AU2018266025B2

AU2018266025B2 - Indoor unit of air conditioner

Info

Publication number: AU2018266025B2
Application number: AU2018266025A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Yoshinori Nunome; Naomichi UNO
Original assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Thermal Systems Ltd
Current assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Thermal Systems Ltd
Priority date: 2017-05-08
Filing date: 2018-04-12
Publication date: 2020-07-16
Anticipated expiration: 2038-04-12
Also published as: WO2018207544A1; EP3527906A4; JP6991735B2; AU2018266025A1; EP3527906A1; JP2018189309A

Abstract

This indoor unit of an air conditioner is provided with: a flap which changes the airflow direction; a housing-side bracket which supports the flap, which is positioned downward, with respect to the main body; and a connecting shaft (21) which is fixed to the flap and which is inserted into a shaft insertion hole formed in the housing-side bracket and rotates the flap in the shaft insertion hole. The connecting shaft (21) has a lower claw part (29b) and an upper claw part (29a), and, when the claw parts are inserted into the shaft insertion hole, the outer periphery thereof contacts the inner periphery of the shaft insertion hole. The lower claw part (29b) has a higher rigidity than the upper floor part (29a).

Description

DESCRIPTION

Title of Invention

INDOOR UNIT OF AIR CONDITIONER

Technical Field

[0001]

The present invention relates to an indoor unit of

an air conditioner including a flap that changes a wind

direction.

Background Art

[0002]

A reference herein to a patent document or any

other matter identified as prior art, is not to be taken

as an admission that the document or other matter was

known or that the information it contains was part of the

common general knowledge as at the priority date of any

of the claims.

[0002a]

A flap for changing a wind direction after air

conditioning in an up-and-down direction is provided in an

indoor unit of an air conditioner. In order to rotate the

flap, a mechanism that rotatably supports the flap with

respect to a main body portion of the indoor unit is

provided.

In PTL 1, a flap is rotatably supported by a

connecting member fixed to the flap being inserted into a

main body attachment hole.

Citation List

Patent Literature

[00031

[PTL 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application

Publication No. 2017-53508

Summary of Invention

[0004]

Where any or all of the terms "comprise",

"comprises", "comprised" or "comprising" are used in this

specification (including the claims) they are to be

interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated

features, integers, steps or components, but not

precluding the presence of one or more other features,

integers, steps or components.

[0004a]

By four elastically deforming pieces elastically

deforming, the connecting member disclosed in PTL 1

supports the flap by keeping a contact state with respect

to an inner circumferential surface of the main body

attachment hole.

After the present inventor has repeated examination,

it is determined that a deformation state of each of the four elastically deforming pieces changes according to a rotation angle by a load caused by the weight of the flap being exerted to the connecting member. That is, the load of the flap is applied to a lower side of the connecting member, an elastically deforming piece positioned on the lower side deforms the most. When the elastically deforming pieces change to which the load of the flap is exerted as the flap rotates, the deformation state of each of the elastically deforming pieces changes, and a possibility that the change becomes a cause of a strange noise and rattling arises.

[00051

In view of such circumstances, it is desirable to

provide an indoor unit of an air conditioner that can

reduce a strange noise and rattling which occur when

rotating a flap.

[00061

According to an aspect of the invention, there is

provided an indoor unit of an air conditioner comprising:

a flap that changes a wind direction; a supporting portion

that supports the flap positioned on a lower side with

respect to a main body portion; and a connecting member

that is fixed to the flap, and is inserted into a through

hole formed in the supporting portion to rotate the flap

in the through-hole, wherein the connecting member has a lower claw portion and an upper claw portion that are inserted into the through-hole and each have an outer circumference coming into contact with an inner circumference of the through-hole, a distance from a rotation center of the connecting member to the outer circumferential surface of the upper claw portion is longer than a distance from the rotation center to the outer circumferential surface of the lower claw portion such that-the lower claw portion has rigidity higher than the upper claw portion, and an outer circumferential surface of the lower claw portion is a substantially cylindrical surface formed over 1800, each of the lower claw portion and the upper claw portion has a flange portion which protrudes radially outwards formed on a proximate end side of the connecting member in an insertion direction, and slits are formed between one end of the flange portion of the lower claw portion in a circumferential direction and one end of the flange portion of the upper claw portion in the circumferential direction, and between an other end of the flange portion of the lower claw portion in the circumferential direction and an other end of the flange portion of the upper claw portion in the circumferential direction, wherein the one end of the flange portion of the lower claw portion opposes the one

- 3a - end of the flange portion of the upper claw portion, and the other end of the flange portion of the lower claw portion opposes the other end of the flange portion of the upper claw portion.

