ventilation system

Abstract

A ventilation system, comprising: at least one impeller (11), the at least one impeller being associated with at least one motor (12), the motor being used to drive the impeller (11); at least one motor-carrying element (13), the motor-carrying element being capable of accommodating the motor (12); at least one suction duct (14, 14a, 14b, 14c) and at least one delivery duct (15, 15a, 15b, 15c), the suction duct and the delivery duct being associated with the motor-carrying element (13), wherein the motor-carrying element (13) is hollow and allows an air flow from the suction duct (14, 14a, 14b, 14c) to pass to the delivery duct (15, 15a, 15b, 15c) by driving the impeller (11).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an in-line mixed flow ventilation system that can be used in industrial, commercial, residential or other fields. Background Art

[0002] Various ventilation systems are known, which can be used in the aforementioned fields, for example, to draw or extract air from indoor spaces and expel it to the outside. In particular, there are ventilation systems that are installed in line with the ventilation duct. These systems essentially comprise a housing casing for an electric motor, to which an impeller is associated. The impeller is rotatable about an axis of rotation that is substantially parallel to the air flow from the inlet duct through the ventilation system to the outlet duct.

[0003] However, in practice, these ventilation systems are quite noisy and it is difficult to access internal components, such as the electric motor or impeller, for inspection, maintenance or replacement of components or other needs.

[0004] In order to reduce noise emissions, there are ventilation devices which comprise a fully perforated motor-carrying casing to which are connected air suction nozzles and delivery nozzles, which are also fully perforated.

[0005] Over this assembly, formed by the motor-carrying housing and the suction and delivery nozzles, is placed a housing made of sound-insulating material, attached to the assembly, for example, by adhesive tape or the like, and bonded with one or more layers of film. A rigid cover housing, representing the outer housing of the ventilation device, is then placed over this housing of sound-insulating material. This essentially creates a structure consisting of three separate and distinct components, as well as the material attaching two of these components.

[0006] Obviously, this system is very disadvantageous if it is necessary to inspect the motor-carrying assembly and, as mentioned above, possibly to inspect, maintain, and / or replace the electric motor or other components. In such cases, it is necessary to remove all the elements already positioned above the assembly, including the motor-carrying assembly. Therefore, in order to dismantle the ventilation device, it is necessary to remove the outer box, the membrane layer, any adhesive tape or other material, and the shell of soundproofing material wrapped around the assembly.

[0007] Additionally, following removal of the ventilator, the insulation may be damaged, and it may be necessary to replace the insulation, as well as any tape, wrap, or other means used to secure the insulation in place.

[0008] Consequently, any possible internal inspection operation of known ventilation devices is usually time-consuming and laborious, and after these laborious operations of disassembling and assembling the device, the sound insulation efficiency may be affected.

[0009] A known ventilation system having the above-mentioned problems is described, for example, in document US-A-2012 / 051889. Another known ventilation system is described in US-A-3346174.

[0010] Therefore, there is a need for an improved ventilation system that can overcome at least one of the shortcomings of the prior art.

[0011] In particular, one object of the present invention is to provide a ventilation system that ensures effective sound insulation that remains effective over a long period of time even after disassembly and reassembly operations.

[0012] Another object of the present invention is to provide a ventilation system in which assembly and disassembly operations are carried out in a simple and quick manner and in which at least substantially direct access to the motor-carrying elements is guaranteed, so that if inspection, maintenance, replacement or other operations of components become necessary, access to these components is quick, direct and does not affect the sound insulation effectiveness of the ventilation system.

[0013] Another object of the present invention is to provide a ventilation system in which high aerodynamic and acoustic efficiency is ensured, as well as adequate protection of the moving parts of the system, such as the impeller.

[0014] The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages. Summary of the Invention

[0015] In accordance with the above-mentioned purpose, the ventilation system according to the present invention comprises: at least one impeller, the at least one impeller being associated with at least one motor, the motor being used to drive the impeller; at least one motor-carrying element, the motor-carrying element being capable of accommodating the motor; at least one suction duct and at least one delivery duct, both the at least one suction duct and the at least one delivery duct being associated with the motor-carrying element, wherein the motor-carrying element is hollow and allows air flow from the suction duct to pass into the delivery duct by driving the impeller.

