DEVICE FOR DIRECTING AIR FLOW IN THE AIR DUCT

The invention is an apparatus to control airflow in the air duct by reversing the direction of both:

• • an air stream driven by a fan which continuously rotates in a fixed direction, to obtain an air flow which cyclically changes direction
  • an air stream which cyclically changes direction to be delivered to the unidirectional, high performance air turbine.

The airflow reversal device for a ventilation system currently used comprises of a fan, and is provided with a cylindrical damper comprising at least two coaxial cylinders. One of these, preferably the inner cylinder, is movable and rotatable and placed in the second cylinder, which is preferably a fixed outer cylinder. Inside the inner cylinder there is an attached partition, to which the suction port of the fan is connected. The partition is permanently fixed to the inner cylinder, and together with the two discs that close this cylinder at both ends, it constitutes the fan chamber. The internal cylinder (fan chamber) is mounted in the casing and is driven by the rotary actuator. The inner cylinder rotates 180° to the left and 180° to the right, or rotates in one direction, cyclically stopping every 180 degrees. The cylindrical damper has openings which constitute airflow windows. These are located on the outer and inner surfaces of the cylinders.

The inside of the rotary cylinder constitutes the fan chamber, which is divided into a lower part, the so-called suction chamber, and an upper part. The upper part constitutes the casing for the fan rotor, driven by the electrical motor. Both upper and lower parts are connected by a suction port. In the outer cylinder there are four rectangular openings with rounded corners. They have the following dimensions: the width expressed by the obtuse angle (the opening angle no greater than 180°) and the height smaller than half the height of the outer cylinder. These are arranged in pairs, one above the other, where both pairs are symmetrically opposite each other. The outer cylinder has the following openings: bottom right, top right, bottom left and top left, and opens through these windows into the expansion chamber on one side, and the exhausted exhaust air and inlet air ducts on the other side. There are two rectangular rounded corner openings in the inner cylinder in the upper right and lower left, with the following dimensions: the width expressed by the obtuse angle (the opening angle not greater than 180°) and the height smaller than half the height of the outer cylinder. During the rotation of the inner cylinder, while the top opening of the inner cylinder coincides with the top left opening of the outer cylinder, the right bottom opening of the inner cylinder coincides with the lower right opening opening of the outer cylinder; and, the lower left and upper right openings remain closed. After the inner cylinder has rotated by 180°, the windows in the outer cylinder open, and the windows which were open now close.

Existing solutions designed to change the direction of air flow have an extensive construction and limited use.

This invention is constructed in order to overcome the above disadvantages, the substance of which is set forth in the claims.

The device for air flow control in an invention which has an air duct and a working machine in the form of a fan or turbine is characteristic because of the the working machine is placed in the profiled throttle, which is a profiled one-plane rotary damper with a central opening and two spherical canopies. These are: the suction/inlet and compression/outlet, made in such a way that they are on opposite sides of the plane of the partition. The canopies are the shape of a rotary body with an rotation axis coinciding with the rotation axis of the profiled damper, and are placed so that the central opening is located on the plane perpendicular to that of the profiled damper and perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the profiled damper. Canopies: the suction/inlet and compression/outlet are connected by two symmetrical flat ribs, so that a sealing diaphragm with edges is formed. This diaphragm has edges that tightly fit to the dividing-sealing shelf. The profiled damper is mounted in the air duct, in a way to allow for rotations. The profiled damper obtains its drive from the actuator, which is fixed (via the fixed bracket) to the air duct. The profiled damper rotates pendulously at an angle of no more than 180 degrees. In extreme positions, the profiled damper, through contact with the edge of the partition/sealing shelf, seals off the upper part from the lower part of the air channel. With the angle of rotation of no more than 180 degrees, the position of the canopy relative to the air duct changes so that the canopy that was in the upper part of the air duct moves to its lower part, and the canopy that was in the lower part of the air duct is moved to its upper part.

