WO2021225459A1

WO2021225459A1 - A portable air-conditioner

Info

Publication number: WO2021225459A1
Application number: PCT/PL2021/050014
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rafał Motyka
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2020-05-07
Filing date: 2021-03-12
Publication date: 2021-11-11
Anticipated expiration: 2022-11-07
Also published as: PL433805A1; PL241517B1

Abstract

The invention provides a portable air conditioner provided with an air cooling assembly comprising a housing (4), with at least one opening for supplying air to the air-conditioner, wherein outside of the housing (4), at each of the openings an air forcing device (8) is mounted that forces air through the opening, and inside the housing (4) there is an assembly (6) for maintaining negative temperature of the air-conditioner and comprising a pipe (2) that defines a condenser unit, and furthermore the air-conditioner is provided with an expansion valve (3) and a compressor (1) with a coolant, wherein the pipe (2) passes through the expansion valve (3) and at both its ends it is connected to a compressor (1). The air-conditioner is characterized in that within the housing (4) of the air-conditioner, within its entire free space an air cooling assembly is accommodated, in a form of separate and non-contacting pipes (7), wherein the inlet ends (7a) of the pipes (7) form one or more bundles so that the inlet ends (7a) in a particular bundle contact each other and each of the bundles of inlet ends (7a) of the pipes (7) is mounted within one opening made in a wall of the housing (4) of the air-conditioner, in the vicinity of an air forcing device (8) so that the inlet ends (7a) of each of the bundles of pipes (7) are directed parallel onto the stream of air forced by the air forcing device (8), the outlet ends (57b) of the pipes (7) pass through a wall of the housing (4) other than the wall in the opening of which inlet ends (7a) of the pipes (7) are mounted so that the outlet ends (57b) of the pipes (7), from which cooled air escapes, are positioned out of the housing (4).

Description

A portable air-conditioner

The invention provides a portable air-conditioner having an air cooling assembly, comprising a housing with at least one opening for supplying air to the air-conditioner, wherein outside of the housing, at each one of the openings there is an air forcing device that forces air through the opening, and inside the housing there is an assembly for maintaining negative temperature of the air-conditioner, comprising a pipe that defines a condenser unit, and furthermore the air-conditioner comprises an expansion valve and a compressor with a coolant, where the pipe passed through the expansion valve and at its both ends it is connected to the compressor.

As it is known, the need for providing optimum air temperature and humidity conditions is strongly noticeable in numerous closed environments and for diverse applications. In fact it is often necessary to obtain and maintain specific values of temperature and relative humidity to ensure preservation of food products, operation of electronic devices, and in particular to ensure welfare for persons who spend more or less long time periods in closed environments, both domestic and public/work-related ones.

From patent specification WO 2015/186850 an integrated air-conditioner is known that comprises a housing divided into an upper housing and a lower housing, where the upper housing has an upper inlet opening through which outside air is introduced thereinto, and an upper outlet opening through which the inside air is discharged therefrom, and the lower housing has a lower inlet opening through which outside air is introduced thereinto, and a lower outlet opening through which inside air is discharged therefrom; a compressor arranged within the housing, to pressurize a coolant; a condenser arranged on a lower fluid channel connecting the lower inlet opening and the lower outlet opening, and it condenses pressurized coolant supplied from the compressor, into liquid phase; the air conditioner further comprises an expansion unit that expands the coolant, condensed in the condenser, into a low-pressure coolant; and an evaporator arranged on an upper fluid channel that connects the upper inlet opening and the upper outlet opening to correspond to the upper end of the condenser, and it returns the low temperature and low pressure coolant supplied from the expansion unit to the compressor. Thereby the integrated air-conditioner may be compact and portable and this makes it comfortable.

