Condensate drainage system for air conditioners of the "split" or mono bloc type with condenser exposed to the outside

Abstract

 The condensate drainage system for monobloc or split type air con­ditioners comprises a collecting vessel (1) for the condensate and an atomizing nozzle (8) which are connected to each other by means of a conduit (4) in which a pump (5) is inserted.
The atomizing nozzle (8) is arranged on the outside and preferably in the warm air stream flowing from the condenser (10) of the air conditioner so that the condensate jet exiting from the atomizing nozzle (8) will be fully evaporated in the open air.

Description

[0001] The invention generally relates to air conditioners and more par­ticularly to a system for draining the condensate which is formed in these air conditioners during their operation.

[0002] The air conditioners to which the present invention relates are ge­nerally of two types, namely monobloc type air conditioners which are designed to be positioned and secured in openings provided in a wall or a window of the room to be conditioned and so communicating with the outside and air conditioners formed by separate units, socalled "split" air conditioners, which comprise a unit intended to be placed inside of a room to be conditioned and a unit intended to be placed on the outside and connected to the inside unit by means of flexible tubes.

[0003] It is also known that during the operation of the air conditioner, a condensate is formed therein, which is generally collected in a tray to be periodically emptied by the user. It is also known to drain the formed condensate through a drainage tube opening in the open air or connected to a sewer system.

[0004] Air conditioners of these types are also known, wherein the moisture condensed on the evaporator is collected in a tray and delivered by a pump through a tube to a spray nozzle arranged above the condenser. The purpose of this arrangement is to return the condensate again to the condenser and to spray it directly thereon so that the condensate sprinkles the finned surface of the condenser and in so doing it promotes the heat exchange with resulting reduction of the condensation temperature.

[0005] Also this approach has been not successfull because the condenser is not always capable of evaporating all the condensate sprayed and collected thereon so that, after some time of operation, also in the condenser a condensate collects which is to be removed by draining it in the open air.

[0006] The object of this invention is to avoid the hand drainage of the condensate from the air conditioners, to avoid the drainage of the condensate as such through a tube in the open air or in a sewer system as well as to avoid the accumulation in the condenser of the conden­sate which is not evaporated by the condenser, by providing a conden­sate drainage system which does not need the use of drainage tubes in the sewer system or in the open air.

[0007] It is another object of the present invention to provide a conden­sate drainage system for an air conditioner of the above-mentioned kinds which is relatively simple, inexpensive and fully automatic in operation.

[0008] More particularly, the condensate drainage system for air condi­tioners of the monobloc type intended to be applied in an opening of a wall or a window of the room to be conditioned or of "split" type having a unit placed in the inside of the room to be conditioned and a unit placed on the outside thereof, is characterized in that it com­prises a condensate collecting vessel, an atomizing nozzle, a conduit connecting the condensate collecting vessel to the atomizing nozzle and a pump for pumping the condensate from the collecting vessel to the atomizing nozzle, said atomizing nozzle being arranged on the out­side and being intended to atomize the condensate in the open air.

[0009] According to a feature of the present invention the pump is arran­ged in the inside unit of the air conditioner.

[0010] According to another feature of the present invention the pump is arranged in the outside unit of the air conditioner.

[0011] According to still another feature of the present invention the atomizing nozzle is of the anti-dripping type.

[0012] According to a further feature of the invention the atomizing nozzle is arranged in the warm air stream flowing from the condenser.

[0013] According to a still further feature of the invention an electronic control device is provided which controls the condensate level in the collecting wessel.

[0014] According to another feature of the present invention the elec­tronic level control device is provided with means capable of stopping the operation of the air conditioner in the case the condensate will overflow from the collecting wessel.

[0015] These and other features of the invention will be more apparent from the following description of two preferred embodiments of the system according to the invention, given by way of example only and therefore not intended in a limiting sense, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 illustrates in an exploded perspective view a first embodi­ment of the condensate drainage system in accordance with the present invention; and

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, illustrating a second embodi­ment of the condensate drainage system in accordance with the present invention.

[0016] As already said at the beginning, the condensate drainage system according to the invention can be applied both to air conditioners of the monobloc type, which are designed to be placed in openings pro­vided in a wall or a window of the room to be conditioned so that the condenser of the air conditioner is in communication with the outside for cooling it, and to portable air conditioners of "split" type comprising a unit placed on the inside of the room to be conditioned and a unit placed on the outside of the room to be conditioned.

[0017] In Fig. 1 there is shown the condensate drainage system as applied to a split type air conditioner having an inside unit comprising a compressor, a ventilator and an evaporator and an outside unit comprising a condenser provided with its own ventilator. Of the inside unit only the evaporator 9 is represented, the condensate collecting tray of which (not shown) is connected to a collecting vessel 1 through a condensate pipe 2. On the collecting vessel a self-priming pump 5 is provided (which can best be seen in the right lower portion of Fig. 1 where the condensate collecting vessel 1 instead of having a parallelepipedal shape, has a shape with rounded side walls) the suction tube of which is immersed into vessel 1 and has at the lower end thereof a filter 11. The delivery tube 4 of the pump 5 leads from the evaporator 9 to the condenser 10 which is placed on the outside, for example on a balcony, or suspended from the window sill, and is provided at the end thereof with an atomizing nozzle arranged at the center of the heat exchanger 7 of the condenser 10, on the outer wall thereof, so as to lie in the trajectory of the warm air flow generated by the ventilator 6 of the condenser 10. The atomizing nozzle 8 is supported in such a position by a rod.

[0018] On the condensate collecting vessel 1 an electronic level control device 3 is provided, which is designed to signal the minimum level of condensate, the maximum level of condensate as well as a level of overflow of condensate, said overflow occuring in the case of malfun­ctioning of the system.

