WIRE RETAINER
An outdoor unit for an air conditioner/heat pump is provided with a bracket which is attached to the tube sheet of the heat exchanger coil for routing the electrical leads from the electronic components within the unit to a control box located outside thereof. The bracket is mounted without fasteners and is preferably clipped onto a planar structure on the tube sheet by way of opposing tabs on the bracket. The bracket is preferably secured to the planar wall by way of dimples that engage with holes formed in the planar wall.
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This invention relates generally to air conditioning/heat pump units and, more particularly, to apparatus for routing and retaining electrical wires therein.
Air conditioning systems for conditioning residences and other interior spaces provide a condenser unit located outside the residence and an evaporator unit located in communication with the interior spaced to be cooled. In heat pump applications, a reversing valve is provided and the roles of the two units are reversed.
In both air conditioner and heat pump applications, the outdoor unit has an electric motor and fan associated therewith such that the outdoor air may be drawn through the heat exchanger of the unit. In addition to the fan motor, other electrical components, such as a compressor, heater, and pressure switches, are located in the interior of the unit and are commonly connected by way of electrical wires to a control unit mounted outside of the heat exchanger coil.
Various problems have arisen from the routing of the electrical wires from the internal components to the outside control box. For example, in order to prevent damage to the wires, they must remain free from possible contact with the rotating fan which could cause them to be severed. Also, since they are likely to be routed to the vicinity of the coil tube sheets, it is necessary to prevent their rubbing against the edge of the tube sheet which can cause them to be severed. Finally, in order to aid in the orderly assembly of the unit, it is desirable that the electrical wires be maintained in a unitary bundle so that they can be easily routed to the control box.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONBriefly, in accordance with one aspect of the invention, a bracket is mounted within the unit and has an opening formed therein for routing each of the electrical wires from the internal components through the opening as they pass to the control box outside the unit.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the bracket is attached to a tube sheet of the heat exchanger coil with the wires passing through the bracket opening and then through an opening in the housing of the unit to be connected to the control box.
By yet another aspect of the invention, the tube sheet has an exposed edge, and the bracket is attached to the exposed edge without the use of fasteners.
By still another aspect of the invention, the bracket is clipped to the tube sheet edge by way of opposed fingers extending from the bracket on either side of the tube sheet edge and engaging with openings therein.
In the drawings as hereinafter described, a preferred embodiment is depicted; however, various other modifications and alternate constructions can be made thereto without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.
Referring now to
Near the top of the unit 11 there is disposed a motor driven fan 18 for drawing outdoor air radially inwardly through the coil 12 so as to be discharged upwardly to the atmosphere. The wire lead of the electric drive motor for the fan 18 is routed radially outwardly to the edge of the coil 12 and then downwardly to eventually lead to the control box outside of the coil 12.
In order to control the operation of the unit, it is desirable to sense various operating parameters at various points within the vapor compression cycle. For that purpose, a pair of pressure switches 21 and 22, with respective leads 23 and 24 are provided to electrically connect the switches to the control box.
As will be seen in
The tube sheet 14 of the coil 12 is shown in greater detail in
Each of the electrical leads as described hereinbefore, passes through an opening 32 in the wire retainer 26, with the resulting bundle then being routed away from the walls 27 and 28, against which they might otherwise rub to cause damage to the wires, and to the control box as will now be described.
There is shown in
In addition to the function of preventing the wire leads from rubbing against the sharp edges of the tube sheet walls 27 and 28, as described hereinabove, the wire retainer 26 functions to guide the routing of the fan motor leads to the fixed location of the wire retainer 26 to thereby prevent the leads from accidentally being in the area of the fan 18 where they might be damaged or severed. This can be seen in
The details of the wire retainer 26 can be seen in
The structure on the other side of the planar body 39 is provided for the purpose of attaching the wire retainer 26 to the tube sheet wall 27. The structure includes three longitudinally aligned tabs 46, 47 and 48 on the one side and two longitudinally aligned tabs 49 and 51 on the other side, with the two sides being laterally spaced as shown in
The wire retainer 26 is attached to the wall 27 of the tube sheet 14 by straddling the tabs 49 and 51 and pins 54, 56 and 57 on one side thereof and the tabs 46, 47 and 48 on the other side thereof. Retention is accomplished by engaging the dimples 52 and 53 with the knock out openings 31 of the tube sheet wall 27.
The resulting installation of the wire retainer 26 as attached to the tube sheet wall 27 is shown in
Claims
1. An outdoor unit for an air conditioner/heat pump system, comprising:
- a heat exchanger defining an outer periphery of the outdoor unit and having a tube sheet at each of two ends thereof;
- a plurality of electrical components disposed within said heat exchanger, each of said electrical components having at least one electrical wire connected thereto;
- an electrical control box located outside of said heat exchanger and being electrically connected to said plurality of electrical components by said electric wires; and
- a bracket mounted within said unit, said bracket having an opening therein to receive and retain said electrical wires as they extend between said plurality of electrical components and said electrical control box.
2. An outdoor unit as set forth in claim 1 wherein said tube sheet has an exposed edge and said bracket is attached to said exposed edge.
3. An outdoor unit as set forth in claim 2 wherein said bracket is attached to said exposed edge without fasteners.
4. An outdoor unit as set forth in claim 3 wherein said bracket is attached to said exposed edge by clipping said bracket to said exposed edge.
5. An outdoor unit as set forth in claim 4 wherein said bracket includes a plurality of longitudinally spaced tabs that are disposed on one side of said exposed edge and another plurality of longitudinally spaced tabs that are disposed on the other side of said exposed edge.
6. An outdoor unit as set forth in claim 5 wherein said at least one of said tabs has a dimple, and said exposed edge has at least one opening formed therein and further wherein said at least one dimple engages with said at least one opening.
7. An outdoor unit as set forth in claim 1 wherein said plurality of electrical components includes a compressor and a fan motor.
8. A method of routing a plurality of wire leads from internal electrical components within the confines of an outdoor heat exchanger coil to a control box located outside the coil, comprising the steps of:
- providing a wire retainer device which has an opening therein for receiving the plurality of wire leads;
- providing at least one tube sheet for said heat exchanger coil, said tube sheet having a planar wall forming an extension thereof;
- mounting said wire retainer on said planar wall at a location near the control box; and
- routing the plurality of wire leads to and through said wire retainer device opening and then to the control box.
9. A method as set forth in claim 8 wherein said wire retainer device is attached to said tube sheet planar wall without fasteners.
10. A method as set forth in claim 9 wherein said wire retainer device is attached to said planar wall by clipping the retainer device to said planar wall.
11. A method as set forth in claim 10 wherein said wire retainer device is provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced tabs that are disposed on one side of said planar wall and another plurality of longitudinally spaced tabs that are disposed on the other side of said planar wall.
12. A method as set forth in claim 11 wherein at least one of said tabs has a dimple formed thereon, and wherein said planar wall has at least one opening formed therein, and further wherein said at least one dimple is made to engage said at least one opening.
13. A method as set forth in claim 8 wherein said internal electrical components includes a compressor and a fan motor.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 30, 2005
Publication Date: Oct 28, 2010
Applicant: CARRIER CORPORATION (Farmington, CT)
Inventors: Larry Burns (Avon, IN), Duane V. Douglas (Indianapolis, IN), Loren D. Hoffman (Indianapolis, IN), Merle D. Sears (Mooresville, IN), William B. Sutherlin (Indianapolis, IN), Ronald A. Wilson (Greenwood, IN)
Application Number: 12/095,217
International Classification: F25B 49/00 (20060101); F25D 23/00 (20060101); F25B 39/04 (20060101);