Patent Application
20200064017
The present subject matter relates generally to packaged terminal air conditioner units, and more particularly to sound damping wall sleeves for packaged terminal air conditioner units.
Refrigeration systems are generally utilized to adjust the temperature within a certain area. In the case of air conditioner units, one or more units may operate to adjust the temperature within structures such as dwellings and office buildings. In particular, one-unit type room air conditioner units may be utilized to adjust the temperature in, for example, a single room or group of rooms of a structure. Such air conditioner units may include, for instance, a sealed system to cool or heat the room. The sealed system may include a compressor, one or more heat exchangers, and an expansion device.
Another type of unit, sometimes referred to as a packaged terminal air conditioner unit (PTAC), may be used for somewhat smaller indoor spaces that are to be air conditioned. These units may be installed in a wall sleeve positioned within an opening of an exterior wall of a building. When a conventional PTAC is operating, the compressor, indoor and outdoor fans, and other components can generate noise which may be disturbing to a room occupant. Conventional wall installations may result in more of the sealed system components and the wall sleeve being positioned within the room, e.g., due to architectural considerations related to keeping the exterior appearance of a building uniform or coplanar. However, moving noise generating components into the room may further increase the noise generated within or directed into the room.
Accordingly, a packaged terminal air conditioner unit that generates less room noise would be useful. More specifically, a PTAC wall sleeve that reduces or attenuates sound waves entering a room for all PTAC installations would be particularly beneficial.
Aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following description, may be obvious from the description, or may be learned through practice of the invention.
In accordance with one embodiment, a packaged terminal air conditioner unit is provided including a bulkhead defining an indoor portion and an outdoor portion. A sealed system includes a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger positioned within the indoor portion, an outdoor heat exchanger positioned within the outdoor portion, and an expansion device, the sealed system being operable to transfer thermal energy between the indoor portion and the outdoor portion. A wall sleeve is configured for receiving at least a portion of the sealed system, at least a portion of the wall sleeve including a plurality of layers formed from at least two materials for damping noise generated by the sealed system.
In accordance with another embodiment, a wall sleeve for a packaged terminal air conditioner unit is provided. The wall sleeve includes an outer layer formed from an outer material, an inner layer formed from an inner material, and a middle layer formed from a middle material and being positioned between the outer layer and the inner layer.
In accordance with still another embodiment, a method of installing a packaged terminal air conditioner unit is provided. The method includes installing a wall sleeve in an opening in a building wall, the wall sleeve including at least two layers formed from different materials for damping noise, mounting a bulkhead within the wall sleeve to define an indoor portion and an outdoor portion, and installing a sealed system at least partially within the wall sleeve, the sealed system including a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger positioned within the indoor portion, an outdoor heat exchanger positioned within the outdoor portion, and an expansion device.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including the best mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth in the specification, which makes reference to the appended figures.
Repeat use of reference characters in the present specification and drawings is intended to represent the same or analogous features or elements of the present invention.
Reference now will be made in detail to embodiments of the invention, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the drawings. Each example is provided by way of explanation of the invention, not limitation of the invention. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be used with another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
As used herein, the term “packaged terminal air conditioner unit” is applied broadly. For example, packaged terminal air conditioner unit 100 may include a supplementary electric heater (not shown) for assisting with heating air within the associated room or building without operating the sealed system 102. However, as discussed in greater detail below, packaged terminal air conditioner unit 100 may also include a heat pump heating mode that utilizes sealed system 102, e.g., in combination with an electric resistance heater, to heat air within the associated room or building. Indeed, aspects of the present subject matter may have applications involving sealed systems in any air conditioner unit or in other appliances using sealed systems, such as refrigeration appliances.
As may be seen in
Wall sleeve 110 defines a mechanical compartment 116. Sealed system 102 is disposed or positioned within mechanical compartment 116 of wall sleeve 110. A front panel 118 and a rear grill or screen 120 hinder or limit access to mechanical compartment 116 of wall sleeve 110. Front panel 118 is positioned at or adjacent interior side portion 112 of wall sleeve 110, and rear screen 120 is mounted to wall sleeve 110 at exterior side portion 114 of wall sleeve 110. Front panel 118 and rear screen 120 each define a plurality of holes that permit air to flow through front panel 118 and rear screen 120, with the holes sized for preventing foreign objects from passing through front panel 118 and rear screen 120 into mechanical compartment 116 of wall sleeve 110.