[00071

The supporting portion supports such that the flap

on the lower side rotates via the connecting member. As

the flap rotates, a wind direction where air blows from

- 3b - the indoor unit after air conditioning is changed.

The connecting member is fixed to the flap, and is

inserted in the through-hole formed in the supporting

portion. Accordingly, the flap is rotatably attached to

the supporting portion.

The connecting member has the lower claw portion and

the upper claw portion, and each of the lower claw portion

and the upper claw portion is attached to be in contact

with the inner circumference of the through-hole. While

the lower claw portion receives a load caused by the

weight of the flap positioned on the lower side, the upper

claw portion does not receive the load caused by the

weight of the flap. Thus, the rigidity of the lower claw

portion is made higher than the upper claw portion such

that a deformed amount of the lower claw portion receiving

the load of the flap is made as small as possible.

Accordingly, even when the flap rotates about the center

of the through-hole with the connecting member, the lower

claw portion receives the load of the flap. Thus, a

strange noise and rattling caused by the deformation of

the connecting member can be reduced.

[00081

In the indoor unit of an air conditioner according

to the aspect of the present invention, a distance from a

rotation center of the connecting portion to an outer circumferential surface of the upper claw portion is longer than a distance from the rotation center to the outer circumferential surface of the lower claw portion.

[00091

The distance from the rotation center of the

connecting member to the outer circumferential surface of

the upper claw portion is longer than the distance from

the rotation center of the connecting portion to the outer

circumferential surface of the lower claw portion.

Accordingly, by actively deforming (bending) the upper

claw portion instead of the lower claw portion, the

connecting member can be suitably brought into contact

with the inner circumferential surface of the through-hole

of the supporting portion.

[0010]

In the indoor unit of an air conditioner according

to the aspect of the present invention, the outer

circumferential surface of the lower claw portion is a

substantially cylindrical surface formed over

substantially 1800.

[0011]

By making the outer circumferential surface of the

lower claw portion a substantially cylindrical surface

formed over substantially 1800, the lower claw portion can

receive a load of the flap over a rotation range of substantially 1800 insofar as a neutral position of the flap in the rotation range is set to the middle of the lower claw portion.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

[0012]

Accordingly, since the lower claw portion having

rigidity higher than the upper claw portion receives a

load of the flap, a strange noise and rattling caused by

the deformation of the connecting member can be reduced.

Brief Description of Drawings

[0013]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an indoor

unit of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of

the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of

Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a front view illustrating a state where a

suction panel, which is on the front, of the indoor unit

of Fig. 1 is removed.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating an

attachment portion.

Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view illustrating

the attachment portion.

Fig. 6 is a side view illustrating a connecting

shaft.

Fig. 7 is a front view illustrating the connecting

shaft.

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating

the connecting shaft inserted in a shaft connection hole.

Fig. 9 is a partially enlarged perspective view

illustrating the connecting shaft inserted in the shaft

connection hole.

Description of Embodiments

[0014]

Hereinafter, an indoor unit 1 for an air conditioner

of an embodiment of the present invention will be

described in detail with reference to the drawings.

As illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the indoor unit

1 for an air conditioner includes a housing 2 that has a

rectangular parallelepiped shape which is long in a

direction which becomes a horizontal direction at the time

of mounting and an air conditioning unit (main body

portion) 3 accommodated inside the housing 2. The indoor

unit 1 is a device that sucks air A to adjust a

temperature and humidity and then discharges the air A

through an outlet 4, thereby performing indoor air

conditioning. Flaps 8 that vertically change a blowing

direction of the air A are provided in the indoor unit 1

of the embodiment.

[00151

In the embodiment, the direction which becomes the

horizontal direction at the time of mounting will be

referred to as a right-and-left direction, a direction

that becomes an up-and-down direction at the time of

mounting will be simply referred to as an up-and-down

direction, and a direction orthogonal to the right-and

left direction and the up-and-down direction will be

referred to as a front-and-back direction. A side that

becomes a near side at the time of mounting is the front

of the front-and-back direction.

[0016]

As illustrated in Fig. 2, the air conditioning unit

3 includes a heat exchanger 5, an air blowing fan 6 that

is provided to be covered by the heat exchanger 5, a

filter 7 provided in a suction port of the air A, the

flaps 8 provided in the outlet 4 of the air A, and a

control box 9 (refer to Fig. 3) that is provided on one

end side of the right-and-left direction and controls air

conditioning.

