Patent Application
20060060187
The present invention relates to commercial kitchen systems and more particularly to a system for controlling the flow of makeup and conditioned air into a kitchen environment.
Typically a commercial kitchen includes a stove or a cooking unit. Over the stove or cooking unit there is provided an exhaust hood. During the cooking operation, air is pulled over the stove and up through the exhaust hood where the air, laden with smoke, cooking aromas, etc. is exhausted from the kitchen and eventually the building. Because the exhaust system continuously draws air from the kitchen area, it is necessary to replenish air to the kitchen area. This is typically provided by what is often termed a makeup air unit. Makeup air units pull ambient air from the outside the building and disperse the air into the kitchen area. In moderate climates it is appropriate to disperse the makeup air in the vicinity of the exhaust hood. Consequently the dispersed makeup air is simply pulled over the stove area and out the exhaust system.
In cold and hot climates a problem can be presented. By simply directing ambient air into the kitchen area, it can be difficult to control the temperature within the kitchen at a comfortable level. Thus, it is known to condition the ambient air prior to the air being dispersed into the kitchen area. For example, in extremely cold environments it is beneficial in some cases to heat the makeup air before the air is dispersed into the kitchen. In extremely hot climates it may be beneficial to cool the air prior to the air being dispersed into the kitchen. However, conditioning the makeup air before dispersement into the kitchen can be an expensive undertaking. This is because some of the conditioned air will immediately be induced into the area over the stove and up and through the exhaust system. Thus, the energy required to condition that portion of the makeup air is not effectively utilized.
Therefore, to conserve energy and to provide a more cost effective make up system for commercial kitchens, it is desirable to provide a makeup air system that will provide two systems or streams of air, an untempered system of air and a tempered system of air. The idea is to provide a system where the untempered or ambient air is truly makeup air inasmuch as a substantial portion of that air stream is utilized to be recirculated over the stove and out the exhaust systems, while the tempered system or stream of air can be utilized to heat or cool the kitchen area. The problem is to devise a system where these two systems of air can be efficiently provided and controlled such that a majority or a substantial portion of the untempered air is utilized for exhaust purposes while a majority or a substantial portion of the tempered air is used for heating or cooling and generally making the kitchen area comfortable.
The present invention entails a method of directing two streams of air into a kitchen having an exhaust hood through which air is exhausted from the kitchen. The two streams of air include a conditioned stream and an unconditioned stream. The method entails directing the conditioned air stream into the kitchen and out an outlet in the vicinity of the exhaust hood. Further the method entails directing the unconditioned air stream into the kitchen and out an outlet positioned generally between the exhaust hood and the outlet for the conditioned air stream. The velocity of one or both air streams is controlled such that the velocity of the conditioned air stream equals or exceeds the velocity of the unconditioned air stream.
In one particular embodiment of the present invention, a dual airflow plenum is provided and is mounted or stationed adjacent the exhaust hood. The dual airflow plenum includes two separate air chambers, one air chamber to accommodate the conditioned air stream and the other air chamber to accommodate the unconditioned air stream. The dual airflow plenum is positioned adjacent the exhaust hood such that an outlet for the unconditioned stream or system of air is positioned between the exhaust hood and an outlet for the conditioned stream of air. This arrangement and this position of the air plenum with respect to the exhaust hood tends to encourage substantial portions of the unconditioned air into and through the exhaust hood while substantial portions of the conditioned air is dispersed into the adjacent kitchen area for cooling or heating the air therein.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a dual air flow kitchen plenum is provided and functions to direct two separate streams or systems of air into a kitchen. The plenum includes a rectangular or square frame having a series of sides, an open top and an open bottom. A top panel is secured over the frame. First and second air inlets are formed in the top for permitting first and second air streams to be directed into the kitchen plenum. A divider extends across the frame and divides the frame into two areas. There is also provided first and second pairs of spaced perforated plates that are secured in the frame. The divider and frame form two chambers. One stream of air is directed into the first inlet and is constrained to move through one chamber and through the first pair of perforated plates. A second stream of air is directed into the second inlet and is constrained to move through the second chamber and through the second pair of perforated plates.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a combination kitchen hood and dual airflow plenum is provided. Here the kitchen exhaust hood and the dual airflow plenum are disposed adjacent each other. The dual airflow plenum includes a frame structure that forms two air chambers. One chamber is particularly adapted to receive untempered air while the other chamber is particularly adapted to receive tempered air. To control the distribution of tempered and untempered air within the kitchen having the combination exhaust hood and dual airflow plenum, the outlet for the untempered air, associated with the plenum, is disposed adjacent the exhaust hood, while the outlet for the tempered air, associated with the plenum, is disposed outwardly of the outlet for the untempered air. By controlling the relative velocity of the two streams of air, the untempered air is encouraged to enter the exhaust hood while the tempered air is engaged to enter the kitchen area for generally heating or cooling the air therein.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and obvious from a study of the following description and the accompanying drawings, which are merely illustrative of such invention.
