1. A sealess conveyor drive for moving a conveyor member to move objects along the conveyor member comprising:
a driven member for operative connection to the conveyor member;
a pair of opposed pneumatic assemblies operatively connected to said driven member, each of said pneumatic assemblies having an air inlet, wherein one of said pneumatic assemblies acts to drive said driven member in one direction to advance objects supported on the conveyor member and the other of said pneumatic assemblies acts to drive said driven member in a second direction opposite to said first direction such that the conveyor member moves relative to the objects supported thereon; and
a control valve that is operatively connected to a source of pressurized air and in fluid communication with said air inlet of each of said pneumatic assemblies, wherein said control valve operates to sequentially cycle pressurized air to alternating ones of said pneumatic assemblies so as to induce repeated, rectilinear movement of the conveyor member.
2. A sealess conveyor drive as set forth in claim 1 wherein said control valve comprises a pneumatic valve.
3. A sealess conveyor drive as set forth in claim 2 including at least one switch, said switch being operable to send signals to said pneumatic valve to change the delivery path of pressurized air from one pneumatic assembly to the other.
4. A sealess conveyor drive as set forth in claim 3 wherein said at least one switch is a pneumatic switch that is in fluid communication with said pneumatic valve.
5. A sealess conveyor drive as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said pneumatic assemblies comprises a cylinder having a bi-directional piston disposed therein.
6. A sealess conveyor drive as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said pneumatic assemblies comprise a bellow.
7. A sealess conveyor drive as set forth in claim 6 wherein said bellow is a pneumatic bellow.
8. A sealess conveyor drive as set forth in claim 6 wherein said bellow of each of said pneumatic assemblies is mounted coaxially.
9. A sealess conveyor drive as set forth in claim 1 including a pair of end manifolds providing fluid communication between the source of pressurized air and said pneumatic assemblies.
10. A conveyor for moving objects comprising:
a housing;
a driven member movably mounted relative to said housing;
a first sealess pneumatic assembly and a second sealess pneumatic assembly each operatively connected to said driven member and mounted in said housing, said first sealess pneumatic assembly and said second sealess pneumatic assembly each having an air inlet, wherein one of said first sealess pneumatic assembly and said second sealess pneumatic assembly acts to drive said driven member in one direction and the other of said first sealess pneumatic assembly and said second sealess pneumatic assembly acts to drive said driven member in a second direction opposite to said first direction; and
a control valve that is operatively connected to a source of pressurized air and in fluid communication with said air inlet of said first sealess pneumatic assembly and said second sealess pneumatic assembly, wherein said control valve operates to sequentially cycle pressurized air to alternating ones of said first sealess pneumatic assembly and said second sealess pneumatic assembly so as to induce repeated, rectilinear movement of said driven member.
11. A conveyor as set forth in claim 10 wherein said control valve comprises a pneumatic valve.
12. A conveyor as set forth in claim 11 including at least one switch, said switch being operable to send signals to said pneumatic valve to change the delivery path of pressurized air from one of said first sealess pneumatic assembly and said second sealess pneumatic assembly to the other.
13. A conveyor as set forth in claim 12 wherein said at least one switch is a pneumatic switch that is in fluid communication with said pneumatic valve.
14. A conveyor as set forth in claim 10 wherein each of said first sealess pneumatic assembly and said second sealess pneumatic assembly comprises a cylinder having a bi-directional piston disposed therein.
15. A conveyor as set forth in claim 10 wherein each of said first sealess pneumatic assembly and said second sealess pneumatic assembly comprises a bellow.
16. A conveyor as set forth in claim 15 wherein said bellow of each of said first sealess pneumatic assembly and said second sealess pneumatic assembly comprises a pneumatic bellow.
17. A conveyor as set forth in claim 15 wherein said bellow of each of said first sealess pneumatic assembly and said second sealess pneumatic assembly is mounted coaxially.
18. A conveyor as set forth in claim 10 including a pair of end manifolds providing fluid communication between the source of pressurized air and each of said first sealess pneumatic assembly and said second sealess pneumatic assembly.
