JP2013221429A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner capable of detecting abnormality of an air blower, while avoiding an erroneous determination on the abnormality of the air blower.SOLUTION: An air conditioner 1 includes a casing 2, an air blower 10 arranged in this casing, a vibration detecting means 103 for detecting vibration of this air blower, and a control device for controlling the air blower based on output from the vibration detecting means. The air blower has a fan 100, a motor 101 for driving this fan, and a support plate 102 for supporting the motor. The control device also determines that there is abnormality in the air blower, when the output from the vibration detecting means is larger than a preset first determining value and an output state larger than this first determining value continues for a longer time than a preset first set time.

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and is particularly suitable for detecting an abnormality of a blower (fan) used in an outdoor unit.

  As a prior art which detected the abnormality of the air blower, there exists a thing of Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2010-65594 (patent document 1). In this Patent Document 1, a detection device that detects at least one of vibration and noise generated from an electric blower, and at least one frequency component of vibration and noise detected by the detection device are transferred to a normal electric blower. By comparing with a specific frequency component, failure detection and failure mode determination of the electric blower are executed.

JP 2010-65594 A

  In the thing of the said patent document 1, the vibration and noise of an electric blower are detected and the abnormality (failure) is determined. However, when the failure diagnosis device described in Patent Document 1 is applied to failure diagnosis of the air conditioner (abnormality determination of the blower), the air conditioner blower is operating normally, even though the blower is operating normally. When a momentary disturbance such as an impact acts on the air conditioner, there is a possibility that an erroneous determination is made that the blower is abnormal.

  For example, if an impact or vibration occurs due to a gust of wind, an earthquake, or work during maintenance or inspection during operation of an air conditioner, it is determined that a failure has occurred even if the electric blower is normal. May end up.

  Further, the frequency analysis in the failure diagnosis apparatus described in Patent Document 1 may be difficult to execute with an inexpensive microcomputer (microcomputer) having a low processing capability. Such a failure diagnosis apparatus is a mass-produced product. There is a cost problem in adopting an air conditioner.

  The objective of this invention is obtaining the air conditioner which can detect the abnormality of the said air blower, avoiding the misjudgment about abnormality of an air blower.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a housing, a blower provided in the housing, vibration detection means for detecting vibrations of the blower, and the blower based on an output from the vibration detection means. An air conditioner having a fan, a motor that drives the fan, and a support plate that supports the motor. The control device includes: a vibration detection unit; Is output when the output state is larger than the first determination value set in advance and is longer than the first set time set in advance. It is determined that there is an abnormality in the apparatus.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the air conditioner which can detect the abnormality of the said air blower can be obtained, avoiding the misjudgment about abnormality of an air blower.

It is the longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows Example 1 of the air conditioner of this invention, and is the figure seen from the II arrow direction of FIG. It is a sectional side view of the air conditioner shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 1. It is a perspective view of the air conditioner shown in FIG. It is a schematic perspective view explaining the vibration of a housing | casing when the propeller fan of the air conditioner shown in FIG. 1 is damaged. It is a flowchart explaining Example 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining Example 2 of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining Example 3 of this invention.

  Hereinafter, specific examples of the air conditioner of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, the part which attached | subjected the same code | symbol in each figure has shown the same part.

  A first embodiment of an air conditioner according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the present embodiment, an example will be described in which the present invention is applied to an upper blowing type outdoor unit as an air conditioner.

  1 to 4 show the configuration of an air conditioner (outdoor unit) in the first embodiment, and FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view (a view seen from the direction of arrows I-I in FIG. 2), FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view.

