Protection cage for external air-conditioning units

Abstract

The invention relates to a protection cage for external air-conditioning units formed by a parallelepiped element having an essentially rectangular plan, wherein at least one essentially rectangular finned front wall and at least two essentially rectangular finned side walls can be defined. The walls are surmounted by an upper cover that rests on the front and side walls and prevents external agents from damaging the air-conditioner. Interchange between the hot air produced by the air conditioner and the outside environment is ensured in that fins are present in each wall forming the protection cage. Each panel is provided with male protruding joints and female housings so that they can connect to each other and form a stable cage.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a protection cage for external air-conditioning units usually positioned on external areas of public or private buildings.

[0002] As known, one or more air conditioners are present in these areas.

[0003] More particularly, the heat pump external units are positioned on roofs or in any case outside buildings, e.g. on large terraces, public and private car parks, so that the heat taken away from the room where the air conditioner is installed is transferred to the outside air.

[0004] It is also known that these external units exposed to bad weather conditions and subjected to any action by water, wind, as well as direct sunlight can suffer from non-negligible deterioration over time.

[0005] Another aspect that needs to be considered is that these external units, which can be seen by anyone, are generally not aesthetically compatible with the surrounding environment, so they are often criticised by environmentalists or those who care about the appearance of the surrounding environment.

[0006] US2018 / 202670 A1 discloses a protection cage for an external air conditioning unit according to the preamble of claim 1.

[0007] The present invention therefore intends to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks and aims to make a protection cage for external air-conditioning units that first and foremost protects decisively the external unit from bad weather conditions and thus from deterioration over the years.

[0008] In addition, and not insignificantly, the invention also aims to achieve the aesthetic appeal of the cage.

[0009] The invention therefore aims to make a protection cage for external air-conditioning units made of modular panels in order to comprise therein external units of any size.

[0010] According to the present invention and in order to achieve at least some of the objects stated above there is proposed a protection cage for external air-conditioning units as defined in claim 1. Further details of preferred embodiments of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.

[0011] In addition, the presence of finned panels with sloping fins in such a protection cage promotes the necessary exchange of hot air with the environment, while at the same time preventing the heat exchanger from being seen.

[0012] Advantageously, the combination of a plurality of panels that connect to each other allows to make cages of any size and any height.

[0013] Further features of the invention will be better highlighted in the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, which is given by way of indicative but not limited example with reference to the attached drawings wherein: Fig. 1 represents the front view and rear view of a first panel of the invention, respectively; Fig. 2 represents the front view and rear view of a second panel of the invention, respectively; Fig. 3 represents the front view and rear view of a third panel of the invention, respectively; Fig. 4 represents the front view and rear view of a fourth panel of the invention, respectively; Fig. 5 represents the front view and the rear view of a fifth panel of the invention, respectively; Fig. 6 represents the front view and rear view of a sixth panel of the invention, respectively; Fig. 7 shows the particular combination of four panels of the invention adapted to make a specific protection cage; Fig. 8 shows another protection cage made up of six panels; Fig. 9 shows an additional protection cage made up of three front and two side panels; Fig. 10 shows an additional protection cage made up of four front panels stacked two by two and two side panels stacked two by two; Fig. 11 shows a protection cage with three front panels and two side panels on each side; Fig. 12 shows a protection cage with four front panels and two side panels on each side; Fig. 13 shows in a front perspective view and rear perspective view a protection cage also provided with a protection cover on top; Fig. 14 shows a detail of the cage support feet on the ground; Fig. 15 shows details for fixing the upper cover of the cage to the panels.

[0014] With reference to the above-mentioned Figures, Figs. 1 to 6 show, in front view and rear view respectively, the panels that in their various combinations make up the various protection cages that can be seen in Figs. 7 to 12.

[0015] More particularly, in Fig. 1 the first panel, globally indicated by A and visible from the front and rear, has, on its long vertical sides, male protruding joints indicated by 1 and female housings indicated by 2.

[0016] Both male protruding joints and female housings are aligned on the same horizontal axis.

[0017] The first panel A has, on one short side, male protruding joints 3 and on the same vertical axis, on the opposite short side, two female housings 4.

