JP2001272053A - Air-conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air-conditioner capable of supplying cooling or heating air to a given place in a living space according to a demand through control of a wind direction both during cooling and heating. SOLUTION: An air-conditioner having a ceiling recessed type indoor unit is constituted that an air inlet is formed at the peripheral part of the lower end face of a casing and an air outlet is situated closer to a central part than the air inlet in the lower end face, a fan is installed at the internal part of the casing, and a heat-exchanger is provided in a manner to surround the periphery of the fan. The air-conditioner is provided with a wind direction control means consisting of a moving flap disposed at the air outlet.

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 an indoor unit embedded in a ceiling.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an indoor unit of an air conditioner of a ceiling embedded type blows air from multiple directions such as two-way blowing, three-way blowing, and four-way blowing according to the shape of a room and the height of a ceiling. It is giving a user room to select a blowing method.

An indoor unit of a conventional general ceiling-mounted type air conditioner is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.
-172361 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 257846, a rectangular box-shaped casing having an open lower end face arranged in an embedded state in the space behind the ceiling in accordance with the opening formed in the ceiling,
The casing has a rectangular flat plate shape that covers the lower end opening, and a suction port is provided at a position near the center thereof, and in a space surrounded by an indoor panel formed with air outlets at each of four sides of a portion near the outer periphery thereof. A centrifugal impeller that is rotationally driven by a motor attached to a substantially central portion of a ceiling surface in the casing is provided, and a heat exchanger is provided outside the centrifugal impeller in a state close to the centrifugal impeller. It was arranged and configured.

[0004] In this type of air conditioner, the room air sucked from the suction port near the center due to the operation of the centrifugal impeller moves from the centrifugal impeller portion to the radially outward position of the heat. The heat is exchanged with the refrigerant passing therethrough in the heat exchanger, where the heat is exchanged with the refrigerant passing through the heat exchanger.

A third known example is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.
In Japanese Patent No. 230567, the impeller is normally rotated during cooling so that indoor air is drawn in from the central inlet and cool air is blown out from the peripheral outlet in the same manner as in the first and second known examples. In addition, an example is disclosed in which the impeller is rotated in the reverse direction during heating so that room air is sucked in from a suction port in a peripheral portion and hot air is blown out from a suction outlet in a central portion.

[0006]

In recent air conditioners for cooling and heating, a function for forming a comfortable environment in a room has been required beyond a simple cooling and heating function.

In the first and second known examples, in the indoor unit of an air conditioner of a ceiling-embedded type, since the inlet is located at the center surrounded by a plurality of outlets, the air exits from the outlet of the indoor unit. The range in which air circulates was substantially limited to the area surrounded by the extended surface of the outlet. For this reason, in the living space, there is a problem that a temperature difference is easily generated between the area around the indoor unit and other parts. This means that it is necessary to apply a greater load to the indoor unit in order to make a person who is away from the indoor unit feel comfortable.

Further, during heating, warm air blown out as warm air tends to accumulate on the ceiling due to its buoyancy. However, since the suction port is surrounded by a plurality of outlets, the warm air accumulated on the ceiling may be reduced. This causes a phenomenon that it is difficult to be sucked through the suction port. In such a case, there has been a problem that the air temperature in the upper space in the room becomes high and the warmth of the feet is insufficient.

In the third known example, the impeller is rotated in reverse during heating to warm the air sucked from the surroundings and blow it out below the center, so that the problem of insufficient warmth at the feet is improved. However, there is a problem that the direction of the hot air to be blown cannot be controlled, and a problem that noise from the fan spreads directly into the room through the grill.

In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a low-noise air conditioner which can send cool and warm air to a predetermined place in a living space according to demand by controlling the wind direction during cooling and heating. To provide.

