Abstract:
A single package, wall mount air conditioner including a cabinet, an evaporator coil assembly, a condenser coil assembly, and a theft deterrent system. The theft deterrent system including metal straps securing the coil assemblies to the cabinet and impeding their removal from the cabinet. The straps having boxed cross-sections and being attached by specialty fasteners requiring a non-standard tool to remove, wherein the heads of the fasteners are shielded to only permit the axial access required by the tool. The theft deterrent system further including a sensor configured to monitor a condition of the air conditioner, wherein the condition is indicative of an attempt to remove the coil assemblies from the cabinet, and to communicate an alarm signal through a speaker or to a remote monitoring station if the condition occurs. The sensor may include one or more of a plunger-type switch, a vibration sensor, or a refrigerant monitoring sensor.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present U.S. non-provisional patent application claims priority benefit of an earlier-filed U.S. provisional patent application of the same title, Ser. No. 61/929,427, filed Jan. 20, 2014, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference into the present application. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates generally to air conditioners and, more particularly, to single package, wall mount air conditioners for use in cooling buildings or rooms within buildings in need of cooling and/or ventilation. 
         [0003]    Single package, wall mount air conditioners are mounted to an exterior wall of a building and incorporate both evaporator and condenser coils within a single cabinet. These wall mount air conditioners are typically used to deliver conditioned or ventilation air to enclosed structures such as classrooms, telecommunications shelters, electronic equipment rooms, and any other buildings or rooms within buildings in need of cooling and/or ventilation. 
         [0004]    The evaporator and condenser coils used in these wall mount air conditioners are made of copper and aluminum and, as a result of rising copper and aluminum prices, have increasingly been targeted by thieves who remove the coils and sell them as scrap metal. The removal of the coils renders the wall mount air conditioners inoperable, causing great inconvenience and necessitating costly repairs to the air conditioners themselves and potentially to the sensitive electronic equipment within the building which may become overheated as a result of the inability of the air conditioners to supply cooling air. A need has thus arisen for a coil theft deterrent system that makes it more difficult for thieves to remove the evaporator and condenser coils from single package, wall mount air conditioners. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    In one embodiment, the present invention is directed to a single package, wall mount air conditioner comprising a cabinet, an evaporator coil assembly, a condenser coil assembly, and a theft deterrent system. The cabinet may be mountable to an exterior wall of a building. The evaporator coil assembly may be contained within an upper portion of the cabinet, and the condenser coil assembly may be contained within a lower portion. The theft deterrent system may be configured to impede or otherwise discourage unauthorized removal of the evaporator and condenser coil assemblies from the cabinet. More specifically, the theft deterrent system may include one or more metal straps mechanically securing the evaporator and condenser coil assemblies to the cabinet and physically impeding their removal. The metal straps may be attached to the cabinet by a plurality of specialty fasteners that require a non-standard tool to remove. The theft deterrent system may further include a sensor configured to monitor a condition of the air conditioner, wherein the condition is indicative of an attempt to remove the evaporator or condenser coil assemblies from the cabinet, and to communicate an alarm signal if the condition occurs. 
         [0006]    In various implementations of this embodiment, the single package, wall mount air conditioner may further include any one or more of the following features. The one or more metal straps may extend over a top portion of the evaporator coil assembly so as to physically impede upward movement of the evaporator coil assembly. Each of the one or more metal straps may have a substantially boxed cross-section, and each of the one or more metal straps may include a first member cooperating with and mechanically secured to a second member to create the substantially boxed cross-section. The first member may be at least partially nested within the second member. Each of the specialty fasteners may be elongated along a central axis and have a head portion with which the non-standard tool interacts, and the head portion may be mechanically shielded so as to be accessible only from a direction that is coincident with the central axis of the fastener. 
