Patent Application
20160123621
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to any reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the United States Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a central heating and air conditioning system, and more particularly to a fully close vent device for the central heating and air conditioning system, which is mounted on an air outlet of the heating and air conditioning system for selectively closing the air outlet in an air-sealing manner so as to increase the energy-efficiency of the heating and air conditioning system.
2. Description of Related Arts
A central heating and air conditioning system is often used in a residential building or a commercial building to provide an optimized thermal condition. Most of the conventional heating and air conditioning system for residential use can only be set in one desired temperature, such that when the system is turned on, the interior temperature will be remained at the desired temperature in the entire residential building. For commercial buildings, the heating and air conditioning system can be controlled to adjust different interior temperatures in different zones. In other words, different users at different rooms can set different interior temperatures.
A vent system is used to help saving energy and to prevent unnecessary waste. A conventional vent system comprises a plurality of movable fins which can be opened or closed manually. However it is labor-consuming and time-costing to adjust each vent system in every single room. In addition, it is difficult to reach the vent because the vent system is usually mounted at the ceiling of each room.
A remote control vent system is invented to help controlling the open and close status of the vent system. However, both residentially and commercially used heating and air conditioning systems have some major common drawbacks. When the vent is in a closed position, it is not possible to achieve complete closure of the vent. In other words, there still have fin gaps between fins that air will leak therethrough. It is thus a great waste of energy.
Furthermore, the vent system is mounted at the ceiling of the room but not directly to the air outlet of the central heating and air conditioning system. There will be a vent clearance between the air outlet of the heating and air conditioning system and the vent system. No matter the vent is closed or opened, air will leak through the vent clearance.
It is worth mentioning that different zones of the building are interconnected with each other via the central heating and air conditioning system. The purpose of closing one vent system at one air outlet is to stop the air to flow through the closed vent system and to ensure the air only flows to the opened vent system, such that air pressure at the other air outlet with opened vent system can be maintained in an optimized manner. If there is an air leak at the closed vent system, air pressure at the other air outlet will be dropped. As a result, less amount of air will flow through the opened vent system.
Accordingly, a vast majority of today's approximately 100 million homes, have these antiquated and inefficient heating and air conditioning systems. Billions of dollars in electricity are wasted each year. Billions of therms of natural gas are wasted each year. Approximately 200 billion pounds of unnecessary carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere each year. Therefore unnecessary waste is largely a result of these outdated systems heating up and cooling down room that are never used. By averting leakage of the vents, the heating and air conditioning system will be more energy efficient.
The invention is advantageous in that it provides a fully close vent device for the central heating and air conditioning system, which is mounted on an air outlet of the heating and air conditioning system for selectively closing the air outlet in an air-sealing manner so as to increase the energy-efficiency of the heating and air conditioning system.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide a fully close vent device for the central heating and air conditioning system, which is an energy-efficient product for the central heating and air conditioning system to reduce the operation cost thereof.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide a fully close vent device for the central heating and air conditioning system, wherein each of the vent fins has two longitudinal sealing edges that when the vent fins are moved in the closed position, the vent fins are overlapped with each other edge-to-edge in order to engage the sealing edges of the vent fins with each other for completely sealing the air outlet in an air sealing manner.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide a fully close vent device for the central heating and air conditioning system, wherein each of the vent fins has two longitudinal sealing seats to receive the sealing edges of the adjacent vent fins, such that in the closed position, the vent fins are aligned and overlapped edge-to-edge to form a flat planar configuration so as to minimize a size of the ventilating opening of the vent frame to support the vent fins.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide a fully close vent device for the central heating and air conditioning system, wherein the vent frame comprises two longitudinal ledges protruded along two longitudinal walls of the ventilating opening to engage with the sealing edges of the vent frame so as to completely seal the ventilating opening in an air sealing manner when the vent fins are closed.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide a fully close vent device for the central heating and air conditioning system, wherein a frame sealing element is encirclingly extended along the peripheral frame portion of the vent frame for mounting at the air outlet in an air-sealing manner, so as to prevent any air leakage at the peripheral frame portion of the vent frame.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide a fully close vent device for the central heating and air conditioning system, which can be installed into the air outlet of the existing central heating and air conditioning system.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide a fully close vent device for the central heating and air conditioning system, wherein the vent fins are controlled by the control module to automatically move between the opened position and the closed position. In particular, the control module can be built-in with the thermostat unit to control both operations of the vent fins and the central heating and air conditioning system.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide a fully close vent device for the central heating and air conditioning system, wherein the vent fins are automatically controlled by a remoter controller, a motion sensor, and/or a temperature sensor.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide a fully close vent device for the central heating and air conditioning system, which does not require to alter the original structural design of the air outlet of the central heating and air conditioning system, so as to minimize the manufacturing cost of the vent device incorporating with the existing central heating and air conditioning system.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide a fully close vent device for the central heating and air conditioning system, wherein no expensive or complicated structure is required to employ in the present invention in order to achieve the above mentioned objects. Therefore, the present invention successfully provides an economic and efficient solution for providing an air-sealing configuration for the vent device to prevent any air leakage when the vent device is closed so as to highly increase the energy efficiency of the central heating and air conditioning system.
