JP2004347209A - Outdoor unit, air conditioner using it, and heat pump type water heater - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an outdoor unit capable of preventing the breakage of a blowing fan by against wind. <P>SOLUTION: This outdoor unit 10 comprises a casing having an outlet port on the front surface, an air-heat exchanger arranged on the rear side within the casing, and the blowing fan 1 arranged on the front side within the casing, in which the air heat-exchange by the air heat exchanger is blown through the outlet port by the blowing fan 1. A brake pad 14 is connected to the blowing fan 1, and the brake pad 14 makes contact with a contact part 31a provided on the outdoor unit 10 when the rotating speed of the blowing fan 1 is a predetermined threshold or more. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an outdoor unit having a built-in refrigeration cycle, and is applied to a home air conditioner or a heat pump water heater using the outdoor unit.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an outdoor unit of a home air conditioner or a heat pump water heater has a casing in which a heat exchanger and a blower fan arranged downstream of the heat exchanger are housed. Thus, the air that has exchanged heat with the heat in the refrigerant, such as a heat exchanger, is discharged from the outlet at the front of the casing to the outside of the outdoor unit by driving and rotating the blower fan by the motor (for example, see Patent Document 1). .).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-2002-195610
By the way, since the outdoor unit is installed outdoors, when the outdoor unit hits the blower fan through the outlet of the outdoor unit, the blower fan may rotate in a direction opposite to the normal driving rotation direction. The reverse rotation of the blower fan is, for example, when the wind such as a typhoon is strong, the rotation speed of the blower fan becomes extremely high, and the blades of the blower fan are damaged. If there is, there is a problem that an electric component such as an inverter is destroyed by a back electromotive voltage generated by the reverse rotation of the motor accompanying the reverse rotation of the blower fan.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an outdoor unit that can prevent a blower fan from being damaged by a headwind.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to the outdoor unit which concerns on Claim 1 of this invention, the casing which has an air outlet in the front, the air heat exchanger arrange | positioned at the back side in a casing, and the blower fan arrange | positioned at the front side in a casing. In an outdoor unit that blows out the air heat-exchanged by the air heat exchanger through a blower outlet by a blower fan, a brake pad is connected to the blower fan, and a brake is provided when the rotation speed of the blower fan is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold. The pad contacts a contact portion provided in the outdoor unit. Accordingly, when the rotation speed of the blower fan is equal to or higher than a predetermined rotation speed, the brake pad provided on the blower fan contacts the contact portion provided on the outdoor unit, so that the blower fan can be braked. Damage to the blower fan can be prevented.
[0007]
According to the outdoor unit according to claim 2, the contact portion of the outdoor unit is arranged outside the brake pad in the radial direction of the blower fan, and when the rotation speed of the blower fan is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value. The brake pad is urged radially inward of the blower fan by a spring and connected to the blower fan so that the brake pad comes into contact with the contact portion. As a result, when the rotation speed of the blower fan is equal to or higher than the predetermined rotation speed, the centrifugal force acting on the brake pad radially outward exceeds the biasing force of the spring acting radially inward on the brake pad. Since it is configured to contact the contact portion, that is, the braking action of the blower fan is realized by a mechanical mechanism, the reliability of the braking action of the blower fan is guaranteed.
[0008]
According to the outdoor unit of the third aspect, the contact portion of the outdoor unit is provided on the fan guard that forms the front of the casing. Thereby, the manufacturing cost can be reduced by sharing the contact part with the fan guard.
[0009]
According to the outdoor unit of the fourth aspect, the predetermined threshold value is a rotation speed at which the blower fan may be damaged. Thus, the rotation speed of the blower fan can be reliably maintained below the rotation speed at which the blower fan is not damaged, and the breakage of the blower fan can be reliably prevented.
[0010]
According to the domestic air conditioner according to claim 5, the outdoor unit is used in a domestic air conditioner. Thus, the outdoor unit can be applied to a home air conditioner.
