Portable stand-alone outdoor air conditioning apparatus

Abstract

An outdoor air conditioning tower for providing thermally conditioned air to users located proximate to the tower includes a tower housing defining at least one ambient air inlet, a first conditioned air outlet vertically positioned at a height to coincide with the torso of a standing human, and a second conditioned air outlet vertically positioned at a height to coincide with the head of a standing human. A fan within the tower housing has a fan inlet communicative with the ambient air inlet for drawing ambient air into the tower for thermal conditioning and also has a fan outlet communicative with the first and said second conditioned air outlets for supplying conditioned air to users. A heat exchanger is interposed between the ambient air inlet and the air outlet, and a working fluid supply is fluidly communicative with the heat exchanger for thermally conditioning the ambient air.

1 . An outdoor air conditioning tower for providing thermally conditioned air to users located proximate to said tower, said tower comprising:
 a tower housing defining at least one ambient air inlet, a first conditioned air outlet vertically positioned at a height to coincide with the torso of a standing human, and a second conditioned air outlet vertically positioned at a height to coincide with the head of a standing human;   a fan within said tower housing, said fan having a fan inlet communicative with said ambient air inlet for drawing ambient air into said tower for conditioning and a fan outlet communicative with said first and said second conditioned air outlets for supplying conditioned air to users;   a heat exchanger within said tower housing and interposed between said ambient air inlet and at least one of said first conditioned air outlet and said second conditioned air outlet; and   a working fluid supply fluidly communicative with said heat exchanger for thermally conditioning said ambient air.   
     
     
         2 . The outdoor air conditioning tower according to  claim 1  further including a mast extending upwardly from said tower housing. 
     
     
         3 . The outdoor air conditioning tower according to  claim 2  wherein said mast includes a selectively extendable canopy at an upper end thereof. 
     
     
         4 . The outdoor air conditioning tower according to  claim 2  wherein said mast includes at least one selectively illuminable light at an upper end thereof. 
     
     
         5 . The outdoor air conditioning tower according to  claim 2  wherein said mast defines an exhaust conduit for expelling waste air as a by-product of the air conditioning cycle. 
     
     
         6 . The outdoor air conditioning tower according to  claim 1  further including a fluid supply conduit for delivering said working fluid to said heat exchanger from a remote working fluid supply reservoir. 
     
     
         7 . The outdoor air conditioning tower according to  claim 6  further including a fluid return conduit for returning said working fluid from said heat exchanger to the remote working fluid supply reservoir. 
     
     
         8 . The outdoor air conditioning tower according to  claim 1  wherein said tower housing defines a second ambient air inlet, and further including:
 a mast extending upwardly from said tower housing, said mast defining an exhaust conduit for expelling waste air as a by-product of the conditioning cycle; 
 a second fan within said tower housing, said second fan having a fan inlet communicative with said second ambient air inlet for drawing ambient air into said tower and a fan outlet communicative with said exhaust conduit; and 
 a second heat exchanger interposed between said second ambient air inlet and said second conditioned air outlet, said second heat exchanger and said heat exchanger fluidly communicative for cycling said working fluid therebetween. 
 
     
     
         9 . The outdoor air conditioning tower according to  claim 8  wherein said mast includes a selectively extendable canopy at an upper end thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The outdoor air conditioning tower according to  claim 8  wherein said mast includes selectively illuminable lights at an upper end thereof. 
     
     
         11 . An outdoor air conditioning tower for providing thermally conditioned air to users located proximate to said tower, said tower comprising:
 a tower housing defining at least one ambient air inlet, a first conditioned air outlet vertically positioned at a height to coincide with the torso of a standing human, and a second conditioned air outlet vertically positioned at a height to coincide with the head of a standing human;   a fan within said tower housing, said fan having a fan inlet communicative with said ambient air inlet for drawing ambient air into said tower for conditioning and a fan outlet communicative with said first and said second conditioned air outlets for supplying conditioned air to users;   a heat exchanger within said tower housing and interposed between said ambient air inlet and at least one of said first conditioned air outlet and said second conditioned air outlet; and   an underground working fluid supply conduit fluidly communicative with said heat exchanger.   
     
     
         12 . The outdoor air conditioning tower according to  claim 11  further including a mast extending upwardly from said tower housing. 
     
     
         13 . The outdoor air conditioning tower according to  claim 12  wherein said mast includes a selectively extendable canopy at an upper end thereof. 
     
     
         14 . The outdoor air conditioning tower according to  claim 12  wherein said mast includes selectively illuminable lights at an upper end thereof. 
     
     
         15 . The outdoor air conditioning tower according to  claim 11  further including an underground fluid return conduit for returning said working fluid from said heat exchanger to a remote working fluid supply reservoir. 
     
     
         16 . An outdoor air conditioning tower for providing thermally conditioned air to users located proximate to said tower, said tower comprising:
 a tower housing defined having a base and a hollow elongated generally vertically disposed structure comprising a first conditioned air outlet vertically positioned at a height to coincide with the torso of a standing human, and a second conditioned air outlet vertically positioned at a height to coincide with the head of a standing human; and   an air conditioning system in fluid communication with said first conditioned air outlet and said second conditioned air outlet.   
     
     
         17 . The outdoor air conditioning tower according to  claim 16 , said first conditioned air outlet further comprising a vent register, wherein said vent register controls the direction and flow rate of the discharged conditioned air passing through the first conditioned air outlet. 
     
     
         18 . The outdoor air conditioning tower with integrated air conditioning according to  claim 16 , wherein the air conditioning system is remote from the outdoor air conditioning tower and the conditioned air is provided to the first conditioned air outlet via a fluid supply conduit providing fluid communication between said remote air conditioning system and said first conditioned air outlet. 
     
     
         19 . The outdoor air conditioning tower with integrated air conditioning according to  claim 16 , further including a fan interposed between said air conditioning fluid supply conduit and said first conditioned air outlet. 
     
     
         20 . The outdoor air conditioning tower with integrated air conditioning according to  claim 16 , further including:
 a fluid supply conduit for delivering compressed air to the tower base from a remote working fluid supply reservoir;   an expansion valve in fluid communication with the compressed air fluid supply conduit to condition the supplied compressed air, wherein the expansion valve is in fluid communication and discharges said conditioned air via said first conditioned air outlet.