CN115597116A

CN115597116A - Air conditioner

Info

Publication number: CN115597116A
Application number: CN202110773470.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 齐兆乾; 代传民
Original assignee: Qingdao Haier Smart Technology R&D Co Ltd; Haier Smart Home Co Ltd
Current assignee: Qingdao Haier Smart Technology R&D Co Ltd; Haier Smart Home Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-07-08
Filing date: 2021-07-08
Publication date: 2023-01-13
Also published as: WO2023279876A1

Abstract

The present invention provides an air conditioner, comprising: the air conditioner comprises a shell, a first air inlet, a second air inlet and a fan, wherein the shell is provided with an air inlet communicated with an indoor environment, and the first air inlet and the second air inlet are formed in the shell; the fan and the heat exchanger are arranged in the shell; the air conditioner is configured to: the first air supply mode can be operated: indoor air enters the shell through the air inlet, is blown to the heat exchanger by the fan, exchanges heat with the heat exchanger and is discharged to the indoor through the first ventilation opening; or operating a second air supply mode: indoor air enters the shell through the first ventilation opening, exchanges heat with the heat exchanger, is sucked by the fan and blows towards the second ventilation opening to be discharged indoors. The invention can change the air supply direction powerfully.

Description

Air conditioner

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of air conditioning, in particular to an air conditioner.

Background

With the development of the times and the progress of the technology, users not only expect faster cooling and heating speeds of the air conditioner, but also pay more attention to the air supply comfort of the air conditioner.

The existing air conditioner is generally provided with only one air outlet and can only supply air towards one side. Although the air guide device such as an air guide plate and a guide vane is arranged at the air outlet, the air supply angle can be adjusted in a small range, and multi-directional air supply cannot be realized. Especially, the air supply direction can not be adjusted in a large angle according to the difference of refrigeration and heating and the difference of positions of people, so that the user experience is extremely limited.

When the air is heated, the air blowing direction is not greatly different from that of the air blowing direction during the refrigerating operation, and the air outlet direction is relatively close to the upper side. Because the hot air rises, the hot air is gathered in the indoor upper space, the human body feels the head and the feet cold, and the experience is poor.

Disclosure of Invention

An object of the present invention is to solve or at least partially solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and to provide an air conditioner capable of strongly changing the direction of air supply.

The invention further aims to improve the heating downwind effect of the air conditioner.

The invention further aims to ensure that the air conditioner has smaller air volume loss in two air supply modes and improve the energy efficiency of the air conditioner.

In particular, the present invention provides an air conditioner, comprising:

the air conditioner comprises a shell, a first air inlet, a second air inlet and a fan, wherein the shell is provided with an air inlet communicated with an indoor environment, and the first air inlet and the second air inlet are formed in the shell;

the fan and the heat exchanger are arranged in the shell; the air conditioner is configured to:

the first air supply mode can be operated: indoor air enters the shell through the air inlet, is blown to the heat exchanger by the fan, exchanges heat with the heat exchanger and then is discharged to the indoor through the first ventilation opening; or

And operating a second air supply mode: and indoor air enters the shell through the first ventilation opening, exchanges heat with the heat exchanger, is sucked by the fan and is blown to the second ventilation opening to be discharged indoors.

Optionally, the inside of the casing is isolated from the air outlet chamber and the heat exchange chamber by a partition part, the fan is located in the fan chamber, the heat exchanger is located in the heat exchange chamber, the partition part has an opening, and the fan is configured to blow air towards the heat exchange chamber or the second ventilation opening; the air conditioner is configured to:

when the air conditioner operates in the first air supply mode, the opening is closed, so that indoor air enters the fan cavity from the air inlet and is blown to the heat exchanger in the heat exchange cavity by the fan;

and when the air conditioner operates in the second air supply mode, the opening is opened, so that indoor air enters the heat exchange cavity through the first ventilation opening, enters the fan cavity through the opening after heat exchange, and is sucked by the fan.

Optionally, the fan is provided with a first exhaust part connected with the first ventilation opening and a second exhaust part penetrating through the partition part to exhaust air to the heat exchange cavity;

the air conditioner is configured to open the first exhaust part and close the second exhaust part when the first air supply mode is operated; and when the second air supply mode is operated, the second exhaust part is opened and the first exhaust part is closed.

