High flow rate ductwork for a recreational vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11318810-B2
Application number	US-202016892908-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 4, 2020
Priority date	Oct 8, 2018
Publication date	May 3, 2022
Grant date	May 3, 2022

Abstract

Recreational vehicles are provided with a tapered duct connector and/or a conditioned air receiving sleeve that is positioned in an infra-ceiling space of the vehicle. The tapered duct connector comprises a connector inlet coupled to a conditioned air passage on a wall of the conditioned air receiving sleeve, and a connector outlet coupled to the supply duct, to fluidly couple the sleeve to the supply duct. The tapered duct connector comprises a transitional duct height that increases from the connector outlet to the connector inlet. The conditioned air passage of the conditioned air receiving sleeve, the tapered duct connector, and the supply duct is contained such that air can pass from the conditioned air opening of the conditioned air receiving sleeve, through the conditioned air receiving sleeve, and into the supply duct without contacting structural components in the infra-ceiling space of the recreational vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A recreational vehicle comprising a supply duct assembly, the supply duct assembly comprising a conditioned air receiving sleeve, a tapered duct connector, and a supply duct, wherein:
the conditioned air receiving sleeve is positioned in an infra-ceiling space of the recreational vehicle;
the conditioned air receiving sleeve further comprises a conditioned air opening occupying at least a portion of a top side of the conditioned air receiving sleeve, lateral sleeve walls defining a sleeve height h S , a conditioned air passage occupying a lateral sleeve wall of the conditioned air receiving sleeve, and a return air opening occupying at least a portion of a bottom side of the conditioned air receiving sleeve;
the tapered duct connector comprises a connector inlet coupled to the conditioned air passage on the lateral sleeve wall of the conditioned air receiving sleeve and a connector outlet coupled to the supply duct, to fluidly couple the conditioned air receiving sleeve to the supply duct;
the connector inlet and the connector outlet of the tapered duct connector are directionally offset;
the tapered duct connector comprises a transitional duct width that decreases from the connector outlet to the connector inlet and a transitional duct height that increases from the connector outlet to the connector inlet;
the respective magnitudes of decreasing transitional duct width and increasing transitional duct height are such that the connector inlet comprises a cross-sectional flow area that is at least approximately 20% larger than a cross-sectional flow area of the connector outlet; and
the conditioned air receiving sleeve, the tapered duct connector, and the supply duct contain a conditioned air passage that extends from the conditioned air opening of the conditioned air receiving sleeve, through the conditioned air receiving sleeve and the tapered duct connector, and into the supply duct.

2. The recreational vehicle as claimed in claim 1 wherein:
the supply duct assembly further comprises a sleeve insert;
the sleeve insert comprises an insert portion sized to extend through the connector inlet and frictionally engage an inside periphery of the tapered duct connector; and
the sleeve insert further comprises a flange portion that is sized to abut a framed portion of the conditioned air passage on the lateral sleeve wall of the conditioned air receiving sleeve to provide for securement of the sleeve insert to the conditioned air receiving sleeve along the framed portion of the conditioned air passage with the insert portion extending through the connector inlet of the tapered duct connector.

3. The recreational vehicle as claimed in claim 2 wherein the sleeve insert comprises an internal flow directing vane.

4. The recreational vehicle as claimed in claim 2 wherein the sleeve insert comprises an internal turning vane that extends from the flange portion of the sleeve insert and curves beyond the insert portion of the sleeve insert.

5. The recreational vehicle as claimed in claim 1 wherein:
the supply duct defines a supply duct height h D ; and
the sleeve height h S is at least 1.5 times larger than the supply duct height h D .

6. The recreational vehicle as claimed in claim 1 wherein the conditioned air receiving sleeve comprises a six-sided rectangular cuboid where the conditioned air opening and the return air opening form opposite sides of the rectangular cuboid.

7. The recreational vehicle as claimed in claim 1 wherein:
two opposing conditioned air passages occupy opposing lateral sleeve walls of the conditioned air receiving sleeve; and
the recreational vehicle comprises a longitudinal dimension extending parallel to the sides of the recreational vehicle and the two opposing conditioned air passages face opposite sides of the recreational vehicle.

