FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present subject matter relates generally to air conditioning units, and more particularly to access doors for vertical air conditioning units.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Air conditioners or air conditioner units are conventionally utilized to adjust the temperature within structures such as dwellings and office buildings. In particular, one-unit type room air conditioner units, such as single package vertical units (SPVU), or package terminal air conditioners (PTAC) may be utilized to adjust the temperature in, for example, a single room or group of rooms of a structure. A typical one-unit type air conditioner or air conditioning appliance includes an indoor portion and an outdoor portion. The indoor portion generally communicates (e.g., exchanges air) with the area within a building, and the outdoor portion generally communicates (e.g., exchanges air) with the area outside a building. Accordingly, the air conditioner unit generally extends through, for example, an outer wall of the structure. Generally, a fan may be operable to rotate to motivate air through the indoor portion. Another fan may be operable to rotate to motivate air through the outdoor portion. A sealed cooling system including a compressor is generally housed within the air conditioner unit to treat (e.g., cool or heat) air as it is circulated through, for example, the indoor portion of the air conditioner unit. One or more control boards are typically provided to direct the operation of various elements of the particular air conditioner unit.

Some conventional air conditioning units include an access door for allowing a technician to access the cooling system or other serviceable parts within the air conditioning unit. Typically, the access door is hinged on one side thereof so as to be rotatably connected to the air conditioning unit. These air conditioning units are produced having the access door hinged on only one side. Since these air conditioning units can be installed near corners or in tight spaces, intensive planning must take place before production to ensure the access door is hinged on the correct side to allow the access door to be opened without obstruction. In some cases, when conventional air conditioning units are mass produced with an access door hinged on one side, a significant amount of the air conditioning units may be unusable due to an opening direction of the access door.

As a result, an air conditioning unit that subjugates one or more of the above mentioned drawbacks would be useful, In particular, it would be useful to provide a reversible access door assembly capable of easily switching an opening direction of the access door.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following description, or may be obvious from the description, or may be learned through practice of the invention.

In one exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, an air conditioning unit is provided. The air conditioning unit may include a housing comprising a wall disposed in the vertical direction, the wall defining an opening therethrough, a heat exchanger disposed in the housing, a compressor in fluid communication with the heat exchanger to circulate a refrigerant through the heat exchanger, and a door assembly attached to the wall proximal to the opening. The door assembly may include a frame removably secured to the wall and surrounding the opening, the frame comprising a tab protruding from a first surface of the frame and extending in the vertical direction, and a door pivotably connected to the frame, the door defining an aperture into which the tab is received.

In another exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, a door assembly is disclosed. The door assembly may be used on an air condition unit. The door assembly may include a frame removably secured to the wall and surrounding the opening, the frame comprising a tab protruding from a first surface of the frame and extending in the vertical direction. The door assembly may further include a door pivotably connected to the frame and rotatable between an open position and a closed position with respect to the frame, the door defining an aperture into which the tab is received, wherein a top edge of the tab extends at a first predetermined angle with respect to the frame and a bottom edge of the tab extends at a second predetermined angle with respect to the frame, the first predetermined angle being equal and mirrored to the second predetermined angle.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

