Personal distribution terminal

Abstract

A personal distribution terminal is designed to provide a self-contained free standing or stand-alone enclosure for an easy placement wherever office personnel require a convenient access to building services. The placement of this enclosure may be in the vicinity of a standard desk or other workstations or where people congregate. The occupant of the nearby workstation has control over the personal air comfort. The enclosure is so constructed to provide displacement ventilation for the surrounding area to provide greater indoor air quality and reduce energy consumption. Incorporated into the enclosure are other services in the modern office such as electric, both constant or interruptible, communication terminals and internet connections. The use of this terminal eliminates floor and wall grilles for better esthetics and easier housekeeping. The result of this inventive concept is substantial energy savings based on individual control of personal air supply and displacement ventilation permitting overall higher operating temperatures. The overall result is a simple installation of the terminal for easy and less expensive construction and ease of relocation.

Description

[0001]This application is a Continuation-In-Part of application Ser. No. 11 / 415,638 which in turn is a Continuation-In-Part of application Ser. No. 11 / 069,453FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The invention at hand relates to either heating or cooling the air in a building, especially with a floor area having a multiple of persons working therein. The invention is directed 1) primarily to the personal comfort of a person working at a desk by directing conditioned air to the immediate vicinity of the person or persons present at those workstations and by giving those workstations the use and control of the conditioned air, and 2) to provide displacement air ventilation to the surrounding area while at the same time providing for a cleaner environment while using less energy and 3) provide other services required.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]In the field of heating and cooling, generally known as “air conditioning” there are known problems causing discomfort to the occupants in the build...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0024]An object of the invention is to present a system for distributing building services including conditioned air throughout an open office layout in a most efficient way and provide access to various building services, personal control over personal air supplies and resulting in energy savings. In a building, whether large or small, the control of temperature, air flow, humidity and the like, or even individual rooms and workstations leaves many persons in the building or in a room uncomfortable or dissatisfied with the condition of their particular environment. Different persons have different levels of metabolism and, therefore, have different comfort needs.

[0029]Consequently, in the field of heating and cooling there exists a need for providing a flow of conditioned air directly to or near a person sitting at or in the vicinity of a workstation, at the person and without creating a draft, as well as to occupants of the surrounding area. More particularly, there exists a need for a workstation to be so equipped whereby the occupant can individually control and obtain the amount of conditioned air supplied within the workstation while maintaining a desirable amount of conditioned air to surrounding areas. The amount of conditioned air within the workstation is controlled by the person to maximize the comfort level, well being, health and the level of productivity of each worker, while maintaining a desirable amount of conditioned air to surrounding areas by the displacement ventilation system.

[0032]Displacement Ventilation systems are typically more energy efficient and quieter than conventional overhead systems. They also provide better ventilation efficiency to thereby improve indoor air quality. Displacement Ventilation systems are appropriate in spaces such as class rooms, conference rooms with high ventilation requirements. They are also being used with great success in an open office space architecture.

[0036]It has also been shown that different damper systems can be used instead of the dampers explained below, such as opposed blade dampers, for example. Such dampers would allow a more fine tuned control over the flow of the air through the stand-alone unit.

[0037]Modern and up-to-date workstations require quite a few convenience outlets, such as telephone jacks, computer outlets or data ports, coaxial cables and regular electrical outlets that are commonly in use on regular workstations. One end of the stand-alone unit can have installed therein a terminal or connector panel or box. The respective cable connections or feeders can be supplied from conduits located in the under floor plenum or could be supplied through conduits located and embedded in the concrete slab. The electrical system, as suggested above, should also incorporate a local relay to override a central shut-off including fusing, and a shut off to turn off the stand-alone unit altogether. An override control allows an after hours reset of the stand-alone unit. This system can also include a motion detector that should shut down the unit when a person just leaves the area and turns it on again when that person returns. This system would fall under the idea of saving energy.

Problems solved by technology

In a building, whether large or small, the control of temperature, air flow, humidity and the like, or even individual rooms and workstations leaves many persons in the building or in a room uncomfortable or dissatisfied with the condition of their particular environment.

Also, different locations in a building or on a floor, or even in a single room or closer yet in the vicinity of a workstation, are not satisfactorily heated or cooled, that is, air conditioned, which will rise to complaints about discomfort and illness, resulting in absenteeism and, of course, loss of productivity and wasted energy.

Further, conventional air conditioning systems generally require expensive duct work installations, usually in ceilings or floors or both.

This causes unnecessary heating or cooling of unused space.

The above mentioned duct work also increases an energy demand for the movement of the air through the ducts and additionally presents difficulties in cleaning.

Such prior art systems also created complaints of discomfort caused by high or low air velocities or high or low temperatures depending on the location of the air outlet grilles.

Also, air conditioning outlet grilles and the ducts associated therewith frequently need to be removed to accommodate changes in air conditioning loads or a rearrangement of the work space or the individual workstations in an open office layout and do not provide for displacement ventilation.

Images