EP2565547A1

EP2565547A1 - Outdoor unit of air conditioner

Info

Publication number: EP2565547A1
Application number: EP12179493A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Yoshinari Nagatomi; Daisuke Kajiwara
Original assignee: Sanyo Electric Co Ltd
Current assignee: Sanyo Electric Co Ltd
Priority date: 2011-08-31
Filing date: 2012-08-07
Publication date: 2013-03-06
Also published as: JP2013050283A; CN102967009B; CN102967009A; JP5919513B2

Abstract

An outdoor unit(10) for an air conditioner including a housing (11), a compressor (30) disposed on a bottom plate (12) of the housing, a heat exchanger (21) having a substantially U-shaped cross-section that has tube plates (21) at both the front ends thereof, is disposed on the bottom plate and forms a back surface and right and left side surfaces of the housing, and an air blower (30), is provided with a partition plate (38) for partitioning the inside of the housing into an heat exchange chamber (39) having the heat exchanger disposed therein and a machine chamber (40) having the compressor disposed therein. The partition plate is substantially U-shaped in section and has a back plate portion (60) and side plate portions (62, 63), and the front end of at least one of the side plate portions is fixed to at least one of the tube plates of the heat exchanger, and the at least one of the side plate portions and the back plate portion of the partition plate are provided with openings portions (65, 66, 67) through which the heat exchange chamber and the machine chamber intercommunicate with each other.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INTENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an outdoor unit of an air conditioner that is configured so that air sucked from a lateral side through a heat exchanger by an air blower is blown out upwards.

2. Description of the Related Art

There is known an outdoor unit of an air conditioner including a compressor disposed on a bottom plate of a housing, a heat exchanger having a substantially U-shaped cross-section that is disposed on the bottom plate and forms a back face and both right and left side faces of the housing, and an air blower disposed at the upper side of the heat exchanger (see JP-A-2006-189196 , for example). In order to prevent rain drops from directly impinging against electrically-powered equipment of the compressor, etc., this type of outdoor unit is provided with a partition plate for partitioning the inside of the housing into a heat exchange chamber and a machine chamber, and the compressor, etc. are accommodated in the machine chamber.
In this type of outdoor unit, the housing has been require to be miniaturized with keeping the heat exchange area. Therefore, there has been studied and sought such a construction that a partition plate is configured to have a substantially U-shaped cross-section and include a back plate portion and right and left side plate portions and disposed inside a heat exchanger and also the front ends of the side plate portions are fixed to the tube plate of the heat exchanger.
However, in this construction, the side plate portions of the partition plate are disposed to be proximate to the heat exchanger and fixed to confront the heat exchanger, so that the resistance to air flow at sites of the heat exchanger which confront the side plate portions of the partition plate increases and thus the heat exchange efficiency decreases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the present invention has been implemented in view of the foregoing situation, and has an object to provide an outdoor unit of an air conditioner in which the resistance to air flow at the sites of the heat exchanger which confront the side plate portions of the partition plate decreases, so that the heat exchange efficiency of the air conditioner can be increased.
In order to attain the above object, an outdoor unit(10) for an air conditioner including a housing (11), a compressor (30) disposed on a bottom plate (12) of the housing, a heat exchanger (21) having a substantially U-shaped cross-section that is provided with tube plates (21) at both the front ends thereof and disposed on the bottom plate to form a back surface and right and left side surfaces of the housing, and an air blower (30), is characterized by comprising a partition plate (38) for partitioning the inside of the housing into an heat exchange chamber (39) having the heat exchanger disposed therein and a machine chamber (40) having the compressor disposed therein, wherein the partition plate is configured to be substantially U-shaped in section and have a back plate portion (60) and side plate portions (62, 63), the front end of at least one of the side plate portions is fixed to at least one of the tube plates of the heat exchanger, and the at least one of the side plate portions and the back plate portion of the partition plate are provided with opening portions (65, 66, 67) through which the heat exchange chamber and the machine chamber intercommunicate with each other.
In the above outdoor unit, the compressor may have a power supply terminal (30A), and the opening portions may be formed so that upper edge portions (65A, 66A, 67A) of the opening portions are located to be positionally lower than a height position at which the power supply terminal is located.
