Heat Exchange Coil And Housing Therefor

Abstract

A heat exchange coil housing structure providing interchangeable side, top and bottom panels whereby the shifting of panels allows for airflow in a plurality of different directions without repositioning the heat exchange coil.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In many heat exchange systems, heating or cooling is accomplished by the circulation of a gas across a coil carrying a heated or cooled fluid, the resulting heat transfer heating or cooling the gas. Frequently, the gas carries an entrained vapor which may condense out upon cooling of the gas. Such a situation exists, for example, when humid air is cooled. When the air is cooled to or below the dew point, the entrained water vapor condenses out of the air.

When such condensation takes place, the liquid condensate generally collects on the surface of the coil, first as a light mist, and eventually attaining droplet size if sufficient cooling of enough air is continued. The accumulation of these condensate droplets may present serious problems in the operation of the unit, and provisions must normally be made for the collection and removal of the condensate. Frequently a drain pan is provided subjacent the coil to collect the the condensate so that it may be evaporated off or otherwise removed from the system.

To be effective, the drain pan must generally be positioned at least partly below the coil so that the condensate may drip or run into the pan by the action of gravity. The precise location and size of the drain pan will be dictated, in large measure, by the position and orientation of the coil itself. As a result, once the coil is installed into its associated housing, and the drain pan fixed relative thereto, the direction in which gas may be directed through the coil is limited to one or perhaps two directions.

Unfortunately, the construction of heating and cooling systems often require coils capable of receiving and discharging air in a variety of directions. For example, in residential heating and cooling systems, air may flow from the heating or cooling source vertically upwardly or downwardly, horizontally in either direction, or may be introduced horizontally and discharged vertically, and vice versa. Obviously a heat exchange coil capable of accepting and delivering air in only one or two directions is of limited usefulness.

In prior practice, it has been customary to provide a differently constructed unit for each direction of airflow encountered. For example, an evaporator coil may be installed in the plenum or ductwork of a furnace in order to use the delivery system of the furnace for delivery of cooled air during the summer months. Such furnaces may direct air upwardly, as from a basement location; downwardly, as from an attic location; or horizontally. Occasionally, air may enter the furnace plenum in a vertical direction and exit in a horizontal direction, or vice versa. In order to accommodate these various configurations, different evaporator coil units have been provided for each specific type of airflow, the various units not being interchangeable or convertible. This of course requires manufactures to build a number of different units, and requires dealers to stock a variety of units in order to be prepared to meet each possible installation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention therefore to provide a heat exchange coil and housing therefor which can be adapted to accept airflow in a number of different directions.

A further object is to provide a heat exchange coil with associated housing wherein air can be directed across the coil from different directions without reorienting the coil.

A still further object is to provide an improved eavporator coil unit for residential split-type air conditioning systems.

A still further object is to provide an evaporator coil unit which can be readily adapted in the field to accommodate whatever direction of airflow might be required for a given installation.

In the present invention, a heat exchange coil is mounted in a housing having end walls and side, top and bottom wall frames. The side, top and bottom wall frames have a panel receiving portion adapted to receive a panel which, when in place, substantially closes the particular side, top or bottom wall. The panel members are preferably interchangeable. Through rotation of the panel members around the coil, airflow may be directed across the coil in a variety of directions without reorienting the coil. If desired, an auxillary drain pan may be used with certain configurations .

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be explained in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial end view in section depicting one embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a heat exchange coil and housing illustrating another embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 3 is a partial end view in section of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 configured for vertical airflow,

FIG. 4 is a partial end view in section of the embodiment in FIG. 2 with the panel members configured for vertically upward to horizontal airflow,

FIGS. FIG. 5 is a partial end view in section of the embodiment in FIG. 2 with the panel members configured for vertically downward to horizontal airflow,

FIGS. 6 and 7 are partial end views in section of the embodiment in FIG. 2 with the panel members configured for horizontal flow, and

FIG. 8 is a partial end view in section of the embodiment of FIG. 2 with the panel members configured for horizontal to vertical airflow.

Referring to the drawings, a heat exchange coil 10 is mounted in a housing indicated generally at 30. The coil may be of any conventional type including the type comprising serpentine tubing 11 passing repeatedly through a series of fins 12. The coil 10 may be held in place by suitable brackets 13 secured to the coil, brackets 13 in turn being fastened to end walls 31 by means of bolt fasteners 14. Although coil 10 may be oriented within housing 30 in various ways, it is preferred to mount the coil diagonally of the end walls 31 as shown. This orientation gives the maximum flexibility as to airflow direction across the coil faces 15 and 16, as will be explained in greater detail hereinafter. It will be understood that coil 10 is connected by suitable piping and fittings (not shown) to a source of cooled or heated fluid as desired.

