ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF CONFIGURING ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL SYSTEMS
An environmental control system of a building utilizes lower vents which open into lower portions of rooms of a building, and upper vents which open into upper portions of rooms of the building. When the system is operating in a heating mode, heated air is delivered into the upper portions of the rooms through the upper vents and air is removed from the rooms through the lower vents. When the system is operating in a cooling mode, cool air is delivered into the rooms through the lower vents, and air is removed from the rooms through the upper vents. Operating the heating and cooling modes in this fashion provides the most efficient operation of the heating and cooling system. A switching unit is used to selectively couple the inlet and outlet of an environmental control system to the upper and lower vents. Alternatively, special duct units with both upper and lower openings can be attached to the inlet and outlet of an environmental control system, and the air can be selectively switched between the upper and lower openings. Also, a bypass valve and an associated bypass duct could be installed on the outlet duct of the environmental control system to vent the output air to atmosphere, which can help to clear smoke from rooms in the event of a fire.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/821,485, filed Jun. 23, 2010, which is itself a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/397,645, filed Mar. 4, 2009, which application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/136,634, filed Sep. 22, 2008. This application also claims priority to the filing dates of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/219,579, filed Jun. 23, 2009, and Provisional Application 61/244,631, filed Sep. 22, 2009. The contents of all of the foregoing applications are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE TECHNOLOGYThe disclosed technology is related to heating and cooling systems used to heat and cool rooms of a building.
BACKGROUNDHeating and cooling systems for buildings typically include a heating unit which produces heated air and a cooling unit which produces cool air. The hot or cool air is then delivered into rooms of a building through ducts and vents which open into the rooms. In addition, it is common to include air return vents and ducts which return air from one or more rooms of a building back to the heating unit or cooling unit. Thus, air is circulated from the heating and cooling unit, into the rooms, and then back to the heating and cooling unit.
The placement of the vents which deliver heated or cooled air into a room, and the placement of return vents which pull air back out of a room can vary depending on the building design. It is common to place such vents in the walls of a room, in the floor of a room, or in the ceiling of a room.
In a heating and cooling system embodying the invention, at least two vents are provided within a room of a building. An upper vent is positioned at an upper portion of the room, and a lower vent is positioned in a lower portion of the room. As shown in
The heating and cooling unit could take numerous different forms. It could be a traditional gas or electric furnace, paired with a traditional air conditioning unit. In other instances, it could be a heat pump. In other instances, it could take other forms. Regardless of the actual form of the device, it would be capable of delivering both heated air for heating rooms of a building, and cooled air for cooling rooms of a building. While certain sections of the following description refer to a heating and cooling unit, this term is meant to refer to any device or devices capable of delivering heated and/or cooled air.
The switching unit 200 would be connected to a first duct 302 which is connected to the upper vents that open into upper portions of the rooms of a building. The switching unit would also be connected to a lower duct 304 which is connected to lower vents 305a, 305b, 305c, 305d which open into lower portions of the rooms of a building 300.
A first input/output (I/O) port 212 is provided on a rear face of the switching unit. In addition, a second I/O port 214 is also provided on the rear face of the switching unit. Note, the first I/O port 212 is located on the upper right side of the rear face of the switching unit, and the second I/O port 214 is provided on the lower left side of the rear face of the switching unit.
A rectangular switching plate 230 is rotatably mounted inside the switching unit 200. In the embodiment shown in
When the switching plate 230 is located in the horizontal position, as shown in
When the switching plate 230 is rotated to the vertical position, as shown in
The ability to change how the input port 204 and output port 202 of the switching unit are coupled to the two I/O ports 212, 214 makes it possible to change how heated and cooled air is delivered to and removed from the rooms of a building. This capability also makes it possible to increase the efficiency of a typical heating and cooling system of a building.
If the switching unit shown in
When the system is operating in the heating mode, as illustrated in
In addition, air would also be simultaneously removed through the lower vents 305a, 305b, 305c, 305d of the rooms of the building. The air removed from the rooms would be communicated through the lower duct 304 which is attached to the second I/O port 214 of the switching unit 200 shown in
At the same time, air would be removed from the rooms of the building through the upper vents 303a, 303b, 303c, 303d. The air removed from the upper portions of the rooms would travel along the upper duct 302 to the first I/O port 212 of the switching unit 200. Because the switching plate 230 is oriented vertically, as shown in
When a heating and cooling system is configured as illustrated in
The coolest air within the rooms would be located in the lower portions of the rooms. As a result, when the heating and cooling system is operating in the heating mode, the coolest air within the rooms will be sucked into the lower vents and returned back to the heating and air conditioning unit so that it can be reheated. The flow pattern within the room would be from the top to the bottom of the room. And because the warmer air would normally be located at the upper portions of the room, this air flow pattern will help to better distribute the heated air down to the lower portions of the room.
