PLENUM ARRANGEMENT FOR AN INTERIOR MOUNTED CONDENSER OF A TEMPERATURE CONTROL SYSTEM

Abstract

An interior mounted condenser for temperature control in a building has a condenser housing with an inlet opening facing into the building interior, an outlet opening communicating with an exterior outlet through an exterior wall of the building. A condenser coil and a fan are disposed in the housing. The condenser also has a plenum including an inlet section with an inlet end communicating with an exterior inlet section in the exterior building wall and an interior section that runs along an interior surface of the condenser housing. The interior section of the plenum communicates with the inlet opening of the condenser housing. The fan generates a flow of air from regions external of the building, through the inlet section of the plenum, through the interior section of the plenum, to the condenser coil in the condenser housing and subsequently through the exterior outlet section in the exterior wall.

Claims

1. An interior mounted condenser for a temperature control system of a building (14), the building (14) having an exterior wall (16) separating a building interior from an exterior, the wall (16) having an opening (18) with an interior inlet section (20) and an exterior outlet section (22), the condenser comprising: a condenser housing (40) having an inlet opening (42) facing into the building interior and an outlet opening (44) communicating with the exterior outlet section (22), a plenum (50) including an inlet section (52) with an inlet end communicating with the exterior inlet section (20) in the exterior wall (16) of the building (14) and an interior section (54) that runs at least partly along an interior surface of the condenser housing (40), the interior section of the plenum (50) communicating with the inlet opening (42) of the condenser housing (40), a condenser coil (30) and a fan (32) disposed in the condenser housing (40), the fan (32) generating a flow of air from regions external of the building (14) through the exterior inlet section opening (20) in the exterior wall (16), through the inlet section (52) of the plenum (50) and then through the interior section of the plenum (50) to the condenser coil (30) in the condenser housing (40) and subsequently through the exterior outlet section (22) of the opening in the exterior wall (16).

2. The condenser of claim 1, wherein the interior inlet section (20) and an exterior outlet section (22) all of the opening (18) in the exterior wall of the building (14) are laterally adjacent to one another.

3. The condenser of claim 1, wherein the plenum (50) directs air substantially horizontally from the inlet section (20) to the outlet section (22).

4. The condenser of claim 1, further comprising a control (34) that functions to generate a flow of refrigerant through the condenser coil (30) and also functions to control operation of the fan (32) for generating an airflow across the condenser coil (30).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] FIG. 1 is an exterior view of the condenser mounted in an extra wall of a building and beneath a window sill of the building.

[0014] FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the condenser mounted in the exterior wall of the building.

[0015] FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the condenser mounted in the exterior wall of the building.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0016] A condenser in accordance with the invention is identified generally by the numeral 10 in FIGS. 1-3. The condenser 10 is mounted within a building unit 12 in a multi-story building 14. More particularly, the multistory building 14 has an exterior wall 16 with an opening 18 having an exterior inlet section 20 and an exterior outlet section 22 horizontally adjacent to one another. Inlet and outlet louvers 24 and 26 are mounted respectively at the exterior inlet and outlet sections 20 and 22 of the opening 18, as shown in FIG. 2.

[0017] The condenser 10 includes a condenser coil 30, a fan 32 and controls 34. The controls 34 function to generate a flow of refrigerant through the condenser coil 30 and also function to control operation of the fan 32 for generating an airflow across the condenser coil 30.

[0018] The condenser coil 30, the fan 32 and the controls 34 are disposed in a condenser housing 40 that is positioned in the building unit 12 adjacent to the exterior wall 16 of the building 14. The housing 40 includes an inlet opening 42 facing toward the interior of the building unit 12 and an outlet opening 44 facing toward the exterior outlet section 22 of the opening 18 in the exterior wall 16 of the building 14.

[0019] The condenser 10 further includes a plenum 50. The plenum 50 includes an inlet section 52 with an inlet end communicating with the inlet section 20 in the opening 18 in the exterior wall 16 of the building 14. The plenum 50 further includes an interior section 54 that runs at least partly along an interior surface of the condenser housing 40, and hence along a part of the housing 40 facing into the building unit 12. The interior section 54 of the plenum communicates with the inlet opening 42 in the condenser housing 40.

[0020] With the above-described arrangement, the fan 32 generates a flow of air from regions external of the building 14 through the exterior inlet section 20 of the opening 18 in the exterior wall 16. This flow of external air continues through the inlet section 52 of the plenum and then through the interior section 54 of the plenum 50. The fan 32 then draws this flow of air through the condenser housing 40, across the coil 30 and then through the exterior outlet section 22 of the opening 18 in the exterior wall 16 of the building 14. Thus, the air undergoes a substantially 180 change in direction by flowing first substantially perpendicularly through the exterior wall 16 of the building via the inlet section 20 of the opening 18 in the exterior wall 16, along the interior section 54 of the plenum 50 in a direction substantially parallel to the exterior wall 16 of the building 14 and then in an outward direction across the condenser coil 30 and through the exterior outlet section 22 of the opening 18 in the exterior wall 16 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the exterior wall 16.

[0021] The invention achieves several advantages. In particular, the condenser unit can be mounted in or near a particular building unit 12 and at least partly on the interior of the building unit 12. Thus, long runs of tubing for refrigerant from the building roof are avoided completely. Second, the plenum directs air substantially horizontally from the inlet section 20 to the outlet section 22 without a significant vertical change in direction or position. As a result, the inlet and outlet louvers 24 and 26 can be aligned horizontally with one another and at a position, for example, beneath a windowsill in the building unit 12. The result is a pleasing architectural effect as illustrated in FIG. 2. Additionally, the condenser 10 can be structurally and functionally identical to the condenser units that typically are mounted on the roof of a multistory building. As result, existing equipment can be used without a significant engineering or design investment.