Abstract:
Pattern controllers located in discharge slots of an active beam comprise a series of planar paddles hinged on an axis disposed at an angle to the planar surface of a side of the discharge slot thereby producing discharged air displacement in both the horizontal and vertical directions when the paddles are rotated.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This patent application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/804,792, filed Mar. 25, 2013, which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates to active heating and cooling beams, and more particularly relates to an active beam with output directional pattern controllers in the discharge slots of the active beam. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Active heating/cooling beams are mounted near the ceiling of an occupied space and use the air flow of a central heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system to increase the output of a heating/cooling coil in the active beam. Unlike radiant panels and chilled sails, which rely primarily on thermal radiation to condition an occupied space, active beams heat or cool a space through induction and forced convection. An active beam receives dry air from the central ventilation system (primary supply air) through a pressurized plenum. The primary supply air is then forced through nozzles in order to create a high velocity air pattern in a mixing chamber adjacent to the heating/cooling coil. The high velocity causes a reduction in the local static pressure in the mixing chamber in the active beam, thereby inducing room air to be drawn through the heating/cooling coil and into the mixing chamber of the active beam. The induced air then mixes with the primary supply air, and the mixture of primary air and induced air is discharged back into the space via discharge linear slots along the beam. 
         [0004]    In order to produce efficient, quiet, draft free performance from the active beam, the mixed air, when discharged through the discharge slots of the active beam, should preferably spread evenly from the discharge slots for a short distance (throw distance) and remain adjacent the ceiling of the occupied space (the Coanda effect). Such a discharge pattern ensures the best combination of efficiency, quiet operation, and draft free performance. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    In order to create an optimized discharge pattern from an active beam, directional pattern controllers constructed of plastic or metal are installed in the discharge slots of the active beam. Each pattern controller constitutes a series of hinged planar paddles. Each paddle or bank of paddles is hinged on an axis that is offset at about 60°±20° from a plane extending parallel to each of the sides of the discharge slots. In addition, the axis is oriented essentially parallel to end panels of the active beam where the end panels are connected to the ends of the active beam and are perpendicular to the plane of the sides of the discharge slots. Each paddle rotates about the offset axis between −45° to +45° of rotation and is adjustable between −45° to +45° degrees of rotation in 15° increments, although larger or smaller increments may be used. Because of the angle of the offset axis, each paddle moves at a double compound angle thereby changing the orientation of the paddle&#39;s planar surface both with respect to sides of the discharge slots and respect to the end panels of the active beam. 
         [0006]    In one embodiment of the invention, the paddles are ganged together in groups of four along the length of each discharge slot of the active beam instead of a series of individual paddles along the length of each discharge slot of the active beam. In that way, the installer of the active beam can more quickly adjust the groups of four to customize the distribution of conditioned air from the discharge slot of the active beam to match the conditions of the occupied space. Individually adjusted paddles as well as ganged configurations with any number of paddles are within the scope of the present invention. 
         [0007]    Further objects, features and advantages will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention when taken in conjunction with the drawings and the appended claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is a bottom perspective view of an active beam attached to a ceiling in an occupied space with directional pattern controllers in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is an end section view of the active beam with directional pattern controllers in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a bank of four paddles of the directional pattern controller in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a side elevation view of the bank of four paddles in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a front elevation view of the bank of four paddles in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a front elevation view of the bank of four paddles in accordance with the present invention and is similar to  FIG. 5  except that the bank of four paddles has been rotated forward 60° so that the axis of rotation for each paddle is horizontal. 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a bottom view of the bank of four paddles in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  is a chart showing the spread pattern and throw distance of the active beam with pattern controllers in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 9  is a chart showing the spread pattern and throw distance of the active beam without pattern controllers. 
           [0017]      FIG. 10  a graph comparing the capacity of the active beam with pattern controllers in accordance with the present invention to conventional active beams without pattern controllers. 
           [0018]      FIG. 11  a graph comparing the sound performance of the active beam with pattern controllers in accordance with the present invention to conventional active beams without pattern controllers. 
           [0019]      FIG. 12  is a chart showing four typical spread patterns and throw distances of the active beam with pattern controllers. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0020]    Turning to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , an elongated active beam  10  is shown. The active beam  10  comprises a housing  12  having a top panel  14 , side panels  16  extending downwardly from the top panel  14  on each side of the active beam  10 , outside skirts  18  extending downwardly from the side panels  16 , and end panels  19 . The end panels  19  are oriented perpendicular to the length of the active beam  10 , are fastened to ends  17  of the active beam  10 , and seal the ends  17  of the active beam  10 . An end panel plane oriented parallel with each of the perpendicularly connected end panels  19  provides a plane of reference for the orientation of pattern controllers  40 . 