[0011]
According to the heat pump water heater according to claim 6, the outdoor unit is used in the heat pump water heater. Thus, the outdoor unit can be applied to a heat pump water heater.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a heat pump water heater 100 using the outdoor unit of the present invention. The circuit of the heat pump water heater 100 includes a water circuit 20 and a refrigerant circuit 30.
[0013]
The configuration of the water circuit 20 will be described. The water circuit 20 is a circuit for transporting water composed of, for example, tap water, and includes a hot water storage tank 90, a circulation pump 40, and a water-refrigerant heat exchanger 50 for exchanging heat between water and refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit 30. Are located. The flow of the water circuit 20 will be described from the hot water storage tank 90 for convenience. First, the room temperature water supplied through the hot water storage tank 90 is transported to the water / refrigerant heat exchanger 50 by the circulation pump 40, where the high temperature Is heated to a high temperature such as 90 ° by heat exchange with the refrigerant. The hot water thus heated is stored in a hot water storage tank or is flowed further downstream for hot water supply or bath use.
[0014]
Next, the configuration of the refrigerant circuit 30 will be described. The refrigerant circuit 30 is a circuit for circulating a refrigerant made of, for example, chlorofluorocarbon, and includes a compressor 80, a water-refrigerant heat exchanger 50 for exchanging heat between the refrigerant and water in the water circuit 20, a pressure reducing device 60, The air heat exchanger (evaporator) of the unit 10 and the accumulator 70 are arranged. The compressor 80 is driven by being supplied with a DC voltage converted from an AC voltage of an external power supply by a converter (not shown). The flow of the refrigerant circuit 30 will be described from the compressor 80 for convenience. First, the refrigerant from the accumulator 70 is converted into a high-temperature and high-pressure gas by the compressor 80. The high-temperature and high-pressure gaseous refrigerant is cooled and liquefied by heat exchange with water at room temperature in the water-refrigerant heat exchanger 50. This refrigerant is expanded by the pressure reducing device 60 to be a liquid in a low-temperature and low-pressure state. Next, the refrigerant exchanges heat with room temperature air in the air heat exchanger of the outdoor unit 10. As a result, the refrigerant is heated and expands to evaporate into a mist. Here, by blowing air to the air heat exchanger by the blower fan 1, heat exchange between the refrigerant and air is promoted. Finally, the refrigerant vaporized in the air heat exchanger is stored in the accumulator 70 and separated into gas and liquid. A gaseous refrigerant is supplied to the compressor 80. In this embodiment, an electric expansion valve capable of controlling the flow rate of the refrigerant according to the operating state is employed as the pressure reducing device 60.
[0015]
Next, the blower fan 1 of the outdoor unit 10 will be described. FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the fan rotation suppressing mechanism according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The outdoor unit 10 includes a fan guard 3 that constitutes a part of the front surface of the casing shown on the left side in FIG. 2, a blower fan 1, and a motor that rotationally drives the blower fan 1 from the front side to the rear side inside the casing. 2 and an air heat exchanger (not shown). The fan guard 3 has, for example, a net-like number of air outlets. With such a configuration, the air heat exchanger is provided by supplying start-up power to the motor 2 in response to a command from an electronic control device (not shown) to rotate the blower fan 1 at a speed of about 600 to 1000 rpm. From the outdoor unit 10 through the outlet of the fan guard 3 to promote heat exchange between the refrigerant and air in the air heat exchanger.
[0016]
The blower fan 1 may receive a reverse wind through the outlet of the fan guard 3 and rotate in a direction opposite to the rotational driving direction. When the wind such as a typhoon is strong, the number of rotations is high (about 2000 rpm) (called abnormal rotation), and the blower fan 1 may be damaged. Therefore, the present invention provides a fan rotation suppression mechanism for suppressing the rotation speed of the blower fan 1 as described below.
