JP2000074476A - Air outlet structure of air-conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the air outlet structure of an air-conditioner to hold a reliable intercoupling state during an auto swing mode wherein right and left coupling rods coupling with respective vertical blades are interlocked during an auto swing mode. SOLUTION: This air outlet structure is formed such that the operation direction of a force exerted on a rotatable lock piece 3 from surfaces 43a to be locked during return movement of a coupling rod 14a on the right side is extended in the same direction as the direction of a straight line extending to the working point of a force from a rotation center 35 of the lock piece 33 or in a direction in which a rotation moment in a non-pull-off direction is generated by the lock piece 33. This constitution reliably holds an axial engaging state between the lock piece 33 and the surface 43a to be locked and operation in an auto swing mode and stably effects operation in an auto swing mode without the occurrence of uncoupling to the coupling state between the coupling rods 14a and 14b.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner having a plurality of vertical blades and a connecting rod to which the vertical blades are connected.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a wall-mounted indoor unit of a separate type air conditioner, vertical blades are provided at the outlet together with horizontal blades to adjust the blowing direction of the conditioned air blown from the outlet. A plurality of blades are arranged in the width direction of the outlet. Usually, these vertical blades are respectively connected to the right and left connecting rods with the boundary substantially at the center of the outlet, and by moving each connecting rod in the axial direction, the direction of the blowing direction of the vertical blades can be left and right independently. It has become. Thereby, for example, by turning the left vertical blade to the left and the right vertical blade to the right, wide blowing is performed to blow out the conditioned air over an angle range wider than the width of the outlet.

Further, when the user designates the operation mode of the automatic swing, after setting the relative positions of the connecting rods in the axial direction such that the left and right vertical blades are parallel to each other,
By reciprocating these connecting rods in the axial direction, an operation of alternately changing the blowing direction of the conditioned air from the outlet to the left and right is performed. In this case, conventionally, a swing motor composed of, for example, a stepping motor or the like is connected to each of the left and right connecting rods and driven.

[0004] By the way, as described above, the structure in which the swing motor is connected to each of the left and right connecting rods increases the overall manufacturing cost. Immediately before the start of the operation in the auto swing mode, it is also possible to configure so that the left and right connecting rods can be connected to each other by a user operation. In this case, only one of the connecting rods is used for swinging. Although the configuration may be such that a motor is connected, convenience is greatly reduced.

The inventors of the present application have previously proposed an air conditioner having a connecting mechanism for automatically connecting the left and right connecting rods when the operation mode is switched to the auto swing mode (Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 10-26139). 8-254658). The air conditioner has a left connecting rod 51 as shown in FIGS.
Member 53 having two legs 52 at the end of the first member 53
And the leg 52 is attached to the end of the right connecting rod 54.
A second member 56 having two guide grooves 55 into which the respective distal ends of 52 are inserted. Each leg 5
The protrusions 57 projecting outward in the width direction are provided at the tips of
57 are formed, and first and second concave holes 58 and 58 are formed at the left and right ends of the guide grooves 55 and 55, respectively.
59 are formed. The legs 52, 52 are inserted in the guide grooves 55, 55 in a state where they are narrowed in the width direction and elastically deformed.

[0006] As shown in FIG.
In a state in which 7 is fitted in the second recessed holes 59, the left and right vertical blades 60, 60 connected to the connecting rods 51, 54, respectively, are configured to be curved in a direction in which they expand. As a result, wide blowing is performed in which the conditioned air is blown out from the outlet at a wide angle.

When the operation is switched to the automatic swing mode in the wide blowing state, the right connecting rod 54 is reciprocated in the axial direction by a swing motor (not shown) connected to the right connecting rod 54. The driving to start is started. At this time, the right connecting rod 54 firstly moves forward in the rightward direction from the state shown in FIG. 9A, and the projections 57 and 57 move into the second recessed holes with the forward movement at this time. 59 ・
59, the guide grooves 55 are moved relatively to the left in the left direction, and when they reach the left ends of the guide grooves 55, as shown in FIG. 58. At this time, the left and right vertical blades 60 are in parallel with each other.

Thus, the projection 57 is formed in the first recessed hole 58.
When the 57 is fitted, the fitted state is maintained by the elastic restoring force that spreads in the width direction of the legs 52, 52, whereby the axial relative movement between the first member 53 and the second member 56 is prevented. It will be in a connected state. Therefore, thereafter, the left connecting rod 51 also moves right and left integrally with the reciprocating movement of the right connecting rod 54, and accordingly, the operation in the above-described automatic swing mode is performed.

As described above, since the left and right connecting rods 51 and 54 are automatically connected when the operation is switched to the automatic swing mode, only one swing motor need be provided, which is convenient. It is possible to lower the production cost without impairing the performance.

[0010]

However, in the structure in which the projections 57, 57 are fitted into the first recessed holes 58, 58 to maintain the connected state of the left and right connecting rods 51, 54 as described above, There is a problem that the state may come off during driving in the auto swing mode. That is, in the above structure, the right connecting rod 5 in FIG.
When 4 moves in the backward direction (left direction in the figure),
A force acts to push the protrusions 57 inward in the width direction from the arc-shaped inner surfaces of the first recessed holes 58. In other words, the relationship between the point of action and the direction of the force in this structure and the center of rotation of each leg 52, 52 located on each center line is determined by the force described above.
2 generates a rotational moment such as to move the tip side toward the inside in the axial direction. Therefore, in the above description, although the configuration is such that the elastic restoring force that overcomes this is generated in the leg portion 52, for example, when the elastic force decreases or the shape changes due to repeated temperature changes at the outlet. As a result, the locking force is reduced, and as a result, the connected state may be disconnected during the operation in the automatic swing mode.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described problems, and has as its object to more reliably maintain the connection state of the connection rods connected to each other at the time of switching operation to an automatic swing mode. Is possible, and
An object of the present invention is to provide an air outlet structure of an air conditioner capable of improving operability.