The above outdoor unit may further comprise an electrical component box (34) in which a control unit (70) for controlling the operation of the compressor and the air blower is mounted, wherein the electrical component box is disposed above the compressor and provided with an intercommunication opening (71) intercommunicating with the machine chamber.
In the above outdoor unit, the front ends of both the side plate portions may be fixed to the tube plates of the heat exchanger, and both the side plate portions may be provided with the opening portions.
In the above outdoor unit, at least one of the side plate portions of the partition plate may be sloped to be gradually farther away from the inner surface of the heat exchanger as the position thereof shifts from the tube plate to the inside of the heat exchanger.
In the above outdoor unit, an upper portion (61) of the back plate portion of the partition plate may be bent to form a slope surface.
According to the present invention, the partition plate that is substantially U-shaped in section and has a back plate portion (60) and side plate portions (62, 63) is provided inside the heat exchanger, the front end of at least one of the side plate portions of the partition plate is fixed to at least one of the tube plates of the heat exchanger, and the at least one of the side plate portions and the back plate portion of the partition plate are provided with opening portions (65, 66, 67) through which the heat exchange chamber and the machine chamber intercommunicate with each other. Therefore, air sucked from the heat exchanger can be made to flow through the opening portions into the machine chamber and further flow through the opening portion from the machine chamber into the heat exchange chamber. Accordingly, the resistance to air flow at site(s) of the heat exchanger which confronts the side plate portion (s) can be reduced, so that the heat exchange efficiency can be increased.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the outlook of an outdoor unit of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a side cross-sectional view showing the outdoor unit;
Fig. 3 is a top view showing the internal construction of the outdoor unit;
Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing a partition plate;
Fig. 5 is a partially perspective view showing an installed state of the partition plate; and
Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the outdoor unit to illustrate air flow.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT

An embodiment according to the present invention will be described hereunder with reference to the drawings.
An air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention is constructed by an outdoor unit 10 and an indoor unit (not shown), and cooling operation and heating operation are executed by making refrigerant flow through a refrigerant circuit connected through a refrigerant pipe. The outdoor unit 10 is installed outdoors, and heat-exchanges the refrigerant with outdoor air so that the refrigerant is condensed to radiate heat to the outdoor air under cooling operation and also vaporizes the refrigerant to absorb heat from the outdoor air under heating operation. The up-and-down direction and the right-and-left direction described below represent directions defined when the outdoor unit 10 is viewed from the front side thereof under the state that the outdoor unit 10 is installed.
Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the outlook of the outdoor unit 10, and Fig. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of the outdoor unit 10 when the outdoor unit 10 is viewed from the right side thereof.
The outdoor unit 10 has a unit case (housing) 11 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped box-like shape, and the unit case 11 is configured to have a bottom plate 12 which is fixedly mounted on a pair of leg members 13 extending in the front-and-rear direction so as to be bridged between the leg members 13, support poles 14 extending vertically from the four corners of the bottom plate 12 and a front panel 15.
A heat exchanger 21 described later is disposed on the bottom plate 12, and the back face and both the right and left side faces of the unit case 11 are formed by the heat exchanger 21. An outdoor fan (air blower) 22 and a bellmouth 25 are disposed above the heat exchanger 21 so that the bellmouth 25 is disposed around the outdoor fan 22. A fan guard 26 is disposed at an air blow-out opening 25A of the bellmouth 25 to prevent a finger or the like from coming into contact with the outdoor fan 22. Furthermore, a face panel 27 having a heat insulating material such as foamed polystyrene or the like is provided around the bellmouth 25.
The front panel 15 is vertically divided into two parts of an upper panel 15A and a lower panel 15B, and the upper panel 15 and the lower panel 15B are bridged and fixed between the support poles 14 at the front surface side. As shown in Fig. 2, refrigerant circuit constituent parts 32 such as a compressor 30 and valve bodies such as a four-way valve, an expansion valve, etc. are accommodated at the front surface side of the unit case 11 so as to be connected to one another through a pipe. One end side of the pipe for these refrigerant circuit constituent parts 32 is connected to the indoor unit through a heat exchanger 21 through pipe connection, and the other end side of the pipe for the refrigerant circuit constituent parts 32 is connected to the indoor unit through pipe connection, thereby constituting a refrigerant circuit in which refrigerant is circulated.