Conversely, when the system is operating in the cooling mode, as shown in
It is believed by the inventor that operating the heating and cooling system in these two different heating and cooling modes will result in the most efficient heating and cooling of the rooms of the building. Operating in this fashion will also ensure that in the heating mode, heated air is redistributed to the coolest portions of the room in a more effective fashion, and in the cooling mode, cooled air will be redistributed to the warmest portions of the room in the most efficient fashion.
The actual locations of the upper and lower vents can vary from one installation to another. As shown in
In alternate instances, as shown in
The actual locations of the upper and lower vents is somewhat unimportant so long as the lower vents are located in a lower portion of a room, and the upper vents are located in an upper portion of a room.
In the switching unit illustrated in
Air entering the switching unit through the second I/O port 214 would be communicated to the output port 202. And if the second I/O port 214 were moved to one of the alternate locates 216a, 216b, 216c, 216d, the air entering the switching unit through any of these alternate locations would still be communicated to the output port 202.
Depending on where the switching unit is installed in a building, and depending upon the ducting arrangement required for the installation, it may be advantageous to attach the first and second I/O ports to one of the alternate locations on the switching unit. Likewise, it may be advantageous to move the input port and the output port to an alternate location. Moving the first and second I/O ports and/or the input port and output port to an alternate location might result in a small decrease in the efficiency of the switching unit, due to air flow losses. However, locating one of the I/O ports or the input port or output port at an alternate location may be necessary to accommodate the particular arrangement within the building.
In addition, in the embodiments shown in
Similarly, the embodiments shown in
As noted above, the rectangular or square switching plate 230 within the switching unit is rotatably mounted on two pivot points 232, 234. In some embodiments, the user might manually rotate the switching plate 203 between the horizontal and vertical orientations using a lever or knob attached to the switching plate in order to switch the system from the heating to the cooling mode, or vice versa. Some type of locking system could also be provided to lock the switching plate in either the horizontal or vertical position.
In other embodiments, a power device could be used to move the switching plate 230 between the horizontal and vertical orientations.
Note, in some embodiments, the switching plate 230 could be moved 90 degrees clockwise, and then 90 degrees counterclockwise to switch the switching plate 230 back and forth between the horizontal and vertical orientations. In other embodiments, the switching plate could simply be rotated clockwise 90 degrees at a time to move the switching plate between the vertical and horizontal orientations.
In alternate embodiments, a different type of powered switching means could be used to cause the switching plate to move between the vertical and horizontal orientations. The motor illustrated in
Moreover, the switching units illustrated in
The triangular-shaped switching unit includes an input port 402, and an output port 404. In addition, the triangular-shaped switching unit includes a first I/O port 412 and a second I/O port 414.
When the triangular-shaped switching plate 420 is oriented as shown in
When the switching plate 420 is rotated to the position shown in
As also illustrated in
Furthermore, as explained above, two input ports could be provided at locations 402 and 403, and two output ports could be located at positions 404 and 405. Likewise, two first I/O ports could be located at positions 412 and 413, and two second I/O ports could be located at positions 414 and 415.
When the core 502 of the switching unit is rotated 90 degrees, the upper and lower horizontal ducts 510, 520 would no longer be in registration with the upper duct 302, lower duct 304, or the ducts 102 and 104 passing to the heating and cooling unit 100. Instead, a first vertical duct 530 would connect the output duct 102 to the lower duct 304 passing to the building. Also, the second vertical duct 540 would connect the upper duct 302 from the building to the input duct 104 passing into the heating and cooling unit.
In the description provided above, it was assumed that the heating and cooling unit 100 would provide both heated air during a heating operation and cooled air during a cooling operation. In alternate embodiments, the heating and cooling unit 100 might only include a heater, or it might only include an air conditioning unit. For instance, if a building is located in a warm climate area, there would be no need for the building to include a heater. Instead, the building would only have an air conditioning unit. Likewise, if a building is located in a cool climate area, the building might only include a heater, and it would not have an air conditioning unit. Benefits of the above-described systems could also be obtained by buildings having only a heater or only an air conditioner.
