Automatic Condenser Cleaner

Abstract

An automatic condenser cleaner has a net, a first roller, a second roller, and a first brush. The net is placed in front of the condenser to filter an airflow onto the condenser and the net moves between a first roller and a second roller, with the first brush brushing to clean the net while the net moves between the first roller and the second roller.

Claims

1. An automatic condenser cleaner comprising a condenser, a net, a first roller, a second roller, and a first brush, wherein the net is placed in front of the condenser to filter an airflow onto the condenser and the net moves between a first roller and a second roller, and wherein the first brush is placed touching the net to brush clean the net when the net moves between the first roller and the second roller.

2. The automatic condenser cleaner of claim 1 wherein the net forms a continuous loop moving between the first roller and the second roller.

3. The automatic condenser cleaner of claim 2 wherein the net rotates around the first roller and the second roller.

4. The automatic condenser cleaner of claim 3 wherein the first roller is located at a first end of the continuous loop and the second roller is located at a second end of the continuous loop.

5. The automatic condenser cleaner of claim 4 wherein the net has a plurality of protrusions and the first roller and the second roller have a plurality of sprockets to engage the protrusions of the net.

6. The automatic condenser cleaner of claim 4 wherein the net has a track, wherein the track has a plurality of protrusions and the first roller and the second roller have a plurality of sprockets to engage the protrusions of the track.

7. The automatic condenser cleaner of claim 6 further comprising a motor to rotate the first roller.

8. The automatic condenser cleaner of claim 7 wherein the motor can reverse the rotation of the first roller so that the net may move in a first direction and then in a second direction when the motor reverses the rotation of the first roller.

9. The automatic condenser cleaner of claim 8 further comprising a second brush, wherein the second brush is placed touching the net to brush clean the net when the net moves between the first roller and the second roller, and wherein the first brush is located at or within less than half the distance from the first end to the second end of the continuous loop and the second brush is located at or within less than half the distance from the second end to the first end of the continuous loop.

10. The automatic condenser cleaner of claim 6 further comprising a second brush, wherein the second brush is placed inside the continuous loop and touching the net to brush clean the net when the net moves between the first roller and the second roller.

11. An automatic condenser cleaner comprising a condenser, a net, a first roller, and a brush, wherein the net is placed in front of the condenser to filter an airflow onto the condenser and the net moves along a first roller, and wherein the brush is placed touching the net to clean the net when the net moves between the first roller and the second roller, and wherein the net is longer than the distance between the first roller and the second roller and the net is flexible to be rolled onto the first roller and to be rolled onto the second roller.

12. The automatic condenser cleaner of claim 11 wherein the net has a plurality of protrusions and the first roller and the second roller have a plurality of sprockets to engage the protrusions of the net.

13. The automatic condenser cleaner of claim 11 wherein the net has a track, wherein the track has a plurality of protrusions and the first roller and the second roller have a plurality of sprockets to engage the protrusions of the track.

14. The automatic condenser cleaner of claim 13 further comprising a motor to rotate the first roller and the second roller, wherein the motor rotates the first roller back and forth and the motor rotates the second roller back and forth so that the net is rolled up onto the first roller or the net is rolled up onto the second roller.

15. The automatic condenser cleaner of claim 14 wherein the motor rotates the first roller to roll up the net onto the first roller and the motor rotates the second roller to roll up the net onto the second roller, moving the net towards the first roller and the net towards the second roller alternatingly at a predetermined interval.

16. The automatic condenser cleaner of claim 15 further comprising a second brush, wherein the second brush is placed touching the net to brush clean the net when the net moves between the first roller and the second roller, and wherein the first brush is located at or within less than half the distance from the first roller to the second roller and the second brush is located at or within less than half the distance from the second roller to the first end.

17. The automatic condenser cleaner of claim 15 further comprising a second brush, wherein the second brush is placed between the net and the condenser and touching the net to brush clean the net when the net moves between the first roller and the second roller

18. A heat exchanger with an automatic condenser cleaning system comprising, a condenser, a net, a first roller, a second roller, and a first brush, wherein the net is placed in front of the condenser to filter an airflow onto the condenser and the net moves between a first roller and a second roller, and wherein the first brush is placed touching the net to brush clean the net when the net moves between the first roller and the second roller.

19. A heat exchanger with an automatic condenser cleaning system of claim 18, wherein the net forms a continuous loop moving between the first roller and the second roller.

