FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to window cooling and heating units, namely a stand-alone room air conditioning unit having the noisiest component installed behind a wall.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Modern air conditioning technology has been invented at the turn of the twentieth century. A room air conditioning unit was not invented until 1930s. The residential sector did not adopt a room temperature control unit on a massive scale until the 1950s. Since then, the configuration a representative unit has been virtually unchanged, with slight improvements introduced periodically to increase performance or to improve efficiency.

Like all air conditioning units, a room unit requires two coil systems, at least one fan and a compressor. The noisiest element of the unit is the compressor, followed by the fan. One solution to solving the noise problem calls for an internal condenser coil and fan to be housed in a separate unit mounted on the inside of a room, while another unit containing evaporator coils, fan and compressor is placed somewhere outside, and usually mounted on especially installed brackets along the exterior wall of a building. The two units are connected using rigid piping for liquid/gas exchange, and they often share circuitry. While this solution clearly resolves the noise issue, it also increases the cost of the unit, as well as installation, operating costs of and environmental costs of a room unit. Furthermore, such installation necessitates involvement of a professional HVAC technician and a building contractor.

Most room units are window units. A window provides a ready opening for the evaporator coil, without the need of making holes in a wall. However, doing so compromises the use of the window as a source of light and fresh air and obstructs the windowsill that is now covered by the air conditioning unit. Furthermore, since a window unit is largely held back from falling out by the window in which it is mounted, to avoid an instance of a falling air conditioning system down many floors to the street below, such units cannot be installed in a building having more than a couple of floors unless a special wall port is provided.

Furthermore, a window unit, whether it is installed in a window or into an opening in a wall made for this purpose, is either attached to the window pane, or mounted on special brackets pinned into the exterior wall below the window or opening. Such installation usually leaves the window with permanent damage. Since a window unit must necessarily be narrower than the window itself, the empty void is covered using ugly accordion expanders or other makeshift materials and some tape.

The aforementioned problems have not gone unnoticed, and prior does provide some examples of units that attempt to resolve some of the issues identified above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

One such example is for U.S. Pat. No. 2,737,788 to Buttner. In this example the main portion of the unit is hung outside the window. However, the width of the gap straddling the windowsill is not adjustable, and the windowsill is still sacrificed.

Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 3,439,219 to Brugler. In this example, the unit contains a gap to accommodate the opening and closing of the windowpane. Closing the windowpane should block out some of the noise, however, a window is not as thick as a wall. Therefore, far more noise will leak back into the room than if the wall is providing the blocking. Furthermore, the window is still obstructed, and the windowsill is still sacrificed. Another key difference is that the gap in Brugler is not adjustable. Finally, this unit is severely imbalanced, with the heavier end being outside of the room. This requires a deployment of a separate frame or professional installation to secure the device.

Yet another example is the US. Pat. App. 2017/0284683 to Gallo. This reference provides for a means to adjust the gap and the gap is used for straddling a support surface such that a wall stands in between the room and the noise. However, unlike the disclosed invention, the two halves in Gallo are structurally coexistent and cannot exist independently. Therefore, in an even when a component in one of the sections breaks, one may need to replace the entire unit. On the contrary, in the disclosed device, if the particular component cannot be changed by itself, only the container where such component is installed needs to be replaced.

Various implements are known in the art but fail to address all of the problems solved by the invention described herein.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The disclosed apparatus is a room unit which may function as an air conditioning unit, or as an air cooling and heating unit, depending on which internal components are installed. The internal components are separated into two containers that are independent from each other. Each container is attached to an overhead frame. The attachment and the strength of the frame is designed to securely hold the containers suspended over a support surface.

The gap is used to mount the unit over a support surface, such as a window frame or a wall. Each frame slides in correspondence to each other. Therefore, the width of the gap between the containers is fully adjustable. The frame supporting each container extends to one side beyond the perimeter of the container, and this extension is covered by a plate. Such plates of first and second containers overlap each other and function as a strengthening element for the frame, as a way to seal the frame from below and as a conduit.

The components of the two containers are linked together using flexible piping, which is deliberately made with additional length to accommodate a lengthening of the conduit. The two frames are completely separable by having the flexible piping connect together inside the conduit using hermetic snap connectors.

Finally, the top of each frame is covered by a flat cover. The flat cover is designed to give the disclosed device a uniform profile, such that the utility of a windowsill functioning as a shelf, which becomes obstructed by the deployment of the unit, is restored.

When the unit is deployed thought a wall, an opening need only be big enough to accommodate the width and height of the conduit.

