Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TO WHOM ff MAY CONCERN:
Be it known that I, Gerald J. Sheren, a resident of the City of Kalkaska,
County of
Kalkaska, State of Michigan, a citizen of the United States of America have
invented a
new and useful device that is a
FRESH AIR HEAT EXCHANGER WITH AIR TREATMENT SYSTEM
that is described in this specification.
This application claims priority from USSN 12/804,331 filed 7-20-2010
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Heat exchangers per se are not new to the an. The function of the fresh air
heat
exchanger of the instant invention is to provide ventilation, heating and
treatment or
purification of the air from a building. This is accomplished through several
sequential
phases within one complete unit. The uniqueness of the fresh air heat
exchanger is that it
automatically switches operating modes while the building is occupied or
unoccupied.
The fresh air heat exchanger of this invention is controlled by the existing
temperature
control system in the building It can be self controlled or a combination of
both.
Standard fresh air heat exchangers will only cycle when the building is
unoccupied. This
unit removes stale air, uses the heat from the stale air to %WM incoming cool
fresh air,
then the stale air is exhausted while the preheated fresh air is heated by a
hot water coil
and optionally purified by a UV cell then released into the room. United
States Patent
5,632,334 issued to Grinbags on May 27, 1997 is incorporated herein by
reference for
what it teaches concerning heat recovery ventilators or heat exchangers.
THE INVENTION
The instant invention is a mode switching fresh air heat exchanger that has
simultaneous movement of the hot air and cold air within the system. The
device consists
of a housing having a front, a back, a top, a bottom, a near end, and a distal
end.
There is an opening located in the intaior back of the housing that is a fresh
air
exterior opening louver panel. There is also a first duct to carry the fresh
air from the
louver panel to a first heat recovery ventilator.
The device contains an open grill located in the interior front, near the
bottom that
is a stale air open grill and located interiorly to the housing and adjacent
to and aligned
with the grill is a filter for the stale air. There is a second duct to carry
the filtered air to a
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second heat recovery ventilator connected in air carrying tandem to the first
heat recovery
ventilator and a third duct to carry the heat recovered air to the outside
through the louver
panel. There is a fourth duct to carry the fresh air to a heating zone and
through an air
vent into a room. This air vent is located in the top of the housing. The air
is conveyed
through the heating zone by a variable speed electrical fan. =
The fresh air and stale air are simultaneously moved by electrical blowers and
electrical components for electrifying the blowers and fans.
The advantages of the devices of the instant invention include, but are not
limited
to, exhausting at the ground floor level, intake above the ground, eliminating
the pick up
of debris and the like by the device, eliminates ductwork in the ceiling of
the buildings in
which they are used, eliminates a majority of dampers and damper controls, use
of an air
cleaner system in the flowing air to clean up bacteria and the like.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a full side view in perspective of the fresh air heat exchanger
with a
portion of the housing removed to show the interior.
Figure 2 is an exploded view of a fresh air heat exchanger of this invention.
Figure 3 is an exploded view of a fresh air heat exchanger of this invention.
Figure 4 is an exploded view of the outside air intake, heat exchanger, room
air
duct and the electrical control system of this invention.
Figure 5A is a rear view of the fresh air heat exchanger of this invention
showing
the external or outside air intake.
Figure 5B is a view in perspective of a rear panel of this invention.
Figure 6 is an air flow schematic within the fresh air heat exchanger.
Figure 7 is an end view of a portion of the fresh air heat exchanger.
Figure 8 is an air flow diagram of a device of this invention.
Figure 9 is a portion of a side view of the invention showing a damper
assembly.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a full view in perspective of the fresh air heat exchanger 2. Here
the
fresh air heat exchanger 2 is fully assembled. Shown in this Figure is the
intake grill 60
which attaches to the intake elbow 44 that supplies the unit 2 with fresh air.
Also shown
is the air vent 52 that supplies return air to the room. The air intake 82 for
room air is
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through the base front 14 which is filtered then introduced into the fresh air
heat
exchanger 2. The hot water coil 34 sits on top of the heat exchanger 72
housing 18. The
fresh air heat exchanger 2 is electrically powered by a blower 30 which is
controlled by
the junction box 38 and switch fuse 40 through conduit 42 and electrical box
36.