Optionally, the fan is a double-suction centrifugal fan, two air inlets on two axial sides of the fan face the inner space of the fan cavity, and the first exhaust part and the second exhaust part are located at different radial positions of the double-suction centrifugal fan.

Optionally, the air conditioner is configured to open the air inlet when the first air supply mode is operated; and when the second air supply mode is operated, closing the air inlet.

Optionally, the first air vent and the second air vent are respectively opened on the front wall and the bottom wall of the casing.

Optionally, the air conditioner is configured to operate the first blowing mode when cooling; and when heating, operating the second air supply mode.

Optionally, the heat exchanger and the fan are arranged in a front-rear direction.

Optionally, the heat exchanger comprises an upper section and a lower section, the two sections are both obliquely arranged, and the rear ends are connected to form a V-shaped structure with the pointed end facing backwards.

Optionally, the air inlet is provided in a rear wall of the housing.

The air conditioner of the invention has the advantages that the air inlet, the first ventilation opening and the second ventilation opening are arranged on the shell, the fan has two air outlet directions and can be used for exhausting air towards the heat exchanger or the second ventilation opening, and then the air conditioner has two air supply modes through the delicate air path design. When the air conditioner operates in a first air supply mode, air is discharged from the first air vent; and when the air conditioner operates in the second air supply mode, the air is discharged from the second air outlet. So, the designer can set up the air-out direction at first vent and second vent into not equidirectional to change its air-out direction through the air supply mode of adjusting the air conditioner, thereby rationally match the current running state of air conditioner, also can satisfy the user to the needs of air supply direction.

Further, the present invention configures the air conditioner to operate the first blowing mode while cooling; in heating, the second air blowing mode is operated. When the air conditioner operates in a refrigerating mode, cold air is blown out upwards and then naturally falls down, and a shower type air supply effect is formed. When the air conditioner is in heating operation, hot air is blown downwards to the ground and flows upwards after reaching the bottom surface, so that the carpet type air supply effect is realized.

Furthermore, in the air conditioner, the shell is provided with the two cavities of the fan cavity and the heat exchange cavity, and in the first air supply mode, the fan cavity and the heat exchange cavity are isolated from each other, so that airflow entering the fan cavity can only be sucked by the fan without other places, the air suction efficiency of the fan is higher, the air volume loss is smaller, and the air conditioner energy efficiency is higher. The invention does not have any complex improvement on the number and arrangement of the heat exchangers and the fans, only accurately controls the switches of the air inlet, the two air vents and the two exhaust parts of the fans, namely skillfully realizes the switching of two air supply modes, has novel structure, does not bring the cost increase, and is very suitable for practical application.

The above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of specific embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

Some specific embodiments of the invention will be described in detail hereinafter, by way of illustration and not limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in the drawings identify the same or similar elements or components. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a first blowing mode of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic view of the air conditioner of fig. 1 operating in a second blowing mode.

Detailed Description

An air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 2. In the description of the present embodiments, it is to be understood that the terms "first", "second" and "first" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature, i.e., one or more such features. In the description of the present invention, "a plurality" means at least two, e.g., two, three, etc., unless specifically limited otherwise. When a feature "comprises or includes" a or some of the features that it covers, this is to be taken as an indication that other features are not excluded and that other features may further be included, unless expressly stated otherwise.

Unless expressly stated or limited otherwise, the terms "mounted," "connected," "secured," "coupled," and the like are to be construed broadly and encompass, for example, both fixed and removable connection or integration; can be mechanically or electrically connected; they may be directly connected or indirectly connected through intervening media, or they may be connected internally or in any other suitable relationship, unless expressly stated otherwise. Those skilled in the art should understand the specific meaning of the above terms in the present invention according to specific situations.

Further, in the description of the present embodiments, the first feature being "on" or "under" the second feature may include the first and second features being in direct contact, and may also include the first and second features not being in direct contact but being in contact via another feature therebetween. That is, in the description of the present embodiment, the first feature being "on", "above" and "over" the second feature includes the first feature being directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or merely means that the first feature is higher in level than the second feature. A first feature "under," "beneath," or "beneath" a second feature may be directly under or obliquely under the second feature or may simply mean that the first feature is at a lesser elevation than the second feature.