If a building includes only a heater, the switching unit would be set into the heating mode when the heater is being operated to provide heated air into the rooms of the building. If, on a particular day, the outside temperature becomes unusually warm, it would be possible to set the switching unit into the cooling mode, and then run the system with just a fan to circulate air. Although the air provided into the rooms of the building would not be cooled by the heating and cooling unit 100, the air would still circulate. And the movement of cooler air at the bottom of each room towards the top of each room, resulting from the airflow caused when the switching unit is in the cooling mode, would still serve to better distribute the cool air in the rooms. Thus, some benefit would be provided by operating the system in the cooling mode, with just a fan running, even though no air conditioning unit is cooling the air passing through the heating and cooling unit 100.
Likewise, if a building only includes an air conditioning unit, the switching unit would be set into the cooling mode when the air conditioning unit is running. If a particular day is unusually cool, the switching unit could be switched to the heating mode, and the air could simply be circulated with a fan. Although no heater would heat the air passing through the heating and cooling unit 100, simply moving the air in the heating mode would serve to better distribute the warmer air at the tops of the rooms down towards the bottoms of each room. Thus, some benefit would be obtained from running the system in the heating mode with just a fan.
In view of the foregoing, the inventor believes that a system as described above can be beneficial even for buildings that have only a heater or only an air conditioning unit.
The switching unit includes two crossing ducts 602 and 604, both of which pass between the output duct 102 and the input duct 104 of the heating and cooling unit 100. Two movable damper flaps 612 and 618 are located at opposite ends of the first crossing duct 602. Likewise, two damper flaps 614 and 616 are located at opposite ends of the second crossing duct 604.
When the switching unit 200 is operating in the heating mode, as illustrated in
The switching unit 200 can be switched into a cooling mode, as illustrated in
When the embodiment illustrated in
When the system is operated in a cooling mode, the lower fan 704 would be activated. In addition, the cooling core 708 would cool air passing through the heating and cooling unit 700. As a result, cool air would be delivered to the lower portions of the rooms through the duct 304 connected to the lower portions of the rooms. Air removed from the upper portions of the rooms through the duct 302 would be delivered back into the upper portion of the heating and cooling unit 700. By providing two different fans 702 and 704, it is possible to reverse the flow direction of the air without the use of the separate switching unit.
The cylindrical housing 900 has an upper circular end cap and a lower circular end cap. Two apertures 902, 904 are formed on opposite sides of the upper end cap. Likewise, two apertures 912, 914 are formed on opposite sides of the lower end cap. Similar to the embodiments discussed above, ducts running to upper and lower vents in the rooms of a building would be attached to the apertures 912, 914 on the lower end cap, while ducts running to the inlet and outlet of the heating/cooling unit would be attached to the apertures 902, 904 of the upper end cap, or vice versa.
Although the switching unit illustrated in
Moreover, in this embodiment, the helical switching plate has a 90° twist from the top to the bottom of the cylindrical housing. In alternate embodiments, the helical switching plate could have more or less of a twist from the top to the bottom of the housing.
Further, although not shown in the drawings, a motor or other power operated device could be provided to cause the helical switching plate to move between the first and second positions. In other embodiments, a handle coupled to the helical switching plate might protrude through either the cylindrical sidewall or the upper or lower end cap to allow a user to manually move the helical switching plate between the first and second positions.
Also, because the housing is cylindrical, the helical switching plate could rotate 90° backwards and 90° forwards to switch between the first and second positions. Or, in alternate embodiments, the helical switching plate could rotate 90° forwards to switch from the first position to the second position, and then 270° forward to switch from the second position back to the first position. Thus, the helical switching plate could be configured to always rotate in the same direction.
Switching units as described above can also be used in environmental control systems that are used in large buildings, such as warehouses, large warehouse-style retail stores, or simply in large retail establishments. The basic arrangement of the elements of one such environmental control system is illustrated in
As shown in
The switching unit 1020 is also coupled to an lower air duct 1040 and an upper air duct 1030. The lower air duct 1040 leads to a plurality of lower vent units 1042 which are located in the lower portion of the building. The upper air duct 1030 leads to at least one upper vent unit 1032 located in an upper portion of the building. In the embodiment illustrated in
The switching unit 1020 allows the interconnections between the conditioned air duct 1012 and the return air duct 1014 on the one hand, and the lower air duct 1040 and the upper air duct 1030 on the other hand, to be switched. Thus, when the exchanger unit is in heating configuration, the conditioned air duct 1012 would be coupled to the upper air duct 1030, and the return air duct 1014 would be coupled to the lower air duct 1040. When the exchanger unit is in a cooling configuration, the conditioned air duct 1012 would be coupled to the lower air duct 1040, and the return air duct 1014 would be coupled to the upper air duct 1030.
