BUILDING STRUCTURE FOR GARAGE MOUNTED APPARATUS

Abstract

A building structure for garage mounted air conditioning apparatus includes a garage having an interior defined by a plurality of walls including at least one exterior wall on which a concealed condensing unit (CCU) of the air conditioning apparatus is mountable, a ceiling, and a garage door of an overhead type which is engageably displaceable along a track having an inverted L-shape. The at least one exterior wall is formed with at least one through-hole opening in a headroom between a horizontal section of the track and the garage ceiling which is in fluid communication with the CCU.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of building structures. More particularly, the invention relates to a building structure for garage mounted air conditioning apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many air conditioning systems are of the split type that comprises an outdoor unit that includes a compressor, condenser and fan for drawing ambient air across the condenser, an indoor unit including an evaporator and a fan for drawing the interior air across the evaporator so that the conditioned air will be discharged to the space to be conditioned, and a conduit through which refrigerant flows in a closed cooling or heating cycle between the outdoor and indoor units.

However, the outdoor unit housed in a large-sized casing is unsightly and also adds noise pollution. These deficiencies are exacerbated in an urban environment or in a multi-family dwelling where a high population density results in a proliferation of outdoor units.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a building structure that facilitates the installation of a split air conditioning system that does not detract from the appearance of the building, yet that provides a superior air conditioning effect.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A building structure for garage mounted air conditioning apparatus comprises a garage having an interior defined by a plurality of walls including at least one exterior wall on which a concealed condensing unit (CCU) of the air conditioning apparatus is mountable, a ceiling, and a garage door of an overhead type which is engageably displaceable along a track having an inverted L-shape, wherein said at least one exterior wall is formed with at least one through-hole opening in a headroom between a horizontal section of the track and the garage ceiling which is in fluid communication with the CCU.

The building structure is preferably further configured with one or more mounting elements for mounting the CCU onto one of the exterior garage walls, wherein the CCU has a casing for enclosing CCU components including a freestanding compressor and a condenser coil, said one or more mounting elements configured to mount the casing having a maximum height approximately equal to the height of the compressor and less than the height of the headroom without interfering with the horizontal section of the track or with the garage door when set to an opened position and in engagement with the horizontal section of the track.

In one aspect, the at least one through-hole opening is an opening through which CCU exhaust air is exhausted to the atmosphere and the one or more mounting elements is a frame member surrounding the opening through which CCU exhaust air is exhausted to the atmosphere, wherein said frame member is configured in such a way that an exhaust opening of the CCU is aligned with the opening through which CCU exhaust air is exhausted to the atmosphere.

In one aspect, the at least one through-hole opening is an opening through which intake air from the atmosphere is introduced to the CCU and the one or more mounting elements is a frame member surrounding the opening through which intake air is introduced, wherein said frame member is configured in such a way that an intake opening of the CCU is aligned with the opening through which intake air is introduced.

In one aspect, a second exterior garage wall spaced from a first exterior garage wall on which the CCU is mounted is formed with a duct opening within which a duct extending to the CCU is fixed. The duct opening is formed in a headroom between a horizontal section of the track and the garage ceiling.

In one aspect, the building structure is additionally configured with at least one penetration formed in the garage ceiling, a corresponding conduit through which flows a refrigerant adapted to condition at least one interior room of the building extending upwardly through said at least one penetration to an indoor unit of the air conditioning apparatus.

In one aspect, the building structure is additionally configured with a drain element through which condensate produced by the CCU is dischargeable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view from within the interior of a garage having a structure according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a perspective and schematic, exploded view of one type of a concealed condensing unit;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view from the top of another type of a concealed condensing unit, shown with the casing thereof partially removed;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view from within the interior of the garage of FIG. 1, showing the building structure when the concealed condensing unit is removed;

FIG. 5 is a schematic front view of a building structure, according to one embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a casing of a concealed condensing unit used in conjunction with the building structure of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a casing of a concealed condensing unit used in conjunction with the building structure of another embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a schematic top view of a portion of a garage, showing a building structure according to another embodiment; and

FIG. 9 is a schematic top view of a portion of a garage, showing a building structure according to another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A building structure facilitates the mounting of the outdoor unit of a split-type air conditioning system within a residential garage adapted to protect a parked car from precipitation, while concealing the outdoor unit and improving the appearance of the building.

