PORTABLE AIR CONDITIONER SUPPORT FRAME

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a portable support frame for an air conditioner system.

GENERAL BACKGROUND

As temperatures continue to rise across the United States, many regions are experiencing an increased and prolonged demand for air conditioning. This demand is especially acute in warehouse and storage facilities used for manufacturing and distribution. These types of buildings are often constructed without built-in air conditioning systems and typically feature large sliding garage doors for direct loading and unloading of goods from semi-trucks. During the warmer months, these facilities can become uncomfortably hot, making climate control essential for both personnel and product integrity. However, installing a full HVAC system can be prohibitively expensive for startups or businesses operating on tight budgets that only require cooling for part of the year. As such, there is a growing need for a portable air conditioning solution that delivers the comfort and efficiency of a traditional system without the high costs and infrastructure requirements of permanent installation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with some embodiments, the present invention is a portable frame configured to support an air conditioning system comprising a frame including a base, a wall, and at least one insulating member. The base is configured to support the load of an outdoor portion of an A/C unit. The wall includes a means for mounting an indoor portion of an A/C unit at a desired height. The support frame is configured to allow a garage door to slide down between the indoor unit and outdoor unit, and the insulating member(s) are operable to fill the void between the garage door and the ground when in the closed configuration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts are given like reference numerals and, wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts the back side of the support frame showing the outdoor unit of the air conditioning system mounted to the base of the frame.

FIG. 2 depicts the front side of the support frame showing the indoor unit of the air conditioning system mounted to the wall of the frame.

FIG. 3 depicts the support frame with a partially closed garage door between the indoor unit and outdoor unit of the air conditioning system.

FIG. 4 depicts the support frame with a fully closed garage door showing the insulating bottom members.

FIG. 5 depicts the support frame showing the insulating bottom members in a retracted position.

FIG. 6 depicts the support frame with an open garage door showing an insulated member in a deployed position.

FIG. 7 depicts a profile view of the support frame with closed garage door showing the insulated member in a deployed position with the nested members extended therefrom.

The images in the drawings are simplified for illustrative purposes and are not depicted to scale. Within the descriptions of the figures, similar elements are provided similar names and reference numerals as those of the previous figure(s). The specific numerals assigned to the elements are provided solely to aid in the description and are not meant to imply any limitations (structural or functional) on the invention.

The appended drawings illustrate exemplary configurations of the invention and, as such, should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention that may admit to other equally effective configurations. It is contemplated that features of one configuration may be beneficially incorporated in other configurations without further recitation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments of the disclosure will be best understood by reference to the Figures, wherein like parts are designated by like numerals throughout. It will be readily understood that the components, as generally described and illustrated in the Figures herein, could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations or be entirely separate. Thus, the following more detailed description of the embodiments of the system of the disclosure, as represented in the Figures is not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure, as claimed, but is merely representative of possible embodiments of the disclosure.

The following description sets forth numerous embodiments and parameters. It should be recognized, however, that such description is not intended as a limitation on the scope of the present invention but is instead provided as a description of exemplary embodiments. Various modifications to the examples described will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, and the general principles defined may be applied to other examples and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the examples described herein but is to be accorded a scope consistent with the claims.

Turning to FIGS. 1-3, the support frame 10 for an air conditioning system is shown with a partially closed garage door 20. While there are other applications, the preferred embodiment is configured to be installed at the entrance to a warehouse (or other similar building) that has a top-to-bottom sliding garage door 20.

The primary components of an air conditioning system include an outdoor unit 30 and an indoor unit 40 as well as some supply and return vents 50 to allow the air in a building to be recycled. The indoor unit 40 usually includes a thermostat, evaporator coil, expansion valve, blower, and filter. The outdoor unit 30 usually includes a condenser coil, fan, compressor, and refrigerant line. These components of typical air conditioning systems are well known in the art. As shown in FIG. 1, the support frame 10 is operable to provide support to both the outdoor unit 30 and the indoor unit 40.

The support frame 10 includes a base 60 connected to a wall 70. The base 60 is operable to support the load of an outdoor unit 30. Optionally, the base 60 may have wheels 75 mounted to its bottom surface or other means known in the art for making the entire frame mobile.

Turning to FIG. 2, the front side of the support frame 10 is shown. The wall 70 is shown with a pair of vertical mounts 80 operable for securing the indoor unit 40 at a desired height on the wall 70. These vertical mounts include a rail that allows the indoor unit 40 to slide vertically up and down and then be fastened to the rails at a desired location using a fastener (e.g. nuts, bolts, pins, or other like fasteners). While the embodiment in FIG. 1 shows the wall 70 as being made of wood with vertical mounts 80 coupled to the wall 70, it is also envisioned that the wall 70, the base 60, and all components (including the vertical mounts or equivalent) could be made of the same material and formed as a single unitary piece. While vertical mounts 80 are shown, other coupling means known in the art could be used to secure the indoor unit 40 to the wall 70 at varying heights.

In an alternative embodiment, additional fans 90 (or other blowers) can be mounted to the wall 70 (or base 60) to aid in pushing cooler air throughout the interior space.

