Patent Application
20140134009
This application is directed, in general, to mounting assemblies and, more specifically, to assemblies for mounting motors.
Air mover devices in space-conditioning systems can generate significant amounts acoustic noise, in particular, pure tone acoustic noise, which is objectionable to the end-users of the space-conditioning system. One conventional belief has been that such acoustic noise results from pressure waves generated by unsteady flow caused by the air mover, forcing the air through the air-mover at discrete frequencies with the air going from a compressed to less compressed state as it leaves the air mover.
One embodiment of the present disclosure is a mounting assembly. The assembly comprises a rigid connector structure configured to attach an air-regulating plate of an air-mover unit to an enclosure of the air-mover unit, wherein the air-regulating plate is in an air-flow pathway of air-moving elements of the air-mover unit. The assembly also comprises a flexible connector structure, wherein at least part of the flexible connector structure is held in-between a plate-mounting portion of the air-regulating plate and an enclosure-mounting portion of the enclosure by the rigid connector structure.
Another embodiment of the present disclosure is an air-mover unit for a space-conditioning system. The unit comprises an enclosure configured to hold air-moving elements there-in and an air-regulating plate situated over an air-exit opening of the enclosure and in an air-flow pathway of the air-moving elements. The unit also comprises one or more mounting assemblies. Each one of the mounting assemblies includes a rigid connector structure configured to attach the air-regulating plate to the enclosure, and, a flexible connector structure, wherein at least part of the flexible connector structure is held by the rigid connector structure, in-between a mounting portion of the air-regulating plate and a mounting portion of the enclosure.
Another embodiment of the present disclosure is a method of assembling an air-mover unit. The method comprises placing air-moving elements of the air-mover unit inside of an enclosure of the air-mover unit. The method also comprises situating an air-regulating plate over an air-flow opening of the enclosure and in an air-flow pathway of the air-moving elements. The method further comprises attaching the air-regulating plate to the enclosure using a mounting assembly. Attaching the air-regulating plate including fixing a plate-mounting portion of the air-regulating plate and an enclosure-mounting portion of the enclosure in-between one end and an opposite end of a rigid connector structure of the mounting assembly, wherein at least part of a flexible connector structure of the mounting assembly is in-between the plate-mounting portion and the enclosure-mounting portion.
Reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
The term, “or,” as used herein, refers to a non-exclusive or, unless otherwise indicated. Also, the various embodiments described herein are not necessarily mutually exclusive, as some embodiments can be combined with one or more other embodiments to form new embodiments.
The embodiments of the present disclosure benefit from an examination of a new hypothesis on how acoustic noise may be generated in air mover devices. As part of the present disclosure it was hypothesized that substantial amount of the acoustic noise, especially the most objectionable pure tone noise, is a result of pressure changes associated with the moving elements of the air mover releasing energy into the moving components and housing components of the air mover at discrete frequencies. The released energy causes these components to vibrate. In the case of the moving components, much of the energy is thought to be suppressed and absorbed because of high mass and mounting configuration of the moving components. In the case of the housing components, due to their lower mass and present configuration, more of the released energy gets translated into vibration energy, which in turn, leads to the acoustic noise, including the pure tone noise.
Based upon the new hypothesis, it was thought that acoustic noise suppression could be achieved by diverting at least some of the released energy into flexible connectors as part of embodiments of a mounting assembly used to hold certain components of the housing together. In particular, the use of flexible connectors as part of a mounting assembly holding a blower housing cutoff plate to other parts of the housing was discovered to be effective at suppressing acoustic noise, including pure tone noise.
One embodiment of the present disclosure is a mounting assembly.
With continuing reference to
As illustrated, the plate-mounting portion 135 and enclosure-mounting portion 140 can be adjacent to or near the opening 122 in the enclosure 115 through which the air-flow pathway 120 is directed.
The rigid connector structure 105 has sufficient mechanical strength to hold the air regulating plate 115 and the enclosure 115 together during the operation of the air-mover unit 102. For instance, some embodiments of the rigid connector structure 105 can be made of plastic, metal (e.g., steel or aluminum) or other similar materials.
