U.S. patent application number 11/415638 was filed with the patent office on 2006-09-21 for personalized air conditioning/ displacement ventilation system.
Invention is credited to Peter G. Betz, Hans F. Levy.
Application Number | 20060211362 11/415638 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46205937 |
Filed Date | 2006-09-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060211362 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Levy; Hans F. ; et
al. |
September 21, 2006 |
Personalized air conditioning/ displacement ventilation system
Abstract
A personalized air conditioning/displacement ventilation system
is located above a floor having an air plenum below the floor but
above the concrete slab. A displacement ventilation stand-alone air
chamber is located above the floor and thereby delivers air above
the air plenum. The air chamber has a frontal outlet and a lateral
air outlet into the ambient atmosphere. Within the stand-alone
chamber the air is being displaced in various amounts to various
outlets. The stand-alone unit can be placed wherever it is needed
or desired in many locations in a wide open work place as a
retrofit.
Inventors: |
Levy; Hans F.; (Naples,
FL) ; Betz; Peter G.; (Naples, FL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ARGON
4968 Tamiami Trail North
Naples
FL
34103
US
|
Family ID: |
46205937 |
Appl. No.: |
11/415638 |
Filed: |
May 2, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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11069453 |
Mar 2, 2005 |
|
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11415638 |
May 2, 2006 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
454/186 ;
454/185 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F24F 13/06 20130101;
F24F 7/007 20130101; F24F 2221/38 20130101; F24F 7/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
454/186 ;
454/185 |
International
Class: |
F24F 7/007 20060101
F24F007/007; F24F 7/00 20060101 F24F007/00 |
Claims
1. A personalized air conditioning/displacement ventilation system
incorporated in a stand-alone unit, said system is installed on a
floor having an air plenum below said floor but above a concrete
slab, a supply of conditioned air is located in said plenum and is
moving air into a flexible air duct, said stand-alone unit consists
of an upstanding chamber being connected to said flexible air duct,
said chamber having various controls therein to control a flow of
air either to a front of said chamber or to a lateral side of said
chamber into the ambient atmosphere surrounding said chamber.
2. The personalized air conditioning/displacement ventilation
system of claim 1, wherein one of said various controls is an air
balance control mechanism.
3. The personalized air conditioning/displacement ventilation
system of claim 2, wherein said balance control mechanism consists
of two adjacent metal plates each having openings therein, whereby,
when one of the plates is moved relative to the other, said
openings more or less open or close an air flow passing through
said plates.
4. The personalized air conditioning/displacement ventilation
system of claim 1, wherein another of said various control
mechanisms is a damper to adjust air volume within said
chamber.
5. The personalized air conditioning/displacement ventilation
system of claim 4, wherein said volume damper consists of an
upstanding blade which may control or inhibit a flow of air from
said one balance control mechanism to a front of said chamber.
6. The personalized air conditioning/displacement ventilation
system of claim 5, wherein said upstanding plate is rotatable
around a vertical axis.
7. The personalized air conditioning/displacement ventilation
system of claim 1, wherein said front of said chamber includes
louvers to direct air emanating from said louvers into different
directions.
8. The personalized air conditioning/displacement ventilation
system of claim 1, wherein said front of said chamber is located at
a right angle relative to a plane of the basic chamber.
9. The personalized air conditioning/displacement ventilation
system of claim 1, wherein said front of said chamber is located at
an angle relative to a plane of said basic chamber.
10. The personalized air conditioning/displacement ventilation
system of claim 1, wherein said system is adapted to be placed in
the vicinity of any existing furniture to obtain a combined
personal air conditioning and displacement ventilation.
11. The personalized air conditioning/displacement ventilation
system of claim 1 including an ultraviolet UV light source placed
within said stand-alone unit and within said supply and flow of
conditioned air, said light source purifying the air passing
through said system.
Description
PRIOR APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a Continuation-In-Part of application
Ser. No. 11/069,453 having a filing date of Mar. 2, 2005.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The invention at hand relates to either heating or cooling
the air in a large building, especially with a floor area having
multiple persons working therein. The invention is directed
primarily to the personal comfort of a person working at a
workstation including a desk by directing conditioned air to the
immediate vicinity of the person or persons present at those
workstations and by giving those persons control over the flow and
direction of the conditioned air, and to providing displacement
ventilation to the surrounding area.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] In the field of heating and cooling, generally known as "air
conditioning", there are known problems causing discomfort to the
occupants in the building or a room. Inefficiencies in the system
result in excessive operating costs in the operation of the
building and problems in the operation and control of the present
systems. Also present systems tend to have poor indoor air quality
(IAQ).