[0012]

Therefore, in the air outlet structure of the air conditioner of the present invention, the connecting rod to which the plurality of vertical blades 13 are connected is divided into a first connecting rod 14a and a second connecting rod 14b. A driving means 16 for reciprocating the first connecting rod 14a in the axial direction, and a connecting rod connecting mechanism 15 for connecting the second connecting rod 14b to the first connecting rod 14a when the first connecting rod 14a is reciprocated. The connecting rod connecting mechanism 15 is
The contact surfaces 43 contact each other so that the first connecting rod 14a pushes the second connecting rod 14b when the first connecting rod 14a moves forward.
b · 32a, the locked surface 43a and the locking piece 33, which are mutually engaged in the axial direction when the first connecting rod 14a is moved back,
The connecting piece 14a and the second connecting rod 14b are respectively provided and formed, and the locking piece 33 is moved between a connecting position and a non-connecting position where the locking piece 33 is axially engaged with the locked surface 43a. The air outlet structure of the air conditioner is provided so as to be rotatable, and the action of the force acting on the locking piece 33 located at the connecting position from the locked surface 43a when the first connecting rod 14a moves back. The direction is the same direction as the direction of a straight line from the rotation center of the locking piece 33 toward the point of application of the force, or the direction in which the locking piece 33 generates a rotational moment in the direction from the non-connection position side to the connection position side. The locking piece 33 is formed so that

That is, in the above configuration, when the rotatable locking piece 33 is located at the connecting position, the first
When the connecting rod 14a moves back, the locking piece 33 is moved from the locked surface 43a.
So that the locking piece 33 does not disengage from the connection position to the non-connection position, that is, the locking piece 33 does not rotate from the connection position to the connected position due to the above-mentioned force. As described above, the locking piece 33 is formed based on the rotation center of the locking piece 33 and the acting direction of the force. As a result, it is possible to more reliably hold the locking piece 33 at the connection position, and as a result, the connection state of the connection rods connected to each other does not come off, and the operation in the automatic swing mode is performed. The state can be performed more stably.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an air conditioner air outlet structure comprising a locked portion having the locked surface 43a on one of the adjacent ends of the first connecting rod 14a and the second connecting rod 14b. 43, and on the other hand, a locking member 30 having the locking piece 33 and a pushed piece 32 extending substantially in parallel with the locking piece 33 in the forward direction with respect to the locking piece 33. The locking piece 33 is attached to the
Is formed so as to move between the connection position and the non-connection position. When the locking piece 33 is located at the non-connection position and the first connection rod 14a moves in the forward movement direction, the locked Part 43
When the front surface in the forward direction abuts against and is pushed by the pushed piece 32, the locking member 33 rotates in the locking member 30 to move from the non-connection position to the connection position. It is characterized in that the locked portion 43 is formed so as to be held between the pushed piece 32 and the locking piece 33 from both sides in the axial direction.

According to this configuration, the operation in which the locking piece 33 moves from the non-connection position to the connection position and is located behind the locked surface 43a in the forward movement direction is performed in front of the locked portion 43 in the forward movement direction. This is caused by the operation of the lock member 30 rotating when the side surface contacts the pushed piece 32. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately perform an operation of moving the locking piece 33 from the non-connection position to the connection position after moving the first connection rod 14a in the forward movement direction, so that operability is improved. Further, if the locking piece 33 is formed of an elastic material, and is elastically deformed as the locked portion 43 moves in the forward movement direction beyond the locking piece 33, the locking piece 33 is formed.
May be configured to move from the non-connection position to the connection position, but in this case, repetition of such elastic deformation may cause elastic deterioration such as settling. On the other hand, in the above, the locking piece 33 is made of an elastic material.
Does not need to be formed, and a more reliable connection state can be obtained.

In the air outlet structure for an air conditioner according to a third aspect, the locking piece 33 is located at the connection position, and the locked portion 43 is moved from the rear in the forward movement direction to the forward movement direction with respect to the locking piece 33. When moving relatively, the front surface of the locked portion 43 in the forward direction abuts against the locking piece 33 and pushes the locking piece 33 in a direction intersecting the axial direction, whereby the locking is performed. At least one of the contact portions between the locked portion 43 and the locking piece 33 is moved in the forward movement direction so that the rotation of the lock member 30 accompanying the movement of the piece 33 from the connection position to the non-connection position occurs. It is characterized in that it is formed as a surface obliquely inclined.

In this configuration, when the first connecting rod 14a is moved in the forward movement direction to connect the two connecting rods 14a and 14b to each other, if the locking piece 33 is already located at the connecting position. Along with the movement of the locked portion 43 in the forward movement direction, a force is applied from the locked portion 43 to push the locking piece 33 in a direction intersecting the axial direction, whereby the locking member rotates. As a result, the locking piece 33 moves from the connection position to the non-connection position.
Therefore, also in this case, it is not necessary to separately perform an operation of moving the locking piece 33 from the connection position to the non-connection position, and it is not necessary to form the locking piece 33 from an elastic material as described above. Therefore, operability is improved and a more reliable connection state can be obtained.

