TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to an airflow outlet structure of air-conditioning device, and more particularly to an airflow outlet that is structured to allow airflows generated by an air-conditioning device to blow downward.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Referring to FIG. 1, an airflow outlet that is provided for an air-conditioning device generally mounted to a light steel frame is shown and is used in combination with a central control air-conditioning device, such as air-conditioning devices installed in high buildings, to regulate the temperature of indoor spaces. Such a known airflow outlet is an airflow outlet that is composed of a plurality of concentric frames, where airflows generated by the air-conditioning device are allowed to blow out through the spacing between adjacent ones of the concentric frames.
However, experiences show that airflows blowing out of such an airflow outlet are generally guided to blow directly downward. This makes persons that are located exactly below the airflow outlet uncomfortably cold or hot and may lead to health problems, such as headaches. This is particularly problematic for public sites where crowd may gather, such as restaurants and movie theaters, for it may make the customers of these sites uncomfortable and affecting the quality of service provided.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of such problems, the present invention provides an airflow outlet of air-conditioning device, which comprises main body having one end forming an entrance opening and an opposite end forming a plurality of outward-projecting curved ridges, wherein each curved ridge has a side wall forming at least a through hole to allow air to pass the through hole.
The present invention allows airflows blown from an air-conditioning device to be conducted to the through hole to be discharged therefrom. Since the through hole is formed in the side wall, the airflows do not blow downward directly as was observed in the conventional device and instead, the airflows blow sideways, so that discomfort of persons caused by airflows directly impinging the persons can be eliminated.
Preferably, each of the curved ridges has a height that is gradually decreased from a center of the main body toward the outside.
Preferably, the curved ridges are arranged to be adjacent to each other.
Preferably, the main body further comprises an outward-projecting cup-like protrusion, which comprises a cup body and a bottom cover that is set on an end of the cup body, and the cup body comprises at least one through hole so as to increase airflow discharge sites at different orientations.
Preferably, the bottom cover further comprises at least one airflow guide plate and a rotatable mechanism is coupled between the bottom cover and the cup body so as to allow the bottom cover to be rotatable with respect to the cup body. As such, airflows generated can be conducted to discharge sideways in a swirling manner to expand the range of spreading.
Preferably, the cup body further comprises an extendable structure to allow the length of the cup body to be increased, which together with the through hole formed in the cup body, can expand the range of spreading.
The foregoing objectives and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.
Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional airflow outlet.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a front view of the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is also a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the embodiment of the present invention that is combined with a cup-like protrusion.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the embodiment of the present invention that is combined with the cup-like protrusion.
FIG. 8 is also a cross-sectional view showing the embodiment of the present invention that is combined with the cup-like protrusion (with arrows showing directions of airflows).
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of the present invention that is combined with an extendable cup-like protrusion (with the cup in an extended condition).
FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of the present invention that is combined with the extendable cup-like protrusion (with the cup in a retracted condition).
FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention that is combined with another extendable cup-like protrusion.
FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view showing the extendable cup-like protrusion of FIG. 11 in a retracted condition.
FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention that is combined with a further extendable cup-like protrusion.
FIG. 14 is a top plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 13.
FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention that is combined with a further extendable cup-like protrusion.
FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 17 is a bottom view showing a further embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 17.
FIG. 19 is a bottom view showing yet a further embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 19.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
Referring to the drawings, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a front view of the embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 5 is also a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIGS. 2-5, an airflow outlet of air-conditioning device according to the embodiment comprises a main body 10. The main body 10 has an end forming an entrance opening 11 and an opposite end forming a plurality of outward-projecting curved ridges 20. Further, the curved ridges 20 each have side walls forming at least one a through hole 21 to allow airflow that enters from the entrance opening 11 to move through the through holes 21. The entrance opening 11 can be configured in the form shown in the drawings in order to couple to piping of an air-conditioning device.
Reference being also made to the cross-sectional view shown in FIG. 5, when airflows (indicated by arrows W) generated by the air-conditioning device blow from the top side of the drawing to the bottom side, the airflows pass through the entrance opening 11 to be discharged through the through holes 21 of the curved ridges 20. Since the through holes 21 are formed in the side walls of the curved ridges 20, the airflows are guided to blow sideways, whereby persons located below are not directly blown by the airflow and thus no discomfort will be perceived.
