JP2002340397A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simply provide an air conditioner capable of improving dehumidifying efficiency and besides making the outside size of an indoor machine compact. SOLUTION: Heat exchange units 3, 4, and 5 are situated in a manner to surround a supply impeller wheel 6. Air sucked in a casing 2 through indoor air intakes 7 and 8 by a flow of air generated through rotation of the supply impeller wheel 6 is precooled by precoolers 3b, 4b, and 5b of the heat exchange units 3, 4, and 5 and reduced in temperature. Precooled air is cooled and dehumidified by main heat exchangers 3a, 4a, and 5a and thereafter, heated by reheaters 3c, 4c, and 5c. As a result, air reduced in only humidity is supplied in a room through an air outlet 9 through a guide flow passage 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner in which air is conditioned by a heat exchanger for exchanging heat between indoor air and a refrigerant, and more particularly to an outdoor unit which is widely used at home. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an air conditioner in which arrangement of a heat exchanger is devised so that the heat exchanger can be easily applied to an indoor unit of an air conditioner in which a heat exchanger and an indoor unit are separated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a first conventional example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-257
There is an air conditioner disclosed in No. 782 (Japanese Patent No. 30221226). In this air conditioner, the refrigerant flow path of the tube row on the upstream side with respect to the air flow of the plate fin and tube type heat exchanger is configured in a plurality of circuits, and the upstream side functioning as a cooler during the dry operation of the air conditioner The pressure loss when the refrigerant flows through the tube row is reduced. Further, the refrigerant flow path of the downstream tube row functioning as a reheater during the dry operation is configured in a plurality of circuits,
During the cooling operation and the heating operation of the air conditioner, the pressure loss of the refrigerant flowing through the plurality of tube rows of the plate fin and tube heat exchanger is reduced.

As a second conventional example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
There is a heat exchanger for dehumidification disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 116058. In this dehumidifying heat exchanger, the evaporator and the condenser arranged side by side are thermally separated, and an auxiliary evaporator is provided below the condenser located on the leeward side, so that the indoor temperature gradually increases. This prevents the harmful effects of falling into a hot and uncomfortable dehumidifying operation state.

[0004] As a third conventional example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.
No. 104349 (JP-B-53-41461)
And a cooling and dehumidifying device. In this cooling and dehumidifying device, since both ends of the heat pipe are arranged before and after the cooling coil, and the air flowing into the cooling coil is cooled by the heat pipe in advance, the dehumidifying ability of the cooling coil is increased and the efficiency is improved. Dehumidification is performed. In addition, since heat is simultaneously preheated and reheated by the heat pipe, the dehumidifying function is improved with energy saving.

As a fourth conventional example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
There is an air conditioner disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 241836. In this air conditioner, the indoor heat exchanger is formed by at least two or more heat exchangers, and one of the heat exchangers has a shorter width than the other heat exchangers, and the refrigerant is decompressed into a space formed at that time. Alternatively, the size of the indoor unit is reduced by a configuration in which a pressure reducing device is provided.

[0006]

However, in the above-mentioned first conventional example, the indoor air is suddenly cooled at room temperature in the tube row on the upstream side, so that the dehumidifying efficiency is poor. In addition, the plate fin and tube type heat exchanger is large, and the external dimensions of the indoor unit accommodating the heat exchanger are large.

[0007] In the above-mentioned second conventional example, the room air is immediately cooled at room temperature by the evaporator on the windward side.
Dehumidification efficiency was poor. In addition, the heat exchanger including the evaporator and the condenser arranged side by side is large, and the external dimensions of the indoor unit accommodating the heat exchanger are also large.

In the third conventional example, although the dehumidifying efficiency is good, a cooling coil and a heat pipe are integrated to constitute a cooling dehumidifying device. The outer dimensions of the indoor unit are still large.

Further, in the above fourth conventional example, the external dimensions of the indoor unit can be made compact, but the indoor air is suddenly cooled at room temperature by two or more heat exchangers, so that the dehumidifying efficiency is poor. .

