Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6240742
-
Patent Number
6,240,742
-
Date Filed
Wednesday, December 1, 199924 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, June 5, 200123 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
- Doerrler; William
- Jones; Melvin
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 062 480
- 062 125
- 062 129
- 062 239
- 062 317
- 165 50
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A modular air-conditioning system is disclosed and consists of a power supply module, blower module(s), air-conditioning module(s), and an air-distribution module. The power module may be comprised of batteries, whereas the blower module provides ventilation through the air-conditioning system that extracts heat from the flow of fluid and directs the extracted heat to a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is a closed-low pressure system consisting of a liquid filled with a water adsorbing material. The heat is extracted from boiling liquid in a lower chamber of the heat exchanger and transferred to an upper chamber of the heat exchanger by way of heat and mass transfer.
Description
ORIGIN OF THE INVENTION
The invention described herein was made in the performance of official duties by an employee of the Department of the Navy and may be manufactured, used, licensed by or for the Government for any governmental purpose without the payment of any royalty thereon.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1.0 Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air-conditioning system and, more particularly, to an air-conditioning system that is portable and modular so that it may be capable of being carried and moved about and can be arranged into many configurations so as to meet various thermal, filtration and power requirements.
2.0 Description of the Prior Art
A person's ability to accurately and repeatedly perform assigned tasks is dependent, in part, on the temperature of the environment in which the person is placed. If the environment can be maintained at a relatively constant temperature at a relatively low humidity, such as achievable by air-conditioning systems, the ability of a person to successfully perform the tasks increases.
Air-conditioning systems that clean air and control the humidity and temperature of the air are well known and find plentiful usage in stationary buildings, as well as moving vehicles. However, once the air-conditioning system is situated at a location in the building or moving vehicle, it commonly remains there for its operational life.
In addition to stationary air-conditioning systems, man-mounted, portable air-conditioning systems find usage in domestic and commercial buildings, but once again, once the air-conditioning system is situated at a location it commonly remains at that location for the remainder of its operational life. It is desired to provide an air-conditioning system that is easily capable of being carried and moved about so that it may be easily relocated so as to satisfy various thermal requirements in various buildings.
Air-conditioning systems, both stationary and portable types, are commonly removed and replaced with other air-conditioning systems so as to meet various thermal, filtration and power requirements as the need thereof arises within a building. It is desired that an air-conditioning system be constructed with module units so as to provide flexibility to satisfy various thermal, filtration and power requirements.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide an air-conditioning system having modular construction so that it may be configured to provide flexibility in satisfying various thermal, filtration and power requirements as the need thereof arises.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an air-conditioning system that is portable and man-mounted so that it is capable of being carried and moved about in order to satisfy various thermal, filtration and power requirements as the need thereof arises.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide for a modular portable air-conditioning system that inefficient in its operation while at the same time is modular so as to provide add-on capabilities for the air-conditioning systems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to an air-conditioning system that is portable and man-mounted as well as having a modular construction.
In one embodiment of the present invention, an air-conditioning modular system comprises a heat exchanger, and means for transferring water from a reservoir to a heat adsorbing material. The heat exchanger comprises an upper compartment having entrance and exit ducts and containing a water adsorbing material. The heat exchanger further comprises a lower compartment having entrance and exit ducts and containing water and also housing heat-exchanging fins. The air-conditioning module utilizes tubes for interconnecting the upper and lower compartments of the heat exchanger. The pressures of the upper and lower compartments are maintained so as to reduce the boiling point of water therein to be near room temperature.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention, as well as the invention itself, will become better understood by reference to the following descriptions when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numbers designate identical or corresponding parts throughout and wherein:
FIG. 1
illustrates the modular and portable air-conditioning system of the present invention.
FIG. 2
illustrates further details of the blower module of the system of FIG.
1
.
FIG. 3
illustrates a perspective view of the air-conditioning module of FIG.
1
.
FIG. 4
illustrates a side view of the air-conditioning module of FIG.
1
.
FIG. 5
illustrates the support structure for housing the air-conditioning module of FIG.
1
.