From patent specification WO 2013/108276 an air-conditioning unit is known that may be placed within a closed environment in order to modify temperature levels, relative humidity and the like, and which comprises at least one channel through which a heat transferring liquid flows. The conduit is subject to operation of at least one compressor for increasing temperature and pressure of the liquid that transfers heat into a gaseous state, at least one condenser, for discharging heat from the heat transferring fluid and its transition from gaseous state into liquid state, at least one laminating unit, to decrease pressure of the heat transferring unit in a liquid state, and at least one vaporizer for heat absorption by means of transition of heat exchange from liquid state to gaseous state. The air-conditioning unit provides natural, non-forced collection and transport towards the condenser of condensed water that might have been generated along the outer surfaces of the vaporizer, in order to vaporize it by means of heat discharged from the heat transferring liquid.

From patent specification US 2001309 A an air-conditioner is known that comprises a housing, a cooling unit with a compressor with a coolant, a vaporizer of the coolant for cooling air, and a condenser for coolant vapours, where means for air circulation are treated by means of contacting them with the vaporizer; a water tank and a device for diffusing water originated from condensation from the vaporizer, which device comprises a fibrous absorbing material a part of which is accommodated within a chamber and its integral parts extend outside the chamber; and means for circulation of air from another source in order to cause it get in contact with parts of the diffuser, and a collecting pipe to vaporize water and cause contact it with the condenser to cool the coolant gas.

Patent specification CN 203758313 U discloses a structure that connects an air inlet to bellows of a cooling device, comprising an air inlet, a fan, an electric motor, a distribution chamber, a mounting grip, a metal spiral pipe and an air outlet. The air inlet is positioned at the top of a cool air chamber and the fan is mounted on a rotatable shaft of the electric motor, the electric motor is mounted in a cool air chamber, the cool air chamber is connected to a distribution chamber and both ends of the distribution chamber are permanently connected to the mounting grip, the distribution chamber is connected at one end of the metal spiral pipe while the other end of the pipe is connected to the air outlet. Known air-conditioning devices require considerable amounts of heat or cold for treating outside air and this involves high operation costs for the user.

It is clear that in each portable air-conditioner there is a cooling installation and it is also known that the coolant gases originated from a compressor require cooling in a condenser so that they may absorb heat when vaporizing, and thus enable the air-conditioner to fulfil its function.

It is the aim of the invention to provide an arrangement to enhance cooling capacity of a mobile air-conditioner at reduced costs of manufacturing and subsequent operation thereof.

According to the invention, the portable air-conditioner provided with an air cooling assembly has a housing with at least one opening for supplying air to the air-conditioner. Outside the housing, at each opening an air forcing device is mounted that forces air though the opening. Inside the housing there is an assembly for maintaining negative temperature of the air-conditioner and comprising a pipe that defines a condenser unit. Furthermore, the air- conditioner is provided with an expansion valve and a compressor with a coolant, where the pipe passes through the expansion valve and at its both ends it is connected to a compressor. Inside the air-conditioner housing, within its entire free space, an air cooling assembly is accommodated, in a form of separate and non-contacting pipes. The inlet ends of the pipes form one or more bundles so that the inlet ends contact each other and each of the bundles of the inlet pipe ends is mounted in one opening made in a wall of the air-conditioner housing, in the vicinity of the air forcing device, so that the inlet ends in each of the pipe bundles are directed parallel onto the stream of air forced by the air forcing device. The outlet ends of the pipes pass through the housing wall different than the wall in the opening in which the inlet ends of the pipes are mounted so that the outlet ends of the pipes from which cooler air escapes are positioned out of the housing.

Preferably, the housing has a polyhedral shape or a cylindrical shape.

It is also preferable that the air-conditioner has openings for supplying air on more than one housing wall, and at each of the openings an air forcing device is mounted.

It is convenient that the air forcing device is a fan.

It is also convenient that the pipes are parallel to each other.

It is also preferable that the pipes are spirally coiled along the majority of their length, while the terminal sections, at the inlet ends and at the outlet ends, are not coiled. It is also convenient that the outlet ends of the pipes are arranged in a bundle and are mounted in an additional opening in the housing.

One advantage of the air-conditioner according to the invention is that this solution does not require a high-power fan, and thus the air-conditioner is energy- saving. Also the manufacturing cost of the air-conditioner according to the invention is lower since it allows for elimination of a vaporizer.