[0016] According to one aspect of the invention, the ventilation system comprises an outer box which can be positioned around the motor-carrying element, the suction duct and the delivery duct and is provided with at least one outer layer made of a rigid protective material and at least one inner layer made of a sound-insulating material and integrated in the outer box.

[0017] Advantageously, the ventilation system comprises at least one layer of sound-insulating material integrated with an outer casing comprising a rigid protective material on the outside, so that, by a single operation of removing the outer casing, the motor-carrying elements and the air suction and delivery ducts can be directly accessed. Thus, it is no longer necessary to remove multiple layers of material, and the functional integrity of the ventilation system is guaranteed, both from the perspective of aerodynamics and from the perspective of sound insulation of the system.

[0018] Thus, the operations of assembling and disassembling the ventilation system can advantageously be carried out in a simple and rapid manner; moreover, after removal of the outer casing, direct access is guaranteed to the motor-carrying elements, so that, in the event that inspection, maintenance, replacement or other operations on components become necessary, access to these components is rapid and immediate, without affecting the effectiveness of the sound insulation. Let us consider, for example, a situation in which the motor must be replaced or interventions must be performed on the motor and / or on the impeller.

[0019] According to other aspects of the invention, the inner layer of sound-damping material is co-molded with the outer layer of rigid protective material.

[0020] In other embodiments, the inner layer of sound-damping material may be constrained to the outer layer of rigid protective material by gluing or other suitable attachment means.

[0021] In some embodiments, the motor carrying element may have a substantially solid external surface, apart from a possible access aperture for electrical connections.

[0022] Like the motor, the impeller can also be completely housed within the motor carrier element. In this way, the impeller is fully protected and the aerodynamic efficiency of the system is improved.

[0023] Furthermore, the impeller can be accommodated in a feed element which in turn is accommodated in the motor carrier element and is coaxial therewith.

[0024] The positioning of the impeller in the motor carrier element, and the ease with which the motor carrier element can be separated from the other feed and transfer assemblies, allows for protection of the impeller in the event that complete removal and separation of the motor support becomes necessary.

[0025] A further passage portion may be positioned upstream of the feed element, wherein the feed element and the passage portion may have an internal section of a substantially truncated cone shape, and wherein the passage portion may have a gradually decreasing internal cross-section and the feed element a gradually increasing internal cross-section in order to achieve a so-called Venturi effect on the air flow through the ventilation system.

[0026] Alternatively, in order to achieve such a Venturi effect, the suction duct may comprise duct sections having an initially decreasing and subsequently increasing inner cross-section.

[0027] According to a further aspect of the present invention, a nose cone may be positioned upstream of the delivery conduit, the nose cone being provided with through holes on its outer surface.

[0028] The function of the nose cone is to reduce turbulence, reduce noise and improve the ventilation efficiency of the assembly. The nose cone is provided with a sound insulation material inside, which basically replicates the internal shape of the nose cone, which is also for the purpose of reducing noise.

[0029] In some embodiments, the outer housing, already provided with at least one inner layer of sound-insulating material, is formed from at least two half-shells. This solution allows for particularly efficient removal of the outer housing, for example, during system maintenance operations or other situations. Each of these half-shells will naturally be equipped with an outer layer of rigid material and an inner layer of sound-insulating material. These half-shells can also be equipped with a system for joining and assembling them in a single process, thus ensuring precision and integrity when reassembling the outer housing.

[0030] Furthermore, in the present ventilation system, the impeller may be rotated by the motor according to a rotation axis that is substantially parallel to the direction of air flow in the ventilation system.

[0031] In some embodiments, the outer case may include one or more indicators that allow for its correct positioning.

[0032] The ventilation system may further comprise one or more resonator devices positioned around the suction duct and / or the delivery duct. These resonator devices further contribute to the sound absorption effect of the ventilation system at specific frequencies.

