Patent ID: 8567205

Claim:
A condenser unit of an air cooled direct expansion air conditioning unit comprising a refrigerant cooling coil located behind a grate in a fenestration of an upright panel of a housing of the condensing unit, and having a top mounted exhaust fan disposed below an upper surface of the housing operative to draw cooling air into the housing through the grate and discharge the air as an upward exhaust stream, the condenser unit fitted with a separate inlet air flow router comprising: an imperforate upright wall panel attached to the housing of the condensing unit such that the imperforate upright wall panel is spaced outwardly from the grate and connected to the housing of the condensing unit at a top and a bottom of the upright housing panel on all but a front side of the condenser unit to provide a horizontal continuous plenum defined between the imperforate upright wall panel and the upright housing panel oriented around the sides and a rear side of the condenser unit for the entry of cooling air into the housing through the grate of the condenser unit; the imperforate upright wall panel forming an opening of the horizontal continuous plenum parallel to the front side of the condenser unit, the plenum opening oriented such that at least a majority of the cooling air drawn into the condenser unit by the top mounted exhaust fan is drawn into the plenum opening from the front side of the condenser unit which cooperates to draw at least a portion of the cooling air from the front side to a rear side intake of the condenser unit via the horizontal continuous plenum defined between the imperforate upright wall panel and the upright housing panel, the separate inlet air flow router being dimensioned and arranged about, and in contact with the condenser unit such that the cycle time of the condenser unit is reduced compared to the cycle time of the same condenser unit operated under essentially identical conditions in the absence of the separate inlet air flow router.