Furthermore, an electrical component box 34 in which a control unit for controlling various kinds of equipment of the outdoor unit 10 is mounted is disposed at the upper side of the compressor 30, etc. at the front surface side of the unit case 11 . Accordingly, a worker can easily perform a maintenance work for the compressor 30, the control unit in the electrical component box 34 etc. from the front surface side by detaching the front panel 15.
As shown in Fig. 2, the outdoor fan 22 is configured to have a fan motor 23 disposed above the heat exchanger 21 and a propeller fan 24 secured to the shaft of the fan motor 23. Joint members (not shown) for joining the support poles 14 at the positions corresponding to the upper end of the heat exchanger 21 are provided between the support poles 14 adjacent to each other in the width direction of the unit case 11, and the fan motor 23 is fixed to a support frame 16 which is bridged between the joint members.
When the propeller fan 24 is rotated by the fan motor 23, outdoor air is sucked from the surrounding of the outdoor unit 10, more specifically, from the left side surface side, the back surface side and the right side surface side (excluding the front surface) of the unit case 11 as indicated by arrows X in Figs. 2 and 3 into the unit case 11, and then blown out to the outside of the unit case 11 through the air blow-out opening 25A of the bellmouth provided to the upper surface portion of the unit case 11. That is, the outdoor unit 10 is configured as a top surfaces air blow-out type in which heat-exchanged air is blown out from the top surface of the outdoor unit 10.
As shown in Fig. 3, the heat exchanger 21 which is configured to be bent substantially in U-shape in section is disposed on the bottom plate 12 of the unit case 11. The heat exchanger 21 is disposed to extend from the left side surface of the unit case 11 along the back surface and the right side surface. Tube plates 21A for fixing a refrigerant pipe which is laid to be continuously meandered in the heat exchanger 21 are respectively provided to both the end surfaces of the heat exchange 21.
An accumulator 35, an oil separator 36 and a receiver tank 37 which constitute a part of the refrigerant circuit together with the compressor 30 and the above refrigerant circuit constituent parts 32 are disposed on the bottom plate 12 in an inner space surrounded by the heat exchanger 21 A frame 17 is fixed to the center of the upper portion of the accumulator 35, and the frame 17 is fixed to a joint member which extends from the upper end portion of the accumulator 35 and joins the support poles 14, thereby preventing the accumulator 35 from swinging.
The accumulator 35, the oil separator 36 and the receiver tank 37 are pressure containers for temporarily stocking refrigerant or refrigerant oil, and the maintenance frequency for these parts is low. On the other hand, the compressor 30 and the above refrigerant circuit constituent parts 32 have electrically powered elements such as motors, coils, etc., and thus the maintenance frequency for these parts is high. Therefore, in this construction, a partition plate 38 which upwardly extends from the surface of the bottom plate 12 to the lower end portion of the electrical component box 34 is provided, and the inside of the unit case 11 is partitioned into a heat exchange chamber 39 and a machine chamber 40 by the partition plate 38 as shown in Fig. 3. The compressor 30 and the refrigerant circuit constituent parts 32 for which the maintenance frequency is high are accommodated in the machine chamber 4 0, and the heat exchanger 21, the accumulator 35, the oil separator 36 and the receiver tank 37 for which the maintenance frequency is low are accommodated in the heat exchange chamber 39.
As shown in Figs. 2 to 4, the partition plate 38 is configured to extend from the surface of the bottom plate 12 straightly upwardly partway and then slope obliquely forwardly. The upper end portion of the partition plate 38 is connected to the electrical component box 34 disposed at the front surface side of the bellmouth 25. Therefore, rain drops can be prevented from directly impinging to respective equipment accommodated in the machine chamber 40 by the partition plate 38. Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the heat exchanger 39 and the machine chamber 40 are partitioned from each other by the partition plate 38. Therefore, the respective parts in the machine chamber 40 can be prevented from being burned by a sire source intruding from the outside of the unit case 11. Furthermore, the compressor 30 is accommodated in the machine chamber 40 surrounded by the partition plate 38, so that operation sound noise occurring in the compressor 30 can be suppressed from leaking to the outside.
Next, the partition plate will be described.
Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the outlook of the partition plate 38, and Fig. 5 is a partial perspective view showing the installed state of the partition plate 38.