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 374,424 discloses a system for supplying fresh
air to the environment of an auditorium and wherein the air blows
directly to the chair which is occupied by a person without any
mechanical intervention or modification.
[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 1,194,527 shows the ventilation of a class
room wherein the outside air under pressure enters the class room
through a ventilated floor panel and is further distributed into a
desk where the pupil is sitting. The pupil may have some control
over the amount of air flowing to or through the desk. In both of
the above cited patents, the air is not conditioned or modified as
to heat or cold.
[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 2,140,829 describes an air conditioning system
wherein there is a cooling of high ceiling rooms by providing a
stratum of cooled and dehumidified air in the lower levels of the
room up to the height of the occupants without considering the
relatively large cost and the complications of treating all the air
in the room.
[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 2,341,125 illustrates a way of ventilating a
desk at a workstation by simply mounting a fan within the rear of
the desk and by blowing air at the person and by giving the person
working at the desk somewhat of a control of the fan by positioning
the same or by controlling the speed of the air flow.
[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 2,507,643 teaches the ventilation of
restaurant equipment by supplying air to and from restaurant table
and their equipment. The person or persons seated at the equipment
have no control over the flow and/or the direction of the flow of
the air.
[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 2,672,120 shows a ventilated table having a
fan mounted in a horizontal position which is emitting air in a
horizontal direction and the air flows out of the lateral sides of
the table.
[0010] U.S. Pat. No. 2,616,617 illustrates a ventilated table
similarly constructed as the table shown in the immediately cited
patent above.
[0011] U.S. Pat. No. 2,734,990 discloses a desk as a workstation
having a combination fan and heater mounted therein. The fan blows
the conditioned air (heat) directly at the person sitting at the
desk. The direction of the air is adjustable by tilting the fan in
one direction or the other and the level of the heat is adjustable
by way of a rheostat.
[0012] U.S. Pat. No. 2,835,186 discloses an air conditioning system
wherein there are upstanding air emitting columns receiving air
through ducts in the floor of the system. It is considered to be a
local or spot air conditioning system.
[0013] U.S. Pat. No. 2,877,990 discloses a novel building structure
embodying a multi-cellular load supporting floor having an air
distributing and an electrical wiring system therein wherein both
the heated and cooled air and the electrical wiring are distributed
through selected ones of the cells in the floor.
[0014] U.S. Pat. No. 3,322,056 teaches the elimination of duct work
in a building by adding fan driven diffusers in the ceiling whereby
the air in the chamber in the ceiling may be used as an
unpressurized distribution chamber.
[0015] U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,347 shows the use of a double plenum air
conditioning system which creates a space between a structural and
the floor of the roof above the building and the double plenum is
divided by a horizontal partition into an upper part and a lower
plenum and a supply of air is fed to one of the plenums and return
air is withdrawn form the other of the plenums. The supply of air
can be hot, cold or neutral. Inlets and outlets connect the plenums
through the slab to the room below or through the floor to the room
above.
[0016] U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,018 discloses a system whereby
conditioned air is distributed through a floor plenum to a multiple
of chairs having exhausts connected to each of the chairs to expel
the conditioned air into the general environment of the room. The
occupants of the chairs have no control over the speed and the
direction of the air flowing to the chairs.
[0017] U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,440 illustrates an air conditioning
system, both ceiling and floor plenums and each of the plenums has
individual air outlets diffusing into the room between the plenums.
In addition, there are individual elongated air outlets tubes
suspended from the ceiling plenum or upstanding from the floor
plenum. Each of the outlet tubes can be directed against a person
sitting at a workstation. The respective person has control over
the direction of the air emanating from the outlets.
[0018] U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,727 shows an open space office system
including a plurality of freestanding workstations which are
constructed of vertical panels and are removably mounted to an
upper board member to direct cooling air to a user of the
organization permitting its use in a convenient manner in various
environments.