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has an air inlet opening into a room and an air outlet opening into the room through the air inlet. An air guide passage having a blower impeller provided in the middle of the air guide passage for sucking room air to generate a flow of room air from an air intake to an air outlet, and suction by the blower impeller. A main heat exchanger that performs heat exchange between the room air and the refrigerant,
In an air conditioner having an indoor unit having an air guide passage formed with a blower impeller and a housing for accommodating a main heat exchanger, an air intake port is provided on an upper surface or a front surface of the housing, and the main heat exchanger is provided. A plurality of heat exchangers are provided at a position surrounding the blower impeller in the air guide flow path upstream of the blower impeller for indoor air flow, and furthermore, a pre-heater is provided upstream of the room air flow of each main heat exchanger. A cooler and a reheater on the downstream side are provided for each main heat exchanger. A plurality of heat exchange units consisting of a precooler, a main heat exchanger and a reheater Is also provided at a position surrounding the blower impeller in the air guide flow path on the upstream side.

According to such a configuration, the heat exchange unit including the precooler, the main heat exchanger, and the reheater is divided into a plurality of units, and each heat exchange unit is provided at a position surrounding the blower impeller. Therefore, the housing is made compact.
Moreover, since each heat exchange unit is provided with a pre-cooler, the room air drawn into the blower impeller is pre-cooled by the pre-cooler and then cooled and dehumidified by the main heat exchanger.

Further, according to the present invention, a plurality of main heat exchangers are provided at positions surrounding the blower impeller in the air guide passage upstream of the blower impeller for the flow of room air. A precooler is provided for each main heat exchanger on the upstream side of the indoor air flow of the exchanger, and a reheater is provided on the downstream side of the blower for the indoor air flow, and a plurality of heat exchange units are provided. Of the pre-cooler and the main heat exchanger is provided at a position surrounding the blower impeller in the air guide passage upstream of the blower impeller for the indoor air, and a plurality of heat exchange units Is characterized in that the reheater portion is integrated downstream of the blower impeller.

According to such a configuration, the precooler and the main heat exchanger of the plurality of divided heat exchange units are provided at positions surrounding the blower impeller. Since the portion of the reheater is integrated on the downstream side of the blower impeller, the housing is further downsized. Moreover, since each heat exchange unit has a pre-cooler,
The room air sucked into the blower impeller is pre-cooled by the pre-cooler and then cooled and dehumidified by the main heat exchanger. Furthermore, since the portion of the reheater is integrated on the downstream side of the blower impeller, the ventilation resistance of the room air flowing through the air guide passage is reduced.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that the refrigerant of the heat exchange unit repeatedly reciprocates between the precooler and the reheater and circulates in a path passing through the main heat exchanger.

According to such a configuration, the refrigerant repeatedly reciprocates between the precooler and the reheater, so that the refrigerant removes heat from the indoor air sucked in the precooler, and The heat taken in is transmitted to the blown indoor air. Therefore, new energy for reheating in the reheater is not required from the outside. In addition, since the main heat exchanger cools and dehumidifies the pre-cooled room air, the dehumidifying ability of the main heat exchanger is improved.

Further, according to the present invention, the system in which the refrigerant in the heat exchange unit flows includes a system in which the refrigerant flows through the precooler and the reheater.
It is separated into a system flowing through the main heat exchanger, and heat exchange between the precooler and the reheater is performed independently of heat exchange by the main heat exchanger.

[0017] With such a configuration, the refrigerant takes heat from the room air sucked in the pre-cooler, and transfers the heat taken in the reheater to the blown room air. Therefore, new energy for reheating in the reheater is not required from the outside. In addition, since the main heat exchanger cools and dehumidifies the pre-cooled room air, the dehumidifying ability of the main heat exchanger is improved.

[0018]

Next, a first embodiment of an air conditioner according to the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing the internal configuration of the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to the present embodiment.

The indoor unit 1 is configured such that the heat exchange units 3, 4, 5 and the blower impeller 6, etc. are housed inside a housing 2, and is installed mainly on a wall surface or the like in the room. Air intake ports 7 and 8 are formed on the front and upper surfaces of the housing 2 and include a plurality of openings communicating with the room. Also,
An air outlet 9 is provided on the lower surface of the housing 2 and communicates with the air inlets 7 and 8 and opens into the room.
Then, inside the housing 2, these air intakes 7,
An air guide passage 10 having an air outlet 8 and an air outlet 9 is formed. The blower impeller 6 is provided in an air guide passage 10 near the center of the housing 2, and rotates to suck indoor air and to move indoor air from the air intakes 7 and 8 to the air outlet 9. Causes the flow of

