JP2584018Y2 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

Industrial Applicability The present invention simplifies the structure of a drain pump that discharges condensed water condensed in a heat exchanger to the outside of the machine and eliminates the drain pan, thereby reducing the size and weight of the drain pump and maintaining the drain pump. Achieved free,
Mainly relates to an air conditioner installed above the ceiling.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 illustrates the structure of a drain pump portion of a conventional ceiling-mounted air conditioner. Reference numeral 50 denotes a drain pan of an air conditioner (not shown) for temporarily storing condensed water 51 which is condensed on the surface of the heat exchanger and falls. A drain pump 60 includes a pump 60A and a motor 60B for driving the pump 60A.
It is composed of The pump 60A has a funnel-shaped pump casing 61 in which a triangular plate-shaped impeller 62 is coaxially housed, and a rotary shaft 6 of a motor 60B installed vertically in a shaft hole provided in a boss 62a of the impeller 62.
3 is fitted on the shaft. The pump casing 61 has an upper surface opening sealed with a lid 64, a water suction port 65 provided at a bottom end, and a drainage port 66 provided at an upper side surface. Then, the lid 64
Is provided with a shaft hole 64a through which the boss 62a is inserted.
When the motor 60B is driven in a state where the water surface in the drain pan 50 has reached a water level that closes the water suction port 65,
With the high-speed rotation of the impeller 62, the water attached to the lower end thereof rises along the impeller 62 by centrifugal force, reaches the position of the drain port 66, and is discharged out of the air conditioner.

[0003]

The above-mentioned drain pump is generally used for an air conditioner which is installed behind a ceiling and which is difficult to maintain and inspect. The drain pump under such use conditions has some problems to be improved as listed below. a) An air conditioner in which an indoor unit is installed in a space behind a narrow ceiling needs to be made as small as possible. However, a drain pump having a bulky outer shape prevents the miniaturization. b) If the drain pump absorbs a large amount of water, the water sucked up by the impeller 62 may rise to a position above the drain port 66 and overflow from the gap of the shaft hole 64a. In this case, dust and oils and fats and oils floating on the surface of the condensed water 51 pass through the gap and adhere to this portion. Then, when not in use during the off-season, the dust and oil film solidify and close the gap, so that the pump 60A does not easily absorb water or the load on the motor 60B increases. c) Even then, inspection and repair of the air conditioner installed above the ceiling is extremely troublesome. d) Since the pump 60A and the motor 60B are made separately and combined with each other, the number of parts and the number of assembling steps increase to increase the cost. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make the attached drain pump as small and simple as possible, to make it inexpensive, and to solve the problem that the condensed water contaminated with dust causes the above-mentioned inconvenience, and to perform maintenance. An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner capable of realizing free operation.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, an air conditioner according to the present invention comprises a base 2 of a heat exchanger 1.
A water collecting groove 2a for collecting condensed water dropped from the heat exchanger 1 is provided on the upper surface of the heat exchanger 1, and a condensed water reservoir 5 is recessed in a part of the water collecting groove 2a. A is formed as a pump casing 7 and a concave portion is formed.
A drain port 9 for condensed water is provided at the upper part of the peripheral wall of the pump casing 7, and the open top surface of the pump casing 7 is closed by a lid plate 12 provided with a boss hole 12a for projecting a boss 8a of the pump impeller 8 upward. The condensed water collected in the condensed water reservoir 5 flows down into the pump casing 7 through the gap between the boss holes 12a, and is discharged from the drain port 9 to the outside of the machine by the pump impeller 8. Further, it is preferable that a dust removing claw 15 for removing dust or the like clogging the gap between the boss holes is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the boss 8a. The gantry 2 may be made of a foamed synthetic resin, and a surface thereof may be provided with a coating material layer 6 made of a metal, a synthetic resin, or the like. Further, an electric motor 17 for driving the pump impeller 8
In this case, it is preferable that a plurality of support legs 20 project downward and the lower ends of the support legs 20 are pressed against the upper surface of the cover plate 12.

[0005]

The condensed water that has condensed on the surface of the heat exchanger 1 drops into the water collecting groove 2a provided on the upper surface of the gantry 2 and collects in the condensed water reservoir 5 provided on a part of the water collecting groove 2a. The pump casing 7 flows into the pump casing 7 through a gap between the boss holes 12 a provided in the cover plate 12 for closing the open top surface of the pump casing 7, and is discharged out of the machine through the drain port 9 by the function of the pump impeller 8 rotating at high speed. You. Then, when foreign matter such as dust is likely to be clogged in the gap, the dust removing claw 15 protruding from the outer periphery of the boss 8a and rotating surely removes this.
Further, if the gantry 2 is made of a foamed synthetic resin provided with the coating material layer 6, the weight can be reduced while maintaining the required strength, and the cold heat possessed by the heat exchanger 1 is hardly dissipated. Further, the electric motor 17
The cover plate 12 can be fixed only by placing the support leg 20 on the cover plate 12.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a ceiling-mounted air conditioner will be described below with reference to FIGS. Since the structural features of the air conditioner are located in the indoor unit, the following description will be limited to the indoor unit. Indoor unit 30 whose schematic structure is shown in FIG.
Is installed such that an outlet panel 32 constituting the lower surface of the casing 31 faces a unit mounting hole 40 a formed in the ceiling plate 40. An air inlet 32a for indoor air is provided at the center of the outlet panel 32, and an air outlet 32b for air-conditioned air is provided at the periphery.