         [0007]    The sensor may include a switch associated with an access panel of the cabinet and configured to communicate the alarm signal if the access panel is unauthorizedly removed. The sensor may be a vibration sensor configured to communicate the alarm signal if vibrations are detected which are indicative of an attempt at unauthorized entry into the cabinet. The sensor may be a refrigerant monitoring sensor configured to communicate the alarm signal if a loss of refrigerant is detected which is indicative of an attempt to unauthorizedly remove the evaporator or condenser coil assemblies from the cabinet. The alarm signal may be communicated to a remote monitoring station and/or it may be communicated as a loud noise emitted by the speaker. The air conditioner may further include a camera configured to provide visual images of one or more components of the air conditioner and to communicate the visual images to a remote monitoring station. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is a front isometric view of a single package, wall mount air conditioner incorporating a coil theft deterrent system of the present invention and shown mounted to an exterior wall of a building; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is an exploded, fragmentary, front isometric view of an upper portion of the air conditioner shown in  FIG. 1 , with cabinet panels removed to show portions of the coil theft deterrent system protecting an evaporator coil assembly; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is an exploded, fragmentary, front isometric view of the air conditioner similar to the view shown in  FIG. 2 , but with a heat shield removed to illustrate further details of the coil theft deterrent system; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is an exploded, fragmentary, front perspective view of the air conditioner similar to the view shown in  FIG. 3 , but with a strap of the coil theft deterrent system shown in an exploded view; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is an exploded, fragmentary, front isometric view of a lower portion of the air conditioner showing portions of the coil theft deterrent system protecting a condenser coil assembly; 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a fragmentary, front isometric view of the lower portion of the air conditioner showing a connecting strap and an upper mounting bracket of the coil theft deterrent system protecting the condenser coil assembly; 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a fragmentary, front isometric view of the air conditioner and similar to the view shown in  FIG. 6 , but taken in vertical section along line  7 - 7  in the direction of the arrows; 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  is a fragmentary, side isometric view of the air conditioner showing the connecting strap and mounting brackets in vertical section and from a different perspective than that shown in  FIG. 7 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 9  is an exploded, rear isometric view of portions of the air conditioner; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 10  is a fragmentary, bottom isometric view of the air conditioner showing a lower mounting bracket for the connecting strap mounted to a base pan of the cabinet for the air conditioner. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0018]    Turning now to the drawings in greater detail, and initially to  FIGS. 1-5 , a single package, wall mount air conditioner of the present invention is designated generally by the numeral  10  and is shown mounted to an exterior wall  12  of an enclosed structure. The enclosed structure may be a classroom, a telecommunications shelter, an electronic equipment room, shed or cabinet, or any other buildings or rooms in buildings in need of cooling and/or ventilation supplied by the wall mount air conditioner  10 . Conditioned supply air is delivered from the wall mount air conditioner  10  through a supply air opening (not shown) in the exterior wall  12  into the enclosed structure and return air is delivered from within the enclosed structure to the wall mount air conditioner  10  through a return air opening (not shown) in the exterior wall  12  in a conventional fashion. 
         [0019]    The wall mount air conditioner  10  has an exterior box-like cabinet  14  formed from spaced-apart side panels  16  and  18 , front and rear panels  20  and  22 , and top and bottom panels  24  and  26 . Each of the panels  16 ,  18 ,  20 ,  22 ,  24 , and  26  is typically fashioned from sheet metal and is attached to adjoining panels by screws that extend through the panels  16 ,  18 ,  20 ,  22 ,  24 , and  26  and into flanges  28  formed along edges of the panels. 
         [0020]    The front panel  20  includes an upper access panel  30  that is removable to permit access to an internal evaporator compartment  32 , which houses an evaporator coil assembly  34 . The front panel  20  also includes a second access panel  36  positioned below and in abutting relationship to the upper access panel  30  to permit access to an internal blower box  38 . A large lower opening  40  covered by a removable grill  42  is formed in the front panel  20  below access panels  30  and  36  to permit hot air from a condenser coil assembly  44  to be exhausted from a condenser compartment  46  within the cabinet  14 . An opening  48  covered by a removable grill  50  is formed in side panel  16  in horizontal alignment with lower opening  40  to supply external air to the condenser compartment  46 . A similar opening and covering grill (not shown) are formed in the other side panel  18  in horizontal alignment with openings  40  and  48 . 
