KR20080017478A - Condensate drain hose arrangement for an evaporator unit - Google Patents

Abstract

An evaporator unit having a blower and an evaporator coil is provided with a condensate drain pan which is so structured and located as to enable the collection of condensate forming on the evaporator coil when the unit is placed in either a vertical or horizontal orientation. A drainage element provides fluid communication from the drain pan to tubing for conducting the flow of condensate from the unit. The unit housing has openings in a bottom end wall and a back wall such that the tubing can be selectively passed through the appropriate opening to accommodate the respective horizontal or the vertical orientation. In installations where gravity is not sufficient to provide the necessary drainage, a pump is provided within the tubing arrangement. A sump and an associated sensor is provided to activate and deactivate the pump on a selective basis.

Description

Condensate drain hose arrangement for evaporator units {CONDENSATE DRAIN HOSE ARRANGEMENT FOR AN EVAPORATOR UNIT}

The present invention relates generally to an evaporator unit for an air conditioning system, and more particularly, to a condensate drain arrangement for an evaporator unit that can be configured to be installed in a horizontal or vertical orientation.

In many air conditioning, heating and ventilation systems, the air conditioned air is discharged into the interior space through an air distribution or air conditioning unit. As an example, one general type of air conditioning system, often referred to as a split system, includes separate indoor units and outdoor units. The outdoor unit includes a compressor, a heat exchanger and a fan. The indoor unit includes a heat exchanger and a fan and is called an evaporator. In operation, the indoor fan draws air through the inlet into the evaporator unit and conveys this air over the heat exchanger and then through the internal outlet opening to the outside of the evaporator unit.

The outdoor fan draws outside air into the outdoor unit and circulates it above the outdoor heat exchanger and then back to the atmosphere. At the same time, the compressor circulates the refrigeration fluid through and between indoor / outdoor heat exchangers. In an indoor heat exchanger, the refrigerant absorbs heat from the air passing over the heat exchanger to cool the air. At the same time, in an outdoor heat exchanger, the air passing over the heat exchanger absorbs heat from the refrigerant passing through the heat exchanger.

This type of separate air conditioning unit is usually manufactured with a wide range of cooling capacity. In the manufacture of such units, in particular, when the units are enlarged, the manufacture and assembly of the various components becomes cumbersome and difficult. Typically, the larger the unit, the more components are needed, and the more fixtures are needed for the assembly of all the components. It is highly desirable to minimize the number of components and fixtures required for the manufacturing and assembly process.

Another benefit to air conditioning of indoor air made in such air conditioning units is that it can remove undesirable moisture in the air as the air being cooled passes through the indoor heat exchanger. This dehumidification results in the accumulation of water as the moisture condenses on the cold internal heat exchanger coil. Therefore, it is necessary to collect the removed water and redirect it to the appropriate disposal point.

In general, the indoor unit of the detachable system is mounted on the floor of the room, leaning against the wall of the room. However, in some situations it is desirable to place the indoor unit in another location, such as the ceiling of a room. It should be noted that an indoor unit that can be mounted anywhere in the above-described floor mounting position or ceiling mounting position and also provides the function of collecting condensate from the unit is highly desirable.

Indoor units for air conditioning systems that can be mounted floor, ceiling or wall mounted are disclosed and described in US Pat. No. 6,321,556. However, the unit as disclosed in this patent includes two different condensate collection fans to meet various installation possibilities.

An evaporator unit for an air conditioning system includes a housing, the housing having a front portion forming an air inlet and an air outlet, and a rear panel. The housing forms an air flow path through the unit extending from the inlet to the outlet. The evaporator coil is supported in the air flow path in the housing. The unit includes an evaporator fan that flows air through the evaporator coil along the air flow path, where the air is cooled in the evaporator coil and water is removed from the air resulting in condensation.

A single drain pan is provided for collecting the condensate, which is configured and oriented such that the condensate is collected therein whether the unit is in a vertical or horizontal orientation. Drainage is attached to the drain pan in such a way that the unit is always at a lower level than the drain pan, whether in a horizontal or vertical orientation state. The housing has an end wall and a rear wall, each of which has an opening therein. Tubing is attached to the drainage element, which tubing optionally passes through one of the openings to provide fluid communication from the drain pan to a location outside the housing. For installation in locations where gravity alone is not possible to drain from the piping, a condensate pump is provided. In addition, a collection sump and a sensor are provided for responsively operating the pump.

1 is a perspective view of an evaporator unit according to the invention.

2 is a side view of an evaporator unit mounted on the ceiling.

3 is a side view of the evaporator unit installed at the base of the wall;

4 is an end perspective view showing the right side of the ceiling mounted unit with the end cover removed;

Figure 5 is an end perspective view of the unit mounted to the bottom wall with the end cover removed.