20. A heat exchanger with an automatic condenser cleaning system of claim 18, wherein the net is longer than the distance between the first roller and the second roller and the net is flexible to be rolled onto the first roller and to be rolled onto the second roller.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0019] FIG. 1 is a front view of an automatic condenser cleaner showing the net;

[0020] FIG. 2 is a side view of the automatic condenser cleaner showing the next front of the condenser;

[0021] FIG. 3 is a side view of the net rotating around a first roller and a second roller; and

[0022] FIG. 4 is a side view of another embodiment of the automatic condenser cleaner showing the net rotating around a first roller and a second roller.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

[0023] FIGS. 1-3 show an automatic condenser cleaner 10 having a condenser 15, a net 20, a first roller 25, a second roller 30, and a first brush 35. The net 20 is placed in front of the condenser 15 to filter an airflow 40 onto the condenser 10. The net 20 is designed to move between the first roller 25 and the second roller 30, in one direction or in two directions (back and forth) from the first roller 25 to the second roller 30 or from the second roller 30 to the first roller 25. The first brush 35 is placed touching the net 20 to brush clean the net 20 when the net 20 moves between the first roller 25 and the second roller 30.

[0024] One version of the automatic condenser 10 has the net 20 forming a continuous loop 45 moving between the first roller 25 and the second roller 30 or from the second roller 30 to the first roller 25. The net 20 formed in a continuous loop 45 rotates around the first roller 25 and the second roller 30, so the net 20 is continuously brushed cleaned by the first brush 35. The condenser 15 and the first brush 35 are mounted on a condenser base 50 or within a housing 55.

[0025] The first roller 25 of the automatic condenser 10 is located at a first end 60 of the continuous loop 45 and the second roller 30 is located at a second end 65 of the continuous loop 45. The first end 60 of the continuous loop 45 and the second end 65 of the continuous loop 45 are located at opposite ends of the continuous loop 45. The first roller 25 forms the first end 60 of the continuous loop 45, and the second roller 30 forms the second end 65 of the continuous loop 45. As seen in FIG. 1, the net 20 should be the length of the air filter (not shown because the net 20 may be used in lieu of the filter), if used, and the first brush 35 (and the second brush 105, as shown in FIGS. 2 & 4, and other brushes) should be as wide as or longer than the length of the net 20.

[0026] The net 20 may have a plurality of protrusions 70, and the first roller 25 and the second roller 30 have sprockets 75 to engage the protrusions 70 of the net 20, so the net 20 stays securely engaged to the first roller 25 and the second roller 30. An improved embodiment would have a track 80 on a side 85 of the net 20, so that the track 80 having a plurality of protrusions 70 will engage sprockets 75 on the first roller 25 and the second roller 30, so the net 20 stays securely engaged to the first roller 25 and the second roller 30.

[0027] The net 20 may be made of metal, plastic, mesh, fabric, cords, fibers, or any material used to form a net or a filter. The brush (whether the first brush 35 or the second brush 105) may be made of long bristles, short bristles, soft bristles, hard bristles, toothbrush like bristles, or comb shaped bristles as in hair comb. The rollers (the first roller 25 or the second roller 30) may be made of a pulley, a rolling cylinder, metal, plastic, wood, leather, rolled fabric, or any material a conventional roller may be made from. The rollers (the first roller 25 or the second roller 30) may have hard surface or soft surface to best grip and rotate the net 20. The track 80 may be made of metal, plastic, mesh, fabric, cords, fibers, or any material used to form a continuous chain. Thus, instead of the track 80 as shown, the track 80 may be made of chain links like a bicycle chain.

[0028] A motor 90 is attached to either the first roller 25 or the second roller 30 or both to rotate the net 20 around the first roller 25 and/or the second roller 30. The motor 90 can reverse the rotation of the first roller 25 and/or the second roller 30 so that the net 20 may move in a first direction 95 and then in a second direction 100 when the motor 90 reverses the rotation of the first roller 25 and or the second roller 30.

[0029] The automatic condenser cleaner 10 may have a second brush 105, wherein the second brush 105 is also placed touching the net 20 to brush clean the net 20 when the net 20 moves between the first roller 25 and the second roller 30. The second brush 105 is ideally located at or within less than half the distance from the second end 65 to the first end 60 of the continuous loop 45 and the first brush 35 is ideally located at or within less than half the distance from the first end 60 to the second end 65 of the continuous loop 45. However, the first brush 35 and the second brush 105 may be placed anywhere so long as the first brush 35 and the second brush 105 touches the net 20.