  1 to 4, reference numeral 1 denotes an air conditioner, and an air blower 10 is provided at an upper portion in the housing 2 of the air conditioner 1. The blower device 10 includes a fan (propeller fan in this embodiment) 100, a motor (fan motor) 101 that drives the fan 100, a support plate 102 that supports the motor 101, and the like. The housing 2 is provided in the housing 2 so as to be detachably provided on the top cover 201, the side cover 202, the bottom plate 203, the leg 204, the front cover 205 provided on the upper front side, and the lower front side. The service cover 206, the front stay 207, the rear frame 208 (see FIG. 3), and the like that enable maintenance of devices and the like are configured. The upper surface cover 201 is formed with an air outlet 200 that opens upward.

  A heat exchanger 301 has a substantially U-shape or a substantially U-shape, and is arranged from the rear surface of the housing to the side cover 202 on both side surfaces. By rotating the fan 100 of the blower 10, outside air is sucked from the outside of the heat exchanger 301, and after heat exchange with the refrigerant passing through the inside of the heat exchanger in the heat exchanger 301, The sucked air is configured to be blown upward from the air outlet 200 at the top of the housing 2.

  The heat exchanger 301 is disposed on the bottom plate 203. On the bottom plate 203, refrigeration cycle components such as a compressor 300, an accumulator 303, and a receiver 304 are installed. The leg portion 204 is fixed to the lower surface of the bottom plate 203, and a fixing anchor hole (not shown) for fixing the housing 2 is formed on the lower surface side of the leg portion 204. The anchor hole is used so that the air conditioner can be fixed to a local foundation or a frame.

  Inside the service cover 206 provided on the front side of the housing, an electrical component box 302 for storing electrical components and the like is installed. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, when viewed from the upper surface side of the housing 2, the heat exchanger 301 is disposed only from the side cover 202 portions to the back surface on both sides of the housing. This is because, from the viewpoint of serviceability (maintenance and inspection) for the compressor 300, the electrical component box 301, and the like, the heat exchanger 301 is not provided on the front side, so that it can be opened widely. In addition, the service cover 206 on the front side is detachable, and by removing this service cover, maintenance can be easily performed from the front side.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the left-right direction (longitudinal direction) of the housing 2 is supported on the surface by components such as the front cover 205, the service cover 206, and the front stay 207 (see FIGS. 1 and 3). The structure is less likely to shake in the left-right direction. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the front-rear direction (short direction) of the housing 2 is an open surface because the heat exchanger 301 is arranged. The structure is easy to shake in the front-rear direction (short direction).

  As described above, the blower 10 includes the fan 100, the motor 101, the support plate 102, and the like, and the support plate 102 extends from the front side (the front stay 207 side) of the housing 2 to the back side. It is installed in the front-rear direction (short direction) between the heat exchanger 301 on the back surface and the upper surface cover 201. In this embodiment, a vibration sensor (vibration detecting means) 103 is provided near the center of the side surface of the support plate 102. In the present embodiment, an acceleration sensor is used as the vibration sensor 103.

  Since the fan 100 is generally subjected to balance adjustment at the time of manufacture, as long as the fan 100 rotates normally, the vibration of the air conditioner is in a state that is small enough not to feel any abnormality. However, when an abnormality occurs that the fan 100 is broken or deformed for some reason, the balance is lost depending on the degree of the abnormality. Therefore, if the rotation is continued as it is, the unbalance force is centrifugally applied to the rotating shaft. Occurs in the direction. That is, as the damaged fan 100 continues to rotate, the unbalance force acts in the radial direction around the rotation axis, causing vibration.

  Next, the manner in which the housing 2 vibrates (sways) due to vibration due to unbalance of the fan 100 will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, the case 2 is configured to easily shake in the short direction (front-rear direction), and therefore, the vibration in the short direction of the case 2 is likely to increase significantly as shown by the dotted line in the figure. . Therefore, in this embodiment, the vibration detection direction by the vibration sensor 103 is the short direction of the housing 2, and in this way, vibration when the fan 100 is damaged is detected with high sensitivity. be able to.

