JP2009063203A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner capable of easily ventilating a plurality of sub-drain pans in a case when the air volume of an air blower is small. <P>SOLUTION: In this air conditioner where a longitudinal ventilation flue 10 is formed for ventilating a main body casing 1 from the top to the bottom, an evaporator 4 inclined from the vertical direction and the variable air volume-air blower 5 for ventilating the evaporator 4 are received in the longitudinal ventilation flue 10, a main drain pan 2 for receiving the drainage flowing down from the evaporator 4 is disposed at a lower position with respect to a lower end portion of the evaporator 4, and the sub-drain pans 3 for receiving the drainage flowing down from evaporator 4 and allowing the same to flow down to the main drain pan 2 are disposed at a downstream side in the ventilating direction, of the evaporator 4, an angle of the sub-drain pans 3 is variable. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioner provided with a sub-drain pan.

Conventionally, in a floor-mounted bottom blower type air conditioner installed in a computer room or the like, a vertical ventilation passage is formed in the main body casing having a suction port on the upper surface and a blower outlet on the lower surface, and allows ventilation from above to below. In general, an evaporator inclined from the vertical direction is disposed at the upper part of the longitudinal ventilation path, and a blower for ventilating the evaporator is disposed at the lower part of the longitudinal ventilation path. In this way, when the evaporator is installed in an inclined manner in the vertical ventilation path, the main drain pan that receives the drain water flowing down from the evaporator can be connected to the evaporator so as not to obstruct the vertical ventilation. A sub-drain pan that is installed only at a position below the lower end and is substantially parallel to the evaporator is disposed in the vicinity of the downstream side in the ventilation direction of the evaporator. With this sub-drain pan, drain water scattered on the downstream side of the evaporator is received and allowed to flow down to the main drain pan.

  Regarding the air conditioner having such a sub-drain pan, the following Patent Document 1 is arranged on the lower projection surface of the inclined heat exchanger, in parallel with the heat exchanger at an arbitrary distance from the heat exchanger, And a sub-drain pan formed in a step shape, and a main drain pan that receives drain water collected in the sub-drain pan and guides it to the outside, and the sub-drain pan has a plurality of water trays inclined with respect to the horizontal plane. The upper and lower ends of the adjacent water trays wrap around each other with respect to the vertical line, and in the center of the water tray, the U-shaped cross section guides the drain water dripped onto each water tray to the main drain. An air conditioner is disclosed in which a central guide rod is continuously provided.

JP-A-9-26154

By providing the sub drain pan in this way, it is possible to receive the drain water scattered on the downstream side of the evaporator and flow down to the main drain pan, but the installation position of the sub drain pan and the inclination angle from the horizontal when installed are The design assumes a case in which the air volume of the blower with the largest amount of drain water is maximum. Therefore, the air blower is a blower with variable air volume, and when the air volume is small, the sub-drain pan maintains the predetermined position and angle even though there is little scattering of drain water. There is a problem that the wind speed has been lowered.

Moreover, since the wind speed distribution is not uniform in the ventilation path, the heat exchange efficiency in the evaporator is deteriorated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner capable of facilitating ventilation between a plurality of sub-drain pans when the air volume of a blower is small. It is what.

  In order to achieve the above object, an air conditioner according to the present invention forms a longitudinal ventilation path for ventilating from the top to the bottom in a main body casing, an evaporator inclined from the vertical direction in the longitudinal ventilation path, and an evaporator And a main drain pan that receives drain water flowing down from the evaporator at a position below the lower end of the evaporator, and at the downstream side of the evaporator in the ventilation direction from the evaporator. In an air conditioner having a sub-drain pan that receives drain water and flows down to the main drain pan, the sub-drain pan is configured to have a variable angle.

