Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6280321
-
Patent Number
6,280,321
-
Date Filed
Tuesday, January 18, 200024 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, August 28, 200122 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
- Joyce; Harold
- Boles; Derek S.
Agents
- Shughart Thomson & Kilroy P.C.
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 454 301
- 454 302
- 454 303
- 454 304
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A slot diffuser includes a pair of elongate and parallel side walls spaced by pairs of bridges. The bridges include feet that slide along receivers in the side walls such that the bridges can be positioned at any location therealong and provide support to the bridges and stability to the diffuser. The bridges include slots that extend between the side rails and that receive ends of air flow control blades. The air flow control blades have an elongate planar portion supported by rods extending outwardly on either side of the planar portions to support the blades in the slots. The blades are removable without disassembling the entire diffuser. Each bridge has an arcuate cover that reduces air drag and each bridge also has a low profile to further reduce air drag and thus reduce noise produced by the diffuser.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to slot air diffusers or airbars that control and distribute air from a heating and cooling ventilation system into a room and, in particular, to improvements in bridges that support air control blades within such diffusers.
Air diffusers are utilized to distribute air into a room from a plenum in such a manner as to control the direction of the air into the room and/or the volume of flow of air from each diffuser. Such diffusers may be mounted in a ceiling, walls or other structures as required by the particular architectural need and the present invention is designed for any such uses.
Many types of diffuser have existed in the prior art such as is shown in the Hungerford U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,967. Such diffusers often include a body or frame with side rails connected by bridges that in turn support air control blades.
Prior art bridges have been restrictive as to the positioning of the air control blades supported by the bridges. Furthermore, the bridges of the prior art are normally designed such that the entire diffuser must be disassembled when it is necessary to replace a control blade or it becomes desirable to be able to exchange one type of control blade for a different style blade. It is desirable to make such changes without disassembly of the diffuser or of room structure around the diffuser. Also, it is normally important to limit noise produced by air diffusers. Prior air diffusers have bridges that create very turbulent air flow about the bridges and are therefore quite noisy. The air control blades also often vibrate or rattle in the air flow making additional noise.
Therefore, it is desirable to have a diffuser and especially a bridge for such a diffuser that overcomes these problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An air diffuser is provided that operates in conjunction with an air delivery plenum to supply heating and ventilation air to a room under directional and volume control of the diffuser. The diffuser includes a pair of slide rails joined by end plates in such a manner as to be operably mountable within a ceiling or a wall surface and to be flow joined with an air delivery plenum. The diffuser also includes at least one pair of bridges which are positioned opposed to each other and a set of air flow control blades which are mounted in and extend between the bridges. The bridges each include a slot for receiving an end of each blade such that the blades may move laterally from side to side within the slot and such that the blades are preferably in overlapping relationship with one another in at least some configurations of the diffuser.
The blades are generally parallel to one another and are slidable relative to each other, as well as to the bridges, so as to be selectively positionable within the diffuser. In this manner the blades may as a pair be positioned anywhere between being fully to one side of the diffuser or fully to the opposite side of the diffuser. Furthermore, the overlap of the blades may be varied to allow more or less spreading therebetween. That is, as the blades slide relative to each other to a more separated position, the space obstructed by the blades increases, thereby producing a greater obstruction to air, and in this way air flow is dampened. For increased flow the blades are positioned for greater overlap. Moving the blades from side to side changes the directional output of the air from the diffuser. Thus, the blade design allows for a wide variety of directional air flows, as well as volumes of air flow through the diffuser.
Each of the bridges includes a spring arm that is located within the slot that receives the blades and which engages both of the blades. The spring arm provides a constant bias to the blades that maintains the blades in spaced relationship with respect to a rear wall of each slot, so as to reduce the likelihood that a blade will become wedged against the wall. This allows free movement of the blades within the slot for purposes of adjustment. Furthermore, the spring arm provides a constant small amount of bias to each of the blades so as to prevent the blades from rattling within the diffuser as air passes the blades. The bridges have feet at each end that are slidably mounted in receivers in the side rails to allow movement of the bridge along the side rails, but yet provide support to the bridges. Each bridge also includes a cover. The cover is curved and higher near the back of each bridge then on a blade receiving side. Preferably, the covers are arcuate and have a radius that approximates the thickness of the bridge.
OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION
Therefore the objects of the present inventions are: to provide a slot air diffuser that includes bridges that allow for easy manual adjustment of air flow blades supported by the brides; to provide such a diffuser wherein the bridges allow easy change out or repair of the air control blades without disassembly of the diffuser or surrounding room structure; to provide such a diffuser wherein the bridges provide biasing to the blade to reduce noise and rattling of the blades in the air flow; to provide such a diffuser wherein the bridges have a low profile so as to produce a comparatively small footprint with respect to the air flow through the diffuser to reduce noise due to turbulence produced at the bridge; to provide such a diffuser having a top that has a radius equal to the thickness of the bridge to reduce air turbulence and noise associated with the bridge; to provide a diffuser having a bridge that interconnects with and slides along side rails of the diffuser to allow for easy positioning of the bridge and so as to make the bridge self supporting, such that the air control blades may be removed therefrom without removing the bridges; to provide such diffuser wherein a single bridge may be used with more then one type of air control blade; and to provide such a diffuser that is easy to construct, requires comparatively few parts, is simple to install, is inexpensive to produce and is especially well suited for the intended usage thereof.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention.
The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is a perspective view of a ceiling with a diffuser having blade supporting bridges in accordance with the present invention, shown spaced from an air delivery plenum in the ceiling just prior to final assembly, with portions of the ceiling broken away to show detail thereof.
FIG. 2
is a fragmentary perspective view from below the air diffuser, showing side rails, the bridges and a pair of blades, with portions broken away to show internal detail thereof.
FIG. 3
is a cross-sectional view of the air diffuser, taken along line
3
—
3
of FIG.
1
.
FIG. 4
is a cross-sectional view of the air diffuser, taken along line
4
—
4
of
FIG. 3
, illustrating interaction of the blades with a spring arm and with the blades positioned to be fully spread and blocking flow of air through the diffuser.
FIG. 5
is a cross-sectional view of the air diffuser, taken along the same line as
FIG. 4
, illustrating the interaction of the blades with the spring arm and with the blades fully overlapping so as to maximize air flow through the diffuser.
FIG. 6
is an enlarged and fragmentary perspective view of the air diffuser from below with portions broken away to show detail.
FIG. 7
is an enlarged and fragmentary cross sectional view of a bridge of the air diffuser, taken along line
7
—
7
of FIG.
3
.
FIG. 8
is an enlarged and fragmentary cross sectional view of a bridge of the diffuser, taken along line
8
—
8
of FIG.
3
.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure.
The reference in numeral
1
generally designates an air bar or slot air diffuser in accordance with the present invention. The diffuser
1
is shown in
FIG. 1
just prior to final installation in a room
4
. The room
4
has a ceiling
5
with an air distribution plenum
6
located above the ceiling
5
opening into a boot
7
. The boot
7
has flanges
9
and
10
that mate with the diffuser
1
and a plurality of snaps or fasteners
11
which secure the diffuser
1
to the plenum
6
and, in particular, to the boot
7
. In this manner air being distributed by the plenum
6
is supplied to the top or plenum facing side
12
of the diffuser
1
. As used herein the terms top and bottom refer to the diffuser
1
as seen in
FIG. 3
; however, it is foreseen that the diffuser of the present invention may be used in a variety of orientations, such as in ceilings, walls or the like and the terms refer to direction within the diffuser and not room direction.
The diffuser
1
includes a pair of side frame rails
16
and
17
joined at opposite ends by end plates
18
. The diffuser
1
also includes two pairs of bridges
22
(see
FIG. 2
) and two pairs of air pattern controller blades
23
(FIG.
6
). In particular, this diffuser
1
has two sets of blades
23
which may be the same or different, depending on the needed air distribution. It is foreseen that at diffusers
1
may have only one set of blades
23
or multiple adjacent sets, as needed.
The frame rails
16
and
17
are generally elongate and each has a sidewall
28
and a bottom flange
29
that extends outwardly from the lower or outer most edge of each side wall
28
in facing relationship to the flange
29
of the opposite side rail, but spaced so as to form a slot
31
therebetween. Each side wall
28
has an interior surface
33
(FIG.
3
), such that the surfaces
33
of opposed side walls
28
face each other. Likewise each bottom flange
29
has an inward facing or interior surface
34
that is generally perpendicular to the flow of air through the diffuser
1
.