The heat exchange units 3, 4, and 5 are connected to the air guide passage 1 upstream of the blower impeller 6 for the flow of the indoor air.
0, it is provided at a position surrounding the blower impeller 6.
That is, the heat exchange unit 3 is arranged between the blower impeller 6 and the air intake 7, and the heat exchange unit 4 is arranged between the blower impeller 6 and the air intakes 7, 8. The heat exchange unit 5 is arranged between the blower impeller 6 and the air intake 8. These heat exchange units 3, 4, 5 are respectively composed of main heat exchangers 3a, 4a, 5a.
And pre-coolers 3b, 4 provided to sandwich these
b, 5b and reheaters 3c, 4c, 5c. The main heat exchangers 3a, 4a, 5a exchange heat between the indoor air sucked by the blower impeller 6 and the refrigerant.
The pre-coolers 3b, 4b, 5b are connected to these main heat exchangers 3a,
4a and 5a are provided on the upstream side of the flow of room air. The reheaters 3c, 4c and 5c are connected to the main heat exchangers 3 respectively.
a, 4a and 5a are provided on the downstream side of the flow of room air.

As shown in FIG. 2, each heat exchange unit 3,
The refrigerants 4 and 5 are supplied to the precoolers 3b, 4b and 5b and the reheater 3b.
c, 4c, and 5c are repeatedly reciprocated, and circulate on a path passing through the main heat exchangers 3a, 4a, and 5a for each of the heat exchange units 3, 4, and 5. Restrictors 21, 22 are provided before and after the precoolers 3b, 4b, 5b and the reheaters 3c, 4c, 5c. The refrigerant is supplied to the condenser 23 and the compressor 24.
This path is circulated by a condensing unit 25 consisting of

FIG. 3 shows each of the heat exchange units 3 and 3 shown in FIG.
The operations of 4 and 5 are shown on a Mollier diagram.

The refrigerant evaporated in the main heat exchangers 3a, 4a, 5a (state a) is compressed by the compressor 24 and sent to the condenser 23 (state b). The enthalpy of the refrigerant in the condenser 23 is reduced by heat radiation, and changes from superheated steam (state b) to dry saturated steam (state c), wet saturated steam (state d), and condensate. The condensed refrigerant is decompressed in the isenthalpy process via the throttle 21 and becomes state e, where the precoolers 3b, 4b,
5b, the pre-coolers 3b, 4b, 5b and the reheater 3
It repeatedly reciprocates between c, 4c and 5c. Precooler 3
The refrigerant flowing into b, 4b, 5b deprives the indoor air A1 of heat and evaporates, and the dryness increases. Next, in the reheaters 3c, 4c, and 5c, the refrigerant emits heat to the cooled and dehumidified air A3, condenses, and the dryness decreases. The refrigerant having reduced dryness enters the pre-coolers 3b, 4b, 5b again, and
Evaporate by removing heat from 1 and increase the dryness. Thus, the precoolers 3b, 4b, 5b and the reheaters 3c, 4c, 5c
The refrigerant takes heat from the room air A1 by repeatedly reciprocating between the air A1 and the air A3 which has been cooled and dehumidified.
To communicate.

The refrigerant (state h) exiting the reheaters 3c, 4c, 5c passes through the throttle 22, is decompressed in the isenthalpy process, and reaches the inlet of the main heat exchangers 3a, 4a, 5a (state j). ). In this process, the dryness of the refrigerant at the outlets of the reheaters 3c, 4c, and 5c is reduced due to the effect of making the vapor of the restrictor 22 difficult to pass, and the refrigerant becomes very close to a saturated liquid. Therefore, the enthalpy of the refrigerant is lower than the outlet of the condenser 23 (state d). In the main heat exchangers 3a, 4a and 5a, the refrigerant removes heat from the air A2 to lower the air below the dew point temperature, thereby generating air A3 in which moisture in the air is condensed. The refrigeration effect at this time is the enthalpy difference a-j, which is larger than the refrigeration effect ad of a normal vapor compression refrigeration cycle.

