Patent Application
20220134838
The present invention relates generally to the field of air treatment systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to an air treatment system for recreational vehicles (RV) or trailers. The innovative design of air treatment system for recreational vehicle enables the system to be placed unconventionally in the lower part of the recreational vehicle or trailer, thereby not occupying any space outside the RV overall dimensions and is not visible outside. The air treatment system provides heating, cooling, dehumidification, ventilation, air-purification, heavy-duty drying through a single integrated structure. Accordingly, this disclosure makes specific reference thereto the present invention. Nonetheless, it is to be appreciated that aspects of the present invention are also equally applicable to other like applications, devices and methods of manufacture.
Recreational vehicles often abbreviated as RV is a motor vehicle comprising of living quarters designed for accommodation. Families and retirees often use recreational vehicles to travel places nearby home by road, travel with more of the comforts of home, including pets, or a combination of both. Various types of RVs such as motorhomes, campervans, caravans (also known as travel trailers and camper trailers), fifth-wheel trailers, popup campers, truck campers or the like, are available in the market. The size of the recreational vehicles ranges from the size of being the size of a van all the way up to the size of a large bus.
By way of background, recreational vehicle and trailers industry grew fast, improving quality, living space, comfort, aesthetic look or the like, however, very little innovation has been done in air-treatment devices for these recreational vehicles, which conceptually remain the same since decades. Usually, a plurality of air filters and air conditioner units are used for cleaning and cooling the air inside the recreational vehicle and to provide air ventilation for the users staying inside the recreational vehicle. The air conditioner units are usually heavy and are conventionally installed on a roof surface of the recreational vehicle, in order to save space inside the vehicle. However, weight of such multitude of air conditioners changes the center of gravity and other mechanical dynamics of the vehicle, and creates unbalancing and rocking instability.
The existing air-conditioner technology requires an additional roof reinforcement to support the weight and shocks. The additional roof reinforcement increases the overall weight of the recreational vehicle. The additional weights increase the pulling force required to move the RV or trailer, thereby increase the fuel consumed for the operation of the vehicle.
Additionally the heavy weight, air conditioners are quite large in size and creates resistance particularly to lateral winds, thereby exposing the vehicle to overturning. Moreover, the height of the existing air conditioner over the roof increases the possibility of accidents, damages or injuries caused by contact with trees, wire cables, wrapping with banners, collision with bridges and parking gates, or the like. This causes damage and loss to the user of the recreational vehicles, and requires the user to frequently maintain the vehicle for ready use.
As part of the existing air conditioning technology, a large number of additional parts have to be installed indoor the vehicle to provide air distribution and proper sealing from rain and snow. Also, the current air conditioner technology requires people with extensive experience in the installation, trained maintenance and service which have to be provided working above the roof with safety risks. Further, the placement of the air conditioner units above the vehicle over the roof makes it difficult to service the system, as a person needs to climb the roof for servicing and maintenance of the air treatment system.
Furthermore, different systems or devices are utilized for serving different purposes. For example, a heat furnace with a separate ducting is required for heating air and an air-cooling unit is separately installed for cooling the air. Traditionally, the heating is provided by a furnace, a gas burner powered by natural gas, such as LPG, propane, butane, located in a different place of the vehicle, more often inside the indoor furniture. Use of plurality of air treatment systems makes the complete vehicle heavy and causes problem in the operation of the vehicle. Also, due to use of multiple systems and their installation, space available inside the RV/Trailer is reduced, which increases installation costs and failure possibilities.
Additionally, according to several environmental protection protocols and treaty, modern age technologies have raised strict limitations on the use of refrigerants such as Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC), or the like. However, the technology used for air conditioner system in recreational vehicles is old and of the times when such limitations were not existing, and therefore, such air conditioner systems utilizes large quantities of refrigerants, which leads to degradation of environment conditions. Also, the old technology-based conditioner systems have poor efficiency.
Therefore, there exists a long felt need in the art for an air treatment system for recreational vehicles which performs multiple functions such as cooling, heating, dehumidification, ventilation, etc. There is also a long felt need in the art for an air treatment system for recreational vehicles that can be easily installed on the vehicle without any assistance from an expert or trained person. There is also a long felt need in the art for an air treatment system for recreational vehicles which is light weight and small in size, therefore occupies less space of the recreational vehicle. There is also a long felt need in the art for an air treatment system for recreational vehicles that maintains the center of gravity of the vehicle and does not creates unbalancing and rocking instability. Moreover, there is a long felt need in the art for an air treatment system for recreational vehicles that is installed in a position such that the system does not collides with trees, wires, etc., thereby preventing any damages caused to the vehicle and the user due to such collision. Also, there is a long felt need in the art for an air treatment system for recreational vehicles to be installed in a position such that the system is easily reachable and servicing can be performed conveniently. Additionally, there is a long felt need in the art for an air treatment system for recreational vehicles which comprises more than one system such as heating unit, cooling unit, or the like in a single integrated structure. Further, there is a long felt need in the art for an air treatment system for recreational vehicles that complies with the modern environmental protection protocols and treaty, and accordingly use the refrigerants in limited quantity. Finally, there is a long felt need in the art for an air treatment system for recreational vehicles that is efficient, light weight, cost effective and provides user convenience.
