JP3182785B2 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner and an outdoor unit or an indoor unit used for the air conditioner, and more particularly to an air conditioner having a thin outdoor unit or indoor unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-279034 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
No. 4135, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-167542, using a propeller fan or a mixed flow fan,
Air is sucked in from the front of the unit, that is, from the wall side of the building, and is blown out to the back of the unit (inhaled from one side in the rotation axis direction of the fan and blown out to the other side).

As the second representative conventional air conditioner, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-6303 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-1748 have been disclosed.
As described in Japanese Patent No. 35, there is a method in which air sucked from the front of the grill is pressurized by a centrifugal fan, passed through a heat exchanger arranged on the outer periphery of the fan, and then blown out again in the same direction as the suction side.

[0004] As a third conventional representative air conditioner, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-169938, a mixed flow fan is disposed in a space formed on the upstream side of a heat exchanger and a pressure partition. Further, there is a structure in which air discharged from a fan is bent at a substantially right angle in a flow path formed downstream of the pressure partition wall and a back surface of the unit, and is blown out from the circumferential direction of the side surface of the unit.

[0005]

Since the first representative air conditioner of the prior art uses a propeller fan and a mixed flow fan, the pressure loss which is a unique problem common to the two fans is considered. However, there is a problem that the air volume is greatly reduced with an increase in the air flow. For this reason, when an object is placed around the unit or when frost is formed on the heat exchanger, there is a problem in that the flow rate decreases and the cooling / heating performance decreases, and the sound increases. Further, since a vent is required at substantially the center of the rear surface of the unit, there is a problem that the landscape is impaired when a plurality of units are installed in an urban space.

The unit structure shown in the second representative example of the above-mentioned prior art is mainly used for indoor use. However, since the suction direction and the blowout direction are the same, the pressure loss increases, and a predetermined air flow rate increases. To flow the amount, the number of rotations of the fan must be increased, and there is a problem that the sound becomes high. There is a problem that a short circuit is easily generated between the blowing flow and the suction flow, and the cooling / heating performance is reduced. Furthermore, since the centrifugal fan has a two-dimensional blade shape, matching with the flow cannot be sufficiently achieved, so that it is necessary to increase the outlet width of the fan in order to flow a predetermined amount of air. there were.

The unit shown in the third representative example of the prior art has an air outlet in the circumferential direction of the unit to enhance aesthetic appearance in a living space and appeal for individuality, but has the following problems. There is. That is, a diagonal flow fan is installed in the suction space formed by the heat exchanger and the pressure bulkhead, and the blowout flow from the fan is turned in a direction substantially perpendicular to the space formed by the pressure bulkhead and the back of the unit to the outlet. If the flow path width is narrow, the pressure loss in this flow path is greatly increased, and the performance of the cooling and heating is greatly reduced, and the noise is increased. In order to avoid this, if a straightening plate is provided on the back of the unit, there is a problem that the swirl flow cannot be restored to the static pressure, and the flow rate during frost formation is remarkably reduced due to the use of the mixed flow fan. There is a problem. For this reason, when installed near the wall of the building, the blowout flow cannot be deflected, and the blowout flow causes a short circuit with the suction flow at the front of the unit, which causes a problem that the cooling / heating performance is significantly reduced. Also, the installation space and performance were not much different from the unit structure shown in the first conventional example.

[0008]

[0009]

[0010]

A first object of the present invention is to provide an outdoor unit which can be easily installed without taking up space from the wall of a building.

A second object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner equipped with a thin and low-noise outdoor unit or indoor unit.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The first object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner comprising an outdoor unit, an indoor unit, and a pipe connecting the outdoor unit and the indoor unit. The outflowing air flows in a direction substantially parallel to the front surface of the outdoor unit and is blown out from the outlet of the outdoor unit, and a protrusion is provided on the rear side of the outdoor unit, This is achieved by providing the pipe at the protruding portion.

The first object is to provide an outdoor unit comprising a heat exchanger, a compressor, an expansion valve, a pipe connecting them, and a fan for blowing air to the heat exchanger. This is attained by providing a projecting portion at a lower portion and disposing a pipe for connecting the indoor unit to the projecting portion.

Further, a suction space is formed between the vicinity of the wall of the building and the front surface of the unit by the protrusion.

Further, a sound absorbing material is provided on the end face of the protruding portion on the upstream side of the suction face on the front face of the unit.