In such a configuration, the air flow generated by the rotation of the blower impeller 6 causes the air intakes 7 and
The air A1 sucked into the housing 2 from the position 8 is precooled by the precoolers 3b, 4b, 5b of the heat exchange units 3, 4, 5 as described above, and becomes air A2 whose temperature has been lowered in advance. This air A2 is further supplied to the main heat exchangers 3a, 4a,
The air A3 is cooled to the dew point temperature as described above by 5a and dehumidified. This dehumidified and cooled air A3
Is heated by the reheaters 3c, 4c and 5c as described above, and becomes air A4 whose temperature has risen to about the original temperature. The warmed air A4 is blown into the room through the air blowout port 9 through the air guide passage 10. As a result, the air A4 reduced in humidity is blown into the room, and the room temperature does not become too cold.

According to the air conditioner according to the present embodiment, the heat exchange unit conventionally used alone is divided, and the divided heat exchange units 3, 4, and 5 are attached to the blower wheel 6. Because of the surrounding arrangement, the external dimensions of the housing 2 are reduced. As a result, the indoor unit can be installed in a limited wall space in the room.

Further, since each of the heat exchange units 3, 4, 5 is provided with the pre-coolers 3b, 4b, 5b, the indoor air sucked by the blower impeller 6 is preliminarily collected by the pre-coolers 3b, 4b, 5b. After being cooled, it is cooled and dehumidified by the main heat exchangers 3a, 4a, 5a. For this reason, the dehumidification efficiency is improved as compared with the conventional air conditioner.

Further, the refrigerant repeatedly reciprocates between the pre-coolers 3b, 4b, 5b and the reheaters 3c, 4c, 5c, whereby the refrigerant is sucked in the pre-coolers 3b, 4b, 5b. Remove heat from air A1, and reheaters 3c, 4
Indoor air A4 blown out of heat taken in c, 5c
To be transmitted. Therefore, new energy for reheating in the reheaters 3c, 4c, 5c is not required from the outside.
Therefore, the maximum load power of the air conditioner is reduced by, for example, about 30%.
It can be reduced, and an energy saving effect of 27% can be obtained.

Next, a description will be given of a second embodiment of the air conditioner according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing the internal configuration of the indoor unit 31 of the air conditioner according to the present embodiment. In the figure, the same or corresponding parts as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

The indoor unit 31 according to the present embodiment is different from the indoor unit 1 of the first embodiment only in the configuration of the reheater 32 constituting the heat exchange units 3, 4, and 5; This is the same as the indoor unit 1 of the first embodiment.

That is, also in the present embodiment, the main heat exchanger 3
a, 4a, and 5a are provided at positions surrounding the blower impeller 6 in the air guide passage 10 upstream of the blower impeller 6 for the flow of room air. In addition, each of these main heat exchangers 3
The pre-coolers 3b, 4b, 5b are provided for each of the main heat exchangers 3a, 4a, 5a on the upstream side of the flow of the indoor air of the main heat exchangers 3a, 4a, 5a. However, in the present embodiment, the reheaters 3c, 4c, and 5c provided for each of the main heat exchangers 3a, 4a, and 5a in the first embodiment are different from the blower impeller 6 for the flow of the indoor air. Also on the downstream side, each heat exchange unit 3, 4,
The five reheaters 32 are collectively provided.

According to the indoor unit 31 according to the present embodiment, the pre-coolers 3b, 4b, 5b and the main heat exchanger 3 of the plurality of divided heat exchange units 3, 4, 5 are provided.
a, 4a, and 5a are provided at positions surrounding the impeller 6, and the reheater 3 of the plurality of heat exchange units 3, 4, and 5 is provided.
2 is concentrated on the downstream side of the blower impeller 6,
The housing 2 is made more compact than the first embodiment. Therefore, the indoor unit 31 according to the present embodiment is effective when applied to an air conditioner in which a heat exchange area cannot be sufficiently secured.