[0017]
The fan rotation suppressing mechanism of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a front view of the fan rotation suppressing mechanism of the first embodiment. The fan rotation suppression mechanism includes a brake pad 14 connected to the blower fan 1 and a contact portion 31a provided in the outdoor unit 1 with which the brake pad 14 contacts. The brake pad 14 is rotatably held on a plate 12 attached to the hub 11 of the blower fan 1 around a pin 16 fixed to the plate 12. The brake pad 14 is connected to the other end of the spring 13 whose one end is connected to a pin 15 arranged at the center, and is urged radially inward of the blower fan 1. On the other hand, the contact portion 31a is an inner surface of the tubular member 31 extending from the inner surface of the fan guard 3 toward the inner side of the casing so as to surround the brake pad 14 on the radially outer side of the brake pad 14. The contact portion 31a is located so as to contact the brake pad 14 when the brake pad 14 is displaced radially outward.
[0018]
With such a configuration, when the rotation speed of the blower fan 1 increases, the centrifugal force acting radially outward on the brake pad 14 exceeds the urging force of the spring 13 acting radially inward, as shown in FIG. Then, the brake pad 14 comes into contact with the contact portion 31a of the fan guard 3, and the rotation of the blower fan 1 can be braked. The number of revolutions (referred to as a threshold value) of the blower fan 1 when the brake pad 14 comes into contact with the contact portion 31a can be determined in advance by setting the brake pad 14 and the spring 13. For example, by presetting a rotation speed at which the blower fan 1 may be damaged as a threshold value, the rotation speed of the blower fan 1 can be reliably maintained at a rotation speed at which the blower fan 1 is not damaged.
[0019]
In the present embodiment, the number of the brake pads 14 is two, and the two brake pads 14 are arranged on the plate 12 in rotational symmetry with respect to the axis of the blower fan 1. Naturally, if the brake pads 14 are arranged on the plate 12 so as to be rotationally symmetric with respect to the center axis of the blower fan 1, three or more brake pads 14 may be provided.
[0020]
Next, a fan rotation suppressing mechanism according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a front view of the fan rotation suppressing mechanism of the second embodiment. The fan rotation suppressing mechanism is the same as that of the first embodiment except that the pins 16 for fixing the brake pads 14 to the plate 12 are omitted. Thereby, there is an advantage that manufacturing cost can be reduced.
[0021]
In the embodiment of the present invention, the example in which the outdoor unit of the present invention is applied to a heat pump water heater is described. However, the outdoor unit of the present invention applies a home air conditioner instead of the heat pump water heater. Is also good.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a heat pump water heater using an outdoor unit of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the fan rotation suppressing mechanism according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a front view of the fan rotation suppressing mechanism according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a front view of the fan rotation suppressing mechanism according to the first embodiment of the present invention when the blowing fan is braked.
FIG. 5 is a front view of a fan rotation suppressing mechanism according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a front view of the fan rotation suppressing mechanism according to the second embodiment of the present invention when the blowing fan is braked.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Blower fan 10 ... Outdoor unit 14 ... Brake pad 31a ... Contact part

Claims (6)

A casing having an outlet at the front,
An air heat exchanger arranged on the rear side in the casing,
A blower fan arranged on the front side in the casing,
An outdoor unit that blows out the air that has been heat-exchanged by the air heat exchanger through the air outlet by the blower fan,
A brake pad is connected to the blower fan, and the brake pad contacts a contact portion provided in the outdoor unit when the rotation speed of the blower fan is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. unit. The contact portion of the outdoor unit is disposed outside the brake pad in a radial direction of the blower fan, and the brake pad contacts the brake pad when the rotation speed of the blower fan is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. 2. The outdoor unit according to claim 1, wherein the brake pad is urged radially inward of the blower fan by a spring so as to contact the portion, and is connected to the blower fan. 3. The outdoor unit according to claim 1, wherein the contact portion of the outdoor unit is provided on a fan guard that forms a front surface of the casing. The outdoor unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the predetermined threshold is a rotation speed at which the blower fan may be damaged. A household air conditioner using the outdoor unit according to claim 1. A heat pump water heater using the outdoor unit according to claim 1.

Images