19. A conveyor as set forth in claim 10 including a conveyor member operatively connected to said driven member.
20. A method for moving objects comprising:
providing a conveyor including a conveyor member and a sealess conveyor drive operatively connected to the conveyor member, said sealess conveyor drive having a driven member, a pair of opposed pneumatic assemblies operatively connected to the driven member, each of the pneumatic assemblies having an air inlet, and a control valve in fluid communication with the air inlet of each of the pneumatic assemblies:
providing a fluid source;
connecting the fluid source to the control valve;
activating the control valve such that the fluid flows from the fluid source into the inlet of one of the pneumatic assemblies to drive the driven member in one direction to advance objects supported on the conveyor member;
activating the control valve such that the fluid flows from the fluid source into the inlet of the other of the pneumatic assemblies to drive the driven member in a second direction opposite to the first direction such that the conveyor member moves relative to the objects supported thereon; and
placing the objects on the conveyor member and repeating said steps of activating so as to induce repeated, rectilinear movement of the conveyor member for moving the objects along the conveyor member.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A system comprising:
an indoor heat exchanger that is a fan-less heat exchanger and includes an indoor tube installed so as to be inclined to the horizontal, the indoor tube contacting a high-temperature air zone in an upper part of a room and refrigerant in the indoor tube being heated by the high-temperature air zone so as to boil and vaporize with air in the high-temperature air zone flowing down through the indoor heat exchanger; and
an outdoor heat exchanger that includes an outdoor tube installed outside at a higher position than the indoor tube, the outdoor tube being connected to the indoor tube via connecting pipes without a compressor being interposed therebetween and the outdoor tube condensing and liquefying the refrigerant boiled and vaporized in the indoor tube and returning the refrigerant to the indoor tube.
2. The system according to the claim 1,
wherein the indoor tube is installed so as to be inclined with respect to a ceiling of the room.
3. The system according to the claim 1,
wherein the indoor heat exchanger is disposed at one of an air intake of a floor-standing air conditioner installed on a floor of the room, and on an air path to the air intake.
4. The system according to the claim 3,
wherein the indoor heat exchanger is connected via a duct to the air intake of the floor-standing air conditioner.
5. The system according to the claim 3, further comprising the floor-standing air conditioner.
6. The system according to claim 1, further comprising:
an outdoor fan that forcibly supplies outdoor air to the outdoor tube; and
a control unit that controls the outdoor fan, the control unit including a functional unit that evaluates a heat absorbing capability of the indoor tube when the outdoor fan is stopped by one of temporarily stopping the outdoor fan and temporarily running the outdoor fan.
7. The system according to the claim 6,
wherein the control unit further includes a functional unit that stops the outdoor fan when the heat absorbing capability of the indoor tube when the outdoor fan is stopped is not inferior to the heat absorbing capability of the indoor tube when the outdoor fan is running.
8. The system according to claim 6,
wherein the control unit further includes a function unit that stops the outdoor fan when a difference in power consumption of an air conditioner installed in the room due to a difference between the heat absorbing capability of the indoor tube when the outdoor fan is stopped and the heat absorbing capability of the indoor tube when the outdoor fan is running is less than power consumption of the outdoor fan.
9. A method of controlling a system, the system including:
an indoor tube installed so as to be inclined to the horizontal with refrigerant inside the indoor tube being heated by an air zone in a room so as to boil and vaporize;
an outdoor tube installed outside at a higher position than the indoor tube, the outdoor tube being connected to the indoor tube via connecting pipes without a compressor being interposed therebetween, and the outdoor tube condensing and liquefying the refrigerant that has boiled and vaporized in the indoor tube and returning the refrigerant to the indoor tube;
an outdoor fan that forcibly supplies outdoor air to the outdoor tube; and
a control unit that controls the outdoor fan,
the method comprising steps of:
the control unit evaluating a heat absorbing capability of the indoor tube when the outdoor fan is stopped by one of temporarily stopping the outdoor fan and temporarily running the outdoor fan; and
the control unit stopping the outdoor fan if the heat absorbing capability of the indoor tube when the outdoor fan is stopped is not inferior to the heat absorbing capability of the indoor tube when the outdoor fan is running.
10. A method of controlling a system, the system including:
an indoor tube installed so as to be inclined to the horizontal with refrigerant inside the indoor tube being heated by an air zone in a room so as to boil and vaporize;
an outdoor tube installed outside at a higher position than the indoor tube, the outdoor tube being connected to the indoor tube via connecting pipes without a compressor being interposed therebetween, and the outdoor tube condensing and liquefying the refrigerant that has boiled and vaporized in the indoor tube and returning the refrigerant to the indoor tube;
an outdoor fan that forcibly supplies outdoor air to the outdoor tube; and
a control unit that controls the outdoor fan,
the method comprising steps of:
the control unit evaluating a heat absorbing capability of the indoor tube when the outdoor fan is stopped by one of temporarily stopping the outdoor fan and temporarily running the outdoor fan; and
the control unit stopping the outdoor fan if a difference in power consumption of an air conditioner installed in the room due to a difference between the heat absorbing capability of the indoor tube when the outdoor fan is stopped and the heat absorbing capability of the indoor tube when the outdoor fan is running is less than power consumption of the outdoor fan.