Also in the present embodiment, since each of the heat exchange units 3, 4, and 5 includes the pre-coolers 3b, 4b, and 5b, the indoor air sucked into the blower impeller 6 is used for the pre-coolers 3b and 3b.
4b, 5b before being cooled by the main heat exchanger 3
a, 4a and 5a cool and dehumidify. Therefore, also in the present embodiment, the dehumidification efficiency is improved as in the above embodiment. In this embodiment, since the portion of the reheater 32 is integrated on the downstream side of the blower impeller 6, the ventilation resistance of the room air flowing through the air guide passage 10 is reduced.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the refrigerant in the heat exchange units 3, 4, 5 is supplied to the pre-coolers 3b, 4b, 5b.
And the reheater 3c, 4c, 5c or the reheater 32 is repeatedly reciprocated to circulate a route passing through the main heat exchangers 3a, 4a, 5a. However, the flow of the refrigerant is not limited to this, and the heat exchange units 3 and
The systems in which the refrigerants 4 and 5 flow are precoolers 3b, 4b and 5
b and the system flowing through the reheaters 3c, 4c, 5c or the reheater 32, and the system flowing through the main heat exchangers 3a, 4a, 5a, and the precoolers 3b, 4b, 5b and the reheater 3c , 4c, 5c or the reheater 32 may be configured to perform heat exchange independently of heat exchange by the main heat exchangers 3a, 4a, 5a. With such a configuration, the same operation and effect as those of the above-described embodiments can be obtained.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, an air conditioner having good dehumidifying efficiency and capable of reducing the external dimensions of the indoor unit can be easily realized. Since it is desired to have a high dehumidifying capacity in an area under high temperature and high humidity weather conditions, such as Japan, an air conditioner particularly suited to the weather conditions in Japan is easily provided according to the present invention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a flow of a refrigerant in a heat exchange unit in the air conditioner according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a Mollier diagram showing the operation of the refrigerant in the heat exchange unit shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing an internal configuration of an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 31 indoor unit 2 housing 3, 4, 5 heat exchange unit 3a, 4a, 5a main heat exchanger 3b, 4b, 5b precooler 3c, 4c, 5c, 32 reheater 6 ... Blower impeller 7,8 ... Air intake 9 ... Air outlet 10 ... Air guide flow path

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An air guide passage having an air intake opening into a room, an air outlet opening into the room through the air intake, and an air intake passage provided midway in the air guide flow passage. A blower impeller that generates a flow of indoor air from the air intake port toward the air outlet, and a main heat exchanger that performs heat exchange between the indoor air and the refrigerant sucked by the blower impeller, In an air conditioner having an indoor unit having the air guide passage formed and a housing accommodating the blower impeller and the main heat exchanger, the air intake port is provided on an upper surface or a front surface of the housing. A plurality of the main heat exchangers are provided at positions surrounding the blower impeller in the air guide flow path on the upstream side of the blower impeller for the flow of room air, and furthermore, each of these main heat exchangers Indoor A pre-cooler is provided on the upstream side of the flow of water and a reheater is provided on the downstream side for each of the main heat exchangers, and a plurality of heat exchange units comprising the pre-cooler, the main heat exchanger, and the reheater The air conditioner is provided at a position surrounding the blower impeller in the air guide flow path upstream of the blower impeller for the flow of room air. 2. An air guide passage having an air intake opening into a room, an air outlet opening into the room through the air intake, and a room provided in the middle of the air guide flow passage for sucking room air. A blower impeller that generates a flow of indoor air from the air intake port toward the air outlet, and a main heat exchanger that performs heat exchange between the indoor air and the refrigerant sucked by the blower impeller, In an air conditioner having an indoor unit having the air guide passage formed therein and a housing accommodating the blower impeller and the main heat exchanger, the air intake port is provided on an upper surface or a front surface of the housing. A plurality of the main heat exchangers are provided at positions surrounding the blower impeller in the air guide flow path on the upstream side of the blower impeller for the flow of room air, and furthermore, each of these main heat exchangers Indoor A pre-cooler is provided for each of the main heat exchangers on the upstream side of the flow of the air, and a reheater is provided on the downstream side of the blower impeller for the flow of the indoor air. A part of the pre-cooler and the main heat exchanger is provided at a position surrounding the blower impeller in the air guide passage upstream of the blower impeller for the flow of room air, and a plurality of heat exchange units are provided. An air conditioner characterized in that a part of the reheater is integrated downstream of the blower impeller. 3. The heat exchange unit according to claim 2, wherein the refrigerant repeatedly circulates between the precooler and the reheater, and circulates in a path passing through the main heat exchanger. The air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2. 4. The heat exchange unit, wherein a system through which a refrigerant flows is separated into a system through which the precooler and the reheater flow, and a system through which the main heat exchanger flows. The air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein heat exchange between the reheaters is performed independently of heat exchange by the main heat exchanger.