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(11) | EP 0 432 264 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
| published in accordance with Art. 158(3) EPC |
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| (54) | WORK STATION USING RADIANT AIR CONDITIONING PARTITION |
| (57) A work station using a radiant partition according to the present invention is used
in the fields of air conditioners and office equipment. This work station (20) is
formed by using at least one wall unit (1), which constitutes the radiant partition
for carrying out a radiant air conditioning operation with a plurality of thermoelectric
elements (6) electrically controlled, so as to prevent the diffusion of the cold or
warm air in the work station, and providing a ceiling plate (22) at the upper portion
of the work station. This work station enables the room cooling and warming effects
to be increased, and the comfortableness in the working environment to be improved,
as compared with a conventional work station. |
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates to a workstation having a radiation type air conditioning partition and used in the field of air conditioners as well as in the field of office furniture.
[0002] The inventors of the present invention have already proposed a workstation of this kind based on a combination of a conventional radiation type air conditioning partition, an ordinary partition and a worktable (refer to Japanese Patent Application Nos.62-97606 and 62-160939).
[0003] Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of an example of such proposed workstation, and Fig. 2 shows a longitudinal cross section of a portion of this workstation. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a partition unit 1 in the form of a plate has a frame 2 opened at its top end. Front and rear panels 3 and 4 close the frame 2 at the front and rear sides thereof. A portion of the panel 3, e.g., an upper half portion,is cut out to form an opening in which a radiation cooling/heating plate 5 is mounted. The radiation cooling/heating plate 5 consists of heat absorbing/radiating plates 5a and 5b formed on the obverse and reverse sides from a material such as aluminum having a high thermal conductivity, a plurality of thermionic elements 6 disposed between the pair of the heat absorbing/radiating plates 5a and 5b, and heat exchanger fins 7 attached to the outer surface of the reverse-side heat absorbing/radiating plate 5b. The obverse-side heat absorbing/radiating plate 5a is exposed outside on the obverse side of the partition unit 1 while the reverse-side heat exchanger fins 7 are accommodated and fixed inside the partition unit 1. The heat exchanger fins 7 are arranged to effect heat exchange by making air flow inside the partition unit 1 in the vertical direction. That is, air flow paths are formed between the fins 7 so as to extend in the vertical direction. A first cross flow fan 8 and a second cross flow fan 9 are mounted inside the partition unit 1 at different positions with respect to the vertical direction.
[0005] The first cross flow fan 8 has an inlet opened in the rear panel 4 of the partition unit 1, and an outlet 11 formed inside the partition unit 1 so as to face upwardly. The second cross flow fan 9 has an inlet 12 and an outlet 13, both of which are formed in the front panel 3. The inlet 12 is positioned above the outlet 13. A heat release air outlet 14 is formed in an upper end portion of the partition unit 1. Air discharged through the outlet 11 of the first cross flow fan 8 passes between the heat exchange fins 7 of the radiation cooling/heating plate 5 and is blown to the outside through the heat release air outlet 14. A controller 15, incorporated in a lower section of the partition unit 1, serves to control the operation of starting and stopping each of the first and second cross flow fans 8 and 9, the operation of starting and stopping energization of thermionic elements 6, the direction of the energizing current and the energization power. In the example illustrated in Fig. 1, the workstation is designed to have low partitions surrounding the worktable 16 while positioning the outlet 12 of the second cross flow fan 9 above the worktable 16.
[0006] In this arrangement, for radiation cooling on the obverse side of the partition unit 1 (inside the workstation), the controller 15 is operated to energize the thermionic elements 6 by electric power so that the thermionic elements 6 absorb heat at the obverse-side heat absorbing/radiating plate 5a and radiate heat at the reverse-side heat absorbing/radiating plate 5b by the Peltier effect, while the first and second cross flow fans 8 and 9 are driven, thereby absorbing heat on the obverse side of the radiation cooling/heating plate 5.
[0007] During driving of the first cross flow fan 8, air on the reverse side of the partition unit 1 (outside the workstation) is drawn through the inlet 10, is made to pass between the heat exchange fins 7 of the radiation cooling/heating plate 5, and is discharged through the heat release air outlet 14. As the air flows, the heat released to the reverse surface of the radiation cooling/heating plate 5 is transferred upwardly inside the partition unit 1. During driving of the second cross flow fan 9, air flowing downwardly along the obverse surface of the radiation cooling/heating plate 5 is drawn through the inlet 12 and is blown at a low rate through the outlet 13 disposed under the inlet 12. By the effect of radiation cooling using the radiation cooling/heating plate 5 and the cooling air blown by the second cross flow fan at a low rate, the operator sitting in front of the worktable 16 can feel comfortably cool. Preferably, the rate at which air is blown by the second cross flow fan 9 to the position at which the operator is sitting is about 0.3 m/s. The rotational speed of the second cross flow fan 9 is set by means of a manual switch according to operator's preference.
[0008] The direction of the current for energizing the thermionic elements 6 of the radiation cooling/heating plate 5 can be changed by operating the controller 15 so that heat radiation and heat absorption are effected over the two sides of the radiation cooling/heating plate 5 conversely relative to the case of radiation cooling, thus , heat radiation is effected over the obverse-side heat absorbing/radiating plate 5a while heat absorption is effected over the reverse-side heat absorbing plate 5b, thereby effecting radiation heating on the obverse side of the partition plate 1 (inside the workstation). At this time, the second cross flow fan 9 is driven or stopped according to operator's preference.