FIG. 6
schematically illustrates the air-distribution module of FIG.
1
.
FIG. 7
illustrates the overall airflow associated with the modular portable air-conditioning system of FIG.
1
.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
With reference to the drawings,
FIG. 1
illustrates a modular portable cooling system
10
existing of a series of modules and portable components that can be assembled in many configurations to meet various thermal, filtration and power requirements as the need thereof arises. The modular portable system
10
has overall and typical dimensions of 14 inches long, by 4 inches wide, and by 9 inches in height as viewed in FIG.
1
. The modular components of the system
10
comprise a power module
12
, a blower module
14
, and one or more air-conditioning modules shown as
16
A and
16
B, and an air distribution module
18
. The modular portable cooling system
10
preferably further comprises a filter module which may be a canister
20
or a flat plate filter device
22
.
The modular portable cooling system
10
further comprises a knuckle arrangement
24
that operatively cooperates with a pin
26
. The system
10
further comprises a plurality of latch mechanisms
28
. The knuckle arrangement
24
and pin
26
serve as an arrangement for interconnecting the modules
12
,
14
,
16
A,
16
B and
18
together and the latch mechanism serves as a snap arrangement so that the power module
12
, at least one air-conditioning module
16
, and the air distribution module
18
may also be connected to each other.
The power module
12
preferably further comprises an indicator
30
, a variable switch
32
and an On-Off switch
34
. The blower module
14
preferably further comprises one or more inlet grills
36
, whereas the air-conditioning module
16
preferably further comprises an indicator
38
, a control valve
40
, condensation drain valve
42
, and a removable front base
44
having associated screw connectors
44
A. The indicator
38
is provided, in a manner known in art, to indicate the heat exchanger's (to be further described with reference to
FIGS. 3 and 4
) conditioning efficiency and means that notify the user of the system
10
when the efficiency thereof falls below an acceptable level which, in turn, notifies the user that the heat exchanger needs to be replaced. The air distribution module
18
preferably further comprises a temperature control switch
46
and an exit port
48
.
The power module
12
has typical dimensions of 2 inches long, by 4 inches wide, by 9 inches high. The power module
12
further comprises a portable electric source
50
such as, batteries or fuel cells, and a transformer to supply power excitation to the blower module
14
. The transformer (not shown) is conventional and is used, in lieu of the batteries or fuel cells, when external power (e.g., aircraft power) can be exploited. Different operational environments present different external power opportunities. For example, a typical aircraft power operates at 115 VAC at 400 Hz, while ordinary household power operates at 110 VAC at 60 Hz and either may be connected to the transformer. Consequently, various power modules have specific transformers so as to provide for the desired input and output system requirements in a manner known in the art.
The On-Off switch
34
is operatively connected to the variable switch
32
so as to control the power (and speed) of the blower module
14
. A meter or indicator
30
is preferably utilized, in a manner known in the art, to indicate the level of the available power of the power module
12
, as well as to notify the user of the system when the batteries of the power source
50
need to be replaced. The electrical connectors (not shown in
FIG. 1
, but to be described with reference to
FIGS. 2 and 3
) are used to establish the interface between the power module
12
and the blower module
14
. The power module
12
transfers power to the blower module
14
. The blower module
14
has typical dimensions of 2 inches long by 3 inches wide by 9 inches high and has one or more grills
36
that serve as inlet ports for ventilation air. The blower module
14
can be further described with reference to FIG.
2
.
FIG. 2
schematically illustrates the blower module
14
and shows the power source
50
of the power module
12
as being interconnected to the blower module by way of a cable routing
52
having connectors
54
and
56
. The connector
54
is connected to a blower or fan
58
having an
0
ring
60
, whereas connector
56
is connected to a blower or fan
62
also having an
0
ring
60
. The blower
58
may be operatively interconnected to a filter canister
64
, whereas blower
62
may be operative interconnected to a filter canister
66
. The filter canisters
64
and
66
are connected to a plate
68
which may be connected to the outer framing (not shown in
FIG. 2
) of the blower module
14
by way of pins (not shown) insert one into openings
70
. The filter canister
64
serves as an upper canister in that it is arranged above the lower filter canister
66
, whereas the blowers or fans
58
and
62
move air across the heat transfer surfaces of the air-conditioning module
16
which may be further described or referenced to FIG.