Further, the protruding portion is provided in a machine room including a compressor,
It is designed to be used as an electrical equipment room.

The second object is to provide a centrifugal fan provided in the unit, a machine room provided on one surface of the air blowing side of the centrifugal fan, and a surface other than the surface provided with the machine room. This is achieved by providing an outlet provided on the air blowing side of the centrifugal fan, and a nose provided in a space between the centrifugal fan and the machine room and provided on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the centrifugal fan. You.

[0019]

[0020]

[0021]

[0022]

[0023]

[0024]

[0025]

[0026]

[0027]

[0028]

[0029]

[0030]

[0031]

[0032]

[Function] A protrusion is provided on the back side of the outdoor unit,
Since the pipe is provided in the protruding portion, a flow path can be secured on the suction side by this protruding distance, and when installing near the wall of the building, it is for securing a suction space in front of the unit. In addition, it is possible to secure a suction space without paying particular attention, and to prevent a change in the air volume of the fan due to a difference in the distance from the wall and a decrease in cooling / heating performance.

A projecting portion is provided on the back side of the outdoor unit, and the pipe is provided at the projecting portion.

Since the projecting portion is provided at the lower portion of the unit and the pipe for connecting to the indoor unit is arranged at the projecting portion, the space for providing the pipe can be saved.

The protruding portion can be used as a machine room including a compressor and an electrical component room, or
Space can be saved by arranging electrical components to be cooled in the space.

Further, by utilizing a sound absorbing material, cavity resonance, etc. on the front surface of the unit or on the end face of the protruding portion, it is possible to reduce noise on the suction side, and the air conditioner is quiet despite the small and thin unit. Can be realized.

By providing a nose for suppressing the swirling flow, the velocity energy of the swirling flow at the outlet of the centrifugal fan can be recovered to the static pressure energy, and the rotation speed of the centrifugal fan can be reduced by the static pressure rise. Therefore, noise is reduced.

[0038]

[0039]

[0040]

[0041]

[0042]

[0043]

[0044]

[0045]

[0046]

[0047]

[0048]

1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described below. As an example, an outdoor unit is taken as an example, and a perspective view thereof is shown in FIG. The outdoor unit 30 includes a pressure bulkhead 3 downstream of the heat exchanger 4 provided on the air inflow side.
Is provided. The pressure partition 3 divides the outdoor unit into a suction channel 1 and a blowing channel 2. At the lower part of the outdoor unit 30, there is provided a machine room 11 in which mechanical parts such as a compressor, a four-way valve, an expansion valve, and the like, electric parts, pipes, and the like necessary for constituting the air conditioner are housed. A motor 10 which is supported on the back surface 5 of the outdoor unit 30 with insulation from vibration is mounted in the blow-out channel 2, and a centrifugal fan 7 is mounted on the motor 10. The outdoor unit 30 on the outer peripheral side of the centrifugal fan 7
An outlet 8 and a grill 9 are provided on the side surface 6 of the device. Here, the outlet 8 provided on the side surface 6 of the outdoor unit 30 and the outlet of the centrifugal fan 7 are substantially parallel to the rear surface 5 (or the front) of the unit, or the outlet of the centrifugal fan 7 is It is arranged in a flow path formed at substantially the same position as the outlet 8. An air suction port 1 is provided in the pressure bulkhead 3 at a position corresponding to a suction portion of the centrifugal fan 7.
8 is open. The centrifugal fan 7 is two-dimensional,
Alternatively, any three-dimensional shape may be used. Also, the motor 10
In the present embodiment, is mounted on the back surface 5 of the outdoor unit 30, but may be mounted on the suction side of the centrifugal fan 7.

When the centrifugal fan 7 rotates, the heat exchanger 4 also constitutes a part thereof. After the air is sucked through the suction flow path 1 and the pressure is increased by the fan 7, the air is discharged from the outlet 8. It is blown out to the atmosphere. Explaining about cooling, a high-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant discharged from a compressor (not shown) and flowing through a four-way valve (not shown) flows into the heat exchanger 4 as described above. The refrigerant is cooled and liquefied by the low-temperature air passing through 4, and is adiabatically expanded by an expansion valve (not shown) to flow as a low-temperature, low-pressure refrigerant to the indoor unit.