[0009] In the thus-constructed conventional workstation consisting of the combination of the radiation air conditioning partition, the ordinary partition and the worktable, air cooling or heating is effected inside the workstation by radiation and convection. However, the workstation is open on the upper side and on the back side so that cooled or heated air is diffused outside the workstation. This diffusion of air is a main cause of a limitation in improving the effects of cooling or heating inside the workstation. Another encountered problem resides in the possibility that air discharged from the release air outlet of the radiation air conditioning partition unit will flow downwardly into the workstation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] In view of these circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a workstation having a radiation air conditioning partition designed to reduce the extent of diffusion of cooled or heated air outside the workstation in order to increase the cooling/heating effects and hence to improve the work environment in terms of comfortableness.
[0011] To this end, the present invention provides a workstation having at least one radiation type partition unit in which a plurality of thermionic elements attached to a reverse surface of a panel are electrically controlled so as to cool or heat the panel and to thereby effect radiation cooling or heating, the workstation including a ceiling plate extending in an upper section of the workstation and having a function of preventing cooled or heated air inside the workstation from diffusing through the upper section thereof. The cooling and heating effects are thereby improved and the work environment can be improved in terms of comfortableness.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012]
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional workstation;
Fig. 2 is a sectional side view of a conventional radiation type air conditioning partition unit;
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a workstation which represents an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 4 is a sectional side view of a radiation type air conditioning partition unit in accordance with the present invention;
Figs. 5 to 7 are plan views of workstations which represent other embodiments of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0013] Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of a workstation which represents an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 4 shows a side cross section of a radiation air conditioning partition unit in accordance with the present invention. In this embodiment, the same constituent members which are the same as the above-described conventional example are designated with the same symbols and their description for them will not be repeated.
[0014] A pair of partition units 1 in the form of plates provided as radiation air conditioning partitions are disposed on the sides of widthwise ends of a worktable 16, and an ordinary partition 21 is disposed on the front side of the worktable 16, thereby defining the outside configuration of a workstation 20. A ceiling plate 22 is provided which extends between upper portions of the workstation 20. The ceiling plate 22 has a depth equal to or slightly smaller than that of the worktable (600 to 800 mm). The ceiling plate 22 is secured by a clamping means 23 to the upper portions of the partition units 1 so as to avoid any interference with release air outlets 14 formed in the partition units 1, as shown in Fig. 4.
[0015] In this arrangement, a controller 15, disposed in a lower portion of the partition unit 1 is operated to energize thermionic elements 6 by electric power so that the thermionic elements 6 absorb or radiate heat at the heat absorbing/radiating plate 5a by the Peltier effect and radiate or absorb heat at the heat absorbing/radiating plate 5b on the reverse side by the Peltier effect, thereby cooling or heating the radiation cooling/heating plate 5. Air cooling or heating is thus effected on the obverse side of the partition unit 1. By this cooling or heating effect, the operator sitting in the workstation 20 can feel cool or warm. Air inside the workstation 20 is stopped from flowing out of or into the workstation 20 through the upper section thereof, and the extent of diffusion of cooled or heated air is therefore reduced, thereby improving the cooling and heating effects. Furthermore, it is not possible that air discharged through the release air outlet 14 formed at the upper end of each partition unit 1 will flow backwardly into the workstation 20. As a result of the provision of the ceiling plate 22, the temperature inside the workstation 20 is reduced by about 1°C during cooling. In this embodiment, the ceiling plate 22 is secured to the upper portions of the partition units 1 by the clamping means 23. Instead, the ceiling plate 22 may be simply placed on the partition units 1. Figs. 5 and 6 show in plan other embodiments of the present invention illustrating examples of the shape of the ceiling plate 22 along with the disposition of partition plates 1 on two sides and ordinary partition 21 on another side. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 5, a portion of the ceiling plate 22 is curved so that the area of the ceiling plate 22 is increased while avoiding any hindrance to the operator. In the arrangement shown in Fig. 6 which is an applied example of the arrangement shown in Fig. 5, a portion of the ceiling plate 22 is curved so that the ceiling plate 22 overhangs the right and left sides of the body of the operator. Fig. 7 shows a further embodiment of the present invention in which three partition units 1 are disposed on three sides of the worktable with a ceiling plate 22 disposed thereabove. This arrangement enables a further improvement in the cooling and heating effects. It is to be construed that the combination of the ceiling plate 22 and the partition units 1 is not limited to those of the above-described embodiments and can be modified in other various ways without departing from the scope of the invention set forth in the appended claims.
[0016] As described above, the workstation having the radiation air conditioning partition in accordance with the present invention has improved cooling and heating effects and can be designed specifically to improve the work environment in terms of comfortableness as well as to reduce electric energy consumption.
1. A workstation having at least one radiation type partition unit (1) in which a plurality
of thermionic elements (6) attached to a panel (5) are electrically controlled so
as to cool or heat said panel and to thereby effect radiation cooling or heating,
said workstation being characterized by comprising a ceiling plate (22) extending
in an upper section of the workstation and having a function of preventing cooled
or heated air from diffusing.