6 is an end cross-sectional view of a unit mounted to a ceiling with a condensate pump.

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view of the unit shown in FIG. 6 with the pump removed. FIG.

FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view of the unit shown in FIG. 6 with the sump / sensor removed. FIG.

The evaporator unit 11 embodying the present invention is shown in a state in which the rear side 12 of the evaporator unit 11 is installed on the lower part of the wall near the bottom. Alternatively, it can be seen that such a system can be installed horizontally with its rear side 12 touching the ceiling of the room. However, for purposes of explanation, the unit 11 will be described as having a front side 13, an upper end 14, a left end 16, a right end 17 and a bottom 18. A grill 19 is included on the front side 13 through which the air of the room to be air-conditioned is sucked in. In the upper end 14, there is an air discharge opening 21 for discharging air conditioned air into the room.

FIG. 2 shows an evaporator unit 11 mounted horizontally with its rear side 12 mounted below the ceiling 22 and its bottom portion 18 in contact with the side wall 23 of the room. Similarly, in Fig. 3 the unit 11 is shown in a vertical installation position with its rear side 12 disposed against the wall 23 and its bottom 18 positioned near the bottom 24. .

In addition to cooling the air, it can be seen that the evaporator unit tends to dehumidify the air-conditioned air by removing moisture from the air. This occurs due to the condensate that forms on the relatively cold coil, which then flows to the drain pan disposed below by gravity. Therefore, the condensate collected in the drain pan must be disposed of properly. This is generally accomplished by flowing a stream of liquid condensate to the outside. For each of the units mounted on the ceiling as shown in FIG. 2 or the units mounted on the wall as shown in FIG. 3, this is a drain pan that flows downwardly through the side wall or into the side wall and down to the outer outlet. It is best achieved by a condensate tube fluidly connected to the tube. 2 shows a condensate tube 26 passing through the bottom portion 18 of the unit 11. 3 shows a condensate tube 27 passing through the rear side 12 of the unit 11.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the refrigerant connection tube 29 from the line where the right end 17 is exposed, i.e. the right end cover is removed, provides fluid communication to the tubes in the internal heat exchanger. An evaporator unit is shown showing an inner side assembly 28 having some of the internal components, including. Condensate conduits 26, which provide drainage of condensate from the condensate pan when the unit is installed in the ceiling below, are interconnected to the exhaust conduits 31 at their inner ends, and the exhaust conduits are sequentially drain pan 32. Are fluidly interconnected. Here, the opening 33 through which the condensate pipe 26 passes is formed in the unit bottom face 18. The opening 33 is provided in every unit, and is used as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 4, or when the condensate flow is conveyed in another form as shown in FIG. 5, an open space as shown in FIG. Can be left as.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5 in which the unit rear side 12 is arranged against the side wall of the room, the exhaust conduit 31 is also fluidly interconnected to the drain pan 32, but the piping 34 is a condensate tube ( 27 is fluidly interconnected to the elbow 36 and the horizontal tube 37 passing through the opening 38 in the rear side 12 to be fluidly interconnected to 27. Openings 38, such as opening 33, are formed in each of the manufactured units and can be used as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 5 or left in an unused position as shown in the embodiment of FIG.

An alternative embodiment of the ceiling mounted unit is shown in FIG. 6, which shows the relationship between the evaporator coil 39 and the drain pan 32. The drain pan 32 is a condensate formed on the evaporator coil 39 flows to the drain pan 32 by gravity, collected in the reservoir 41, the discharge conduit 31 and the pipe 34 from the reservoir It is disposed below the evaporator coil 39 so as to be drained. In this example, however, simple drainage by gravity is not possible in certain installation arrangements, and therefore, a mechanism for pumping condensate out of the unit and into the drainage system needs to be provided. Tubing 34 is fluidly connected to the sump / sensor, which sump / sensor is then in fluid communication with the inlet tube 43, the pump 44 and the outlet tube 46 and the outlet tube 47.

In operation, when the condensate is collected in the reservoir 41, the condensate is delivered to the sump / sensor 42 through the discharge conduit 31 and the pipe 34. When the water level in the sump / sensor 42 reaches a certain level, the sensor puts the pump 44 into operation, which then sucks the condensate through the inlet tube and draws the condensate from the outlet tube 46. Discharge, so that it will then be discharged from the drain pipe 47. When the level of condensate in the sump / sensor is reduced below a certain level, the pump 44 then automatically switches to non-operational state, and the condensate level to the point where the pump 44 is brought back to an operational state. It remains inactive until increases.

