Patent Application
20240003599
Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Heat pumps are useful for many purposes. A prominent application for a heat pump is as a component for a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system used to control ambient temperature within an environment. One example of such an environment is a residential or industrial building space.
A blower and heat exchanger component of a heat pump, includes a physically moveable electrical service panel. The service panel can slide out on a first side and on a second side opposite to the first side, where an existing air duct connects to a third side that is orthogonal to the first and second sides. This sliding service panel configuration allows a same blower/heat exchanger component to adapt the duct being located on either side (e.g., by installing the component rotated within the installation space as appropriate). The service panel can slide out on either the first side or the second side of the component in order to afford access for service, irrespective of orientation of the component as installed relative to the duct.
Described herein are methods and apparatuses implementing an interface for a heat pump. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous examples and specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments according to the present invention. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that embodiments as defined by the claims may include some or all of the features in these examples alone or in combination with other features described below, and may further include modifications and equivalents of the features and concepts described herein.
A heat pump may comprise the following five (5) elements.
One particular type of heat pump includes a blower 109 and an air-to-refrigerant heat exchanger. That heat exchanger controls temperature in the space by recirculating air through ducting to/from the temperature-controlled interior space and through the heat pump.
Such a heat pump can add or remove heat from this airflow to provide any desired air temperature setpoint inside the temperature-controlled interior space.
The return duct accepts airflow back from the temperature controlled space. This allows the heat pump to add or remove heat before sending it back to the temperature controlled space via the supply duct.
The orientation and location of the supply and return ducts in buildings are not standardized. One configuration is to have the supply duct positioned so that the supply airflow comes out vertically from the top of the unit, with the return duct located at one side.
Embodiments provide a heat pump component that is designed to allow for deployment in the particular location that is dictated by the layout of ducting within a building. For example, the heat pump component could be deployed in a right hand corner, with the return duct present on the left hand side (as shown in
Alternatively, the same heat pump component design could be deployed in a left hand corner. There, simply rotating (e.g., by 180°) the unit affords the return duct on the right hand side (as shown in
According to such embodiments, depending upon the deployment either of the sides orthogonal to the right or left side, could actually serve as the front of the unit (e.g., facing a user). Thus, service-access to electrical components is provided in a panel that can slide in opposite directions, thereby permitting access irrespective of the particular deployment of the unit. It is noted that in some embodiments the panel can be slid out completely.
Thus, in the embodiment of
The panel comprises one or more of electrical connections and electrical components features, including but not limited to:
To realize electrical service from either side of the unit as installed, the design approach allows the electrical panel to slide out of the unit from either end. This permits assignment of either side of the unit as the front.
The unit can then be positioned according to the ducting requirements right or left airflow return. Assignment of the front is no longer required from an electrical servicing perspective.
The above description illustrates various embodiments of the present invention along with examples of how aspects of the present invention may be implemented. Other embodiments are possible.
For example, while the above description shows particular embodiments of
At 804, the panel is slid out of a first side to afford access to an electrical element. At 806 the heat pump is rotated.
At 808, an opening is aligned with a return duct. At 810 the panel is slid out on an opposite side to the first side to afford access to the electrical element.
The above examples and embodiments should not be deemed to be the only embodiments, and are presented to illustrate the flexibility and advantages of the present invention as defined by the following claims. Based on the above disclosure and the following claims, other arrangements, embodiments, implementations and equivalents will be evident to those skilled in the art and may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims.