An additional advantage of the air-conditioner of the invention is that the cooling assembly included therein may be used to improve portable air-conditioners already available in the market, due to only limited modification of the production line and at reduced costs, with increase in the cooling capacity.

The object of the invention is shown in the drawing where fig. 1 shows an embodiment of an air-conditioner in a cross-section, fig. 2 shows the same embodiment of a mobile air- conditioner in a perspective view from fan side, fig. 3 shows the same embodiment of a mobile air-conditioner in a perspective view from compressor side, fig. 4 shows another embodiment of a mobile air-conditioner in a perspective view from compressor side, fig. 5 shows another embodiment of an air-conditioner in a top perspective view from the outside, fig. 6 shows the same embodiment of an air-conditioner in a bottom perspective view from the outside.

As it is shown in the drawing, the portable air-conditioner is provided with an air cooling assembly and it has a housing 4, with at least one opening for supplying air to the air- conditioner. Figs. 1-4 show embodiments in which there is only one opening for supplying air (at a side wall in figs. 1-3, and at the bottom in fig. 4, respectively), but it will be clear for a person skilled in the art that there may be more such openings, as needed. Figs. 5-6 show in a simplified manner (some elements are not shown) an embodiment of an air-conditioner with one opening in a bottom wall of the housing and several additional openings in a side wall - at its bottom edge, all around the housing which in this embodiment has a substantially cylindrical shape. The number of openings may be selected according the intended capacity of the air- conditioner.

The housing 4 may have, for example, a polyhedral shape, for example a rectangular parallelepiped shape - as shown in the embodiments illustrated in figs. 1-4, but it may have another polyhedral shape - such as a pyramid or another suitable shape, e.g. a cylinder (a cylinder-like housing is shown in figs. 5-6). The housing also may have an irregular shape, and the shape may be selected according to the aesthetic and practical design.

As shown in figs. 1-4, outside the housing 4, at the opening, an air forcing device 8 is mounted that forces air through the opening. Of course for more openings at each one of them there will be such a device mounted. The air forcing device in this example is a fan but this may be other device that is suitable for this purpose. The fan may be driven, for example by a motor which is powered from electric network (not shown).

As best seen in figs. 1 and 3, inside the housing 4 there is an assembly 6 for maintaining negative temperature of the air-conditioner, that comprises a pipe 2 defining a condenser unit, and moreover the air-conditioner is provided with an expansion valve 3 and a compressor 1 with a coolant, where the pipe 2 passes through the expansion valve 3 and at its both ends is connected to the compressor 1. In the presented embodiments the expansion valve 3 and the compressor 1 are positioned outside the housing.

Inside the housing 4 of the air-conditioner, within its entire free space, there is accommodated an air cooling assembly in a form of separate and non-contacting pipes 7. The number of pipes 7 may be varied according to a specific embodiment of the air-conditioner. If a higher cooling capacity is required, there may be more pipes - and the number of openings in the housing 4 may be selected accordingly. Pipes 7 are best seen in figs. 1-4.

Inlet ends 7a of the pipes 7 form one or more bundles so that the inlet ends 7a in a particular bundle contact each other and each of the bundles of inlet ends 7a of the pipes 7 is mounted in one opening made in a housing wall (4) of the air-conditioner, in the vicinity of an air forcing device 8 so that the inlet ends 7a in each of the bundles of pipes 7 are directed parallel onto the stream of air forced by the air forcing device 8. In embodiments in fig. 1-3, 36 pipes 7 are used, the inlet ends 7a of which are arranged in one bundle mounted in one opening, at one side (fig. 1-2) or at the bottom (fig. 3) of the housing 4, respectively. In figs. 4-5 an example is shown with several openings for supplying air. Although it is not shown in the figures of the drawing, in this example the ends of the pipes 7 are divided into several bundles, each of the bundles corresponding to one opening.