The novel air treatment system is a single body system comprising a cooling air module having a refrigerating cycle and air heat exchangers working on electricity, a heating module having an incorporated fuel/Natural-Gas burner acting as an air furnace, and a ventilation module to vent out the gases and heat.
The subject matter disclosed and claimed herein, in one embodiment thereof, discloses a single metal sheet body air treatment system comprising a first chamber for providing air treatment, heating, cooling, dehumidification and air-purification, a second chamber to receive the return air, before treatment, a third chamber to remove extra heat absorbed by the system during the air-cooling and a fourth chamber acting as a noise containment, with perforated shields and resonator to low the blower's sound.
In this manner, the novel air treatment system of the present invention for recreational vehicles accomplishes all of the forgoing objectives, and provides a relatively environment friendly, easily installable, light weight, convenient and cost-effective solution to provide features such as air cooling, heating, ventilation, dehumidification, air purification and heavy duty drying by using a single integrated unit. The air treatment system of the present invention is also user friendly, inasmuch as the system is easily installable and serviceable, and do not require an expert or a skilled person to install the system onto the recreational vehicles.
The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosed innovation. This summary is not an extensive overview, and it is not intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the scope thereof. Its sole purpose is to present some general concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
The subject matter disclosed and claimed herein, in one embodiment thereof, discloses a novel air treatment system for recreational vehicles (RV) that is placed in the lower part of the RV and thus does not occupy space outside the RV overall dimensions and is also not visible from outside thus giving an aesthetic appeal to the RV. The novel air treatment system of the present invention provides heating, cooling, dehumidification, ventilation, air-purification and heavy-duty drying, all through a single body novel air treatment system. Further, a furnace required to produce heat is integrated into the air treatment system thus using components of the air treatment system.
The novel air treatment system is a single body system comprising a cooling air module having a refrigerating cycle and air heat exchangers working on electricity, a heating module having an incorporated fuel/Natural-Gas burner acting as an air furnace, and a ventilation module to vent out the gases and heat.
The subject matter disclosed and claimed herein, in one embodiment thereof, discloses a single metal sheet body air treatment system comprising a first chamber for providing air treatment, heating, cooling, dehumidification and air-purification, a second chamber to receive the return air, before treatment, a third chamber to remove extra heat absorbed by the system during the air-cooling and a fourth chamber acting as a noise containment, with perforated shields and resonator to low the blower's sound.
The subject matter disclosed and claimed herein, in one embodiment thereof, discloses an apparatus to be used in RV lower section which provides air-cooling and air heating simultaneously. The combination of the fuel burner with air conditioning in the present invention controls indoor temperature, cold or hot, which is not possible with separated dehumidifiers currently available. During the air-cooling performed by the apparatus, the incoming airflow condensate as much water as possible accordingly to the humidity/temperature conditions of the entering air making the airflow dry and cold, thereafter, the airflow is blown through a heat exchanger thus airflow absorbs heat and expands, thus becoming dried and comfortable. The apparatus eliminates dampness, humidity, molds, and can be used to dry cloths and furniture and provides a healthy environment even in rainy and wet days, all around the year.
The present invention offers a new system and approach for air-conditioning in recreational vehicle design which does not occupy space outside the RV/Trailer overall dimensions and is not visible outside. The system provides heating, cooling, dehumidification, ventilation, air-purification, heavy-duty drying all in one module and body. The novel system can be easily installed and maintained from the ground, and does not require a user to climb the vehicle for repairing or replacement.
The present invention improves vehicle stability reducing rocking and lower the center of gravity. Further, the system eliminates wind resistance reducing the risk of overturning. Since the system is not place outside the vehicle or on the vehicle, the system eliminates the risk of collision with trees or wire cables banners, bridges or shrink parking gates and other similar objects.
The system of the present invention is reducing cost and also allows for weight reduction as no additional roof-frames to support external air-conditioners. The components of the present invention can work using alternative energy sources such as solar panels with back-up batteries and generators as well.
