Concealed Frame Ventilation With Service Access and Heat Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing frame ventilation devices often require modifications to the window or wall, reducing the light opening size and complicating maintenance, as they protrude or require extensive installation, which affects energy efficiency and maintenance accessibility.
Innovation Solution
A compact frame ventilation unit with interchangeable components, including fans, filters, and a heat exchanger, that can be concealed within the window frame, allowing for easy maintenance and installation without altering the window size, using a removable panel for access and guides for component placement and removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the ventilation unit is installed in the window frame, then ventilation function is achieved, but the light opening area is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The ventilation unit is nested within the window frame structure, with the housing integrated into the frame's depth. The fan, heat exchanger, and filter components are arranged in a compact configuration that fits within the existing frame boundaries, allowing ventilation functionality without protruding outward and reducing the light opening area.
Solution Approach 2:
The ventilation unit utilizes the depth dimension of the window frame rather than occupying the face area. By arranging components along the depth axis (from the outer surface inward), the design achieves ventilation functionality while preserving the light opening area on the window's face.
2Shape
If the ventilation unit is concealed in the wall, then aesthetics is improved, but maintenance accessibility is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The ventilation unit is divided into modular components (fan assembly, heat exchanger, filter) that can be independently accessed and replaced. The housing includes removable panels or access points that allow maintenance personnel to reach internal components without removing the entire unit from the wall, combining concealed installation with ease of maintenance.
Solution Approach 2:
Key maintenance components such as the fan and filter are designed to be extractable through access openings in the housing. This allows these components to be removed and replaced without dismantling the entire ventilation unit or exposing the internal structure, maintaining both aesthetic concealment and maintenance accessibility.
3Productivity
If the frame is enlarged to accommodate ventilation unit, then ventilation capacity is improved, but the window size is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The window frame is designed to serve multiple functions: structural support, light transmission, and housing the ventilation unit. By integrating the ventilation housing into the frame's existing structure and utilizing its depth, the frame accommodates ventilation capacity without requiring enlargement, thereby preserving the overall window size and light opening area.
4Ease of operation
If the ventilation unit protrudes from the wall, then maintenance accessibility is improved, but aesthetics is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The ventilation unit is nested within the wall cavity or window frame depth, with only minimal protrusion or flush mounting. The housing is designed to blend with the surrounding architecture, while access openings or removable panels provide maintenance pathways to internal components without requiring the unit to protrude significantly from the wall surface.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables efficient air exchange while maintaining the window's original size and light opening, facilitating easy maintenance and reducing installation complexity, ensuring long-term accessibility and energy efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a heat exchanger, through which air is alternately moved in both directions by controlled fans
Implementation Method 2
air is alternately moved in both directions by controlled fans, which blow air to the outflow / Inflow openings
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
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AI summary
The aim of the invention is to provide a ventilation device for a window (2), hidden for operation without protruding with respect to the window. Especially in the installed position, it must be possible to replace the electric components and also the heat exchanger inside the frame ventilation device (10, 10') once the latter has been installed. Said ventilation device must remain compact, that is, the need for large areas which could give rise to additional maintenance possibilities can be avoided, so that the area that is to be removed from the jamb (75) remains small in order to hide the ventilation device in the jamb next to the frame (2). The serviceability of the device must also be ensured despite said device being hidden. The enhanced result this embodied as ventilation device (10, 10') can be docked with a frame (2) of a window or a door without engaging with the fixed frame. Said ventilation device (10) comprises a housing (10a) in which two flow channels (a, b) extend through a heat exchanger (20). Each flow channel comprises, in the longitudinal extension thereof, a fan (30a, 30b). One flat side (12) of the housing (10a) defines three functional strip sections, the first strip section (12a) is provided as an installation strip for a lateral front surface (2a) of the fixed frame (2), the second functional strip (12b) is designed as an outer strip having two flow openings (7, 9) which are arranged at a distance from each other, and the third functional strip (12c) is designed as an inner strip. A removeable plate (13) for covering a service opening is arranged in the third functional strip (12c) to allow access to at least the fans (30a, 30b) and one section of the heat exchanger (20).