In the air outlet structure for an air conditioner according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an operation piece 36 for manually setting the axial position of the connecting rod 14b to which the lock member 30 is attached is connected to the lock member 30. The locking member 30 is formed so that a manual operation with the operation piece 36 causes the locking member 30 to rotate with the movement of the locking piece 33 from the connection position to the non-connection position.

In this case, the operation piece 36 for manually setting the axial position of the connecting rod 14b is used for both connecting rods 14a and 1a.
4b can be rotated to release the connection state of the lock member 4b.
The overall configuration can be simpler than a configuration in which individual operation pieces are provided corresponding to these operations.

In the air outlet structure of an air conditioner according to a fifth aspect, the downstream end of each of the vertical blades 13 provided in the air outlet 11 is connected to each of the connecting rods 14a and 14b. It is characterized by.

With such a configuration, the blowing noise of the conditioned air passing through the outlet 11 can be made smaller. That is, the flow velocity of the conditioned air passing through the outlet 11 becomes smaller toward the downstream side. Therefore, each connecting rod 1
By connecting the ends of the vertical blades 13 on the downstream side in the blowing direction to the 4a and 14b, the connecting rods 14a and 14b are arranged at locations where the flow velocity is smaller, whereby the conditioned air is reduced. The noise generated when the air flows crossing the connecting rods 14a and 14b is also reduced, and a more silent operating state can be maintained.

In the air outlet structure of the air conditioner according to the present invention, the connecting rods 14a and 14b are slid relative to each other when the connecting rods 14a and 14b are moved in the axial direction when the blowing direction of the conditioned air from the outlet 11 is manually set to a wide angle. The first connecting rod 14a and the second connecting rod 14 that are in contact with each other
A moderating mechanism 23 for providing a holding force against axial movement is provided at a plurality of locations along the axial direction on each end side with respect to b.

In this configuration, each connecting rod 14a.1
When the air-conditioning air blowing direction is set to a wide angle by manually moving the 4b in the axial direction, a sense of moderation can be obtained by each moderating mechanism 23 during the axial movement operation. Therefore, even when repeatedly setting a desired blowing angle smaller than the maximum blowing angle, this can be easily performed based on the moderation feeling obtained by the moderation mechanism 23, so that the operability is improved.

[0024]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows an indoor unit of a separate type air conditioner according to this embodiment. This indoor unit includes a casing 1 having a substantially rectangular cross section. The casing 1 is attached to a bottom frame 2 on the rear side (right side in the drawing) fixed along the indoor wall surface and a front side of the bottom frame 2. And a front grill 3. The front grille 3 is further provided with a front panel 4 that covers the front opening. The front panel 4 has a front suction port 5a.
An upper surface suction port 5 b is formed on each top plate surface of the bottom frame 2 and the front grill 3, respectively.
A dust filter 6 is mounted along the inside of a.5b.

In the casing 1, a heat exchanger 7 functioning as an evaporator (during cooling operation) or a condenser (during heating operation) in the refrigerant circuit, and a blower fan 8 composed of a cross flow fan are arranged. . The heat exchanger 7 is configured by combining a front-side heat exchanger 7a and a rear-side heat exchanger 7b in an inverted V-shape, and the blower fan 8 is disposed between the lower ends of the heat exchangers 7a and 7b. Have been. At the lower ends of the heat exchangers 7a and 7b, a front-side drain pan 9a and a rear-side drain pan 9b that receive drain water generated in the heat exchangers 7a and 7b are provided, respectively. On the other hand, an outlet 11 is formed below the blower fan 8 and opens to the lower front side of the front grill 3. This outlet 1
1 is a horizontal blade 12.1 for adjusting the blowing direction of the conditioned air blown out through the blowing outlet 11 in the vertical direction.
2 and a vertical blade 13 for adjustment in the left-right direction.

A plurality of vertical blades 13 are juxtaposed in the width direction of the indoor unit (the direction orthogonal to the paper surface). These vertical blades 13 are formed in the same shape as each other, and are fixed to the lower surface of the front side drain pan 9a at the upper end on the front side. Each of the vertical blades 13 includes an upper frame 13a that extends obliquely rearward from a position fixed to the front-side drain pan 9a, a rear frame 13b that hangs from the rear end of the upper frame 13a, and a rear frame 13b.
flap surface 13 extending in a substantially trapezoidal shape forward from the front edge of b
c, and is connected to a connecting rod 14a (or 14b) described later at a lower end on the front edge side of the flap surface 13c.

The flap surface 13c is made of a thin or soft synthetic resin so as to easily bend and deform. Thereby, the connecting rod 14a (14
When b) is moved in the axial direction in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper, the flap surface 13c is curved so that the front end rotates toward the back of the paper or toward the front of the paper about the connection point to the rear frame 13b. To occur.

As shown in FIG. 3, the connecting rods 14a and 14b are separated right and left into a right connecting rod 14a and a left connecting rod 14b substantially at the center of the outlet 11, and the connecting rods 14a and 14b Each of the vertical blades 13 is connected to a plurality (five in the figure). A connecting rod connecting mechanism 15 is provided between the connecting rods 14a and 14b.
14b can be switched to a mutually connected state. The mechanism 15 will be described later in detail.

In the indoor unit having the above structure, when the blower fan 8 is driven, the room air is sucked into the casing 1 from the front suction port 5a and the top suction port 5b, and the sucked air is filtered by the dustproof filter. Dust is removed when passing 6
Next, during the cooling operation in which the heat exchanger 7 functions as an evaporator, the conditioned air becomes cooled when passing through the heat exchanger 7, and in the heating operation in which the heat exchanger 7 functions as a condenser. The air becomes heated conditioned air at the time of passage 7. After passing through the blower fan 8, the conditioned air is blown into the room from the outlet 11 in a direction corresponding to the direction setting of the horizontal blade 12 and the vertical blade 13 at the outlet 11.