Figure 2 is an exploded view of the fresh air heat exchanger 2. This
embodiment
also includes the UV cell 62. The UV cell utilizes oxidation technology that
is a high
intensity broad spectrum UV tube (100-300nm) in a hydrated catalytic matrix
cell. Low
level ozone is produced in the cell, the majority of which is converted into
airborne hydro
peroxides, super oxide ions, ozonide ions and hydroxides. The bulb in incased
in a poly
tube to prevent any glass or mercury leakage. The air passes by the UV cell 62
for
purification after it is heated by the hot water coil 34.
Figure 3 is an exploded view of the fresh air heat exchanger 2. This Figure
shows
the components of the fresh air heat exchanger 2. The fresh air heat exchanger
2 has a top
panel 6, two end panels 8, a bottom panel 10 and an inner wall 12. The unit 2
sits on a
base that is comprised of a base front 14 and a base rear 16. The base front
14 has louvers
82 in it that act as an air intake 82 from a room. This air that is drawn from
the room is
filtered by filter 50 before it is passed to the heat exchangers 72 in the
housing 18. The
filter is supported by filter braces 48 that are attached to the bottom panel
10. The support
channels 20 sit atop the bottom panel 10 and support the housing 18. The coil
supply duct
22 supplies air to the coil 34 for further heating.
When the air is drawn in from the bottom 10, it flows into mom air duct 24
into the heat
exchangers 72 in the housing 18 where it is passed by the incoming fresh air
to preheat
the fresh air, then the room air is exhausted through exhaust port 78. The
room air duct
24 is connected to the housing 18 via a collar 28 and a draw band 26. The
circulation of
the air into and throughout the fresh air heat exchanger 2 is provided by the
blower 30.
The blower 30 pulls air from the base front 14, through the filter 50, through
the room air
duct 24 into the heat exchangers 72 in the housing 18 and then exhausted.
The fresh air is drawn in and passes by the room air preheating the fresh air.
From
that point the air is forced through the coil supply duct 22, through the hot
water coil 34,
through the UV cell 62 and then the air that is now heated and cleansed
arrives at the
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room. The mom air is passed by a heat exchanger 72 which captures heat and
then
transfers that heat to the fresh incoming outside air.
Figure 4 is an internal view of the outside air intake 68, heat exchanger 72,
room
air duct 24 and the electrical control system 70. It is clear from this Figure
that the
outside air intake comprises the air chamber 64, the intake elbow 44, the back
brace and a
louvered panel 54 (not shown) to draw air from the outside. The heat exchanger
72 is
comprised of the front base 14 and rear base 16 incorporating a filter 50 and
supporting
the housing 18. The housing 18 supports the blower 30 (not shown) and the hot
water coil
34. Also shown is the coil supply duct 22. Mounted within the top 6 is the air
vent 52
which returns the heated and cleansed air back into the room.
Figure 5 is a back view of the fresh air heat exchanger 2 showing the external
or
outside air intake 68. The exterior louvered panel 54 is supported by a backer
panel 74
and separated by dividers 76. The intake elbow 44 is attached to the backer
panel 74 to
draw air through the louvered panel 54 and into the elbow 44 then on into the
intake air
chamber 64 to be passed into the heat exchangers 72 in the housing 18 to be
passed by
the room air for preheating. The backer panel 74 also has another opening 78
that aligns
with the achaust system 80. The fresh air heat exchanger 2 will exhaust room
air through
the exhaust system 80 and out the exhaust port 78. The housing 18 has a filter
50 for
incoming fresh air and also a filter for the preheated air.
Figure 6 is an air flow schematic within the fresh air heat exchanger 2. The
room
air is drawn into the front base 14, through filter 50 then into the life
breath 18. The
outside air in drawn in through the exterior louver 54, into the intake elbow
44, into the
intake air chamber 64, and on into the housing 18. The fresh outside air is
heated by the
heat exchanger 72. The air is then drawn into the blower 30 and on into the
coil supply
duct 22, then into the hot water coil 34 where it is heated. The air proceeds
into over the
UV cell 62 where it is purified and then on through the air vent 52 and back
into the mom
heated and cleansed. The stale room air is removed through the exhaust port 78
of the
exhaust system 80.
