GB2352509A

GB2352509A - Air duct component

Info

Publication number: GB2352509A
Application number: GB9925663A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kyung-Seog Jang; Je-Myung Moon; Jung-Hun Seo
Original assignee: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Current assignee: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 1999-07-28
Filing date: 1999-10-29
Publication date: 2001-01-31
Anticipated expiration: 2019-10-29
Also published as: CN1282861A; KR100337289B1; ES2168918A1; KR20010011436A; CN1129745C; GB2352509B; ES2168918B1; GB9925663D0

Abstract

A flared air duct component for forming an inflow duct for a fan, the component (100) including coupling means (103) for coupling an extension air duct component (110) to its narrow end. The invention also discloses a method of manufacturing two air conditioners using identical flared air duct components (110).

Description

2352509 Air Duct Component

Description

The present invention relates to an air duct component for an air conditioner for 5 mounting to the ceiling of a room.

A conventional axial flow blower for an air conditioner is illustrated in Figure I and is provided with a bell shaped airflow duct 2 mounted coaxially with respect to a fan 3 supported in a casing 1. The duct 2 is slidable in an axial direction against a bias lo provided by springs 6a, 6b. Such an axial blower is known from JP-A-07- 71400.

The airflow duct 2 draws air into the casing 1 from the external suction side of the fan 3 and the position of the airflow duct 2 on the air discharge side of the fan 3 is such that the volume of air is increased under low static pressure conditions.

However, when the air is under a high static pressure and the airflow duct 2 is positioned as indicated by the dotted line, no circulation occurs due to the centrifugal force at the suction side of the fan 3, which acts to increase the static pressure towards the discharge side of the fan 3.

Therefore, the airflow duct 2 tends to relatively increase the volume of air in a large air flow range while it increases the static pressure in a small air flow range. The fan 3 is driven by a motor 5 which is mounted in a support structure 4.

In a conventional axial flow blower such as described above, the airflow duct 2 is supported by springs 6a which enable it to axially slide inside the casing 1 so it can be positioned at the discharge side of the fan 3 in low static pressure conditions and positioned at the external suction side of the fan 3 under high static pressure conditions, thereby altering the distance between the airflow duct 2 and the fan 3.

The conventional axial flow blower described above has the disadvantage that the distance between the airflow duct 2 and the fan 3 is not ideal relative to the airflow conditions due to erroneous positioning of the airflow duct 2.

According to the invention, there is provided a flared air duct component for forming an inflow duct for a fan, the component including coupling means for coupling an extension air duct to its narrow end.

Preferably, said coupling means comprises a plurality of bosses.

In one embodiment, the coupling means comprises a plurality of threaded holes for receiving screws.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a flared air duct comprising a flared air duct component according to the first aspect of the invention and an extension component coupled to the narrow end of the flared air duct component by said coupling means.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided an air conditioner including a fan and an air duct component.

According to the invention, there is also provided a method of manufacturing two air conditioners, the method comprising assembling a fan in a first housing with a duct consisting of a component according to the first aspect of the invention in the manufacture of a first air conditioner, and assembling a fan in a second, larger housing with a duct according to the second aspect of the invention in the manufacture of a second air conditioner, wherein the flared air duct components used for the first and second air conditioners are identical.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side sectional view of a prior art axial flow blower;

Figure 2 is a sectional view illustrating a small capacity ceiling type air conditioner; Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view illustrating an airflow duct; and Figure 4 is a sectional view illustrating a large capacity ceiling type air conditioner.

An air conditioner for attachment to the ceiling of a room to be air conditioned is illustrated in Figure 2, and has a boh 10 for fixing the body 20 of the air conditioner to a ceiling.

Blowing means 30 together with a heat exchanger 40 are disposed within the body 20. A water absorbent pad 60 is disposed beneath the heat exchanger 40 for collecting and draining water generated by the heat exchanger 40 and for mounting the heat exchanger at a predetermined distance away from an inner wall of the body 20 to form a plurality of vertical passages 50. An airflow duct 70 is provided at a lo predetermined distance from the blowing means 30. A motor 31 is mounted on the body 20, and a fan 32 mounted for rotation on the motor shaft. A panel 80 is fixed to the front of the air conditioner and is divided into an air inlet 81 and an air outlet 82. The air inlet 81 is provided with a filter 90 15 for removing foreign objects from the air. The airflow duct 70 includes, as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, a first portion 100 to maintain it a fixed distance from the fan 32 corresponding to the height of the body when the body 20 has a small capacity and a second portion 110 which can be 20 mounted to the first portion 100 to maintain the distance between the airflow duct 70 and the fan 32 and thereby compensate when the body 20 has a larger capacity. The first portion 100 of airflow duct 70 has a narrower diameter outlet 101 than that of the inlet 102. A plurality of bosses 103 arranged at a predetermined position 25 relative to a medium peripheral height thereof are vertically and integrally formed on the first portion 100 to enable the second portion 110 to be coupled thereto by a coupling member 120, which, in the illustrated embodiment, are nuts. The second portion 110 of the airflow duct 70 is disposed on the first portion 100 30 with an outlet 111 near to the fan. The inlet 112 of the second portion 110 is in communication with the outlet 101 of the first portion 100. The periphery of inlet 112 of the second portion 110 is provided with a flange 113.

The flange 113 is provided with a plurality of coupling holes 114 at locations corresponding to the bosses 103 on the first portion. Coupling members 120 are passed through the holes 114 and engage in the bosses 103. In an alternative embodiment, the first and second portions 110, 110 may be joined using adhesives.

