JP2015090259A - Outdoor unit of air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an outdoor unit of an air conditioner that restrains freezing of water vapor attached to a fan motor support plate.SOLUTION: An outdoor unit of an air conditioner comprises a case 50 including a bottom panel 50c, an outdoor heat exchanger 21 provided in the case 50, a fan 22 provided in the case 50, a fan motor 23 provided in the case 50 and driving the fan 22, a fan motor support plate 24 provided in the case 50 and on the front side of the outdoor heat exchanger 21 and supporting the fan motor 23, and a heater 30 of which at least a portion is provided on the fan motor support plate 24 or around the fan motor support plate 24.

Description

  The present invention relates to an outdoor unit of an air conditioner.

  In a heat pump air conditioner, heat exchange may be inhibited by frosting (frosting) the outdoor heat exchanger during heating operation in which the outdoor heat exchanger serves as an evaporator. For this reason, the heat pump type air conditioner which implements the defrost operation which removes frost when frost formation is detected is proposed conventionally.

  When the defrost operation is performed, the frost adhering to the outdoor heat exchanger melts and becomes drain water and water vapor. The drain water generated by performing the defrosting operation drops on the upper surface of the bottom panel that constitutes the bottom surface of the outdoor unit housing, and then passes through the drain discharge hole formed in the bottom panel. Is discharged. Further, the water vapor generated by performing the defrost operation is discharged to the outside of the outdoor unit by natural convection or when the fan rotates during the heating operation after the completion of the defrost operation.

  Especially in cold districts where the outside air temperature is low, it is easy to form frost, and before drain water dripped from the outdoor heat exchanger to the top surface of the bottom panel is discharged outside the outdoor unit through the drain discharge hole. In addition, there is a case where it freezes again on the upper surface of the bottom panel. For this reason, conventionally, in order to prevent drain water from refreezing on the upper surface of the bottom panel, there has been an outdoor unit in which a heater (seeds heater) is laid on the upper surface of the bottom panel (for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2011-52941 (Page 10, FIGS. 1 and 2)

  With the widespread use of heat pump air conditioners, outdoor units may be installed in extremely cold regions (outside air temperature is 0 ° C. or lower) in addition to conventional cold regions. In an extremely cold region, the surface temperature of the outdoor heat exchanger and the casing is 0 ° C. or less, similar to the outside air temperature. For this reason, the water vapor generated during the defrosting operation may stay inside the casing and refreeze in the casing itself. In addition, the ice generated by freezing water vapor does not melt in the defrost operation, and grows repeatedly by refreezing each time the defrost operation is repeated, and may become an icicle. Here, since the heater described in Patent Document 1 is laid on the upper surface of the bottom panel, there is a problem that it is not possible to sufficiently suppress freezing of water vapor attached to members other than the bottom panel.

  In particular, water vapor may adhere to the fan motor support plate that supports the fan motor, and the water vapor attached to the fan motor support plate may freeze. In such a case, the ice generated by freezing water vapor contacts the propeller fan arranged inside the outdoor unit and causes the propeller fan to be lost, or a load is applied to the fan motor that drives the propeller fan. There was a problem that the propeller fan might be broken.

  The present invention has been made against the background of the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide an outdoor unit of an air conditioner that suppresses freezing of water vapor adhering to a fan motor support plate.

  An outdoor unit of an air conditioner of the present invention includes a housing having a bottom panel, an outdoor heat exchanger provided in the housing, a fan provided in the housing, A fan motor provided inside for driving the fan; a fan motor support plate for supporting the fan motor provided inside the housing and on the front side of the outdoor heat exchanger; and the fan motor support And a heater provided at least partially around the plate or the fan motor support plate.

  According to the present invention, the heater is provided around the fan motor support plate or the fan motor support plate. For this reason, even if water vapor adheres to the fan motor support plate during the defrost operation, the heater generates heat, so that the water vapor attached to the fan motor support plate becomes 0 ° C. or higher. Therefore, freezing of water vapor adhering to the fan motor support plate can be suppressed in a cryogenic environment at an outside air temperature of 0 ° C. or lower.