In setting the blowing direction, in particular, each of the vertical blades 13 is provided with a connecting rod 14a which is separated substantially right and left at substantially the center.
・ Attached to 14b. Therefore, by moving the right connecting rod 14a to the right and the left connecting rod 14b to the left so that the connecting rods 14a and 14b mutually spread in the axial direction, the flap surface 13c of each of the vertical blades 13 on the left becomes As shown in FIG. 3, the front end side is curved leftward so as to be located on the left side of the back side, and the flap surface 13c of each vertical blade 13 on the right side is curved rightward.
Thereby, as shown by the arrow in the figure, wide blowing that blows the conditioned air into the room over an angle range wider than the width of the outlet 11 is possible.

Each of the vertical blades 13 is, as described above,
The downstream end in the blowing direction is connected to the connecting rods 14a and 14b. In this case, the flow velocity of the conditioned air flowing through the locations where the connecting rods 14a and 14b are disposed is smaller than that on the upstream side. For this reason, the conditioned air is supplied to each connecting rod 14a · 1.
The noise generated when flowing crossing 4b is also reduced, making it possible to maintain a more silent operating state.

By the way, the indoor unit has an automatic swing function of simultaneously and periodically changing the bending direction of each of the left and right vertical blades 13 to the left and right, and swinging the blowing direction to the left and right. For this purpose, for example, a swing motor (drive means) 16 composed of a stepping motor is provided at the end of the right connecting rod 14a, as shown in FIG. An end of the right connecting rod 14a is connected to a driving shaft of the motor 16 via a lever member 17, and by driving the motor 16, the right connecting rod 14a reciprocates in the axial direction. Has become.

When the right connecting rod (first connecting rod) 14a reciprocated by the motor 16 is reciprocated in the axial direction, the left connecting rod which has been located at the wide blowing position until then is generated. The connecting rod (second connecting rod) 14b is automatically connected to the right connecting rod 14a, and the left connecting rod 14b is connected to the right connecting rod 14a.
b also has a reciprocating motion in the axial direction that is integral with the right connecting rod 14a. Hereinafter, both connecting rods 1
The structure of the connecting rod connecting mechanism 15 for automatically generating the connection between the connecting rods 4a and 14b will be described.

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the right side of the left connecting rod 14b. As shown, the left connecting rod 14b
A cylindrical body 20 having a rectangular cross section extending rightward in parallel with the connecting rod 14b at a position slightly deeper than the connecting rod 14b is connected to the end of the connecting rod 14b. In this cylindrical body 20,
An insertion hole 21 having a rectangular cross section and opening at the right end thereof is formed. An elongated slide guide hole 22 extending leftward from a position near the right end of the cylindrical body 20 is provided on the upper wall surface 20a of the cylindrical body 20 substantially along the center in the width direction of the upper wall surface 20a.

The right and left sides of the slide guide hole 22 are provided with engagement pins 4 to be described later.
Moderation mechanism 23 that gives a sense of moderation of the slide position to 1
... are provided. These moderation mechanisms 23 are provided with a pair of tongues 23a on the front side so as to abut each other, and have recesses slightly recessed into the opposite sides of the tongues 23a. 23b,
When the engaging pin 41 is located between the tongues 23a and 23a and the recess 23b, the engaging pin 41 is sandwiched between the tongues 23a and 23a to provide an appropriate holding force.

On the other hand, the front and rear side wall surfaces 20b and 20c of the cylindrical body 20 are partially cut out and formed in an open shape so as to communicate with the insertion hole 21 from the side at the left end side. I have. Then, from the front edge of the upper wall surface 20a and the front edge of the lower wall surface 20d in these cutout regions, the respective wall surfaces 20a and 20d are locally cut out in an Ω shape, and are formed into the upper wall surface 20a and the lower wall surface 20d. The shaft support holes 24, 24 communicating with the front edges are formed coaxially. The shaft support holes 24 are provided at positions slightly to the left of the left edge of the slide guide hole 22.

FIG. 6A shows a lock member 30 to be assembled to the cylindrical body 20. This lock member 30
Is formed in a substantially U-shape having a connecting portion 31 extending in the left-right direction, and a driven piece 32 and a locking piece 33 extending from both ends of the connecting portion 31 to the back side in parallel with each other. Is provided with a U-shaped engaging recess 34. A support shaft 35 having a circular cross section is provided upright at a substantially middle position in the front-rear direction of the pushed piece 32.

The locking piece 33 is formed by diagonally notching a region on the far side of the right end surface, and this portion is formed as an inclined surface 33a. In addition, a left operation piece 36 that protrudes forward is provided on the right end face of the connecting portion 31 in a hanging shape. In addition, as shown in FIG.
Is formed coaxially therewith so as to protrude also from the lower surface of the driven piece 32. The right end side of the connecting portion 31 is formed in an inverted L-shape, and a rotation regulating surface 37 perpendicular to this portion is formed.
Is provided.

FIG. 7 shows that the lock member 30 is connected to the cylindrical body 2.
0 shows a state where it is assembled. As shown in the figure, this assembly pushes the support shaft 35 of the lock member 30 from each front edge of the upper wall surface 20a and the lower wall surface 20d of the cylindrical body 20 into each shaft support hole 24, and This is performed by setting the support shaft 35 in a fitted state. As a result, the pushed piece 32 and the locking piece 33 of the lock member 30 are
Through the cutout area of the front side wall surface 20b
0, and in this state, it is in an assembled state in which it is horizontally rotatable around the support shaft 35.

