Patent Application
20130281003
The disclosed technology is related to heating and cooling systems used to heat and cool rooms of a building.
Heating and cooling systems for buildings typically include a heating unit which produces heated air and a cooling unit which produces cool air. The hot or cool air is then delivered into rooms of a building through ducts and vents which open into the rooms. In addition, it is common to include air return vents and ducts which return air from one or more rooms of a building back to the heating unit or cooling unit. Thus, air is circulated from the heating and cooling unit, into the rooms, and then back to the heating and cooling unit.
The placement of the vents which deliver heated or cooled air into a room, and the placement of return vents which pull air back out of a room can vary depending on the building design. It is common to place such vents in the walls of a room, in the floor of a room, or in the ceiling of a room. However, the position of the supply vents that deliver air into the room is typically fixed. Likewise, the position of return vents is also typically fixed.
In large open buildings, such as hangers, large manufacturing facilities, and large retail stores, heating and cooling is typically accomplished by blowing heated or cooled air into the facility through vents positioned along the ceiling. In some instances, the vents may open into the facility below the ceiling, but still considerably higher than the people and structures located in the facility. There may also be return vents that draw air back out of the facility, and return it to a heating and/or cooling unit. Here again, however, the positions of the supply vents and the return vents is typically fixed.
The inventors have discovered that a room can be heated and cooled more efficiently if the location of the vents supplying air into the room and the location at which air is withdrawn from the room is varied, depending on whether heated or cooled air is being delivered into the room. Based on testing, the inventors have determined that when a heating operation is being conducted, the highest efficiencies are obtained if heated air is delivered into the upper portion of the room while air is simultaneously withdrawn from the lower portion of the room. Conversely, if a cooling operation is being conduced, the highest efficiencies are obtained if the cooled air is delivered into the lower portion of the room, and air is simultaneously withdrawn from an upper portion of the room. This arrangement appears to run counter to traditional notions about how to achieve the greatest efficiency.
Traditionally, those in the heating and cooling industry believed that during a heating operation, it would be better to deliver the heated air into the lower portion of the room, because that is the coolest location in the room. It was believed that doing so would result in the fastest increase in temperature in the room. Likewise, those in the heating and cooling industry believed that during a cooling operation, it would be better to deliver the cool air into the upper portion of the room, because that is the warmest portion of the room. It was believed that doing so would result in the fastest decrease in temperature in the room.
The inventors have confirmed, however, that the temperature in a room can be increased more quickly if warm air is instead delivered into the upper portion of a room at the same time that air is withdrawn from the lower portion of the room. It is believed that this mode of operation more rapidly removes the coldest air from the room, which is located in the lower portion of the room. In addition, this appears to cause the entire mass of air to simply move gradually downward, with the relatively warm air in the center of the room moving downward to displace the cool air that is being withdrawn from the lower portion of the room.
In a more traditional arrangement, where warm air is delivered into the lower portion of the room, the introduction of the warm air into the coldest portion of the room causes swirling and random mixing of the cool and warm air. Also, if air is simultaneously withdrawn from the upper portion of the room, this results in warmest air in the room being removed and sent back to the heater, which is inefficient.
The same principles hold for cooling a room. If cool air is delivered into the lower portion of a room at the same time that air is withdrawn from the upper portion of the room, the warmest air will be immediately removed from the room. The relatively cool air at the middle portion of the room will rise upward to replace the air being removed from the room. Thus, the entire mass of air in the room will move gradually upward as cool air is introduced from the bottom, and the warmest air is removed from the top.
The same principles that hold true for a single room also hold true for large open spaces, such as warehouses and large retail facilities. The greatest heating efficiencies are achieved if warm air is delivered from above at the same time that air is withdrawn from lower areas. For cooling, the greatest efficiencies are achieved if cool air is introduced from below, and air is withdrawn from above. Unfortunately, in most large temperature controlled spaces, heated and cooled air is delivered from fixed vents located in the upper part of the space. Likewise, air is withdrawn from the space through fixed vents that are also located at the upper part of the space.