  On the other hand, an outdoor unit as an air conditioner installed outdoors is susceptible to disturbances such as gusts and earthquakes, and the casing 2 vibrates in the short direction even by these disturbances. For this reason, it is impossible to determine whether the vibration is due to unbalance of the fan 100 or the vibration due to a disturbance such as a gust or an earthquake by simply detecting the vibration by the vibration sensor 103. Therefore, although the air blower 10 of the air conditioner is operating normally, an erroneous determination that the air blower 10 is abnormal is likely to occur due to vibration due to disturbance.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the abnormality determination of the blower is performed also using the duration of the output from the vibration sensor 103. Hereinafter, the abnormality determination of the blower in the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Note that the abnormality determination shown in FIG. 6 is performed by a control device configured by a microcomputer (microcomputer) provided in the electrical component box 302 or the like.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating Example 1 of the air conditioner according to the present invention.
As shown in the figure, when the operation of the air conditioner 1 is started, the process proceeds to step S1 and abnormality (breakage) determination of the blower 10 is performed. In step S1, the output (magnitude) of vibration (acceleration) detected by the vibration sensor (acceleration sensor in the present embodiment) 103 and the first determination stored in advance in the storage device of the control device or the like. Compare the value. As a result of the comparison, if the vibration output is smaller than the first determination value (no), it is determined that no abnormality has occurred in the blower, and the step S1 is executed again after the control time has elapsed. Repeat that.

  If the vibration output from the vibration sensor 103 is greater than the first determination value (yes) in the determination in step S1, there is a possibility that an abnormality has occurred in the air blower 10, and thus the step In S2, it is determined whether or not the state in which the output from the vibration sensor 103 is greater than the first determination value is longer than a first set time that is stored in advance in a storage device of the control device. In the determination in step S2, if the duration of the state in which the output from the vibration sensor 103 is greater than the first determination value is equal to or shorter than the first set time (in the case of no), a temporary gust, earthquake, or the like Since the air conditioner is expected to vibrate due to a general disturbance, the step S1 is repeated after the control time has elapsed.

  In the determination in step S2, when the state where the vibration output from the vibration sensor 103 is larger than the first determination value continues for a longer time than the first set time (in the case of yes) It moves to step S3 and it determines with abnormality having generate | occur | produced in the air blower 10. FIG. When this abnormality determination is made, the air conditioner control device stops the air blower 10 or the entire air conditioner 1 and preferably displays an abnormality on a monitor or the like. Alternatively, the air conditioner 1 may be stopped by an operator or the like by displaying that an abnormality has occurred in the blower 10 or generating an alarm.

  According to the first embodiment described above, when the air conditioner vibrates due to a temporary disturbance such as a gust or an earthquake during the operation of the air conditioner, the vibration sensor (acceleration sensor) 103 is instantaneously operated. Although the output is increased, the duration time is short, so that it can be prevented that the blower is erroneously determined to be abnormal.

The vibration sensor 103 may be a uniaxial or triaxial acceleration sensor that can detect vibration in a uniaxial or triaxial direction. When the uniaxial sensor is used, it is necessary to install it at a position where the vibration in the direction in which the casing easily vibrates due to the abnormality of the blower 10 (short direction in the present embodiment) can be detected. When using a triaxial sensor, it is possible to detect vibrations in the front / rear, left / right, and up / down directions, and the output of the acceleration sensor in the direction of the vibration to be detected may be used.
In addition, an acceleration sensor is preferable as the vibration sensor in the present embodiment, but is not limited to this as long as it can detect vibration (vibration detection means).

  According to the above-described embodiment, it can be determined that the air blower of the air conditioner is abnormal even though there is no abnormality, and only when a true abnormality occurs in the air blower, high accuracy is achieved. An abnormality can be detected with. For example, during normal operation of the air conditioner blower, even if the air conditioner vibrates momentarily due to a gust of wind or the like, normal operation can be continued without erroneous determination.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to reliably detect only the breakage of the blower, and, like the one described in Patent Document 1, the frequency analysis is performed and the frequency component of a normal blower is compared. Instead, since the abnormality is determined based on the magnitude and duration of vibration, it is possible to determine the abnormality using an inexpensive microcomputer, and the air conditioner can be manufactured at a low cost.