Packaged terminal air conditioner unit 100 also includes a drain pan or bottom tray 124 and an inner wall or bulkhead 126 positioned within mechanical compartment 116 of wall sleeve 110. Sealed system 102 is positioned on bottom tray 124. Thus, liquid runoff from sealed system 102 may flow into and collect within bottom tray 124. Bulkhead 126 may be mounted to bottom tray 124 and extend upwardly from bottom tray 124 to a top wall of wall sleeve 110. Bulkhead 126 limits or prevents air flow between interior side portion 112 of wall sleeve 110 and exterior side portion 114 of wall sleeve 110 within mechanical compartment 116 of wall sleeve 110. Thus, bulkhead 126 may divide mechanical compartment 116 of wall sleeve 110. Specifically, bulkhead 126 may generally separate and define an indoor portion 128 and an outdoor portion 130.
Referring again to
Controller 146 may regulate operation of packaged terminal air conditioner unit 100, e.g., responsive to sensed conditions and user input from control panel 140. Thus, controller 146 is operably coupled to various components of packaged terminal air conditioner unit 100, such as control panel 140, components of sealed system 102, and/or a temperature sensor (not shown), such as a thermistor or thermocouple, for measuring the temperature of the interior atmosphere. In particular, controller 146 may selectively activate sealed system 102 in order to chill or heat air within sealed system 102, e.g., in response to temperature measurements from the temperature sensor.
In some embodiments, controller 146 includes memory and one or more processing devices. For instance, the processing devices may be microprocessors, CPUs or the like, such as general or special purpose microprocessors operable to execute programming instructions or micro-control code associated with operation of packaged terminal air conditioner unit 100. The memory can represent random access memory such as DRAM, or read only memory such as ROM or FLASH. The processor executes programming instructions stored in the memory. The memory can be a separate component from the processor or can be included onboard within the processor. Alternatively, controller 146 may be constructed without using a microprocessor, e.g., using a combination of discrete analog and/or digital logic circuitry (such as switches, amplifiers, integrators, comparators, flip-flops, AND gates, and the like) to perform control functionality instead of relying upon software.
As will be described in further detail below, sealed system 102 may operate in a cooling mode and, alternately, a heating mode. During operation of sealed system 102 in the cooling mode, refrigerant generally flows from interior coil 134 and to compressor 132. During operation of sealed system 102 in the heating mode, refrigerant generally flows from exterior coil 136 and to compressor 132. As will be explained in more detail below, a compression reversing valve 150 in fluid communication with compressor 132 may control refrigerant flow to and from compressor 132, as well as the coils 134, 136.
During operation of sealed system 102 in the cooling mode, refrigerant flows from interior coil 134 and to compressor 132. For example, refrigerant may exit interior coil 134 as a fluid in the form of a superheated vapor. Upon exiting interior coil 134, the refrigerant may enter compressor 132, which is operable to compress the refrigerant. Accordingly, the pressure and temperature of the refrigerant may be increased in compressor 132 such that the refrigerant becomes a more superheated vapor.
Exterior coil 136 is disposed downstream of compressor 132 in the cooling mode and acts as a condenser. Thus, exterior coil 136 is operable to reject heat into the exterior atmosphere at exterior side portion 114 of wall sleeve 110 when sealed system 102 is operating in the cooling mode. For example, the superheated vapor from compressor 132 may enter exterior coil 136 via a first distribution conduit 152 (
According to the illustrated embodiment, an expansion device or a variable electronic expansion valve 156 may be further provided to regulate refrigerant expansion. Specifically, variable electronic expansion valve 156 is disposed along a fluid conduit 158 that extends between interior coil 134 and exterior coil 136. During use, variable electronic expansion valve 156 may generally expand the refrigerant, lowering the pressure and temperature thereof. In the cooling mode, refrigerant, which may be in the form of high liquid quality/saturated liquid vapor mixture, may exit exterior coil 136 and travel through variable electronic expansion valve 156 before flowing through interior coil 134. In the heating mode, refrigerant, may exit interior coil 134 and travel through variable electronic expansion valve 156 before flowing to exterior coil 136. As described in more detail below, variable electronic expansion valve 156 is generally configured to be adjustable. In other words, the flow (e.g., volumetric flow rate in milliliters per second) of refrigerant through variable electronic expansion valve 156 may be selectively varied or adjusted.
