Claims:
We Claim:
1. An air-conditioning unit (10), said air-conditioning unit (10) comprising:
- an evaporator coil (12) connected to a condenser (14) and a compressor (16);
characterized in that:
- said evaporator coil (12) comprises a coolant tube (18) adapted to carry a refrigerant;
- said evaporator coil (12) comprises perforations on a first portion (26) which is positioned above said coolant tube (18).

2. The air-conditioning unit (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein a collector (20) is positioned at an outlet (22) of said evaporator coil (12).

3. The air-conditioning unit (10) as claimed in claim 2, wherein said perforations (24) made on said first portion (26) of said evaporator coil (12) exposes said coolant tube (18) to atmospheric air.

4. The air-conditioning unit (10) as claimed in claim 3, comprises a filter (28) in fluid connection with said collector (20), said filter (28) adapted to filter (28) a liquid collected in said collector (20).

5. The air-conditioning unit (10) as claimed in claim 3, wherein a second portion (30) of said evaporator coil is adapted to accumulate condensed liquid , said second portion (30) is positioned below said coolant tube (18).

6. The air-conditioning unit (10) as claimed in claim 5, wherein a filtering element (32) in said filter (30) is chosen from a group of filtering elements comprising an activated carbon, an activated charcoal and an UV filter.
, Description:Complete Specification:
The following specification describes and ascertains the nature of this invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.
Field of the invention
[0001] This invention relates to an air-conditioning unit. The invention more particularly relates to filtering of a condensed liquid in the air-conditioning unit.

Background of the invention
[0002] An Air Conditioner (AC) in a room or a car works by collecting hot air from a given space, processing it within itself with the help of a refrigerant passing through bunch of coils and then releasing cool air into the same space where the hot air had originally been collected. This processing is generally done by five components: Evaporator, compressor, Condenser, Expansion Valve and Refrigerant. Air conditioning inside unit contains the evaporator coil that cools the warm air blown over it. Atmospheric air contains water. When atmospheric air comes in contact of evaporator coil, it undergoes the condensation process and water droplets are formed. The moisture on the coil drips into a drain pan and flows down into a condensate drain line. This water is drained out to atmosphere.
[0003] A Prior art document CN 202792458 discloses a water pan of air conditioner heat exchanger and air conditioner indoor unit. The utility model discloses a water pan of an air conditioner heat exchanger and an air conditioner indoor unit with the water pan of the air conditioner heat exchanger. The water pan is arranged at the bottom of the air conditioner heat exchanger and comprises a pan body and a water collecting pool arranged on one side of the pan body, a drain hole is arranged at the bottom of the water collecting pool, and a water guide groove extending to the water collecting pool is arranged on the bottom surface of the pan body. By the aid of the water collecting pool, accumulated water on the bottom surface of the pan body can naturally flow into the water collecting pool and then drained by the drain hole arranged at the bottom of the water collecting pool.
Brief description of the accompanying drawing
[0004] Different modes of the invention are disclosed in detail in the description and illustrated in the accompanying drawing:
[0005] Fig.1 illustrates an air-conditioning unit in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

Detailed description of the embodiments
[0006] Fig.1 illustrates an air-conditioning unit, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. The air-conditioning unit 10 comprises an evaporator coil 12 connected to a condenser 14 and a compressor 16. The evaporator coil 12 comprises a coolant tube 18. The coolant tube 18 adapted to carry a refrigerant, which is circulated between the condenser 14 and the compressor 16. The evaporator coil 12 comprises perforations on a first portion 26, which is positioned above the coolant tube 18. Also, a collector 20 is positioned at an outlet 22 of the evaporator coil 12.

[0007] Further the construction of the air-conditioning unit 10 and the components of the air-conditioning unit 10 and the working of the components are explained below. The evaporator coil 12 and the coolant tube 18 are arranged in a tube-in-tube manner, such that, the coolant tube 18 is placed along the length of the evaporator coil 12. The coolant tube 18 and the evaporator coil 12 are made of different materials. The evaporator coil 12 comprises perforations 24 made on the first portion 26 of the evaporator coil 12. According to one embodiment of the invention, the first portion 26 of the evaporator coil 12 is an upper portion, i.e. the first portion 26 is positioned above the coolant tube 18. The perforations 24 on the first portion 26 of the evaporator coil 12 exposes the coolant tube 18 to the atmospheric air. The atmospheric air passes through the above-disclosed perforations 24 and makes contact with the surface of the coolant tube 18 carrying the refrigerant. As the temperature of the refrigerant is lesser than the atmospheric air, the atmospheric air undergoes the process of the condensation and the changes into a liquid state. The formed liquid is drops down on a second portion 30 of the evaporative coil 12. The second portion 30 of the evaporator coil 12 is adapted to accumulate condensed liquid. According to one embodiment of the invention, the second portion 30 is a lower portion of the coil 12, i.e. the second portion 30 is positioned below the coolant tube 18.

