Barrel Type Air Diffuser

Earlier devices of this same general character have been employed but because of certain limitations in their construction and operation they have not been too successful. In such devices a drum or barrel-shaped hollow body wholly enclosed all of the vanes and their side supports therewithin, with the result that not only did these interior parts of the device interfere with and obstruct the flow of air through the hollow-shaped barrel or drum but the disposition of the vanes within the barrel member required dismantling of the device to adjust the vanes, assuming such adjustability was built into the device. As a result of such designs, these earlier air-flow devices were inefficient, lacking convenient adjustment on the one hand for attaining the desired air diffusion and having interior obstructions to air flow which interfered with the volume and throw of the discharged air.

It is an important object of the invention to provide a highly efficient air stream diffusing equipment for use in cooling, heating and ventilating enclosures.

Another important object of the invention is to provide an improved air stream distributing device attachable to ducts containing air under pressure which is so designed as to discharge a substantially greater volume of air with constant duct pressure and size.

A further important object of the invention is to provide air diffusing equipment having novel provision for convenient adjustment of the direction and throw of the discharged air and without requiring dismantling of any assembled parts of the equipment.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved air diffusing unit which avoids interior obstructions to the flow of air therethrough.

In carrying out these and other objects, the present invention contemplates an air diffusing device having provision on the one hand for ready attachment to source of air under pressure and having means on the other hand for conveniently controlling the direction and diffusion of the air stream discharging from the device, and accomplishing these results in a highly efficient manner.

More particularly, the invention comtemplates a stationary portion of the device in the form of a frame member which is attached to an air duct and secured in position around an air opening therein. Mounted interiorly of the frame member is a movable portion of the device in the form of a barrel-shaped member which is cut away on opposites thereof to form aligned side openings in its barrel shape for forming an air passage therethrough. Means carried by the frame member pivotally mounts the barrel member for limited rotating movement about its axis which, in the assembled positions of the parts making up the device, is disposed parallel to the frame member and such that the side openings of the barrel member are located on opposite sides of the plane of the frame member.

A significant feature of the invention is the provision of a walled extension framing the discharge opening of the barrel member which serves as a nozzle for projecting the air stream discharging therefrom in a given direction. Positioned within this nozzle portion of the device are a plurality of vanes or baffles which serve to diffuse the discharging air stream. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the vanes are individually adjustably mounted as by pivotal mountings for this purpose. For accomplishing the previously mentioned object of convenient adjustability, the vanes are preferably pivotally mounted on parallel axes extending across and through the walled frame around the discharge opening and such that portions of the axes exterior of the walled frame are all beyond the circumference of the barrel-shaped member. Thus, releasable fastening means can be provided exteriorly of the device for permitting adjustable movement of the vanes either individually or collectively if connected to a common control member.

Various other objects, advantages and meritorious features of the invention will become more fully apparent from the following specification, appended claims and accompanying drawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plurality of air diffusing units embodying the invention shown installed in clustering relationship about a large air duct for directing the air therein in several different directions;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an individual one of the units embodying the invention showing in larger scale the air discharge side thereof;

FIG. 3 is a plane view of the unit of FIG. 2 showing the air input side thereof;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the unit taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the unit taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 3.

For such an embodiment of the invention each air diffusing unit 10 comprises a frame member 12, preferably formed of metal and having the rectangular shape shown, which serves to secure the unit onto a duct containing air under pressure, such as illustrated at 14 in FIG. 1, and also to support the operating elements of the unit interiorly of the frame. The side and end sections 12a and 12b respectively of the frame member 12 are preferably of similar L-shaped cross sections as best shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The frame member 12 may be apertured at spaced apart locations 16 for receiving bolts or other fastening means for securing the unit to an air duct.

Positioned inside the frame member 12 and occupying nearly all of the space enclosed thereby is a barrel-shaped member generally indicated at 18. One side of this member is opened as indicated at 20 in FIGS. 4 and 5 to form an air inlet to the unit for receiving air under pressure from the duct to which the unit is attached. The side of the barrel-shaped member 18 opposite to the inlet opening 20 is likewise opened as indicated at 22 to form an air outlet from the interior of the barrel member as best shown in FIG. 5. The result is that the barrel member is fairly extensively reduced from a conventional barrel shape but still retains the major portions of the cylindrical side wall 24 and opposite end walls 26--26.