         [0021]    The evaporator compartment  32  is box-like and is bounded at the top by the top panel  24  and at the bottom by a drain pan  52  that underlies and supports the evaporator coil assembly  34 . The drain pan  52  extends between the side panels  16  and  18  and the front and rear panels  20  and  22  of the cabinet  14  and has flanges  56  formed along its edges that are secured by screws to the side, front, and rear panels  16 ,  18 ,  20 , and  22 . The evaporator compartment  32  is bounded at its sides by the side, front, and rear panels  16 ,  18 ,  20 , and  22 . The evaporator coil assembly  34  is shown somewhat schematically and includes a series of copper coils or tubes through which a refrigerant flows as part of the conventional compression refrigeration system used in the wall mount air conditioner  10 . The details of construction of compression refrigeration systems are well known to those of ordinary skill in this field and need not be set forth herein. The evaporator coil assembly  34  rests on the drain pan  52  at an angle to the vertical and is covered by a heat shield  54  that extends rearwardly into the supply air opening. 
         [0022]    The blower box  38  is positioned immediately below the evaporator compartment  32  and includes a pair of blowers (not shown) for circulating the supply air through the evaporator coil assembly  34  and then through the supply air opening into the conditioned space on the opposite side of the exterior wall  12  of the enclosed structure. The return air is then delivered to the blowers through the return air opening in the exterior wall  12 . The blower box  38  is bounded at the top by the drain pan  52  and at the bottom by a divider  58  that extends horizontally between the side panels  16  and  18  and the front and rear panels  20  and  22  of the cabinet  14 . The blower box  38  is bounded at its sides by the side, front, and rear panels  16 ,  18 ,  20 , and  22 . Flanges  56  formed along the edges of the divider  58  are secured by screws to the side, front, and rear panels  16 ,  18 ,  20 , and  22 . A large opening  61  is provided in the divider  58  to accommodate the blowers (not shown). 
         [0023]    As can best be seen in  FIG. 5 , the condenser compartment  46  is positioned immediately below the blower box  38  within the cabinet  14  of the wall mount air conditioner  10 . The condenser compartment  46  is bounded at the top by the divider  58 , at the bottom by the bottom panel  26 , and at the sides by the side panels  16  and  18  and the front and rear panels  20  and  22 . The condenser coil assembly  44  rests on the bottom panel  26 . A fan (not shown) is positioned behind the condenser coil assembly  44  to blow air across the condenser coil assembly  44  to remove heat from the refrigerant flowing through the coils in the condenser coil assembly  44 . 
         [0024]    In accordance with the present invention, the wall mount air conditioner  10  includes a coil theft deterrent system  62  that impedes or otherwise discourages unauthorized removal of the evaporator coil assembly  34  and the condenser coil assembly  44 . The coil theft deterrent system  62  includes a series of straps  64  that are attached at their lower ends to a mounting bracket  66  and at their upper ends to the heat shield  54 . At least two straps  64  are normally used and in the illustrated embodiment three straps  64  are used and are uniformly spaced apart. More straps  64  could be used if desired. The straps  64  are formed from stainless steel or other metals or materials that are resistant to deformation and cutting. Each strap  64  has a boxed cross-section and is formed from two separate channel-shaped members  68  and  70  that are of slightly different widths to allow one member  68  to nest within the other member  70 . Rivets  72  or other fasteners extend through the channel legs of the members  68  and  70  to secure them together. 
         [0025]    Each strap  64  extends upright from the mounting bracket  66  and is then bent at an angle to engage and extend over a top portion of the evaporator coil assembly  34  to prevent upward movement of the evaporator coil assembly  34 . Each strap  64  includes a free end portion that extends beyond the evaporator coil assembly  34  and is bent downwardly to block the evaporator coil assembly  34  from being moved rearwardly. The portion of the straps  64  that engage and extend beyond the evaporator coil assembly  34  may be formed by the single member  68  and the channel legs may be removed to permit closer engagement of the straps  64  with the evaporator coil assembly  34 . The heat shield  54  is fastened to the bent portions of the straps  64  to further secure the straps  64  in place. 
         [0026]    As can best be seen in  FIG. 4 , the mounting bracket  66  extends along the full width of the cabinet  14  and is secured to the upper surface of the drain pan  52  near the front panel  20 . The mounting bracket  66  includes an upright flange  74  that provides a surface to which the rear channel members  68  of the straps  64  are removably secured by screws or other fasteners  76  that extend first through the channel members  68  and then into the upright flange  74 . The screws or other fasteners  76  are preferably specialty fasteners that require a special, non-standard bit for turning. 
