U.S. patent number 3,910,061 [Application Number 05/503,259] was granted by the patent office on 1975-10-07 for safety condensate overflow system.
This patent grant is currently assigned to General Electric Company. Invention is credited to John W. Irwin.
United States Patent |
3,910,061 |
Irwin |
October 7, 1975 |
Safety condensate overflow system
Abstract
The present invention provides a drain system for a central air
conditioning system wherein a refrigeration system evaporator is
mounted over a drain pan and is arranged in a cabinet. The pan
collects the condensate from the evaporator and is provided with
primary drain passageway for normal draining operation of the pan
and a secondary drain passageway operable in the event the primary
drain passageway is blocked for carrying the condensate away from
the cabinet interior. A safety drain is provided in the secondary
drain passageway that will automatically allow evacuation of
condensate from the drain pan in the event both primary and
secondary drain passageways are blocked.
Inventors: |
Irwin; John W. (Trenton,
NJ) |
Assignee: |
General Electric Company
(Louisville, KY)
|
Family
ID: |
24001358 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/503,259 |
Filed: |
September 5, 1974 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
62/290; 62/286;
62/285; 62/288; 62/291 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F25D
21/14 (20130101); F24F 13/22 (20130101); F25D
2321/146 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
F24F
13/00 (20060101); F25D 21/14 (20060101); F24F
13/22 (20060101); F25D 021/14 () |
Field of
Search: |
;62/289,290,288,286,291,285 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Wye; William J.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. In an air conditioning apparatus having a cabinet including
refrigeration system evaporator means arranged in said cabinet, and
drain means positioned below said evaporator for receiving
condensation from said evaporator, said drain means comprising:
a base pan arranged in said cabinet including side walls;
a primary drain means arranged in the lower portion of one of said
side walls having one end communicating with said base pan and its
other end adapted to project beyond the outer extremities of said
cabinet for directing condensate out of said cabinet;
a secondary drain tube means having a continuous side wall
including an inlet end disposed in said base pan between the lower
end of said primary drain means and the upper extremities of said
side walls and an outlet end disposed outside of said cabinet for
directing condensate from said base pan to the exterior of said
cabinet when the condensate in said pan reaches the predetermined
level of said inlet; and
a safety drain means including a relief drain opening located in
the upper half of said secondary tube means side wall in an area
outside of said base pan providing an outlet for condensate
entering said inlet from said base pan when said secondary drain
outlet end is closed.
2. The invention of claim 1 wherein diverter means below said
safety opening projecting from the outer surface of said base pan
side wall to a position exterior of said cabinet for receiving
condensate from said relief drain opening and diverting it away
from said cabinet when said secondary drain outlet end is
closed.
3. The invention of claim 2 wherein said diverter means includes a
bottom wall arranged below said secondary drain tube and side walls
projecting upwardly from said bottom wall along opposite sides of
said drain tube means in the area of said relief drain opening.
4. The invention of claim 3 wherein the outlet end of said
secondary drain tube is adapted to receive a flexible extension
tube, and said diverter means side walls having portions bent
toward each other to a position adjacent the upper portion of the
peripheral wall of said secondary drain tube and downstream from
said relief opening to prevent said flexible extension from being
inserted to a position over said relief opening.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In a centralized air conditioning system the evaporator coil is
customarily mounted in a cabinet which also contains a blower for
moving air through the evaporator and into the area to be cooled. A
drain pan is usually located below the evaporator in a manner that
collects condensate therefrom. It is important that the condensate
collected in the pan be drained out of the cabinet so that it does
not come into contact with electrically operable components in the
cabinet. It has been common practice therefore to provide the pan
with a primary drain means that effectively directs the condensate
out of the cabinet and which is usually adapted to be suitably
connected to a drain system. Provisions have also been made
available in air conditioning equipment for a secondary drain to
direct condensate from the cabinet interior in the event the
primary drain becomes ineffective in carrying away condensate. In
many installations both primary and secondary drain means are
connected to a drain system of the structure to be conditioned by
conduits that are arranged outside of the cabinet at the time the
air conditioning system is installed. In the event both of these
conduits become clogged or pinched condensate would then back up
into the pan and would overflow into the cabinet interior wherein
it may come into contact with one of the electrically operable
components causing a hazardous condition.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An air conditioning apparatus having a cabinet including a
refrigeration evaporator arranged over a drain means. The drain
means includes a base pan having a primary drain for carrying off
condensate from the evaporator to a location exterior from the
cabinet, and a secondary drain means for carrying off condensate in
the event the primary drain is clogged. The secondary drain means
includes a safety drain means which automatically carries off the
condensate in the event both the primary and secondary drain
outlets are clogged.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a partial elevational view of an air conditioning
apparatus incorporating the present invention;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view taken substantially along lines 2--2 of
FIG. 1; and
FIG. 3 is a side elevational view taken along lines 3--3 of FIG.
2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a cabinet 10 which may be part
of a hot air furnace or central air conditioner which includes a
blower or air handling means (not shown) for moving air through the
furnace in the direction indicated generally by the arrows. Located
in a distribution plenum 12 is an "A"-coil or inverted V-shaped
evaporator assembly or heat exchanger indicated generally at
14.