Additional advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the description which follows, and may be realized by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particular point out in the appended claims.
According to the present invention, the foregoing and other objects and advantages are attained by a vent device for a heating and air conditioning system having at least an air outlet, wherein the vent device comprises a vent frame and a fin arrangement.
The vent frame has a peripheral frame portion adapted for mounting at the air outlet in an air-sealing manner, and a ventilating opening defined within the peripheral frame portion.
The fin arrangement comprises a plurality of vent fins longitudinally and rotatably supported at the ventilating opening to be concurrently moved between an opened position and a closed position. Each of the vent fins has a first longitudinal sealing edge and a second longitudinal sealing edge. When the vent fins are concurrently moved in the opened position, the vent fins are rotated to parallel with each other to form a plurality of ventilating slots between every two of the adjacent vent fins for allowing air passing through. When the vent fins are concurrently moved in the closed position, the first longitudinal sealing edge of each of the vent fins is overlappedly engaged with the second longitudinal sealing edge of the adjacent vent fin so as to completely seal the ventilating opening of the vent frame in an air sealing manner.
Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.
These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.
The following description is disclosed to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the present invention. Preferred embodiments are provided in the following description only as examples and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The general principles defined in the following description would be applied to other embodiments, alternatives, modifications, equivalents, and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Referring to
The vent frame 10 has a peripheral frame portion 11 adapted for mounting at the air outlet in an air-sealing manner, and a ventilating opening 12 defined within the peripheral frame 11. Accordingly, the peripheral frame portion 11 of the vent frame 10 forms a flat mounting plate, wherein at least a screw hole 111 is formed at the flat mounting plate for detachably coupling at the air outlet of the heating and air conditioning system via screw.
The vent frame 10 further has two longitudinal walls, i.e. a first longitudinal wall 121 and a second longitudinal wall 122, and two transverse walls, a first transverse wall 123 and a second transverse wall 124, wherein the ventilating opening 12 is formed within the first and second longitudinal walls 121, 122, and the first and second transverse walls 123, 124. In other words, the first and second longitudinal walls 121, 122, and the first and second transverse walls 123, 124 are perpendicularly extended from an inner peripheral edge of the mounting plate. Preferably, the ventilating opening 12 has a rectangular configuration that the length of each of the first and second longitudinal walls 121, 122, is longer than the length of each of the first and second transverse walls 123, 124.
The vent frame 10 further comprises a frame sealing element 13 encirclingly extended along the peripheral frame portion 11 adapted for mounting at the air outlet in an air-sealing manner. Accordingly, the frame sealing element 13 is preferably made of soft air sealing material, such as blended ABS resin, TP material, or similar materials. The frame sealing element 13 forms an air sealing layer overlapped and attached onto the mounting plate of the vent frame 10, such that when the peripheral frame portion 11 of the vent frame 10 is coupled at the air outlet of the heating and air conditioning system, the frame sealing element 13 will prevent any air leakage through a clearance therebetween.