         [0027]    A hole  78  is provided in each of the front channel members  70  in alignment with the screw  76  that fastens the strap  64  to the upright flange  74  of the mounting bracket  66 . Another hole  80  is provided in the flange  56  at the front of the base pan  52  in alignment with each of the screws  76 . The holes  78  and  80  are sized to slightly larger than the head of the screws  76  to permit the screws  76  to be installed by insertion of the entire screw, including the head, through the holes  78  and  80 . The inserted screws  76  are then threaded through holes in the rear channel member  68  and the upright flange  74 . Once installed, the heads of the screws  76  are positioned within the hollow straps  64  and may only be accessed axially through the holes  78  and  80 . The drain pan  52  blocks access to the heads of the screws  76  from below and the straps  64  block access from the sides and above. As a result, the screws  76  can only be accessed axially and removal can only be achieved by using a bit that matches the particular specialty screws  76  that are utilized. A thief lacking the necessary bit for the specialty screws  76  is thereby deterred from being able to remove the screws  76  and is blocked by the drain pan  52  and straps  64  from being able to chisel off the head of the screws  76 . Without being able to remove the screws  76 , the thief must attempt to cut through the straps  64  in order to be able to free the evaporator coil assembly  34  for removal. The use of the channel members  68  and  70  in the straps  64  makes it difficult to quickly cut through the straps  64  and thereby greatly increases the amount of time and effort that must be expended to overcome the straps  64 . This may in turn cause the potential thief to move on to an easier target. 
         [0028]    Turning to  FIGS. 5-10 , the coil theft deterrent system  62  also includes vertically-extending connecting straps  82  near the front panel  20  that impede removal of the condenser coil assembly  44 . Each of the connecting straps  62  is attached at its lower end to a lower mounting bracket  84  secured to the bottom panel  26  and at its upper end to upper mounting bracket  86  attached to the divider  58 . Each connecting strap  82  is formed of a two-piece construction using nested, front and rear channel members  88  and  90  of the same material used for channel members  68  and  70 . The connecting straps  62  connect the bottom panel  26  to the divider  58  to impede separation of the bottom panel  26  from the divider  58  during attempted unauthorized removal of the condenser coil assembly  44 . 
         [0029]    The rear channel member  88  of each connecting strap  62  includes a lower tab  92  that extends downwardly through a slot  94  in the bottom panel  26  and an upper tab  96  that extends upwardly through a slot  98  in the divider  58 . The slots  94  and  98  are positioned so that the straps  62  extend along a front face of the condenser coil assembly  44  to prevent forward shifting of the condenser coil assembly  44  during attempts at unauthorized removal. Each lower mounting bracket  84  has a tab  100  that extends upwardly through a slot  102  in the bottom panel  26  and each upper mounting bracket  86  similarly has a tab  104  that extends downwardly through a slot  106  in the divider  58 . The tabs  100  and  104  are positioned at the rear face of the condenser coil assembly  44  to prevent rearward shifting of the condenser coil assembly  44 . The tabs  100  and  104  and connecting straps  82  are also positioned against end plates  108  at opposite ends of the condenser coil assembly  44  to prevent sideways shifting of the condenser coil assembly  44 . 
         [0030]    The lower mounting brackets  84  are each secured by screws  76  to an underside of the bottom panel  26 . Each lower mounting bracket  84  is formed as a box-like structure with a forward face to which the lower tab  92  of one of the connecting straps  82  is secured by one of the screws  76 . The bottom panel  26  has an L-shaped flange  110  extending downwardly and rearwardly along a front edge of the bottom panel  26 . A downturned flange  112  extends along each side of the bottom panel  26 . The lower mounting brackets  84  are positioned near the corners of the bottom panel  26  where the flanges  110  and  112  intersect. As a result, the flanges  110  and  112  and the bottom panel  26  block access to the head of the screw  76  once it is installed. A hole  114  is provided in flange  110  to only permit axial insertion and installation of the screw  76  by threading it through holes in the lower tab  92  and forward face of the lower mounting bracket  84 . As previously described, shielding of the head of the screw  76  serves to prevent it from being removed by a chisel during attempts to remove the connecting straps  82  in an effort to gain access to the condenser coil assembly  44 . 
