Air conditioner with heat wheel

Claim 2

An air conditioning device consisting of: a heat wheel being rotatably provided within a device, a first portion of the heat wheel being provided in an air intake duct of the device and a second portion of the heat wheel being provided in a separate air exhaust duct of the device so that outside air entering the device passes through the first portion and exhaust air exiting the device passes through the second portion, said heat wheel transferring both sensible and latent heat between the outside air and the exhaust air such that sensible heat is transferred from a warmer stream of air to a cooler stream of air and latent heat is transferred from a wetter stream of air to a dryer stream of air; a single mixing damper being provided within said device adjacent an evaporator and between said heat wheel and said evaporator, said mixing damper forming the innermost extensions of said air intake duct and said air exhaust duct, a return air duct being provided in the air exhaust duct between the mixing damper and the heat wheel; a supply fan provided within said device adjacent said evaporator for blowing supply air throughout the interior of a building via a building supply air duct; an auxiliary heater provided within said device adjacent said supply fan for heating the supply air.

Claim 3

An air conditioning device consisting of: a heat wheel being rotatably provided within a device, a first portion of the heat wheel being provided in an air intake duct of the device and a second portion of the heat wheel being provided in a separate air exhaust duct of the device so that outside air entering the device passes through the first portion and exhaust air exiting the device passes through the second portion, said heat wheel transferring both sensible and latent heat between the outside air and the exhaust air such that sensible heat is transferred from a warmer stream of air to a cooler stream of air and latent heat is transferred from a wetter stream of air to a dryer stream of air, a single mixing damper being provided within said device adjacent an evaporator and between said heat wheel and said evaporator, said mixing damper forming the innermost extensions of said air intake duct and said air exhaust duct, a return air duct being provided in the air exhaust duct between the mixing damper and the heat wheel; a supply fan provided within said device adjacent said evaporator for blowing supply air throughout the interior of a building via a building supply air duct; an auxiliary heater provided within said device adjacent said supply fan for heating the supply air; a reheat coil being provided between said evaporator and said supply fan for supplying heat to air which has passed through the evaporator.

Claim 4

An air conditioning device consisting of: a heat wheel being rotatably provided within a device, a first portion of the heat wheel being provided in an air intake duct of the device and a second portion of the heat wheel being provided in a separate air exhaust duct of the device so that outside air entering the device passes through the first portion and exhaust air exiting the device passes through the second portion, said heat wheel transferring both sensible and latent heat between the outside air and the exhaust air such that sensible heat is transferred from a warmer stream of air to a cooler stream of air and latent heat is transferred from a wetter stream of air to a dryer stream of air, a single mixing damper being provided within said device adjacent an evaporator and between said heat wheel and said evaporator, said mixing damper forming the innermost extensions of said air intake duct and said air exhaust duct, a return air duct being provided in the air exhaust duct between the mixing damper and the heat wheel; a supply fan provided within said device adjacent said evaporator for blowing supply air throughout the interior of a building via a building supply air duct; an auxiliary heater provided within said device adjacent said supply fan for heating the supply air; a reheat coil being provided between said evaporator and said supply fan for supplying heat to air which has passed through the evaporator.

Claim 5

An air conditioning device consisting of: a heat wheel being rotatably provided within a device such that incoming air passes through a first portion of the rotating heat wheel and outgoing exhaust air passes through a second portion of the heat wheel, said heat wheel transferring both sensible and latent heat between the incoming air and the outgoing exhaust air such that sensible heat is transferred from a warmer'stream of air to a cooler stream of air and latent heat is transferred from a wetter stream of air to a dryer stream of air; mixing means consisting of a single mixing damper to mix a first portion of incoming return air with the outside air after the outside air has passed through the heat wheel in order to form a mixed air stream; said mixing means being provided within the device adjacent to an evaporator; temperature altering means for altering temperature of the mixed air stream before it is blown throughout the interior of a building as supply air by means of a supply fan; said temperature altering means being provided within the device and adjacent the supply fan; a return air duct being provided in the device between the mixing means and a second portion of the heat wheel for receiving a return air stream from the interior of the building and splitting the return air stream into the first portion of incoming return air and the outgoing exhaust air.

