Environmental enclosure apparatus with air flow control and balancing

An environmental enclosure apparatus comprising:

• a housing having a work chamber;
• a fan apparatus for moving gaseous fluid into the work chamber, said fan apparatus comprising multiple adjustable fans;
• a filter for filtering particulate from gaseous fluid moving into the work chamber;
• sensing means for sensing a change within the work chamber, said change comprising repositioning of a work component within said work chamber;
• control means coupled to said sensing means and to said multiple adjustable fans said control means causing an automatic adjustment in at least one adjustable fan of said multiple fans in response to said sensing means sensing said change within the work chamber;
• and
• further comprising multiple chases within said housing for supplying gaseous fluid to said fan apparatus, at least some of said multiple chases each having a controllable damper, and wherein said control means further includes means for automatically adjusting said controllable dampers of said at least some chases to maintain a desired gaseous fluid condition within the work chamber.

An environmental enclosure apparatus comprising:

• a housing having a work chamber;
• a fan apparatus for moving gaseous fluid into the work chamber, said fan apparatus comprising multiple adjustable fans;
• a filter for filtering particulate from the gaseous fluid moving into the work chamber;
• sensing means for monitoring a pressure difference between pressure within said work chamber and pressure external to the environmental enclosure apparatus, said sensing means including at least one internal pressure sensor within said work chamber and at least one external pressure sensor external to the environmental enclosure apparatus;
• and
• control means coupled to said sensing means and to said multiple adjustable fans, said control means causing an automatic adjustment in at least one adjustable fan of said multiple adjustable fans in response to said sensing means sensing a change in the pressure differential between said pressure within the work chamber and said pressure external to the environmental enclosure apparatus.

An environmental enclosure apparatus for disposition in a room containing conditioned gaseous fluid, the environmental enclosure apparatus comprising:

• a workstation stand having a work chamber defined within the workstation stand;
• a fan apparatus for moving gaseous fluid into the work chamber;
• a filter for filtering particulate from gaseous fluid moving into the work chamber;
• at least one chase for supplying gaseous fluid to the fan apparatus, each chase being disposed within said workstation stand and extending from a lower portion of said workstation stand to an upper portion of said workstation stand;
• wherein an inlet to each chase is disposed at said lower portion of said workstation stand and positioned within said workstation stand for drawing in said conditioned gaseous fluid from the room for supply to said fan apparatus;
• and
• wherein said environmental enclosure apparatus is sized to reside within said room containing said conditioned gaseous fluid.

An environmental enclosure apparatus comprising:

• a housing having a work chamber and a work surface within said work chamber;
• a fan apparatus for moving gaseous fluid into the work chamber;
• a filter for filtering particulate from gaseous fluid moving into the work chamber;
• multiple chases within the housing each having an inlet disposed within said work chamber adjacent to said work surface and an outlet at said fan apparatus, wherein said inlets to said multiple chases are disposed within said work chamber adjacent to said work surface to balance fluid flow within the work chamber to ensure a substantially uniform fluid flow within the work chamber.

An environmental enclosure apparatus comprising:

• a housing having a work chamber and a work surface within said work chamber;
• a fan apparatus for moving gaseous fluid into the work chamber;
• a filter for filtering particulate from gaseous fluid moving into the work chamber;
• multiple chases within the housing each having an inlet disposed within said work chamber adjacent to said work surface and an outlet at said fan apparatus, wherein said inlets to said multiple chases are disposed within said work chamber adjacent to said work surface to balance fluid flow within the work chamber to ensure a substantially uniform fluid flow within the work chamber;
• and
• wherein said fan apparatus includes multiple adjustable fans, and wherein said environmental enclosure apparatus further comprises:
• sensing means for sensing pressure at multiple locations within the work chamber;
• and
• control means coupled to the sensing means and to the multiple adjustable fans, said control means automatically varying said adjustable fans in response to an imbalance in pressure within said work chamber sensed by said sensing means.