[0033] The one or more resonator devices may comprise one or more cavities in fluid communication with the air delivery duct and / or the air suction duct via at least one through-hole. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] These and other aspects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of some embodiments given as non-limiting examples with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0035] - Figure 1 is a three-dimensional exploded view of a ventilation system according to one embodiment of the present invention;

[0036] - Figure 2 yes Figure 1 A side view of the ventilation system after assembly;

[0037] - Figure 3 yes Figure 1 and Figure 2 A longitudinal cross-sectional view of the ventilation system;

[0038] - Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a ventilation system according to a variation of the present invention;

[0039] - Figure 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a ventilation system according to another variation of the present invention;

[0040] - Figure 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of a ventilation system according to another variation of the present invention;

[0041] - Figure 7 is a three-dimensional view of the ducting used to move air through this ventilation system.

[0042] To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to identify identical common elements in the drawings. It will be appreciated that elements and features of one embodiment may be conveniently incorporated into other embodiments without further clarification. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] We will now describe in detail possible embodiments of the present invention, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Each example is provided as an illustration of the present invention and should not be construed as limiting the invention. For example, one or more features shown or described as part of one embodiment may be modified or employed in other embodiments, or combined with other embodiments to produce further embodiments. It should be understood that the present invention encompasses all such modifications and variations.

[0044] Before describing these embodiments, we must also clarify that the present description is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of components described in the following description using the accompanying drawings. The present description may provide other embodiments and may be obtained or carried out in various other ways. It must also be clarified that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for descriptive purposes only and is not to be regarded as limiting.

[0045] With reference to the accompanying drawings, see for example Figure 1 The ventilation system 10 according to the present invention, in particular an inline mixed flow type ventilation system, comprises at least one impeller 11 , which is associated with at least one motor 12 for driving the impeller 11 .

[0046] The impeller 11 is provided with a series of blades 36 which are suitably positioned about an axis of rotation R. The axis of rotation R points substantially in the direction of the air flow within the ventilation system 10 .

[0047] The motor 12 may be, for example, an AC or brushless electric motor.

[0048] The motor 12 is housed in a motor-carrying element 13 which is hollow and is therefore essentially a tubular element to which are associated an air suction duct 14 and an air delivery duct 15. Thus, the motor-carrying element 13 allows the passage of air from the suction duct 14 to the delivery duct 15.

[0049] In particular, the suction duct 14 and the delivery duct 15 may be connected to opposite ends of the motor-carrying element 13 by means of rotational couplings (eg bayonet-type couplings or others).

[0050] See also Figure 2 The ventilation system 10 comprises an outer box 16 which can be positioned around the motor-carrying element 13 and the suction duct 14 and the delivery duct 15 and is provided with at least one outer layer 17 made of a rigid protective material and at least one inner layer 18 made of a sound-insulating material and integrated with the outer box 16 (see in detail Figure 1 ).

[0051] The sound-damping material of which the inner layer 18 is made is preferably co-molded with the rigid protective material of the outer layer 17, for example by a constrained exothermic forming process or the like.

[0052] Thus, co-molding is a way of integrating or making solid with each other the material making up the inner layer 18 and the rigid protective material of the outer layer 17. The inner layer 18 and the outer layer 17 are thus constrained to each other.

[0053] In other embodiments, the sound-damping material of inner layer 18 may be constrained to the rigid protective material of outer layer 17 by gluing or other suitable attachment means.

[0054] In this way, the outer box 16 can be easily removed from the rest of the system, since the inner layer 18 of sound-insulating material is in any case integrated with and constrained to the outer layer 17 of rigid material, both in the solution in which the inner layer is moulded together with the outer layer and also in the solution in which the inner layer is attached to the outer layer.

[0055] The outer casing 16 may also comprise a multilayer structure, and thus be provided with several protective layers, even of different materials, and / or with several layers of sound-insulating material, also made of the same material and / or different materials. In the case of a multilayer structure, the composition and / or thickness of the individual protective and / or sound-insulating material layers may be selected, for example, depending on the specific use of the ventilation system.