As mentioned above, most general installation arrangements do not require a sump / sensor 42 or a pump 44. However, in order to facilitate A / C installation of such sump / sensor 42 and pump 44, provision may be provided by the installer to enable easy installation of these auxiliary units, if necessary. This is accomplished by providing a support structure on the inner surface 48 of the inner side assembly 49, as shown in FIG. Here, a pair of spaced apart, flexible resin parts 51, 52 are provided to receive the pump 44 therebetween. These flexible resin parts 51 and 52 have respective retaining members 53 and 54 protruding inward toward each other, as shown. In order to install the pump 44, it is easy to bend the resin parts 51 and 52 outward to snap the pump 44 in place, and the retaining members 53 and 54 then install the pump. Hold on.

Another arrangement is shown for the installation of a sump / sensor with a support structure as shown in FIG. There is provided a pair of side straps 59, 61 and a plurality of ribs 56, 57, 58 to collectively receive the lower side of the sump / sensor 42. A strap or other similar fixture 62 is then provided to surround the sump / sensor to secure the sump / sensor 42 at its installation position.

Claims (16)

An air conditioner evaporator unit of the type having a evaporator coil and a drain pan for collecting condensate formed on the evaporator coil, configured to be selectively disposed in either a substantially vertical orientation or a substantially horizontal orientation, A housing for receiving an evaporator coil and a drain pan, each having a bottom end wall and a rear wall, each of the bottom end wall and the rear wall having an opening therein; A drainage element attached to the drain pan in such a way that the evaporator unit is always at a lower level than the drain pan, whether in either a horizontal or vertical orientation; And an tubing attachable to said drainage element, said tubing selectively passing through one of said openings to provide fluid communication from a drain pan to a location outside said housing. An air conditioner evaporator unit as set forth in claim 1 wherein said evaporator unit is disposed in a horizontal orientation and said tubing passes directly from said drainage element to said bottom end opening. 2. The evaporator unit of claim 1, wherein the evaporator unit is disposed in a vertical orientation, the tubing comprising an elbow, the elbow allowing the tubing to pass downward from the drainage element, and thereafter, through the rear wall opening. An air conditioner evaporator unit for extending. The air conditioner evaporator unit of claim 1 further comprising a pump associated with said tubing for pumping condensate from said evaporator unit. 5. An air conditioner evaporator unit as set forth in claim 4 including a sump fluidly connected between said drainage element and said pump, said sump being configured to collect condensate, said pump being configured to pump said condensate from said sump. 6. An air conditioner evaporator unit as set forth in claim 5 including a sensor in said sump for sensing the amount of condensate in said sump and in response to operating and deactivating said pump to control the level of condensate in said sump. 5. An air conditioner evaporator unit as set forth in claim 4 wherein said housing includes a snap in a mounting arrangement for mounting said pump to said housing. 6. An air conditioner evaporator unit as set forth in claim 5 wherein said housing includes a snap in said mounting arrangement for receiving said sump. An air conditioner of the type having an evaporator coil, on which condensate may be formed, and a drain pan for collecting the dripping condensate from the evaporator coil, which may be adapted to be installed in a substantially horizontal arrangement from the ceiling or in a substantially vertical arrangement with respect to the side wall. Evaporator unit, A housing having a rear side for placement to the ceiling or to the sidewall, and a bottom portion for placement to the sidewall or adjacent to the floor of the room; A condensate drain opening formed in both the rear side and the bottom portion; An air conditioner evaporator unit comprising tubing that can be selectively installed from said drain pan to one of said openings, and to provide a fluid path through one of said openings. 10. An air conditioner evaporator unit as set forth in claim 9 wherein said unit is disposed in a horizontal orientation and said piping passes directly from said drain pan to a condensate drain opening in said bottom portion. 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the unit is disposed in a vertical orientation, the tubing comprises an elbow, the elbow allowing the tubing to pass downward from the drain pan and thereafter to the rear through a condensate drain opening in the rear wall. An air conditioner evaporator unit to extend. 10. An air conditioner evaporator unit as set forth in claim 9 further comprising a pump associated with said tubing for pumping condensate from said evaporator unit. 13. An air conditioner evaporator unit as set forth in claim 12 including a sump fluidly connected between said drain pan and said pump, said sump being configured to collect condensate, said pump being configured to pump condensate from said sump. 14. An air conditioner evaporator unit as set forth in claim 13 including a sensor in said sump to sense an amount of condensate in said sump and, in response, to operate and deactivate said pump to control the level of condensate in said sump. 13. The air conditioner evaporator unit of claim 12 further comprising a snap in a mounting arrangement on the housing to receive the pump. 14. The air conditioner evaporator unit of claim 13 further comprising a snap in a mounting arrangement to receive said sump.

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