Airflow distribution system for discharging air from a thin plenum, and oven employing same

Claim 2

An airflow distribution system comprising: an inlet plenum chamber, a discharge duct extending along a longitudinal axis intersecting said plenum chamber, and a fluid distribution plate forming a common wall therebetween; said plenum chamber having inlet and outlet means for directing a flow of fluid through the plenum chamber into the duct; said outlet means comprising a plurality of discharge openings in said distribution plate arranged in a predetermined array around said longitudinal axis, said plate having diagonal louvers secured to the edges of said openings, said louvers having substantially the same orientation relative to said longitudinal axis to thereby direct individual streams of fluid outwardly from the distribution plate into and along the discharge duct where the individual streams merge and combine into a resultant fluid stream flowing along said axis through a predetermined portion of the cross sectional area of the discharge duct.

Claim 3

An airflow distribution system according to claim 1 in which said diagonal louvers are radially directed in the same general direction relative to the longitudinal axis.

Claim 4

An airflow distribution system according to claim 2 in which said diagonal louvers are directed inwardly toward the longitudinal axis to thereby combine the individual streams into a resultant fluid stream flowing at an accelerated rate transversely outwardly from the distribution plate into the discharge duct along said axis.

Claim 5

An airflow distribution system according to claim 2 in which said diagonal louvers are directed outwardly from the longitudinal axis to thereby combine the individual streams into a resultant hollow or annular fluid stream flowing at an accelerated rate transversely outwardly from the distribution plate into the discharge duct along the margins of the duct.

Claim 6

An airflow distribution system according to claim 2 in which said discharge duct has wall means extending along said longitudinal axis and said diagonal louvers are directed radially outwardly toward said wall means to thereby combine the individual fluid streams into a single substantially annular cross-section fluid stream flowing transversely outwardly from the distribution plate in the discharge duct along the wall means.

Claim 7

An airflow distribution system according to claim 2 in which said discharge duct is polygonal in cross-section with separate side wall sections, and said distribution plate has a corresponding polygonal shape, said outlet means comprises a group of discharge openings at each corner of the distribution plate, and said diagonal louvers in each of said groups are oriented to direct separate air streams from the individual discharge openings diagonally against a corresponding one of the discharge duct side wall sections to thereby provide resultant merged fluid streams flowing outwardly from the distribution plate along the corner areas between the discharge duct side wall sections.

Claim 8

An airflow distribution system according to claim 2 in which said discharge duct has wall means extending along said longitudinal axis and said diagonal louvers are oriented to direct the individual streams of fluid diagonally against the wall means where they combine into a resultant fluid stream flowing along the wall means.

Claim 9

An airflow distribution system comprising: an inlet plenum chamber, a relatively large volume discharge chamber, and a distribution plate therebetween; said plenum chamber having walls with inlet and outlet means for directing a flow of fluid through the plenum chamber into the discharge chamber; said discharge chamber having side wall means defining a use area for fluid from the plenum chamber; said distribution plate comprising a common wall separating the plenum chamber and discharge chamber and disposed along a longitudinal axis intersecting the plenum chamber and discharge chamber, said plenum chamber being substantially thinner than said discharge chamber along said axis; and said outlet means comprising a plurality of discharge openings around the periphery of said distribution plate, said plate having diagonal louvers secured to the edges of said openings, said louvers being diagonally oriented to direct air streams from the corresponding discharge openings diagonally against the side wall means of the discharge chamber to produce at least one resultant air stream flowing outwardly from the distribution plate along the side wall means of the discharge chamber generally parallel to said axis.

Claim 10

An airflow distribution system comprising: an inlet plenum chamber, a relatively large volume discharge chamber, and a distribution plate therebetween; said plenum chamber having walls with inlet and outlet means for directing a flow of fluid through the plenum chamber into the discharge chamber; said discharge chamber having side wall means defining a use area for fluid from the plenum chamber; said distribution plate comprising a common wall separating the plenum chamber and discharge chamber and disposed along a longitudinal axis intersecting the plenum chamber and discharge chamber, said plenum chamber being substantially thinner than said discharge chamber along said axis; and said outlet means comprising a plurality of discharge openings around the periphery of said distribution plate, said plate having diagonal louvers secured to the edges of said openings, said louvers being diagonally oriented to direct air streams from the corresponding discharge openings diagonally against the side wall means of the discharge chamber to produce at least one resultant air stream flowing outwardly from the distribution plate along the side wall means of the discharge chamber generally parallel to said axis.

Claim 11

An airflow distribution system according to claim 8 in which the inlet means for the plenum chamber is through a side wall for directing air tangentially into the plenum chamber to provide a spiral direction of airflow about said axis within said plenum chamber, said discharge chamber is polygonal in cross-section and said side wall means comprises separate side wall sections, and said distribution plate has a corresponding polygonal shape, said outlet means comprises a group of discharge openings at each corner of the distribution plate, and said diagonal louvers in each group are oriented to direct separate air streams from the corresponding discharge openings diagonally against a corresponding one of said discharge chamber side wall sections to prevent said spiral airflow from being transmitted into said discharge chamber and thereby produce resultant air streams flowing outwardly from the distribution plate along the corner areas of the discharge chamber side walls.

Claim 12

An airflow distribution system according to claim 9 in which said discharge chamber has a square or rectangular cross section with four side wall sections defining four corner areas, said distribution plate has a corresponding square or rectangular shape, and there are four groups of said discharge openings, each group located in a corresponding corner of the distribution plate.