[0030] Another embodiment of the automatic condenser cleaner 10 has the motor 90 rotating the first roller 25 to pull the net 20 in one direction and the motor 90 rotating the second roller 30 to pull the net 20 in the opposite direction, moving the net towards the first roller 25 and/or the net 20 towards the second roller 30. Rotating the first roller 25 and the second roller 30 can be timed so that the net 20 moves in one direction and then in the other direction alternatingly, back and forth, at a predetermined interval.

[0031] The condenser along with the net 20, the first roller 25, the second roller 30, the first brush 35 and the second brush 105 are mounted in a housing 55. The housing may have a condenser base 50 to which the condenser 15 is mounted, or the housing 55 may be the frame or the outer frame of the heat exchanger 110, such as a refrigerator or a freezer. The automatic condenser cleaner 10 described herein may be a part of any form of heat exchangers 110, including but not limited to, a refrigerator, a freezer, a warmer, an air conditioning unit, and the like.

[0032] FIG. 4 shows a different embodiment of the automatic condenser cleaner 10. This embodiment of the automatic condenser cleaner 10 has a net 20 that is longer than the distance between the first roller 25 and the second roller 30 and the net 20 is flexible enough to be rolled onto the first roller 25 and to be rolled onto the second roller 30. The net 20 in this embodiment is rolled up into a roll around the first roller 25, pulling the net 20 away from the second roller 30. When the motor 90 rolls the second roller 30 (thus, reversing the roll of the first roller 25), the net 20 is pulled from the first roller 25 and the net 20 is rolled up into a roll around the second roller 30. A first brush 35 is placed near the first roller 25 and the second brush 105 is placed near the second roller 30 to brush the net 20 as the net 20 moves back and forth; therefore, the first brush 35 and the second brush 105 brushing from both directions over the net 20, improving the efficiency of the cleaning, thus cleanliness of the net 20.

[0033] As with the first embodiment, the net 20 may have a plurality of protrusions 70, and the first roller 25 and the second roller 30 have sprockets 75 to engage the protrusions 70 of the net 20, so the net 20 stays securely engaged to the first roller 25 and the second roller 30. An improved embodiment would have a track 80 on a side of the net 20, so that the track 80 having a plurality of protrusions 70 will engage sprockets 74 on the first roller 25 and the second roller 30, so the net 20 stays securely engaged to the first roller 25 and the second roller 30. For better traction and tracking, more than one track 80 may be used. For example, a first track 80 may be on the left side of the net 20, a second track may be on the right side of the net 20, and a third or a fourth track may be on about the middle portions of the net 20. The first roller 25 and the second roller 30 would have matching sprockets 75 to accept the protrusions of the net or the tracks. It would be a design choice to place sprockets 75 on the track 80 and the protrusions 70 on the first roller 25 and the second roller 30. The track 80 in this configuration needs to be flexible to roll up on either or both the first roller 25 and the second roller 30, along with the net 20.

[0034] The automatic condenser cleaner 10 may have the motor 90 rotating the first roller 25 to roll up the net 20 onto the first roller 25 and the motor 90 rotating the second roller 30 to roll up the net 20 onto the second roller 30, moving the net 20 towards the first roller 25 and the net 20 towards the second roller 30. The rotating of the first roller 25 and the second roller 30 can be timed so that the net 20 moves in one direction and then in the other direction alternatingly at a predetermined interval.

[0035] As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the first brush 35 may be placed outside of the continuous loop 45 and the second brush 105 may be placed inside of the continuous loop 45 (the continuous loop 45 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3), brushing both the inside and the outside of the net 20. The second brush 105 placed inside the continuous loop 45 may be placed there by the housing 55 or the condenser base 50 supporting the second brush. Similarly, although not shown, the first brush 60 may be placed at the front side of the net 20 and the second brush 105 (or a third brush) may be placed on the back side of the net 20 (the net shown in FIG. 4), brushing both the inside and the outside of the net 20. The ability to brush both sides of the net 30 improves the cleanliness of the net 20. The outside of the net 20 is the side of the net 20 away from the condenser 15 and the inside of the net 20 is the side of the net towards the condenser 15 as shown in FIG. 4.

[0036] While the invention has been shown and described with reference to different embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that variations in form, detail, compositions and operation may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the accompanying claims.