With further reference to the drawings and particularly
Connected to the exhaust collar 28 is a duct 30. Duct 30 leads from the exhaust collar 28 out the wall or ceiling of the kitchen to an exterior area. In conventional fashion the exhaust hood 14 would be operatively associated with an exhaust fan 11 that in turn is operative to pull air from the kitchen area 10 up past the stove 12 and through the exhaust hood 14 and out the duct 30.
Mounted adjacent exhaust hood 14 is a double air plenum indicated generally by the numeral 50. As will be appreciated from subsequent portions of this disclosure, the double air plenum 50 functions to control and direct two separate systems or streams of air into the kitchen area 10. More particularly, the double air plenum 50 is designed to facilitate the control of two separate streams of air such that one stream of air is encouraged to be induced into and through the exhaust hood 14 while the other system of air is encouraged to be dispersed generally into the kitchen area 10. In that regard, in some environments it is advantageous to heat or cool one of the systems of air. The system or stream of air that is heated or cooled is referred to as conditioned air or tempered air. On the other hand, the other system or stream of air is referred to as untempered air. As will be appreciated from subsequent portions of the disclosure, the system of the present invention disperses both the untempered and tempered systems of air adjacent the exhaust hood 14. The untempered stream or system of air is dispersed adjacent the exhaust hood while the tempered or conditioned system of air is dispersed outwardly of the area where the untempered system of air is dispersed. As seen in
Now turning to the structure of the double air plenum 50, and to
Secured to the top of frame 52 is a top panel 54. Top panel 54 includes first and second openings. Secured to the first opening is a first outlet or collar 56. Secured or formed around the second opening is a second outlet or collar 58. As will be appreciate from subsequent portions of the disclosure, the first inlet 56 is designed to receive a stream of untempered makeup air. Second inlet 58, on the other hand, is designed to receive a separate stream or system of air that will be tempered or conditioned.
Double air plenum 50 is constructed so as to form two separate air chambers, chamber 70 and chamber 72. See
Each of the chambers includes a pair of perforated plates disposed about the lower portion of the plenum 50. A first pair of perforated plates is disposed in chamber 70. This first pair of perforated plates includes plates 62 and 64. As seen in
The double air plenum 50 can be suspended from the ceiling or other structure in the kitchen area 10. To accommodate for suspension, the top panel 54 of the plenum 50 is provided with a series of hanger brackets 74. See
As briefly alluded to before, the double air plenum 50 is preferably strategically located with respect to the exhaust hood 14. Note in
Connected to the dual air plenum 50 is a pair of ducts, duct 80 and duct 90. Duct 80 is connected to inlet 56 and extends therefrom to an exterior air area of the building housing the kitchen 10. Duct 90 is connected to inlet 58 and extends therefrom to an exterior area of the building housing kitchen 10. In the embodiment illustrated herein, duct 80 is designed to channel ambient or untempered air to the plenum 50. Thus, it is appreciated that associated with the duct 80 would be a variable speed fan indicated by numeral 82 and a damper 84. The velocity of air passing through duct 80 can be controlled by the variable speed fan 82 and/or the damper 84.
Associate with duct 90, is an air conditioning unit 92 that is operative to heat and/or cool the air being directed through duct 90 to the plenum 50. As schematically illustrated in
In any event, the velocity of the air dispersed from chambers 70 and 72 of the plenum 50 can be controlled. In particular, the velocity of the separate air streams can be controlled by appropriately adjusting either of the variable speed fans 82 and 94 and/or adjusting the dampers 84 and 96.
It has been found that by controlling the velocity of the tempered or conditioned air being dispersed from chamber 72 or out the perforated plate 66 and 68 can influence and control the flow or pattern of air distribution from the plenum 50. That is, by maintaining or controlling the velocity of the tempered or conditioned air such that the velocity is equal to or greater than the velocity of the untempered air, it has been found that the untempered air is induced to pass over the stove 12 and upwardly through the exhaust hood 14 while the tempered or conditioned air dispersed from the plenum tends to be directed into the kitchen area for heating or cooling the air therein. It is postulated that by maintaining the velocity of the tempered or conditioned air to equal or exceed the velocity of the untempered air, this tends to isolate the untempered air from moving outwardly into the kitchen area 10 and because of the relatively low pressure existing in the exhaust hood area, the untempered air system or stream is induced inwardly over the stove 12 and up and out the exhaust hood 14. It is appreciated that direct control can be exercised over either system of air. The important consideration is that either system or both systems of air are controlled such that the velocity of the tempered or conditioned system of air equals or exceeds the velocity of the untempered or ambient system of air.
It is contemplated that in a preferred design that the velocity of the untempered air would be delivered at approximately 150 fpm while the velocity of the conditioned or tempered air would be delivered at 200 fpm. In a case where the tempered air is cool, for example, the air-conditioned air under pressure tends to encourage the untempered air to move towards the exhaust hood 14, thus preventing hot air from entering the kitchen area 10. The hot air being exhausted from chamber 70 is forced into the exhaust hood to be exhausted from the kitchen while the cooled or conditioned air is free to mix with the air in the kitchen area 10.
The present invention may, of course, be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the scope and the essential characteristics of the invention. The present embodiments are therefore to be construed in all aspects as illustrative and not restrictive and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.