The surfaces
33
and
34
cooperate with the blades
23
to control the directional flow of air through the diffuser
1
. Each side wall
28
also includes upper and lower flanges
36
and
37
that cooperate to form a receiver
38
within which a respective side of each of the bridges
22
is received in such a manner as to allow the bridges
22
to be slidably positioned along the rails
16
and
17
.
Each of the bridges
22
is sized and shaped to span between a pair of opposed side rails
16
and
17
. Each of the bridges
22
has a pair of feet
41
and
42
(
FIG. 2
) that extend in opposite directions and are sized and shaped to be slidably received in the receivers
38
. The bridges
22
are thus supported by the side rails
16
and
17
, but are slidable in the receivers
38
during assembly and during certain modifications of the diffuser
1
.
Each bridge
22
has a lower wall
44
and an upper wall
45
(
FIGS. 7 and 8
) that extend between the feet
41
and
42
, are parallel to one another and are spaced by a rear wall
46
. For each bridge
22
the lower wall
44
, upper wall
45
and rear wall
46
form a blade receiving slot
48
(
FIG. 8
) that operably slidably receives the blades
23
. The rear wall
46
has a central aperture
47
(
FIG. 4
) located therein. Each of the slot lower walls
44
include a pair of spaced rests
51
that are cylindrical in shape and protrude upwardly from the surface of the lower wall
44
to expose a semi-circular surface
49
. The rests
51
are aligned parallel to the frame rails
16
and
17
and are spaced from each other. The rear wall aperture
47
includes a portion
53
that is located just laterally with respect to the rests
51
. Mounted in each of the slots
48
between the rests
51
is a spring arm or member
56
. Each spring member
56
includes a mounting post
59
that extends between the lower wall
44
and upper wall
45
in close proximity to the rear wall
46
and a spring
60
. Each spring
60
is elongate and curves so as to be arcuate and so as to be bowed outwardly from the rear wall
46
. Each spring
60
is positioned to engage the blades
23
associated therewith, as will be discussed below.
Each bridge
22
has a cover
61
that includes a curved or arcuate top surface
62
that is rounded with a radius, that is approximately equal to the thickness of the bridge
22
and that allows smooth transition with the slot upper wall
45
from a rear
72
to a front
73
(see
FIG. 8
) thereof. The rounded feature of the surface
61
reduces drag of air across the bridge
22
and thus reduces noise created by air passing the associated bridge
22
, as this air is less turbulent. Each of the blades
23
includes a generally planar and elongate portion
63
joined along an edge thereof to a rectangular shaped rod or lip
65
that is slightly larger than the planar portion
63
and at an opposite end to a ramp
67
and a round second rod
68
that is comparatively larger in diameter than the thickness of the planar portion
63
.
The rod
68
is approximately the same size as the slot
48
so as to be received completely therein in such a manner as to allow the blades
23
to slide within the slots
48
. The rods
68
are slightly longer than the remaining parts of each blade
28
, including the planar portion
63
, ramp
67
and rod
65
. In this manner the rods
63
have pegs or posts
69
that are slot followers and are received further into the slot
48
then remaining portions of the blade
23
. As is seen in
FIGS. 3 through 5
, the planar portions
63
of the blades
23
have ends
70
that are supported on the rests
51
and abut against a respective spring
60
.
In use the diffuser
1
blades
23
may be positioned from side to side or with more or less overlapping as is necessary to direct air. The blades
23
may be removed by pushing toward one bridge
22
to overcome the spring
60
and allow the posts
69
to enter the aperture
47
. At this time the opposite end of the blade
23
may be moved away from the slot
48
and the blade
23
is then completely removed. The reverse procedure allows replacement of a repair blade
23
or a completely different type of blade, as needed.
It is to be understood that while certain forms of the present invention have been illustrated and described herein, it is not to be limited to the specific forms or arrangement of parts described and shown.
Claims
- 1. An air diffuser bridge for mounting air control blades; said bridge comprising:a) a bridge body having an elongate slot for receiving at least one air control blade; said slot having associated therewith a top elongate wall and a planar bottom wall spaced parallel to said top wall by a rear wall, said slot being adapted to slidably receive a control blade therealong; said top wall having a cover; said cover being arcuate and curving downward from near a rear thereof to near a front of said slot top wall so as to reduce drag on air passing said cover.