[0017]

The housing 2 includes a front panel 10 that is

disposed on the front side which becomes the near side at

the time of mounting, an upper panel 11 that is integrally

connected to the front panel 10 and is disposed on an upper side at the time of mounting, and a housing main body 12 that forms a space S, which accommodates the air conditioning unit 3 therein, with the front panel 10 and the upper panel 11.

The housing 2 has a suction panel 13 that covers the

front panel 10 from the front.

[0018]

The housing main body 12 has a pair of side panels

14 disposed in the right-and-left direction, a back panel

that is integrally connected to the pair of side panels

14 and opposes a mounting surface, and a bottom panel 16

that supports the pair of side panels 14 and the back

panel 15 and is disposed on a lower side.

[0019]

The housing main body 12 forms the space S that

accommodates the air conditioning unit 3 surrounded by the

pair of side panels 14, the back panel 15, and the bottom

panel 16. In the housing main body 12, the space S is

open to the front and the upper side. That is, a front

opening portion OP1 that penetrates the housing 2 in the

front-and-back direction and an upper opening portion OP2

that penetrates the housing in the up-and-down direction

are formed in the housing main body 12.

The air A is introduced from the upper opening

portion OP2 to the space S of the housing 2.

[00201

The front panel 10 has a grid shape, and is

integrally provided with the housing main body 12 on the

front side of the front opening portion OPl. The upper

panel 11 has a grid shape, and is integrally provided with

the housing main body 12 on an upper side of the upper

opening portion OP2.

[0021]

The suction panel 13 is disposed in front of the

front panel 10 so as to cover the front opening portion

OP1 and the front panel 10. The suction panel 13 can open

and close the front opening portion OP1 by being

detachable with respect to the housing main body 12.

[0022]

The flaps 8 provided on the outlet 4 are wind

direction adjusting plates that change a direction of the

air A from the outlet 4 in the up-and-down direction. The

indoor unit 1 includes two flaps 8. The two flaps 8 can

be disposed to block the outlet 4. The two flaps 8 each

can be rotated about an axis 0 so as to follow the flow of

the air A discharged by the air blowing fan 6.

[0023]

Next, an attachment structure of each of the flaps 8

will be described. Herein, out of the two flaps 8, an

attachment structure of the flap 8 disposed on the back will be described. Since an attachment structure of the flap 8 disposed on the front, out of the two flaps 8, is the same as the attachment structure of the flap 8 disposed on the back, description thereof will be omitted.

[00241

As illustrated in Fig. 3, the flap 8 is connected to

the housing 2 to be rotatable about the axis 0 extending

in the right-and-left direction via a plurality of

attachment portions 17 that are at intervals in the right

and-left direction. In addition, the flap 8 is rotation

driven about the axis 0 by a drive motor (not illustrated)

provided on one end portion side of an axis 0 direction

(right-and-left direction). For this reason, a pin 35

extending in the axis 0 direction is provided on one end

portion of the flap 8, and the pin 35 is connected to the

drive motor (not illustrated).

[0025]

As illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, the attachment

portion 17 includes a flap side bracket 19 that is

integrally provided with a flap main body 18 of the flap 8,

a housing side bracket (supporting portion) 20 provided in

the housing 2, and a connecting shaft (connecting member)

21 that connects the flap side bracket 19 to the housing

side bracket 20. The reference sign 22 indicates a

housing side bracket used in the flap disposed on the front.

[0026]

The flap 8 includes the flap main body 18 that has a

plate shape which is long in the right-and-left direction

and the flap side bracket 19 provided on the flap main

body 18 at a position corresponding to the attachment

portion 17.

[0027]

The flap side bracket 19 is integrally formed with

one surface 18f of the flap main body 18 to extend from

the surface 18f of the flap main body 18 in a direction

orthogonal to the surface. The flap side bracket 19 has a

plate shape, and has a main surface formed to be

orthogonal to the axis 0.

[0028]

A shape of the flap side bracket 19 seen from the

axis 0 direction is a triangular shape. A rectangular

shaft engagement hole 23 (refer to Fig. 5) that penetrates

the flap side bracket in the axis 0 direction is formed in

the flap side bracket 19.

[0029]

The housing side bracket 20 has a plate shape, and

has a main surface orthogonal to the axis 0 direction

which is formed such that the flow of the air A blown from

the outlet 4 is not obstructed. A shaft insertion hole

(through-hole) 24 that penetrates the housing side bracket

in the axis 0 direction is formed in the housing side

bracket 20. For example, the shaft insertion hole 24 has

a circular shape.

[00301

In a state where one end 25a side of a shaft main

body 25 of the connecting shaft 21 is inserted in the

shaft insertion hole 24 formed in the housing side bracket

, an engagement claw portion 26 is engaged with the

shaft engagement hole 23 of the flap side bracket 19.

