JP2008082690A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner capable of easily handling dust removed from a filter, so as not to permit it to fly about, in the air conditioner having an automatic air filter cleaning function. <P>SOLUTION: The air conditioner has a dust box 70 detachably mounted to a body unit 10. The dust box 70 is composed of a box body 71 and a cover body 73 provided in an openable/closable manner at the box body 71. A cleaning brush 90 is rotatably provided at the cover body 73. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly to an air conditioner having an air filter automatic cleaning function.

  In an air conditioner, indoor air sucked by a blower fan is cooled or heated by passing through a heat exchanger and returned to the room, but dust floating in the room contaminates the heat exchanger. In order to prevent this, an air filter is provided on the front side of the heat exchanger. If dust adheres to this filter and clogging occurs and ventilation resistance increases, the air conditioning capability of the air conditioner decreases and power consumption increases. In order to eliminate such inconvenience, various air conditioners provided with an automatic filter cleaning device have been proposed.

  To automatically clean the filter, there is a method disclosed in Patent Document 1. In this method, a belt-like filter formed in an annular shape is supported by a pair of rollers, and the roller is rotated by a motor to move the belt-like filter. In the process, the filter is cleaned with a rotating cleaning brush. As a method for moving the filter, as shown in Patent Document 2, there is a method in which a belt-like filter wound around one roller is wound around the other roller and cleaned with a cleaning brush in the process. In this case, after cleaning, the filter is rewound from the other roller to the one roller.

In the case of Patent Document 1, the dust removed from the filter is stored in a dust box (dust reservoir) disposed on the front surface or below the cleaning brush, and when it becomes full or periodically, by suction or the like by a vacuum cleaner. to clean up. In Patent Document 1, the dust box is detachably attached to the air conditioner body, and can be removed from the air conditioner body for cleaning and washing. However, since the cleaning brush is connected to the drive motor, it cannot be removed from the air conditioner body.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-145019 JP 2001-99479 A

  However, the air conditioner of Patent Document 1 has a problem that dust accumulated when the dust box is removed from the main body side is likely to be scattered. In order to solve this problem, for example, it is conceivable to provide an openable / closable lid that covers the opening of the dust box. However, it is difficult to arrange such a lid and to open and close it while avoiding interference with the cleaning brush.

  On the other hand, it is also conceivable that a cleaning brush is rotatably provided in the dust box and the dust box can be attached and detached together with the cleaning brush. In this case, the cleaning brush serves as a lid, and the dust in the dust box is not easily scattered. However, when the dust in the dust box is thrown away or sucked with a vacuum cleaner, the cleaning brush becomes an obstacle. Even if the cleaning brush is detachably attached to the dust box, the configuration becomes complicated and the attaching / detaching operation is troublesome.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described conventional problems, and an object thereof is to prevent dust removed from the filter from being scattered around in an air conditioner provided with an automatic cleaning function of the air filter. Another object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner that can be easily processed.

  Therefore, the air conditioner of claim 1 is an air conditioner including a cleaning brush 90 for removing dust adhering to the filter 21 and a dust box 70 for storing the removed dust. The dust box 70 includes a box body 71 and a lid 73 that is openable and closable with respect to the box body 71. The cleaning brush 90 is attached to the lid 73. Is characterized in that it is rotatably provided.

  The air conditioner according to claim 2 is characterized in that the lid 73 is connected to the box body 71 by a hinge 72 so as to be rotatable.

  In the air conditioner according to claim 3, the bearing 92 that rotatably supports the cleaning brush 90 is slidably attached to the lid 73 and is fixed by a claw piece 82 provided on the lid 73. It is a feature.

  According to the air conditioner of the first aspect, the dust box 70 can be detached from the air conditioner main body while the box body 71 is covered with the lid 73. Therefore, the dust accumulated in the dust box 70 is not scattered. The dust box 70 removed from the air conditioner body can be easily treated by opening the lid 73 and sucking the dust in the box body 71 with a vacuum cleaner. At this time, since the cleaning brush 90 is attached to the lid 73 side, the box main body 71 can be easily cleaned.

  According to the air conditioner of the second aspect, since the lid 73 is pivotally connected to the box body 71 by the hinge 72, the opening / closing operation is easy and the lid 73 is not lost. .