  Embodiment 2 of the air conditioner of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the second embodiment of the present invention, and the portions denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 6 show the corresponding steps. The configurations shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 are the same in the second embodiment.

  The second embodiment is an effective embodiment when the fan 100 receives a large damage in a short time. Even when the fan 100 is in a situation where the fan 100 tends to be momentarily damaged for some reason (a situation where the unbalance force of the fan is maximized and the vibration is very large) for some reason, In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the abnormality determination is performed on the condition that the vibration exceeding the first determination value has exceeded the first set time. For this reason, if the determination continuation time (first set time) is set to be long, the support plate 102 or the coupling portion between the vibration detection unit 101 and the support plate 102 is caused by the maximized unbalance force. For example, a large force acts for a long time (first set time). Therefore, in the worst case, the support plate, the coupling portion, and the like may be damaged, and the blower 10 may drop off and the function as the air conditioner 1 may not be performed.

  Therefore, the second embodiment is configured to perform abnormality determination in the flow shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is, when the operation is started, first, the determination I shown in step S4 is performed. In step S4, a second determination value larger than the first determination value shown in the first embodiment is set. The second determination value is set to a large vibration value that will cause a large damage in a short time.

  And when it determines with the output from the said vibration sensor 103 being larger than the said 2nd determination value by this step S4 (determination of yes), the big abnormality may have generate | occur | produced in the said air blower 10. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S5, and it is determined whether or not the state where the output from the vibration sensor 103 is larger than the second determination value is longer than the second set time. The second set time is set to a time shorter than the first determination time in the first embodiment, and in a short time when vibration larger than the vibration set by the second determination value continues. An abnormality is judged.

  If it is determined in step S5 that the state in which the vibration output from the vibration sensor 103 is larger than the second determination value continues for a longer time than the second set time (in the case of yes), step It moves to S6 and it determines with the big abnormality (for example, the big failure | damage to the said fan 100) having generate | occur | produced in the air blower 10. FIG. When this abnormality determination is made, as in the first embodiment, the air blower 10 is stopped or the entire air conditioner 1 is stopped by the air conditioner control means, and this determination is preferably performed on a monitor or the like. Abnormal display based on I.

  In the determination of step S5, when the duration of the output from the vibration sensor 103 is greater than the second determination value is equal to or shorter than the second set time (in the case of no), a gust, earthquake, etc. Since it is expected that the air conditioner has vibrated greatly due to a temporary disturbance, the execution of step S4 is repeated after the control time has elapsed.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S4 that the output from the vibration sensor 103 is less than or equal to the second determination value (no determination), no major abnormality has occurred in the blower 10. In this case, the process proceeds to step S1 to execute the determination II. This determination II is the same as the abnormality determination flow in the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  That is, in step S1, the vibration output detected by the vibration sensor 103 is compared with a first determination value stored in advance, and the vibration output is smaller than the first determination value (no). In this case, it is judged that no abnormality has occurred in the blower, and after the control time has elapsed, the execution of step S4 is repeated.

  If the output from the vibration sensor 103 is larger than the first determination value (yes) in the determination in step S1, the air blower 10 may have an abnormality, and the process proceeds to step S2. Then, it is determined whether or not the state in which the output from the vibration sensor 103 is larger than the first determination value is longer than a preset first set time. In the determination in step S2, if the duration of vibration greater than the first determination value is equal to or shorter than the first set time (in the case of no), it is predicted that the vibration is caused by temporary disturbance, so the control time After the elapse of time, the execution of step S4 is repeated.

  If it is determined in step S2 that the duration of vibration greater than the first determination value is longer than the first set time (in the case of yes), the process proceeds to step S3, and the blower 10 determines that an abnormality has occurred.