The fin arrangement 20 comprises a plurality of vent fins 21 longitudinally and rotatably supported at the ventilating opening 12 to be concurrently moved between an opened position and a closed position. As shown in
Accordingly, when the vent fins 21 are concurrently moved in the opened position, as shown in
As shown in
It is worth mentioning that, in the closed position, when the first longitudinal sealing edge 211 of each of the vent fins 21 is overlapped with the second longitudinal sealing edge 212 of the adjacent vent fin 21, the air sealing element 216 at the first longitudinal sealing edge 211 of each of the vent fins 21 is engaged with the air sealing element 216 at the second longitudinal sealing edge 212 of the adjacent vent fin 21 so as to air-seal the gap between the first and second longitudinal sealing edges 211, 212 of two adjacent vent fins 21. In particular, the bottom side of the first longitudinal sealing edge 211 of each of the vent fins 21 is overlapped on the upper side of the second longitudinal sealing edge 212 of the adjacent vent fin 21.
As shown in
In order to form the first sealing seat 218 and the second sealing seat 219, the fin body 215 is bent at two longitudinal edge portions to form a step-like configuration, such that the first sealing seat 218 and the second sealing seat 219 are opposedly formed at two longitudinal edge portions of the fin body 215. In addition, the first sealing seat 218 is extended along the first longitudinal sealing edge 211 from the first transverse sealing edge 213 to the second transverse sealing edge 214, and is raised from the fin body 215 at a planar direction. Therefore, the first sealing seat 218 is raised above the planar direction of the mid-portion of the fin body 215. Likewise, the second sealing seat 219 is extended along the second longitudinal sealing edge 212 from the first transverse sealing edge 213 to the second transverse sealing edge 214, and is dropped down from the fin body 215 at a planar direction. Therefore, the second sealing seat 219 is dropped below the planar direction of the mid-portion of the fin body 215 as shown in
Accordingly, there are two potential places where the air can leak. The first potential place is the gap between the vent fins 21 at the closed position. The second potential place is the gap between the vent frame 10 and the vent fins 21 at the closed position
The first longitudinal sealing edges 211 of the vent fins 21 are engaged with the second longitudinal sealing edges 212 of the adjacent vent fins 21 so as to air-seal the gap between the first and second longitudinal sealing edges 211, 212 of the adjacent vent fins 21. As a result, the vent fins 21 are aligned and overlapped edge-to-edge to prevent any air leak through the gaps between the vent fins 21 at the closed position.
The second potential place is the clearance between the first longitudinal wall 121 of the ventilating opening 12 and the vent fin 21 where close to the first longitudinal wall 121, and the clearance between the second longitudinal wall 122 of the ventilating opening 12 and the vent fin 21 where close to the second longitudinal wall 122. Therefore, the vent frame 10 further comprises an elongated first longitudinal ledge 14, a U-shaped second longitudinal ledge 15, a first transverse ledge 16, and a second transverse ledge 17.
As shown in
Accordingly, the first sealing seat 218 is raised upwardly, wherein when the vent fin 21 is moved at the closed position, the first sealing seat 218 is rested on top side of the first longitudinal ledge 14 at a position that the first longitudinal sealing edge 211 is sealed and engaged with the first longitudinal ledge 14. It is worth mentioning that two ends of the first longitudinal ledge 14 will seal and engage with first sealing seat 218 along the first and second transverse sealing edges 213, 214 respectively.
As shown in
The first and second transverse ledges 16, 17 are protruded along the first and second transverse walls 123, 124 of the ventilating opening 12 for engaging with the first and second transverse sealing edges 213, 214 of the vent fins 21 when the vent fins 21 are moved at the closed position. Preferably, the first and second transverse ledges 16, 17 are engaged with the first and second transverse sealing edges 213, 214 of the vent fins 21 edge-to-edge to seal a gap between the first and second transverse sealing edges 213, 214 of the vent fins 21 and the first and second transverse walls 123, 124 of the ventilating opening 12.
According to the preferred embodiment, the control module 30 is arranged for automatically controlling the vent fins 21 between the opened position and the closed position, wherein the control module 30 comprises a control casing 31 supported at the vent frame 10, a motorized unit 32 received in the control casing 31 so as to support the motorized unit 32 by the vent frame 10, and an actuation link 33 operatively linked between the motorized unit 31 and the rotatable shaft 201 of each of the vent fins 21, such that when the motorized unit 32 is activated, the vent fins 21 are concurrently moved between the opened position and the closed position.