[0007] A suction port 32a is provided inside the casing 31.
A gantry 2 on which the heat exchanger 1 is to be mounted is placed above a predetermined distance from the base. The heat exchanger 1 is formed in a substantially rectangular cylindrical shape so as to surround the blower 3, and the air blown out from the blower 3 is distributed by an air distribution chamber 4 around the inner peripheral surface of the heat exchanger 1. Is evenly sprayed on the entire surface of the heat exchanger 1. Then, the conditioned air that has passed through the heat exchanger 1 is blown into the room from the outlet 32b. On the other hand, the condensed water condensed on the surface of the heat exchanger 1 drops on the upper surface of the gantry 2 having a water receiving function. In order to discharge the condensed water out of the machine, the gantry 2 is provided with a drain pump A. Then, the structure of the drain pump A and the elimination of the drain pan conventionally assembled constitute the structural features of the indoor unit 30.

Hereinafter, the structure of the drain pump A will be described. First, the gantry 2 on which the heat exchanger 1 is to be mounted is formed in a substantially rectangular shape as shown in FIG. It has a blowhole. A water collecting groove 2a is formed in a rectangular shape on the upper surface of the base 2 having a flat rectangular shape, and a step portion for fitting the bottom of the heat exchanger 1 is provided at an edge of the water collecting groove 2a. A condensed water reservoir 5 is provided at one location on the bottom surface of the water collecting groove 2a. In this case, the material of the gantry 2 is styrene foam, and a coating material layer 6 such as a metal plate or a synthetic resin is provided on the surface in order to increase the surface hardness and mechanical strength of the gantry 2.

At the center of the bottom surface of the condensed water reservoir 5, a substantially inverted conical concave portion is provided, and this concave portion is used as a pump casing 7 of the drain pump A. The pump casing 7 accommodates a pump impeller 8 having a substantially inverted triangular plate shape. A drain port 9 for discharging condensed water out of the machine is provided at an upper portion of the peripheral wall of the pump casing 7. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the drainage port 9 has a shape in which a part of the bottom surface of the condensed water reservoir 5 is recessed in a groove shape. Furthermore,
At the bottom of the pump casing 7, a drain hole 10 is provided to penetrate the back side of the gantry 2, and is normally closed with a plug 11.

The open top surface 7a of the pump casing 7 is closed by a cover plate 12. As shown in FIG. 5, the lid plate 12 has such a shape that the open top surface of the grooved drain port 9 can be simultaneously closed. The cover plate 12 is provided with a boss hole 12a through which the boss 8a of the pump impeller 8 is inserted. The rim of the boss hole 12a is recessed downward in a funnel shape. Further, a drain hose 13 is provided at a location facing the drain port 9.
Are connected to each other to protrude upright.
On the outer peripheral surface of the boss 8a, a dust removing claw 15 protrudes from a portion facing the inner peripheral surface of the boss hole 12a, and the boss hole 12a and the boss 8a
(See FIGS. 1 and 5). Also, on the bottom of the condensed water reservoir 5,
A fitting recess 5a into which the cover plate 12 is dropped is provided.
Reference numeral 16 denotes an annular packing placed on the peripheral edge of the fitting recess 5a.

Reference numeral 17 denotes an electric motor for driving the pump impeller 8, and a pair of mounting plates 19, 19 are attached to the upper portion thereof using four setscrews 18 as shown in FIGS. . The mounting plate 19 is supported by a support member 33 provided on the casing 31.
Fixed to The electric motor 17 is provided with four rod-shaped support legs 20 projecting downward using a set screw 18. The length of these support legs 20 is set to such a length that the lower end of the support legs 20 can be pressed against the upper surface of the cover plate 12 with the electric motor 17 fixed as described above. In this mounting state, the drive shaft 17a of the electric motor 17 is connected to the boss 8a of the pump impeller 8.
The shaft hole is fitted in the shaft hole.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described. When the operation of the air conditioner is started, the electric motor 17 is also driven at the same time, and the pump impeller 8 starts rotating at high speed. And the condensed water condensed on the surface of the heat exchanger 1 cooled by the refrigerant is
The water drops onto the water collecting groove 2a of the lower gantry 2 and flows toward the condensed water reservoir 5. The open top surface 7a of the pump casing 7 recessed on the bottom surface of the condensed water reservoir 5 is closed by a cover plate 12, but there is a gap between the boss hole 12a provided in the cover plate 12 and the boss 8a. Therefore, the condensed water that has flowed into the condensed water reservoir 5 flows down into the pump casing 7 from this gap, and immediately after that, touches the pump impeller 8 rotating at a high speed and is bounced off. The drain hose 9 is pushed to the drain port 9
Through the air conditioner. When the amount of condensed water generated is small, as soon as the condensed water accumulates in the pump casing 7 as described above, it is discharged to the outside of the machine. Due to the strong centrifugal force, the water is rapidly discharged from the drain port 9.

