JP2003322355A - Indoor unit for air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the design of the front of an air conditioner indoor unit with a simple structure. <P>SOLUTION: In this indoor unit 1 having an outer shell constituted by combining an base frame 2 and a front frame 3, a front cover 8 having fanciness and functionality is formed on its front surface as another part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure of an indoor unit of an air conditioner, and more particularly to an indoor unit in which a front cover having a decorative property as well as a function is disposed on the front surface of the indoor unit. It is a thing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional separation type air conditioner indoor unit, a utility model registration No. 3027900 gazette and a Chinese utility model registration 99219 are used as those having decorative properties.
In a box-type air conditioner installed on the floor of a room like the device disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 655, a light emitting means such as a fluorescent lamp is arranged in the central portion of the outer shell front surface, and the front surface side thereof is provided. A photo box type air conditioner in which a painting or the like having a decorative property is arranged as a film is disclosed. With the same idea, as a wall hanging method, Chinese utility model registration 98211
It is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 693. In addition, JP 2000
Japanese Patent Publication No. 161706 discloses an invention in which a light emitting element such as an LED is embedded between a suction hole of a front panel serving as a suction portion in an indoor unit of a wall-mounted air conditioner to enhance decorativeness.

[0003] Each of them is a device devised to make an air conditioner installed in an air-conditioned space function as an interior with a single decorative property, and is actually commercialized.

On the other hand, in recent years, dust is likely to adhere to the slits of the front grill as described above, and since it is installed at a high place, it is difficult to clean it. Like the creations disclosed in Registration 949996 and Design Registration 944062, the suction part is only above the housing or a part just above and the blowing part, and the front panel has a shape with a design decoration. An indoor unit is disclosed which is made up of a flat surface or a curved surface which is provided but has no suction hole.

Further, in response to the demands of customers who sell the products, it is devised to customize the products based on the basic model design and design to differentiate the products. For example, only the front grill of the air conditioner is designed with a different shape, or a sticker with a different color is attached to a part of the front grill.

[0006]

As described above, since the indoor unit of the air conditioner is placed in the room where the user can see it, the decorative property is required. Especially, in the wall-mounted air conditioner. Due to the structure of the heat exchanger and the like inside the indoor unit, a slit that penetrates is provided on the front surface side for the purpose of downsizing, etc., and in many cases, the air suction unit is configured. Therefore, in order to promote the decorative property of the indoor unit of the air conditioner having such a slit, it is only possible to make a shape modification such as a curved or stepped slit.

In addition, the wall-mounted air conditioner generates static electricity during operation and is partially charged, so that dust scattered around is attached to the front grill and the like. Since it is located at a high place where it is hard to reach, there was a problem that cleaning could not be performed sufficiently.

[0008] Further, although there is a simple means of sticking a seal on the surface of the front grill which does not have a suction hole, it is difficult to give a high-class feeling as one of the interiors. However, if the shape of the front grille is changed according to the model and customer needs, a mold is needed accordingly, which leads to an unreasonable increase in cost, so it is not a good solution.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to the present invention has an indoor unit which forms an outer shell by combining an underframe and a front frame. The front cover is detachably disposed so as to cover the front cover. The front cover is made of a transparent material and is designed so as to enhance the decorative property together with the illumination means.

Further, in order to prevent dust from adhering to the front grill, a device for removing static electricity is devised.

[0011]

The invention relating to the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 1 of the present application is an indoor unit of an air conditioner in which an underframe and a front frame are combined to form an outer shell. It has a front cover fixedly or detachably arranged so as to cover the front part of the. According to this configuration, the components such as the front grille are common in order to give each model a unique design, but only the highly visible front part of the housing is configured as a separate component for customization. You will be able to respond easily.

In the invention relating to the indoor unit of the air conditioner as claimed in claim 2, the front frame is equipped with a detachable or openable front grill, and the front cover engages with the front grill. It is configured to be detachably attached. Further, according to this configuration, since the front cover is configured so as to be engaged and mounted only on the front grill, the opening / closing operation of the front grill is performed during cleaning of the pre-filter mounted inside and internal inspection. It can be interlocked with and detached, and there are no handling problems.

In the invention relating to the indoor unit of the air conditioner as claimed in claim 3, the front cover is made of a transparent material. According to this configuration, the decoration of the front surface of the indoor unit is made by the transparent member which is arranged on the front surface and which can be colored while being transparent, in addition to the design shape of the front grill surface. Decorative properties can be expected.

In the invention relating to the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the front frame is provided with a light emitting portion capable of projecting light in the surface direction of the front cover. According to this configuration, by projecting light in the surface direction on the transparent member, the edge portion of the transparent member emits light,
You can expect an illumination effect in the dark,
The decorativeness can be improved.

In the invention relating to the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 5 of the present application, the front frame is provided with an engaging portion, and the cover is configured to be fitted and positioned in the engaging portion. The engaging portion is provided with a light emitting portion configured to be capable of projecting light in the surface direction from the engaging cross section of the front cover. According to this structure, not only the positioning of the front cover at the time of mounting is facilitated, but also the projection also serves as the light emitting portion, so that the light emitting portion and the transparent front cover can be reliably positioned, and the light from the light emitting portion is surely positioned. Since there is no leakage of light and it is not necessary to separately arrange a light source, the structure can be efficiently constructed.

In the invention relating to the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 6, the front cover is configured to include a conductive material, and is in electrical communication with a heat exchanger or piping provided in the air conditioner. It is configured to be. According to this configuration, it is possible to prevent the front cover, which is disposed at a dusty position, from being charged with dust and lacking cleanliness as much as possible with a simple configuration. Since the heat exchanger and the pipe are normally grounded through an outdoor unit or a power supply line, static electricity can be easily removed from the housing.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be suitably applied to an air conditioner of a wall-mounted type, a ceiling-embedded type, a floor-standing type, or the like.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) The first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an indoor unit of an air conditioner showing a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the indoor unit 1 is configured by combining the outer shell of the underframe 2 and the front frame 3 with the electrical components, the heat exchanger, the cross-flow fan, the filter, (not shown above) inside. ) And so on. Further, in order to operate as an air conditioner, a blower circuit has a suction port 4 on the upper surface of the housing and a blow-out port 5 provided with a flap 6 for controlling the wind direction at the lower portion. On the other hand, a front grill 7 is detachably arranged on the front surface of the indoor unit 1 with respect to the front frame 3, and when cleaning a filter arranged inside the indoor unit, the hinge 7d is used as a center for upward movement. It is configured so that it can be rotated and opened.

In the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to the present invention, the front cover 8 is provided further forward of the front grill 7.
Are mounted and arranged. The front cover 8 may be fixed to the front grill 7 by adhesion, rib welding or the like, or may be detachably arranged by engagement with a claw or screwing. Alternatively, a U-shaped engaging portion that hooks with the peripheral portion of the front grill is formed on the side 8f on the side, and a rib 8d that fits into the hole of the front frame is provided on the upper side. May be engaged with each other. In this case, the ribs on the side of the letter are pushed apart to fit on the front grill. Alternatively, the front grill 7 may be fitted so as to be inserted along the engaging portion from above, which is preferable from the aspect of detachability and the like (see the mode of FIG. 2). Although the front cover 8 is engaged with the front grille 7 here, it may be engaged with the front frame when the front grill is not movable.

It is preferable that the front cover 8 is colored or devised to improve its design. As a result, the user can easily change the interior by changing only this part, and the producer side also has ribs on the back surface with some strength. The entire front frame 7 is not made of the material of the front cover, but the strength is the material of the front grill and the decoration is the material of the front cover. It is possible to select materials that give priority to securing.