[0018] Fig. 2 shows a second panel, now indicated by B, wherein three female housings, still indicated by 2, are present on the long sides and two male protruding joints 3 and two female housings 4 respectively on the short sides.

[0019] In Fig. 3, a third panel, indicated by C, is present which differs from the first panel of Fig. 1 indicated by A in that the male protruding joints are arranged on the long side on the left when looking at the panel from the front, while the female housings are on the long side on the right, still looking at the panel from the front, but only clearly visible from the rear view.

[0020] These three panels A, B and C of Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are used to create a protection cage as visible in Fig. 7 where two panels A and B are coupled at the front and two panels A and C are present at the sides respectively.

[0021] Fig. 10 shows two stacked cages, each made up as in Fig. 7, wherein the upper cage fits its male protruding joints into the respective female housings on the upper part of the cage resting on the ground.

[0022] In this regard, it should be noted that the male protruding joints indicated by 3 and resting on the ground are provided with a thread that accommodates a screw 31 with the flat head, large enough to ensure support on the ground (Fig. 10).

[0023] In case the protection cage has walls on all sides, i.e. at the front, rear, and at the sides, as it can be seen in Fig. 8, for the composition of such a cage, in addition to the front and rear panels A and B, sixth panels indicated by MM are used at the sides, as visible in Fig. 6.

[0024] Compared to the previously shown panels, the sixth panels MM have on their long sides, as aligned on the same horizontal axis, male protruding joints 5 so that these male protruding joints 5 can be coupled with corresponding female housings present on the panels A and B respectively.

[0025] In case the front part of the protection cage has three or more front panels, as it can be seen in Figs. 9, 11 and 12, it will also be necessary to use fifth panels of the AB type, as shown in Fig. 5.

[0026] Essentially, the fifth panel AB has, on the long sides, male protruding joints and female housings arranged in an inverted manner relative to the first panel A of Fig. 1, i.e. on one long side as seen from the front on the left there are three male protruding joints, and on the long side on the right three female housings that are arranged on the same horizontal axis as the male protruding joints.

[0027] In order to ensure the stability of the interconnection between the panels interconnected to each other, both the male protruding joints and female housings have prominences that can be coupled with recesses and vice versa, as it can be seen in Figs. 16, 17, 18.

[0028] More precisely, and for merely exemplary purposes, Fig. 16 shows a fourth panel AC of Fig. 4 wherein each male protruding joint 170 has male side couplers 171 arranged on sides opposite to each other and a female angular coupler 172 on the wall of said male protruding joint, the whole being clearly visible in the enlargement of Fig. 17.

[0029] The female housing 175 of the short side of the fourth panel AC has two horizontal and mutually parallel recesses 176 arranged on opposite sides, adapted to couple with corresponding joints 177 present on both the male protruding joints arranged on the short side of the fourth panel AC and serving as a support of said panel when it is placed on the ground (see Fig. 18).

[0030] In the long side of said fourth panel AC, where female housings are present, in said housings, as visible in Fig. 18, female side recesses 182 are present in the opposite walls 181 adapted to receive the male side couplers 171 present in the male protruding joints 170.

[0031] Fig. 19 shows the first panel A of Fig. 1 where it can be seen that, at the long side, opposite to the one wherein there are three male protruding joints 170 fourth (as in the sixth panel AC), there are three male angular joints 180, better highlighted in Fig. 20.

[0032] When the fourth panel AC couples with the first panel A , the male protruding joint 170 fits into the right vertical column of the first panel A of Fig. 19 and meets the male angular joints 180 that are located within the female angular coupler 172, visible in Fig. 17, present in the male protruding joint 170.

[0033] All the male protruding joints 3 are provided with a threaded hole 31, in the centre, as it can be seen in Fig. 16 and Fig. 18.

[0034] When the panels A, B, C, AB, AC or MM are resting on the ground, as it can be seen in Figs. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, a screw 32 with a head 33 large enough to form a secure support base is present in each hole 31.

[0035] Fig. 14 shows the coupling details of the screw 32 with the base of the panel resting on the ground.

[0036] The cover D, visible in Fig. 13 and Fig. 15, is also fixed to the upper edge of the panels by means of screws 34 which are housed in corresponding threaded holes 35 present on the upper edges of the panel.