As described above, the condensed water dropped from the surface of the heat exchanger 1 immediately flows into the pump casing 7 and is quickly discharged without being stored in the drain pan as in the prior art. Make it unnecessary. For this reason, foreign substances such as dust and oily substances considerably contained in the air to be conditioned gradually accumulate in a drain pan having a large surface area, and condensed water contaminated by the foreign substances is sucked up by a drain pump as in the conventional case. The problem of the occurrence of the above-mentioned obstacle is almost completely eliminated. However, when dust is likely to be clogged in the gap between the boss holes 12a, for example, by driving in a place where dust easily occurs, the dust removing claw 15 protruding from the rotating boss 8a reliably removes the dust. Will eliminate it.

In the above embodiment, the purpose of the present invention can be achieved even if the design of the detailed structure is appropriately changed. For example, the gantry 2 may be made by injection molding or the like of a hard synthetic resin, or may be made by press-molding a metal plate. Further, the pump casing 7 may be formed in a hemispherical shape or any other shape. Alternatively, other types of pumps can be incorporated. Then, the shape of the drain groove 2a and the drain port 9 may be appropriately changed as needed.

[0015]

As apparent from the above description, the air conditioner according to the present invention has various excellent effects in practical use as listed below. (A) The entire air conditioner can be reduced in size because the conventional drain pan becomes unnecessary. (B) The air conditioner can also be downsized by forming the pump casing of the drain pump integrally with the gantry. (C) The drain pump can be made inexpensively because the structure is simplified by adopting the configuration described in the above (b). (D) Unlike the prior art, in which the condensed water in the drain pan where dust is accumulated and contaminated is sucked by the drain pump, the condensed water flows into the drain pump immediately after dripping from the heat exchanger, so that the condensed water contaminated with dust is condensed. The occurrence of obstacles due to sucking up water is almost eliminated. (E) As a result, an air conditioner installed above the ceiling, which is difficult to repair and inspect, can be maintenance-free. (F) Even when dust is likely to be clogged in the gap between the boss holes due to use in a place where a lot of dust is generated, the dust removing claw surely removes the dust. (G) If the mount is made of a foamed synthetic resin having a coating material layer, the weight of the air conditioner can be reduced, and the heat of the heat exchanger can be prevented from being wasted. (H) At the time of installation of the motor, the cover plate can be fixed at the same time without using a fixing member simply by directing the plurality of support legs to the upper surface of the cover plate.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of a main part showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the structure of the indoor unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the internal structure of the indoor unit.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an attached state of the drain pump according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the lid plate according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view showing an installation state of a drain pump according to a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List A drain pump 1 heat exchanger 2 gantry 2a water collecting groove 3 blower 4 air chamber 5 condensed water reservoir 5a fitting concave portion 6 coating material layer 7 pump casing 7a open top surface 8 pump impeller 8a boss 9 drain port 10 drain hole 11 plug DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 Cover plate 12a Boss hole 13 Drain hose 14 Hose joint 15 Dust removing claw 16 Packing 17 Electric motor 17a Drive shaft 18 Set screw 19 Mounting plate 20 Support leg 30 Indoor unit 31 Casing 32 Outlet panel 32a Inlet 32b Outlet 33 Supporting member 40 Ceiling board 40a Mounting hole

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) F04D 1/14 F24F 1/00 361

Claims (4)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A water collecting groove 2a for collecting condensed water dropped from the heat exchanger 1 is provided on an upper surface of a gantry 2 of the heat exchanger 1, and a condensed water reservoir 5 is formed in a part of the water collecting groove 2a. A concave portion is formed on the bottom surface of the condensed water reservoir 5 to be a pump casing 7 of the drain pump A, and a drain port 9 is provided on an upper peripheral wall of the pump casing 7. The condensed water collected in the condensed water reservoir 5 is closed by a cover plate 12 provided with a boss hole 12a for projecting the boss 8a of the pump impeller 8 upward, and the boss hole 12a
An air conditioner characterized in that it flows down into the pump casing 7 from the gap, and is discharged out of the machine from the drain port 9 by the pump impeller 8. 2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein a dust removing claw is formed on an outer peripheral surface of the boss to protrude dust or the like clogging a gap in the boss hole. . 3. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the gantry 2 is made of a foamed synthetic resin, and a covering material layer 6 made of a metal, a synthetic resin, or the like is provided on a surface of the gantry 2. . 4. An electric motor 17 for driving the pump impeller 8, a plurality of supporting legs 20 projecting downward, and a lower end of the supporting legs 20 is pressed against an upper surface of the lid plate 12. The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: