Sound-reducing exhaust air system

Abstract

According to various embodiments, an exhaust system includes: a housing with an air inlet that allows air to enter the housing and an air outlet that allows air to exit the housing; a vertical array of multiple fans that includes at least one upper fan and at least one lower fan, wherein the at least one upper fan is disposed above the at least one lower fan and is positioned with a horizontal offset in a horizontal direction from the at least one lower fan so that the at least one upper fan is closer to the air inlet in the horizontal direction than the at least one lower fan; and a deflector plate disposed within an inlet air plenum for the vertical array of multiple fans, wherein the deflector plate facilitates a flow of air entering the housing via the air inlet toward the at least one upper fan.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An exhaust air system, comprising:
 a housing with an air inlet that allows air to enter the housing and an air outlet that allows air to exit the housing;   a vertical array of multiple fans that includes at least one upper fan and at least one lower fan, wherein the at least one upper fan is disposed above the at least one lower fan and is positioned with a horizontal offset in a horizontal direction from the at least one lower fan so that the at least one upper fan is closer to the air inlet in the horizontal direction than the at least one lower fan; and   a deflector plate disposed within an inlet air plenum for the vertical array of multiple fans, wherein the deflector plate facilitates a flow of air entering the housing via the air inlet toward the at least one upper fan.   
     
     
         2 . The exhaust air system of  claim 1 , wherein the deflector plate prevents the flow of air entering the housing from passing through an eddy region of the inlet air plenum. 
     
     
         3 . The exhaust air system of  claim 1 , wherein the deflector plate comprises a flat plate that is disposed within the inlet air plenum. 
     
     
         4 . The exhaust air system of  claim 1 , wherein a leading edge of the deflector plate is coupled to an edge of the air inlet. 
     
     
         5 . The exhaust air system of  claim 1 , wherein a trailing edge of the deflector plate is coupled to a top wall of the inlet air plenum. 
     
     
         6 . The exhaust air system of  claim 1 , wherein the deflector plate comprises a curved plate that is disposed within the inlet air plenum. 
     
     
         7 . The exhaust air system of  claim 1 , wherein the shape of the deflector plate is based at least in part on the horizontal offset. 
     
     
         8 . The exhaust air system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one upper fan includes a first fan for directing a first portion of air entering the housing toward the air outlet and a second fan for directing a second portion of air entering the housing toward the air outlet. 
     
     
         9 . The exhaust air system of  claim 8 , wherein the first fan and the second fan are adjacent to each other. 
     
     
         10 . The exhaust air system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one lower fan includes a first fan for directing a first portion of air entering the housing toward the air outlet and a second fan for directing a second portion of air entering the housing toward the air outlet. 
     
     
         11 . The exhaust air system of  claim 10 , wherein the first fan and the second fan are adjacent to each other. 
     
     
         12 . The exhaust air system of  claim 1 , further comprising an array of turning vanes disposed within an outlet air plenum for the vertical array of multiple fans, wherein the array of turning vanes are for directing a flow of air generated by the vertical array of multiple fans from the horizontal direction to a vertical direction. 
     
     
         13 . The exhaust air system of  claim 12 , wherein the outlet air plenum comprises a sound-absorbing chamber. 
     
     
         14 . The exhaust air system of  claim 1 , further comprising a sound-absorbing chamber with one or more sound-attenuation walls. 
     
     
         15 . The exhaust air system of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more sound-attenuation walls include at least one of a physical configuration for attenuating sound or a material for attenuating sound. 
     
     
         16 . The exhaust air system of  claim 15 , wherein the physical configuration for attenuating sound comprises at least one of a perforated surface, sound-dampening slats, or an array of sound-absorbing shapes. 
     
     
         17 . The exhaust air system of  claim 15 , wherein the material for attenuating sound comprises at least one of foam, sponge, an acoustic surface texture, stone wool, wood fiber (board), or cork. 
     
     
         18 . The exhaust air system of  claim 1 , wherein the air inlet is offset from the air outlet in the horizontal direction so that no portion of the air inlet vertically overlaps a portion of the air outlet. 
     
     
         19 . An exhaust air system, comprising:
 a housing with an air inlet that allows air to enter the housing and an air outlet that allows air to exit the housing;   a vertical array of multiple fans that includes at least one upper fan and at least one lower fan, wherein the at least one upper fan is disposed above the at least one lower fan and is positioned with a horizontal offset in a horizontal direction from the at least one lower fan so that the at least one upper fan is closer to the air inlet in the horizontal direction than the at least one lower fan; and   an array of turning vanes disposed within an outlet air plenum for the vertical array of multiple fans, wherein the array of turning vanes are for directing a flow of air generated by the vertical array of multiple fans from the horizontal direction to a vertical direction.   
     
     
         20 . The exhaust air system of  claim 19 , wherein the outlet air plenum comprises a sound-absorbing chamber.