FIG. 2, which is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the arrow A in FIG.
The relative positional relationship among the machine room 11, the centrifugal fan 7, the heat exchanger 4, the outlet 8, and the grill 9 is shown. Grill 9
As shown in FIG. 2, air blown from the outdoor unit 30 is viewed from the side 6 of the outdoor unit 30,
It is formed so as to be inclined from the outlet of the centrifugal fan 7 toward the rear surface 5 of the outdoor unit 30 rather than flowing in the direction of the side surface 6 of the outdoor unit 30. That is, the grill 9
Has a function of deflecting the wind direction so that the sucked air does not short-circuit toward the front side of the outdoor unit 30. In FIG. 2, the grill 9 has a curvature so that the flow is inclined and flows toward the rear of the unit. However, the same function may be realized by inclining a flat plate toward the side of the outdoor unit 30.

With the configuration as in this embodiment, the air pressurized by the centrifugal fan 7 can be blown out from the side surface 6 side of the outdoor unit. There is no need to provide the space, and space can be saved in use.
Further, since the centrifugal fan 7 is provided in the curved flow path between the pressure partition 3 and the outlet 8, there is no need to provide an axial flow path at the outlet of the fan unlike the prior art, and the suction space 1 can be made thin. Therefore, the thickness of the outdoor unit 30 can be reduced. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the installation area in the case of the outdoor unit of the present embodiment is compared with the installation area in the case of the outdoor unit of the related art in FIG.
In the case of the conventional outdoor unit, a large space is required at the back of the outdoor unit, whereas in the case of the outdoor unit of this embodiment, it can be seen that this can be reduced to less than half.

A grill 9 having a function of deflecting the wind direction
When a unit is installed near the wall of the building by adopting
When the frost is formed in the heating operation, the blown air flows around to the suction side, and there is an effect that the deterioration of the heating performance is not caused.

In this embodiment, the centrifugal fan has been described as an example. However, a centrifugal fan may be used instead of the centrifugal fan. Hereinafter, the same applies.

A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Also in the outdoor unit 30 of the present embodiment,
Although the configuration is the same as that of the outdoor unit of the first embodiment, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the heat exchanger 4 is installed between the centrifugal fan 7 and Is
As shown in FIG. 6 which is a longitudinal sectional view taken in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 5, the centrifugal fan 7 sucks the air from the suction port 18 of the pressure bulkhead 3 and passes through the heat exchanger 4 arranged on the outer periphery thereof.
The air is blown out from the air outlet 8 to the atmosphere.

In this embodiment, basically, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained, but in this embodiment,
Even when the set heat exchange amount is set to be large, the air flow can be increased without increasing the pressure loss by appropriately selecting the width of the heat exchanger 4 and the outlet width of the centrifugal fan accordingly. When the noise generated by the centrifugal fan 7 is higher than the noise generated by the heat exchanger 4, there is an effect that the fan noise can be reduced by increasing the fan outlet width. Further, there is an effect that noise generated by the grill 9 can be reduced.

FIG. 7 to FIG. 10 show a third embodiment of the present invention. Although the basic configuration of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, the feature of the present embodiment is that the turning of the centrifugal fan 7 is performed in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the centrifugal fan 7 or outside the same. The nose 12 for suppressing the flow is provided. This swirling flow stationary nozzle 12
Has the function of stopping the swirling flow from the centrifugal fan 7, and can convert the velocity energy of the swirling flow of the normally circulating air into the static pressure at the outer peripheral portion of the centrifugal fan 7. To achieve this, the rotational speed of the centrifugal fan 7 can be reduced. As a result, there is an effect that noise can be reduced.

In the present embodiment, the swirling flow stationary nose 12 is installed at the upper part of the machine room 11, but it may be installed at any position on the outer periphery of the centrifugal fan 7, good. Further, a plate-shaped object may be protruded from the side surface in the fan direction. FIG. 8 shows a cross section taken along the line CC of FIG.
Swirl flow stationary nose 12 provided in contact with machine room 11
In the space formed by the mechanical room 11 and the power supply, which is an electric component requiring cooling, or a piping component, a component that cannot be installed horizontally or a component that requires an installation volume can be installed.

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a modified example of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, in which a swirling flow stationary vane 13 is provided on the outer peripheral side of the centrifugal fan 7. In the case of the present embodiment, a plurality of vanes 13 for suppressing the swirling flow are provided on the outer periphery of the centrifugal fan 7, and the pitch at which the vanes 13 are attached is set at unequal intervals.
In this embodiment, the same effects as those of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 can be obtained.