  According to the second embodiment, it is possible to prevent the fan 100 from being seriously damaged in a short time due to a great damage or the like. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the support plate 102 or the coupling portion from being damaged by a large force acting on the support plate 102 or the coupling portion between the vibration detecting means 101 and the support plate 102 for a long time. It is possible to avoid the situation where the air blower 10 falls off and the function as the air conditioner 1 cannot be performed.

  Also in the present embodiment, the second determination value and the second set time are provided in the electrical component box 302 and the like, similarly to the first determination value and the first set time. It is configured to store in advance in a storage device of a control device (microcomputer).

  A third embodiment of the air conditioner of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the third embodiment of the present invention, and the portions denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 6 and 7 show the corresponding steps. The configurations shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 are the same in the third embodiment.

  In the third embodiment, before the determination I and the determination II in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 7 are performed, a filter process for extracting a low frequency component including the rotational frequency component of the fan 100 is performed. This makes it possible to perform highly accurate discrimination.

  In the above-described embodiment, since an acceleration sensor is used as the vibration sensor 103, there is a feature that vibration at a high frequency is easily detected as a large output. That is, when an acceleration sensor is used, since the acceleration sensor is a sensor that detects vibration energy, the output value tends to increase as the frequency of vibration increases.

  For this reason, although the vibration to be detected is vibration due to unbalance of the fan 100, vibration having a frequency higher than the vibration frequency of the fan 100 is a large output value from the vibration sensor 103. May be detected. Therefore, even when no abnormality has occurred in the fan 100, it may be erroneously determined that an abnormality has occurred.

  Examples of the high-frequency vibration include minute high-frequency vibration (such as compressor bearing vibration) of the air conditioner body, and high-frequency vibration due to pressure fluctuation of the fan 100 due to local air resistance (the number of blades of the fan 100). Frequency component (fluid vibration)) and so on. Also, electrical noise and vibration (electromagnetic vibration, etc.) due to electromagnetic factors have a high frequency. These vibrations and noises are easily detected as large vibrations because of their high frequency.

Therefore, these high-frequency vibrations and electrical noise are detected as large output values by the vibration sensor 103, which may cause erroneous determination.
Therefore, if the frequency of the component synchronized with the rotational speed of the fan 100 is extracted and compared with the determination value, it is possible to more reliably detect the abnormality of the air blower due to fan breakage or the like, and prevent erroneous determination. Can do.

  In the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the filter process is performed before the determination I (step S4) and the determination II (step S1) are performed, and the low frequency including the rotation frequency component of the fan 100 is obtained. The components are extracted. Hereinafter, this will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

  When the operation is started, the filter process shown in step S7 is first performed in the present embodiment. This filtering process is to extract low frequency components including the rotational frequency component of the fan 100 (mainly extracting frequency components synchronized with the rotation period of the blower). The filtering process can be performed by analyzing the frequency of the output from the vibration sensor 103 and extracting the rotational frequency component of the fan 100. In the case of this processing method, it is necessary to use a microcomputer having a relatively high processing capability.

  On the other hand, the filter processing can be realized by using, for example, an analog filter in which a resistor and a capacitor are combined and an inexpensive microcomputer having a low processing capability. That is, the output from the vibration sensor 103 is smoothed by averaging processing for a predetermined time, and high frequency components are removed. Even in this case, it is possible to realize low-cost filter processing that can sufficiently determine the abnormality of the air blower using low frequency components including the rotation frequency component of the fan 100.

  In step S7, after performing the filtering process as described above, the process proceeds to step S4, and the determination I is performed using the vibration output of the frequency component extracted by the filtering process. The processing flow after step S4 is the same as that described in the second embodiment, and as shown in FIG. 8, when the determination I and determination II are performed and abnormality determination is made by these determinations, As in the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the air blower 10 is stopped or the entire air conditioner 1 is stopped by the control unit of the air conditioner, and preferably an abnormality is displayed on a monitor or the like.