         [0021]    An internal plenum panel  21  with air plenum sections  23  is connected to the side panels  16 , and the internal plenum panel  21  together with the top panel  14  form a primary air plenum  22 . The air plenum sections  23  and the outside skirts  18  are coplanar and together comprise outer sides of discharge slots  34 . A discharge plane oriented parallel with air plenum section  23  and the outside skirt  18  provides a plane of reference for the orientation of the pattern controllers  40 . Separator panels  20  extend substantially parallel to the outside skirts  18  and the air plenum sections  23  (the discharge plane) on either side of the active beam  10 . The separator panels  20  comprise inner sides of discharge slots  34  on either side of the active beam  10 . In addition, the separator panels  20  define a return air intake  30  at the center of the active beam  10  between the separator panels  20 . A decorative grille  32  covers the return air intake  30 . A heating/cooling coil  28  is mounted above the grille  32  and in the path of room air entering the housing  12  from the occupied space through the return air intake  30  and into a mixing chamber  36  adjacent the heating/cooling coil  28 . 
         [0022]    In operation, primary conditioned air is connected to the plenum  22  through a primary air inlet  24 , which is connected to an HVAC system (not shown) that produces dry, conditioned air for heating or cooling the occupied space beneath the active beam  10 . The conditioned air in the pressurized plenum  22  is discharged through induction nozzles  26  at high velocity into the mixing chamber  36 . The low pressure created in the mixing chamber  36  by the high velocity air from the nozzles  26  induces the flow of room air into the mixing chamber  36  through the return air intake  30  and through the heating/cooling coil  28 . The mixture of conditioned air and room air is then discharged into the discharge slots  34  in an initial direction parallel to the sides of the discharge slots  34  (parallel to the discharge plane) and parallel to the end panels  19  of the active beam  10  (parallel to the end panel plane). 
         [0023]    In order to control the distribution of the mixture of air discharged from the discharge slots  34 , the directional pattern controllers  40  are positioned within the discharge slots  34 . Each directional pattern controller  40  comprises a series of hinged, planar paddles  46  installed along the length of the discharge slots  34 . Each paddle  46  has a hinge edge  56 , a separator edge  58 , a lower edge  60 , and an outside edge  62 . 
         [0024]    In order to install the directional pattern controllers  40  in the discharge slots  34 , a mounting base  42  is attached to the air plenum section  23  on each side of the active beam  10 . The mounting base  42  extends along the length of the active beam  10 . A series of triangular hinge plates  44  are mounted on the mounting base  42  and are spaced evenly along the length of the active beam  10 . Each hinge plate  44  is a planar plate in the shape of a right triangle with a hypotenuse  45 . The plane of the hinge plate is oriented perpendicular to the air plenum section  23  (perpendicular to the discharge plane) and parallel to the plane of the perpendicularly mounted end panels  19  (parallel to the end panel plane). The hypotenuse  45  of the mounting base  42  is oriented at approximately a 60°±20° angle to the air plenum section  23  (the discharge plane) and is oriented parallel to the end panels  19  (the end panel plane). Therefore, the hypotenuse  35  is oriented at approximately a 60°±20° angle to the initial air flow direction as the discharge air enters the discharge slots  34 . A hinge  50  positioned along the hypotenuse  45  of the hinge plate  44  defines an axis of rotation  51  and rotatably connects the hinge edge  56  of the paddle  46  to the hinge edge  45  of the hinge plate  44 . 
         [0025]      FIGS. 3-7  show a ganged group of four paddles  46   a - 46   d.  The four paddles are connected by means of a connecting rod  54  attached to the lower corner of each paddle  46   a - 46   d . One of the paddles, paddle  46   c,  represents a master paddle that controls the positioning of the other slave paddles  46   a,    46   b,  and  46   d  by means of the connecting rod  54 . The angular position of the master paddle  46   c  is maintained by means of an index keeper  52  comprising a set of notches  53  that engage the outside edge  62  of the master paddle  46   c.  Particularly, the notches  53  engage the outside edge  62  of the master paddle  46   c  to retain the master paddle  46   c  in rotational increments of 15° between −45° and +45° of rotation about the hinge  50   c  (the axis of rotation  51 ). Other rotational increments and range of rotation are well within the scope of the present invention. Further, as previously indicated, each individual paddle could be associated with its own index keeper  52  so that each individual paddle  46  could be individually adjusted. 
