Air Conditioning Unit With Reversible Drain Pan and Return Air Panel

The present invention is embodied in and carried out by an air-conditioning unit which may be configured for either vertical or horizontal air discharge. While being normally provided in the configuration for horizontal air discharge, the unit may be converted to the vertical configuration without any additional parts or special tools. This conversion is effected by partial disassembly of the unit so that the drain pan and return air panel assembly adjacent to a slant-mounted cooling coil may be reversed, i.e., rotated 180.degree. about an axis perpendicular to the plane in which the cooling coil lies, so as to reposition the return air opening on one side of the unit instead of at one end of the unit. The drain pan is simultaneously relocated to the position previously occupied by the return air panel. After such repositioning and reassembly of the unit, it may be positioned for vertical installation.

The present invention may be better understood by reading the written description thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 shows the air-conditioning unit embodying the present invention in its horizontal configuration;

FIG. 2 shows the unit of FIG. 1 in the first stage of the reconfiguration process;

FIG. 3 shows the unit of FIG. 1 in the second stage of the reconfiguration process;

FIG. 4 shows the unit of FIG. 1 in the third stage of the reconfiguration process; and

FIG. 5 shows the unit of FIG. 1 reconfigured and reoriented for vertical installation.

In this application the phrase "air conditioning unit" is intended to include any system or part of a system for either cooling, heating, dehumidifying or moving air, or any combination of those functions. The word "air" is intended to mean air or any other gas(es).

Referring specifically to FIG. 1, the air-conditioning unit 10 comprises a six-sided enclosure in which a first side 12 incorporates an air intake opening 14. A second side 16 incorporates an air exhaust opening 18. A third side is formed by a larger segment 20 and a smaller segment 22, the latter being joined with the first side 12 to form an L-shaped member. A fourth side is formed by a series of panels, including a coil access panel 24 and a refrigerant connector panel 26. An opening 27 is formed under conventional refrigerant connectors. A fifth side comprises the rear access panel 28 in which an opening may be formed by removal of a punch-out 29. A sixth side is formed by the top panel 30. A drain pan 32 is disposed along the inner surface of segment 22 and forms an integral part of the assembly including the drain pan 32, the segment 22, and the side 12 having the air intake opening 14 formed therein. The air-conditioning unit 10 is preferably frameless, with the various panels of the six-sided enclosure serving to support the weight of the components of the unit. The condensate falling into drain pan 32 from the cooling coil may be removed via the welded-in threaded coupling 33 to which a pipe or hose (not shown) may be attached through opening 27 to carry off the condensate. The side of the drain pan 32 which is adjacent to the corner of the L-shaped member is preferably slightly lower than the opposite side of the drain pan 32 so as to cause condensate to flow to the level of coupling 33. The remaining components of the unit are conventional, and are therefore not shown.

Referring now to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the sequence of operations for converting the air-conditioning unit 10 shown in FIG. 1 from a horizontal air flow configuration to a vertical air flow configuration is depicted. It will be seen that the rear access panel 28 is removed by removing a series of screws 28A-H. Similarly, the coil access panel 24 is removed by removing a series of screws 24A-D. The lower edge of connector panel 26 is detached by removal of screws 26A-B. The upper edge of side 12 is detached from the adjacent edge of the top panel 30 by removing a series of screws 12A-C, and the parallel edge of segment 22 is detached from the adjacent edge of larger segment 20 by removing a series of screws 22A-C. In this manner, the L-shaped assembly formed by side 12 and segment 22, incorporating the air intake opening 14 and drain pan 32, respectively, may be removed from the remainder of the air-conditioning unit 10 and reoriented so that, when remounted to the remainder of air conditioning unit 10, the side 12 is in the position previously occupied by segment 22, and vice-versa. Once this reorientation of the reversible assembly has been effected, the coil access panel 24 and rear access panel 28 may be replaced by means of their associated screws 24A-D and 28A-H. Before replacing rear access panel 28, the punch-out 29 must be removed to form an opening through which coupling 33 of drain pan 32 may be accessed. The lower edge of connector panel 26 is re-attached by screws 26A-B. The series of screws 12A- C and 22A-C are also replaced so as to fix the remaining edges of segment 22 and side 12 to the adjacent edges of top panel 30 and larger segment 20, respectively. As shown in FIG. 5, the final step is to tilt the air-conditioning unit 90.degree. so as to position the drain pan 32 under the coil 34. The air intake opening 14 is now positioned on the third side of the unit 10, which is now reconfigured and repositioned for vertical air flow.

In the foregoing description and drawings, the present invention has been set forth with reference to the details of the preferred embodiment thereof. Nevertheless, it will be understood that those details are presented for the purpose of illustration, and are in no way intended to limit the scope of the invention. Numerous modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. Specifically, although the foregoing description and drawings depict an air-conditioning unit for cooling and dehumidifying, the invention may readily be applied to heating units as well. In such an application, there would be no need for a drain pan, and the cooling coil would be a heating coil. Other modifications and applications will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and it is the intention of the present applicants to encompass all such modifications and applications within the scope of the claims set forth hereunder.