An environmental enclosure apparatus comprising:

• a housing having a work chamber and a work surface within said work chamber;
• a fan apparatus for moving gaseous fluid into the work chamber;
• a filter for filtering particulate from gaseous fluid moving into the work chamber;
• multiple chases within the housing each having an inlet disposed within said work chamber adjacent to said work surface and an outlet at said fan apparatus, wherein said inlets to said multiple chases are disposed within said work chamber adjacent to said work surface to balance fluid flow within the work chamber to ensure a substantially uniform fluid flow within the work chamber;
• and
• wherein each chase of said multiple chases has an adjustable draw means associated therewith for adjusting drawing of gaseous fluid from the work chamber through said chase, and wherein said environmental enclosure apparatus further comprises:
• sensing means for sensing pressure at multiple locations within said work chamber;
• and
• control means coupled to the sensing means and to each adjustable draw means, said control means automatically varying the adjustable draw means associated with at least one chase of said multiple chases in response to said sensing means sensing a pressure imbalance within the work chamber.

An environmental enclosure apparatus comprising:

• a housing having a work chamber;
• a fan apparatus for moving gaseous fluid into the work chamber;
• a filter for filtering particulate from gaseous fluid moving into the work chamber;
• multiple chases for supplying said gaseous fluid to the fan apparatus, said multiple chases being disposed within said housing, each chase of said multiple chases having an inlet positioned to face inward to said work chamber;
• adjustable draw means associated with at least one chase of said multiple chases for actively drawing gaseous fluid from said work chamber for supply to said fan apparatus;
• sensing means for sensing a pressure change within said work chamber;
• and
• control means coupled to the sensing means and to each adjustable draw means, said control means automatically adjusting said adjustable draw means associated with said at least one chase in response to said sensing means sensing said pressure change within the work chamber.

An environmental enclosure apparatus comprising:

• a housing having a work chamber;
• a fan apparatus for moving gaseous fluid into the work chamber, said fan apparatus including at least one adjustable fan;
• a filter for filtering particulate from said gaseous fluid moving into the work chamber;
• at least one chase within said housing for supplying gaseous fluid to said fan apparatus, said at least one chase including an adjustable damper and having an inlet within said work chamber;
• sensing means for sensing gaseous fluid pressure within the work chamber;
• and
• control means, coupled to the at least one adjustable fan, the adjustable damper of the at least one chase and the sensing means, for balancing gaseous fluid pressure within the work chamber by automatically adjusting said at least one adjustable fan and said adjustable damper of said at least one chase to maintain a desired gaseous fluid pressure balance within the work chamber.

A method for balancing gaseous fluid pressure within a work chamber of an environmental enclosure apparatus, said method comprising:

• (a) employing multiple adjustable fans to move gaseous fluid into the work chamber;
• (b) filtering particulate from the gaseous fluid moving into the work chamber;
• (c) sensing a change within the work chamber, said change comprising movement of a work tool within the work chamber;
• and
• (d) varying, in response to said change within the work chamber, said moving of gaseous fluid into the work chamber by varying fluid flow through said at least one adjustable fan of said multiple adjustable fans being employed in said step (a).

An environmental enclosure apparatus for disposition in a room containing conditioned gaseous fluid, the environmental enclosure apparatus comprising:

• a workstation stand having a work chamber therein, said work chamber including a work surface disposed intermediate an upper portion and a lower portion of the workstation stand;
• a fan apparatus for moving gaseous fluid into the work chamber;
• a filter for filtering particulate from gaseous fluid moving into the work chamber;
• multiple chases for supplying gaseous fluid to the fan apparatus, a first chase of said multiple chases being disposed within said workstation stand to extend from the lower portion of the workstation stand to the upper portion of the workstation stand such that an inlet to said first chase is disposed in said lower portion of the workstation stand to draw in gaseous fluid for supply to said fan apparatus, and wherein a second chase of said multiple chases is disposed with an inlet adjacent to said work surface for drawing gaseous fluid from adjacent said work surface for supply to said fan apparatus;
• and
• control means for controlling the amount of gaseous fluid drawn through at least one of said first chase and said second chase, said control means comprising means for facilitating balancing of said gaseous fluid flow within said work chamber.

An environmental enclosure apparatus comprising:

• a housing having a work chamber and a work surface within said work chamber;
• a fan apparatus for moving gaseous fluid into the work chamber;
• a filter for filtering particulate from gaseous fluid moving into the work chamber;
• and
• multiple chases within the housing, a first chase of said multiple chases supplying gaseous fluid to the fan apparatus, and a second chase of said multiple chases supplying gaseous fluid from said fan apparatus into said work chamber, said second chase having an outlet adjacent to said work surface.