EP1795819B1

EP1795819B1 - Air conditioner

Info

Publication number: EP1795819B1
Application number: EP05765087.1A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Seiichi Koga; Nobuhiro Ogura; Mitsuo Kunisada; Yoshinobu Hamada; Jin Yoshida; Morinobu Iijima; Masazumi Makino
Original assignee: Advanced Air-Conditioning Research and Development Center Co Ltd; Sanyo Electric Co Ltd; Toshiba Carrier Corp
Current assignee: Advanced Air-Conditioning Research and Development Center Co Ltd; Sanyo Electric Co Ltd; Toshiba Carrier Corp
Priority date: 2004-09-30
Filing date: 2005-06-27
Publication date: 2018-11-21
Anticipated expiration: 2025-06-27
Also published as: KR20080045301A; EP2163831B1; EP1795819A1; EP1795819A4; WO2006038352A1; KR100881250B1; EP2163831A1; KR20070054231A

Description

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an air conditioner.

Background Art

There has been hitherto known an in-ceiling mount type air conditioner that is mounted in the ceiling of a room to be air-conditioned and has a unit main body (the main body of the air conditioner) containing a heat exchanger and an air blower accommodated in a substantially box-shaped housing. In this type of in-ceiling mount type air conditioner, a face panel having an air blowing port is secured to the lower surface side of the unit main body by screws (for example. See Patent Document 1). Furthermore, there are also known in-ceiling mount type air conditioners in which a duct port is provided on the side surface of the unit main body, and air-conditioned air is blown from the air blowing port through an air blowing duct connected to the duct port. In some of this type of air conditioners each having the air blowing duct, a rotatable disc is disposed in the duct port and the air blowing amount to the air blowing duct is adjustable by the disc (for example, see Patent Document 2).

Patent Document 1: JP-A-2003-194394
Patent Document 2: JP-UM-A-7-22344

claim

JP 8 233305 A

Disclosure of the Invention

Problem to be solved by the Invention

Plastic resin is generally used for the face panel from the viewpoint of beautiful appearance, easiness of molding, strength, etc., and for example polystyrene (PS) resin is used as this type of plastic material. Polystyrene is excellent in easiness of molding and high in strength. However, if oil component or the like floating in the air adheres to a stress-occurring portion such as a screw-fixing portion or the like, the resin may be deteriorated across the ages by the oil component and the stress.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner that can suppress deterioration of a screw-fixing portion of a face panel.

Means of solving the Problem

In order to attain the above object, according to the present invention, an air conditioner according to claim 1 is provided. According to the above construction, the hermetically accommodating portion accommodates therein the portion of the face panel at which stress occurs due to the fixing member and from which the fixing member is exposed, and thus oil components, etc. in the air can be prevented from adhering to the portion at which stress occurs.
In this case, the face panel may have a face panel main body provided a maintenance opening at the side portion thereof, and a side panel that is detachably secured to the face panel main body to close the maintenance opening, and the hermetically accommodating portion may be provided to the side panel. The hermetically accommodating portion may be provided with a flange portion that is in close contact with the surface of the face panel main body when the portion of the face panel main body which is fixed by the fixing member and the neighborhood thereof are covered by the hermetically accommodating portion.
Furthermore, the side panel has a plurality of fitting portions that are fitted to fitting and receiving portions provided to the face panel main body while sliding from the side of the face panel main body, and when the fitting portion are fitted to the fitting and receiving portions, the hermetically accommodating portion is slid under the state that the flange portion abuts against the neighborhood of a portion which is a frame of the face panel and to which the fixing member is fixed, covering the portion fixed by the fixing member and the neighborhood thereof.

Effect of the Invention

According to the present invention, the face panel is fixed to the unit main body by the fixing member, and there is provided with the hermetically accommodating portion for accommodating the portion of the face panel at which stress occurs due to the fixing member and from which the fixing member is exposed. Therefore, oil components, etc. in the air can be prevented from adhering to the portion at which stress occurs.

Best Mode for carrying out the Invention

Embodiments of the present invention will be described hereunder in detail with reference to the drawings.