Figure 7 is a top view of the fresh air heat exchanger 2. This Figure shows
the air
intake 68, air chamber 64, hot water coil 34 and the UV cell 68. The key here
is the
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relationship between the hot water coil 34 and the UV cell 68 to show the air
is heated the
purified before it is releases back into the room.
Figure 8 is an air flow diagram of a device of this invention. The solid line
indicates the outside air coming into the system 2 first passing the heat
exchangers 72,
proceeding to the coil supply duct 22 through the hot viater coil 34, then on
to the UV
cell 62, and then the air is returned into the room. This is the fresh air
cycle.
The solid line with dashes indicates the circulation cycle where room air is
filtered at filter 50, then on to the blower 30 where it is moved to the coil
supply duct 22.
The air is then heated in the hot water coil 34, passed through the UV cell 62
and
returned to the room heated and purified. This is the unoccupied cycle.
The other cycle that is indicated by the solid line with asterisk is the
exhaust. This
cycle is simultaneous to the first cycle in that the room air, before it is
exhausted, is
passed by the heat exchangers 72 to warm the fresh incoming outside air. Then
the room
air is exhausted.
In the building occupied mode there are three phases of operation and one
phase
for the unoccupied building mode. In the first phase the outside air passes
through the
exterior louver panel 54 and enters the fresh air heat exchanger 2 through an
elbow 44.
The fresh air is then drawn into a heat recovery ventilator. Simultaneously,
stale warm air
from inside the building is pulled into the bottom front 14 of the fresh air
heat exchanger
2 through a grill 82 where it is first filtered for particles. The filtered
air enters the room's
air duct 24 within the fresh air heat exchanger 2 and then passes through the
heat
recovery ventilator 4 where it is discharged outside through the exterior
louver panel 54.
Stale warm air is constantly being replaced by an equal quantity of outside
fresh air. The
heat recovery ventilator 4 can meet fresh air requirements of the building and
is capable
of at least 250 cubic feet per minute.
As the two air streams pass through the heat recovery ventilator 4, they do
not
mix. They pass through air filters 50 on either side of an aluminum heat
exchange core in
housing 18 which transfers heat from the outgoing air to the incoming air.
This allows the
heat from the building to be saved and from being lost to the outside.
Condensate drains are located at the bottom of the heat recoveiy ventilator 4
below the aluminum heat exchange core. The drains then pass through the fresh
air heat
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exchanger 2 where a sump pump is located. The pump then discharges to the
buildings
existing drain system.
The second phase begins once the air has been warmed during phase one by the
heat recovery ventilator 4 and a supplemental heating of the air is
accomplished by a hot
water coil 34 located within the fresh air heat exchanger 2 above the heat
recovery
ventilator 4. The hot water coil 32 is connected to the building's hot water
system and
can meet up to 20,000 BTU off beat loss from the room. A variable speed
controlled fan
or blower 30 continuously pulls the conditioned heat recovery ventilator 4 air
across the
hot water coil 34 and into the mom.
The third phase begins prior to the heated air entering the room from the heat
recovery ventilator 4 after phase two, it passes across a cell 62 located
downstream of the
hot water coil 34. The cell 62 utilizes oxidation technology that consists of
a high
intensity broad spectrum UV tube (100 ¨ 300 nm) in a hydrated catalytic matrix
cell. Low
level ozone is produced in the cell, the majority of which is converted into
airborne hydro
peroxides, super oxide ions, ozonide ions and hydroxides. The UV bulb is
encased in a
poly tube to prevent any glass or mercury leakage. Also, the entire assembly
is encased in
a protective metal cell. This cell eliminates sick building syndrome risks by
reducing
odors, air pollutants, chemical odors, smoke, mold bacteria, and viruses.
The fresh air heat exchanger 2 also has an unoccupied building phase where the
heat recovery ventilator is bypassed. The room air enters the fresh air heat
exchanger 2
through the bottom passing through a grill 82 where it is filtered, heated by
the hot water
coil and recirculated back into the room by the variable speed fan. Another
unique feature
of the device 2 is the intake and exhaust is well above ground level. Prior
art units have
their exhaust and intake at ground level making them receptacles for lawn
debris and
snow causing all kinds of internal problems with the units.
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