In the same figure, the rotation restricting surface 37 of the lock member 30 is connected to the lower wall surface 20d of the cylindrical body 20.
5 shows a state in which the counterclockwise rotation about the support shaft 35 is restricted by contacting the front end surface of the front side of the vehicle from the near side. At this time, the pushed piece 32 and the locking piece 33 are respectively positioned along the front-rear direction, and the pushed piece 32 is such that its tip reaches the cutout area of the inner side wall surface 20 c of the cylindrical body 20. The locking piece 33 has a length dimension such that the leading end thereof is located almost directly below the rear edge of the slide guide hole 22.

FIG. 8 shows the structure on the left end side of the right connecting rod 14a. The end of the right connecting rod 14a is connected to a fitting 40 extending leftward in parallel with the connecting rod 14a at a position slightly deeper than the connecting rod 14a. The insertion body 40 is formed in a plate shape having substantially the same dimensions as the cross section of the hole 21 so that the insertion body 40 can be inserted into the insertion hole 21 of the cylindrical body 20. And this insert 4
At the left end side of the reference numeral 0, an engagement pin 41 projecting upward is provided substantially at the center in the front-rear direction. Further, the engagement recess 42 is provided slightly to the right of the engagement pin 41 so as to be recessed in an inverted U-shape from the front edge of the insertion member 40 to the back side. A locked portion 43 is formed on the left side of the drawing so as to project from the back side to the front side. The dimension of the locked portion 43 in the left-right direction is determined by the pressed piece 32 of the lock member 30 and the locking piece 3.
3 is set slightly smaller than the dimension between the two.

A region on the front side of the engaging pin 41 on the distal end surface of the locked portion 43 is formed as an arc-shaped curved abutting surface 44 in plan view. In addition, a plate 45 extending leftward from the left end of the right connecting rod 14a in parallel with the insert 40 extends forward of the insert 40. A right operation piece 46 that protrudes and hangs down is provided. Between the plate body 45 and the right operation piece 46 and the insertion member 40, a separation gap slightly exceeding the thickness dimension of the front side wall surface 20b of the cylindrical body 20 is provided.

The inserts 40 are inserted into the cylindrical body 20 as shown in FIG.
The connecting rods 14a and 14b are connected to each other via a connecting rod connecting mechanism 15 composed of the cylindrical body 20 and the lock member 30. In this assembled state, the engagement pin 41 of the insertion member 40 is inserted into the slide guide hole 22 of the cylindrical body 20 from below, whereby the sliding movement of the insertion member 40 in the left-right direction is guided. You. Further, in a range from the position where the engagement pin 41 contacts the right end edge of the slide guide hole 22 to the time when the insertion member 40 moves to the left and the left end portion contacts the lock member 30, the insertion member 40 Is slidable in the cylindrical body 20. Therefore, in this range, the connecting rods 14a and 14b are separated from each other.

In such an assembled state, the connecting rods 14a and 14b are assembled into the air outlet 11 of the indoor unit, and thereafter, the vertical blades 13 are inserted into the blade mounting holes 18 of the connecting rods 14a and 14b. Flap surface 1
The front edge of the lower end of 3c is attached.

Next, the operation of the connecting rod connecting mechanism 15 when the user switches to the operation in the automatic swing mode with the connecting rods 14a and 14b positioned, for example, in the above-described wide blowing mode will be described with reference to FIG. This will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 7A shows a state of wide blowing. At this time, the inserted body 40 of the right connecting rod 14a is pulled out most to the cylindrical body 20 of the left connecting rod 14b, that is, the engaging pin 41 contacts the right end edge of the slide guide hole 22, The distance between the connecting rods 14a and 14b is the widest.

Note that the blowing angle in the wide blowing can be appropriately reduced by the user holding the left and right operation pieces 36 and 46 with the fingertip and performing an operation of narrowing the interval from the above. . At this time, each time the engaging pin 41 that moves to the left in the slide guide hole 22 in accordance with such an operation is located at the position of each moderating mechanism 23 from the above-described position, the above-described holding force acts and the moderating is performed. A feeling is given. Therefore, in the above description, when setting based on this sense of moderation, it is possible to select the blowout angle in three stages, and thereby, even if the blowout angle is repeatedly set to be particularly smaller than the maximum blowout angle, This is called the moderation mechanism 2
3 can be easily performed based on the sense of moderation obtained by the step 3, and thus the operability is improved.

During the wide blow operation as described above, the mode is switched to the automatic swing mode, and when the driving of the swing motor 16 is started, first, the right connecting rod 14 is started.
a is moved leftward. Along with this, the insertion member 40 enters the inside of the cylindrical body 20 to the left. At this time, as shown in the figure,
When the locking piece 33 of the lock member 30 is located at a position on the movement path on the distal end side of the insertion body 40 (hereinafter, this position is referred to as a connection position), the left end face of the insertion body 40 is locked. It contacts the locking piece 33 of the member 30. That is, the locking piece 33
The right end inclined surface 33a of the fitting insert 40 comes into contact with the left end of the curved abutment surface 44. With this, as the fitting insert 40 further enters the left direction from this state, the locking piece 33 becomes It will be pushed to the near side. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6B, a clockwise rotation operation occurs around the support shaft 35 in the lock member 30, and the rotation angle becomes
The size gradually increases with the insertion of the insertion body 40.