(1) First Embodiment

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the construction of an exterior appearance of an in-ceiling mount type air conditioner (hereinafter referred to as "air conditioner") according to a first embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the air conditioner 1 has a unit main body (the main body of the air conditioner) 2, a face panel 3, and a suction grille 4. The unit main body 2 is mounted in the ceiling, and it has a box-shaped main body case 5 formed of steel plate. Two suspending tags 6 are provided to each of both the side surfaces 5a of the main body case 5. The tags 6 are fixed to suspending bolts (not shown) suspended from the ceiling beams. When the unit main body 2 is mounted in the ceiling, the unit main body 2 is led from the ceiling hole provided on the ceiling face into the ceiling, the respective tags 6 are hooked and fixed to the suspending bolts, and the unit main body 2 is mounted in the ceiling.
Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the exterior appearance of the face panel 3 under the state that the suction grille 4 is opened, and Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the face panel. The face panel 3 is formed of resin such as polystyrene (PS) or the like, provided to the ceiling face so as to close the ceiling hole and designed in a substantially rectangular shape as shown in Fig. 2. As shown in Fig. 3, the face panel 3 is fitted to the unit main body 2 by two temporarily hooking tags 30, and also fixed to the unit main body 2 by screws 80A, 80B (see Fig. 6). The face panel 3 is provided with one air suction port 7 for sucking indoor air and one air blowing port 8 for blowing air-conditioned air to a room. The margins of the air suction port 7, the air blowing port 8 and the face panel 3 are surrounded by heat insulating material 31. The suction grille 4 is provided to the air suction port 7 so as to be freely opened/closed.
A flap 14 is provided to the air blowing port 8 of the face panel 3 so as to be freely swingable. Specifically, the flap 14 is provided with two swing shafts 15, and each of the swing shafts 15 is supported by a bearing so as to be freely swingable. A foamed material 17 is provided to the air blowing port 8 to prevent dew condensation under cooling operation. Four maintenance openings 18 are provided to each of both the right and left sides of the face panel 3 so as to adjust the fixing height of the unit main body 2 by accessing the vicinity of the two suspending tags 6 of the unit main body 2, and side covers 19A, 19B covering these maintenance openings 18 are provided to the face panel 3 so as to be freely detachable. The details of the side covers 19A, 19B will be described in detail later. In addition, the face panel 3 is further provided with a light receiving portion fixing hole in which a light receiving portion 20 for optically receiving a signal from a wireless remote controller is fitted, etc.
Next, the internal construction of the unit main body 2 will be described with reference to Figs. 4 to 6. Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the internal construction of the unit main body 2, and Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the construction of the unit main body 2 and the face panel 3. Fig. 6 is a plan view showing the air conditioner 1 from which a side cover 19 is detached when viewed from the floor side.
As shown in Fig. 4, the main body case 5 of the unit main body 2 is provided with a partition plate 40, and the main body case 5 is divided into a machine room 41 and a heat exchange room 42 by the partition plate 40. An air blower unit 50 and an electric component box 51 are disposed in the machine room 41. The air suction port 7 of the face panel 3 is provided so as to cover the machine room 41 (see Fig. 6), and indoor air is introduced from the air suction port 7 into the main body 2 of the air conditioner by an air blowing operation of the air blower unit 50. The air blower unit 50 is equipped with two centrifugal air blowers 52 disposed so as to be spaced from each other, and a motor 53 that is provided between the centrifugal air blowers 52 and drives the respective centrifugal air blowers 52 by the same shaft.
The centrifugal air blower 52 is provided with a multiblade fan on the inner peripheral surface of a cylinder member and rotationally driven with the center axis of the cylinder as a rotating axis by the motor 53, and a casing 55 that accommodates the multiblade fan 54 therein and is designed in a turbinated spiral shape in sectional view. Air suction ports 56 having the size corresponding to the diameter of the multiblade fan 54 are provided at both the sides of the casing 55, and the centrifugal air blowers 52 are disposed in the machine room 41 so that the air suction ports 56 face the sides of the unit main body 2. Furthermore, a ventilation flue 57 having a turbinated spiral shape in sectional view is formed in the casing 55 of the centrifugal air blower 52, and the discharge port (outlet) of the ventilation flue 57 is connected to an air introducing port (see Fig. 5) formed in the partition plate 40 through a duct 58. Accordingly, as indicated by arrows A in Fig. 4, indoor air is sucked from the air suction ports 56 at both the sides of the centrifugal blowers 52 by rotation of the multiblade fan 54 of the centrifugal air blowers 52, and discharged through the ducts 58 and the partition plate 40 to the heat exchange room 42 as indicated by arrows B. As shown in Fig. 5, a heat exchanger 60, a drain pan 62, etc. are disposed in the heat exchange room 42.
Here, the construction of the side panels 19A, 19B will be described. The side panel 19A and the side panel 19B have a symmetrical shape, and thus in the following description, the side panel 19A will be described. Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing the exterior appearance of the back side of the side panel 19A. The side panel 19A is roughly equipped with a main plate portion 90 having a substantially flat-plate shape, and a sub plate portion 91 located at the upper side of the main plate portion 90. The main plate portion 90 is provided with fitting portions 92A, 92B which are fitted to a fitting and receiving portion 81A of the face panel 3, a fitting portion 93 fitted to a fitting and receiving portion 81B of the face panel 3, a fitting portion 94 fitted to a fitting and receiving portion 81C of the face panel 3, a fitting portion 95 fitted to a fitting and receiving portion 81E of the face panel 3, and a fitting portion 96 fitted to a fitting and receiving portion 81F of the face panel 3.
The sub plate portion 91 is provided with a fitting portion 97 fitted to the fitting and receiving portion 81D (Fig. 6) of the face panel 3, a fitting portion 98 fitted to the fitting and receiving portion 81G (Fig. 6) of the face panel 3, and a pocket portion 99 for covering the surrounding area of the screw 80B (Fig. 6) for fixing fixes the face panel 3 to the main body 2 of the air conditioner under a substantially hermetical state. Furthermore, the peripheral edge portion of the pocket portion 99 at the face panel 3 side is formed as a flange portion 99A having a projecting shape.
The actual fixing of the side panel 19A to the face panel 3 is carried out by moving the side panel 19A in a direction of an arrow D1 (the direction to the face panel 3) shown in Figs. 6 and 7 to inset the side panel 19A at a predetermined position of the face panel 3, and further sliding the side panel 19A in a direction of an arrow D2 while the side panel 19A abuts against the face panel 3.
Fig. 8 is a sectional perspective view showing the state that the side panel 19A is secured to the face panel 3. As shown in Fig. 8, the flange portion 99A of the side panel 19A abuts against a flat-plate type frame portion 3A of the peripheral portion of the screw 80B in the face panel 3, and substantially hermetically covers the screw 80B in cooperation with the wall portion 99B (Fig. 7).
Furthermore, the fitting portions 92A, 92B are fitted to the fitting and receiving portion 81A of the face panel 3, the fitting portion 93 is fitted to the fitting and receiving portion 81B of the face panel 3, the fitting portion 94 is fitted to the fitting and receiving portion 81C of the face panel 3, the fitting portion 95 is fitted to the fitting and receiving portion 81E of the face panel 3, and the fitting portion 96 is fitted to the fitting and receiving portion 81F of the face panel 3.
In this embodiment, the screw 80B for fixing the face unit 3 to the unit main body 2 is substantially hermetically covered by the pocket portion 99 of the side panel 19A,19B. Therefore, oil components floating in the air are prevented from adhering the portion of the face portion 3 to which stress is applied by the screw 80B, and thus the deterioration (crack or the like across the ages) of resin such as polystyrene (PS) constituting the face panel 3 can be suppressed.
The embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various modifications may be made. For example, in the first embodiment, the pocket portion 99 is constructed as the hermetically accommodating portion for accommodating the portion exposed to the side panel 19A side of the screw 80B as a fixing member while the portion concerned is substantially hermetically sealed. However, it may be modified so that the head portion of the screw is located in a recess portion, the recess portion concerned is sealed by a lid member so that the lid member is detachable from the recess portion, and the hermetically accommodating portion is constructed by the recess portion and the lid member. Likewise, the shape of the pocket portion 99 is not limited to the box-shape like this embodiment, but various shapes such as a cylindrical shape, etc. may be applied.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[Fig. 1] is a perspective view showing the exterior appearance construction of an air conditioner according to a first embodiment.
[Fig. 2] is a perspective view showing the exterior appearance construction of a face panel under the state that a suction grille is opened.
[Fig. 3] is an exploded perspective view showing the face panel.
[Fig. 4] is a perspective view showing the internal construction of the main body of the air conditioner.
[Fig. 5] is a cross-sectional view showing the construction of the main body of the air conditioner and the face panel.
[Fig. 6] is a plan view showing the air conditioner from which a side cover is detached when viewed from the floor side.
[Fig. 7] is a perspective view showing the exterior appearance construction of the back side of the side panel.
[Fig. 8] is a cross-sectional perspective view showing the state that the side panel is secured to the face panel.