[0008] The collector 20 of the air-conditioning unit 10 positioned at the outlet 22 of the evaporator coil 12, collects the condensed liquid during the operating condition of the air-conditioning unit 10. The evaporator coil 12 in the air-conditioning unit 10 is positioned in such a way that, the liquid stored in the second portion 30 of the coil 12, flows towards the outlet 22 of the coil 12 and is collected in the collector 20. The evaporator coil 12 is positioned in an angle (in a slant position to the collector 20) for the smooth flow of the condensed liquid formed in the evaporator coil 12.The air-conditioning unit 12 further comprises a filter 28 in fluid connection with the collector 20. The filter 28 is adapted to filter the liquid collected in the collector 20. The filter 28 comprises at least one filtering element 32 chosen from a group of filtering elements comprising an activated carbon, an activated charcoal, an UV filter or the like.

[0009] A method of working of the air-conditioning unit 10 is explained as follows. During the working of the air-conditioning unit 10, the atmospheric air passing through the perforations 24 of the evaporator coil 12 is exposed to the coolant tube 18 carrying the refrigerant. Due to the process of the condensation, the atmospheric air is transformed into liquid droplets, as the temperature of the refrigerant is lesser than the atmospheric air. For instance, the temperature of the refrigerant is maintained at -10 degree Celsius.

[0010] The formed liquid in the evaporator coil 12 is drops on the second portion 30 of the evaporator coil 12. Due to the position of the evaporator coil 12, the accumulated liquid in the second portion 30 flows towards the outlet 22 of the evaporator coil 12 and is collected in the collector 20. According to one embodiment of the invention, the filter 28 is positioned in between the outlet 22 of the evaporator coil 12 and an inlet of the collector 20. Before flowing into the collector 20, the liquid is made to pass through the filter 28, which is adapted to filter out all the impurities of the liquid formed in the evaporator coil 12. The filtered liquid is used for drinking purpose. According to one embodiment of the invention, the filter 28 is positioned at an outlet of the collector 20, such that, the liquid formed in the second portion 30 of the evaporator coil 12 is made to flow directly into the collector 20. From the collector 20, the liquid is filtered to remove the impurities and is supplied for drinking purpose. A channel 34 in fluid-communication with the air-conditioning unit 10 allows a user to access the filtered liquid for drinking purpose. The position of the channel 34 is made as per the requirement of the user and is made in proximity to the air-conditioning unit 10.

[0011] The above-disclosed method of operating the air-conditioning unit 10 is explained in detail as follows. The air-conditioning unit 10 is a vehicle air-conditioning unit according to one embodiment of the invention. When the user of the vehicle, switches ON the air-conditioning unit 10, the liquid formed at the second portion 30 is collected in the collector 20. The user is provided with a channel 34 to access the filtered liquid that is collected in the collector 20 as per the requirement, such that, the user can have the fresh filtered drinking water in real-time. A switching element (not shown) is provided in a dashboard of the vehicle for the user to switch-on or switch off the channel 34 that provides the filtered liquid. According to another embodiment of the invention, the air-conditioning unit 10 as disclosed above is placed in a building. Example: a continuous operation of the air-conditioning unit 10 provides approximately five gallons of liquid per day.

[0012] With the above-disclosed air- conditioning unit 10, the condensed liquid collected from the evaporator coil 12 is re-used in an efficient way. The usage of the filtering element 32 to filter the collected liquid provides a low-cost solution. The user of the air-conditioning unit 10, can access the fresh drinking liquid/water based on the operation of the air-conditioning unit 10.

[0013] It should be understood that embodiments explained in the description above are only illustrative and do not limit the scope of this invention. Many such embodiments and other modifications and changes in the embodiment explained in the description are envisaged. The scope of the invention is only limited by the scope of the claims.