In the present invention, in the main body casing is formed a vertical ventilation path that allows ventilation from the top to the bottom, and in the vertical ventilation path, an evaporator inclined from the vertical direction and an air volume variable blower that ventilates the evaporator are accommodated. A sub-drain pan that arranges a main drain pan that receives drain water flowing down from the evaporator at a position below the lower end of the evaporator, and that receives drain water from the evaporator and flows down to the main drain pan on the downstream side in the ventilation direction of the evaporator. In the air conditioner in which the sub-drain pan is configured to have a variable angle, the sub-drain pan angle can be adjusted in accordance with the frequency of the blower, and when the air volume of the blower is small, obstruction of ventilation by the sub-drain pan can be reduced.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is an internal configuration diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In each figure, the air conditioner according to the first embodiment is a floor-mounted bottom blow type air conditioner installed in a computer room or the like, and has a main body casing 1 having a suction port 7 in the upper part and a blower outlet 8 in the lower part. In addition, an evaporator 4 inclined from the vertical direction and a blower 5 of variable air volume to be passed through the evaporator 4 are provided in a substantially vertical longitudinal air passage 10 from the suction port 7 to the air outlet 8. A main drain pan 2 that receives drain water flowing down from the evaporator 4 is disposed below the lower end of the evaporator 4, and a drain hose 6 is connected to the bottom surface of the main drain pan 2. The drain water collected in is drained out of the main casing 1.

A plurality of sub-drain pans 3 (3a to 3e) are arranged in parallel with the evaporator 4 in the vicinity of the downstream side in the ventilation direction of the evaporator 4. The sub-drain pans 3a to 3e receive the drain water scattered from the evaporator 4 by the ventilation, flow the received drain water from the upper stage to the lower stage, and sequentially flow into the main drain pan 2 at predetermined intervals and at predetermined intervals. Arranged at an angle. The inclination angles θa to θe from the horizontal direction of the sub-drain pans 3a to 3e are set so as to increase sequentially from the upper stage to the lower stage. That is, θa <θb <θc <θd <θe.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an installation state of the evaporator 4 and the plurality of sub-drain pans 3a to 3e in the main body casing 1. FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, each of the sub-drain pans 3 a to 3 e has supported protrusions 8 formed at both left and right ends, and the supported protrusions 8 are swung by a support portion (not shown) formed on the main casing 1. It is supported freely.

Further, the plurality of sub-drain pans 3a to 3e are connected by a swingable link member 9 at a position separated by a predetermined length from the positions where the supported projections 8 are formed at both left and right end portions. Is provided with a link mechanism 11 that swings the plurality of sub-drain pans 3a to 3e around the supported projection 8 to change the angles of the sub-drain pans 3a to 3e. The link mechanism 11 is interlocked with the frequency of the blower 5, and when the frequency of the blower 5 is high, the link member 9 is swung upward to increase the horizontal angles θa to θe of the plurality of sub-drain pans 3a to 3e. Like that. On the other hand, when the frequency of the blower 5 is low, the link member 9 is swung downward to reduce the horizontal angles θa to θe of the plurality of sub-drain pans 3a to 3e.

The operation of the air conditioner of this embodiment will be described below. The air conditioner starts the cooling operation, and the air sucked into the main body casing 9 from the suction port 7 is cooled by exchanging heat with the refrigerant flowing through the refrigerant pipe of the evaporator 4 in the evaporator 4. Thereafter, the cooled air reaches the downstream side of the evaporator 4, passes through the gaps between the plurality of sub-drain pans 3 a to 3 e, blows out from the blower outlet 8 into the air-conditioned room through the blower 5.

At that time, since the evaporator 4 is installed to be inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction which is the ventilation direction, as shown in FIG. 3, the flow direction L of the air passing through the point a which is the upper part of the evaporator 4, This is different from the flow direction S of air passing through the point d which is the lower part of the evaporator 4. That is, since the air passing through the upper part a of the evaporator 4 is curved in the vicinity of the suction port 7, the wind speed of the air becomes slower at the upper part a of the evaporator. On the other hand, the air passing through the lower part d of the evaporator 4 goes straight from the suction port 7 to the lower part of the evaporator 4, so that the wind speed of the air is increased at the lower part d.

In FIG. 4, the solid line A shows the relationship between each position of ad of evaporator 4 and the wind speed of the air which passes through each position of ad. From FIG. 4, the wind speed of the air passing through the points a and b which are the upper part of the evaporator 4 becomes slower than the wind speed of the air passing through the points c and d which are the lower parts of the evaporator 4 and the longitudinal ventilation path. The wind speed distribution within 10 is not uniform.