3
.
FIG. 3
is a perspective view of the air-conditioning module
16
which has typical dimensions of 4 inches long, by 4 inches wide, by 9 inches high and consists of a heat exchanger
72
with an upper compartment
74
used for heating and a lower compartment
76
used for cooling. The upper compartment
74
has entrance and exit ducts
78
and
80
respectively. Similarly, the lower compartment
76
has entrance and exit ducts
82
and
84
as well as heat exchanging fins
86
. The upper compartment
74
is interconnected to the lower compartment
76
by means of the control valve
40
and a tube
88
. The heat exchanger
72
may be further described with reference to FIG.
4
.
The heat exchanger
72
shown in
FIG. 4
mounts into the support structure of
FIG. 5
, to be described hereinafter, which connects via pins to other modules, thus providing for the heating and cooling airstreams also to be described hereinafter.
The upper compartment
74
contains a water adsorbing material, such as Zeolite and the cooling compartment
76
contains water. The cooling compartment
76
is heavily finned by means of heat exchanging fins
88
so as to maximize the heat exchange with ventilating air entering the blower module
14
in a manner as to be further described hereinafter with reference to FIG.
7
. The fins
86
also act as conduits to transfer the water vapor produced by the boiling, of the water in the lower compartment
76
, to the heating compartment
74
by way of control valve
40
and tubing
88
. The heating compartment
74
is also heavily finned and consists of a metal casing
96
containing the adsorbing material
98
. The lower cooling compartment
76
has a bottom portion wherein a condensing drain
100
is located.
The heat exchanger
72
operates in a normal matter in which heat is added or removed from a ventilatory airstream passing over the heated surface of upper chamber
74
, or the cooled surface of lower compartment
76
. The internal pressure of the heat exchanger
72
, is maintained at a pressure low enough to reduce the boiling point of water in a lower compartment
76
to be near room temperature. The air-conditioning module
16
as the quick-removable base plate
44
, shown in
FIG. 1
, which allows the heat exchanger
74
to be extracted and inserted into support structure
102
which may be further described with reference to FIG.
5
.
The support structure
102
is preferably made from non-heat conductive material, such as plastic, and serves to provide the passageways to allow airflow between the heating and cooling compartments
74
and
76
respectively. Support structure
102
has a plurality of openings
104
which allows for the insertion of the screws
44
A, shown in
FIG. 1
, and openings
106
and
110
which allow for the insertion of the control valve
40
and the indicator
38
, respectively, also shown in FIG.
1
.
The support structure
102
has an opening on its face
110
which allows for the insertion of a quick-removable base plate
44
, shown in FIG.
1
. The support structure
102
further comprises windows plates
112
and
114
that are respectively in line with entrance ducts
78
and
82
of the heating and cooling compartment
74
and
76
respectively. In addition, the support structure
102
has an opening
108
that allows for the isolation of the warm and cool airstreams as well as the tubing
88
both shown in FIG.
3
. The support structure
102
provides the passageways for fluid communication between the one or more air-conditioning modules
16
A and
16
B and blower module
14
, while the air-conditioning module
16
provides cooling and heating air to the air distributing module
18
which may be further described with reference to FIG.
6
.
The air-distribution module
18
has typical dimensions of 2 inches long by 4 inches wide by 9 inches high. It has an interior lodging a moveable manifold
118
which divides the interior into an upper passageway
120
and a lower passageway
122
, each having an entrance and an exit section, with the entrance section of the upper passageway
120
being arranged so as to be in line with the exit duct of the upper compartment
74
of the air-conditioning module
16
and with the entrance section of the lower passageway
122
being arranged so as to being in line with the exit duct of the lower compartment
76
of the air-conditioning module
16
. The manifold
118
is operatively connected to the control valve
46
by way of linkage
46
A schematically shown in FIG.