[0031]

The shaft main body 25 has a cylindrical shape

having a central axis, that is, the axis 0 as a center

thereof. As illustrated in Fig. 6, the shaft main body 25

has an insertion main body portion 27 having an outer

diameter smaller than an inner diameter of the shaft

insertion hole 24 and an increased diameter portion 30

having an outer diameter larger than the inner diameter of

the shaft insertion hole 24.

[00321

The insertion main body portion 27 has a disk-like

shape having a main surface formed to be orthogonal to the

central axis (axis 0) of the shaft main body 25 on the one

end 25a side of the shaft main body 25. That is, the

insertion main body portion 27 blocks the one end 25a of the increased diameter portion 30.

[00331

The increased diameter portion 30 has a cylindrical

shape of which a diameter increases as going from the one

end 25a side to the other end 25b side with the insertion

main body portion 27 as a base portion. The increased

diameter portion 30 has a flange portion 44, which

protrudes radially outwards and is formed on the other end

b of the shaft main body 25. The flange portion 44 has

the largest outer diameter in the shaft main body 25. An

outer diameter of the flange portion 44 is larger than the

shaft insertion hole 24, and the flange portion retains

the connecting shaft 21.

[00341

Two slits 28 are formed in a circumferential

direction in the increased diameter portion 30. The slits

28 extend up to the insertion main body portion 27 from

the other end 25b toward the one end 25a side of the shaft

main body 25 in the central axis (axis 0) direction of the

shaft main body 25. Due to the slits 28, an upper claw

portion 29a on the upper side and a lower claw portion 29b

on the lower side are formed in the increased diameter

portion 30.

[00351

The upper claw portion 29a and the lower claw portion 29b extend from the insertion main body portion 27 toward the other end 25b side. That is, each of the upper claw portion 29a and the lower claw portion 29b has a cantilever shape having the insertion main body portion 27 as a fixed end and a tip portion on the other end 25b side as a free end.

[00361

As illustrated in Fig. 7, the lower claw portion 29b

has a semicircular arc outline formed over substantially

1800 in a case of being seen from the front. An outer

circumferential surface of the lower claw portion 29b

(excluding the flange portion 44) has a tapered shape such

that a diameter increases, and a curvature radius at any

position in the axis direction substantially matches a

curvature radius of the shaft insertion hole 24.

Therefore, when the connecting shaft 21 is inserted in the

shaft insertion hole 24 as in Fig. 8, the entire outer

circumferential surface of the lower claw portion 29b is

in contact with and coincides with an inner

circumferential surface of the shaft insertion hole 24.

[00371

In a case where the lower claw portion 29b is fixed

to the flap side bracket 19 as in Fig. 9 and the flap 8 is

positioned at a neutral position in a rotation direction,

a middle position of the lower claw portion 29b in the circumferential direction is set to be positioned on a vertical line VL passing through the axis 0 (refer to Fig.

7). Accordingly, the lower claw portion 29b is in contact

with an inner circumference of the shaft insertion hole 24

over an angle range of ±900 from the middle position of

the lower claw portion 29b.

[00381

The upper claw portion 29a has an arc outline formed

over an angle range smaller than substantially 1800 in a

case of being seen from the front. An outer

circumferential surface of the upper claw portion 29a

(excluding the flange portion 44) has a tapered shape such

that a diameter increases. In a case where the upper claw

portion 29a and the lower claw portion 29b are seen from

the front as in Fig. 7, a radius R1 of the upper claw

portion 29a is larger than a radius R2 of the lower claw

portion 29b (R1 > R2). In addition, the lower claw

portion 29b has rigidity higher than the upper claw

portion 29a. Specifically, since an arc length of an

appearance of the lower claw portion 29b is larger than an

arc length of an appearance of the upper claw portion 29a,

the rigidity of the lower claw portion 29b is higher. In

addition, a thickness (radial thickness) of the lower claw

portion 29b may be larger than a thickness of the upper

claw portion 29a.

Therefore, when the connecting shaft 21 is inserted

into the shaft insertion hole 24, the upper claw portion

29a deforms (bends) to an axis 0 side, and the lower claw

portion 29b barely bends. Since the lower claw portion

29b barely deforms as described above, the entire outer

circumferential surface of the lower claw portion 29b

comes into contact with the inner circumferential surface

of the shaft insertion hole 24. Even when the flap 8

rotates about the shaft insertion hole 24 and a load

position changes due to the weight of the flap 8, the

lower claw portion 29b barely deforms due to rigidity.