In the description of the present embodiments, reference to the description of the terms "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "an illustrative embodiment," "an example," "a specific example," or "some examples," etc., means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the invention. In this specification, the schematic representations of the terms used above do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

The following embodiments of the present invention provide an air conditioner. It should be noted that the embodiment of the present invention does not limit the specific form of the air conditioner. The air conditioner can be a household split air conditioner, a household central air conditioner such as a unit machine, or an end machine type of various large-scale central air conditioner units, and is used for directly refrigerating or heating the indoor environment, or transmitting cold or heat through secondary refrigerant so as to indirectly refrigerate or heat the indoor environment.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention operating in a first air supply mode; fig. 2 is a schematic view of the air conditioner of fig. 1 operating in a second blowing mode. The wind direction is indicated by arrows in the figure.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, an air conditioner of an embodiment of the present invention may generally include a cabinet 10, a fan 20, and a heat exchanger 30.

The cabinet 10 has an intake vent 130, a first vent 110 and a second vent 120 communicating with the indoor environment. The exterior of the cabinet 10 constitutes an external appearance of the air conditioner, and the interior of the cabinet 10 defines an accommodating space to accommodate components of the air conditioner.

The fan 20 and the heat exchanger 30 are disposed in the casing 10. The heat exchanger 30 is used for exchanging heat with indoor air entering the cabinet 10 to form a heat exchange air flow. For example, in air conditioning, the heat exchanger 30 absorbs heat from the outside, and the resulting heat exchange airflow is cool air. When the air conditioner heats, the heat exchanger 30 radiates heat to the outside, and the formed heat exchange airflow is hot air. The blower 20 is used to promote air flow, so as to finally promote cold air or hot air to be blown back to the indoor environment, thereby realizing cooling or heating of the indoor environment.

The air conditioner of the embodiment of the invention can be refrigeration equipment which refrigerates through a vapor compression refrigeration cycle system. The refrigeration system includes a compressor, a second heat exchanger (as a condenser during refrigeration), a throttling device (such as an expansion valve or a capillary tube), and a heat exchanger 30 (as an evaporator during refrigeration), which are connected by a pipeline to form a circulation loop, and a refrigerant flows through the inside of the circulation loop to form a vapor compression refrigeration cycle system. Of course, the refrigeration system also includes valves (e.g., four-way reversing valve), filters, and other refrigeration accessories. The principles of vapor compression refrigeration cycles and the connections of the various components are well known to those skilled in the art and will not be described further herein.

The air conditioner of the embodiment of the invention is configured as follows:

the first blowing mode may be operated, specifically referring to the wind direction schematic of fig. 1: indoor air enters the casing 10 through the air inlet 130, is blown to the heat exchanger 30 by the fan 20, exchanges heat with the heat exchanger, and is discharged to the indoor through the first vent 110, so as to adjust the indoor environment.

Or a second blowing mode is operated, specifically referring to the wind direction schematic of fig. 2: indoor air enters the casing 10 through the first ventilation opening 110, exchanges heat with the heat exchanger 30, is sucked by the fan 20 and is blown to the second ventilation opening 120 to be discharged to the indoor, and the indoor environment is adjusted.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the casing 10 is provided with the air inlet 130, the first ventilation opening 110 and the second ventilation opening 120, the fan 20 has two air outlet directions so as to outlet air towards the heat exchanger 30 or the second ventilation opening 120, and then the air conditioner has the two air supply modes through the delicate air path design. In the first air supply mode, the first air vents 110 supply air; in the second air supply mode, the second air outlet 120 discharges air. Therefore, the air outlet directions of the first air vent 110 and the second air vent 120 can be set to be different, so that the air outlet direction can be changed by adjusting the air supply mode, the running state of the air conditioner can be reasonably matched, and the requirement of a user on the air supply direction can be met.

For example, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the first ventilation opening 110 may be opened at a front wall of the cabinet 10 (the front-back direction is already indicated in fig. 1 and 2, and if the air conditioner is disposed near the wall, a side thereof mainly facing the user is a front side), so that air is blown forward by the first ventilation opening 110. The second ventilation opening 120 is opened to the bottom wall of the casing 10 so as to supply air downward by using the second ventilation opening 120. The heat exchanger 30 and the fan 20 are arranged in the front-rear direction, and air is blown forward by the first ventilation opening 110.

In some embodiments, the air conditioner may be further configured to: when refrigerating, operating a first air supply mode; in heating, the second air blowing mode is operated. Therefore, when the air conditioner is in refrigeration operation, the cold air is blown out from the first air vent 110, then is blown out upwards, and then naturally falls down, so that the shower type air supply effect is formed. The first ventilation opening 110 may be provided with air guide structures such as an air guide plate, a swing vane, a guide vane, etc. to increase the rising angle of the cold air.