The front cover 8 is made of acrylic or AB, for example.
If it is made of a transparent material such as S, it can give a high-class feeling due to its luster.
Design pattern 7f (polka dot pattern in this embodiment) on the front frame 7.
If it is molded, it can be seen through the front surface, and the designability can be further improved in combination with the gloss and coloring of the front cover 8. Here, the front cover 8
Even if the transparent material to be formed is not colorless, it may be lightly colored in various colors as long as it is transparent and visible. It may be one that emits color by dispersing the light of a fluorescent lamp or sunlight, or a photograph or a painting may be sandwiched between the front grill 7 and the front cover 8 so that the color changes depending on the temperature. Even if the temperature sensor is sandwiched and used, it is suitable in terms of design and function. When the front cover is transparent, even if dirt is attached to the surface of the front grill 7 due to static electricity or the like, if the front cover is attachable to and detachable from the front grill as described above, the cleaning is easy.

Furthermore, the front cover 8 is positioned by engaging the engaging concave portion 8a with the engaging convex portion 7a formed on the front frame 3, and then the LED etc. built in the engaging convex portion 7a. The light emitting means 7b is configured to be capable of projecting light in the surface direction of the front cover 8, that is, in the direction substantially forming the surface of the front cover 8 (the direction of the arrow indicated by X in the figure, which is indicated by a radial arrow). . As a result, when the surroundings become dark during operation of the air conditioner, the surroundings are sensed and projected in various colors to enhance the design. For example, warm-colored LEDs are used during heating, and cold-colored LEDs are used during cooling. At this time, the peripheral portion 8b and the bent portion 8c of the front cover 8 are colored by light projection and can be visually recognized. In the present embodiment, the example in which the light emitting means is provided by being incorporated in the engaging convex portion 7a at the center is shown, but the position is not limited as long as the light can be projected in the surface direction of the front grille 8.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an indoor unit of an air conditioner showing a second embodiment of the present invention. The parts common to those of the first embodiment have the same drawing numbers, and their explanations are omitted. In the present embodiment, the front cover 8 is made of a resin material made by kneading a conductive material such as carbon, and is provided by engaging with the front grill 7 as in the first embodiment. ing. Therefore, when the front grill is closed, the front cover 8
Is configured so as to be capable of contacting the conductive contact 9a at the side portion thereof, and the conductive contact 9a is electrically connected to the ground terminal 9b internally provided in the electrical component section 9. Is connected to the ground portion on the indoor side or the outdoor unit (not shown) side. With such a configuration, the front cover 8 can remove static electricity, so that dust existing around the front cover 8 is less likely to be electrically attached to the surface, and the time and effort for cleaning the front grill can be minimized. become.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, by arranging the front cover having the decorative and functional properties on the front surface of the indoor unit, it is possible to reduce the cost and improve the decorative property so that the original model is set. It is possible to meet the needs and improve the design of the front portion using light. Further, by using the front cover having conductivity, it is possible to eliminate the electrostatic dirt on the front part as much as possible, and it is possible to suggest the necessity of cleaning the front surface of the indoor unit.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an indoor unit of an air conditioner showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an indoor unit of the air conditioner showing the first embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Indoor unit Two frame 3 front frame 7 Front grill 7a Engagement convex part 7b light emitting means 7d hinge 8 Front cover 8a engaging recess 9 Electrical components 9a Conductive contact 9b Ground terminal

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Akira Hamaguchi             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Katsuhiko Kawamura             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshinori Kobayashi             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3L051 BJ10

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An indoor unit of an air conditioner, which comprises an outer shell by combining an underframe and a front frame, and is fixedly or detachably disposed so as to cover a front part of the front frame. An indoor unit for an air conditioner, which has a front cover. 2. The front frame is provided with a detachable or openable / closable front grill, and the front cover is configured to be engaged or detachably attached to the front grill. The indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 1. 3. The indoor unit for an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the front cover is made of a transparent material. 4. The indoor unit for an air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein the front frame is provided with a light emitting section capable of projecting light in a surface direction of the front cover. 5. The front frame is provided with an engaging portion, and the front cover is configured to be positioned at the engaging portion, and the engaging portion has a surface direction from the engaging cross section with respect to the front cover. The indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 4, further comprising a light emitting section configured to be capable of projecting light. 6. The front cover according to claim 1, wherein the front cover is made of a conductive material and is electrically connected to a ground portion of the air conditioner. Indoor unit of air conditioner.