By the way, in the main body casing 1, the water | moisture content in air is condensed in the evaporator 4 with a cooling operation, and drain water is produced | generated. The drain water is received by the sub-drain pan 3 and the main drain pan 2, and the drain water received by the sub-drain pan 3 flows down from the upper stage to the lower stage, and finally flows into the main drain pan 2. The drain water stored in the main drain pan 2 is discharged from the drain hose 6 to the outside of the main casing 1.

At that time, when the air volume of the blower 5 is large, the amount of drain water scattered to the downstream side of the evaporator 4 due to ventilation increases, so the link member 9 is moved upward as shown in FIG. The sub-drain pans 3a to 3e are swung around the supported protrusion 8 and adjusted so that the inclination angles θa to θe from the horizontal are increased. Thereby, since the distance between the upper and lower sub-drain pans 3a to 3e is shortened, the drain water scattered from the evaporator 4 can be received more reliably.

On the other hand, when the air volume of the blower 5 is small, the scattering of drain water from the evaporator 4 due to ventilation is reduced, and the normal drain water flows down on the surface of the evaporator 4 and the lower end of the evaporator 4. The water is dripped onto the main drain pan 2 from the section. Thus, when the air volume of the blower 5 is small, it is not necessary to receive the drain water from which the sub-drain pans 3a to 3e are scattered. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5B, the link member 9 is moved downward, The inclination angles θa to θe from the horizontal of the sub-drain pans 3a to 3e are reduced.

Thereby, since the distance between the upper and lower sub-drain pans 3a to 3e is increased, the air passage for the air that has passed through the evaporator 4 is widened, and it is possible to suppress a decrease in the wind speed of the air. Therefore, since a predetermined wind speed can be maintained even at a frequency lower than that of the prior art, power consumption can be reduced as compared with an air conditioner equipped with a sub-drain pan with a fixed angle as in the prior art.

In particular, when the air-conditioned space is a computer room, in a situation where the air-conditioning load in the computer room is small, the air volume is adjusted using the inverter of the blower 5 in order to keep the air volume of the blower 5 small. At this time, when the angle of the sub-drain pan is fixed as in the prior art, the ventilation on the downstream side of the evaporator 4 is obstructed and the wind speed is lowered. Therefore, in the first embodiment, the sub-drain pan 3a When the angle of? 3e is variable and the air volume of the blower 5 is small, the inclination angles [theta] a to [theta] e are reduced to facilitate ventilation between the sub-drain pans 3a to 3e and suppress a decrease in wind speed.

In addition, as shown by a solid line A in FIG. 4, the wind speed distribution in the longitudinal ventilation path is not uniform, but the conventional sub-drain pan is fixed at a predetermined angle, so that the air volume of the blower becomes small In contrast, in the first embodiment, when the air volume of the blower 5 is small, as shown in FIG. 5B, the unevenness of the wind speed is not improved. By making the inclination angles θa to θe smaller, ventilation on the downstream side of the evaporator 4 can be facilitated and a decrease in the wind speed can be suppressed. Therefore, as indicated by the broken line B in FIG. 4, the difference in the wind speed at each of the positions a to d of the evaporator 4 can be reduced, and the nonuniformity of the wind speed distribution in the longitudinal ventilation path 10 can be improved. As a result, the heat exchange efficiency in the evaporator 4 is improved, and the operating cost can be suppressed.

As described above, the longitudinal ventilation path 10 for venting from the top to the bottom is formed in the main body casing, and the evaporator 4 inclined from the vertical direction and the blower 5 that ventilates the evaporator 4 are accommodated in the longitudinal ventilation path 10. The main drain pan 2 that receives drain water flowing down from the evaporator 4 is disposed below the lower end of the evaporator 4, and the drain water from the evaporator 4 is received downstream of the evaporator 4 in the ventilation direction. In the air conditioner in which the sub-drain pan 3 that flows down to the drain pan 2 is arranged, the sub-drain pan 3 is configured to be variable in angle, so that the angle of the sub-drain pan 3 can be adjusted according to the frequency of the blower 5.