Positioned subjacent coil 10 is drain pan 20 which may be generally trough-shaped and may be provided with an aperture 21 for removing condensate liquid which may accumulate in the drain pan 20. It has been discovered that condensate forming on coil 10 will tend to run downwardly along the fin and tube structure and finally drip from the coil at its lowermost corner. Accordingly, it is generally not necessary to provide a drain pan beneath the entire coil, but rather only beneath the lowermost portion as illustrated in the drawings.

Housing 30 is generally comprised of end walls 31, side wall frames 32 and 33, top wall frame 34 and bottom wall frame 35. Side wall frames 32 and 33, top wall frame 34 and bottom wall frame 35 have panel receiving portions 36, 37, 38 and 39 respectively. The periphery of panel receiving portions 36, 37, 38 and 39 form apertured portions of the side, top and bottom wall frames respectively.

In accordance with the present invention, panel members 40 and 41 are mounted in place at two of the panel receiving portions 36, 37, 38 or 39. In FIG. 1, the panel members 40 and 41 are shown mounted in panel receiving portions 38 and 39 respectively, but it will be understood that either one of panel members 40 and 41 may also be mounted in panel receiving portions 36 or 37, depending upon the desired direction of input and output airflow.

The placement of the panel members may be varied to meet particular requirements, however, each of the panel members must be located opposite a different face of the coil, that is, one panel member opposite face 15 and one panel member opposite face 16. Stated differently, the panel members should not both be placed opposite the same face of the coil. For example, panel members 40 and 41 should not be mounted to panel receiving portions 37 and 38 at the same time as in such a configuration air would not flow across the coil but instead would bypass the coil and exit without the desired heat exchange having taken place.

FIGS. 2-8 illustrate a modified version of the housing shown in FIG. 1. In this particular embodiment, panel receiving portions 37 and 38 are flanged outwardly as at 37a and 38a, and panel member 40a is correspondingly flanged inwardly to fit snugly over panel receiving portion 37a or 38a. Panel receiving portions 36 and 39 remain unflanged, as does panel member 41.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 2-8, all of the panel members are not interchangeable. In that embodiment, the top panel member is interchangeable with one side member, while the bottom panel member is interchangeable with the other side member. These features may allow for easier installation and provide the same number of variations of airflow as in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3-8 illustrate the variety of airflow directions which may be selected using the heat exchange coil and housing of the present invention. It can be seen that the unit of the present invention can be adapted to the various airflow patterns by proper placement of panel members 40a and 41 without reorienting the coil 10 or the drain pan 20.

It has been observed that when the incoming air impinges upon the upper most face 15 of coil 10, as in FIGS. 5 and 6, there is a tendency for the airflow to blow the condensate off the coil 10 without allowing the condensate to flow completely along the fins to the drain pan. In that case, it may be desirable to provide auxiliary drain pan 22 shown in FIG. 5, or auxiliary drain pan 22a shown in FIG. 6. The auxiliary drain pan is generally sloped downwardly toward drain pan 20 so that any condensate blown into auxiliary drain pan 22 or 22a will run into drain pan 20 for eventual disposal. The auxiliary drain pan 22 or 22a may be packaged and shipped with each unit and installed if necessary at the job site, or discarded.

It should be apparent from the foregoing description that the present invention provides many advantages heretofore not readily available. Since the heat exchange coil housing can be adapted to almost any airflow pattern in the field, most of the assembly of the unit can be done at the factory with only a minimum of alteration necessary in the field. Since the heat exchange coil remains in a single disposition, the drain pan can be relatively small and compact, and installed in a single position. There is no requirement for unnecessary extensions of the drain pan as is sometimes required in units designed to be turned over to accommodate different airflow patterns. Manufacturers and dealers stock requirements are reduced because a single unit can satisfy a variety of installation requirements.

While in the foregoing description and drawings the present invention has been set forth with considerable detail, it will be understood that such detail is for the purpose of illustration and is in no way intended to limit the scope of the invention. Many modifications and substitutions can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.

Claims

I claim:

1. In combination, a heat exchange coil and a housing therefor, said housing comprising end walls and side, top and bottom wall frames having panel receiving portions therein; said heat exchange coil being disposed diagonally of said end walls; means for removably securing panel members to said wall frame panel receiving portions; a first panel member attached to one of said panel receiving portions on a first side of said coil, a second panel member attached to another of said panel receiving portions on the opposite side of said coil, whereby air flows across said coil in either direction through the two panel receiving portions remaining uncovered; condensate receiving means subjacent said coil, said coil and said condensate receiving means remaining in fixed position without regard to the direction of air flow across said coil; whereby said panel members may be repositioned to provide alternate air flow paths through said housing.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said panel members communicate with said top and bottom wall frames.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said panel members communicate with said sidewall frames.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein one of said panel members communicates with said top wall frame and one of said panel members communicates with one of said side wall frames.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein one of said panel members communicates with said bottom wall frame and one of said panel members communicates with one of said side wall frames.