It is a perspective view of the outdoor unit 100 of the air conditioner according to the embodiment. It is a disassembled perspective view of the outdoor unit 100 of the air conditioner according to the embodiment. It is the disassembled perspective view of the outdoor unit 100 of the air conditioner which concerns on embodiment, and is the figure which showed FIG. 2 in detail. It is XX sectional drawing of FIG. It is YY sectional drawing of FIG. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of the outdoor unit 100 of the air conditioner which concerns on embodiment. It is the figure which provided the heater 30 in the inside of the outdoor unit 100 of the air conditioner which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of the outdoor unit 100 of the air conditioner which concerns on embodiment. It is the figure which provided the heater 30 in the inside of the outdoor unit 100 of the air conditioner which concerns on embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, in the following drawings including FIG. 1, the relationship of the size of each component may be different from the actual one. Further, in the following drawings including FIG. 1, the same reference numerals denote the same or equivalent parts, and this is common throughout the entire specification. Furthermore, the forms of the constituent elements shown in the entire specification are merely examples, and are not limited to these descriptions.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an outdoor unit 100 for an air conditioner according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the outdoor unit 100 of the air conditioner according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the outdoor unit 100 of the air conditioner according to the embodiment, and shows FIG. 2 in detail.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the outer shell of the outdoor unit 100 is configured by a housing 50. As shown in FIG. 2, the housing 50 includes a front side panel 50a, a right side panel 50b, a bottom panel 50c, a top panel 50d, and a back panel 50e (FIG. 4). The front side panel 50a constitutes the front side and the left side of the housing 50, and is constituted by, for example, a member having an L shape in plan view. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a partition plate 1 is provided inside the housing 50. By providing the partition plate 1, the inside of the housing 50 is partitioned into the machine room 10 and the blower room 20.

  In the front side panel 50a, the portion constituting the front surface portion of the housing 50 and the portion constituting the left side surface portion of the housing 50 may be configured as separate parts. That is, the front side panel 50 a may be divided into a front panel that constitutes the front surface portion of the housing 50 and a left side panel that constitutes the left side surface portion of the housing 50.

  The machine room 10 is provided with a compressor 11 and an electrical component box 12. A control board (not shown) is provided inside the electrical component box 12. A control board (not shown) is a member for controlling the rotation speed of the compressor 11 and driving a heater 30 and the like which will be described later. The control board (not shown) is configured by, for example, hardware such as a circuit device that realizes this function, or software executed on an arithmetic device such as a microcomputer or a CPU.

  The blower chamber 20 is provided with an outdoor heat exchanger 21, a fan 22, a fan motor 23 (FIG. 4), a fan motor support plate 24, an upper plate 25, and a support plate connection portion 26. The outdoor heat exchanger 21 is provided on the back side of the outdoor unit 100 with respect to the fan 22, the fan motor 23, the fan motor support plate 24, the upper plate 25, and the support plate connection portion 26.

  The outdoor heat exchanger 21 has, for example, an L shape in plan view, and is provided along the left side surface of the front side panel 50a and the back panel 50e. The fan 22 is a blower unit composed of, for example, a propeller fan, and generates an air circulation for efficiently performing heat exchange. The fan 22 has a function of introducing outside air into the outdoor unit 100 from the back side of the outdoor unit 100 and discharging the outside air introduced into the outdoor unit 100 toward the front side of the outdoor unit 100.

  The fan motor 23 is a driving unit that drives the fan 22 and is attached to the fan motor support plate 24 using a fixing unit such as a screw. The fan motor support plate 24 is for supporting the fan motor 23, and is a frame-shaped member that extends upward from the bottom panel 50c. In addition, the fan motor support plate 24 may be provided with two or more as shown in the figure.

  The upper plate 25 is a plate-like member provided substantially horizontally with the bottom panel 50c, for example. The upper plate 25 is a member for reinforcing the strength of the fan motor support plate 24 in consideration of the case where the fan motor 23 is enlarged, and is connected to the fan motor support plate 24. The upper plate 25 is attached, for example, from the uppermost end of the fan motor support plate 24 toward the front.