[0056] In order to ensure adequate protection of the motor 12 and to increase the fluid dynamics of the present ventilation system 10 , the motor-carrying element 13 has a substantially solid outer surface 19 .

[0057] Possibly, holes 20 can be made in this outer surface 19 for the passage of electrical connections for the functioning of the motor 12 and the ventilation system 10 .

[0058] On the other hand, the suction duct 14 and the delivery duct 15 are substantially fully perforated and therefore have an outer surface provided with through holes 21 capable of allowing the sound waves generated by the operation of the drive motor 12 and the impeller 11 to pass to the inner layer 18 of sound insulation material integrated with the outer box 16.

[0059] As can be observed, these through holes 21 are preferably produced in a uniform manner, substantially over the entire outer surface of the suction duct 14 and the entire outer surface of the delivery duct 15. Thus, these through holes 21 are made substantially over the entire cylindrical or frustoconical surface of the suction duct 14 and the delivery duct 15.

[0060] See also Figure 3 The impeller 11 is advantageously completely housed within the motor-carrying element 13, thereby ensuring optimal protection thereof and further increasing the fluid dynamic efficiency of the present ventilation system 10. Furthermore, the present ventilation system 10 proves to be compact and small in size, in particular with regard to its overall extension.

[0061] In order to further increase the fluid dynamic efficiency, the impeller 11 can be accommodated in a feed element 22, which has, for example, a substantially truncated cone shape, which is accommodated in the motor-carrying element 13, see also Figure 3 cross section.

[0062] This feed element 22 is coaxial with the motor-carrying element 13 and with the axis of rotation R of the impeller 11 and is positioned downstream of the suction duct 14 .

[0063] Between the feed element 22 and the suction duct 14, a further channel portion 34 having a substantially truncated cone shape is provided, see Figure 3 cross section.

[0064] The channel portion 34 has essentially a decreasing inner cross section, while the feed element 22 has an increasing inner cross section, in order to achieve a so-called Venturi effect on the air flow through the ventilation system 10, see in detail Figure 3 longitudinal section.

[0065] Housed near the delivery duct 15 is a nose cone 23, which provides adequate aerodynamic performance for the ventilation system 10. This nose cone 23 is advantageously provided on its outer surface with a series of through holes 24, which allow sound waves to better pass to the inner surface of the outer box 16, which is provided with at least one inner layer 18 of sound-insulating material. The nose cone 23 is also provided internally with sound-insulating material, in particular at least one layer of sound-insulating material that replicates its inner shape.

[0066] Inside the motor-carrying element 13 and upstream of the nose cone 23, suitable blades 35 are positioned, see again Figure 3 cross section.

[0067] The suction duct 14 and the delivery duct 15 can be positioned on supports 25 and 26 for connection to the air passage pipes of any ventilation system.

[0068] These supports 25 and 26 may comprise means for connection to the suction duct 14 and the delivery duct 15 and may also comprise clamping bands 27 or the like. The connection means may be swivel couplings or other.

[0069] The outer housing 16 can, for example, be formed from two half-shells 16a and 16b that can be connected to each other by snapping, interlocking, or other systems. This solution allows for particularly efficient removal of the outer housing, for example, during maintenance operations or other situations. These half-shells 16a and 16b will naturally each be provided with an outer layer 17 of rigid material and an inner layer 18 of sound-insulating material. These half-shells 16a and 16b can also be equipped with a system for joining and assembling them in a single manner, so as to ensure precision and integrity when reassembling the outer housing 16.

[0070] The outer box 16 can also be positioned on the support plate 28, for example, by removable attachment elements (such as screws, bolts, pins or other). Figure 2 shown.

[0071] The outer box 16 may also comprise an aperture 29 covered by a box 30 for electrical connections, this box 30 being closed by a cover 31 .