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a modification of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, and includes a nose 12 for suppressing a swirling flow.
And a vane 14 is also provided in the circumferential direction of the grill 9 to also serve as a grill and to suppress a swirling flow. In this embodiment, the same effects as those of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 can be obtained.

FIGS. 11 to 15 show a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
Shown in In this embodiment, when the outdoor unit 30 is viewed from the side end surface, the protrusion 16 is provided on the front side of the unit 30 below the outdoor unit 30. This protrusion 1
Numeral 6 is for securing a minimum necessary suction space when the outdoor unit 30 is installed. By providing the protruding portion 16, the installation work time can be easily made. Further, when the size of the unit is further reduced or when it is difficult to secure the space for the machine room, this space can be used as the space for the machine room 11.

In the above, the outdoor unit has been described.
It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to an indoor unit. FIG. 12 shows a case where the outdoor unit 30 and the indoor unit of this embodiment are installed, and FIG. 13 shows a case where the conventional outdoor unit and the indoor unit are installed. As shown in FIG. 12, this is an example in which the protruding portion 16 is provided.
The external pipe 21 is piped using the protrusion 16. In the case of such a configuration, as can be seen from comparing FIGS. 12 and 13, since there is no protruding joint on the side surface of the outdoor or indoor unit unlike the related art,
The mounting space can be reduced.

FIG. 12 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a modification of the embodiment shown in FIG. In this embodiment, a machine room 11 such as a compressor 15 and a pipe constituting an air conditioning cycle is provided in a space inside the protruding portion 16 on the side surface 6 of the outdoor unit 30. From the suction space at the front of the heat exchanger 4 so that the pipe joint is not visible. In this case, there is an effect that the fittings can be stored in the unit, and safety can be improved. At this time, the electric component 17 is stored in the machine room 11
The cooling unit can be cooled by installing it on the rear side of the unit, and particularly, by installing electrical components requiring cooling on the outer peripheral portion of the centrifugal fan 7.

FIG. 13 is a side view showing a modification of the embodiment shown in FIG. That the sound absorbing material 19 and the sound absorbing material supporting plate 20 are provided in the suction space on the upstream side of the heat exchanger 4 on the upstream side of the front surface of the outdoor unit 30 or on the end surface side of the protrusion 16 at the lower portion of the outdoor unit 30. Characteristic
Other components are the same as those of the embodiment shown in FIG.

According to this embodiment, the sound radiated from the suction side can be absorbed and the reflection of the sound on the wall of the building can be minimized, so that there is an effect that the noise can be reduced. Further, in this embodiment, the sound absorbing material is used, but a resonance type silencing structure utilizing cavity resonance may be used. In addition, by making the above-described sound absorbing structure by using the packing material at the time of product shipment, it is not necessary to discard the foam material for preventing the unit from being damaged after the conventional installation. Also,
The space between the sound absorbing material 19 and the unit suction surface may be formed inside the unit.

FIG. 16 shows a fifth embodiment of the present invention. The configuration of this embodiment is the same as the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, but in this embodiment, the outlet 8 is inclined with respect to the rotation axis of the centrifugal fan 7. With this configuration, for example, even when the unit side surface 6 is installed close to the wall of the building, a blowing space can be secured between the wall and the unit side surface,
In combination with the characteristics of the centrifugal fan 7 that can set a high static pressure, there is an effect that the reduction of the air volume can be minimized. In this embodiment, the outlet 8 is inclined. However, the same effect can be obtained by making the projected area of the rear surface of the unit smaller than that of the front surface of the unit so that the outlet 8 has a curved surface.

FIG. 17 shows a sixth embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the flow path of the centrifugal fan 7 is formed on the inner surface of the pressure bulkhead 3 and the unit back face 5, and the space formed by the pressure bulkhead 3 and the unit back face 5 is filled with the sound absorbing material 26. The blade 24 is attached to a boss 25. By doing so, it is possible to absorb the sound emitted from the blades 24 and further reduce the noise. In addition, there is an effect that the blades 24 of the centrifugal fan can be easily made three-dimensional.

In the embodiment described above, the case where the machine room is installed with the machine room down near the wall of the building has been mainly described.
The unit front may be installed horizontally or inclined, and various installation forms such as a veranda ceiling and a roof can be adopted.

As shown in FIG. 18, the decorative plate 22 on the rear surface 5 of the unit can be detached with a detachable screw 23, and the design and color of the rear surface of the unit can be changed to match the living space. It may be.