6
. The manifold
118
, in response to the control valve
46
may be raised to an upper position
118
A (shown in phantom) or a lower position
118
B (also shown in phantom). In operation, there are two airstreams entering the air distribution module
18
, one being a heated air stream from the heating compartment
74
of the air-conditioning module
12
and the other being a cooled air stream from the cooling compartment
76
of the air-conditioning module
12
. The control knob
46
moving the manifold
118
controls the mixing of the entering air streams so that the temperature of the discharge air can be regulated before passing through either a fixed filter
22
having a plate-like shape or the canister filter
20
. Waste conversion air is removed from the system by way of an exit port
48
. The air distribution module
18
further comprises a purging system, not shown, but known in the art, which provides the ability for the filter modules
20
or
22
to be changed during the operation of the system
10
, while still maintaining a clean environment for the system
10
.
The filter
22
and/or
20
removes noxious materials from the system
10
when the system
10
is operating in a contaminated atmosphere. The filter module
20
or
22
accommodates various filter media. For example, the filter canister
20
may comprise a NATO C2 CB filtration material. The overall flow of the module portable air-conditioning system
10
may be described with reference to FIG.
7
.
As seen in
FIG. 7
, an upper inlet air stream
124
and a lower inlet air stream
126
are drawn into the system
10
by the blower module
14
by way of one or more grills
36
(upper grill
36
only shown). The air stream
124
exits the blower module
14
at canister
64
(see
FIG. 2
) and in to the opening
112
(see
FIG. 5
) of the support structure
102
as well as the entrance
78
(see
FIG. 3
) of the air-conditioning module
16
A and, then, passes through the first air-conditioning module
16
A by way of exit duct
80
(see
FIG. 3
) of the air-conditioning module
16
which is also aligned to the opening
112
of the support structure
102
for air conditioning module
16
B and entrance duct
78
of the second air-conditioning module
16
B.
Similarly, the air stream
126
exits the blower module
14
at canister
66
(see
FIG. 2
) and into opening
114
(see
FIG. 5
) of the support structure
102
as well as the entrance
82
of the lower compartment
76
of the air-conditioning module
16
A and, then, passes through the lower compartment
76
and onto the exit duct
84
of the lower compartment
76
. The air stream
126
then passes through the opening
114
of the support structure
102
for air-conditioning module
16
B as well as the entrance port of the lower compartment
76
of the second air-conditioning module
16
B. The upper end lower air streams
124
and
126
respectively exit the upper compartment
74
and the lower compartment
76
of the air-conditioning module
16
B and respectively enter into the openings of
120
and
122
(see
FIG. 6
) of the air-distribution module
18
.
The air streams
124
and
126
are mixed by the operation of the air-distribution module
18
; in particular the manifold
118
and the control valve
46
, shown by air stream
128
. The waste air leaves the system
10
by way of the exit port
48
and is shown as air stream
138
, whereas the conditioned air
132
leaves the forward face of the air-distribution module
18
in a straight through manner as shown in
FIG. 7
, with some of conditioned air
132
passing first through the canisters
20
and leaving the system
10
as the conditioned discharged air shown by directional arrows
134
.
It should now be appreciated that the practice of the present invention provides for a air-conditioning system that consists of a power module
12
, blower module
14
, at least one air-conditioning module
16
, and an air-distribution module
18
, as well as having a preferred filter device
20
or
22
. Because of the module construction, the different modules of the system
10
may be arranged in any fashion to satisfy various thermal, filtration, and power requirements.
It is understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments herein illustrated and described but may be otherwise without departing in a sphere in scope of the invention.