[0019] Another known prior art air conditioned workstation is known
under the word "CLIMADESK". It is described as a plenum which is
installed under the top of the desk. The air plenum has an inlet to
receive conditioned air from an air conditioning unit being placed
apart but adjacent to the desk. The air conditioning unit receives
fresh air from the outside of the building through an air intake
vent. The air plenum installed under the top surface of the desk
directs conditioned air toward a person sitting at the desk. The
conditioned air is exiting toward the person by way of two front
louvers and is further directed upwardly from the top surface of
the desk in front of the person sitting at the desk. The
temperature of the conditioned air can be controlled by way of a
thermostat located on a front panel of the desk. This kind of an
arrangement greatly reduces the mobility of such a workstation and
thereby eliminates an effective arrangement of all of the
workstations in an open office concept.
[0020] German published specification (Offenlegungsschrift) No. 24
07 448 discloses a workstation in the form of a desk receiving
conditioned air by way of a flexible hose through the floor having
air ducts therein. The occupant at the desk has no control over the
flow of the air with regard to direction and/or speed.
[0021] German published specification (Offenlegungsschrift) No. 27
19 670 discloses a similar system as was disclosed in the German
publication above. In this arrangement, conditioned air is supplied
by way of ducts located below the floor of the open office area.
From there the conditioned air is funneled to upstanding tubes
located at each of the workstations. The conditioned air is blown
into the room at a location above the desk surface at each of the
workstations. The occupant at the desk has some control over the
direction and the speed of the air flowing through the outlets of
the upstanding tubes.
[0022] German published application (Offenlegungsschrift) No. 29 38
702 is similar to both German publications discussed above and does
not add any more knowledge to the already known prior art.
[0023] Japanese Patent No. 61-11535 discloses an air conditioning
system having a floor plenum installed over a floor slab of a
building. The conditioned air is driven by a fan into a hollow
partition situated over an opening in the floor. Conditioned air
may exit into the room at a higher elevation than the height of the
desk. At the bottom of the floor, whereupon the desk is placed,
there is a further air outlet which is directing conditioned air to
the feet of a person sitting at the desk. It appears that the
person has very little control over the volume, speed and direction
of the conditioned air entering the vicinity of the desk.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0024] An object of the invention is to present a system for
distributing conditioned air throughout an office layout in a most
efficient way. In a building whether large or small, for example,
the control of temperature, air flow, humidity and the like, or
even individual rooms and workstations leaves many persons in the
building or within a room or in the vicinity of a workstation
uncomfortable or dissatisfied with the condition of their
particular environment. Different people have different levels of
metabolism and therefore different comfort needs.
[0025] Also, different locations in a building or on a floor, or
even a single room or closer yet in the vicinity of a workstation,
are not satisfactorily heated or cooled, that is, air conditioned,
and give rise to complaints about discomfort and illness, resulting
in absenteeism, sickness and, of course, loss of productivity.
[0026] Further, conventional air conditioning systems generally
require expensive duct work and installations, usually in floors or
ceilings or both, which cause unnecessary heating or cooling of
unused space, particularly the spaces that surround the duct work
and the spaces above the head level of the occupants. For example,
the approximately upper four feet of space in a room having a
twelve foot ceiling is an unoccupied space and the air in that
space does not need to be controlled. The above mentioned duct work
also imposes a substantial energy demand for the movement of air
through the ducts and additionally presents difficulties in
cleaning the ducts.
[0027] Prior art and known systems with fixed floor and/or wall
mounted air outlet grilles limited the location of workstations,
furniture and or equipment to positions at locations which would
enhance the flow of air. Such prior art systems also created
complaints of discomfort caused by high or low air velocities or
high or low temperatures depending upon the location of the air
outlet grilles. Also, air conditioning outlet grilles and the ducts
associated therewith frequently need to be moved to accommodate
changes in air conditioning loads or a rearrangement of the work
space or the individual workstations in an open office layout, for
example.
[0028] In today's world of large office buildings, not only in
height but also in the expanse of the floors, it has become a
design objective to provide individual workstations and individual
work spaces in generally wide open rooms. That is, instead of
providing each occupant with his or her permanent, generally
enclosed room or office, a number of workstations or cubicles are
provided with each having partitions or room dividers which
partially enclose the space to create a separate work space. The
partitions or dividers do not extend to the ceiling of the room.