When the air conditioner is in heating operation, the hot air is blown out through the second vent 120, then is blown down to the ground directly, and then flows upwards after reaching the bottom surface, so that the carpet type air supply effect is realized. Of course, the second ventilation opening 120 may also be provided with a wind guiding structure to adjust the angle of the downward wind.

In the prior art, the same air outlet is used for blowing out cold air and hot air, and the design of the position and the air guide structure needs to take into account the refrigeration mode and the heating mode, so that the refrigeration mode and the heating mode cannot have the optimal air outlet effect.

In this embodiment, the outlets of the cold air, i.e., the first vent 110, and the outlets of the hot air, i.e., the second vent 120, are separately arranged, so that the two vents respectively perform the functions of blowing out the cold air and blowing out the hot air without taking into account of each other, and thus, the position of the first vent 110 can be designed to be more close to the upper position, so that the air outlet angle of the first vent is more inclined upwards, thereby facilitating the improvement of the upper blowing capacity and further improving the refrigeration speed. Similarly, the second ventilation opening 120 can be designed to be closer to the lower part, so that the air outlet angle of the second ventilation opening is more vertical and downward, thereby improving the downward blowing capability and being beneficial to improving the heating effect.

In some embodiments, the air inlet 130 may be opened in the rear wall of the casing 10. In this way, during the cooling operation, the air enters the casing 10 from the rear direction and then flows out through the first ventilation opening 110 from the front direction, and the air path is smoother.

Of course, in some alternative embodiments, the air inlet 130 may be opened on the side wall, the top wall or the bottom wall of the casing 10 according to the specific form of the air conditioner.

As shown in FIG. 1, the heat exchanger 30 comprises two sections, wherein the two sections are obliquely arranged, and the rear ends are connected to form a V shape with the pointed end facing backwards. The front ends of the upper and lower sections of the heat exchanger 30 can further abut against the top wall and the bottom wall of the casing 10, respectively. The heat exchanger 30 is designed in the above manner in the embodiment of the invention, so that a heat exchanger with a larger area is arranged in a compact shell space, the heat exchange capability of the heat exchanger is improved, more air flows can pass through the heat exchanger 30 more and more fully, and the heat exchange efficiency of the heat exchanger is higher.

Of course, in some alternative embodiments, the first ventilation opening 110 and the second ventilation opening 120 may be arranged in the same direction, and may also be arranged at other parts of the casing 10, for example, the lateral side walls of the casing 10. The heat exchanger may also be a flat plate or other shape, and these simple modifications will not be described herein.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the inside of the casing 10 may be isolated from the blower cavity 11 and the heat exchange cavity 12 by a partition 40, the blower 20 is located in the blower cavity 11, and the heat exchanger 30 is located in the heat exchange cavity 12. The partition 40 has an opening 41, the opening 41 connecting the fan chamber 11 and the heat exchange chamber 12. The fan 20 is configured to blow air towards the heat exchange cavity 12 or the second ventilation opening 120, and specifically, the fan 20 may have two air outlets, or one air outlet and one air duct may be provided, so that the two air ducts are respectively communicated with the heat exchange cavity 12 and the second ventilation opening 120.

The air conditioner is configured to: when the air conditioner operates in the first air supply mode, the opening 41 of the partition portion 40 is closed, so that indoor air enters the blower cavity 11 through the air inlet 130, is blown to the heat exchanger 30 in the heat exchange cavity 12 through the blower 20, exchanges heat with the heat exchanger 30, and is blown to the indoor environment through the first air vent 110 to adjust the indoor environment, as shown in fig. 1.

When the air conditioner operates in the second air supply mode, the opening 41 is opened, so that the indoor air enters the heat exchange cavity 12 through the first air vent 110, enters the fan cavity 11 through the opening 41 after heat exchange, is sucked by the fan 20, is discharged to the second air vent 120, and is blown to the indoor environment, as shown in fig. 2.

In the above embodiment of the present invention, the air conditioner is provided with two chambers, namely, the fan cavity 11 and the heat exchange cavity 12, and in the first air supply mode, the fan cavity 11 is isolated from the heat exchange cavity 12, so that the airflow entering the fan cavity 11 can only be sucked by the fan 20, and no other place is left, so that the suction efficiency of the fan 20 is higher, the air volume loss is smaller, and the air conditioner energy efficiency is higher.

