JP3217517B2 - Indoor unit of 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 indoor unit of an air conditioner in which an air blowing direction is variable.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an air conditioner that performs cooling and heating, the actual cooling and heating conditions differ depending on the direction in which air is blown from an indoor unit. During heating in winter, the warm air blown out tends to go up due to its low density, and tends to stay near the ceiling. For this reason, unless the blowout direction is directed downward during heating, the area near the floor where the person is present will not be warmed until it is cold. Conversely, in cooling in the summer, by blowing out high-density cold air toward the ceiling, the temperature distribution in the room becomes uniform, and the feet can be prevented from being too cold.

[0003] By the way, as shown in FIG. 5, the blowing direction of air in a normal indoor unit is as follows.
And a louver 7 provided at the lower end of the casing 5 that houses the heat exchanger 3. FIG. 3A shows a state in which the louver 7 is located substantially parallel to the air flow path and the ventilation resistance is the smallest. During cooling, the louver 7 is set to a substantially horizontal position so that the blowing direction is as high as possible. At this time, since the louver 7 can maintain a state substantially parallel to the flow of air, the increase in ventilation resistance is relatively small and the pressure loss is small. On the other hand, at the time of heating, the louver 7 is directed downward as shown in FIG.

[0004]

As described above, when the louver 7 is turned downward during heating, the louver 7 is arranged at an angle to the flow of air, so that the ventilation resistance becomes very large. The air volume decreases and the heating capacity decreases. Since the wind speed also decreases, the reach of warm air is shortened,
In addition, since the warm air tends to stay near the ceiling, the vicinity of the floor is not warmed, and the actual heating performance, that is, the comfort is deteriorated. Further, the flow at the outlet is greatly disturbed by the louver 7, and the noise also increases.

For this reason, conventionally, there have been proposed many indoor units whose structure can be changed so that cool air is blown out from an upper portion of a casing during cooling and warm air is blown out from a lower portion of the casing during heating. For example, there is an upper and lower blowout variable indoor unit in which a casing or the like of a transverse flow blower is rotationally driven. In this case, the driving device becomes large-scale, and sufficient sealing is performed in order to prevent dew condensation during cooling operation. There are some difficult points such as the necessity of the structure.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to blow out from the upper portion of the casing during cooling and blow out from the lower portion during heating with a simple structure.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a casing for rotatably supporting a cross flow fan is provided with an upper opening serving as a passage for an air flow generated by rotation of the cross flow fan. And a lower opening, and two protrusions are provided on the inner wall of the casing at substantially point-symmetric positions with respect to the rotation center axis of the cross flow fan, so that a heat path is provided between the upper opening and the cross flow fan. An exchange is arranged, and a flow path changing means for changing a shape of a flow path between the lower opening and the crossflow blower is provided on the casing, and one of the two projections is provided with the lower opening. Located at the end of the flow path between the section and the cross flow fan on the side of the cross flow fan, the flow path variable means rotates around the other protrusion near the fulcrum, and approaches the one protrusion. Move to the lower opening When the flow path between the blower and the air blower is narrowed, external air flows in from the upper opening and generates a flow of air flowing out from the lower opening to the outside, and moves away from the one protrusion to move away from the one protrusion. When the flow path between the lower opening and the cross-flow blower is widened, external air flows in from the lower opening and generates a flow of air flowing out of the upper opening to the outside.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, an upper opening and a lower opening are provided in a casing for rotatably supporting a cross flow blower, through which an air flow generated by rotation of the cross flow blower passes, and a cross flow is formed on an inner wall of the casing. Protrusions are provided at two locations substantially symmetrical with respect to the rotation center axis of the blower, and a heat exchanger is disposed in a flow path between one of the two openings and the cross flow blower. A flow path changing means for changing a flow path shape between the other side of the opening and the cross flow blower is provided in the casing, an air filter is formed in a circular arc shape having a predetermined width, and the air filter is
The casing may be provided so as to be rotatable between a position for closing the upper opening and a position for closing the lower opening.