The type of residential garage that is used is one that is attached to a house, or that is spaced by a small distance from a house. An attached garage may be equipped with a locked garage door and with an entry door that leads to the interior of the house, for the comfort of the passengers of the car.

By virtue of the proximity of the garage to the house, the wall space of the garage is generally used as convenient storage space for items not needed within the house such as outdoor tools and a bike rack or for infrequently used items such as a ladder and lumber. At times bumpers, often in the form of old tires, are mounted on a garage wall to absorb the impact caused by an improperly parked car, and reduce the available wall space. Accordingly, a residential garage is generally unsuitable for the installation therewithin of a conventional outdoor unit having a height of at least approximately 40 inches due to the depletion of valuable storage space.

The building structure helps to improve the appearance of the house without reducing the available storage space within a garage by providing one or more mounting elements for the outdoor unit of a split-type air conditioning system within the normally unused clearance of a garage wall above a track along which a garage door is engageably displaced when being moved from a closed position to an open position, or vice versa.

As shown in FIG. 1, a residential garage 10 is generally equipped with two laterally spaced tracks 5 (only one being shown) of inverted L-shape. Overhead garage door 3, made of a plurality of articulated panels and normally set to the illustrated closed position, is guided along the two tracks 5 by a set of rollers. Each track 5 has a vertical section 2 rising to about a height of eight inches below the door height, a horizontal section 4 supporting the majority of door 3 when set to an opened position, and a curved section 7 extending between vertical section 2 and horizontal section 4. The terminal end of horizontal section 4 is supported by a vertical hanger 9 connected to the ceiling 13 of garage 10. A center rail 14 for guiding an arm connected to garage door 3 and an electric door operator 17, which may be electronically controlled, are also provided.

Since the standard headroom 11, or clearance between horizontal section 4 and ceiling 13, is only 14.25 inches for a curved section 7 having a radius of 15 inches, this clearance is invariably unused for storage space due to its small size, inaccessibility and the need for mounting a bracket or the like for supporting the storage apparatus to garage wall 19, thereby further reducing the available storage space. Also, a conventional outdoor unit having a height of at least approximately 40 inches cannot be suitably mounted within headroom 11.

The use of a concealed condensing unit (CCU) 20 will obviate the geometric constraints related to mounting an outside unit within headroom 11.

As schematically illustrated in FIG. 2, CCU 20A, generally ducted, comprises compressor 21, condenser coil 24, which may be of a multidirectional shape, through which flows pressurized refrigerant received from compressor, one or more centrifugal fans 25, and PCB 26 for controlling the operation of compressor 21 and each fan 25. Air is drawn into intake opening 28, which may be protected by a grille, by each centrifugal fan 25 and is forced to flow, in accordance with the configuration of condenser coil 24 and the CCU casing 27, across the width of condenser coil 24 and along the entire length thereof in order to condense the refrigerant. The exhaust heat transferred from the refrigerant to the air flow exiting condenser coil 24 is drawn through each centrifugal fan 25 and discharged through each exhaust opening 29.

The discharged exhaust air is hot when the CCU is operating in a cooling mode and is cold when the CCU is operating in a heating mode.

As opposed to the conventional large-dimensioned outdoor unit that employs an axial fan to induce air flow axially along the vertically oriented shaft of the fan blades, CCU 20A employs the one or more centrifugal fans 25 to induce radial air flow, generally 90 degrees relative to the horizontally oriented shaft driving the fan wheel on which are mounted backward-curved blades. The outer diameter of each centrifugal fan housing from which the radial air flow exits through a corresponding exhaust opening 29 under the influence of centrifugal force is therefore able to be significantly smaller than the outer diameter of an axial fan, resulting in a relatively small CCU height of approximately 11 inches that can be mounted in the headroom above a garage door track, while taking into account the thickness of the garage door, without being subjected to overheating.

Alternatively, a CCU 20B schematically illustrated in FIG. 3 may be used. CCU 20B having a similar configuration as CCU 20A of FIG. 2 may employ a plurality of axial fans 32 provided with a horizontally oriented shaft, allowing the height of the axial fans to be less than the freestanding compressor 21 and the height of CCU casing 37 to be approximately 11 inches.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4, which schematically illustrates building structure 40, according to one embodiment of the present invention. Building structure 40 is configured with an opening 49 formed in the headroom region 11 of garage wall 19, through which the CCU exhaust air is discharged to the surroundings externally to garage wall 19. A frame element 42 surrounding opening 49, to which the CCU is mounted, is fixed within garage wall 19.