[0069]

[0070]

[0071]

[0072]

[0073]

[0074]

[0075]

[0076]

[0077]

[0078]

According to the present invention, a projecting portion is provided on the back side of the outdoor unit, and the pipe is provided at the projecting portion. Therefore, a flow path can be secured on the suction side by this projecting distance, and the vicinity of the wall of the building can be secured. This is to secure the suction space at the front of the unit when installing it on the unit.
It is possible to prevent a change in the air flow of the fan due to a difference in the distance from the wall, and to prevent a decrease in cooling / heating performance. As a result, an air conditioner having high cooling and heating capacity can be provided.

The protruding portion can be used as a machine room including a compressor and an electrical component room, or
Space can be saved by arranging electrical components to be cooled in the space.

Further, by utilizing a sound absorbing material, cavity resonance, or the like on the front surface of the unit or on the end surface of the protruding portion, it is possible to reduce noise on the suction side, and to provide quiet air despite the small and thin unit. A harmonic machine can be realized.

By installing a nose and a vane for suppressing the swirling flow, the velocity energy of the swirling flow at the outlet of the centrifugal fan can be recovered to the static pressure energy, and the rotational speed of the centrifugal fan can be reduced by the static pressure rise. Therefore, there is an effect that a low-noise air conditioner can be provided.

[0082]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an outdoor unit according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view as viewed from an arrow A in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an installed state of the outdoor unit of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an installation state of a conventional outdoor unit.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an outdoor unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view as viewed from an arrow B in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an outdoor unit according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line CC in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a modification of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a modification of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a front view showing an installed state of the unit of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a front view showing an installation state of a conventional unit.

FIG. 14 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a modification of the embodiment shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 15 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a modification of the embodiment shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a vertical sectional view showing a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing a detachable state of the decorative plate.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference numeral 1: suction channel, 2: blowing channel, 3: pressure partition,
4 heat exchanger, 5 unit back, 6 unit side,
7 ... centrifugal fan, 8 ... outlet, 9 ... grill, 10 ...
Motor, 11: machine room and electric room, 12: nose, 1
Reference numeral 3 denotes a swirl stationary vane, 14 denotes a grill combined swirl stationary vane, 15 a compressor, 16 a protrusion, 17 an electric appliance, 18 a suction port, 19 a sound absorbing material, 20 a sound absorbing material support plate, 21 ... external piping, 22 ... decorative board, 23 ... detachable screw, 24 ... blade, 25 ... boss, 26 ... sound absorbing material.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yoji Sekine 800 Tomita, Ohira-cho, Shimotsuga-gun, Tochigi Pref. Hitachi, Ltd. In the Tochigi factory (56) References JP-A 1-1131921 (JP, U) 61-81571 (JP, U) JP-A 55-37494 (JP, U) JP 2-58624 (JP, U) JP-A 59-110875 (JP, U) JP 2-579 (JP, U) Y2) Jiko 1-24504 (JP, Y2) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F24F 5/00 F24F 1/00 316

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. An air conditioner comprising an outdoor unit, an indoor unit, and a pipe connecting the outdoor unit and the indoor unit, wherein air discharged from an outlet of a centrifugal fan is provided on a front surface of the outdoor unit. And flows out in a direction substantially parallel to the air outlet and is blown out from the outlet of the outdoor unit, and a protruding portion is provided on the back side of the outdoor unit, and the pipe is provided on the protruding portion. An air conditioner characterized by that: 2. An outdoor unit comprising a heat exchanger, a compressor, an expansion valve, a pipe connecting them, and a fan for blowing air to the heat exchanger, wherein a protruding portion is provided at a lower portion of the unit. An outdoor unit, wherein a pipe for connecting to the indoor unit is provided at the projecting portion. 3. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion forms a suction space between the vicinity of the wall of the building and the front of the unit. 4. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein a sound absorbing material is provided on the end face of the protruding portion on the upstream side of the suction face on the front face of the unit. 5. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the protruding portion is used as a machine room including a compressor and an electrical component room. 6. A centrifugal fan provided in a unit, a machine room provided on one surface of the air blow-out side of the centrifugal fan, and a surface other than the surface provided with the machine room, An outlet provided on the outlet side,
An air conditioner including a nose provided in a space between the centrifugal fan and the machine room and upstream in a rotation direction of the centrifugal fan.