[0072] The outer housing 16 may further comprise one or more correct positioning indicators 32 and 33, such as a first positioning indicator 32 on the suction duct 14 and a second positioning indicator 33 on the delivery duct 15. For example, these indicators 32 and 33 show arrows indicating the direction of air flow within the ventilation system 10.

[0073] The ventilation system 10 may also be equipped with one or more resonator devices 37, such as one or more Helmholtz resonators positioned around the suction duct 14 and / or around the delivery duct 15. These resonator devices 37 advantageously contribute to further increasing the sound insulation effectiveness of the ventilation system 10.

[0074] If you can Figure 7 As can be seen in FIG, the resonator device 37 can be provided with one or more resonant cavities 38, each of which is equipped with its own through-hole 39 for the entry of sound waves coming from an air passage duct, such as the delivery duct 15 and / or the suction duct 14. The cavity 38 is thus in fluid communication with the delivery duct 15 and / or the suction duct 14.

[0075] Based on the volume defined in each of these cavities 38 , and depending on the length and diameter of the through-holes 39 , each of the cavities 38 of the resonator device will be able to suppress sounds having a determined frequency range.

[0076] Figure 4 、 Figure 5 and Figure 6 Other variants of the ventilation systems 10a, 10b, 10c are shown. In these variants, for example, the suction ducts 14a, 14b, 14c have duct sections 40a, 40b, 40c with an initially decreasing and then increasing internal cross-section in order to produce a so-called Venturi effect on the air flow through the ventilation system.

[0077] The delivery pipes 15a, 15b and 15c are also made to include first pipe sections 41a, 41b, 41c having a gradually decreasing inner cross-section. For example, the first pipe sections 41a, 41b, 41c can be made to have a shape similar to the shape of the nose cone 23 they surround.

[0078] The pipe sections 40 a , 40 b , 40 c represent an alternative for providing the feed element 22 and for providing the channel portion 34 .

[0079] As can be observed, the suction ducts 14a, 14b and 14c and the delivery ducts 15a, 15b and 15c can have different lengths and different diameters, depending on the variant of ventilation system 10a, 10b, 10c adopted.

[0080] Furthermore, as can be seen, such suction lines 14 a , 14 b and 14 c and / or such delivery lines 15 a , 15 b and 15 c can also be provided with a resonator device 37 .

[0081] As can be ascertained from the preceding description, the present ventilation system 10 , 10a , 10b , 10c ensures effective sound insulation that can be maintained over time even after assembly and disassembly operations, such as operations of removing and reassembling the box 16 .

[0082] The operations of assembling and disassembling the ventilation system 10, 10a, 10b, 10c can advantageously be carried out in a simple and rapid manner; moreover, after the removal of the outer box 16, direct access is guaranteed to the motor-carrying element 13, so that if inspection, maintenance, replacement or other operations of components become necessary, access to these components is rapid and immediate, without damaging the sound insulation layer and affecting its sound insulation effectiveness. For example, consider the situation where the motor 12 must be replaced or interventions must be performed on the motor 12 and / or the impeller 11.

[0083] The present ventilation system 10 , 10 a , 10 b , 10 c also has high aerodynamic and acoustic effectiveness, as well as adequate protection of the moving parts of the system (eg the impeller 11 which is completely housed in the motor-carrying element 13 ).

[0084] Therefore, the present ventilation system 10, 10a, 10b, 10c, in particular a ventilation system with mixed flow and for duct applications, proves to have low acoustic impact and can also be provided with an outer box 16 consisting of two rigid half-shells 16a, 16b including sound insulation material and assembled in a single manner.

[0085] The outer box 16, which may be provided with such half-shells 16a, 16b, allows for optimal and timely maintenance of the internal components of the system, since only the half-shells 16a, 16b need to be separated in order to access these components. Even after the system is reassembled at the end of the maintenance step, i.e. by rejoining the two half-shells 16a, 16b in a precise and unambiguous manner, the acoustic performance of the system remains advantageously unchanged.

[0086] The outer casing 16 , which may be made of two half-shells 16 a , 16 b , advantageously remains intact throughout its service life; however, the components of the outer casing 16 , namely the inner layer 18 and the outer layer 17 , may also be separated once no longer in use, thereby facilitating recycling.