  The support plate connecting portion 26 is, for example, a U-shaped member, and is configured integrally with the fan motor support plate 24. The support plate connection portion 26 is provided such that the inner surface thereof is in contact with the upper surface of the outdoor heat exchanger 21. Thus, the fan motor support plate 24 is fixed to the outdoor heat exchanger 21 by attaching the support plate connecting portion 26 to the outdoor heat exchanger 21.

  As shown in FIG. 3, an opening 50a1 is formed in the front side panel 50a. The opening 50 a 1 is an opening for discharging outside air introduced into the outdoor unit 100 to the outside of the outdoor unit 100. Further, a bell mouth 27 is provided so as to surround the outer periphery of the fan 22 on the back side of the front side panel 50a.

  The bell mouth 27 has, for example, a reduced diameter portion 27a projecting rearward from the periphery of the opening 50a1 so as to reduce the diameter inward in the radial direction, and a diameter increasing from the rear end of the reduced diameter portion 27a toward the radially outer side. And an enlarged diameter portion 27b projecting rearward. The bell mouth 27 is formed integrally with the front side panel 50a. The bell mouth 27 has a function of guiding the outside air introduced into the housing 50 to the opening 50a1. In addition, you may comprise the bellmouth 27 so that it may have the site | part extended in the front-back direction between the reduced diameter part 27a and the enlarged diameter part 27b.

  4 is a sectional view taken along line XX in FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line YY of FIG. 4 and 5, the air flow is schematically shown as an air flow A by arrows. Hereinafter, the air path formed inside and outside the housing 50 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

  When the fan motor 23 is driven, the fan 22 rotates and the outside air is introduced into the housing 50. The outside air introduced into the housing 50 is blown to members such as the fan motor support plate 24 through the outdoor heat exchanger 21. The outside air circulated through the housing 50 in this manner is discharged outside the housing 50 through the opening 50a1.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an internal structure of the outdoor unit 100 of the air conditioner according to the embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a diagram in which a heater 30 is provided inside the outdoor unit 100 of the air conditioner according to the embodiment. The fan motor support plate 24 shown in FIG. 6 is provided with a heater 30 as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the fan motor support plate 24 includes an upper part 24a, a body part 24b, and a lower part 24c. A barrel portion 24b is located below the upper portion 24a, and a lower portion 24c is located below the barrel portion 24b. The upper part 24 a is a part connected to the support plate connecting part 26. The body part 24b is a part to which the fan motor 23 is attached. The lower part 24c is a part fixed to the bottom panel 50c by fixing means such as screws (not shown).

  The upper part 24a is configured by a rectangular frame-shaped member having a hollow part 24a1, for example. The lower portion 24c is configured by a rectangular frame-shaped member having a hollow portion 24c1, for example. Since the cavities 24a1 and 24c1 are thus formed, a part of the air flow A blown out to the fan motor support plate 24 passes through the cavities 24a1 and 24c1 and is discharged to the front side of the housing 50. Is done. That is, the obstruction of the air flow A can be suppressed by forming the hollow portions 24a1 and 24c1.

  The heater 30 is a heating means constituted by, for example, a sheathed heater, and heats water vapor generated inside the housing 50. A nichrome wire is provided inside the heater 30. In addition, you may comprise the heater 30 with a flexible (flexible) heater. If comprised in this way, it will become easy to arrange | position the heater 30 in the housing | casing 50. FIG.

  The heater 30 is attached to the fan motor support plate 24 using fixing means such as screws. The heater 30 is folded at the upper part of the fan motor support plate 24 and is provided so as to be downwardly U-shaped when viewed from the front. The fixing points where the heater 30 is fixed to the fan motor support plate 24 are, for example, four B portions shown in FIG. The heater 30 may be configured to extend in the up-down direction and be folded around the upper portion of the fan motor support plate 24 instead of the upper portion thereof.

  The heater 30 is used with, for example, a power consumption of 100 W and a temperature of 30 ° C., for example. Energization of the heater 30 is started when the heating operation is performed and an outside air temperature sensor (not shown) is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature. Note that the power consumption and temperature of the heater 30 are not limited to the above-described values, and are appropriately determined so that water vapor generated inside the housing 50 is heated.