The partition plate 38 is formed of a metal plate (sheet metal), and has four plate members of a back plate portion 60, an upper plate portion 61 joined to the upper edge of the back plate portion 60, and right and left side plate portions 62 and 63 which are joined to the right and left side edges of the back plate portion and upper plate portions 60 and 61 respectively. These plates are fixed to one another by screws or welding so as to have a substantially U-shape cross-section as a whole. The partition plate 38 having a complicated shape can be manufactured at a lower cost as compared with a case where it is formed by press molding or the like.
The left and right side plate portions 62 and 63 have first fixing portions 62A and 63A and second fixing portions 62B and 63B, respectively. The first fixing portions 62A and 63A are formed so as to extend substantially in parallel to the back plate portion 60 by bending the front ends of the side plate portions 62 and 63 to the outside of the unit case 11 at a substantially right angle. The second fixing portions 62B and 63B are formed so as to extend substantially in parallel to the bottom plate 12 by bending the lower ends of the side plate portions 62 and 63 to the inside of the unit case 11 at a substantially right angle. The first fixing portions 62A and 63A are respectively fixed to the tube plates 21A of the heat exchanger 21, and the second fixing portions 62B and 63B are fixed to the bottom plate 12, whereby the heat exchanger 21 is fixed to the unit case 11 through the partition plate 38.
According to this construction, when the heat exchanger 21 is assembled, the partition plate 38 functions as a positioning member for positioning the heat exchanger 21, and it makes an assembling work easy. Furthermore, when the outdoor unit 10 is transported or carried, the heat exchanger 21 can be prevented from being positionally displaced because the heat exchanger 21 is fixed to the bottom plate 12 by the partition plate 38.
As shown in Fig. 2, the upper plate portion 61 of the partition plate 38 is disposed to function as a slope face extending from the upper edge of the back plate portion 60 to the lower end portion of the electrical component box 34. Accordingly, outdoor air sucked through the heat exchanger 21 into the unit case 11 flows along the plate surfaces of the back plate portion 60 and upper plate portion 61 of the partition plate 38 in the unit case 11 so as to be guided to the outdoor fan 22 disposed above the heat exchanger 21 and blown out from the outdoor fan 22 to the outside of the unit case 11. Accordingly, the air flow in the unit case 11 is not disturbed, and air can flow through the heat exchanger 39 smoothly (i.e., the resistance to air flow is low).
Furthermore, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the upper plate portion 61 has a holding portion 61A which is formed so as to extend substantially in parallel to the bottom plate 12 by bending the upper end portion of the upper plate portion 61 to the front side of the unit case 11. The holding portion 61A comes into contact with the bottom surface of the electrical component box 34, and holds the electrical component box 34 in the height direction when the electrical component box 34 is secured to the support poles 14. The upper plate portion 61 has a cut-out portion 61B obtained by cutting out a part of the holding portion 61A at the left side plate portion 62 side.
As shown in Fig. 5, the upper plate portion 61 has an opening 53 for check (check opening) and a lead-wire draw-out hole 54. The check opening 53 is normally covered by a panel 53A, and the panel 53A is freely detachably provided to the upper plate portion 61. The check opening 53 is an opening for checking the inside of the heat exchange chamber 39 from the machine chamber 40 side. Accordingly, when the inside of the heat exchange chamber 39 blocked by the partition plate 38 and the electrical component box 34 can be easily checked from the front surface side of the unit case 11 by detaching the panel 53A covering the check opening 53.
A rubber cap 54A is fitted in the lead-wire draw-out hole 54. The rubber cap 54A has a crack, and lead wires joined to the fan motor 23 are drawn into the machine chamber 40 through the crack. Accordingly, rain drops can be prevented from intruding into the machine chamber 40 through the lead-sire draw-out hole 54, and also the lead wires can be prevented from coming into contact with the metal plate around the lead-wire draw-out hole 54 Furthermore, the lead wires are connected to the inside of the electrical component box 34 through the cut-out portion 61B.
Here, in the above construction, the right and left side plate portions 62 and 63 of the partition plate 38 are disposed to be proximate to the heat exchanger 21 and also confront the heat exchanger 21 as shown in Fig. 3. Therefore, the resistance to air flow at the sites of the heat exchanger 21 which confront the side plate portions 62 and 63 increases, so that there occurs a problem that the total heat exchange efficiency of the heat exchanger 21 is lowered.
