Modular self contained unit ventilator

Abstract

A unit ventilator is described in which air treating apparatus is housed within a chassis which is readily removable from a fixedly installed cabinet. The air treating apparatus includes an evaporator, a compressor, a condenser and an air flow system for separately handling air for ventilating and air for condenser cooling and in which the system for condenser cooling provides for evaporative cooling of the refrigerant. The invention contemplates modular system arrangements in which the use of plural chassis in an installation enables the production of a wide range of ventilating capacity from minimal change in alternative chassis modules.

1 . A modulator unit ventilator, comprising: 
 a cabinet having substantially rectangularly disposed panels forming a fixed enclosure, one of said cabinet panels being detachable to provide access to the interior of said cabinet;    at least one slide-in chassis having substantially rectangularly disposed walls and being sized to be readily inserted and removed with respect to the interior of said cabinet;    one of said chassis walls being detachable to permit access to the interior thereof;    a partition dividing said chassis into an evaporator section and a condenser section containing an evaporator coil and a condenser coil, respectively;    a ventilated air discharge opening from said evaporator section and condenser air discharge opening from said condenser section;    air handling means including a first blower disposed on one side of said partition for passing input air to said evaporator section and thence to discharge into said space to be ventilated, and a second blower disposed on the other side of said partition for circulating condenser air with respect to said condenser; and    inlet means for supplying input air to said first and second blowers, respectively.    
     
     
         2 . A modulator unit ventilator, according to  claim 1 , in which said input air inlet means includes mutually spaced openings in both said cabinet and said chassis defining opening means for receiving outside air and for distributing said outside air to said evaporator and condenser sections of said chassis.  
     
     
         3 . A modulator unit ventilator, according to  claim 2 , in which said input air inlet means includes openings in said cabinet and chassis for supplying return air to said evaporator section of said chassis.  
     
     
         4 . A modulator unit ventilator, according to  claim 3 , including a roll damper mounted for pivotal movement in said evaporator section of said chassis and being operative to proportion amounts of outside air and return air to said evaporator section.  
     
     
         5 . A modulator unit ventilator, according to  claim 2 , including a partition plate disposed in said condenser section of said chassis for dividing intake air flow into a first portion passing to said condenser section and a second portion passing to said evaporator section.  
     
     
         6 . A modulator unit ventilator, according to  claim 5 , in which said partition plate is formed as a condensate collector positioned adjacent said second blower, said blower being thereby operative to circulate a moisture-laden air flow in heat transfer relation with respect to said condenser.  
     
     
         7 . A modulator unit ventilator, according to  claim 6 , including a condensate collection trough arranged to collect condensate generated by said evaporator; and a conductor extending from said collection trough to supply condensate to said condensate collector.  
     
     
         8 . The modulator unit ventilator according to  claim 4  in which an opening in said partition is oppositely spaced from said opening for supplying return air to said evaporator section, said roll damper being mounted for pivotal movement between said partition, and means for adjusting the position of said roll damper opening and said return air opening for selectively supplying outside air and return to said evaporator section.  
     
     
         9 . The modulator unit ventilator, according to  claim 8 , wherein said partition opening and said return air opening are mutually oppositely spaced with respect to each other; filter plates disposed adjacent each of said openings; and said roll damper having seal members cooperable with each of said filter plates for adjustably determining the composition of air flow into said evaporator sections.  
     
     
         10 . The modulator unit ventilator, according to  claim 9 , including a partition defining a filter door upstanding from a bottom of said chassis, said filter door being cooperable with said roll damper for directing the flow of input air through said evaporator section.  
     
     
         11 . The modulator unit ventilator, according to  claim 10 , wherein said filter door is mounted for pivotal movement with respect to said chassis whereby said filter door is movable to permit access to said filter plates when said one chassis wall is detached.  
     
     
         12 . The modular unit ventilator, according to  claim 1 , including trough means operative to receive condensate generated on a surface of tubes forming said evaporator coil and to deliver said condensate to said second blower to be passed in mixed relation to input air in heat transfer relation with respect to said condensate coil.  
     
     
         13 . The modular unit ventilator, according to  claim 12 , in which said trough means includes a first trough positioned to receive condensate generated on surfaces of said evaporator coil tubes, a second trough positioned in proximity to said second blower, means for transferring condensate from said first trough to said second trough for delivery with input air in heat transfer relation to second condenser coil.  
     
     
         14 . A modular unit ventilator, according to  claim 1 , including independently operable air heating means disposed immediately upstream from said air discharge opening from said evaporator section.  
     
     
         15 . A modular unit ventilator, according to  claim 14 , in which said air heating means comprises electrically operated heating elements.  
     
     
         16 . A modular unit ventilator according to  claim 14  in which said air heating means comprises a hydronic coil.  
     
     
         17 . A modular unit ventilator, according to  claim 1 , in which said cabinet contains a plurality of slide-in chassis disposed in side-by-side relation, said chassis being each independently arranged for selective insertion and removal thereof with respect to the interior of said cabinet.  
     
     
         18 . A method of constructing a modular unit ventilator containing a cabinet having substantially rectangularly disposed panels forming a fixed enclosure, one of said cabinet panels being detachable to provide access to the interior of said cabinet and a plurality of slide-in chassis being sized to be readily inserted and removed from said cabinet, and said chassis having one wall detachable to permit access to the interior thereof, an evaporator coil, a condenser coil and air handling means for passing input air to said evaporator coil and said condenser coil, respectively, and return air to said evaporator coil, said method comprising the steps of: 
 providing each of said chassis with corresponding organization of operating elements; and    determining the number and design capacity of said chassis for a cabinet to provide an accumulated design capacity for the cabinet.    
     
     
         19 . The method of constructing a modular unit ventilator, according to  claim 18 , including the step of providing at least two of said chassis of different design capacities.