Outlet ends 5 of the pipes 7 pass through a wall of the housing 4 other than the wall in the opening in which inlet ends 7a of the pipes 7 are mounted so that the outlet ends 5 of the pipes 7, from which cooled air escapes, are positioned outside the housing 4. In all the shown embodiments the outlet ends 5 of the pipes 7 pass through the upper wall of the housing 4, nevertheless it is clear that they may also pass through another wall as needed - for example to facilitate discharge of air in a defined direction.

In embodiments shown in fig. 1-4, pipes 7 are mutually parallel and this enables more effective positioning thereof within the housing 4. These examples also show that all the pipes 7 are spirally coiled along the major part of their length. Such a construction enables positioning of a larger surface of the inside of the pipes 7 within the housing 4 and this increases cooling capacity. In such a variant the terminal sections of the pipes 7, at their inlet ends 7a and outlet ends 5, are not coiled to make it possible to arrange them into a bundle at the opening (inlet ends 7a) and lead them out of the housing (outlet ends 5). In a preferable embodiment shown in figs. 1-4, the outlet ends 5 of the pipes 7 are also arranged into a bundle and mounted in an additional opening in the housing 4.

In the solution according to the invention the coolant does not have to be cooled continuously, and it does not have to circulate in its cooling circuit either, and the compressor 1 does not have to work as intensely as in the existing solutions, since the air is not directed directly onto the cooling assembly (vaporizer), the cooling assembly of the chamber of the housing 4 operates independently, the air is cooled by means of helically coiled pipes 7 regardless of the cooling assembly (maintaining negative temperature within the closed air- conditioner chamber).

The invention clearly is not limited to the embodiments shown and various modifications thereof are possible within the scope of the patent claims and without departing from the idea of the invention.

Claims

Patent claims

1. A portable air-conditioner provided with an air cooling assembly, comprising a housing (4), with at least one opening for supplying air to the air-conditioner, wherein outside of the housing (4), at each of the openings, an air forcing device (8) is mounted that forces air through the opening, and inside the housing (4) there is an assembly (6) that maintains negative temperature of the air-conditioner and comprising a pipe (2) that defines a condenser assembly, and moreover the air-conditioner is provided with an expansion valve (3) and a compressor (1) with a coolant, wherein the pipe (2) passes through the expansion valve (3) and at its both ends it is connected to the compressor (1), characterized in that inside the housing (4) of the air-conditioner, within its entire free space, an air cooling assembly is accommodated, having a form of separate and non-contacting pipes (7), wherein inlet ends (7a) of the pipes (7) form one or more bundles so that the inlet ends (7a) in a particular bundle contact each other, where each of the bundles of the inlet ends (7a) of the pipes (7) is mounted in one opening made in a wall of the housing (4) of the air-conditioner, in the vicinity of an air forcing device (8) so that the outlet ends (7a) in each of the bundles of pipes (7) are directed parallel onto the stream of air forced by the air forcing device (8), outlet ends (5) of the pipes (7) pass through a wall of the housing (4) other than the wall in the opening of which inlet ends (7a) of the pipes (7) are mounted so that the outlet ends (5) of the pipes (7), from which cooled air escapes, are positioned out of the housing (4).

2. The portable air-conditioner according to claim 1, characterized in that the housing (4) has a polyhedral shape.

3. The portable air-conditioner according to one of claims 1-2, characterized in that the housing (4) has a cylindrical shape.

4. The portable air-conditioner according to one of claims 1-3, characterized in that it has openings for supplying air on more than one wall of the housing (4), wherein at each of the openings the air forcing device (8) is mounted.

5. The portable air-conditioner according to one of claims 1-4, characterized in that the air forcing device (8) is a fan.

6. The portable air-conditioner according to one of claims 1-5, characterized in that the pipes (7) are mutually parallel.

7. The portable air-conditioner according to one of claims 1-6, characterized in that the pipes (7) are spirally coiled along the major part of their length, while the terminal sections at the inlet ends (7a) and the outlet ends (5) are not coiled.

8. The portable air-conditioner according to one of claims 1-7, characterized in that the outlet ends (5) of the pipes (7) are arranged into a bundle and they are mounted in an additional opening in the housing (4).