According to this embodiment, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, opening portions 66 and 67 and an opening portion 65 are formed at the lower portions of the left and right side plate portions 62 and 63 and the back plate portion 60 so that the heat exchange chamber 39 and the machine chamber 40 intercommunicate with each other through these opening portions.
The opening portions 66 and 67 formed in the right and left side plate portions 62 and 63 prevent the side plate portions 62 and 63 from covering a part of the heat exchanger 21, so that a part of air passing through the heat exchanger 21 flows into the machine chamber 40 through the opening portions 66 and 67. The air flowing into the machine chamber 40 is discharged to the heat exchange chamber 39 through the opening portion 65 formed between the back plate portion 60 and the bottom plate 12. The opening area (aperture area) of the opening portion 65 is preferably set to be larger than the total opening area (total aperture area) of the opening portions 66 and 67 formed in the side plate portions 62 and 63.
When the outdoor fan 22 is operated, the internal pressure in the heat exchange chamber 39 is reduced to negative pressure, so that air flows into the heat exchange chamber 39 through the heat exchanger 21. In this case, the opening (aperture) area of the opening portion 65 is set to be larger than the total opening (aperture) area of the opening portions 66 and 67 formed in the side plate portions 62 and 63, so that the air flowing into the machine chamber 40 is not disturbed by the opening portion 65. Therefore, the air flowing into the machine chamber 40 through the opening portions 66 and 67 is smoothly discharged to the heat exchange chamber 39, and the resistance to air flow at the sites of the heat exchanger 21 which confront the side plate portions 62 and 63 can be suppressed from increasing, so that the amount of air passing through the heat exchanger 21 (the air flow rate) can be increased and thus the heat exchange efficiency of the whole heat exchanger 21 can be increased.
On the other hand, as the opening portions 66 to 67 are formed, the water-tightness between the machine chamber 40 and the heat exchange chamber 39 is lowered. Therefore, when the opening portions 65 to 67 are excessively large, a problem is caused in waterproof performance. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the opening portions 65 to 67 are formed so that the upper edge portions 65A to 67A thereof are lower than a power supply terminal 30A of the compressor 30. According to this construction, even when rain water intrudes into the machine chamber 40 through the opening portions 65 to 67, the rain water can be prevented from directly impinging against the power supply terminal 30A of the compressor 30.
Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the opening portion 65 through which the machine chamber 40 and the heat exchange chamber 39 intercommunicate with each other is formed between the back plate portion 60 and the upper surface of the bottom plate 12. Therefore, the parts disposed in the machine chamber 40 and the parts disposed in the heat exchange chamber 39 can be connected to one another through the opening portion 65 by pipe connection. According to this construction, the partition plate 38 can be detached while the pipe connection of these parts can be kept, so that the maintenance workability of the parts in the heat exchange chamber 39 can be particularly enhanced.
Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the left side plate portion 62 is formed to be obliquely inclined so as to be gradually farther away from the inner surface of the heat exchanger 21 as the position thereof shifts from the tube plate 21A inwardly in the depth direction of the unit case 10 in top view as shown in Fig. 3. According to this construction, a gap can be formed between the left side plate portion 62 above the opening portion 66 and the heat exchanger 21. Therefore, a part of the heat exchanger 21 can be prevented from being blocked by the side plate portion 62, and the heat transfer area of the heat exchanger 21 can be effectively used. Furthermore, the side plate portion 62 of the partition plate 38 is provided to be inclined with respect to the side surface of the heat exchanger 21. Therefore, the flow direction of air sucked into the unit case 11 through the heat exchanger 21 is not rapidly varied by the partition plate 38, so that the heat exchange efficiency of the heat exchanger 21 is not lowered.
As shown in Fig. 6, the electrical component box 34 contains respective control equipment (control units) 70 for controlling the operations of the respective equipment(for example, the compressor 30 and the outdoor fan 22) of the outdoor unit 10, and an intercommunication opening 71 intercommunicating with the machine chamber 40 is formed in the lower surface of the electrical component box 34. This intercommunication opening 71 is provided at the upper side of the opening portion 66, and fitted in the cut-out portion 61B of the upper plate portion 61. An exhaust duct 72 is provided to the right side surface of the electrical component box 34, and an exhaust port (not shown) of the exhaust duct 72 is opened to the heat exchange chamber 39.
