Fan assembly for an air conditioner appliance
AssigneeHaier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
InventorsKenton Merlino, Richard Michael Phillips
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An air conditioner unit may include a bulkhead, a vent aperture, and a fan assembly. The bulkhead may define an indoor portion and an outdoor portion. The vent aperture may be defined in the bulkhead. The fan assembly may urge a flow of make-up air from the outdoor portion through the vent aperture to the indoor portion. The fan assembly may include a fan housing and an auxiliary fan. The makeup air duct may be in fluid communication with the vent aperture. The fan housing may include a bottom wall defining a vertical weep hole to permit water to exhaust from the makeup air duct apart from the vent aperture. The auxiliary fan may be positioned within the fan housing.
Claims19
An air conditioner unit, comprising:
- a bulkhead defining an indoor portion and an outdoor portion;
- a vent aperture defined in the bulkhead;
- and
- a fan assembly for urging a flow of make-up air from the outdoor portion through the vent aperture to the indoor portion, the fan assembly comprising:
- a fan housing defining a makeup air duct in fluid communication with the vent aperture, the fan housing comprising a bottom wall defining a vertical weep hole to permit water to exhaust from the makeup air duct apart from the vent aperture, and
- an auxiliary fan positioned within the fan housing,
- wherein the fan housing defines a filter slot upstream from the vent aperture,
- wherein the fan housing defines a filter aperture above the bottom wall and along a lateral direction, the lateral direction being perpendicular to the vertical weep hole and a direction of airflow through the makeup air duct,
- wherein the fan housing extends across the makeup air duct along the lateral direction between an exterior-facing side and an interior-facing side,
- wherein the filter aperture is defined at the exterior-facing side, and
- wherein the vertical weep hole is defined proximal to the interior-facing side.
A fan assembly for urging a flow of make-up air through an air conditioner unit, the fan assembly comprising:
- a fan housing defining a fan slot, a filter slot, and a makeup air duct, the fan housing comprising a bottom wall defining a vertical weep hole to permit water to exhaust from the makeup air duct;
- an auxiliary fan positioned within the fan slot of the fan housing;
- and
- an air filter positioned within the filter slot above the vertical weep hole,
- wherein the fan housing defines a filter aperture above the bottom wall and along a lateral direction for inserting or removing the air filter from the filter slot, the lateral direction being perpendicular to the vertical weep hole and a direction of airflow through the makeup air duct,
- wherein the fan housing extends across the makeup air duct along the lateral direction between an exterior-facing side and an interior-facing side,
- wherein the filter aperture is defined at the exterior-facing side, and
- wherein the vertical weep hole is defined proximal to the interior-facing side.
An air conditioner unit, comprising:
- a bulkhead defining an indoor portion and an outdoor portion;
- a vent aperture defined in the bulkhead;
- and
- a base pan supporting the bulkhead;
- a fan assembly for urging a flow of make-up air from the outdoor portion through the vent aperture to the indoor portion, the fan assembly comprising:
- a fan housing defining a makeup air duct in fluid communication with the vent aperture, the fan housing comprising a bottom wall defining a vertical weep hole to permit water to exhaust from the makeup air duct apart from the vent aperture, and
- an auxiliary fan positioned within the fan housing,
- wherein the fan housing defines a filter slot upstream from the vent aperture,
- wherein the fan assembly further comprises an air filter selectively positioned within the filter slot above the vertical weep hole,
- wherein the fan housing defines a filter aperture above the bottom wall and along a lateral direction for inserting or removing the air filter from the filter slot, the lateral direction being perpendicular to the vertical weep hole and a direction of airflow through the makeup air duct,
- wherein the fan housing extends across the makeup air duct along the lateral direction between an exterior-facing side and an interior-facing side,
- wherein the filter aperture is defined at the exterior-facing side,
- wherein the vertical weep hole is defined proximal to the interior-facing side, and
- wherein an open vertical gap is defined between the base pan and the bottom wall of the fan housing to permit the draining of condensation within the air conditioner unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.