In addition, the invention does not have any complicated improvement on the number and arrangement of the heat exchangers 30 and the fans 20, only accurately controls the opening and closing of the air inlet 130, the two air vents and the two exhaust parts of the fans 20, namely, skillfully realizes the switching of two air supply modes, has novel structure, does not bring the increase of cost, and is very suitable for practical application.

When the air conditioner operates in the first air supply mode, the air inlet 130 is opened. When the second air supply mode is operated, the air inlet 130 is closed to prevent air from flowing out of the air inlet 130, so that the heat exchange air flow completely flows out of the second ventilation opening 120 to avoid shunting.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the fan 20 is provided with a first exhaust portion 21 connected to the first ventilation opening 110 and a second exhaust portion 22 passing through the partition 40 to exhaust the heat exchange chamber 12. The air conditioner is configured to open the first exhaust portion 21 and close the second exhaust portion 22 to blow the fan 20 toward the heat exchange chamber 12 when the first blowing mode is operated. In the second air blowing mode, the second exhaust portion 22 is opened and the first exhaust portion 21 is closed so that the fan 20 blows air toward the second air blowing opening 120. The first exhaust portion 21 and the second exhaust portion 22 may be part of a fan volute.

Specifically, the fan 20 may be a double-suction centrifugal fan, two air inlets on two axial sides of the fan face the inner space of the fan cavity 11, and the first exhaust portion 21 and the second exhaust portion 22 are located at different radial positions of the double-suction centrifugal fan. Of course, the fan 20 may also be a single suction centrifugal fan, axial fan, cross-flow fan, or other type of fan.

In the above embodiment, the air inlet 130 may be provided with a damper 131 for controllably opening and closing the air inlet 130. Similarly, the damper 115 may be disposed at the opening 41, the damper 211 may be disposed at the first exhaust portion 21, and the damper 221 may be disposed at the second exhaust portion 22.

Thus, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while a number of exemplary embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described in detail herein, many other variations or modifications consistent with the principles of the invention may be directly determined or derived from the disclosure of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be understood and interpreted to cover all such other variations or modifications.

Claims

1. An air conditioner characterized by comprising:

the air conditioner comprises a shell, a first air inlet, a second air inlet and a fan, wherein the shell is provided with an air inlet communicated with an indoor environment, a first ventilation opening and a second ventilation opening;

the first air supply mode can be operated: indoor air enters the shell through the air inlet, is blown to the heat exchanger by the fan, exchanges heat with the heat exchanger and is discharged to the indoor through the first ventilation opening; or

2. The air conditioner according to claim 1,

the inside of the shell is isolated from an air outlet machine cavity and a heat exchange cavity by a partition part, the fan is positioned in the fan cavity, the heat exchanger is positioned in the heat exchange cavity, the partition part is provided with an opening, and the fan is configured to blow air towards the heat exchange cavity or the second ventilation opening; the air conditioner is configured to:

3. The air conditioner according to claim 2,

the fan is provided with a first exhaust part connected with the first ventilation opening and a second exhaust part penetrating through the partition part to exhaust air to the heat exchange cavity;

4. The air conditioner according to claim 3,

the fan is a double-suction centrifugal fan, two air inlets on two axial sides of the fan face the inner space of the fan cavity, and the first exhaust part and the second exhaust part are located at different radial positions of the double-suction centrifugal fan.

5. The air conditioner according to claim 1,

the air conditioner is configured to open the air inlet when the first air supply mode is operated; and when the second air supply mode is operated, the air inlet is closed.

6. The air conditioner according to claim 1,

the first ventilation opening and the second ventilation opening are respectively arranged on the front wall and the bottom wall of the machine shell.

7. The air conditioner according to claim 6,

the air conditioner is configured to operate the first air supply mode when cooling; and when heating, operating the second air supply mode.

8. The air conditioner according to claim 6,

the heat exchanger and the fan are arranged in the front-rear direction.

9. The air conditioner according to claim 8,

the heat exchanger comprises an upper section and a lower section, the upper section and the lower section are obliquely arranged, and the rear ends of the two sections are connected to form a V-shaped structure with a backward pointed end.

10. The air conditioner according to claim 6,

the air inlet is formed in the rear wall of the shell.