  According to the air conditioner of the third aspect, the bearing 92 that rotatably supports the cleaning brush 90 is slidably attached to the lid 73 and is fixed by the claw piece 82 provided on the lid 73. As a result, the configuration is simple, and the mounting operation of the cleaning brush 90 is easy.

  Next, specific embodiments of the air conditioner of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the entire air conditioner, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the air conditioner assembled, FIG. 3 is an enlarged view around the dust box in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a state in which the lid of the dust box is opened. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the attachment part of the cleaning brush in FIG. 4, FIG. 6 (a) is an enlarged view showing the attachment state of the cleaning brush, FIG. 6b is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the lid of the dust box is closed. The air conditioner shown in FIG. 1 has a main unit 10, a filter unit 20, a front grill 50, a front panel 60, and a dust box 70. The main unit 10 has a bottom frame 11 that is a strength member suspended from a wall or the like. The bottom frame 11 has an indoor heat exchanger 12, a blower fan (cross fan) (reference numeral 13 in FIG. 2), and an electrical component box 14. Is installed, and the indoor air is sucked in, passed through the indoor heat exchanger 12 and blown out from the outlet 15, and air conditioning operations such as cooling, heating, and humidity control are performed.

  The filter unit 20 includes one air filter 21 on each of the left and right sides, and these filters 21 are arranged on the upper surface of the indoor heat exchanger 12 so that when indoor air is sucked from above, the filter unit 20 floats in the air. Dust is prevented from contaminating the indoor heat exchanger 12. Further, the filter unit 20 has moving means for moving the filter 21 downward in order to perform cleaning for removing dust attached to the filter 21. The moving means is a mechanism that moves the filter 21 arranged from the upper surface to the front surface of the main unit 10 to the bottom surface and the rear surface side, and further moves upward while curving in a U shape (see FIG. 2). However, as described in the background art, a known mechanism such as a loop type or a winding type may be used. A specific configuration of the filter 21 will be described later. The dust box 70 has a function of cleaning the filter 21. The specific configuration will be described later.

  A filter unit 20 is attached to the bottom frame 11 of the main unit 10, and a box-shaped front grill 50 is attached to the filter unit 20 so as to cover the filter unit 20. A front panel 60 that covers the suction port 51 so as to be freely opened and closed is attached to the suction port 51 on the front surface of the front grill 50. Further, the dust box 70 is attached to the lower part of the front grille 50. The dust box 70 is disposed at the lower part of the front panel 60 and at the upper part of the air outlet 15 of the main unit 10 as shown in FIGS. It is attached to the position in a manner exposed to the outside. The dust box 70 is attached in a detachable state without interfering with the front panel 60 while the front panel 60 is closed.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the dust box 70 is a box-shaped box body 71, a lid 73 connected to the box body 71 by a hinge 72 so as to be opened and closed, and a cleaning supported rotatably by the lid 73. And a brush 90. In this embodiment, the arc-shaped hinge 72 is adopted, but other types of hinges such as a pin joint and a hinge may be used. The box body 71 includes a bottom plate 74 that also serves as an exterior panel of the air conditioner, and left and right side walls 75 and front and rear walls 76 that respectively rise from the inner surface of the bottom plate 74. The side wall 75 and the front and rear walls 76 rise from the outer edge of the bottom plate 74 somewhat from the inside. A space surrounded by the bottom plate 74 and the walls 75 and 76 is a dust container 77.