Thus, a state where the entire outer circumferential

surface of the lower claw portion 29b coincides with the

inner circumferential surface of the shaft insertion hole

24 is maintained.

[00391

In the aforementioned indoor unit 1, the following

operation effects can be achieved.

The lower claw portion 29b and the upper claw

portion 29a of the connecting shaft 21 are inserted into

the shaft insertion hole 24, and are attached such that

the lower claw portion and the upper claw portion come

into contact with the inner circumference of the shaft

insertion hole 24. While the lower claw portion 29b

receives a load caused by the weight of the flap 8 positioned on the lower side, the upper claw portion 29a does not receive the load caused by the weight of the flap

8. Thus, the rigidity of the lower claw portion 29b is

made higher than the upper claw portion 29a such that a

deformed amount of the lower claw portion 29b receiving

the load of the flap 8 is made as small as possible.

Accordingly, even when the flap 8 rotates about the axis 0

of the shaft insertion hole 24 with the connecting shaft

21, the lower claw portion 29b receives the load of the

flap 8. Thus, a strange noise and rattling caused by the

deformation of the claw portions 29a and 29b of the

connecting shaft 21 can be reduced.

[0040]

The radius R1 from the axis 0, which is a rotation

center of the connecting shaft 21, to the outer

circumferential surface of the upper claw portion 29a is

larger than the radius R2 from the axis 0, which is the

rotation center of the connecting shaft 21, to the outer

circumferential surface of the lower claw portion 29b.

Accordingly, by actively deforming (bending) the upper

claw portion 29a instead of the lower claw portion 29b,

the connecting shaft can be suitably brought into contact

with the inner circumferential surface of the shaft

insertion hole 24 of the housing side bracket 20.

[0041]

By making the outer circumferential surface of the

lower claw portion 29b a substantially cylindrical surface

formed over substantially 1800, a neutral position of the

flap 8 in a rotation range is set to the middle of the

lower claw portion 29b. Accordingly, a strange noise and

rattling in the lower claw portion 29b can be reduced over

the rotation range of substantially 1800, and the load of

the flap 8 can be received.

Reference Signs List

[00421

1: indoor unit

2: housing

3: air conditioning unit (main body portion)

4: outlet

5: heat exchanger

6: air blowing fan

7: filter

8: flap

9: control box

10: front panel

11: upper panel

12: housing main body

13: suction panel

14: side panel

15: back panel

16: bottom panel

17: attachment portion

18: flap main body

18f: surface

19: flap side bracket

: housing side bracket (supporting portion)

21: connecting shaft (connecting member)

23: shaft engagement hole

24: shaft insertion hole (through-hole)

: shaft main body

a: one end

b: the other end

26: engagement claw portion

27: insertion main body portion

28: slit

29a: upper claw portion

29b: lower claw portion

: increased diameter portion

: pin

44: flange portion

A: air

: axis

OPl: front opening portion

OP2: upper opening portion

R1, R2: radius

S: space

VL: vertical line

Claims

The claims defining the invention are as follows:

1. An indoor unit of an air conditioner, comprising:

a flap that changes a wind direction;

a supporting portion that supports the flap

positioned on a lower side with respect to a main body

portion; and

a connecting member that is fixed to the flap, and

is inserted into a through-hole formed in the supporting

portion to rotate the flap in the through-hole,

wherein the connecting member has a lower claw

portion and an upper claw portion that are inserted into

the through-hole and each have an outer circumference

coming into contact with an inner circumference of the

through-hole,

a distance from a rotation center of the connecting

member to the outer circumferential surface of the upper

claw portion is longer than a distance from the rotation

center to the outer circumferential surface of the lower

claw portion such that-the lower claw portion has rigidity

higher than the upper claw portion, and

an outer circumferential surface of the lower claw

portion is a substantially cylindrical surface formed over

180°,

each of the lower claw portion and the upper claw portion has a flange portion which protrudes radially outwards formed on a proximate end side of the connecting member in an insertion direction, and slits are formed between one end of the flange portion of the lower claw portion in a circumferential direction and one end of the flange portion of the upper claw portion in the circumferential direction, and between an other end of the flange portion of the lower claw portion in the circumferential direction and an other end of the flange portion of the upper claw portion in the circumferential direction, wherein the one end of the flange portion of the lower claw portion opposes the one end of the flange portion of the upper claw portion, and the other end of the flange portion of the lower claw portion opposes the other end of the flange portion of the upper claw portion.

FIG. 1 1

Ⅱ A OP2 9(3) 2

14 1/6

17 A 8 17 17 13 4 17 8

Ⅱ