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects of the disclosed innovation are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles disclosed herein can be employed and are intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other advantages and novel features will become apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the drawings.
The description refers to provided drawings in which similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the different views, and in which:
The innovation is now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding thereof. It may be evident, however, that the innovation can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate a description thereof. Various embodiments are discussed hereinafter. It should be noted that the figures are described only to facilitate the description of the embodiments. They are not intended as an exhaustive description of the invention and do not limit the scope of the invention. Additionally, an illustrated embodiment need not have all the aspects or advantages shown. Thus, in other embodiments, any of the features described herein from different embodiments may be combined.
As noted above, there exists a long felt need in the art for an air treatment system for recreational vehicles which performs multiple functions such as cooling, heating, dehumidification, ventilation, etc. There is also a long felt need in the art for an air treatment system for recreational vehicles that can be easily installed on the vehicle without any assistance from an expert or trained person. There is also a long felt need in the art for an air treatment system for recreational vehicles which is light weight and small in size, therefore occupies less space of the recreational vehicle. There is also a long felt need in the art for an air treatment system for recreational vehicles that maintains the center of gravity of the vehicle and does not creates unbalancing and rocking instability. Moreover, there is a long felt need in the art for an air treatment system for recreational vehicles that is installed in a position such that the system does not collides with trees, wires, etc., thereby preventing any damages caused to the vehicle and the user due to such collision. Also, there is a long felt need in the art for an air treatment system for recreational vehicles to be installed in a position such that the system is easily reachable and servicing can be performed conveniently. Additionally, there is a long felt need in the art for an air treatment system for recreational vehicles which comprises more than one system such as heating unit, cooling unit, or the like in a single integrated structure. Further, there is a long felt need in the art for an air treatment system for recreational vehicles that complies with the modern environmental protection protocols and treaty, and accordingly use the refrigerants in limited quantity. Finally, there is a long felt need in the art for an air treatment system for recreational vehicles that is efficient, light weight, cost effective and provides user convenience.
Referring initially to the drawings,
The apparatus 100 of the present invention for cooling the air utilizes a refrigerator compressor 105 for the compression of a refrigerant material into a condenser heat exchanger 107 through a first piping 106. From the condenser heat exchanger 107, through an orifice tube 108, the refrigerant expands into an evaporator heat exchanger 109 crossed by air-flow introduced into the apparatus 100 through the air intake 112 which is sucked in by the blower 113. During the expansion, the refrigerant reduces its temperature, thus, cooling the evaporator heat exchanger 109. Also, the refrigerant absorbs the heat from the indoor air-flow and then the heated refrigerant returns to the refrigerator compressor 105 through a second piping 110.
The condenser heat exchanger 107 during the cooling operation is kept ventilated by the airflow generated by the first blower 111. The air flow from the first blower 111 is required to cool the refrigerator compressor 105 and remove the heat from the condenser heat exchanger 107. The exhausted airflow is expelled to the outside by means of the first blower 111. During the crossing of indoor-air-conditioned air flow through the evaporator heat exchanger 109, the air gets refrigerated and dried into a chamber. From the chamber, the refrigerated airflow leaves the apparatus through the flanges at the left extreme of the chamber and becomes available for the air-distribution.
During the air-cooling process, the power board 104 supplies and controls the refrigerator compressor 105, the first blower 111, and the blower 113. The power board 104 also controls the heavy-duty dehumidification and the air purification device.
The air treatment apparatus 100 of the present invention for heating the air operates in a heating mode and can be operated through a remote switchboard 127. The apparatus 100 integrates a furnace, burning fuel or natural gas. The combustible fuel is provided to the burner through a fitting 116 and its pipe which feeds a valve 117 which supplies the combustible fuel to a burner assembly 118. The burner assembly 118 includes sensors and electrodes and fuel orifice. The combustible fuel then flows through the orifice before and get ignited. The combustible fuel burns into a sealed heat-exchanger/burner 119 positioned in line after the burner assembly 118. The power board 104 controls the entire burning process that takes place in the apparatus 100. The sealed heat-exchanger/burner 119 acts as burning chamber and heat-exchanger at the same time. The function of the sealed heat-exchanger/burner 119 is to safely exchange the heat generated by the combustion through its surfaces into the chamber present on the left extreme where the heat gets released. From the chamber, the heated air leaves the apparatus 100 through the flanges at the left extreme of the chamber and becomes available for the air-distribution.
The sealed heat-exchanger/burner 119 contains the combustion chamber isolated by the air-flow used for heating/air-conditioning, thus, it requires a dedicated air-flow to operate the internal combustion. To provide the proper quantity of air/oxygen required for the combustion, the third blower 121 feeds the sealed heat-exchanger/burner 119.
