes, etc., which are not illustrated here for the sake of simplicity and greater clarity of the description. Operation is as follows: When the air-conditioner is activated, the deflector 11 is positioned in the open position, as illustrated in Figure 1, and the tangential fan 17 is also made to rotate, creating a reduced pressure inside the collection chamber 22. A suction flow therefore occurs through the grill 14, into which both room air (indicated by the arrow A) and external air (indicated by the arrow E) flow, it being possible to modify the ratio of the external air / room air throughput, by regulating the shutter 21. It is thus possible to achieve the aforementioned primary object of allowing the introduction of external air which causes changing of the room air, resulting in a slight excess pressure inside the room. The object of being possible to filter the external air introduced via the filtering panel 15 is also achieved, without complicating the mechanical structure of the machine and the operations for maintenance of the air-conditioner which are performed by means of normal cleaning of the filtering panel 15 alone. Finally, the further object of reducing the noise input levels inside the room is also achieved since said inputs, which arise mainly from the opening of the grill 14, are facing to the rear wall. Although shown in the example illustrated with a flow-regulating shutter 21 located on the exterior access duct, the invention may also be installed, in a variant, with a motor-driven fan in place of the shutter. Both positioning of the shutter (21) and driving of the fan may be operated by means of a known remote-control device. A single remote-control device may also operate both the air-conditioner (1) and the shutter (21), thus resulting in the desired recirculation ratio.

Claims: Self-contained wall-mounted air-conditioner (1) consisting of an internal unit, which may also be multiple, comprising a containment casing having fixed to its rear part an upper and a lower wall-fixing bracket (6, 8), an evaporating set (16), a motor-driven fan (17), and associated electric and/or electronic control means; as well as an external unit comprising a cold-generating compressor, a condensing set, and a motor-driven fan designed to produce forced-ventilation through the condensing set, the internal unit and the external unit being connected to one other by means of a dual duct for conveying cold -generating fluid, associated with a multiple electric cable, characterized in that only one air suction grill (14) is provided, and said air suction grill (14) is located together with the evaporating set (16) in the region of the rear part of the containment casing, i.e. in that part facing the wall. Air-conditioner according to Claim 1, characterized in that it is installed in association with a duct (20) communicating with the exterior. Air-conditioner according to Claim 2, characterized in that air regulating or driving means (21) are installed on the duct (20) communicating with the exterior. Air-conditioner according to Claim 1, characterized in that a filtering panel (15) is provided between the suction grill (14) and the evaporating set (16). Air-conditioner according to Claim 4, characterized in that the filtering panel (15) is of the type extractable from the top after opening of an upper cover (3).

Inventors: MARCHESI FERNANDO, MARCHESI, FERNANDO
Applicants: ELETTRO PLASTICA DOMESTICI, ELETTROPLASTICA ELETTRODOMESTICI S.R.L.
Application year: 1996
Main classification: F24F1
IPC codes: F24F1