         [0026]    Because the hinge  50  (and the axis of rotation  51 ) is set at approximately a 60°±20° angle to the air plenum sections  23  (the discharge plane) and parallel to the end panels  19  (the end panel plane), the rotation of the paddle  46  about the hinge  50  causes the plane of the paddle  46  to move along a double compound angle with both vertical and horizontal displacement (i.e. displacement perpendicular to the end panel plane and displacement perpendicular to the discharge plane). The double compound angle helps assure that the air passing through the discharge slots  34  is properly directed to ensure the best combination of efficiency, quiet operation, and draft free performance. 
         [0027]    One performance parameter relates to the Coanda effect at low air flows/pressure. The Coanda effect refers to the tendency of the discharged air to move along the ceiling of the occupied space. Because of the double compound angle rotation of the paddles  46 , the paddles  46  can be positioned to maintain the Coanda pattern at lower static pressures. 
         [0028]    Another performance parameter relates to the throw and spread of the discharged air as the air leaves the discharge slots  34 . Particularly, throw refers to the distance that air travels perpendicularly away from the active beam along the ceiling of the occupied space, and spread refers to the travel of the air parallel to the active beam along the ceiling of the occupied space. The air should spread as uniformly as possible over a short throw distance to ensure even heating of the occupied space.  FIG. 8  depicts the spread pattern of an 8 foot long active beam  10  with the pattern controllers  40 , and  FIG. 9  depicts the spread pattern and 8 foot long active beam  10  without the pattern controllers  40 . Both charts depict the air flow of the active beam  10  at a velocity of 50 feet per minute (fpm). The ceiling of the occupied space is represented by the chart with each division being one square foot. Consequently, the area inside the line on the chart charts in  FIGS. 8 and 9  indicates the spread and throw of the air from the 8 foot active beam  10 . The active beam  10  in  FIG. 8  with pattern controllers  40  has a throw of approximately 8 feet and a spread of approximately 12 feet. By comparison, the active beam  10  in  FIG. 9  without pattern controllers  40  has a throw of approximately 14 feet and a spread of less than 8 feet, the length of the active beam  10 . Because of the double compound angle rotation of the paddles  46 , the paddles  46  can be positioned to produce a spread that is very even (see  FIG. 8 ), and the presence of the paddles  46  can effectively halve the throw distance for a discharge velocity of the 50 feet per minute (fpm) as compared to a conventional active beam without the paddles  46  ( FIG. 9 ). 
         [0029]    Capacity is also an important performance parameter.  FIG. 10  shows the cooling capacity of an active beam in three configurations: a conventional active beam without pattern controllers  40  (line  104 ), an active beam  10  with metal paddles  46  (line  100 ), and an active beam  10  with plastic injection molded paddles  46  (line  102 ). The X-axis of the graph shows air flow through the active beam  10  measured in cubic feet per minute of air flow per length in feet of the active beam. The Y-axis of the graph shows the heat transfer by the active beam  10  measured in BTU per hour per length of the active beam  10 . Consequently,  FIG. 10  demonstrates that the capacity, the heat transferred per hour at various air flows, of the active beam is not degraded by the addition of the pattern controllers  40 . 
         [0030]    Sound is a further operating parameter that should be considered for the active beam  10 .  FIG. 11  shows the sound performance of the active beam  10  in three configurations: a conventional active beam without pattern controllers (line  104 ), the active beam  10  with metal paddles  46  (line  100 ), and the active beam  10  with plastic injection molded paddles  46  (line  102 ). The X-axis of the graph shows static pressure of the air in the plenum  22  of the active beam  10  measured in inches of water. The Y-axis of the graph shows the noise created by the active beam  10  measured in Noise Criteria (NC) levels. Again, the difference in sound performance is not significantly degraded by the use of the pattern controllers  40 . 
         [0031]    Because many configurations for aligning the pattern controllers exist, installers can set up the spread pattern and throw distances on a case by case basis to optimize capacity, sound, and spread and throw. The images in  FIG. 12  show some typical spread and throw patterns. 
         [0032]    While this invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that variations and modifications can be affected within the spirit and scope of the invention as described herein and as described in the appended claims.