Claim 6

An air conditioning device consisting of: a heat wheel being rotatably provided within a device such that incoming air passes through a first portion of the rotating heat wheel and outgoing exhaust air passes through a second portion of the heat wheel, said heat wheel transferring both sensible and latent heat between the incoming air and the outgoing exhaust air such that sensible heat is transferred from a warmer'stream of air to a cooler stream of air and latent heat is transferred from a wetter stream of air to a dryer stream of air; mixing means consisting of a single mixing damper to mix a first portion of incoming return air with the outside air after the outside air has passed through the heat wheel in order to form a mixed air stream; said mixing means being provided within the device adjacent to an evaporator; temperature altering means for altering temperature of the mixed air stream before it is blown throughout the interior of a building as supply air by means of a supply fan; said temperature altering means being provided within the device and adjacent the supply fan; a return air duct being provided in the device between the mixing means and a second portion of the heat wheel for receiving a return air stream from the interior of the building and splitting the return air stream into the first portion of incoming return air and the outgoing exhaust air.

Claim 7

An improved method of heating and cooling interior air using an air conditioning device employing a heat wheel consisting of the following steps: a. moving outside air into an air conditioning device via an air intake duct provided in the device so that the outside air passes through a first portion of a heat wheel which is rotatably provided in the air intake duct; b. moving exhaust air out of the device via an air exhaust duct provided in the device so that the exhaust air passes through a second portion of the heat wheel which is rotatably provided in the air exhaust duct; c. transferring sensible and latent heat between the outside air and the exhaust air via the heat wheel such that simultaneously sensible heat is transferred from a warmer stream of air to a cooler stream of air and latent heat is transferred from a wetter stream of air to a dryer stream of air; d. splitting a return air stream which enters the device via a return air duct from a building into two air streams which are a first return air stream and the exhaust air; e. passing the outside air and the first return air stream through a mixing damper to mix them together in order to form a mixed air stream; f. passing the mixed air stream over an evaporator provided within the device adjacent to the mixing damper, passing the mixed air stream through a reheat coil and then passing the mixed air stream into a supply fan provided adjacent to the reheat coil in the device; g. blowing the mixed air stream out of the supply fan so that the mixed air stream passes through an auxiliary heater provided in the device adjacent to the supply fan before being blown throughout the building via a building supply air duct.

Claim 8

An improved method of heating and cooling interior air using an air conditioning device employing a heat wheel consisting of the following steps: a. moving outside air into an air conditioning device via an air intake duct provided in the device so that the outside air passes through a first portion of a heat wheel which is rotatably provided in the air intake duct; b. moving exhaust air out of the device via an air exhaust duct provided in the device so that the exhaust air passes through a second portion of the heat wheel which is rotatably provided in the air exhaust duct; c. transferring sensible and latent heat between the outside air and the exhaust air via the heat wheel such that simultaneously sensible heat is transferred from a warmer stream of air to a cooler stream of air and latent heat is transferred from a wetter stream of air to a dryer stream of air; d. splitting a return air stream which enters the device via a return air duct from a building into two air streams which are a first return air stream and the exhaust air; e. passing the outside air and the first return air stream through a mixing damper to mix them together in order to form a mixed air stream; f. passing the mixed air stream over an evaporator provided within the device adjacent to the mixing damper, passing the mixed air stream through a reheat coil and then passing the mixed air stream into a supply fan provided adjacent to the reheat coil in the device; g. blowing the mixed air stream out of the supply fan so that the mixed air stream passes through an auxiliary heater provided in the device adjacent to the supply fan before being blown throughout the building via a building supply air duct.