FIG. 10C shows that the above operation is continued.
The position of the tip of the locking piece 33 is pushed out to the side edge of the fitting 40 (hereinafter, the position of the locking piece 33 is referred to as a non-connection position), and the left end of the fitting 40 is locked. Piece 33
Is shown. When the insertion member 40 further enters the left direction from this state, the insertion member 40 abuts on the right end surface of the pushed piece 32. Then, as the insertion member 40 further enters the left direction from the contact position, the lock member 30 rotates counterclockwise about the support shaft 35.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 5D, the lock member 30 returns to the state shown in FIG. At this time, as described above, the lock member 3
When the rotation restricting surface 37 at 0 is brought into contact with the front end surface of the lower wall surface 20d of the cylindrical body 20 from the near side, further counterclockwise rotation is prevented, and the state shown in FIG. Is held. Then, with the rotation at this time, the locking piece 33 moves from the above-mentioned unconnected position to the connected position, and is in a state of being fitted into the engagement concave portion 42 of the insertion body 40 from the near side. Thereby, the locked portion 4 of the insertion member 40 is
3 is in a connected state sandwiched in the axial direction by the pushed piece 32 and the locking piece 33.

After such a connection state, the insertion member 40 switches from the forward movement to the left to the backward movement to the opposite direction. Then, the right end surface of the locked portion 43 of the insertion member 40, that is, the locked surface 43 a abuts on the left end surface of the locking piece 33. This contact occurs between the end faces of the locked portion 43 and the locking piece 33 that are orthogonal to the axial direction, and the axial engagement state is maintained. Thereafter, the cylindrical body 20 is also fitted. It moves together with the insert 40 to the right.

More specifically, the front side of the engagement recess 42 of the insertion member 40 is cut out in a C shape so that the locking piece 33 can be smoothly fitted into the engagement recess 42. When a rightward force is applied to the locking piece 33 from the locked surface 43a deeper than the notch area, the lock member 30 is slightly clockwise rotated at the beginning of contact.
However, when the locking piece 33 is slightly inclined with this rotation, a point contact state is reached in which the near-side corner of the locked surface 43 a contacts the locking piece 33. The contact point is located on a straight line parallel to the axial direction passing through the center point of the support shaft 35, or slightly before the straight line.

As a result, at the contact point, the locked surface 43a
The direction of action of the force acting on the locking piece 33 from the
The direction is the same as the direction of the straight line from the center of rotation to the contact point (the point of application of the force), or the direction in which the locking piece 33 generates a clockwise rotational moment. As a result, the lock member 30 does not move in the counterclockwise direction so that the locking piece 33 is disengaged from the engagement recess 42, and the above-described axial engagement state is maintained. Moves rightward integrally with the fitting 40.

In this way, the movement of the fitting body 40 in the backward movement direction occurs in the cylindrical body 20 integrally with the fitting body 40. Thereafter, when the movement direction of the fitting body 40 is switched to the forward movement direction, at this time, the locked portion 43
Of the pressed piece 32 to push the lock member 30 to the left, and as a result, the lock member 30 Through this, the cylindrical body 20 also moves in the forward movement direction together with the fitting insert 40.
Therefore, thereafter, the state in which the locked portion 43 of the insertion member 40 is sandwiched between the pressed piece 32 and the locking piece 33 of the lock member 30 is maintained, and the insertion member 40 and the cylindrical body 20 are integrated. Reciprocating motion is repeated, and accordingly, the connecting rods 14a and 14
b also reciprocates integrally. As a result, these connecting rods 14
a · 14b, flap surface 13c of each vertical blade 13
The bending deformation in the left-right direction is periodically repeated in the
The operation in the automatic swing mode in which the blowing direction of the conditioned air from 1 is automatically changed left and right is continued.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the locking piece 33 is located at the connecting position and the first connecting rod 14a moves in the backward direction, the locked surface 43a of the engaged portion 43 is moved. The direction of action of the force acting on the locking piece 33 is the same as the direction of a straight line from the rotation center of the locking piece 33 to the point of application of the force, or the connection position from the non-connection position side to the locking piece 33. Since it is formed so as to generate a rotational moment in the direction toward the side, it is possible to more reliably hold the locking piece 33 at the connection position.

In the above embodiment, the rotatable lock member 30 having the locking piece 33 and the pushed piece 32 is provided, and the locking member 30 is locked with the movement of the first connecting rod 14a in the forward movement direction. After the piece 33 is once retracted from the connection position to the non-connection position, the lock member 30 is automatically rotated to return to the connection position. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately perform the operation of moving the locking piece 33 as described above, so that the operability is improved. Further, it is conceivable that the above-mentioned movement is caused by, for example, elastic deformation of the locking piece 33, but in this case, elastic deterioration such as settling may occur with repeated elastic deformation. . On the other hand, in the above description, it is not necessary to form the locking piece 33 with an elastic material, and thus, a more reliable connection state can be obtained.

When the operation in the automatic swing mode is stopped and the connecting rods 14a and 14b are subsequently switched to the above-described wide blowing position, the interval between the left and right operation pieces 36 and 46 is set as follows. An operation of expanding right and left from the state of 1 (d) is performed. In this operation, in particular, a leftward force applied to the left operation piece 36 causes the lock member 30 to rotate clockwise around the support shaft 35, whereby the locking piece 33 The operation of detaching from the engagement recess 42 toward the front occurs, and at the same time, the pushed piece 32 rotates clockwise, so that the insertion member 40 is pushed rightward.