Thereby, when the air volume of the blower 5 is large, the inclination angle θa to θe from the horizontal of the sub-drain pan 3 can be increased to effectively prevent the drain water from being scattered, and the air volume of the blower 5 is small. Therefore, it is possible to reduce power consumption by reducing the inclination angle of the sub-drain pan 3 from the horizontal to widen the ventilation path on the downstream side of the evaporator 4 and suppressing the decrease in the wind speed.

A plurality of sub-drain pans 3 a to 3 e are arranged so that the drain water 3 flows in the vertical direction and drain water flows from the upper sub-drain pan 3 to the main drain pan 2 through the lower sub-drain pan 3. Since the plurality of sub-drain pans 3a to 3e are connected by the link member 9, and the link mechanism 11 that interlocks and changes the angles of the plurality of sub-drain pans 3a to 3e by the swing of the link member 9 is provided. Accordingly, the inclination angles of all the sub-drain pans 3a to 3e can be changed instantaneously. Therefore, it is possible to finely adjust the tilt angle of the sub-drain pan 3 according to the frequency of the blower 5.

Further, the plurality of sub drain pans 3a to 3e are arranged in parallel vertically, and the drain water flows down from the upper sub drain pans 3a and 3b to the main drain pan 2 through the lower sub drain pans 3d and 3e. ~ 3e are arranged, and the inclination angle from the horizontal direction of the plurality of sub-drain pans 3a to 3e is set so that the lower sub-drain pans 3d and 3e are larger than the upper sub-drain pans 3a and 3b. In the upper part of the evaporator 4 where the amount of scattered drain water is low, the distance between the sub-drain pans 3a and 3b can be increased to suppress the decrease in the wind speed, and the lower part of the evaporator 4 where the wind speed is high and the amount of drain water is scattered. Then, the drain water can be reliably received by shortening the distance between the sub-drain pans 3d and 3e.

In the above embodiment, the inclination angles θa to θe from the horizontal direction of the sub-drain pans 3a to 3e are configured to increase sequentially from the upper stage to the lower stage. However, the air conditioner of the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, all the sub drain pans may have the same or different inclination angles. Moreover, although the sub drain pans 3a to 3e are provided with the link mechanism 11 and the angles of the plurality of sub drain pans 3a to 3e are changed in conjunction with each other, the present invention is not limited to this, and the angle of each sub drain pan may be adjusted individually. .

It is an internal block diagram of the air conditioner which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the installation state of the evaporator of the said air conditioner, and a some sub drain pan. It is a figure which shows the flow of the air in the main body casing of the said air conditioner. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the position of the evaporator of the said air conditioner, and the wind speed of air. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of the said air conditioner.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body casing 2 Main drain pan 3, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e Sub drain pan 4 Evaporator 5 Blower 9 Link member 10 Vertical ventilation path 11 Link mechanism

Claims (3)

A vertical ventilation path is formed in the main casing to allow ventilation from above to below, and an evaporator inclined from a vertical direction and an air blower of variable air volume to be passed through the evaporator are accommodated in the vertical ventilation path, and the evaporation A main drain pan that receives drain water flowing down from the evaporator is disposed at a position below the lower end of the evaporator, and at the downstream side in the ventilation direction of the evaporator, drain water from the evaporator is received and flows down to the main drain pan. An air conditioner having a sub-drain pan arranged therein, wherein the sub-drain pan is configured to have a variable angle. A plurality of sub drain pans are arranged side by side, and the plurality of sub drain pans are arranged so that drain water flows from the upper sub drain pan to the main drain pan through the lower sub drain pan, and the plurality of sub drain pans are linked members. 2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, further comprising a link mechanism that is coupled to each other and changes the angles of the plurality of sub-drain pans in conjunction with each other by swinging the link member. A plurality of sub drain pans are arranged side by side in the vertical direction, and the plurality of sub drain pans are arranged so that drain water flows from the upper sub drain pan through the lower sub drain pan to the main drain pan, and the horizontal direction of the plurality of sub drain pans. The air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an inclination angle from the upper sub-drain pan is set to be larger than that of the upper sub-drain pan.

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