METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MAINTENANCE OF AN AIR-CONDITION UNIT
It is provided a system for cleaning a blower and an air inlet filter of an air condition unit using condensed water. The system includes a reservoir for condensed water, a first sub-system for facilitating flowing pressurized liquid in a duct having spraying outlets, and a second sub-system for removal of sprayed liquid out of the air condition unit. The cleaning liquid includes condensed water and a cleaning additive. The air inlet filter may rotate on a pair of pulleys, and the filter is exposed to the sprayed liquid by rotating a pulley while spraying. The system includes barriers disposable in a separating position between the cleaned parts and other objects. The system also includes a manipulating handle or an electric motor, for placing the barrier. Electrical circuitry may automatically initiate cleaning the parts on turning-off the air condition unit. The system include a chamber for a cleaning additive and a mixing mechanism for mixing the cleaning additive with the condensed water. The sub-system for removal of sprayed liquid out of the air condition unit includes a drain tray, a used water chamber and a drain pipe.
The present application claims the priority of provisional U.S. patent application No. 61/091,739 titled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MAINTENANCE OF AN AIR-CONDITION UNIT” by the present inventor, filed Aug. 26, 2008.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The invention is in the field of air condition. In special the invention deals with the cleaning of a blower and an air inlet filter in a domestic air condition unit using condensed water.
2. Description of Related Art
The blower is a rotating fan having a plurality of small vans which produce directional airflow while being rotated. It pumps hot air from the room through an air inlet filter and a cooling radiator and directs the cooled air through an air outlet aperture into the room. As dust and dirt accumulate inside the blower, the blower works at lower efficiency, and thus should be cleaned from time to time. However, blower cleaning is a technical task done by a professional technician rather than by the air condition unit owner.
It would be advantageous to provide a system and a method for automatic blower cleaning, so that blower cleaning may be done automatically or with slight intervention of the owner as frequent as needed for continuous efficient operation, thus lengthening unit lifetime and saving expensive professional maintenance.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is provided according to certain implementations of the invention, a system for cleaning one or more parts of an air condition unit using water condensed by the air condition unit. The system includes a reservoir for condensed water, a first sub-system for facilitating flowing pressurized liquid in a duct having spraying outlets, and a second sub-system for removal of sprayed liquid out of the air condition unit. The liquid includes some collected condensed water. The cleaned parts are a blower, an air inlet filter, and/or a cooling radiator. The air inlet filter may rotate on a pair of pulleys, and the filter is exposed to the sprayed liquid by rotating a pulley while spraying.
In some embodiments, the system includes barriers disposable in a separating position between the cleaned parts and other objects. The system also includes a means for changing position of the barrier, manipulating handle or an electric motor, for example. Electrical circuitry may automatically initiate cleaning the parts on turning-off the air condition unit.
The system may include a chamber for a cleaning additive and a mixing mechanism for mixing the cleaning additive with some of the collected water. The sub-system for removal of sprayed liquid out of the air condition unit includes a drain tray, a used water chamber and a drain pipe. The system may include a connection to a local water system.
In some embodiments, the system includes a sub-system for collecting and importing water condensed by the air-condition unit operating in a warming mode, to enable air humidification and cleaning in winter time.
It is provided according to certain implementations of the invention, a method for cleaning parts of an air condition unit. The method includes facilitating collection of condensed water, and spraying liquid which includes some collected condensed water on the parts. The cleaning may be initiated automatically, triggered by turnings-off the air condition unit. Then, barriers may be placed between the cleaned parts and other objects by manipulating a handle or turning-on an electric motor.
In some embodiments, the method includes the step of mixing at least some of the collected water with a cleaning additive, and the step of removing the sprayed liquid out of the air condition unit. The sprayed liquid removal may include the actions of facilitating collection of the sprayed liquid and providing an outlet for draining the sprayed liquid out of the air condition unit.
The subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification The invention, however, both as to system organization and method of operation, together with features and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read with the accompanied drawings in which:
The present invention will now be described in terms of specific example embodiments. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the example embodiments disclosed. It should also be understood that not every feature of the methods and systems handling the described system is necessary to implement the invention as claimed in any particular one of the appended claims. Various elements and features of device are described to fully enable the invention. It should also be understood that throughout this disclosure, where a method is shown or described, the steps of the method may be performed in any order or simultaneously, unless it is clear from the context that one step depends on another being performed first.
Before explaining several embodiments of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments or of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The systems, methods, and examples provided herein are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.
In the description and claims of the present application, each of the verbs “comprise”, “include” and “have”, and conjugates thereof, are used to indicate that the object or objects of the verb are not necessarily a complete listing of members, components, elements or parts of the subject or subjects of the verb.
Before referring to the present invention,
Despite air filtering in inlet filter 16, dust and dirt are accumulated in vans 35 of 30 blower 11. Also, dust accumulates on inlet filter 16, mainly on its external side, but some dust may also stick to the internal side. The accumulated dust blocks air flow to some extent, and causes a decrease in the efficiency of air condition unit 3. In the prior art, cleaning the blower 11 and/or air filter 16 of the dirt and dust is done manually from time to time. While cleaning flat air filters may be done by an owner two to four times a year, cleaning the blower is done by technician only, and therefore it is done much less frequently, allowing the efficiency of unit 3 to deteriorate in between.
The air entering the interior part of the air condition unit 3 from the room is relatively humid, and as it flows over evaporator coil 13, water vapor condenses and falls down into a drain tray 12. In the prior art, a drain pipe is connected to drain tray 12, leading the condensed water outside the building or to a building sewage system.