Claims
- 1. A modular portable cooling system comprising:(a) a power module making available power excitation at its output; (b) a blower module having means for connecting to said power excitation and having at least first and second blowers excited by said power and each blower preferably having a filter canister with an input and an output and with one canister being an upper canister arrange a above the other canister which is a lower canister; (c) an air-conditioning module including a heat exchanger comprising: (i) an upper compartment having entrance and exit ducts and containing a water adsorbing material; said entrance duct being arranged in line with the lower canister of said blower module; (ii) a lower compartment having entrance and exit ducts and containing water and also housing heat-exchanging fins, said entrance duct being arranged in line with the lower canister of said blower module; and (iii) tubing interconnecting said upper and lower compartments; and (iv) means fluidly coupled to said upper and lower compartments for maintaining pressure of said upper and lower compartments so as to reduce the boiling point of water near room temperature; and (d) at least one air-distribution module having an interior and a manifold which divides said interior into upper and lower passageways each passageway having entrance and exit sections with the entrance section of an upper passageway being arranged so as to be in line with the exit duct of said upper compartment of said heat exchanger and with the entrance section of the lower passageway being arranged so as to be in line with the exit duct of said lower compartment of said heat exchanger.
- 2. The modular portable cooling system according to claim 1, wherein said manifold is adjustable and said air-distribution module further comprises a control valve operatively connected to said adjustable manifold so that the upper and lower passageway have air streams that can be mixed with each other.
- 3. The modular portable cooling system according to claim 1, wherein said lower passageway of said air-distribution module has a bottom portion having mounted thereto an exit port.
- 4. The modular portable cooling system according to claim 1, wherein said air distribution module further comprises means for purging said interior of said air-distribution module of any contaminants therein.
- 5. The modular portable cooling system according to claim 1 further comprising filtering means for filtering air leaving the exit section of the upper passageway of the air-distribution module.
- 6. The modular portable cooling system according to claim 5, wherein said filtering means is a canister containing NATO C2 CB.
- 7. The modular portable cooling system according to claim 1, wherein said power module, blower module, at least one air-conditioning module, and air-distribution module each further comprises a pin and latch mechanism each dimensioned so that said power module, blower module, at least one air-conditioning module, and air-distribution module may be removeably interconnected to each other.
- 8. The modular portable cooling system according to claim 1, wherein said power module comprise at least one battery.
- 9. The modular portable cooling system according to claim 1, wherein said exchangeable power modules have an input and an output with said input having means for connecting to excitation selected from various groups including 115 VAC at 400 Hz and 115 VAC at 60 Hz.
- 10. The modular portable cooling system according to claim 9, wherein said means for connecting to said excitation includes a transformer.
- 11. The modular portable cooling system according to claim 9 wherein said output of said power module has an operatively connected On-Off switch and a variable switch.
- 12. A portable air-conditioning module comprising(a) a heat exchanger comprising; (i) an upper compartment having entrance and exit ducts and containing a water adsorbing material; (ii) a lower compartment having entrance and exit ducts and containing water and also housing heat-exchanging fins; and (iii) tubing interconnecting said upper and lower compartments; and (b) means for fluidly coupling between said upper and lower compartments and for maintaining pressure of said upper and lower compartments so as to reduce the boiling point of water to near room temperature.
- 13. The air-conditioning module according to claim 12, wherein said upper compartment comprises metal having a relatively high heat conductivity and having extrusions extending inward of an interior of said upper compartments.
- 14. The air-conditioning module according to claim 13, wherein said extrusions have a shape selected from the group consisting of fins and ribs.
- 15. The air-conditioning module according to claim 12, wherein said water-adsorbing material is Zeolite.
- 16. The air-conditioning module according to claim 12 further comprising at least one control valve fluidly coupled to said tubing.
- 17. The air-conditioning module according to claim 12 further comprising means for monitoring efficiency of operation of said heat exchanger.
- 18. The air-conditioning module according to claim 12, wherein said lower compartment has a bottom portion and wherein said air-conditioning module further comprises a discharge valve located at said bottom portion.
- 19. The air-conditioning module according to claim 12 further comprising a support structure dimensioned to house said air conditioning module.
- 20. The air-conditioning module according to claim 19, wherein said support structure is comprised of an insulative material and is dimensioned to allow insertion and extraction of said air-conditioning module.
- 21. The air-conditioning module of claim 20, wherein said insulative material is plastic.
- 22. The air-conditioning module according to claim 19, wherein said support structure has a pin and latch mechanism for removeably connecting to another structure.
US Referenced Citations (9)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
84-295537 |
Nov 1984 |
DE |