With the continuation of the operation of widening the space between the left and right operation pieces 36 and 46 in this manner, the state shown in FIG. The locked portion 43 moves rightward beyond the locking piece 33. Thereafter, as shown in FIG.
It can be slid until 1 contacts the right edge of the slide guide hole 22 of the cylindrical body 20. As a result, the state is switched to the above-described wide blowing state.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the left operation piece 36 is connected to the lock member 30 and the left operation piece 3
6, the rotation of the lock member 30 accompanying the movement of the locking piece 33 from the connection position to the non-connection position is caused, and the axial position of the left connection rod 14b can be set. The overall configuration is simpler than a configuration in which individual operation pieces are provided corresponding to each operation.

Although the specific embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and can be implemented with various modifications within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above description, when the right connecting rod 14a moves in the backward movement direction, the surfaces of the locked surface 43a and the locking piece 33 that come into contact with each other are formed so as to be substantially orthogonal to the axial direction. The contact surface on the locking piece 33 side is inclined,
The locking piece 33 extends from the locked surface 43a over the entire surface.
Can be formed in such a way that the direction of action of the force acting on the locking piece 33 generates a rotational moment in the direction from the non-connection position side to the connection position side.

In the above description, the insert 40 is inserted into the right connecting rod 14 a connected to the swing motor 16, and the left connecting rod 14
Although the cylinders 20 are connected to each other, the cylinder 20 may be provided on the right connecting rod 14a, and the fitting 40 may be provided on the left connecting rod 14b. Further, in the above description, in order to cause the locking piece 33 to retreat from the connection position to the non-connection position in accordance with the movement of the right connecting rod 14a in the forward movement direction, the locked pieces that come into contact with each other at this time 33 on the inclined surface
Although the curved contact surfaces 44 are provided on the distal end side of the locked portion 43, the contact portions 3a need not be respectively inclined surfaces, and at least one of them is inclined with respect to the axial direction. It is also possible to use

In the above description, the slide guide hole 22 is provided on the upper wall surface 20a of the cylindrical body 20, and the engagement pin 41 projecting upward is provided on the locked portion 43 of the insertion member 40. The slide guide hole 22 is formed on the lower wall surface 20 of the cylindrical body 20.
d, or provided on both the upper wall surface 20a and the lower wall surface 20d, and correspondingly, the engaging pin 41 provided on the locked portion 43 has a shape protruding downward or a shape protruding both up and down. It is also possible.

Further, in the above description, the configuration in which the downstream ends of the vertical blades 13 in the blowing direction are connected to the connecting rods 14a and 14b is described. The end of the blade 13 on the upstream side in the blowing direction is connected to each connecting rod 1.
It is also possible to connect and connect to 4a and 14b.

Further, in the above description, the lock member 30 having the pushed piece 32 is provided together with the locking piece 33. However, in the scope of claims 1, 5, and 6, only the locking piece 33 corresponds, for example. A member may be provided and formed of an elastic material to urge the member toward the connection position, or a structure including a biasing means such as a spring may be provided. In this case, the right connection rod 14a may be provided. During the forward movement, for example, the left and right connecting rods 14
It is possible to adopt a configuration in which adjacent end surfaces of the a and 14b abut against each other to push the left connecting rod 14b. In the above description, the wall-mounted indoor unit in the air conditioner has been described as an example, but the present invention can also be applied to, for example, a floor-mounted indoor unit.

[0066]

As described above, in the air outlet structure of the air conditioner according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the rotatable locking piece is located at the connecting position, it operates from the locked surface. The direction of action of the force to be applied is the same as the direction of the straight line from the rotation center of the locking piece toward the point of application of the force, or a rotational moment is generated in the locking piece from the non-connection position side to the connection position side. The locking piece can be held more reliably at the connection position because the locking piece is formed so as to be in the direction in which the locking piece is moved. As a result, the operation state in the auto swing mode can be more stably performed without causing the connection state of the connection rods connected to each other to be disconnected.

In the air outlet structure for an air conditioner of the present invention, a lock member having the locking piece and the pushed piece is provided, and the lock member is moved in the forward movement direction of the first connecting rod. The lock member rotates, and the locking piece moves from the non-connection position to the connection position. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately perform an operation of moving the locking piece from the non-connection position to the connection position, so that operability is improved. Further, in the above, it is not necessary to form the locking piece with the elastic material, and thus, a more reliable connection state can be obtained.

In the air outlet structure for an air conditioner according to the third aspect, when the first connecting member moves forward, the locking piece retreats from the connection position to the non-connection position. By making at least one of the locked portions abutting on the surface as an obliquely inclined surface, it is caused by the rotation of the lock member. Therefore, also in this case, there is no need to separately perform an operation of moving the locking piece from the connection position to the non-connection position, and it is not necessary to form the locking piece from an elastic material as described above. Operability is improved, and a more reliable connection state can be obtained.

In the air outlet structure for an air conditioner of the present invention, an operation piece for manually setting the axial position of the connecting rod to which the lock member is attached is connected to the lock member, and this operation piece is provided. Thus, the rotation of the lock member accompanied by the movement of the locking piece from the connection position to the non-connection position occurs. Therefore, since the setting of the axial position of the connecting rod and the release of the connection state of the two connecting rods can be operated by one operating piece, individual operating pieces are respectively associated with these operations. The overall configuration can be simpler than the configuration provided.

In the air outlet structure for an air conditioner of the present invention, the end of each vertical blade on the downstream side in the blowing direction is connected to each connecting rod. In this case, the location of these connecting rods is changed. Since the flow velocity of the conditioned air flowing is smaller than that of the upstream side, the noise generated when the conditioned air flows across each connecting rod is also reduced, and a more silent operating state is maintained. Can be.