[0019] In Fig. 2 there is shown an embodiment wherein the pump 5, instead of being placed directly on the condensate collecting vessel 1, is placed within the condenser. In this case the tube 4 is the suction tube of pump 5 connecting the condensate collecting vessel 1 to the condenser 10, whereas the delivery tube is formed by the tube exiting from the pump and leading to the atomizing nozzle 8.

[0020] The operation manner of the two embodiments of the invention here represented is the same and is described hereinbelow.

[0021] The condensate which is formed in the condenser 9 is transported via the tube 2, to the condensate collecting vessel 1. The condensate level is controlled by the electronic device 3 which energizes the pump 5 when the drainage level is attaint.

[0022] Pump 5 which is positioned in the inside unit (Fig. 1) or in the outside unit (Fig. 2) sucks the condensate from the collecting vessel 1 and delivers it under pressure to the atomizing nozzle which atomi­ zes the condensate by forming a wide jet. Since the nozzle 8 is placed at the center of the heat exchanger 7 of condenser 10, the condensate jet flowing therefrom is subjected to the action of the warm air stream generated by the ventilator 6. This air stream, by flowing out at a temperature in the range of 45° to 50°C, causes the evaporation of the atomized condensate, so that the latter is substantially fully evaporated before falling on the ground.

[0023] The regularity of the air stream exiting from the heat exchanger 7 of condenser 10 prevents eventual vortexes from causing the atomized water to drip on the mechanical portions of the condenser unit 10. In order to avoid said dripping at all, the use of an anti-dripping nozzle is provided.

[0024] Since the pump 5 is a self-priming pump and therefore does not require the presence of liquid for its starting, it is suitable for restarting after long interruption periods (winter pause).

[0025] Cleaning of the system formed by pump 5, tube 4 and nozzle 8 is assured by the filter 11 placed in the condensate suction opening.

[0026] In the case of the application of Fig. 1 (with pump arranged inside the evaporator-compressor-ventilator unit) it is possible to have a difference in height between inside unit 9 and outside unit 10 of 3-4 m, but as a counter-item the small noise of the pump operating in the room to be conditioned is to be accepted. With the pump arranged in the outside unit (Fig. 2) the noise produced by the pump is eliminated from the room to be conditioned, but the difference in height which can be overcome is of 1,5 m only.

[0027] The electronic control device 3, in addition to control the start and the stop operations of the condensate pump in the case of malfunctionning of the condensate drainage system, prevents the overflow of the condensate from the collecting vessel 1 by stopping the conditioner operation. A release push-button (not shown) provides for the manual start of the pump in order to reset the normal operating conditions.

[0028] From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the condensate drai­nage system according to the present invention solves in a simple and efficient manner the problem of the condensate disposal from the above mentioned air conditioners because there is no longer the need of having a tube for draining the condensate in the sewer system, the need of leaving to the user attention the drainage operation in the case of air conditioners provided with a condensate collecting tray only and the need of periodically controlling the condensate level in the tray.

[0029] The system according to the invention is fully automatic because no intervention of the user is required except in the case of a stop of the air conditioner due to a malfuctioning of the system. The conden­sate flowing from the nozzle in a finely amotized condition is fully evaporated in the open air due to the contribution of warm air flowing from the heat exchanger of condenser and moved by the ventilator, said warm air stream flowing in the direction of the condensate jet exiting from the atomizing nozzle. Therefore, with the system according to the invention there is not formation of condensate droplets flowing along the building walls which leave unaesthetic tracks and of condensate droplets flowing on building portions belonging to rooms placed below the outside unit.

[0030] While the invention has been described and illustrated in con­nection to two preferred embodiments thereof, it will be apparent that the invention is not limited thereto, but that various changes and modifications can be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. In particular, the condensate atomizing nozzle could be arranged also in another position, always on the outside of the room to be conditioned and the direction of the condensate jet could be different from that illustrated. Further, the condensate pump could be arranged in another position between the inside unit and the outside unit, instead of being embodied either in the inside unit or the outside unit.

Claims

1) Condensate drainage system for air conditioners either of the monobloc type intended to be applied in an opening of a wall or window of the room to be conditioned or of the split type having a unit pla­ced in the inside of the room to be conditioned and a unit placed on the outside, characterized in that it comprises a condensate collec­ting vessel (1), an atomizing nozzle (8), a condensate conduit (4) connecting the condensate collecting vessel (1) to the atomizing nozzle (8) and a pump (5) for pumping the condensate from the col­lecting vessel (1) to the atomizing nozzle (8), said atomizing nozzle (8) being arranged on the outside and being intended to atomize the condensate in the open air.

2) Condensate drainage system according to claim 1, characterized in that said pump (5) is arranged in the inside unit of the air condi­tioner.

3) Condensate drainage system according to claim 1, characterized in that said pump (5) is arranged in the outside unit of the air conditioner.

4) Condensate drainage system according to claim 1, characterized in that said atomizing nozzle (8) is of the anti-dripping type.

5) Condensate drainage system according to claims 1 and 4, characterized in that said atomizing nozzle (8) is arranged in the warm air stream flowing from the condenser.

6) Condensate drainage system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further comprises an electronic con­trol device (3) which controls the condensate level in the collecting wessel (1) in order to start said pump (5) when the condensate is at a predetermined level and to stop said pump (5) when the condensate is at the minimum level.

7) Condensate drainage system according to claim 6, characterized in that said electronic level control device (3) is provided with means capable of stopping the operation of the air conditioner in the case the condensate will overflow from the collecting wessel (1).

8) Condensate drainage system according to the preceding claims, characterized in that said atomizing nozzle (8) is directed in the direction of the air stream flowing from the condenser (10).

Drawing