According to this construction, most of air flowing into the machine chamber 40 through the opening portions 66 and 67 is discharged to the heat exchange chamber 39 through the opening portion 65 as indicated by arrows X1 in Fig. 6. However, a part of the air ascends in the machine chamber 40, flows into the electrical component box 34 through the intercommunication opening 71 and then is discharged to the hat exchange chamber 39 through the exhaust duct 72 as indicated by arrows X2 in Fig. 6. Therefore, the air (outdoor air) flowing from the lower side to the upper side in the outdoor unit 10 and the air flowing rate distribution thereof can be easily made uniform in the up-and-down direction of the heat exchanger 21, so that the outdoor air flowing into the outdoor unit 10 can be rectified and the reduction of the air flow amount can be suppressed. Furthermore, with respect to the electrical component box 34, air is made to flow into the electrical component box 34 as indicated by the arrows X2 in Fig. 6. Therefore, the control equipment 70 in the electrical component box 34 and the inside of the electrical component box 34 can be effectively cooled, so that increase of the temperature of the control equipment (parts) 70 and the temperature of the inside of the electrical component box 34 can be suppressed to a small level. Accordingly, desired performance of the control equipment (parts) 70 can be secured.
As described above, according to this embodiment, the outdoor unit 10 of the air conditioner that has the compressor 30 disposed on the bottom plate 12 of the unit case 11, the heat exchanger 21 having the substantially U-shaped cross-section which is disposed on the bottom plate 12 and forms the back surface and the right and left side surfaces of the unit case 11, and the outdoor fan 22 disposed at the upper side of the heat exchanger 21, is provided with the partition plate 38 which is disposed inside the heat exchanger 21 and formed to be substantially U-shaped in section and have the back plate portion 60 and the right and left side plate portions 62 and 63 and through which the inside of the unit case 11 is partitioned into the heat exchange chamber 39 having the heat exchanger 21 disposed therein and the machine chamber 40 having the compressor 30 disposed therein. The front ends of the right and left side plate portions 62 and 63 of the partition plate 38 are fixed to the tube plates 21A of the heat exchanger 21, and the opening portions 66 and 67 and the opening portion 65 through which the heat exchange chamber 39 and the machine chamber 40 intercommunicate with each other are formed in the side plate portions 62 and 63 and the back plate portion 60. Therefore, air is allowed to flow through the opening portions 65 to 67, whereby the resistance to air flow at the sites of the heat exchanger 21 which confront the side plate portions 62 and 63 can be reduced, and the air flow amount can be increased. Therefore, the heat exchange efficiency can be increased.
According to this embodiment, the opening portions 65 to 67 are formed so that the respective upper edge portions 65A to 67A thereof are positionally lower than the height position of the power supply terminal 30A of the compressor 30. Therefore, even when rain water intrudes into the machine chamber 40, the rain water can be prevented from directly impinging against the power supply terminal 30A of the compressor 30.
Furthermore, according to the embodiment, the electrical component box 34 containing the control equipment 70 for controlling the operations of the compressor 30 and the outdoor fan 22 is provided at the upper side of the compressor 30, and the intercommunication opening 71 intercommunicating with the machine chamber 40 is provided to the electrical component box 34 . Therefore, a part of the air flowing into the machine chamber 40 through the opening portions 66 and 67 can be made to flow into the electrical component box 34 through the intercommunication opening 71, and the control equipment 70 in the electrical component box 34 can be effectively cooled.
Still furthermore, according to the embodiment, the partition plate 38 is configured so that one side plate portion 62 is sloped to be farther away from the inner surface of the heat exchanger 21 as the position thereof shifts from the tube plate 21A to the inside of the heat exchanger 21. Therefore, a gap can be provided between the side plate portion 62 at the upper side of the opening portion 66 and the heat exchanger 21. Accordingly, a part of the heat exchanger 21 can be prevented from being blocked by the side plate portion 62, and the heat transfer area of the heat exchanger 21 can be effectively used.