The evaporator 14 is of conventional design and is formed from a
series of flat, thin plates and has the usual refrigerant tubing 16
passing therethrough as part of the refrigerant system. Other
conventional components such as a base pan 18 including a bottom
wall 26 and side walls 24 is provided wherein the lower edges of
the evaporator and more specifically, the plates are located in the
pan 18. The base pan 18 is conveniently located so as to collect
all of the condensate that may drip off the evaporator 14.
Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, a drain outlet 20 having an opening
22 is provided in one side wall 24 of the pan 18. As shown in FIG.
3 the drain opening 22 is arranged adjacent the bottom wall 26 of
the pan and extends beyond the outer wall 28 of the cabinet. The
outlet 20 has connected thereto a drain conduit 30 for carrying the
condensate away from the cabinet 10. It should be clearly
understood that the condensate collected in the pan 18 must be
directed outside of the cabinet interior so that it does not come
into contact with any of the electrical components of the
system.
In accordance with the embodiment of the present invention shown, a
secondary drain tube 32 is provided which as will hereafter be
described in detail carries condensate water away from the base pan
18 and to the exterior of the cabinet 10 in the event the primary
drain opening 22 or the conduit 30 becomes clogged. The secondary
drain tube 32 has a portion arranged in the base pan including an
inlet opening 34 and an outlet portion including an outlet opening
36 extending through the side wall 24 and projecting beyond the
outer extremities of the cabinet. The tube 32 is conveniently
secured to the wall 24. The vertical position of the opening 34 as
best seen in FIG. 3 is intermediate the lower portion of the
opening 22 and the upper edge portion of the base pan wall 24.
Since the opening 34 must be effective to drain condensate out of
the pan 18 when condensate reaches a predetermined level it is
conveniently located adjacent the opening 22. The exact vertical
position of the opening 34 is determined by the air pressure and
its effect on the condensate level in the general area of the drain
opening which may be greater or less than the air pressure in other
locations of the base pan 18. In the event the conduit 30 is
clogged or restricted the condensate water will enter the opening
34 at its set level and direct condensate water out of opening 36
and into a convenient conduit 38 which is arranged over the outlet
portion of the tube 32.
While the provision of a secondary drain system provides a measure
of safety in that a drain for the condensate is provided in the
event the primary drain is clogged, there is always the risk of
both drains being rendered ineffective. Both conduits 30 and 38 are
connected to their respective drains at the time the furnace is
installed and are conveniently arranged outside of the cabinet 10.
This makes these vulnerable and as a result both may be damaged and
pinched and as a result render the draining system inactive. It is
also possible that while one drain may be pinched, the other may
become clogged with debris or particles entering the conduits from
the pan 18. In any event the clogging of both the primary and
secondary drain systems would permit condensate water to raise to a
level above the walls 24 of the pan 18 and spill over into the
interior of the cabinet where the water may come into contact with
the electrical components and create a potential hazardous
condition.
The present invention is directed particularly to the provision of
a safety drain system in the secondary drain tube 32 that is
effective in automatically directing condensate water out of the
drain pan 18 and cabinet 10 in the event both the primary and
secondary drain systems are rendered inoperative.
To this end a relief drain opening 40, FIG. 2, is provided in the
secondary drain tube 32 portion extending outside of the pan 18.
The opening 40 is arranged in the upper portion of the exterior
radial wall of the tube 32. This upper location allows flow of
water past opening 40 when the secondary drain system is operating
normally without any obstruction to the flow therethrough. In
operation when the primary drain 22 becomes inoperative as by
clogging or by conduit 30 being pinched, water from the pan 18 is
drained through the secondary tube 38 past the relief opening 40
and into conduit 38 which directs it into an appropriate drain
system. In summary, in the event conduit 38 becomes pinched or
clogged water will flow out of opening 40 and as a result does not
back up in the pan 18 and overflow into the interior of the cabinet
10.
Provision is also made by the present embodiment of the invention
to insure that when water flows out of opening 40 it is directed
away from the outer extremities of the cabinet 10. Accordingly, a
diverter means 42 is connected to the side wall 24 of the base pan
18. The diverter is generally U-shaped and includes a bottom wall
44 located below the exterior portion of the safety drain tube 32,
and upwardly extending substantially parallel side wall portions 46
arranged on each side of the exterior portion of the safety drain
tube 32. As seen best in FIG. 2 the diverter 42 projects from the
side wall 24 of base pan 18 to a position substantially past the
opening 40 and outer extremities of the cabient 10 so that when
water flows out of opening 40 it is received in the U-shaped
diverter and carried away from cabinet 10 independent of the
secondary drain system.
During the installation of the drain conduit 38 over the exterior
end portion of the tube 32 it may inadvertently be positioned over
the relief drain 40 and render the safety drain system inoperative.
To guard against and prevent this inadvertent closing of the drain
40, the end portion of each of the walls 46 is bent inwardly to
form guard members 48 adjacent the upper half portion of the tube
32. As seen in FIG. 3 the spacing of the guard member 48 relative
to the tube 32 effectively acts as a stop to prevent the
installation of conduit 38 to a position over the relief opening
40.
While there has been shown and described a specific embodiment of
the invention, it will be understood that it is not limited thereto
and it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such
modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this
invention.
* * * * *