As illustrated in
As also shown in
In some cases, as illustrated in
As further non-limiting examples, in some embodiments as illustrated in
In some embodiments, such as illustrated in
In other embodiments, as illustrated in
In some embodiments as shown in
As an example, the flexible connector structure 125, when configured as a cylindrically shaped rubber grommet, can have a central annular slot that separates the flexible connector structure 125 into a portion 130 that is located in-between the plate-mounting portion 135 and the enclosure-mounting portion 140, and, another portion 164 that is located in-between the enclosure-mounting portion 140 rigid connector structure end 156. Because the flexible connector structure 125 configured as a rubber grommet is soft and compressible, one of the portion 130 or other portion 164 can be squeezed through the enclosure opening 146, e.g., in the factory, and thereby hold the rubber grommet in place adjacent to the enclosure-mounting portion 140 without further action on the part of the installer.
In still other embodiments, such as when as illustrated in
As further illustrated in
The rigid sleeve 170 can be composed of a material (e.g., aluminum, steel or hard plastic) having sufficient durability to withstand forces applied to it without failure and with properties which will suppress vibrations at frequencies different than those that the grommet 125 are most effective in suppressing, thus providing a wider range of vibration suppression capabilities
In some cases, the rigid sleeve 170 helps prevent shipping damage and long-term changes in shape of the flexible connector structure 125. For instance, flexible connector structure 125, configured as a rubber grommet, can be subject to creep or tearing from rubbing against any of the rigid connector structure 105, plate-mounting portion 135 or enclosure-mounting portion 140. Such damage to the flexible connector structure 125 can cause the mounting assembly 100 to fail to suppress acoustic noise, or, reduce the efficiency of the air-mover unit 102, e.g., due to misalignment of the air-regulating plate 110 relative to the enclosure opening 122.
As further illustrated in
In some embodiments, to provide fine-tuning of acoustic noise suppression, the rigid sleeve 170 provides compression control of the flexible connector structure 125, when the flexible connector structure 125 is held between the plate-mounting portion 135 and the enclosure-mounting portion 140.
For instance, in some cases, the cylindrical shank 176 of the rigid sleeve 170 stops around the part of structure that defines the opening 144 of the plate mounting portion 135 to thereby stop full compression of the flexible connector structure 125. As an example, the total length 184 of the shank 176 can be adjusted to prevent full compression of the flexible connector structure 125, e.g., from over-tighten of the rigid connector structure 105 to the plate-mounting portion 135 and/or enclosure-mounting portion 140. Fully compressing the flexible connector structure 125 could detrimentally prevent the structure's 125 ability to absorb energy from the air-mover unit 102, and thereby detract from efficient acoustic noise suppression.
For instance, the outer diameter 179 or length 184 of the shank 176 can be adjusted to permit a specific degree of compression of the flexible connector structure 125 (e.g., in a range from about 10 to 90 percent compression as compared to a fully relaxed state with no compressive load), to thereby fine-tune the suppression of particular frequencies, e.g., pure-tone frequencies, of acoustic noise generated by the air-mover unit 102.
Embodiments of the mounting assembly can include different types of rigid and flexible connector structures located to hold in different portions of the air-regulating plate to different places of the enclosure. For example, as illustrated in
In some cases, the secondary flexible connector structure 192 can be of the same type, size and material composition as the primary flexible connector structure 125. In other cases one or both of the type, size or composition of the secondary flexible connector structure 192 than the primary flexible connector structure 125, e.g., to enhance acoustic noise suppression or mechanical stability increasing greater creep and tear resistance.
For instance, in some embodiments, the primary flexible connector structure 125 can be or include a spring, and, the secondary flexible connector structure 192 can be or include a rubber grommet. Or, in some embodiments as shown in
For instance, in still other embodiments, both of the primary and secondary flexible connector structures 125, 190 can be or include a rubber grommet (or spring) composed of the same material. But the rubber grommet (or spring) of the primary and secondary flexible connector structures 125, 190 can different sizes to hold the different plate-mounting portions 135, 194 to differently shaped enclosure-mounting portions 140, 196, respectively.