According to this arrangement, the exhaust air discharged from the CCU is directed outwardly from the garage interior, without being bothersome to any person located within the garage interior by virtue of the elevated height of headroom region 11. Intake air may be derived from the garage interior and received by the intake opening of the CCU. The exhaust air discharged from the exhaust opening of the CCU is thus exhausted via opening 49 to the atmosphere.

Although the standard sideroom, or space available between a track 5 and garage wall 19 is 4.5 inches, while referring also to FIG. 1, a CCU mounted within the headroom of garage wall 19 will protrude laterally into the space between, and above, the two tracks 5 without interfering with a schematically illustrated garage door 3′ set to the opened position.

Building structure 40 is also configured with one or more penetrations 57 to accommodate the extension therethrough of a corresponding number of conduits through which the refrigerant circulates between the CCU and the indoor unit and of electrical wires for operating the air conditioning system. A penetration 57 is shown to be formed in garage ceiling 13 when a habitable region of the house is constructed therebove, although it will be appreciated that the penetrations can be formed in any suitable garage surface, such as in a wall adjoining an entry door leading to the interior of the house.

As shown in FIG. 9, a building structure 45 may include an air discharge fitting 47 extending from the exhaust opening of CCU 30 may be fixed to air opening 49 formed within garage wall 19. Air discharge fitting 47 may be coupled, releasably or fixedly, to the periphery of air opening 49 by a corresponding bracket, or other mounting means 46 well known to those skilled in the art. The heated exhaust air flows through air discharge fitting 47 to air opening 49, from which it is exhausted to the atmosphere, thus preventing overheating of the garage interior. Alternatively, fitting 47 may be an air intake channel extending from air opening 49 to which it is coupled to the air intake opening of CCU 30.

A layout of air conditioning system 55 within house 59 is illustrated in FIG. 5. Air conditioning system 55 comprises garage-mounted CCU 30, indoor unit 62, and at least one conduit 61, e.g. horizontally and vertically extending segments of a copper conduit, through which the refrigerant circulates between CCU 30 and indoor unit 62. CCU 30 is shown to be spaced from garage ceiling 13. When house 59 is a multi-story house and indoor unit 62 is mounted in attic space 68, although it will be appreciated that indoor unit 62 may be mounted in any other suitable interior space, building structure 40 is also configured with one or more penetrations 66 formed in the ceiling 67 interfacing a second floor 64, for example, with attic space 68, through which each conduit 61 extends, in addition to extending through penetration 57 through garage ceiling 13. Indoor unit 62 may operate in conjunction with a central air conditioning system, or, alternatively, may be an independent unit positioned in a specific room within house 59.

When indoor unit 62 is a heat exchanger operable in a cooling mode, cooled liquid refrigerant under high pressure exits the condenser coil of CCU 30 and flows upwardly to an expansion valve of indoor unit 62, which restricts the flow of the refrigerant and causes its pressure to be reduced. The low-pressure liquid refrigerant flows to the evaporator, across which interior air from an interior room of building structure 40 to be conditioned is drawn by the fan of indoor unit 62, and absorbs heat from the interior air. The conditioned air is discharged to the interior room, and the refrigerant is changed to a gaseous state. The heated low-pressure gaseous refrigerant then flows downwardly to the compressor of CCU 30 to repeat the cycle.

Indoor unit 62 may also be configured as an air handling unit (AHU) comprising a mixing box within which is blended air from a return duct exiting the room to be conditioned and air from a supply duct, and a blower for forcing the blended air to flow across an evaporator containing the refrigerant, or as a fan coil unit (FCU) provided with a coil through which the refrigerant flows and a fan to condition a room without being connecting to ductwork.

Building structure 40 may also be configured with a drain element 69 through which condensate produced, for example in a heating mode, is dischargeable. Drain element 69 may be provided in proximity to the condenser coil, or to any other region of CCU 30.

Drain element 69 may also be a pipe that is installed at a lowest point of garage 10, which may be located directly below CCU 30, and that slopes underground towards the street. The collected condensate may be gravitationally drained, for example to the sewerage system of the building, or may be delivered by a pump to a drain system. Alternatively, drain element 69 may be any other drain element well known to those skilled in the art.