[0011]

Means for Solving the Problems To achieve the above object, an air conditioner according to the present invention is characterized by what is described in each claim of the claims. The air conditioner according to the invention according to claim 1 has an inlet at a peripheral portion of a lower end face of the casing, an outlet at a center of the lower end face near the inlet, and a fan inside the casing. An air conditioner having an indoor unit of a ceiling embedded type provided with a heat exchanger so as to surround the periphery of a fan, characterized in that the air conditioner has a wind direction control means comprising a movable flap provided at the outlet. Things.

The air conditioner according to the third aspect of the present invention has an inlet at a periphery of a lower end surface of the casing, and an outlet at a center of the lower end surface near the inlet. A fan inside the casing, in an air conditioner equipped with a ceiling embedded indoor unit provided with a heat exchanger so as to surround the periphery of the fan, a fan cover portion at the center of the lower end surface of the casing, A guide facing the outlet of the fan, the outlet surrounded by the outer peripheral edge of the fan cover and the lower end of the guide, the movable flaps on the inner and outer edges of the outlet, and the outer periphery of the outlet. The cover portion is further provided with a suction port on the outer periphery of the cover portion.

The air conditioner according to the invention according to claim 5 as an independent claim has an intake port at two peripheral portions in the longitudinal direction of the lower end face of the rectangular box-shaped casing, and a longitudinal direction of the intake port at the lower end face. An outlet having a wind direction control means comprising a movable flap disposed near the center is provided, and inside the casing, a heat exchanger provided along a longitudinal direction,
A cross flow fan is disposed downstream of each of the heat exchangers, and the guide is formed around the cross flow fan.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an indoor unit of the air conditioner of the present invention. As shown in the figure, a ceiling-mounted indoor unit 10 of an air conditioner includes a rectangular box-shaped casing 1.
Are embedded in a ceiling 20 and have suction ports 2 serving as indoor air inflow ports at four locations around the lower end face, and outlet ports 3 closer to the center of the lower end face than the suction ports 2. Furthermore, casing 1
, A turbo-type fan 4 connected to a motor 6 serving as a blower at the center, and a heat exchanger 5 surrounding the fan 4 are arranged. The heat exchanger 5
It is a plate-fin type air heat exchanger, which is formed in a flat plate shape or a hollow cylindrical shape. In the heat exchanger 5, the outer surface 5a and the inner surface 5b open into the air passage 15, and the inner surface 5b
Is opposed to the suction portion of the inner fan 4.

The lower end face of the turbo type fan 4 is located at the center of the lower end face, and a fan cover 11 is provided. The casing 1 is provided with a guide 8 for introducing the room air blown out from the fan 4 to the air outlet 3 on the outer periphery of the fan cover portion 11 so as to face the air blowing portion of the blades of the fan 4. An outer flap 7a is provided at a contact edge where the cover 8 and the guide 8 on the outer periphery of the outlet 3 are joined, and an inner flap 7b is provided at a peripheral edge of the fan cover 11. The air direction can be controlled by these movable flaps 7 and the blown air can be sent to a predetermined place as required.
A cover portion 13 is provided on the outer periphery of the lower end surface of the contact edge between the guide 8 and the lower end surface.
The suction port 2 is further provided on the outer periphery of the cover portion 13.
The guide 8 and the fan cover 11 have a sound absorbing material 12.
Is installed.

2 and 3 are front views of the indoor unit 10 as viewed from below. FIG. 2 shows a flap 7 divided into six parts.
4, a drive source such as a motor 14 and a power transmission mechanism are provided around one of the inner flaps 7b and the outer flap 7a as shown in FIG. Swing the flap by rotating the rod. The other flap 7
Is a link mechanism using a connecting rod, which swings in conjunction with one flap 7.

Further, the movement of the flap 7 divided into six may be individually set by a user using a remote controller or the like, or the whole may be moved in the same manner. . FIG. 3 shows that the flap 7 is divided into four parts, and is not much different from a functionally divided one into six parts. In addition,
When stopped, both the inner flap 7b and the outer flap 7a are automatically parallel to the lower end face and partially cover the outlet 3.