In a traditional large building, the ducts leading to the outdoor unit are connected to the vents units inside the building the same way all year round. However, when heating a building, greater overall efficiency can be obtained when the ducts and vents are coupled to each other in a first way as opposed to a second way. And when cooling the building, greater overall efficiency can be obtained when the ducts and vents are reverse connected. Thus, the provision of the switching unit 1020 allows the interconnections between the ducts and vents to be switched to the maximum efficiency configuration at all times. This results in a greater year-round efficiency for the building.
An input duct 104 connects the heating and cooling unit 100 and the switching unit 200. The input duct carries air returning from building 300 back into the heating and cooling unit 100.
An output duct 102 also connects the heating and cooling unit 100 to the switching unit 200. The output duct carries heated and/or cooled air from the heating and cooling unit 100 to the switching unit. However, a bypass duct 106 is also connected to the output duct 102. The bypass duct 106 simply vents to the atmosphere outside the building 300. A bypass valve 108 is located at the junction between the bypass duct 106 and the output duct 102.
When the bypass valve is in the closed position, as illustrated in
If the system was operating in the heating mode when a fire is detected, this would mean that heated air is being delivered into the top portion of the room, and that air is being removed from the vents at the lower portion of the room. When the fire is detected, the switching unit 200 would be switched to the cooling mode so that air is being removed from the top portions of the room, which would help to clear the smoke that collects at the top of the room. Also, the bypass valve 108 would be switched to the open position, as illustrated in
The valve 1110 could be controlled by an electronically operated drive mechanism such that electrical signals can be used to cause the valve to move between the first and second positions. In alternate embodiments, the valve 1110 might be manually operated. If the valve is manually operated, the operating mechanism that is used to move the valve between the first and second positions could be accessible to a user through the lower duct opening 1104 to allow the user to easily change the valve position.
As illustrated in
In the configuration shown in
In the configuration illustrated in
In still other embodiments, one of the two duct units illustrated in
While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. A method of clearing smoke from a room of a building using an environmental control system that includes an air handling unit, the air handling unit including an input duct that receives air from the room of the building, an output duct that outputs conditioned air to the room of the building and a fan that blows conditioned air into the output duct, the environmental control system also including a bypass duct that is connected to the output duct, the bypass duct routing air from the output duct to atmosphere, and a bypass valve that selectively couples the bypass duct to the output duct such that air output by the air handling unit into the output duct is vented to atmosphere through the bypass duct, wherein at least one upper vent is installed in an upper portion of the room and wherein at least one lower vent is installed in a lower portion of the room, the method comprising:
- receiving a fire alarm signal that indicates that a fire may have occurred in the room of the building; and
- activating the bypass valve such that air output from the air handling unit into the output duct is routed to atmosphere, wherein the bypass valve also prevents air output by the air handling unit from being blown into the room of the building.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein when the file alarm signal is received, the fan of the air handling unit continues to run, and the fan causes air in the room to be drawn into the air handling unit via the input duct.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the input duct is coupled to the at least one upper vent in the room.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the environmental control system further includes a switching unit that is connected to the input and output ducts of the air handling unit, and to the at least one upper vent and the at least one lower vent in the room, wherein the switching unit is capable of selectively coupling the input duct to either the at least one upper vent or the at least one lower vent, and wherein when the alarm signal is received, the switching unit couples the at least one upper vent to the input duct of the air handing unit such that air being drawn into the air handling unit is drawn in through the at least one upper vent in the room.
5. An environmental control system for a building, comprising:
- an air handling unit with an input duct and an output duct, wherein the air handling unit sucks air in from at least one room of a building through the input duct and wherein the air handling unit blows conditioned air out to the at least one room through the output duct;
- a bypass duct that can be selectively coupled to the output duct;
- a bypass valve that selectively couples the bypass duct to the output duct, the bypass valve being movable between a closed position at which the bypass duct is isolated from the output duct and an open position at which the bypass duct is coupled to the output duct; and
- a controller that is coupled to the bypass valve and that receives a signal from a fire alarm system for the building, wherein if the controller receives an alarm signal from the fire alarm system indicating that a fire may have occurred in the building, the controller causes the bypass valve to move from the closed position to the open position.
6. The environmental control system of claim 5, wherein when the bypass valve is in the open position, the bypass valve prevents air in the output duct from being blown into the at least one room.
7. The environmental control system of claim 5, wherein when the controller receives an alarm signal, the air handling unit continues to operate such that air is sucked from the at least room through the input duct, the air passing through the air handling unit and being blown out to the atmosphere through the output duct and the bypass duct.
8. The environmental control system of claim 5, wherein the input duct is coupled to an upper vent located in an upper portion of the at least one room.