Interior coil 134 is disposed downstream of variable electronic expansion valve 156 in the cooling mode and acts as an evaporator. Thus, interior coil 134 is operable to heat refrigerant within interior coil 134 with energy from the interior atmosphere at interior side portion 112 of wall sleeve 110 when sealed system 102 is operating in the cooling mode. For example, the liquid or liquid vapor mixture refrigerant from variable electronic expansion valve 156 may enter interior coil 134 via fluid conduit 158. Within interior coil 134, the refrigerant from variable electronic expansion valve 156 receives energy from the interior atmosphere and vaporizes into superheated vapor and/or high quality vapor mixture. An interior air handler or indoor fan 160 (
During operation of sealed system 102 in the heating mode, compression reversing valve 150 reverses the direction of refrigerant flow from compressor 132. Thus, in the heating mode, interior coil 134 is disposed downstream of compressor 132 and acts as a condenser, e.g., such that interior coil 134 is operable to reject heat into the interior atmosphere at interior side portion 112 of wall sleeve 110. In addition, exterior coil 136 is disposed downstream of variable electronic expansion valve 156 in the heating mode and acts as an evaporator, e.g., such that exterior coil 136 is operable to heat refrigerant within exterior coil 136 with energy from the exterior atmosphere at exterior side portion 114 of wall sleeve 110.
Referring specifically to
Referring now generally to
In certain applications, architects wish to push as much of packaged terminal air conditioner unit 100 into the room to provide an aesthetically pleasing external appearance to the building. However, as explained above, this results in more moving, vibrating, and noise-making components positioned within the room, thus generating excessive noise within the room which transmits easily through conventional single ply wall sleeves. Thus, to prevent or reduce the transmission of noise from within mechanical compartment 116 into the room, wall sleeve 110 as described herein includes a multi-layer noise damping construction.
Specifically, referring to
Layers 180 may be constructed from any suitable material to provide structural rigidity necessary to support components of package terminal air conditioner unit 100 while achieving the desired sound damping. In this regard, for example, one or more layers 180 may generally include at least one rigid layer, such as a stamped metal layer, to provide a suitably rigid structure for mounting wall sleeve 110 to building wall 172 and to support internal components of unit 100. In addition, one or more layers 180 may include a resilient layer intended to absorb vibrations and sound waves, acting generally to partially decouple internal components from building wall 172. As used herein, the term “resilient” may be used to refer to a material characteristic which enables the material to deflect and recoil or spring back into its original shape after being moved or compressed.
Referring specifically to the illustrated embodiment of
Notably, the thickness of each layer 180 of wall sleeve 110 may be varied as needed to achieve the desired rigidity and sound damping characteristics. For example, according to the illustrated embodiment, outer layer 182 defines an outer thickness 190, inner layer 184 defines an inner thickness 192, and middle layer 186 defines a middle thickness 194. As illustrated, both outer thickness 190 and inner thickness 192 are greater than middle thickness 194, e.g., greater than three times, five time, or more than middle thickness 194. More specifically, for example, outer thickness 190 and inner thickness 192 are approximately 0.024 of an inch and middle thickness 194 is approximately 0.004 of an inch. It should be appreciated that as used herein, terms of approximation, such as “approximately,” “substantially,” or “about,” refer to being within a ten percent margin of error.
Referring now to
Method 200 includes, at step 210, installing a wall sleeve in an opening in a building wall, the wall sleeve comprising at least two layers formed from different materials for damping noise. In this regard, for example, building wall 172 may define opening 170 and wall sleeve 110 may be sized for receipt within opening 170. Wall sleeve 110 may be bolted, screwed, or otherwise mounted and sealed to building wall 172 within opening 170. As explained above according to an exemplary embodiment, wall sleeve 110 may include a plurality of layers, such as an outer layer 182, an inner layer 184, and a middle layer 186, collectively forming a sound damping construction. According to an alternative embodiment, wall sleeve 110 may be a conventional single ply stamped metal wall sleeve and additional insulating layers or wrap may be positioned within or around wall sleeve 110 to form the sound damping construction. Other modifications and variations to the construction of wall sleeve 110 may be utilized while remaining within the scope of the present subject matter.
After the wall sleeve is mounted within building wall 172, step 220 includes mounting a bulkhead within the wall sleeve to define an indoor portion and an outdoor portion and step 230 includes installing a sealed system at least partially within the wall sleeve. The sealed system may be similar to sealed system 102 described above and include a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger positioned within the indoor portion, an outdoor heat exchanger positioned within the outdoor portion, and an expansion device. It should be appreciated that the bulkhead and the sealed system may be installed in any suitable order or simultaneously depending on the construction of the packaged terminal air conditioner unit.
This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they include structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.