As shown in
Accordingly, the motorized unit 32 is electrically linked to a power source for generating a reversible rotating power. In particular, when the motorized unit 32 generates the rotating power at one direction, the vent fins 21 are concurrently moved from the opened position to the closed position via the actuation link 33. Likewise, when the motorized unit 32 generates the rotating power at an opposite direction, the vent fins 21 are concurrently moved to the opened position from the closed position via the actuation link 33.
The actuation link 33 comprises a motorized linkage arm 311 operatively coupled with the motorized unit 32 and a plurality of fin linkage arms 312 spacedly extended from the motorized linkage arm 311 to couple at the rotatable shafts 201 of the vent fins 21 respectively, such that the actuation link 33 transmits the rotating power from the motorized unit 32 to concurrently move the vent fins 21 between the opened position and the closed position.
Accordingly, the control module 30 can be remotely controlled via different controlling means. For example, the control module 30 further comprises a remote controller 34 wirelessly controlling the motorized unit 31 to concurrently move the vent fins 21 between the opened position and the closed position. Therefore, the user is able to use the remote controller 34 to control different vent devices at different air outlets. In addition, the control module 30 further comprises a motion sensor 35 operatively linked the motorized unit 31 to concurrently move the vent fins between the opened position and the closed position in response to a presence of the user. The motion sensor 35 can be installed at the vent frame 10 to detect any motion within a designated area. Therefore, when the motion sensor 35 detects the presence of the user within the designated area, the motorized unit 31 is automatically activated to concurrently move the vent fins 21 from the closed position to the opened position. When the motion sensor 35 detects no motion within the designated area after a period of controlling time, the motorized unit 31 is automatically activated to concurrently move the vent fins 21 to the closed position from the opened position. Likewise, the control module 30 further comprises a temperature sensor 36 operatively linked the motorized unit to concurrently move the vent fins between the opened position and the closed position in response to an interior temperature detected by the temperature sensor 36. Accordingly, the temperature sensor 36 can be installed at the vent frame 10 to detect the interior temperature within the designated area. When the interior temperature within the designated area detected by the temperature sensor 36 is above the preset threshold temperature, the motorized unit 31 is automatically activated to concurrently move the vent fins 21 from the closed position to the opened position. When the interior temperature within the designated area detected by the temperature sensor 36 is below the preset threshold temperature, the motorized unit 31 is automatically activated to concurrently move the vent fins 21 to the closed position from the opened position.
Preferably, the control module 30 further comprises a thermostat unit 37 which comprises a vent control circuit 371 operatively linked to the motorized unit 32 to concurrently move the vent fins between the opened position and the closed position, and a system circuit 372 for operatively controlling the heating and air conditioning system. Therefore, the thermostat unit 37 is an integrated unit to control both the vent fins 21 and the heating and air conditioning system. Accordingly, the thermostat unit 37 can be configured different setting per day, such as “Wake”, “Leave”, “Return”, and “Sleep” mode in response to a timer. At the “Wake” mode, the controlling means, such as the motion sensor 35 and the temperature sensor 36, is activated to control the vent fins 21 between the closed position and the opened position while the heating and air conditioning system is activated so as to optimize the interior temperature of the designated area. At the “Leave” mode, no one will be within designated area, such that the controlling means and/or the heating and air conditioning system will deactivated. Furthermore, the vent fins 21 will be moved at the closed position. At the “Return” mode, the heating and air conditioning system will activated while the vent fins 21 will be moved at the opened position to ensure interior temperature of the designated area to reach a preset threshold. The “Sleep” mode is similar to the “Wake” mode that the controlling means is activated to control the vent fins 21 between the closed position and the opened position while the heating and air conditioning system is activated so as to optimize the interior temperature of the designated area. The difference between the “Sleep” mode and the “Wake” mode is that the preset threshold at “Sleep” mode is higher than that at the “Wake” mode. It is worth mentioning that in any configured setting, the temperature setting can be overridden. Therefore, the vent device of the present invention provides a simple and inexpensive retrofit of existing heating and air condition systems to optimize efficiency of the existing system, and to reduce the need for cost prohibitive replacement systems.
One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting.
It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. The embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.