[0037] Said cover ensures the weatherproofing of the external air-conditioning unit contained in the protection cage.

[0038] Substantially, with the coupling elements as described, the sealing is ensured between aligned panels or between panels angularly connected to each other. In one embodiment of the invention, the male protruding joints ensure a solid and secure coupling with the corresponding female housing.

[0039] This is achieved by means of essentially hemispherical protuberances 200 present in the male protruding joints visible in Fig. 21, which fit into corresponding hemispherical female recesses 201 present in the female housings visible in Fig. 22.

[0040] This type of coupling is made possible by the elasticity of the plastic material from which the panels of the invention are made.

[0041] According to a further embodiment of the invention, in the case where the protection cage is to protect an external heat exchanger with upward hot air discharge, the cover D of the cage of Fig. 13 is replaced with a seventh finned panel 190 visible in Figs. 23 and 24.

[0042] The seventh panel 190 is secured by means of male protruding joints 191 present on the two short sides and male protruding joints 192 present on the long side of the seventh panel 190.

[0043] These male protruding joints 192 are housed in corresponding female housings present on the upper side of each panel A, B, C, as it can be seen in Fig. 24.

[0044] It is clear that the fins of the seventh panel 190 ensure on the one hand the protection of the external unit from the majority of atmospheric agents, and on the other hand a perfect discharge of hot air from the external air-conditioning unit.

[0045] Thus, the objects of the invention are achieved, namely to make protection cages for external air-conditioning units by combining essentially rectangular-shaped panels so as to obtain the most varied cage designs according to coverage requirements, while at the same time ensuring a stable connection between said panels.

[0046] While being manufactured, the panels making up the cages of the invention may undergo modifications or variations, which, if falling within the scope of protection of the following claims, shall be deemed to be protected by this Patent.

Claims

1. Protection cage for external air-conditioning units or the like, consisting of a parallelepiped element with an essentially rectangular plan, wherein there are defined: - at least one essentially rectangular finned front wall; - two essentially rectangular finned side walls; - a possible finned and essentially rectangular rear wall; - a cover (D) resting on at least the front wall and two side walls, characterized in that - said front wall of said cage has at least two panels (A, B), wherein a first panel (A) has on its long vertical sides male protruding joints (1) on one side and female housings (2) on the other side, and the second panel (B) has, on both long vertical sides, female housings (2), both panels (A, B) have male protruding joints (3) on one short side and female housings (4) on the opposite short side, said joints and said housings of said panels being aligned on corresponding axes; - each side wall of said cage has at least one panel (A, C) having at least one long vertical side with male protruding joints (1) adapted to be housed on corresponding female housings (2) belonging to said front panels and female housings (2) present on the other long vertical side, said male protruding joints (1) and said female housings (2) being aligned on corresponding axes and where one short side of said side wall has two female housings, while the opposite short side having said male protruding joints with axes aligned with said female housings.

2. Protection cage according to claim 1, characterized in that said side wall has a sixth panel (MM), said sixth panel (MM) having on both long vertical sides male protruding joints (5) aligned on corresponding axes between the two sides.

3. Protection cage according to claim 1, characterized in that the cover (D) is fixed to said front wall and to said side walls by means of screws (34) which are housed on corresponding threaded holes (35) present on the upper edges of the panel.

4. Protection cage according to claim 1, characterized in that the cover of said cage is made by means of a seventh panel (190) so as to ensure the discharge of hot air which is directed upward, said seventh panel (190) being provided with male protruding joints (191) present on the short side of said seventh panel (190), and of further male protruding joints (192) present on the long side of said seventh panel (190), said male protruding joints coupling with corresponding female housings present on the upper edge of the panels constituting the cage.

5. Protection cage according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said male protruding joints (3) protruding on each short side of said front or side walls have in a central position a thread (32) adapted to accommodate a screw (33) with a head adapted to serve as a ground support.

6. Protection cage according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that each male protruding joint has at least one essentially hemispherical protuberance (200) adapted to couple with a corresponding female hemispherical recess (201) present in the female housing that receives said male protruding joint.

7. Protection cage according to claim 6, characterized in that said female hemispherical recess (201) present in said female housing is present on one or more sides constituting said female housing.

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