[0009]

According to the structure of the first aspect of the present invention, when the flow path variable means is moved closer to one of the projections to narrow the flow path between the lower opening and the cross flow fan, the external air is opened at the upper opening. A flow of air flowing in from the portion and flowing out from the lower opening is generated, and conversely, the flow path variable means is moved away from the one projection to thereby form a flow path between the lower opening and the cross flow fan. When air is spread, a flow of air is generated in which external air flows in from the lower opening and flows out from the upper opening to the outside. According to the configuration of the second aspect of the invention, the rotation of the cross flow blower is affected by the flow path shape due to the two projections and the like, and the indoor air flows into the indoor unit from the upper opening to the lower opening. This state is used during the heating operation if it flows out of the unit. At this time, the air filter is located at a position covering the upper opening. When the flow path changing means is operated from this state to change the flow path shape, the flow of air is reversed, and indoor air flows into the indoor unit from the lower opening and flows from the upper opening to the outside. Leaked to This state is used during the cooling operation. At this time, the air filter is located at a position covering the lower opening.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an indoor unit of an air conditioner capable of cooling and heating showing an embodiment of the present invention. The indoor unit includes a rear casing 11 and a front panel 1.
And a heat exchanger 17 disposed on the front panel 13 side of the cross flow blower 15 for sucking air from the outer circumference of the impeller and blowing the air from the outer circumferential surface on the opposite side. Have been. The cross flow blower 15 and the heat exchanger 17 are mounted on the rear casing 11 side. A lower opening 19 is provided between the lower end of the rear casing 11 and the lower end of the front panel 13, and upper openings 21 and 23 are provided on the upper surface and the front surface of the front panel 13.
Are formed respectively. Each of these openings 19,
Numerals 21 and 23 are ventilation holes that allow the inside and the outside of the indoor unit to communicate with each other. The lower opening 19 is provided with a louver 24 that is displaced vertically.

The cross-flow blower 15 has a plurality of blades extending in the width direction of the indoor unit, that is, the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 1 and extending forward from the center to the outer side in the rotational direction. The air in the indoor unit is caused to flow in from one of the lower opening 19 and the upper openings 21 and 23, and the air in the indoor unit is caused to flow out from the other through the rotation in the A direction. . The heat exchanger 17 includes a portion facing the upper opening 21 on the upper surface,
An air purifying filter 25 is installed at a portion facing the upper opening 21 so as to have a portion facing the upper opening 23 on the front surface.

The upper end of the heat exchanger 17 is the rear casing 1.
The lower end is supported by a support portion 27 at a position where a gap 26 is formed with respect to the lower end inner wall of the front panel 13. The support portion 27 is extended in the width direction of the indoor unit, connected to the main body side of the rear casing 11 at both left and right ends, and protrudes to the vicinity of the horizontal blower 15.
9 are formed.

An air filter 31 is arranged at a position close to the inner wall of the front panel 13. The air filter 31 has a filter surface formed in a circular arc cross section having a predetermined width in the lateral width direction. The air filter 31 has a position covering the upper openings 21 and 23 shown in FIG. 1 and a position covering the lower openings 19 shown in FIG. It is provided to be rotatable between them. At the left and right ends of the air filter 31, the side portions of the rear casing 11 on which the transverse blower 15 is mounted, and the arc portions of the fan-shaped filter support member 33 located on the left and right sides of the left and right end portions of the support portion 27. The periphery is attached, and the filter support member 33 is attached.
The center of the circular arc is attached to a rotation shaft 35 provided on the rear casing 11. The rotation of the rotation shaft 35 causes the air filter 31 to move while passing through the gap 26.