The barrel member 18 is mounted within the frame member for limited rotation about its axis on pivot mounts generally indicated at 28--28 and individually secured to the end sections 12b of the frame. Preferably, each pivot mount is positioned in place by a metal plate 30 secured to the end section 12b of the frame in inwardly projecting relationship as shown. The pivot mounts may be of any suitable form and are herein shown as comprising a bolt extending through the plate 30 and the end section 12b of the frame and carrying a pair of nuts on its opposite extremities which when loosened will permit the barrel member to pivot and when tightened to hold the barrel member in adjusted position. A spacer 32 on each bolt may be located between the end walls 26 of the barrel member and each plate 30. It is evident that by virtue of the two pivot mountings 28--28, the axis of the barrel member 18 is located parallel to the plane of the frame 12 and such that the inlet 20 of the barrel member is positioned on the duct side of the frame and the outlet 22 is disposed on the other side of the frame as illustrated in FIG. 5. It is also evident from the drawing figures that the outlet or discharge opening 22 of the barrel member has the same length as the inlet opening 20 but approximately one half the width thereof.

Carried by the barrel member, and preferably forming an integral part thereof, is a walled extension 34 which surrounds the outlet opening 22 of the barrel member 18 and preferably has a depth in the direction of air flow of nearly the distance separating the inlet and outlet openings of the barrel member. Dimensionally, the walled extension 34 is preferably rectangular in transverse cross section and its air discharge opening is of the same extent as the discharge outlet 22 of the barrel member. In operation, the walled extension 34 forms a spout or nozzle for directing the air under pressure which it receives from the barrel member in a given direction from the duct to which the whole assembly is attached.

Distributed at spaced locations in the walled extension 34 are a plurality of vanes or baffles 36. It is preferred that most if not all of these vanes be pivotally mounted within the walled extension or outlet duct 34 of the barrel-shaped member and such that the vanes may be pivotally adjusted to assume a desired fixed position within the nozzle. Varied positions of the vanes are illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. The illustrated vanes are flat plate-like members fitting with relatively close tolerance the inside dimensions of the walled extension 34. The vanes are fixedly mounted on rods 38 extending crosswise of the air flow passage of the walled extension preferably at equally spaced-apart intervals therewithin. The rods 38 may be formed by long bolts having their extremities passing through the side walls of the extension 34 and having a head at one end and receiving a nut 40 threaded on the other end. Each vane is individually associated with a rod 38 and has its inner edge welded or otherwise secured to the shank of its associated rod so that these welded parts of the assembly are jointly rotatable about the axis of the bolt when the nut on the bolt is unthreaded sufficiently to permit this rotation. When angled to the desired amount, each vane is fixed in adjusted position by tightly threading its nut home against the adjacent side wall of the outlet duct 34. As a result of the extension of the barrel-shaped member 18 beyond its outlet opening to form the nozzle or air discharge duct 34, the opposite ends of the pivot pins or rods 38 are able to be disposed outside of the curvature of that surface of revolution conforming to the cylindrical wall 24 of the barrel member thereby enabling convenient external access to the nuts 40 for adjusting the angularity of the vanes 36 and without requiring dismantling of the air diffusing unit 10. Moreover, by locating the middle portions of the rods 38 within the surface of revolution of the barrel member, as best illustrated in FIG. 5, the rods are positioned close to the inner end of the outlet duct 34 with the result that the vanes are extended forwardly therefrom in the general direction of the air flow. It also it is apparent that the barrel member 18 together with its outlet duct 34 can be adjustably rotated as indicated in FIG. 5 and then fixed in adjusted position at the time of installation in the main air duct 14 to which the air diffuser unit is attached.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it will be understood, of course, that it is not desired that the invention be limited thereto since modifications may be made, and it is therefore contemplated by the appended claims to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.