Description of Reference Numerals

1, 100: air conditioner
2, 110: unit main body (main body of air conditioner)
3: face panel
4: frame (hermetically accommodating portion)
7: suction grille
8: air blowing port
14: flap
19A: side panel
19B: side panel
80A: screw (fixing member)
80B: screw (fixing member)
90: main plate portion
91: sub plate portion
99: pocket portion (hermetically accommodating portion)
99A: flange portion

Claims

An air conditioner of an in-ceiling mount type having a unit main body (2), a face panel (3) of resin which covers the lower surface side of the unit main body and has an air suction port (7) and an air blowing port (8) formed therein and a side panel (19A, 19B), characterized in that the face panel is fixed to the unit main body by a fixing member (80A, 80B), and the side panel is secured to the face panel and has a pocket portion (99) that substantially hermetically covers an exposed portion of the fixing member at a portion of the face panel to which stress is applied by the fixing member and from which the fixing member is exposed.
The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the face panel has a face panel main body provided with a maintenance opening (18) at the side portion thereof, and the side panel is detachably secured to the face panel main body to close the maintenance opening.
The air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein the pocket portion is provided with a flange portion (99A) that is in close contact with the surface of the face panel main body when the portion of the face panel main body which is fixed by the fixing member and the neighborhood thereof are covered by the pocket portion.
The air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein the side panel has a plurality of fitting portions (92A, 92B, 93 to 98) that are fitted to fitting and receiving portions (81A to 81G) provided to the face panel main body while sliding from the side of the face panel main body, and when the fitting portion are fitted to the fitting and receiving portions, the pocket portion is slid under the state that the flange portion abuts against the neighborhood of a portion which is a frame (3A) of the face panel and to which the fixing member is fixed, covering the portion fixed by the fixing member and the neighborhood thereof.