  In addition, when it determines with no by step S5, step S1, and step S2 which are shown in FIG. 8, after a control time progresses, after performing control processing of step S7 again in a present Example, the process after said step S4 Is configured to do.

  According to the third embodiment, the filter process is performed, and the low frequency component including the rotation frequency component of the fan 100 is extracted to perform the abnormality determination. Therefore, the abnormality of the blower can be determined with higher accuracy. It is possible to avoid erroneous determination.

  Further, if the output from the vibration sensor 103 is smoothed by averaging processing for a predetermined time and a high frequency component is removed, a low frequency component including the rotational frequency component of the fan 100 can be extracted. Filter processing can be realized using an inexpensive microcomputer with low processing capability, and an air conditioner can be manufactured at low cost.

  As described above, according to each embodiment of the present invention described above, it is possible to obtain an air conditioner capable of detecting an abnormality of the blower while avoiding an erroneous determination of the abnormality of the blower. Moreover, the abnormality of the said air blower can be implement | achieved with an inexpensive apparatus, and the air conditioner which can be manufactured cheaply can be obtained.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to an above-described Example, Various modifications are included. For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to an upper blow type outdoor unit as an air conditioner has been described. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to a horizontal blow type outdoor unit.

  The above-described embodiments have been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Furthermore, a part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of one embodiment. Further, it is possible to add, delete, and replace other configurations for a part of the configuration of each embodiment.

  Information such as a program for realizing each function, each determination value, and each set time is stored in a recording device such as a memory, a hard disk, an SSD (Solid State Drive), or a recording medium such as an IC card, an SD card, or a DVD. Can be put in.

1: Air conditioner, 2: Housing
10: Blower,
100: Fan (propeller fan),
101: Motor (fan motor),
102: support plate,
103: Vibration sensor (vibration detection means),
200: Air outlet,
201: top cover, 202: side cover,
203: Bottom plate, 204: Leg part,
205: Front cover, 206: Service cover,
207: Front stay, 208: Back frame,
300: compressor, 301: heat exchanger, 302: electrical box,
303: accumulator, 304: receiver.

Claims (8)

A housing, a blower provided in the housing, a vibration detection unit that detects vibration of the blower, and a control device that controls the blower based on an output from the vibration detection unit; In the air conditioner having the fan, a motor that drives the fan, and a support plate that supports the motor.
In the control device, the output from the vibration detection means is larger than a first determination value set in advance, and an output state larger than the first determination value is from a first set time set in advance. When it continues for a long time, it determines with the said air blower having abnormality. The air conditioner characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein a second determination value larger than the first determination value set in advance and a second shorter than the first set time set in advance. Set the set time,
It is determined whether the output from the vibration detection means is greater than the second determination value, and whether the output state greater than the second determination value is longer than the second set time. Perform decision I to make a decision,
When the output from the vibration detection means is smaller than the second determination value, it is compared whether or not the output state in which the output is larger than the first determination value is longer than the first set time. Then, a determination II for determining an abnormality of the blower is performed.   3. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein a filter process for extracting a low frequency component including a rotation frequency component of the blower is performed from the output of the vibration detection unit, and then extracted by the filter process. An air conditioner that determines an abnormality of the blower using a vibration output of a frequency component.   4. The air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein the filtering process mainly extracts a frequency component synchronized with a rotation period of the blower from the output of the vibration detection unit. 5.   5. The air conditioner according to claim 4, wherein the filtering process smoothes the output from the vibration detection means by an averaging process for a predetermined time, and removes a high frequency component, thereby removing the high frequency component. An air conditioner characterized by mainly extracting a frequency component synchronized with a rotation cycle.   6. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the vibration detection means is a vibration sensor configured by an acceleration sensor.   The air conditioner according to claim 6, wherein the acceleration sensor is installed on a support plate of the blower so as to detect a vibration in a short direction of the casing. .   The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein when the controller determines that the blower is abnormal, the controller controls the blower to stop. Air conditioner.

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