The inventors have developed a retractable vent system that can be used to deliver air into a space or remove air from the space. The retractable vent system can change its configuration so that it delivers air into the space or removes air from the space at varying heights. A retractable vent embodying the invention can be configured to deliver heated air into the upper portion of the space during heating operations. When it is necessary to switch over to a cooling operation, the retractable vent can be reconfigured to deliver cooled air into the lower portion of the space. Thus, a single retractable vent connected to a supply duct can vary the location at which it delivers air into the space depending upon whether heated or cooled air is being delivered, to thereby maximize the efficiency of the operation.
In the same manner, a retractable vent embodying the invention could be used to withdraw air from a space during heating and cooling operations. During a heating operation, the retractable vent would be configured to withdraw air from a lower portion of the space while heated air is being delivered into an upper portion of the space. During a cooling operation, the retractable vent would be reconfigured to withdraw air from the upper portion of the space at the same time cool air is delivered into the lower portion of the space.
In
When first and second retractable vents 111, 121 are coupled to a supply duct 110 and a return duct 120, and configured as illustrated in
When retractable vents as illustrated in
In many warehouse and large retail spaces, the only portion of the space that must be temperature controlled is the lower portion, where people are located. The upper portions of the space are typically only filled with merchandise, goods or items that are being stored. For this reason, it is not important to ensure that the upper portions of the space are heated and cooled. In that instance, the retractable vent 121 connected to the return duct 120 can be lowered partway down so that its lowermost nested section 125 is located just above the location occupied by people. As result, cool air will be delivered into the lower portion of the space and air will be withdrawn from a part of the space mid way up the full interior height.
When the system is configured at illustrated in
The nested sections or a retractable vent can be caused to extend from and retract back into the main body of the retractable vent via any type of mechanism. In some instances, the nested sections may be manually slidable with respect to each other so that a system operator can manually pull the nested sections out of the main body, or push them back into the main body.
Friction alone can cause the nested sections to hold a particular configuration. Alternatively, latching mechanisms can be provided between each nested pair of sections to lock each inner section with respect to its adjacent outer section. The locking mechanism could hold an inner section at only a single predetermined position with respect to an outer section, or the locking mechanism could be configured to hold the inner section at any of an infinite number of different positions with respect to the adjacent outer section.
In still other embodiments, a latching mechanism could hold some or all of the nested sections inside the main body, and releasing the latching mechanism would allow the unlatched sections to fall downward under the force of gravity.
In still other embodiments, a powered drive unit may be provided to cause the nested sections to extend from and/or retract into the main body.
In still other embodiments, a rack and pinion mechanism could be used to raise and lower the nested sections. The pinion gear would be connected to the rotating shaft of a motor, and the rack would be arranged on one or more of the nested sections. Other mechanisms for extending and retracting the nested sections could also be used, as will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.
In some embodiments, the cross-sectional shape of the nested sections could be circular. In alternate embodiments, the cross-sectional shape could be rectangular, square, triangular, oval, or have some other shape.
The second retractable vent 150 has the same basic features and it is coupled to the return duct 120 in the same fashion. As a result, air is withdrawn from the space from an end of the extendable vent line 152, and the air is conveyed into the spool 154, and then into the return duct 120.
In the embodiments illustrated in
In some embodiments, the extendable portion of the vent could extend and retract through free space. In alternate embodiments, the extendable portion could be coupled to a vertical track that guides upward and downward movement. Also, in some embodiments, a protective frame may extend vertically along the path that the extendable portion travels from the retracted to the extended positions. The frame would prevent people or objects from contacting and damaging the extendable portion, and from blocking its path when it is extending. The frame would be largely open, so that air can freely move into and out of the lowermost part of the extendable portion, regardless of its vertical position.
While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