Insulating material 130 encompasses the inner wall of body 20.

The operation of the present invention will now be described. As illustrated in Figure 4, when current is supplied to the motor 31, the blower-type fan 32 rotates.

Air is sucked into the body 20 through the filter, air suction inlet 81 of the panel 80 lo and the first portion 100 of the airflow duct as indicated by the arrows in Figure 4.

The lower end of the fan 32 is situated at a predetermined distance from the outlet 1 formed above the first portion 100 so that an inner upper part of the outlet 10 1 overlaps an external lower part of the fan 32 whilst maintaining a gap therebetween.

Air having passed through the first portion 100 is sucked into an inner central part of the fan 32 via its lower end and blown radially according to the shape of the vanes of the fan 32.

The air is forcibly directed through the heat exchanger 40 surrounding the periphery of the fan 32 at a predetermined distance therefrom. The heat exchanger 40 cools the air passing through it.

Water generated on the surface of the heat exchanger 40 due to the difference between the heat exchanger temperature and the air temperature flows off the surface of the heat exchanger 40 and is collected by the water absorbent pad 60 disposed beneath it. The water is drained from the absorbent pad via a drainage hose (not shown).

The cold air discharged from the heat exchanger impinges on an inner wall of the body 20 and the insulating material 130 and is directed along a passage 50 and through the air outlet 82 in the panel 80 back into the room.

The first portion 100 of the airflow duct is used for a small capacity air conditioner in which the body 20 is shorter in height, as illustrated in Figure 4.

However, as illustrated in Figure 5, when the air conditioner has a greater capacity, the height of the body 20 is increased and the distance (L) between the fan 32 and first portion 100 is altered.

Instead of replacing the first portion 100, the second portion 110 is added thereto to compensate for the alteration in the distance (L). The inlet 112 of the second lo portion 110 is disposed on the outlet 101 of the first portion 100 and the bosses 103 formed on the first portion 100 are accommodated in coupling holes 114 formed in the flange 113 of the second portion 110 such that the first and second portions 100, 110 can be coupled together using the coupling members 120.

Accordingly, the first portion of the airflow duct 70 is used regardless of the airflow capacity of the air conditioner. When the capacity is increased, a second portion 110 can be coupled to the first portion 100 to maintain the predetermined distance (L) between the fan 32 and the first portion 100.

As will be apparent from the foregoing, the present air conditioner is advantageous in that the first portion 100 of the airflow duct 70 is used irrespective of the capacity of the air conditioner being manufactured. When the capacity of the air conditioner is increased, a second portion 110 of the airflow duct 70 is connected to the first portion 100 to maintain the set distance between the fan 32 and the airflow duct.

Claims

1. A flared air duct component for forming an inflow duct for a fan, the component including coupling means for coupling an extension air duct component to its narrow end.

2. A component according to claim 1, wherein the coupling means comprises a plurality of bosses.

3. A component according to claim 1 or 2, wherein coupling means comprises a lo plurality of threaded holes for receiving screws.

4. A flared air duct comprising a flared air duct component according to claim 1 and an extension component coupled to the narrow end of the flared air duct component by said coupling means.

5. A duct according to claim 4, wherein the coupling means comprises a plurality of bosses on the flared air duct component and a flange on the extension component for contacting the bosses.

6. A duct according to claim 4 or 5, wherein coupling means comprises a plurality of threaded holes for receiving screws and a plurality of screws passing through one or more radially outwardly extending flanges on the extension duct component and screwed into the threaded holes.

7. A air conditioner including a fan and a duct component according to claim 1, 2 or 3.

8. An air conditioner including a duct according to claim 4, 5 or 6.

9. An air conditioner according to claim 8, including a housing having a front panel with air inlet and outlet openings, a heat exchanger and an airflow passage in cornmunication with the outlet, the flared air duct component, the fan and the heat exchanger being mounted in the housirig:. Such that air is sucked through the fan via the air inlet, the flared air duct component and the extension component and blown through the heat exchanger and airflow passage to the outlet.

10. An air conditioner according to claim 9, wherein the housing is covered with insulating material.

11. An air conditioner according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the heat exchanger is mounted on an absorbent support structure attached to the housing to absorb water generated by the heat exchanger.

12. A method of manufacturing two air conditioners, the method comprising assembling a fan in a first housing with a duct consisting of a component according to claim 1 in the manufacture of a first air conditioner, and assembling a fan in a second, larger housing with a duct according to claim 4 in the manufacture of a second air conditioner, wherein the flared duct components used for the first and second air conditioners are identical.

13. A bell mouth apparatus of a ceiling type air conditioner, the air conditioner having a fan disposed within a body thereof for sucking air into the body and discharging same and bell mouth means for maintaining a predetermined gap from the fan to thereby guide the suction of the air, the bell mouth means comprising: a first bell mouth; and a second bell mouth coupled to the first bell mouth to be mounted near to the fan.

14. The apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein the first bell mouth comprises a plurality of bosses integrally and protrusively formed at an external periphery thereof to allow the second bell mouth to be coupled by a plurality of coupling members.

15. The apparatus as defined in claim 13, wherein the second bell mouth is integrally formed with a flange disposed with a plurality of coupling holes such that a plurality of coupling bolts pierce a periphery contacting the first bell mouth to be coupled to the bosses of the first bell mouth.

16. An air conditioner substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to 5 the accompanying drawings.