Often the workstations include two, three or more partitions for
the purpose of providing the worker with a feeling of privacy.
[0029] While such workstations may be economically beneficial with
regard to the amount of floor space being used, the use of
partitions creates an impediment to the flow of the conditioned air
throughout the room. That is, conditioned air flows freely in the
area above and around the workstations. However, within the
workstations or between the room dividers or partitions there is no
means for providing the workstation occupant with an acceptable
flow of conditioned air. Therefore, the workers often become
uncomfortable, or even ill, which in turn decreases productivity
and/or causes absenteeism.
[0030] Consequently, in the field of heating and cooling there
exists a need for providing a flow of conditioned air directly to
or near a person sitting at a workstation, without blowing at the
person and without creating a draft, as well as to occupants of the
surrounding area. More particularly, there exists a need for a
workstation to be so equipped wherein the occupant can individually
control and obtain the amount of conditioned air supplied within
the workstation while maintaining a desirable flow of conditioned
air to surrounding areas. The amount of conditioned air within the
workstation is controlled by the person to maximize the comfort
level, well being health and level of productivity of each worker,
while maintaining a desirable flow of conditioned air to
surrounding areas.
[0031] Conventional room dividers for workstations may supply
conditioned air to workstations, which conditioned air flows
through an air flow grille at about the height where the worker is
seated but the worker has very little control over the flow of the
air or its direction. Such room dividers consist of a hollow space
being created by panels that are spaced from each other by a
predetermined distance to define an air flow there between. The
hollow room divider is placed on an opening in the floor which
floor is spaced above the slab of the building which constitutes
the building floor to thereby form a large or major air plenum.
This air plenum, therefore, is formed by the slab of the building
floor and the raised floor being spaced above the slab of the
building. The air plenum is charged with conditioned air (hot or
cold) at or near room pressure to be explained below. Applicants'
prior art U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,646,966; 4,860,642; 5,135,436; 6,238,462
and 6,318,113 are directed to conditioned air being supplied
through a floor plenum and from there distributed to individual
workstations through various forms of air delivery. This system
differs from others by pressurizing the air which causes excessive
leakage and loss of energy. All of the noted patents operate in
various satisfactory manners, but there is still room for
improvement. In all the known prior art patents as well as
applicants' own patents there is a tendency of the air that is
introduced into the workstation and into various open spaces to
create air streams or air whirls that have a detrimental effect on
the overall climate within the room where persons are working. This
circulating air does not contribute to the cleanliness of the
ambient air. On the contrary, the circulating air will pick up
various contaminants present in the ambient atmosphere until
exhausted.
[0032] The inventive workstation is constructed to take advantage
of the known principle of "displacement ventilation". In all known
systems mentioned above the air conditioning is called the mixing
type where cold and hot or warm are mixed by blowing the
conditioned air into a workstation or an open office area. A
typical displacement ventilation system for cooling supplies
conditioned air from a low side wall diffuser of very low velocity
to limit entrapment of impurities. In the inventive concept, the
conditioned air is supplied from a plenum below the floor which
will be explained below. The supply temperature is slightly lower
than the desired room air temperature, and the supply air velocity
is very low. From the floor plenum below the conditioned air is
directly introduced to the occupied zone, where the occupants stay.
Exhausts are located at or close to the ceiling through which the
warm room air is exhausted from the room. Because it is cooler than
the room air, the supply air spreads near the floor and then is
heated by the heat sources in the occupied zone. These heat sources
(e.g., persons and computers) create upward convective flows in the
form of thermal plumes. The plumes remove heat and contaminants
that are less dense than air from the surrounding occupied
zones.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0033] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the installation of a
displacement ventilation Stand-alone unit with air emanating from
an angle;
[0034] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of FIG. 1 where the air
emanating from a straight front outlet as opposed to the flow shown
in FIG. 1;
[0035] FIG. 3 is a unitary duct system of a displacement
ventilation installation of a stand-alone unit.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0036] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a stand-alone unit which
consists of a hollow chamber 1. The stand-alone unit can be placed
next to a desk or table representing a work station or any other
station involving one or more persons. The unit 1 consists of a
hollow chamber 1 which is situated on a floor 3 having a plenum of
air conditioned air there below. The conditioned air is fed into
the hollow unit 1 by a flexible duct 2 deriving the air from below
the floor 3. The unit 1 has a top 4 having a control knob 5 thereon
that controls the amount of air passing through the unit 1, as will
be explained below. The unit 1 shown in FIG. 1 has a front air
outlet that is angled to the right so the air emanating from the
front will be directed to the right, possibly to a person sitting
or working at that particular work station. The arrows A indicate
the direction of the movement of the air through the adjustable
louvers 6.