Turning to FIG. 3, the support frame 10 with a partially closed garage door 20 is shown. As shown, the support frame 10 is configured to allow a garage door 20 to slide down vertically between the outdoor unit 30 and indoor unit 40. However, because the base 60 has a thickness, and may be offset from the ground due to its wheels 75, there is naturally a space (or void) created between the ground and the bottom of the garage door 20 when the garage door 20 is closed and contacting the top surface of the base 60. To provide a seal for the space between the garage door and the ground surface, the support frame is equipped with one or more insulating members 100, as shown in FIGS. 4-7. These insulating members 100 are sized and dimensioned to fill the void between the bottom of the garage door 20 and the ground surface, as well as fill the void between the bottom surface of the base 60 and the ground surface. The lateral distance required to be covered by the insulating members 100 may vary based on a variety of factors, including the width of the garage door. It is envisioned that the dimensions of the insulating members 100 can be scaled and customized to fit any width and desired height.

The insulating members 100 may further have one or more nested insulating sections 110 located internally. The one or more nested insulated sections 110 may be telescopically extendable from a hollow interior of insulating members 100 in a lengthwise or other direction. The insulating members 100 may include one or more nested sections 110 located at either or both ends of the insulating members 100. The one or more nested sections 110 that are configured to extend from an outer end 130 of the one or more insulting members 100 to allow the invention to be adaptable to provide an insulating seal for garage doors of different widths. The one or more nested sections 110 configured to extend from the inner end 140 of the insulting member 100 allows for an insulating seal to extend under the base 60 and the support frame 10 to prevent air-conditioned air from escaping through the gap between the base 60 and the ground. The insulating members 100 may further include stops or caps at the inner end 140 and outer end 130 that are configured to prevent the nested insulated sections 110 from unintentionally extending from the insulating members 100.

In one embodiment, these insulating members 100 may be hingedly coupled to the support frame 10 with one or more sections nested within each other such that the insulating members 100 can be rotated downward to the ground and then extended laterally in a horizontal direction to fill the desired space. The insulating members 100 may be rotatably attached by one or more hinges 120.

In an alternative embodiment, these insulating members 100 may be attached to an underside of the base 60, such that the gap between the base 60 and the ground is always insulated. The nested sections 110, within the insulating members 100, may extend outward to cover the gaps between the garage door 20 and the ground that are located to the outside of the invention. Alternatively, additional separate sectional members (not shown) can be coupled to the outer end 130 of the insulating member 100 to ensure that the void between the garage door and the ground surface is adequately filled to keep the interior building insulated.

In an embodiment wherein the insulating members 100 are fixed to the bottom of the base 60 and the nested sections 110 are configured to telescope outward, the height of the gap that the nested sections 110 can effectively address may be limited by the height of the gap between the bottom of the base and the ground (due to the wheels) because the insulating member 100 may drag on the ground. To fix this, the insulating member 100 and nested sections 110 can be shaped to be generally planar and rectangular. The planar, rectangular shape would have an increased width dimension that extends along the length of the base (the dimension extending from the wall 70 to the outside AC unit). The thickness of the rectangular, planar shape (the dimension in the direction from the base 60 to the ground) would be minimized to avoid the insulating member 100 from contacting the ground. The rectangular, planar nested sections 110 located inside the insulating member 100 can be telescopically extended out and then rotated to convert its longer “width” into “height” to accommodate the gap between the garage door and ground.

To accomplish this, in some embodiments the insulating members 100 and the nested sections 110 located within the insulating member 100 are attached to the underside of the base 60 and are rectangularly shaped. The nested sections 110 are telescopically extendable from the insulating members 100. The nested sections 110 are connected to insulating members 100 by a rod that connects to an off-center point along an inner edge of the nested section 110. The rod runs through the rectangular nested sections 110 through its lengthwise direction. The inner side of the nested section 110 is the closest side to the insulating members 100 when the nested section 110 is fully extended. Once the nested section 110 is fully extended, this configuration allows the nested section 110 to rotate about the rod. Because the nested section 110 is connected to the rod at an off-center point along its inner side, it will have shorter width and a longer width as measured from the rod to each outer lengthwise side (outer from the rod). Thus, when the nested section 110 is rotated about the rod, the shorter width of the nested section 110 (as measured from the rod to a lengthwise edge of the nested section 110) rotates upward to meet the bottom of the garage door 20 and the longer width of the nested section 110 rotates downward to meet the ground.

In another embodiment, the nested sections 110 may include a sectioned flap along the top side 150 of the nested section 110. The sections of the sectioned flap may rotate upward to insulate any gap between the top side 150 of the insulated member and the garage door 20. The sections of the sectioned flap may to lock into place when fully or partially rotated upward.

In an alternative embodiment, the insulating members 100 may be removably attached to the support frame 20 and installed in one or more sections to fill the desired space.

In an alternative embodiment, these insulating members 100 may be nested within each other and attached to the bottom surface of the base 60. The insulating members 100 are then operable to extend laterally in both directions to fill the desired space.

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference has been made to the preferred embodiments illustrated in the drawings, and specific language has been used to describe these embodiments. However, this specific language intends no limitation of the scope of the invention, and the invention should be construed to encompass all embodiments that would normally occur to one of ordinary skill in the art. The particular implementations shown and described herein are illustrative examples of the invention and are not intended to otherwise limit the scope of the invention in any way. For the sake of brevity, conventional aspects of the system (and components of the individual operating components of the system) may not be described in detail. Furthermore, the connecting lines, or connectors shown in the various figures presented are intended to represent exemplary functional relationships and/or physical or logical couplings between the various elements. It should be noted that many alternative or additional functional relationships, physical connections or logical connections may be present in a practical device. Moreover, no item or component is essential to the practice of the invention unless the element is specifically described as “essential” or “critical”. Numerous modifications and adaptations will be readily apparent to those skilled in this art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.