When the fan 4 rotates, room air is sucked into the turbo type fan 4 through the suction port 2. At this time, the sucked air is cooled or heated while passing through the heat exchanger 5 on the way, and is blown out from the outlet 3 into the room again.

In such a configuration, since the plurality of suction ports 2 are located in the peripheral portion of the indoor unit 10, the range of the circulation of the air flowing out of the air outlet 3 of the indoor unit 10 can be determined by opening the flap 7. As shown in FIG. 5, first, it goes down and hits the floor, rises in the periphery and rises in the vicinity of the ceiling.
It becomes almost the whole area of the living space 30 toward. For this reason, in the living space, a temperature difference is hardly generated between the area around the indoor unit 10 and other parts. This means that the indoor unit 1
This means that it is not necessary to apply a greater load to the indoor unit 10 to make a person who is away from zero feel comfortable. That is, it greatly contributes to power saving in actual use.

Further, during heating, warm air blown out as warm air tends to accumulate in the ceiling 20 due to buoyancy, but the warm air accumulated in the ceiling 20 is easily sucked through the inlet 2 and the outlet 3 Is released again from below. For this reason, the air temperature of substantially the entire area of the living space 30 increases, and it is easy to secure the warmth of the feet. This also contributes to power saving in actual use. Particularly, in the present invention, since the wind direction of the blown air can be controlled, the cool and warm air can be sent to a predetermined place in the living space as required, so that a more comfortable environment can be realized.

In general, the air flow entering the fan 4 does not have a large drift, and in the present invention, the heat exchanger 5 is connected to the fan 4.
, The air sucked from the suction port 2 flows in the heat exchanger 5 almost uniformly. For this reason, the efficiency of the heat exchanger 5 is increased, which can contribute to energy saving. In addition, even if the height of the heat exchanger 5 is increased, there is almost no decrease in efficiency. Therefore, the number of rows of heat transfer tubes of the heat exchanger required to obtain the same heat exchange amount can be reduced, and the indoor unit 10 can be downsized. Is effective.

Furthermore, the air that has flowed out of the fan 4 en route,
For example, since it does not hit a structure having a large flow resistance like the heat exchanger 5, it flows smoothly without loss. For this reason, the indoor unit 10 can be operated with a small fan power. This contributes to power saving and fan noise reduction in actual use.

Further, since the fan 4 is not directly seen from the room and most of the fan is surrounded by the sound absorbing material 12, there is an advantage that noise from the fan is hardly leaked into the room.

FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, an axial fan 4a is used instead of the turbo fan 4. The outlet 3 is provided with a grill 9. Since the axial flow type fan 4a is thin in the vertical direction, the height of the casing 1 can be reduced, and the workability of the indoor unit 10 is improved. In addition, the axial flow type fan 4a can secure a large air volume with a small amount of fan power, which greatly contributes to power saving and fan noise reduction in actual use.

The fan 4a of the axial flow type has a fan cover 11 at the lower center thereof, and an outlet 3 on the outer periphery of the fan cover 11 so that the flap 7 covers the outlet 3.
The outer flap 7a and the inner flap 7b are concentrically connected to each other and disposed on the inner and outer edges of the air outlet 3. The flap 7 is divided into several blocks as in the first embodiment, and each is independent. It is also possible to change the angle. A guide 8 is provided radially outward of the flap 7 so that the flow of the axial fan 4a is directed downward. A cover portion 13 is provided on the outer periphery of the lower end surface of the contact edge between the guide 8 and the lower end surface, and the suction port 2 is provided on the outer periphery of the cover portion 13. In particular, if the sound absorbing material 12 is provided on the surface of the flap 7 on which noise is applied, it is possible to contribute to the reduction of fan noise.

As described above, in the first and second embodiments, the shape of the casing is a rectangular box. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be, for example, a cylindrical shape.