[0037] FIG. 2 illustrates the same layout as is shown in FIG. 1
except that the front of the stand-alone unit 1 is straight,
meaning, at a right angle to the basic unit 1. In this way the
stream of the conditioned air is exiting straight from the front of
the stand-alone unit 1 and into the ambient air of the room where
the stand-alone unit 1 is located.
[0038] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the stand-alone unit 1 shown
in FIGS. 1 and 2 with parts broken away to show the interior of the
unit 1. Some of the same reference characters have been applied as
were in FIGS. 1 and 2. The stand-alone unit 1 has a lateral outlet
that will discharge the conditioned air into the general
environment of the room where any of the air conditioned units 21
are located. However, in the immediate vicinity of the unit there
are front outlets 6 that may be directing air at an angle or in a
direct and straight mode as was explained with regard to FIGS. 1
and 2. According to FIG. 3, the unit is located on a floor 3 that
has an air conditioned plenum there below. The duct 2 feeds air
into the stand-alone unit 1 or chamber 1 by way of the flexible
duct 2 which is located below the floor 3. The stand-alone unit 1
has a lateral outlet 30 which is controlled by louvers 31 as is
indicated by the arrow 31. The top of the stand-alone unit 1
workstation is shown at 4. The installation takes place on an air
conditioned plenum floor 3 that is created above a concrete slab 1
having a raised floor 2 to thereby create an air plenum that is
charged with conditioned air. The raised floor may be constructed
of tiles 3 which has the advantage of placing any workstation in a
predetermined location in an open office arrangement. It is merely
a matter of removing a certain tile and replacing it with a tile
that has an upward air opening therein. The air opening is used to
direct air to a workstation located above such opening. The
inventive concept uses an under floor supply of air which moves the
conditioned air through a flexible duct to a rigid duct through the
floor 3 and then upwardly into the stand-alone unit 1. The
stand-alone unit 1 has several air controls therein. There is
damper control 35 within the unit 1 that controls the air flowing
into the front of the unit 1. The damper control consists of plates
of metal 36 and 38 that can move relative to each other. The plate
36 has openings 37 therein and the plate 38 has openings 39
therein. Once the plates 36 and 38 are moved relative to each
other, the openings 37 and 39 will more or less overlap each other
to thereby control the amount of passing through these openings 37
and 39. The volume control 34 consists of a rotatable sheet of
metal such as a vane 34 that is controlled by the knob 5 located on
top of the unit 1. The rotational direction of the vane 34 is
indicated by the arrow C. The front outlet of the stand-alone unit
has several louvers 33 therein that will control the flow of air
either up or down including left and right. FIG. 3 also illustrates
the placement of an ultraviolet UV light source at 40 which is
placed within the air flow passing through the stand-alone unit.
The intention for the light source 40 is to purify the air to
improve the air quality passing through the unit and into the
general ambient atmosphere of the work place,
Operation
[0039] Contrary to the inventive disclosure in the above identified
application, wherein the inventive displacement system is
incorporated in office furniture or the like, the present system is
incorporated in a stand-alone unit that may be placed anywhere in
an open office space wherein the conditioned air is supplied
through a plenum under the floor of the office layout. This way,
the stand-alone unit may be placed next to desk or a table or
anywhere were several persons my be working in unison on a certain
project. On the other hand, if the office layout or architecture is
changed at any time, the stand-alone unit or units may easily be
placed in a different location to accommodate the new layout. The
person or persons sitting or standing at the front of the
workstation can control the emanating air from the stand-alone unit
as to velocity, direction and amount. Any excess air that is
generated by the movement of the volume damper 34 will be expelled
through the louvers 30. This is the result of the novel air
displacement ventilation system that is disclosed in the prior
application as well as the present one.
* * * * *