For the cooling mode, a drain element, e.g. elongated, may be fixated within a vertical drain pipe extending through penetrations 57 and 66, to receive condensate generated by indoor unit 62. Such a drain element is configured in such a way to discharge the condensate while bypassing CCU 30.

The casing 31 of CCU 30, which facilitates efficient operation of the air conditioning system in conjunction with building structure 40 (FIG. 5), is illustrated in FIG. 6. Casing 31 has a rectilinear configuration, although other configurations are also possible. Front and rear service access panels 33 are provided to ensure that intake opening 38 and exhaust opening 39 will be substantially mutually parallel. CCU 30 may be of the same height of CCU 20A of FIG. 2, and comprises the same air conditioning components as CCU 20A, while the internal arrangement of the air conditioning components is different to accommodate the substantially mutually parallel relation of intake opening 38 and exhaust opening 39. The substantially mutually parallel relation of intake opening 38 and exhaust opening 39 ensures that the exhaust air will not infiltrate into the intake air, to prevent a reduction in the thermodynamic efficiency of the cycle due to the increased temperature of the intake air, even if externally mounted ducts were not employed.

In another embodiment, a CCU 70 shown in FIG. 7 may be employed. Casing 71 of CCU 70 has a rectilinear configuration, although other configurations are also possible. Access panels 74 and 75 are provided to ensure that intake opening 78 and exhaust opening 79 will be substantially mutually perpendicular. CCU 70 may be of the same height of CCU 20A of FIG. 2, and comprises the same air conditioning components as CCU 20A, while the internal arrangement of the air conditioning components is different to accommodate the substantially mutually perpendicular relation of intake opening 78 and exhaust opening 79. The substantially mutually perpendicular relation of intake opening 78 and exhaust opening 79 ensures that the exhaust air will not infiltrate into the intake air even if externally mounted ducts are not employed.

Building structure 80 illustrated in FIG. 8 includes a duct opening 89 formed in garage wall 86 spaced from, such as being opposite to, garage wall 19 on which is mounted CCU 30. The garage wall which is formed with duct opening 89 is dependent upon the CCU configuration, as shown in FIG. 6 or FIG. 7. An air discharge duct 82 extending from the exhaust opening of CCU 30 may be fixed to duct opening 89. Air discharge duct 82 may be coupled, releasably or fixedly, to the periphery of duct opening 89 by a corresponding bracket, or other mounting means 88 well known to those skilled in the art. The heated exhaust air flows through air discharge duct 82 to duct opening 89, from which it is exhausted to the atmosphere, thus preventing overheating of the garage interior. Alternatively, duct 82 may be an air intake duct extending from duct opening 89 to which it is coupled to the air intake opening of CCU 30, and the exhaust air is discharged via the exhaust opening of CCU 30 and opening 49 (FIG. 4).

While some embodiments of the invention have been described by way of illustration, it will be apparent that the invention can be carried out with many modifications, variations and adaptations, and with the use of numerous equivalents or alternative solutions that are within the scope of persons skilled in the art, without exceeding the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A building structure for a garage mounted air conditioning apparatus, comprising a garage having an interior defined by a plurality of walls including a garage door of an overhead type which is engageably displaceable along a track having an inverted L-shape, at least one exterior side wall substantially perpendicular to said garage door when said garage door is set to a closed position on which a concealed condensing unit (CCU) constituting an outdoor unit of split-type air conditioning apparatus is mountable, and a garage ceiling, wherein one of said at least one exterior side wall is formed with at least one through-hole opening which is in fluid communication with the CCU in a headroom between a horizontal section of the track and the garage ceiling and in a sideroom located between the horizontal section and said one exterior side wall.

2. The building structure according to claim 1, further configured with one or more mounting elements for mounting the CCU onto the one exterior garage side wall, wherein the CCU has a casing for enclosing CCU components including a freestanding compressor and a condenser coil, said one or more mounting elements configured to mount the casing having a maximum height approximately equal to the height of the compressor and less than the height of the headroom without interfering with the horizontal section of the track or with the garage door when set to an opened position and is in engagement with the horizontal section of the track.