Further, as shown in FIG. 4, each of the curved ridges 20 has a height H that is gradually decreased from a center of the main body 10 toward the outside so that individual airflows respectively blowing through the through holes 21 do not interfere with each other and can thus blow a much longer distance to thereby improve overall temperature control capability of the air-conditioning device.
Further, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, adjacent ones of the curved ridges 20 are arranged to juxtapose and connect to each other to facilitate manufacture thereof. Further, the embodiment can be formed as a unitary member and can be made of plastics or metals to simplify the manufacturing process.
Referring to FIGS. 6-8, the main body 10 further comprises an outward-projecting cup-like protrusion 30. The cup-like protrusion 30 comprises a cup body 31 and a bottom cover 32. The bottom cover 32 is set at an end of the cup body 31. Further, the cup body 31 comprises at least one through hole 311. Thus, when airflows (indicated by arrows in FIG. 8) travels from the top side to the bottom side, the airflows may be discharged through the through hole 311 and the through holes 21. As such, airflows in different directions can be additionally provided.
The cup body 31 can be of an extendable structure to allow the cup body 31 to selectively extend or retract thereby providing additional combinations of airflow directions. Various solutions that are known to provide an extendable structure and two are discussed below to allow those having ordinary skills in the art to understand the extendable structure, but the present invention is not limited to such two structures.
First Type of Extendable Structure:
As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the extendable structure is composed of a first cup body 312 and a second cup body 313. The first cup body 312 comprises a first upper cup opening 3121, a first lower cup opening 3122, and a first internal retention strip 3123. The first internal retention strip 3123 is mounted to an inside surface of the first cup body 312. The second cup body 313 comprises a second upper cup opening 3131, a second lower cup opening 3132, and a second external retention strip 3133. The second external retention strip 3133 is mounted to an outside surface of the second cup body 313. The bottom cover 32 is set on the second lower cup opening 3132. The second upper cup opening 3131 is received in the first cup body 312 and is movable inside the first cup body 312. Further, the second external retention strip 3133 is arranged on the first internal retention strip 3123. The second cup body 313 is slidable downward to such a location where the second external retention strip 3133 abuts the first internal retention strip 3122 and is the prevented from further sliding downward, whereby the relative position between the first cup body 312 and the second cup body 313 can be fixed to facilitate convenience of use.
Further, the through hole 311 can be formed in the first cup body 312 or the second cup body 313 in such a way to allow airflows to flow out sideways, rather than directly blowing downward.
Second Type of Extendable Structure:
As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the extendable structure is composed of at least one first cup body 314 and at least one second cup body 315.
The first cup body 314 comprises a first upper cup opening 3141 and a first lower cup opening 3142.
The second cup body 315 comprises a second upper cup opening 3151 and a second lower cup opening 3152. The second upper cup opening 3151 has a diameter that is greater than or equal to diameter of the first lower cup opening 3142 and diameter of the second lower cup opening 3152 is less than that of the first lower cup opening 3142. The bottom cover 32 is set on the second lower cup opening 3152.
Further, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the bottom cover 32 may be further provided with at least one airflow guide plate 321. A rotatable mechanism 33 is mounted between the bottom cover 32 and the cup body 31 to allow the bottom cover 32 to be rotatable with respect to the cup body 31. Here, a frame 331 is coupled inside the cup body 31 and a bar 332 rotatably couple the bottom cover 32 and the frame 331, whereby when airflows that blow toward airflow guide plate 321 may drive the bottom cover 32 to rotate. The rotation induces centrifugal force that helps spread the airflow further. An alternative arrangement shown in FIG. 15 may also be used for combination with an extendable structure.
Further, the curved ridges 20 may be arranged in the ways shown in FIG. 16, where the curved ridges 20 are arranged parallel to each other, or as shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, they are made in a concentric arrangement with the ridges 20 getting closer to the ground in a direction from outside to inside. Or alternatively, as shown in FIGS. 19 and 20, the ridges are arranged in radiating form and the curves make the ridges 20 getting close to the ground in a direction from outside to inside. These drawings are simply provided to illustrate the numerous possible arrangements of the curved ridges 20, which are not limited to the form illustrated in FIG. 2. Further, although these drawings show no extendable cup arranged at the center, yet they can be used in combination with extendable cups or cups having rotatable bottoms to achieve such functions.
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.
While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.
Patent Application
20140242901
