AU2004237847B2

AU2004237847B2 - Outdoor unit of air-conditioner

Info

Publication number: AU2004237847B2
Application number: AU2004237847A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Kazuhisa Sato
Original assignee: Toshiba Carrier Corp
Current assignee: Toshiba Carrier Corp
Priority date: 2003-12-12
Filing date: 2004-12-10
Publication date: 2007-03-08
Anticipated expiration: 2024-12-10
Also published as: CN1626976A; AU2004237847A1; JP2005172376A; CN1333211C

Description

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION NAME OF APPLICANT(S):: Toshiba Carrier Corporation ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: DAVIES COLLISON CAVE Patent Attorneys 1 Nicholson Street,Melbourne, 3000, Australia INVENTION TITLE: Outdoor unit of air-conditioner The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:-

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 0 Field of The Invention r-, e The present invention relates to an outdoor unit of an airci conditioner, and more particularly, to an outdoor unit of an air- 0 conditioner having an improved structure of an electrical-component box for storing a control board equipped, thereon, with electrical components.

Related Art An outdoor unit of a popular split-type air-conditioner has an maim body in which a compressor, a heat exchanger, a blower disposed so as to face the heat exchanger and so forth are accommodated. The outdoor unit also has an electrical-component box incorporated in the main body for storing a control board equipped with electrical control components for performing drive control of the compressor, the blower, and so forth.

The electrical-component box of the known outdoor unit generally has a rectangular parallelepiped shape and has a throughhole perforated through the bottom surface or a side surface thereof.

Lead wires extends through the through-hole so as to connect electrical components and terminals lying in the electricalcomponent box with a motor accommodated in the main body of the unit and the compressor, outside the electrical-component box.

Such arrangement is, for example, disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. HEI 9-60928.

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o However, since the electrical-componen t box disclosed in such publication is required to have a through-hole perforated therein, a useless or redundant material (or waste end material or portion) is 00 produced during working, which may leads to a poor material yield rate and an increase in expense including cost for treating the ouseless material. In addition, a work for passing the lead wires ci through the through-hole during the assembly causes poor work efficiency. Moreover, when a notch or a through-hole is provided in a side surface of the component box, it is necessary for the lead wire to further extend to the side surface, leading to an increased cost of the lead wires.

Furthermore, in the conventional structure, an electrolytic capacitor is not arranged so as to face the bottom plate of the electrical-component box, so that, in an unlikely event that the electrolytic capacitor containing much electrolytic solution having a large calorific value catches fire, there is a risk of a seed of fire dropping downward, and therefore, a countermeasure against the risk has been required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention was conceived in consideration of the defects or drawbacks encountered in the prior at mentioned above and an object of the present invention is therefore to provide an outdoor unit of an air-conditioner including an electrical-component box having a structure capable of achieving a better material yield rate and better efficiency for manufacturing components and wiring P OPERSpA200T I 612343940 .mded spcl paga dm-2rfOf7 L work with less expense including cost for treating an useless end C material and requiring shorter lead wires for arrangement.

SThis and other objects can be achieved according to the present invention by providing an outdoor unit of an air-conditioner which comprises: a main body for accommodating constituent members including a compressor, a heat exchanger and a blower disposed so as 00 to face the heat exchanger; and an electrical-component box disposed ¢€3 C in the main body for storing electrical control components for controlling operation of the constituent members including the compressor and the blower, the electrical-component box comprising: a frame-shaped support in which a control board is disposed, the control board being mounted, at one side surface thereof, with electrical components including connecting terminals of lead wires and at least one electrolytic capacitor; a top plate placed on another surface side of the frame-shaped support so as to cover one surface of the control board; and a body of the component box made of thin metal plate and disposed on the one surface side of the frame-shaped support, the component box body including a bottom plate covering a part of a lower portion of the control board so as to provide another lower open portion, said bottom plate of the component box body having a trapezoid or triangular shape, wherein the control board connecting terminals of the lead wires are disposed so as to face the opened portion, and the electrolytic capacitor is disposed so as to face the bottom plate of the component box, the connecting terminals of the lead wires are disposed so as to face the open portion of the control board and the opened portion is provided on a side of the PA0PERSg.U0071J-A..\125454mc0dd qdc;m paga doc-Z120/200 CI peripheral surface of the main body of the outdoor unit.

According to the outdoor unit of an air-conditioner of the 00 present invention having structure mentioned above, better material yield rate and better efficiency for manufacturing the components and wiring work can be achieved with less expense including cost cI for treating a useless redundant material and with shorter lead wires to be required.

The nature and further characteristic features of the present invention will be made more clear from the following descriptions with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings: Fig. 1 is a perspective view, partially cut away, of an outdoor unit of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a magnified perspective view showing an essential portion in the vicinity of an electrical-component box of the outdoor unit according to the embodiment; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the electrical-component box; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the electrical-component box; Fig. 5 is an exploded view of the electrical-component box; and Fig. 6 is a plan view of the bottom plate of the electricalcomponent box during its manufacturing process.

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DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An outdoor unit of an air-conditioner according to an OO embodiment of the present invention will be described hereunder with reference to the accompanying drawings.

o With reference to Fig. 1, the outdoor unit of an air-conditioner N according to the present invention is provided with a main body 2 in which an electrical-component box 1 is accommodated. In the main body, a compressor 3, a heat exchanger 4, a blower 5 arranged so as to face the heat exchanger 4, and so on are also accommodated. In the electrical-component box 1, a control board 6 having electrical control components for performing drive control of the compressor 3, the blower 5 and the like is arranged.

As shown in Figs. 2 to 5, the electrical-component box 1 is made up by a frame-shaped support 7 for accommodating the control board 6 in the central portion of the support 7 and inside the same. The frame-shaped support 7 is composed of resin and has a latch piece formed integrally with the external stirface thereof for fixing the component box 1 to the main body 2 of the outdoor unit and a latch claw formed on the internal surface thereof for latching and fixing the control board 6 at the predetermined position.

As shown in Fig. 5, in a horizontal state, a lid-shaped top plate 8 is composed of sheet metal and has a lower (horizontal as viewed in Fig. 5) portion which is opened. The lid-shaped top plate 8 is fitted to and mounted on a portion of the frame-shaped support 7 close to the upper surface thereof so as to hermetically cover the 0 0 ci o upper surface of the control board 6.

The control board 6 placed on the frame-shaped support 7 is provided with electrical components 9 mounted thereon for 0 performing drive control of the compressor, the blower and so on. rern Ni More particularly, on one side portion of the control board 6 with o respect to the longitudinal direction thereof, a power transistor 9a N equipped with a radiation fin 9al and having a large calorific value and other elements are mounted. On the other hand, on the lower surface of the control board 6, a plurality of electrolytic capacitors 9b and connecting terminals such as connectors 9cl or Faston terminals, not shown, brand name, of lead wires 9c are fixed.

On the lower surface of the frame-shaped support 7, a main body 10 of the component box 1 covering the lower surface of the control board 6 is disposed.

The main body 10 of the component box is composed of sheet metal and has a bottom plate lOa and two side plates 10b and extending to the bottom 10a and facing to each other so as to provide a sectional C-shape. The bottom 10a has a trapezoid or triangle shape, for example.

In a state that the lower surface of the control board 6 is covered by the main body 10 of the component box 1, the control board 6 has a lower portion covered by the bottom 10a and an opened lower portion 11 (opening 11) not covered by the bottom According to the structure or shape of the bottom plate 10a of the main body 10 of the component box, in a state in which the electrical-component box 1 is fixed to the main body 2 of the

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ci o outdoor unit, the capacitors 9b placed on the control board 6 are arranged so as to face the trapezoidal bottom plate 10a, and the connecting terminals such as the connectors 9c1 or Faston 00 terminals lie so as to face the opened portion 11 of the main body As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the opening 11, to which the oconnecting terminals such as the connectors 9cl or Faston Cl terminals are opposed, is positioned close to the peripheral surface, for example, side surface 2a, of the main body 2 of the outdoor unit.

In other words, the opening 11 is positioned on the front side and the bottom plate 10a is positioned on the deep side of the outdoor unit, respectively.

Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 6, in manufacture, the main body 10 of the component box is formed by press molding such that a rectangular steel plate is prepared, the steel plate is punched out with a press die having two punching dies in the point symmetrical manner so as to simultaneously provide two sheets for the main bodies 10 of the component boxes at once, and each sheet is then bent in a sectional C-shape so as to provide the main body 10 of the component box.

As described above, since the outdoor unit of an airconditioner according to the present invention has a structure in which the bottom portion of the main body of the component box is formed from a trapezoidal or triangular bottom plate, a useless redundant material produced at a time of forming the opening of the equipment box can be used for making another component, thus ensuring the better workability for manufacturing the component.

0 0 o Furthermore, two sheets for the main bodies of the component boxes can be punched out at once symmetrically with respect to a rpoint, whereby a production of useless material can be reduced. In 00 addition, use of the opening of the equipment box eliminates additional extension of wiring of the lead wires, thereby leading to ci o the shorter lead ,wires. In addition, the connecting terminals such 0 N as connectors or Faston terminals of the lead wires are positioned so as to face the opening, so that the direct wiring of the lead wires can be achieved.

Furthermore, since the electrolytic capacitors are arranged so as to face the bottom plate, even in an undesired event that any of the electrolytic capacitors containing much electrolytic solution having a large calorific value catches fire, the bottom plate receives the fired electrolytic capacitor and prevents a seed of fire from dropping downward, thereby preventing the fire from spreading.

Still furthermore, since the opening is provided close to the peripheral surface of the main body of the outdoor unit, after installation of an inverter unit set, the wiring connection thereof to the control board can be easily achieved.

It is to be noted that the present invention is not limited to the described embodiment and many other changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scopes of the appended claims.

o Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, ounless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", and variations such as "comprises" and "comprising", will o be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of 0 any other integer or step or group of integers or steps.

0 The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that that prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia.

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Claims

2. An outdoor unit substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings and/or Examples. 00 1^ m-