3. The building structure according to claim 2, wherein the at least one through-hole opening is an opening through which CCU exhaust air is exhausted to the atmosphere and the one or more mounting elements is a frame member surrounding the opening through which CCU exhaust air is exhausted to the atmosphere, wherein said frame member is configured in such a way that an exhaust opening of the CCU is aligned with the opening through which CCU exhaust air is exhausted to the atmosphere.

4. The building structure according to claim 2, wherein the at least one through-hole opening is an opening through which intake air from the atmosphere is introduced to the CCU and the one or more mounting elements is a frame member surrounding the opening through which intake air is introduced, wherein said frame member is configured in such a way that an intake opening of the CCU is aligned with the opening through which intake air is introduced.

5. The building structure according to claim 1, wherein a second exterior garage side wall spaced from a first exterior garage side wall on which the CCU is mounted is formed with a duct opening within which a duct extending to the CCU is fixed.

6. The building structure according to claim 5, wherein the duct opening is formed in the headroom between the horizontal section of the track and the garage ceiling.

7. The building structure according to claim 1, which is additionally configured with at least one penetration formed in the garage ceiling, a corresponding conduit through which flows a refrigerant adapted to condition at least one interior room of the building extending upwardly through said at least one penetration to an indoor unit of the air conditioning apparatus.

8. The building structure according to claim 1, which is additionally configured with a drain element through which condensate produced by the CCU is dischargeable.

9. The building structure according to claim 11, wherein a maximum height of the at least one through-hole opening is less than the maximum height of the CCU casing.

10. The building structure according to claim 1, wherein the building is configured with the garage mounted air conditioning apparatus, and the building has: a) the garage having the interior defined by the plurality of walls including the garage door of an overhead type which is engageably displaceable along a track having an inverted L-shape, the least one exterior side wall substantially perpendicular to the garage door when the garage door is set to a closed position, and the garage ceiling;b) a concealed condensing unit (CCU) constituting an outdoor unit of split-type air conditioning apparatus; andc) an indoor unit of the split-type air conditioning apparatus between which and said CCU a refrigerant is circulatable, said indoor unit being mounted in an interior space of the building other than the garage,wherein said CCU is configured to cooperate in conditioning said interior space, but not the garage, and is mounted in the headroom of one of the at least one exterior side wall between the horizontal section of the track and the garage ceiling and in the sideroom located between the horizontal section and the one exterior side wall without interfering with the garage door when the garage door is set to an opened position and is in engagement with the horizontal section of the track, and is in fluid communication with the at least one through-hole opening formed at the headroom and at the sideroom.

11. The building structure according to claim 10, wherein the CCU comprises components that include a fan, a freestanding compressor, a condenser coil, and a casing that encloses the compressor and condenser coil and that has a height which is less than the height of the headroom, to prevent overheating of the fan and of the compressor.

12. The building structure according to claim 11, wherein the casing has a height which is less than 0.8 times the height of the headroom.

13. The building structure according to claim 10, further configured with one or more mounting elements for mounting the CCU onto the one exterior garage side wall.

14. The building structure according to claim 13, wherein the at least one through-hole opening is an opening through which CCU exhaust air is exhausted to the atmosphere to prevent overheating of the garage interior and the one or more mounting elements is a frame member surrounding the opening through which CCU exhaust air is exhausted to the atmosphere, wherein said frame member is configured in such a way that an exhaust opening of the CCU is aligned with the opening through which CCU exhaust air is exhausted to the atmosphere.

15. The building structure according to claim 13, wherein the at least one through-hole opening is an opening through which intake air from the atmosphere is introduced to the CCU and the one or more mounting elements is a frame member surrounding the opening through which intake air is introduced, wherein said frame member is configured in such a way that an intake opening of the CCU is aligned with the opening through which intake air is introduced.

16. The building structure according to claim 10, wherein a second exterior garage side wall spaced from a first exterior garage side wall on which the CCU is mounted is formed with a duct opening within which a duct extending to the CCU is fixed.

17. The building structure according to claim 16, wherein the duct opening is formed in the headroom between the horizontal section of the track and the garage ceiling.

18. The building structure according to claim 10, which is additionally configured with at least one penetration formed in the garage ceiling, a corresponding conduit through which flows the refrigerant extending upwardly through said at least one penetration.

19. The building structure according to claim 11, wherein the casing is configured with separated CCU intake and exhaust openings that prevent infiltration of exhaust air from the exhaust opening into intake air flowing to the intake opening.