FIG. 7 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, air is sucked in from two directions, and a cross-flow type fan 4b is used. Since the cross flow type fan 4b is compact, the height of the casing 1 can be reduced, and the workability is improved. Further, since a large air volume can be secured with relatively small fan power, it contributes to power saving and reduction of fan noise in actual use. Also in this embodiment, there is an advantage that the noise generated from the fan can be absorbed by providing the sound absorbing material 12 in the guide 8 and the fan cover portion 11.

Even when the flow path configuration of the ceiling embedded indoor unit 10 is changed as in the present invention, the temperature of the fan 4 and the motor 6 may generate heat due to the operation work.
Since the inside of the casing 1 does not fall below the dew point temperature, no dew condensation occurs during the cooling operation. Further, during the heating operation, the fan 4 and the motor 6 are exposed to a high temperature of about 40 to 50 ° C. This is because, for example, the upper limit use temperature of a resin-made resin fan for consumer use is about 60 ° C. , Does not matter.

[0029]

According to the first to third and fifth aspects of the present invention, air which can equalize the temperature distribution in the living space during cooling and heating, or can send cool and warm air to a predetermined place as required. A harmonizer can be provided.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, a low-noise air conditioner can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a lower end surface of the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to the first embodiment of the present invention. (6 divisions)

FIG. 3 is a front view of a lower end surface of the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to the first embodiment of the present invention. (4 divisions)

FIG. 4 is an example of a mechanism for driving a flap.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the flow of indoor air by the indoor unit of the air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view of an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view of an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Casing 2 ... Inlet 3 ... Outlet 4 ... Fan 4a ... Axial-flow type fan 4b ... Cross-flow type fan 5 ... Heat exchanger 5a ... Outer surface 5b ... Inner surface 7 ... Flap 7a ... Outer flap 7b ... Inner flap 8 ... Guide 9 ... Grill 10 ... Indoor unit 11 ... Fan cover part 12 ... Sound absorbing material 13 ... Cover part 14 ... Motor 15 ... Air passage 20 ... Ceiling 30 ... Living space

Claims (5)

[Claims] An inlet is provided at a peripheral portion of a lower end surface of a casing, and an outlet is provided near a center of the lower end surface of the casing, a fan is provided inside the casing, and a heat is provided so as to surround the periphery of the fan. An air conditioner provided with an indoor unit of a ceiling embedded type provided with an exchanger, comprising: a wind direction control means comprising a movable flap disposed at the outlet. 2. A wind direction control means comprising a movable flap disposed at the air outlet is divided into a plurality of independently operable groups, and each of the plurality of independently operable groups is controlled by a remote controller. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the air conditioner can be set by the following. 3. A casing has a suction port in the periphery of a lower end face thereof, an air outlet in the lower end face near the center of the suction port, a fan inside the casing and heat so as to surround the periphery of the fan. In an air conditioner including an indoor unit of a ceiling embedded type provided with an exchanger, a fan cover portion is provided at a center of a lower end surface of the casing, and a guide is provided in opposition to a blowout portion of the fan. The air outlet surrounded by an outer peripheral edge and a guide lower end, a movable flap is provided at the inner and outer edges of the air outlet, a cover portion is provided at an outer periphery of the air outlet, and a suction port is provided at an outer periphery of the cover portion. An air conditioner characterized by that: 4. The air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein a sound absorbing material is disposed on a surface of the guide, the flap, and the fan cover surrounding the fan, all or a part of which receives noise. 5. A wind direction control means comprising a movable flap disposed at two longitudinally peripheral portions of a lower end face of a rectangular box-shaped casing in a longitudinal direction thereof and a movable flap disposed at a lower end face near a longitudinal center of the inlet port. The casing has a heat exchanger provided along the longitudinal direction inside the casing, and a cross flow fan is disposed downstream of the heat exchanger. An air conditioner characterized by a guide formed around it.