         [0031]    Each of the upper mounting brackets  86  is secured by screws  76  to an upper surface of the divider  58  and is slightly spaced from the front flange  60 . The upper mounting brackets  86  are of similar construction to the lower mounting brackets  84  and each presents a forward face to which the upper tab  96  of one of the connecting straps  82  is secured by one of the screws  76 . A hole  118  is formed in the front flange  60  of the divider  58  to permit insertion and installation of the screw  76 . In order to block access to the head of the screw  76  that connects the upper tab  96  to the upper mounting bracket  86 , a channel-shaped cover  120  is removably attached by screws  76  to the upper mounting bracket  86  and extends forwardly to block the gap between the upper mounting bracket  86  and the front flange  60  of the divider  58 . 
         [0032]    If a potential thief is unable to remove the screws  76 , the thief must attempt to cut through the connecting straps  82  in order to be able to free the condenser coil assembly  44  for removal. The use of the channel members  88  and  90  in the connecting straps  82  makes it difficult to quickly cut through the connecting straps  82  and thereby greatly increases the amount of time and effort that must be expended to overcome the connecting straps  82 . The same types of screws  76  may be used to assemble the various components of the cabinet  14  to impede unauthorized attempts to disassemble the cabinet  14  to gain access to the evaporator coil assembly  34  and the condenser coil assembly  44 . 
         [0033]    The coil theft deterrent system  62  may further include plunger-type switches  122  positioned to activate when upper access panel  30  and/or second access panel  36  are removed. The switches  122  are connected to an alarm system  130  that may include a speaker  132  that broadcasts a loud audible alarm to scare off the potential thief The alarm system  130  may also cause a signal to be sent to a remote monitoring station (not shown) so that security personnel may be notified of the attempt at unauthorized intrusion. 
         [0034]    In addition or as an alternative to the plunger-type switches  122 , the coil theft deterrent system  62  may include a tri-axis vibration detection system  136  including one or more sensors  138  (e.g., an accelerometer) mounted on the evaporator coil compartment  32  and/or the condenser coil compartment  46  or on one of the exterior panels or grills  16 , 18 , 20 , 24 , 26 , 36 , 42 , and  50 . This vibration detection system  136  may be configured to detect vibrations due to an attempt at unauthorized intrusion into the evaporator compartment  32  and/or the condenser compartment  46 . The detected vibrations may trigger the audible alarm from the speaker  132 , and/or may notify the remote monitoring station. 
         [0035]    In addition or as an alternative to any one or more of the aforementioned subsystems  122  and  136 , the coil theft deterrent system  62  may include a refrigerant loss detection system  140  including one or more sensors  142  (e.g., a pressure sensor). This refrigerant loss detection system  140  may be configured to detect rapid refrigerant loss due to an attempt to cut the tubing providing refrigerant to the evaporator coil assembly  34  and/or the condenser coil assembly  44  in order to remove the evaporator coil assembly  34  and/or the condenser coil assembly  44 . The detected loss of refrigerant may trigger an audible alarm from the speaker  132 , and/or may notify the remote monitoring station. 
         [0036]    In addition or as an alternative to any one or more of the aforementioned subsystems  122 , 136 , and  140 , the coil theft deterrent system  62  may include a camera  144 , which may be covered by a protective, substantially transparent dome or other shield. In one implementation, the camera  144  may be configured to provide visual images of the air conditioner  10  or any one or more components therefore (e.g., the evaporator coil assembly  34  and/or the condenser coil assembly  44 ), from a vantage point internal or external to the cabinet  14 , and communicate those images to the remote monitoring station. In another implementation, the camera  144  may be substantially non-functioning and provided only to make potential thieves wary of tampering with the air conditioner  10 . 
         [0037]    In addition or as an alternative to any one or more of the aforementioned subsystems  122 , 136 , 140 , and  144  the coil theft deterrent system  62  may include one or more warning labels  146  prominently affixed to one or more external surfaces of the cabinet  14  to warn potential thieves that the air conditioner  10  is protected by a theft deterrent system in order to make potential thieves wary of tampering with the air conditioner  10 . 
         [0038]    It can thus be seen that the coil theft deterrent system  62  may frustrate and significantly delay efforts to steal the evaporator coil assembly  34  and the condenser coil assembly  44 . 
         [0039]    It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the invention. 
         [0040]    Since many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.