- 2. The bridge according to claim 1 wherein:a) said cover has a radius that is approximately equal to the thickness of said bridge.
- 3. The bridge according to claim 1 that is a first bridge in combination with a second bridge; said first and second bridges abutting in back to back relationship; the covers of said first and second bridges forming an elongate structure having a semicircular cross section.
- 4. The bridge according to claim 1 wherein:a) said slot rear wall has at least one aperture therealong for operably receiving a portion of a control blade during assembly.
- 5. The bridge according to claim 1 wherein:a) said slot contains a spring mechanism for operably biasing against an air control blade during use.
- 6. The bridge according to claim 5 wherein:a) said spring mechanism includes an arcuate spring sized and positioned to abut an air control blade mounted in said slot.
- 7. The bridge according to claim 6 wherein:a) said spring mechanism includes a post upon which said spring is mounted; said post extending between said top and bottom walls and being located near said rear wall.
- 8. The bridge according to claim 1 including:a) a pair of slide feet mounted on respective opposite ends of said slot and sized and shaped to be slidingly received on a pair of diffuser rails respectively.
- 9. The bridge according to claim 8 in combination with a pair of side rails and wherein:a) said side rails each include an elongate receiver for slidably receiving said bridge feet.
- 10. The combination according to claim 9 wherein said bridge is a first bridge and including a second bridge spaced from said first bridge and secured to said side rails; said first and second bridges mounting a pair of air control blades therebetween.
- 11. The combination according to claim 10 wherein:a) each of said blades includes a planar portion extending between said bridges and a pair of mounting pegs extending outwardly from said planar portions from respective opposite ends thereof; each of said pegs being slidingly received in a slot of a respective bridge and opposite ends of each planar portion positioned to engage a respective spring member during use.
- 12. An air diffuser comprising:a) a pair of parallel spaced side rails; each rail having an elongate receiver; b) a pair of bridges slidably joined to said side rails; each of said bridges including an elongate body with slide feet positioned at opposite ends thereof; each of said bridge feet being captured in a respective side rail receiver such that said bridges are supported by said side rails but slidable therealong; each of said bridges also having an elongate slot formed of a bottom wall, rear wall and top wall; each of said bridges having a respective spring mechanism mounted in a slot thereof; each of said bridges also having a cover over each top wall; each of said covers having a radius approximately a thickness of an associated bridge so as to reduce drag on air passing each bridge; and c) a pair of air control blades; each blade being elongate and having a planar portion extending between a pair of bridges; each blade also having a pair of mounting pegs extending outward from opposite sides of a respective blade planar portion; said pegs being received in respective bridge slots; said blade planar portion opposite ends each being received against a respective spring member.
- 13. In an elongate air diffuser bridge for operably joining together a pair of side rails and operably supporting at least one air control blade; the improvement comprising:a) said bridge having a top and opposed first and second sides, said first side being a control blade receiving side having a control blade receiving slot formed therein, said bridge including a cover extending along said top thereof; said cover sloping downwardly from said second side of the bridge to said control blade receiving side of the bridge.
- 14. The bridge according to claim 13 wherein:a) said cover is arcuate.
- 15. The bridge according to claim 14 wherein:a) said bridge has a thickness; and b) said cover has a radius substantially equal to the thickness of said bridge.
- 16. An air diffuser comprising:a) a first bridge including: i) a bridge body having an elongate slot; said slot having associated therewith a top elongate wall with a cover; said cover being arcuate and curving downward from near a rear thereof to near a front of said slot top wall so as to reduce drag on air passing said cover; and ii) a pair of slide feet mounted on respective opposite ends of said slot; b) a pair of side rails, each of said side rails including an elongate receiver slidably receiving a respective one of said slide feet; c) a second bridge spaced from said first bridge and secured to said side rails; and d) a pair of air control blades mounted between said first and second bridges.
- 17. The air diffuser according to claim 16 wherein:a) each of said blades includes a planar portion extending between said bridges and a pair of mounting pegs extending outwardly from said planar portions from respective opposite ends thereof; each of said pegs being slidingly received in a slot of a respective bridge and opposite ends of each planar portion positioned to engage a respective spring member during use.
US Referenced Citations (7)