8. The recreational vehicle as claimed in claim 1 wherein the connector inlet and the connector outlet of the tapered duct connector are directionally offset between approximately 45 degrees and approximately 90 degrees.

9. The recreational vehicle as claimed in claim 1 wherein the connector inlet comprises a cross-sectional flow area that is between approximately 20% and approximately 40% larger than a cross-sectional flow area of the connector outlet, to optimize mass flow transfer from the conditioned air receiving sleeve to the supply duct without undue turbulence.

10. The recreational vehicle as claimed in claim 1 wherein the transitional duct height of the tapered duct connector increases by a factor of at least about 1.25.

11. The recreational vehicle as claimed in claim 10 wherein an average slope representing a net increase in the transitional duct height of the connector from the connector outlet to the connector inlet is between about 0.05 and about 0.10.

12. The recreational vehicle as claimed in claim 11 wherein the connector inlet comprises a cross-sectional flow area that is between approximately 20% and approximately 40% larger than a cross-sectional flow area of the connector outlet.

13. The recreational vehicle as claimed in claim 1 wherein the tapered duct connector is an elbow connector comprising a single connector inlet and a single connector outlet, or a Y-shaped connector comprising a single connector inlet and two connector outlets.

14. The recreational vehicle as claimed in claim 13 wherein the tapered duct connector is an elbow connector comprising a single connector inlet and a single connector outlet.

15. The recreational vehicle as claimed in claim 13 wherein the tapered duct connector is a Y-shaped connector comprising a single connector inlet and two connector outlets.

16. The recreational vehicle as claimed in claim 1 wherein the tapered duct connector is a linear connector, an elbow connector, or a Y-shaped connector.

17. The recreational vehicle as claimed in claim 1 wherein:
the recreational vehicle further comprises a roof-mounted AC unit and a ceiling-mounted return air assembly; and
the roof-mounted AC unit and the ceiling-mounted return air assembly enclose opposite sides of the conditioned air receiving sleeve, with the roof-mounted AC unit over the conditioned air opening of the conditioned air receiving sleeve and the return air assembly over the return air opening of the conditioned air receiving sleeve.

18. A recreational vehicle comprising a supply duct assembly, the supply duct assembly comprising a conditioned air receiving sleeve, a sleeve insert, a tapered duct connector, and a supply duct, wherein:
the conditioned air receiving sleeve is positioned in an infra-ceiling space of the recreational vehicle;
the conditioned air receiving sleeve further comprises a conditioned air opening occupying at least a portion of a top side of the conditioned air receiving sleeve, lateral sleeve walls defining a sleeve height h S , a conditioned air passage occupying a lateral sleeve wall of the conditioned air receiving sleeve, and a return air opening occupying at least a portion of a bottom side of the conditioned air receiving sleeve;
the tapered duct connector comprises a connector inlet and a connector outlet coupled to the supply duct;
the sleeve insert comprises an insert portion sized to extend through the connector inlet and frictionally engage an inside periphery of the tapered duct connector;
the tapered duct connector comprises a transitional duct height that increases by a factor of at least about 1.25 from the connector outlet to the connector inlet;
the tapered duct connector comprises a transitional duct wi

Assignees

• Thor Technologies Inc

Inventors

• Bullock Mark
• Brock Jon
• Giggy Bradd
• Snyder Jeff

Classifications

• B60P3/32

  comprising living accommodation for people, e.g. caravans, camping, or like vehicles (tents or canopies, in general E04H15/00) · CPC title

• B60H1/00564 Primary

  of air ducts · CPC title

• B60H1/00364 Primary

  for caravans or trailers · CPC title

• B60H1/00028

  Constructional lay-out of the devices in the vehicle · CPC title

• B62D25/06

  Fixed roofs (non-fixed roofs or like shelters B60J7/00; roof liners B60R13/02; insulating elements B60R13/08) · CPC title