In the air outlet structure of the air conditioner according to the sixth aspect, since the moderating mechanism is provided at a position where the connecting rods slide against each other when the connecting rods are moved in the axial direction, the desired blowing angle is smaller than the maximum blowing angle. Even if you set it repeatedly,
The operation can be easily performed based on the sense of moderation obtained by the moderation mechanism, so that the operability is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows the operation of a connecting rod connecting mechanism between a right connecting rod and a left connecting rod provided in an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 3B is a plan view showing the operating state after switching to the operation in the automatic swing mode, and FIG. 3C is a plan view showing the operating state following FIG. FIG. 4D is a plan view showing the subsequent connection state.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the air conditioner.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of an air outlet of the air conditioner.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a right end side of the right connecting rod.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a cylinder provided on a right end side of the left connecting rod.

6 (a) is a perspective view, and FIG. 6 (b) is a view taken along line XX in FIG. 6 (a), showing a lock member assembled to the cylindrical body.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a cylindrical body to which the lock member is attached.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a fitting body provided on a left end side of the right connecting rod.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an assembled state of the tubular body, the lock member, and the insertion member.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a connecting rod connecting mechanism between a right connecting rod and a left connecting rod provided at an air outlet in a conventional air conditioner, and FIG. ,
FIG. 3B is a plan view showing a state in the auto swing mode.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Outlet 13 Vertical blade 14a Right connection rod (1st connection rod) 14b Left connection rod (2nd connection rod) 15 Connection rod connection mechanism 16 Swing motor (drive means) 23 Moderation mechanism 30 Lock member 32 Pushed piece 32a Right end surface (contact surface) 33 Locking piece 36 Left operation piece 43 Locked portion 43a Locked surface 43b Tip surface (contact surface)

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A connecting rod to which a plurality of vertical blades (13) are connected is divided into a first connecting rod (14a) and a second connecting rod (14b), and the first connecting rod (14a) is arranged in an axial direction. Driving means (16) for reciprocating the first connecting rod (14);
And a connecting rod connecting mechanism (15) for connecting the second connecting rod (14b) to the first connecting rod (14a) when the first connecting rod (14a) is reciprocated. (14
In the forward movement of a), the first connecting rod (14a) is used by the second connecting rod (1).
4b) are pressed against each other so as to push against each other.
b) The (32a), the locked surface (43a) and the locking piece (33), which are engaged with each other in the axial direction when the first connecting rod (14a) is moved back, are combined with the first connecting rod (14a). The second connecting rod (14
b) and the locking pieces (3)
3) an air outlet structure of an air conditioner, wherein the air outlet structure is provided so as to be rotatable so as to move between a connection position and a non-connection position axially engaged with the locked surface (43a), When the first connecting rod (14a) moves backward, the direction in which the force acting on the locking piece (33) located at the connecting position from the locked surface (43a) depends on the rotation center of the locking piece (33). From the non-connection position side to the connection position side in the same direction as the direction of the straight line from the to the action point of the force, or the locking piece (33). 33) The air outlet structure of the air conditioner, wherein the air outlet structure is formed. 2. A first connecting rod (14a) and a second connecting rod (1).
4b), one of the end portions adjacent to the locked surface (43)
a), a locking portion (43) having the above-mentioned locking piece (33), and the locking piece (33) and the locking piece (33) being substantially parallel to the locking piece (33) in the forward movement direction. Extended driven piece (3
2), and the locking piece (33) moves between the connection position and the non-connection position with the rotation of the lock member (30). When the first connecting rod (14a) moves in the forward movement direction when the locking piece (33) is located at the non-connecting position,
The front surface of the locked portion (43) in the forward movement direction abuts against the pushed piece (32) and is pushed to move the locking member (3).
At 0), a rotation operation occurs in which the locking piece (33) moves from the non-connection position to the connection position, and the locked portion (43) is pushed with the driven piece (32) and the locking piece (33). The air outlet structure of an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the air outlet structure is formed so as to be sandwiched from both sides in the axial direction and held. 3. The locking piece (33) is located at a coupling position, and the locked portion (43) relatively moves in the forward movement direction from the rear in the forward movement direction with respect to the locking piece (33). At this time, the front surface of the locked portion (43) in the forward movement direction abuts against the locking piece (33) and pushes the locking piece (33) in a direction intersecting the axial direction, thereby causing the above-described engagement. The locked portion (43) and the locking piece (3) are moved so that the locking member (30) rotates with the movement of the locking piece (33) from the connected position to the non-connected position.
The air outlet structure for an air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein at least one of the contact points with (3) is formed as a surface obliquely inclined with respect to the forward movement direction. 4. An operation piece (36) for manually setting an axial position of a connecting rod (14b) to which said lock member (30) is attached is connected to said lock member (30), and said operation is performed. By manual operation with the piece (36), the locking piece (33)
The air outlet structure of an air conditioner according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the lock member (30) is formed so as to rotate with the movement from the connection position to the non-connection position. 5. An end of each of the vertical blades (13) disposed at the outlet (11) on the downstream side in the blowing direction is connected to a connecting rod (14).
The air outlet structure of the air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the air outlet structure is connected to (b) (14a). 6. Each connecting rod (14b) for manually setting the direction of air-conditioned air from the air outlet (11) to a wide angle.
A detent mechanism (2) for applying a holding force against the axial movement to each end side of the first connecting rod (14a) and the second connecting rod (14b) that are in sliding contact with each other during the axial movement operation of (14a).
The air outlet structure for an air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein 3) is provided at a plurality of locations along the axial direction.