Parallel fan powered terminal unit

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11761670-B2
Application number	US-201916522311-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 25, 2019
Priority date	May 13, 2019
Publication date	Sep 19, 2023
Grant date	Sep 19, 2023

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure include a primary air chamber configured to receive primary air, an induced air chamber configured to receive secondary air, a heating coil disposed in the induced air chamber, wherein the heating coil is removable from the induced air chamber without disassembling at least a portion of the induced air chamber, and the heating coil does not receive the primary air, a fan disposed in the induced air chamber, wherein the fan is configured to blow the secondary air received via the induced air chamber toward the heating coil and the heating coil heats the secondary air.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A terminal unit, comprising:
a primary air chamber configured to receive primary air from an air handling unit, wherein the primary air comprises conditioned air;
an induced air chamber configured to receive secondary air from a conditioned space;
a heating coil disposed in the induced air chamber, wherein:
the heating coil is removable from the induced air chamber without disassembling at least a portion of the induced air chamber; and
the heating coil does not receive the primary air; and

a fan disposed in the induced air chamber and upstream of the heating coil relative to a flow direction of the secondary air through the induced air chamber, wherein the fan is configured to blow the secondary air received via the induced air chamber toward the heating coil, the heating coil is configured to heat the secondary air, and the terminal unit is configured to combine the primary air and the secondary air heated by the heating coil and to discharge a mixture of the primary air and the secondary air heated by the heating coil as room air.

2. The terminal unit of claim 1 , further comprising a damper in the primary air chamber configured to regulate a flow of the primary air through the primary air chamber.

3. The terminal unit of claim 2 , further comprising a controller including:
a memory;
a communications circuit; and
one or more processors communicatively coupled with the memory and the communications circuit, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
receive, via the communications circuit, one or more control signals; and
control at least one of the damper, the heating coil, or the fan in response to the one or more control signals.

4. The terminal unit of claim 1 , wherein the heating coil slidingly engages the induced air chamber.

5. The terminal unit of claim 1 , wherein the heating coil slidingly engages the induced air chamber via one or more tracks.

6. The terminal unit of claim 2 , further comprising a controller comprising:
a memory;
a communications circuit; and
one or more processors communicatively coupled with the memory and the communications circuit, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
receive, via the communications circuit, one or more control signals; and
control the damper in response to the one or more control signals.

7. The terminal unit of claim 1 , further comprising a controller comprising:
a memory;
a communications circuit; and
one or more processors communicatively coupled with the memory and the communications circuit, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
receive, via the communications circuit, one or more control signals; and
control the fan in response to the one or more control signals.

8. The terminal unit of claim 1 , wherein the heating coil is configured to slidingly engage with one or more tracks of the induced air chamber, and the heating coil is removable from the induced air chamber via sliding along the one or more tracks in a direction crosswise to a length of the terminal unit.

9. The terminal unit of claim 1 , wherein the heating coil is removable from the induced air chamber via a side of the terminal unit.

10. The terminal unit of claim 1 , wherein the induced air chamber is configured to receive the secondary air from the conditioned space via a ceiling plenum or a return air duct.

11. The terminal unit of claim 1 , wherein the conditioned air comprises warmed air, cooled air, room-temperature air, or a combination thereof.

12. The terminal unit of claim 1 , wherein the heating coil comprises a hot water coil or an electric heating coil.

13. The terminal unit of claim 3 , further comprising an actuator coupled to the damper, wherein the controller is communicatively coupled to the actuator, and the controller is configured to control the actuator to actuate the damper in response to the one or more control signals.

14. The terminal unit of claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to activate the heating coil in response to the one or more control signals, deactivate the heating coil in response to the one or more control signals, or both.

15. The terminal unit of claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to activate the fan in response to the one or more control signals, deactivate the fan in response to the one or more control signals, or both.

16. A method of controlling air flow, comprising:
receiving a feedback signal from a thermostat; and
transmitting, in response to the feedback signal, one or more control signals to a terminal unit, wherein the terminal unit comprises:
a primary air chamber configured to receive primary air from an air handling unit, wherein the primary air comprises conditioned air;
an induced air chamber configured to receive secondary from a conditioned space
a heating coil disposed in the induced air chamber, wherein:
the heating coil is removable from the induced air chamber without disassembling at least a portion of the induced air chamber; and
the heating coil does not receive the primary air; and

a fan disposed in the induced air chamber and upstream of the heating coil relative to a flow direction of the secondary air through the induced air chamber, wherein the fan is configured to blow the secondary air received via the induced air chamber toward the heating coil, the heating coil is configured to heat the secondary air, and the terminal unit is configured to combine the primary air and the secondary air heated by the heating coil and to discharge a mixture of the primary air and the secondary air heated by the heating coil as room air.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the terminal unit further comprises a damper in the primary air chamber for regulating a flow of the primary air through the primary air chamber.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the terminal unit further comprises a controller including:
a memory;
a communications circuit; and
one or more processors communicatively coupled with the memory and the communications circuit, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
receive, via the communications circuit, the one or more control signals; and
control at least one of the damper, the heating coil, or the fan in response to the one or more control signals.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the heating coil slidingly engages the induced air chamber.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the heating coil slidingly engages the induced air chamber along one or more tracks.

Assignees

• Air Distribution Tech Ip Llc

Inventors

• Helms Brandon H
• Anderson Justin E
• Purdie Steven J
• Redford Brian S

Classifications

• F24F1/0007 Primary

  Indoor units, e.g. fan coil units (self-contained units F24F1/02) · CPC title

• F24F13/0254 Primary

  characterised by their mounting means, e.g. supports · CPC title

• F24F13/26

  Arrangements for air-circulation by means of induction, e.g. by fluid coupling or thermal effect · CPC title

• F24F11/81

  by controlling the air supply to heat-exchangers or bypass channels · CPC title

• F24F11/72

  for controlling the supply of treated air, e.g. its pressure · CPC title