Still furthermore, according to this embodiment, the upper plate portion 61 disposed at the upper portion of the partition plate 38 is formed as a slope surface. Therefore, the cross-sectional area in the direction of flow of air (swirl flow of air) in the unit case 11 which is sucked from the heat exchanger 21 and blown out from the outdoor fan 22 disposed at the upper side of the heat exchanger 21 is not rapidly varied. Therefore, the heat exchange efficiency of the heat exchanger 21 is not lowered.
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications may be made without departing from the subject matter of the present invention. For example, in this embodiment, with respect to the partition plate 38, the front ends of the right and left side plate portions 63 and 62 are fixed to the tube plates 21A of the heat exchanger 21. However, in an outdoor unit which is provided with a unit case 11 having a large lateral width and thus has a large capacity, the front end of one side plate portion may be fixed to one tube plate 21A of the heat exchanger 21 while the other side plate portion is fixed to the bottom plate. That is, the front end of at least one side plate portion of the partition plate 38 may be fixed to the tube plate 21A of the heat exchanger 21. In this case, a large gap is formed between the other side plate portion of the partition plate 38 and the heat exchanger, and it is unnecessary to form an opening portion in the other side plate portion because air sucked through the heat exchanger 21 smoothly flows along the gap between the heat exchanger 21 and the other side plate portion having no opening portion to the heat exchange chamber 39. In other words, an opening portion may be formed in only a side plate portion of the partition plate 38 which is fixed to the tube plate 21 A of the heat exchanger 21. In this case, it is needless to say that an opening portion is formed in the back plate portion of the partition plate 38.
Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the left side plate portion 62 is sloped (inclined) so as to be farther away from the inner surface of the heat exchanger 21 as the position thereof shifts from the tube plate 21A to the inside of the heat exchanger 21. In this case, it is preferable that both the right and left side plate portions are sloped (inclined) because the total resistance to air flow from both the side surfaces of the heat exchanger 21 is reduced. However, it is needless to say that both the right and left side plate portions are configured not to be sloped (inclined) when the opening portions are formed in both the right and left side plate portions.
Still furthermore, according to this embodiment, the heat exchanger 21 is integrally bent to be substantially U-shaped in section. However, in the outdoor unit which has the unit case 11 of the large lateral width and thus has a large capacity, two heat exchangers each of which is configured to be substantially L-shaped in sect ion may be disposed to confront each other, whereby the heat exchangers are arranged in a substantially U-shape in section.

Claims

An outdoor unit (10) for an air conditioner including a housing (11), a compressor (30) disposed on a bottom plate (12) of the housing, a heat exchanger (21) having a substantially U-shaped cross-section that is provided with tube plates (21) at both the front ends thereof and disposed on the bottom plate to form a back surface and right and left side surfaces of the housing, and an air blower (30), characterized by comprising a partition plate (38) for partitioning the inside of the housing into an heat exchange chamber (39) having the heat exchanger disposed therein and a machine chamber (40) having the compressor disposed therein, wherein the partition plate is configured to be substantially U-shaped in section and have a back plate portion (60) and side plate portions (62, 63), the front end of at least one of the side plate portions is fixed to at least one of the tube plates of the heat exchanger, and the at least one of the side plate portions and the back plate portion of the partition plate are provided with opening portions (65, 66, 67) through which the heat exchange chamber and the machine chamber intercommunicate with each other.
The outdoor unit according to claim 1, wherein the compressor has a power supply terminal (30A), and the opening portions are formed so that upper edge portions (65A, 66A, 67A) thereof are located to be positionally lower than a height position at which the power supply terminal is located.
The outdoor unit according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising an electrical component box (34) in which a control unit (70) for controlling the operation of the compressor and the air blower is mounted, wherein the electrical component box is disposed above the compressor and provided with an intercommunication opening (71) intercommunicating with the machine chamber.
The outdoor unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the front ends of both the side plate portions are fixed to the tube plates of the heat exchanger, and both the side plate portions are provided with the opening portions,
The outdoor unit according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein at least one of the side plate portions of the partition plate is sloped to be gradually farther away from the inner surface of the heat exchanger as the position thereof shifts from the tube plate to the inside of the heat exchanger.
The outdoor unit according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein an upper portion (61) of the back plate portion of the partition plate is bent to form a slope surface.