[0087] It is clear that modifications and / or additions of components may be made to the ventilation system described above without departing from the field and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

[0088] It is also clear that although the invention has been described with reference to certain specific embodiments, a person skilled in the art will of course be able to implement many other equivalent forms of ventilation systems having the features set out in the claims, and therefore all these other equivalent forms of ventilation systems are within the scope of protection defined thereby.

[0089] In the accompanying claims, the sole purpose of reference signs in parentheses is to facilitate reading: they shall not be construed as limiting the scope of protection claimed in a particular claim.

Claims

1. A ventilation system, comprising: At least one impeller (11) associated with at least one motor (12) for driving the impeller (11); at least one motor-carrying element (13) capable of accommodating the motor (12); at least one suction duct (14, 14a, 14b, 14c) and at least one delivery duct (15, 15a, 15b, 15c) associated with the motor-carrying element (13), wherein the motor-carrying element (13) is hollow and allows air to flow in by driving the impeller (11). The flow passes from the suction duct (14, 14a, 14b, 14c) to the delivery duct (15, 15a, 15b, 15c), the ventilation system being characterized in that it comprises an outer box (16) which can be positioned around the motor-carrying element (13), the suction duct (14, 14a, 14b, 14c) and the delivery duct (15, 15a, 15b, 15c), and which is provided with at least one outer layer (17) made of a rigid protective material and at least one inner layer (18) made of a sound-insulating material and integrated in the outer box (16).

2. The ventilation system according to claim 1, characterized in that The sound insulating material of the inner layer (18) is co-molded with the rigid protective material of the outer layer (17).

3. The ventilation system according to claim 1, characterized in that The sound insulating material of the inner layer (18) is constrained to the rigid protective material of the outer layer (17) by gluing or other suitable attachment means.

4. The ventilation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The motor-carrying element (13) has a solid outer surface (19) except for an access hole (20) for the electrical connection.

5. The ventilation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The impeller (11) is completely housed within the motor-carrying element (13).

6. The ventilation system according to claim 5, characterized in that The impeller (11) is accommodated in a feed element (22), which in turn is accommodated in the motor support element (13) and is coaxial with the motor support element (13).

7. The ventilation system according to claim 6, characterized in that A further channel portion (34) is positioned upstream of the feed element (22), wherein the feed element (22) and the channel portion (34) have a truncated cone-shaped inner cross section, and wherein the channel portion (34) has a gradually decreasing inner cross section and the feed element (22) has a gradually increasing inner cross section, so as to achieve a so-called Venturi effect on the air flow through the ventilation system (10).

8. The ventilation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The suction duct (14a, 14b, 14c) comprises a duct section (40a, 40b, 40c) having an initially decreasing and subsequently increasing inner cross section.

9. The ventilation system according to any one of claims 1-3 and 6-7, characterized in that A nose cone (23) is positioned upstream of the delivery duct (15, 15a, 15b, 15c), the nose cone being provided with a first through hole (24) on its outer surface and with sound insulation material inside.

10. The ventilation system according to any one of claims 1-3 and 6-7, characterized in that The outer box (16), which has been provided with the at least one inner layer (18) of sound-insulating material, is formed from at least two half-shells (16a, 16b).

11. The ventilation system according to any one of claims 1-3 and 6-7, characterized in that: The outer box (16) comprises one or more indicators (32, 33) allowing its correct positioning.

12. The ventilation system according to any one of claims 1-3 and 6-7, characterized in that The ventilation system comprises one or more resonator devices (37) positioned around the suction duct (14, 14a, 14b, 14c) and / or the delivery duct (15, 15a, 15b, 15c).

13. The ventilation system according to claim 12, characterized in that The one or more resonator devices (37) comprise one or more cavities (38) which are in fluid communication with the air delivery duct (15, 15a, 15b, 15c) and / or the air suction duct (14, 14a, 14b, 14c) via at least one second through hole (39).

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