  Next, the operation of the outdoor unit 100 in an extremely cold area where the outside air temperature is 0 ° C. or less will be described. The above-described control board (not shown) controls the operation of the outdoor unit 100 when, for example, a user or the like receives an operation of an operation unit (not shown) for setting the operation mode. The operation mode includes, for example, a heating operation and a cooling operation. Here, the following description will be made on the assumption that the heating operation is set.

  Since the fan 22 rotates when the heating operation is set, the outside air is introduced into the housing 50 as described above. Here, since the outdoor heat exchanger 21 has a function as an evaporator, the outside air introduced into the housing 50 is heat-exchanged with the refrigerant inside the outdoor heat exchanger 21, and the temperature decreases. The outside air whose temperature has been lowered is blown to members such as the fan motor support plate 24 inside the blower chamber 10. When the outside air temperature detected by the outside air temperature sensor becomes equal to or lower than the predetermined temperature, the control board starts energizing the heater 30. By starting energization of the heater 30 in this way, the heat of the heater 30 is transmitted to the fan motor support plate 24, and frost formation on the fan motor support plate 24 is suppressed.

  The control board stops the operation of the compressor 11 after the heating operation is performed for a certain time, and switches the four-way valve (not shown) to the cooling side. Then, the control board restarts the operation of the compressor 11 and stops the rotation of the fan 22. Thus, the defrost operation is started.

  During the defrost operation, since the outdoor heat exchanger 21 has a function as a condenser, the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 11 flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 21, and the outdoor heat exchanger 21 is heated. For this reason, the temperature inside the housing | casing 50 can be raised using the heat | fever in the outdoor heat exchanger 21 by performing a defrost driving | operation.

  By performing the defrosting operation, the temperature of the frost attached to the fan motor support plate 24 rises to become water vapor, and this water vapor tries to refreeze in an extremely cold region where the outside air temperature is 0 ° C. or less. However, the heater 30 provided on the fan motor support plate 24 heats the water vapor adhering to the fan motor support plate 24. For this reason, refreezing of water vapor adhering to the fan motor support plate 24 can be suppressed.

  The heater 30 is not limited to being provided on the fan motor support plate 24, and may be configured to be provided around the fan motor support plate 24. Even if comprised in this way, the heat | fever emitted from the heater 30 can be transmitted to the fan motor support plate 24 similarly to the case where the heater 30 is attached to the fan motor support plate 24.

  At this time, the heater 30 may be provided along the fan motor support plate 24. However, since a wiring is provided in the vicinity of the fan motor support plate 24, the wiring and the heater 30 are prevented from contacting each other as much as possible. More preferably, a heater 30 is provided.

  Further, the heater 30 may be extended in the vertical direction while being bent in the horizontal direction, for example, without being linearly extended in the vertical direction as illustrated. With this configuration, the surface area of the heater 30 that releases heat toward the fan motor support plate 24 increases, so that freezing of water vapor attached to the fan motor support plate 24 can be further suppressed.

  Further, the heater 30 may be provided by being folded up and down a plurality of times along the fan motor support plate 24. If comprised in this way, freezing of water vapor | steam can be suppressed further.

  Moreover, it is not limited to the example which provides the heater 30 as FIG. 7 shows, Furthermore, you may provide the heater 30 so that the front lower part of the outdoor heat exchanger 21 may be followed. If comprised in this way, freezing of the water vapor | steam adhering to the fan motor support plate 24 can be suppressed, and freezing of the drain water which flowed out from the outdoor heat exchanger 21 can be suppressed.

  The heater 30 may be configured by a hot gas bypass circuit (not shown) that directly supplies at least a part of the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 11 to the outdoor heat exchanger 21. Here, a refrigerant having a temperature higher than that of the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 11 and supplied to the outdoor heat exchanger 21 via the indoor heat exchanger (not shown) flows through the hot gas bypass circuit. For this reason, the periphery of the fan motor support plate 24 or the fan motor support plate 24 can be heated by utilizing the heat of the refrigerant flowing through the hot gas bypass circuit.