In the first version, the apparatus is provided with a radial working machine which is arranged in the suction/inlet canopy, and a central opening is located in the suction port that is positioned in a compression-outlet canopy. In this version, the radial fan comprising a rotor and a motor that is mounted on a fixed pin or a radial air turbine, including a generator mounted on a fixed pin, is the working machine.

The device in the second version is equipped with an axial working machine, which is arranged in a channel in which the central hole is located. The channel connects the suction/inlet with the compression/outlet canopies, the profiled damper is rotatable, and mounted on a stationary axis that is attached to the air duct by means of a flanged bushing.

The channel has a circular cross-section with an axis that coincides with the symmetrical axis of the profiled damper, which acts as its axis of rotation. In this version, the axial working machine is an axial fan comprising a rotor and a motor or axial-flow turbine that includes a generator, wherein the generator is mounted on a fixed axis such that the generator stator remains motionless with the stationary axis and the rotating winding is connected to the axial turbine rotor.

The construction of the device according to the invention simplifies the damper structure by eliminating the outer cylinder used in known apparatus, changing the cylindrical shape damper to a flat one with suction/inlet and compression/outlet canopies. The damper design allows it to be used not only for radial fans, but also for axial fans and for axial and radial turbines.

The device to control air flow direction in the air duct according to the invention consists of an air duct 1 and a working machine arrangement placed in the profiled damper 3. The device may be equipped, depending on the version, with a working machine in the form of a radial or axial fan and a radial or axial turbine. The profiled damper 3 is a specially profiled one-plane rotary baffle in which a circular central hole is provided, as are two embosses forming canopies: a suction/inlet 3a and a compression/outlet 3b, so arranged that they are on opposite sides of the plane of the shutter. Canopies 3a and 3b have the shape of a rotary body with a common axis of rotation coinciding with the rotation axis of the profiled damper 3. The relative positioning of the canopies 3a and 3b causes the central hole is placed in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the profiled damper 3, and perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the profiled damper 3.

The profiled damper 3 obtains the drive from the actuator 9, which is fixed by the stationary support 8 to the air duct wall 1. The profiled damper 3 has the ability to shuttle rotation by an angle of no more than 180 degrees. In extreme positions, the damper 3, due tight sealing between the edges 4 and dividing/sealing shelf 2, tightly separates the upper part 1a of air duct 1 from the bottom part 1b. The profiled damper 3, with all its sealing edges 4, comes into contact with the sealing of the dividing-sealing shelf 2, made inside the air duct 1.

The profiled damper 3, driven by the actuator 9, can rotate by an angle of no more than 180 degrees. During such rotations the position of the canopy 3a and 3b relative to the air duct 1 changes, so that the canopy that is in the upper part of the air duct 1 moves to its lower part, and the canopy that is in the lower part of the air duct 1 moves to its upper part. The rotation takes place in the shortest possible time, during which the system is not airtight and the air streams can mix.

The device according to the invention can be made in two variants. The first version is a device with a radial working machine shown on FIG. 1 to FIG. 8. In the second variant, there is an apparatus with an axial working machine, shown on FIG. 9 to FIG. 14.

In the first variant, a radial fan or radial turbine was used as a working machine. The radial machine is placed in the compression/outlet canopy 3b and the central hole is placed in the suction port 3f, located in the compression/outlet canopy 3b. The device in the first version is used to reverse the direction of the air flow in the air duct 1, which is driven by a radial fan comprising of a rotor 13 and a motor 14 as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, or to direct air coming from different directions into the air duct 1 on to the proper side of the radial turbine 5a including the generator 6a as shown in FIGS. 5 to 8. The single-leaf pivoting damper 3 in this version has a special shape consisting of: a suction/inlet canopy 3a, a compressing/outlet canopy 3b, and a central hole with a suction hopper 3f. Two symmetrical flat ribs connect the suction/inlet canopy 3a and the compressing/outlet canopy 3b forming a tight diaphragm which has sealing edges 4, and which are tightly attached to the partition-sealing shelf 2. The profiled damper 3 has the ability to rotate pendulously at an angle of no more than 180 degrees. In extreme positions, the profiled damper 3, by attaching the edges 4 to the partition-sealing shelf 2, tightly separates the upper part 1a from the bottom part 1b of the air duct 1. The profiled damper 3 is rotatable mounted in the air duct 1, either on the fixed shaft 15, holding the radial fan motor 14, or on the fixed shaft 15a, holding the radial turbine generator 6a, as well as on the hollow connector 3e mounted in the air duct 1. The actuator 9 driving the profiled damper is attached via the fixed support 8 to the air duct housing 1.