  The lid body 73 has a shallow box shape covering the upper ends of the walls 75 and 76, closes the upper end openings of the walls 75 and 76, and rotatably supports the cleaning brush 90. Ribs 78 are provided at four locations on the inner surface of the lid 73, and bearings 92 attached to the rotating shaft 91 of the cleaning brush 90 are detachably mounted on the ribs 78. As shown in detail in FIGS. 6 a and 6 b, the rib 78 is formed with a substantially U-shaped or rectangular notch 80, and an inner edge of the notch 80 that is parallel to the notch 80 is formed around the bearing 92. A fitting groove 93 to be fitted is formed. Further, the rib 78 is elastically deformed when the bearing 92 is mounted to receive the mounting, and after the mounting, a claw piece 82 that projects into engagement with the engaging portion 94 formed on the bearing 92 and protrudes is provided. Has been.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the bottom plate 83 of the lid 73 has a mountain-shaped cross section as a whole, and a part of the bottom plate 83 is concave so that the filter 21 can advance while being curved. As shown in FIG. 7, an opening 84 is formed at the center of the bottom plate 83 so that a part of the cleaning brush 90 is exposed.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the cleaning brush 90 is divided into two short brushes 90 a and 90 b on the left and right sides. Each of the short brushes 90 a and 90 b has the above-described rotating shaft 91 and the rotating shaft 91. The above-described bearings 92 are rotatably coupled to both ends of the shaft, and four rows of flocking rows 95 arranged radially around the rotation shaft 91 (see FIG. 4). Since the bearing 80 is provided so as not to be detached from the rotating shaft 91, the short brushes 90 a and 90 b need only be attached to the lid 73 together with the bearing 92. As shown in FIG. 7, the end portion of the short brush 90b on the right side that is disposed outside the rotating shaft 91 protrudes from the side wall of the lid 73, and the end portion is provided with a driving means (not shown) such as a motor. A gear 96 that transmits the driving force is attached. The rotation shafts 91 and 91 of the left and right short brushes 90a and 90b are detachably coupled so that torque can be transmitted by a joint 97 at the center.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the dust box 70 configured as described above is attached to the main unit 10 in a state where the dust container 77 is covered with a lid 73 (see FIGS. 2 and 3). In this state, the gear 96 of the cleaning brush 91 meshes with the drive gear provided in the main unit 10. Then, in the cleaning mode of the filter 21, the flocking row 95 of the cleaning brush 90 that moves downward in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the filter collects dust adhering to the filter 21 and collects dust in the box body 71. Housed in part 77. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the dust attached to the cleaning brush 90 can be scraped off by the scraping rib 85 provided on the lid 73.

  When the amount of dust in the dust container 77 exceeds a certain amount, the user removes the dust box 70 from the main unit 10. At that time, as shown in FIG. 5, the dust container 77 is closed by the lid 73, so that the dust is not scattered. Next, the user places the dust box 70 in a horizontal state and opens the lid 73. In this state, as shown in FIG. 4, since the cleaning brush 90 is attached to the lid 73 side, it is easy to suck the dust inside the box body 71 with a vacuum cleaner. When the cleaning of the dust box 70 is completed, the user closes the lid 73 and attaches the dust box 70 to the main unit 10 as shown in FIG.

  In the above embodiment, the lid 73 is hingedly connected to the box body 71, but it can also be detachably provided. Moreover, although the cleaning brush 90 is divided into two types, it may be a single continuous type.

  FIGS. 8 to 12 show modified examples of the support structure for rotatably supporting the cleaning brush on the lid of the dust box. FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of the box body 29, the cleaning brush 30, and the lid 31. The cleaning brush 30 has brush hairs 33 (planted rows) planted around a hollow rotating shaft 32. In this case, the rotating shaft 32 is formed as one, and the brush hairs 33 are rotated. The shaft 32 is implanted over almost the entire length and the entire circumference except for the central portion and both end portions. A gear 34 is attached to one end of the rotating shaft 32, and an end member 35 is attached to the other end.

  Further, the lid 31 is shown in a state in which the box body 29 side is directed upward in the drawing. The lid 31 has an opening 36 and a scraping rib 37 for projecting the bristles 33 outward as in the above embodiment. In this case, the tip of the scraping rib 37 has a fine uneven shape.

  In the cleaning brush 30, the rotation shaft 32 and the end member 35 between the central portion and the vicinity of the gear 34 are rotatably supported by the lid 31. FIG. 9 shows a plan view of a state in which the cleaning brush is attached to the lid 31 (a state in which the opening facing the box body is turned up). FIG. 10 shows a cross-sectional view of the support portion in the vicinity of the gear 34 (A-A cross-sectional view in FIG. 9). As shown in the figure, the rotating shaft of the cleaning brush 30 is disposed between a support rib 38 provided on the side wall opposite to the scraping rib 37 and an elastic claw piece 39 provided at a predetermined interval from the support rib 38. 32 is supported. The support rib 38 and the elastic claw piece 39 extend to the opening side. A retaining protrusion 40 that protrudes toward the support rib 38 is formed at the tip of the elastic claw piece 39. That is, when the rotary shaft 32 is inserted between the support rib 38 and the elastic claw piece 39, the elastic claw piece 39 elastically expands, the rotary shaft 32 gets over the retaining projection 40, and then In the state where the elastic claw piece 39 is restored, the retaining projection 40 prevents the rotating shaft from coming out.