Referring now to the disclosed cleaning system, the condensed water flow in entirely different channels. During normal operation of air condition unit 3, condensed water falls down to a drain tray 12, and is funneled through funnel 30 into reservoir 1, where the condensed water is kept until being used for cleaning. Once reservoir 1 becomes full, water flow out through one-way aperture 20 to chamber 2.
The cleaning of blower 11 may be initiated once the air condition is turned off. The initiation is done by an electrical circuitry 47 either manually by pressing an appropriate button, or automatically on turning-off air-condition unit 3. Rather than being initiated automatically every turning-off, the cleaning system is initiated once in a while, once in a week, once in a month, or each tenth turning off, for example.
On initializing the cleaning system, a barrier 8 is displaced from a rest location, shown in
Referring now to
Regarding liquid flow, the rinsing liquid of the cooling radiator 13 and air inlet filter 16 fall down to the drain tray. To prevent their flow into condensing water reservoir 1, a drain pipe 48 connects the drain tray 12 with rinsing water chamber 2. While cleaning, drain pipe 30 which leads to reservoir 1 is closed and drain pipe 48 is open such that the rinsing liquid flows to the chamber 2 and out.
In mild cold weather, above water freezing temperature, air condition units 3 are used for warming the interior of buildings. For that sake, the cooling cycle works in a reversed mode, warming the air inside the building, while cooling the air outside the building, and letting water to condense outside the building. In other words, the two heat exchanger replace rules, and radiator 13 functions as a warming heat exchanger. For the warming mode of operation, the system may include a sub-system for collecting water condensed outside the building in a warming mode and importing it to the internal section of the air condition unit to enable cleaning as described above.
Also, in addition to warming, the air condition warming operation dries room air down to an inconveniently low humidity level. Thus, rather than cleaning, the same water flow system may use the condensed water, without mixing them with cleaning additive, in order to increase air humidity up to a convenient level.
Referring now to
Dirt may be accumulated in pipes 14, 30 and 48, and should be removed from time to time. For that sake, nozzles 54 may be placed close to the pipe aperture, as shown in
It is provided according to certain implementations of the invention, a method 200 for cleaning parts 11 and 16 of an air condition unit 3, as illustrated in the flow chart of
In some embodiments, method 200 includes step 240 of mixing at least some of the collected water with a cleaning additive, step 250 of pumping liquid into duct 4, and step 270 of removing the sprayed liquid out of the air condition unit. The sprayed liquid removal may include the actions of facilitating collection of the sprayed liquid and providing an outlet 9 for draining the sprayed liquid out of the air condition unit.
Although the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims. In particular, the present invention is not limited in any way by the examples described.
Claims
1. A system for cleaning one or more parts of an air condition unit using water condensed by the air condition, the system comprising:
- (a) a reservoir for condensed water;
- (b) a first sub-system for facilitating flowing pressurized liquid including at least some water of the collected condensed water in a duct having one or more spraying outlets;
- (c) a second sub-system for removal of sprayed liquid out of the air condition unit.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein the system further includes at least one barrier disposable in a separating position between the one or more parts and one or more objects.
3. The system of claim 2 wherein the system further includes a means for changing position of said at least one barrier, said means is at least one of manipulating handle and an electric motor.
4. The system of claim 2 wherein the method further includes electrical circuitry for automatic initiation of cleaning said one or more parts on turning-off the air condition unit.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein the system further includes a chamber for a cleaning additive and a mixing mechanism for mixing said cleaning additive with at least some of the collected water.
6. The system of claim 1 wherein said second sub-system includes a drain tray, a used water chamber and a drain pipe.
7. The system of claim 1 wherein said one or more parts of an air condition unit includes at least one of a blower, an air inlet filter, and heat exchanger.
8. The system of claim 1 wherein the system further includes a connection to a local water system.
9. The system of claim 1 wherein the system includes a third sub-system for collecting and importing water condensed a by the air-condition unit operating in a warming mode, whereby said third sub-system is used for air humidification and cleaning.
10. The system of claim 1 wherein the air condition unit is a device used for at least one of air cooling and air humidifying.
11. A method for cleaning one or more parts of an air condition unit, the method comprising:
- (a) facilitating collection of condensed water; and
- (b) spraying liquid including at least some water of the collected condensed water on said one or more parts;
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the method further includes the step of placing at least one barrier between the one or more parts and one or more objects.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein said placing said at least one barrier is done by at least one of manipulating a handle and turning-on an electric motor.
14. The method of claim 12 wherein the method further includes the step of automatically initiating said steps of placing at least one barrier and spraying liquid, whereby turning-off the air condition unit initiates cleaning of said one or more parts, as needed to keep the air condition unit highly efficient.
15. The method of claim 11 wherein the method further includes the step of mixing at least some of the collected water with a cleaning additive.
16. The method of claim 11 wherein the method further includes the step of removing the sprayed liquid out of the air condition unit.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein said removing the sprayed liquid out of the air condition unit includes the actions of facilitating collection of the sprayed liquid and providing an outlet for draining the sprayed liquid out of the air condition unit.
18. The method of claim 11 wherein said one or more parts of an air condition unit includes at least one of a blower, an inlet filter for air, and a cooling radiator.
19. The method of claim 11 wherein one of the cleaned parts is an air inlet filter rotatable on a pair of pulleys, and the filter is exposed to the sprayed liquid by rotating at least one of the pulleys while spraying.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 25, 2009
Publication Date: Mar 4, 2010
Inventor: Dan David BAJNAR (Ramat Hasharon)
Application Number: 12/546,693
International Classification: F25B 45/00 (20060101); F25B 47/00 (20060101); F25D 21/14 (20060101);