As described above, the outdoor unit 100 according to the present embodiment is provided in the housing 50 having the bottom panel 50 c, the outdoor heat exchanger 21 provided in the housing 50, and the housing 50. The fan 22 is provided inside the housing 50 and drives the fan 22. The fan motor 23 is provided inside the housing 50 and on the front side of the outdoor heat exchanger 21 to support the fan motor 23. The fan motor support plate 24 and the heater 30 provided at least partially around the fan motor support plate 24 or the fan motor support plate 24 are provided.
For this reason, even if water vapor adheres to the fan motor support plate 24 during the defrost operation, the heater 30 generates heat, so that the water vapor attached to the fan motor support plate 24 becomes 0 ° C. or higher. Therefore, freezing of water vapor adhering to the fan motor support plate 24 can be suppressed in a cryogenic environment at an outside air temperature of 0 ° C. or less.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an internal structure of the outdoor unit 100 of the air conditioner according to the embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram in which a heater 30 is provided inside the outdoor unit 100 of the air conditioner according to the embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 8, an upper plate 25 connected to the fan motor support plate 24 may be provided on the upper portion of the fan motor support plate 24. Then, as shown in FIG. 9, a heater 30 may be provided around the upper surface of the upper plate 25. In this way, freezing of water vapor adhering to the upper plate 25 can be suppressed.

  In FIG. 9, the heater 30 is provided on the upper surface of the upper plate 25, but the heater 30 may be provided on the lower surface of the upper plate 25. If comprised in this way, the freezing of the water vapor | steam adhering to the lower surface of the upper board 25 to which water vapor | steam tends to adhere most among the upper boards 25 can be suppressed further. Further, since it is not necessary to secure a space for providing the heater 30 between the upper surface of the upper plate 25 and the lower surface of the top panel 50d, space saving of the outdoor unit 100 can be achieved.

  Further, the heater 30 may be provided so as to be attached to the upper plate 25 instead of the periphery of the upper surface of the upper plate 25. Even if comprised in this way, the heat | fever of the heater 30 can be transmitted to the upper board 25 similarly to the case where the heater 30 is provided in the periphery of the upper surface of the upper board 25. FIG.

  Further, since the compressor 11 in the machine room 10 rotates during the operation of the outdoor unit 100, the temperature on the right side (machine room 10 side) of the blower room 20 in the blower room 20 is the temperature on the left side of the blower room 20. Higher than. In consideration of such circumstances, the left side of the fan motor support plate 24 may be heated more than the right side of the fan motor support plate 24.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Partition plate, 10 Machine room, 11 Compressor, 12 Electrical component box, 20 Blower room, 21 Outdoor heat exchanger, 22 Fan, 23 Fan motor, 24 Fan motor support plate, 24a Upper part, 24a1 Cavity part, 24b Body 24c lower part, 24c1 cavity part, 25 upper plate, 26 support plate connection part, 27 bell mouth, 27a reduced diameter part, 27b enlarged diameter part, 30 heater, 50 housing, 50a front side panel, 50a1 opening part, 50b right side Surface panel, 50c Bottom panel, 50d Top panel, 50e Back panel, 100 Outdoor unit, A Air flow.

Claims (6)

A housing having a bottom panel;
An outdoor heat exchanger provided inside the housing;
A fan provided inside the housing;
A fan motor that is provided inside the housing and drives the fan;
A fan motor support plate provided inside the housing and on the front side of the outdoor heat exchanger, and supporting the fan motor;
An air conditioner outdoor unit comprising: the fan motor support plate or a heater provided at least partially around the fan motor support plate. 2. The air according to claim 1, wherein the heater extends in the vertical direction and is folded back at an upper part or around the upper part of the fan motor support plate so as to have a downward U-shape when viewed from the front. Harmonic outdoor unit. An upper plate connected to the fan motor support plate is provided at an upper portion of the fan motor support plate;
The outdoor unit of an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the heater is further provided around the upper plate or the upper plate. The fan motor support plate is attached to the bottom panel,
The outdoor unit for an air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the heater is further provided on an upper surface of the bottom panel. The air conditioner outdoor unit according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a plurality of the fan motor support plates are provided. The said heater is comprised by the hot gas bypass piping which supplies at least one part of the refrigerant | coolant discharged from the compressor provided in the inside of the said housing | casing directly to the said outdoor heat exchanger. The outdoor unit of the air conditioner as described in any one of Claims 1-5.

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