9. The environmental control system of claim 5, further comprising a switching unit that is connected to the input and output ducts of the air handling unit, and to at least one upper vent located in an upper portion of the at least one room and at least one lower vent located in a lower portion of the at least one room, wherein the switching unit is capable of selectively coupling the input duct to either the at least one upper vent or the at least one lower vent, and wherein when the controller receives an alarm signal, the controller causes the switching unit to couple the at least one upper vent to the input duct of the air handing unit such that air being drawn into the air handling unit is drawn in through the at least one upper vent.
10. A ventilation duct that can be mounted within the walls of a room, comprising:
- an inlet/outlet located at a base of the duct;
- a main body that extends upward from the inlet/outlet;
- a lower opening coupled to a lower portion of the main body;
- an upper opening coupled to an upper portion of the main body; and
- a valve mounted within the main body adjacent the lower opening, wherein the valve is movable between a first position at which the valve isolates the lower opening from the inlet/outlet such that air can move freely between the upper opening and the inlet/outlet, and a second position at which the valve isolates the upper opening from the inlet/outlet such that air can move freely between the lower opening and the inlet/outlet.
11. The ventilation duct of claim 10, further comprising a drive unit that selectively moves the valve between the first and second positions in response to a control signal.
12. The ventilation duct of claim 10, further comprising an operating mechanism that allows a user to manually move the valve between the first and second positions.
13. The ventilation duct of claim 12, wherein the operating mechanism is accessible via the lower opening.
14. An environmental control system for a building, comprising:
- first and second ventilation ducts as recited in claim 10, the first and second ventilation ducts being installed in the walls of a room of the building;
- an output duct coupled to the inlet/outlet of the first ventilation duct;
- an inlet duct coupled to the inlet/outlet of the second ventilation duct; and
- an air handing unit coupled to the inlet duct and the outlet duct, wherein the air handling unit includes a fan that sucks air from the room through the second ventilation duct and the inlet duct, and that blows air into the room through the outlet duct and the first ventilation duct.
15. The environmental control system of claim 14, wherein the first and second ventilation ducts each comprise a drive unit that can selectively move the valve of the ventilation duct between the first and second positions in response to a control signal, the environmental control system further comprising a controller that is coupled to the drive units of the first and second ventilation ducts, wherein when the air handler is producing cool air to cool the room, the controller causes the drive unit of the first ventilation duct to move the valve into the second position such that cool air is blown into the room through the lower opening of the first ventilation duct, and wherein the controller causes the drive unit of the second ventilation duct to move the valve into the first position such that air sucked from the room through the upper opening of the second ventilation duct.
16. The environmental control system of claim 15, wherein when the air handler is producing heated air to heat the room, the controller causes the drive unit of the first ventilation duct to move the valve into the first position such that heated air blown into the room through the first ventilation duct is blown into the room through the upper opening of the first ventilation duct, and wherein the controller also causes the drive unit of the second ventilation duct to move the valve into the second position so that air sucked from the room through the second ventilation duct is sucked through the lower opening of the second ventilation duct.
17. An environmental control system for a building, comprising:
- a ventilation duct as recited in claim 1 installed in the wall of a room of the building;
- a simple duct installed in a wall of the room;
- an output duct coupled to the inlet/outlet of the ventilation duct;
- an inlet duct coupled to the simple duct; and
- an air handing unit coupled to the inlet duct and the outlet duct, wherein the air handling unit includes a fan that sucks air from the room through the simple duct and the inlet duct, and that blows air into the room through the outlet duct and the ventilation duct.
18. The environmental control system of claim 17, wherein the ventilation duct comprises a drive unit that can selectively move the valve of the ventilation duct between the first and second positions in response to a control signal, the environmental control system further comprising a controller that is coupled to the drive unit of the ventilation duct, wherein when the air handler is producing cool air to cool the room, the controller causes the drive unit of the ventilation duct to move the valve into the second position such that cool air is blown into the room through the lower opening of the ventilation duct
19. The environmental control system of claim 18, wherein when the air handler is producing heated air to heat the room, the controller causes the drive unit of the ventilation duct to move the valve into the first position such that heated air blown into the room through the upper opening of the ventilation duct
20. The environmental control system of claim 17, wherein the simple vent is located in the room at a height that is approximately midway between the lower opening and the upper opening of the ventilation duct.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 31, 2010
Publication Date: Dec 23, 2010
Inventor: Douglas A. NEWCOMER (New Market, MD)
Application Number: 12/872,262
International Classification: F24F 7/007 (20060101); F24F 7/00 (20060101);