In the second variant of the device an axial working machine is used in the form of an axial fan or an axial turbine. The axial machine is located in the channel 3c, in which the central hole is also positioned. The axial working machine sucks in—in the case of a fan—or lets in—in the case of the turbine—the air from the sucking/inlet canopy 3a, causing the air to flow through the passage 3c to the compression/outlet canopy 3b. The device in the second version is used to reverse the direction of airflow in the air duct 1 by means of an axial fan that has a rotor 13a and a motor 14a (FIG. 9 to FIG. 12), or to direct the air coming from different directions into the air duct 1 to the proper side of the axial turbine 5, which has a generator 6 and is driven by air flowing through the air duct 1.

The single leaf profiled damper 3 has a structure consisting of a channel 3c connecting the sucking/inlet canopy 3a to the compression/outlet canopy 3b, and two symmetrical flat-shaped ribs 3d. Canopies 3a and 3b are located symmetrically, relative to the center of the damper 3. Channel 3c has a circular section with an axis that coincides with the axis of symmetry of the profiled damper 3, and this is its axis of rotation. The 3d ribs connect the sucking/inlet canopy 3a to the compression/outlet canopy 3b and the channel 3c, forming a sealing diaphragm with edges 4 which are tightly attached to the partition/sealing shelf 2.

The profiled damper 3 is rotatable and is mounted on a stationary axis 7 attached to the air duct 1 by means of a flange sleeve 11. The damper 3 has the ability to rotate pendulously at an angle of no more than 180 degrees. In extreme positions, the damper 3, due tight sealing between the edges 4 and the partition/sealing shelf 2, tightly separates the upper part 1a of air duct 1 from the bottom part 1b.

The generator 6 is mounted on the fixed axis 7 so that the generator stator 6 and the stationary axis 7 both remain motionless, and the generator's winding is connected to the axial turbine rotor 5. The actuator 9 of the rotary damper 3 is mounted on the fixed axis 7 to the air duct housing 1 by the fixed support 8 and the hollow connector 3e. The actuator shaft 9 is connected to the rotary damper 3.

The operation of the device with the rotary damper according to the invention is as follows: the profiled damper system in all versions is based on separating the air duct 1 into two parts by tight seals, the upper 1a and the lower 1b, which are exposed to different air pressures.

In the first version the only way for the air to flow through the sealed air duct 1 is through a central opening located in the suction-inlet hopper 3f located in the compression/outlet canopy 3b, in which the radial working machine—a radial (centrifugal) fan or a radial turbine—is mounted. In the second variant, the only way for the air to flow through the sealed air duct 1 is through a central channel 3c in which an axial working machine—axial fan or axial-flow turbine machine—is arranged.

The cyclical rotation of the profiled damper 3 at an angle of no more than 180 degrees results in a temporary unsealing of the system comprised of the profiled damper 3 in an air duct 1. After the profiled damper 3 is placed in the next extreme position:

• • in the case of using the fan, the reversal of direction in airflow in the air duct 1 occurs, while the radial fan 13 or the axial fan 13a rotor continuously rotates in one fixed direction. This is the typical use for ventilation or heat recovery systems using stationary heat exchangers
  • in the case of using a turbine, there is a constant flow of compressed air to the turbine rotor, despite the fact that the air in the air channel 1 changes its flow direction cyclically.