Similarly, the primary rigid connector structure 110 and secondary rigid connector structure 190 can be of same type, size and material composition as the primary flexible connector structure 125, or, different type, size or material composition as needed to accommodate the configurations of the primary and secondary flexible connector structures 125, 190.
Another embodiment of the disclosure is an air mover unit for a space-conditioning system. For example, the space-conditioning system can be an HVAC or heat pump system used in commercial or residential buildings.
With continuing reference to
As illustrated in
The air-regulating plate 110, sometimes referred to as an air cut-off plate, can be composed of metal such as aluminum and shaped and as illustrated in
As illustrated in
However, in other cases, the air-regulating plate 110 can be permanently fixed to or continuous with the enclosure 115, but still have a free-moving adjustable portion. Once the location of the adjustable portion is set, the one or more mounting assemblies 100 can hold the plate 110 to the enclosure 115 such that the flexible connector structure 125 can dissipate the energy transferred from the air-flow 120 to the plate 110.
Another embodiment of the present disclosure is a method of assembling an air-mover unit.
With continuing reference to
In some cases, as part of situating the plate in step 310 includes finding a position for the plate 110 that optimally focuses the airflow pathway 120 toward the opening 122 and increases the air pressure generated by the air-mover unit 102. Once the optimal position for the plate is located, the plate's 110 position is set in place by performing attaching step 315.
In some cases, attaching step 315 includes a step 324 of placing another portion 164 of the flexible connector structure 125 in-between the enclosure mounting portion 140 and the one end 156 (e.g., a retaining end) of the rigid connector structure 105 that is distal to the air-regulating plate 110. In other cases, in step 326, the entire flexible connector structure 125 is placed in-between the plate-mounting portion 135 and the enclosure-mounting portion 140. In still other cases, in step 328, another second flexible connector structure 165 (e.g., of different composition in some cases) is placed in-between the enclosure-mounting portion 140 and the one end 156 (e.g., retaining end) of the rigid connector structure 105 that is distal to the air-regulating plate 110.
In some cases, attaching step 315 includes a step 330 of passing the rigid connector structure 105 through an axial opening 174 of a cylindrical shank 176 of a rigid sleeve 170, and, a step 335 passing the cylindrical shank 176 of the rigid sleeve 170 through an axial opening 127 of the flexible connector structure 125. In some cases the cylindrical shank is sized to stop full compression of the flexible connector structure 125 when the air-regulating plate 110 is attached to the enclosure-mounting portion 115 in step 315.
In some cases, attaching step 315 can include a step 340 of adjusting a degree of compression of the part 130 of the flexible connector structure 125 located in-between the plate-mounting portion 135 and the enclosure-mounting portion 140 to minimize acoustic noise generated when the air-moving unit 102 moves air through the air-flow opening 122. For instance, part of step 340 can include adjusting the degree of compression to minimize acoustic noise generated when the air-moving unit 102 moves air through the air-flow opening 122. For instance, as part of step 340, in step 342 connection end (e.g., the other end 157) of the rigid connector structure 105 is connected to the plate-mounting portion 135, e.g., such that the opposite end (e.g., retainer end 156) of the rigid connector structure is adjacent to enclosure-mounting portion, and, in step 344, the connection end is mounted further into the plate-mounting portion 135 so that flexible connector structure 125 is compressed. For instance, the rigid connector structure 105, configured as a bolt, or screw, can be rotated around the structure's 105 long axial length (e.g., an axis along the length of the shank 107) so that the connection end is mounted further into the plate-mounting portion 135. In some cases, as discussed above, the rigid sleeve 170 can control the degree of compression of the part 130 of the flexible connector structure 125 when the tightening step 354 is applied.
Those skilled in the art to which this application relates will appreciate that other and further additions, deletions, substitutions and modifications may be made to the described embodiments.
