Fan assisted floor ventilation diffuser

Abstract

A fan assisted floor ventilation diffuser includes an enclosed diffuser housing with an air inlet opening and an air outlet opening. A diffuser grille covers the air outlet opening and an inlet fan is mounted at the air inlet opening. The inlet fan pulls air from the underfloor plenum into the floor ventilation diffuser housing and discharges the air through the diffuser grille into the occupied space. A thermostat in each room of the occupied space above the floor controls the operation of the inlet fan for each floor ventilation diffuser in the room and thereby controls the amount of air passing through the floor ventilation diffuser and into an individual room in the occupied space.

1 . A fan assisted floor ventilation diffuser for an underfloor air plenum air conditioning system for diffusing heated or cooled air into an occupied space above a floor, the heating and cooling system comprising: 
 a. a diffuser housing with an air inlet opening communicating with the underfloor air plenum and an air outlet opening communicating with the occupied space;    b. a fan mounted to the housing and in communication with the air inlet opening;    and    c. a diffuser grille covering the air outlet opening.    
   
   
       2 . The diffuser of  claim 1 , wherein the diffuser housing has sidewalls, and the fan is mounted in one of the sidewalls.  
   
   
       3 . The diffuser of  claim 1 , wherein the air inlet includes an acoustical channel located inside the housing.  
   
   
       4 . The diffuser of  claim 1 , wherein the fan is controlled by a control signal that relates to the temperature within the occupied space.  
   
   
       5 . The diffuser of  claim 1 , wherein the diffuser grille includes directional vanes for directing flow of the heated or cooled air into the occupied space.