  In FIG. 11, sectional drawing (BB sectional drawing in FIG. 9) of the support part in the center part of the cleaning brush 30 is shown. As shown in the figure, a pair of gripping claw pieces 41, 41 extending toward the opening is provided. In addition, the gripping claw pieces 41, 41 are formed with holding parts 42, 42 that support the rotary shaft 32 so as to wrap the rotary shaft 32 from both sides, and the rotary shaft 32 is supported in the holding parts 42, 42. ing. The gripping claw pieces 41 and 41 are elastically expanded when the rotating shaft 32 is inserted, and then restored.

  In FIG. 12, sectional drawing (CC sectional drawing in FIG. 9) of the part which supports the end member 35 of the cleaning brush 30 is shown. An attachment pin 43 is integrally formed on the end member 35, and the end member 35 is attached to the rotary shaft 32 by elastically fitting the attachment pin 43 into the inner peripheral portion of the end portion of the rotary shaft 32. ing. In addition, a support cylinder portion 44 extending toward the cleaning brush 30 is formed on the end wall portion of the lid 31, and four pieces of support ribs 45 are erected on the inner peripheral portion of the support cylinder portion 44. Each support rib 45 is provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. And the end member 35 of the rotating shaft 32 is inserted inside the support rib 45, and the rotating shaft 32 is rotatably supported. In this modified example, the cleaning brush 30 is rotatably supported by the lid 31 by the above structures.

1 shows an embodiment of an air conditioner of the present invention, and is an exploded perspective view of the entire air conditioner. FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which the air conditioner assembled. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view around a dust box in FIG. 2. It is a perspective view which shows the state which opened the cover of the dust box. It is an enlarged view which shows the attachment part of the cleaning brush in FIG. (A) is an enlarged view which shows the attachment state of the cleaning brush, (b) is VI-VI sectional view taken on the line of (a). It is a perspective view which shows the state which closed the cover of the dust box. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a box body, a cleaning brush, and a lid, showing an example of changing the structure for supporting the cleaning brush to the lid of the dust box. It is a top view of the said modification. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 9 showing a support structure in the vicinity of the gear. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 9 showing the support structure at the center. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

10 .... Main body unit, 11 .... Bottom frame, 12 .... Indoor heat exchanger, 13 .... Blower fan, 14 .... Electrical component box, 15 .... Blower outlet, 20 .... Filter unit, 21 ... Filter ( Air filter), 50 ... Front grille, 51 ... Suction port, 60 ... Front panel, 70 ... Dust box, 71 ... Box body, 72 ... Hinge, 73 ... Lid, 74 ... Bottom plate, 75 ..Side wall 76 ..Front and rear walls 77 ..Dust container, 78 ..Rib, 80 ..Notch 82, Nail piece 83, Bottom plate 84, Opening 85, Scraping Rib, 90 ... Cleaning brush, 90a ... 90b ... Short brush, 91 ... Rotary shaft, 92 ... Bearing, 93 ... Fitting groove, 94 ... Engagement part, 95 ... Flocking row, 96 ... Gear, 97 ・ ・ Joint

Claims (3)

  An air conditioner comprising a cleaning brush (90) for removing dust adhering to the filter (21) and a dust box (70) for storing the removed dust, wherein the dust box (70) is a main unit of the air conditioner. The dust box (70) is composed of a box body (71) and a lid body (73) provided so as to be openable and closable with respect to the box body. 73), wherein the cleaning brush (90) is rotatably provided.   The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the lid (73) is pivotally connected to the box body (73) by a hinge (72).   A bearing (92) that rotatably supports the cleaning brush (90) is slidably attached to the lid (73) and is fixed by a claw piece (82) provided on the lid (73). The air conditioner according to claim 1.