The third blower 121 forces air, through the Burner assembly 118 into the Sealed burner/heat-exchanger 119 to make combustion possible and also to blow out exhaust gasses through the extension pipe 122. The extension pipe 122 and its external flange 123 are made of stainless steel to extend the lifespan of the apparatus 100.
An additional heat-exchanger 128 is placed in the extreme left chamber in the same airflow generated by the blower 113 after the heat-exchanger 119. The additional heat-exchanger 128 is placed to produce extra hot water in winter particularly in large RV's where hot-water demand can be increased by the number of people or when water tanks may chill down in very cold environment.
The temperatures of the exhausted gases, the water and the acids produced during the combustion by the system, therefore, the extension pipe 122 and its external flange 123 are made of stainless steel to extend the lifespan of the apparatus 100.
As shown in
The thermostat 120 works as an essential safety device to interrupt combustible supply and avoid overheating in case of faults.
Air flow enter from the ventilation air intake 114, flows around the compressor 105, then through the heat-exchanger 107 and get expelled to the outside through the first blower 111, as shown in
The air treatment of the present invention has the ability to operate heating and cooling simultaneously with in the same air-flow, even controlling temperature cold or hot, thus becoming an effective drier all year around to eliminate damp, humidity, molds, dry cloths and furniture's and provide a healthy environment even in rainy and wet days. Additionally, air purification is obtained by an antibacterial electrical device capable to eliminate airborne spores produced by plants, fungi and molds thus purifies the indoor air from most of airborne bacteria. Moreover, the system may integrate extra pipes to produce extra hot-water in winter while the system operates in heating. Finally, the system may be integrated with a dedicated resonator chamber to minimize the external noise produce by extraction blowers.
The air treatment apparatus of the present invention is a combination of components working in a scheme to provide Heating, Cooling, Dehumidification, Ventilation, Air-Purification, heavy-Duty Drying, into a single body thus is easy to install, maintain, replace and maintain. Further, the apparatus is lightweight, consumes less space and is installed in the lower section of RV thus does not reduce the appearance of the RV/Trailer.
The cooling air plant of the apparatus has a refrigerating cycle and air heat exchangers acting with electricity. The heating plant has an incorporated fuel/Natural-Gas burner acting as air furnace.
The system of the present invention reduces the quantity of the refrigerant fluid used for cooling, thus is environmentally friendly, which may affect the global warming and reconsidered a new way of miniaturization to spare space and raw materials. Alternative sources such as solar energy, wind energy, generators may be used. The single body of the present invention is designed to be placed unconventionally in the lower part the RV/Trailer. The various size of the existing vehicles or trailers impose a minimum and a maximum apparatus thickness to respect the distance from the ground and possibly fit between the frames. The inner components are sized to satisfy air cooling needs in the range from one to three times the today's most popular standards, taking as reference one roof-top ac's, so eliminating a multitude of air-conditioners as used nowadays.
Certain terms are used throughout the following description and claims to refer to particular features or components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, different persons may refer to the same feature or component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components or features that differ in name but not structure or function. As used herein “air treatment system of RV”, “air treatment system”, “apparatus”, and “air system” are interchangeable and refer to the air treatment system of RV 100 of the present invention. The terms “recreational vehicles”, “RV”, “trailers”, “motorhomes”, “campervans”, “caravans”, “fifth-wheel trailers”, “popup campers” and “truck camper” are interchangeable and refer to the recreational vehicle which is a motor vehicle comprising of living quarters designed for accommodation, and is often used by people for travelling places nearby home, with home like comfort.
Notwithstanding the forgoing, the air treatment system of RV 100 of the present invention can be of any suitable size and configuration as is known in the art without affecting the overall concept of the invention, provided that it accomplishes the above stated objectives. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the size, configuration and material of the air treatment system of RV 100 as shown in the FIGS. are for illustrative purposes only, and that many other sizes and shapes of the air treatment system of RV 100 are well within the scope of the present disclosure. Although the dimensions of the air treatment system of RV 100 are important design parameters for user convenience, the air treatment system of RV 100 may be of any size that ensures optimal performance during use and/or that suits the user's needs and/or preferences.
Various modifications and additions can be made to the exemplary embodiments discussed without departing from the scope of the present invention. While the embodiments described above refer to particular features, the scope of this invention also includes embodiments having different combinations of features and embodiments that do not include all of the described features. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations as fall within the scope of the claims, together with all equivalents thereof.
What has been described above includes examples of the claimed subject matter. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the claimed subject matter, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of the claimed subject matter are possible. Accordingly, the claimed subject matter is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim.