A rear projection 37 is formed on the rear inner wall of the rear casing 11 which is substantially point-symmetric with respect to the rotation center of the crossflow blower 15 with respect to the projection 29 formed on the support portion 27. Below the rear projection 37, a flow path forming member 41 as a flow path variable means is provided via a rotation hinge 39. The flow path forming member 41 includes:
The surface on the side of the horizontal flow blower 15 is formed as a concave curved surface 41a from the rotation hinge 39 to the distal end, and a folded portion 41b is formed at the distal end to bend toward the rear casing 11 side.
4 and the rear position shown in FIG. 4 can be rotated manually or automatically by a motor.
When the flow path forming member 41 is in the state of FIG. 4, a gap 43 is provided between the folded portion 41b and the lower portion of the rear casing 11.
Is formed, and the lower end of the air filter 31 enters the gap 43.

The flow path forming member 41 in FIG. 1 is in a state in which the flow path formed between the flow path forming member 41 and the protruding portion 29 is the narrowest.
This state is the same as that of a conventional ordinary lower blowout indoor unit. Therefore, at this time, the cross flow blower 1
When 5 rotates in the direction of arrow A, the external room air flows into the indoor unit from upper openings 21 and 23 and flows out from lower opening 19 to the outside. When the flow path forming member 41 is in the state of FIG. 1, the heating operation is performed.

When performing the heating operation in the state where the flow path forming member 41 is in the state shown in FIG.
3, and captures dust in the air flowing into the indoor unit from the outside through the upper openings 21 and 23.
At this time, the warm air flows downward from the lower opening 19, and since the louver 24 in the lower opening 19 can be formed at a position where the ventilation resistance is small, only in the case of heating, the outlet channel shape can be formed. The heating capacity is maintained as desired without reducing the air volume, and noise generation is also prevented. Further, since there is no decrease in the wind speed, the reach distance of the warm air is sufficient, so that the vicinity of the floor is warmed and a comfortable feeling of heating for the user is obtained.

FIG. 2 shows the flow path forming member 41 from the state shown in FIG.
Is slightly rotated clockwise around the rotation hinge 39 to widen the flow path. In this state, the lower opening 19
However, the air flow is disturbed around the horizontal flow blower 15, near the rear projection 37, and near the flow path forming member 41. For this reason, not only does the amount of air flow decrease, but also large turbulent noise is generated.

FIG. 3 shows the flow path forming member 41 from the state of FIG.
Is further rotated clockwise about the rotation hinge 39 to further expand the flow path. In this state, there is no outflow of air from the lower opening 19 despite the rotation of the cross flow blower 15, and the air is merely disturbed in the flow path.

As described above, the flow path forming member 41 is moved from the state shown in FIG.
Does not function as an indoor unit in the open state as shown in FIG. 4, but when it is further opened as shown in FIG. 4, the rotation direction of the cross flow blower 15 is the same as that in FIG. Flows into the indoor unit from the lower opening 19 and flows out from the upper openings 21 and 23 to the outside. That is, the flow of the air is reverse to that in the heating operation in FIG. Therefore, the state of FIG. 4 is used for the cooling operation. At this time, the air filter 31 is positioned so as to cover the lower opening 19, and captures dust in the air flowing into the indoor unit through the lower opening 19 from the outside. At this time, since the cool air flows out to the vicinity of the ceiling without a large ventilation resistance, the cooling capacity is maintained as desired, and the temperature distribution of the indoor air becomes uniform.

1 to 4 is a characteristic of the flow of the cross flow blower 15, and includes the shape of the rear casing 11 on the inflow side and the outflow side, the ventilation resistance of the heat exchanger 17, and the like. That is, the flow is defined by the balance of the flow path. If the flow path shapes are all point-symmetric with respect to the rotation center of the cross flow blower 15, it does not matter which flow path is used. In such a case, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 55-26554, The flow direction is determined by giving a trigger such as giving a jet.

In the state where the heating operation shown in FIG. 1 is performed, the flow of the external air flowing through the upper openings 21 and 23 and flowing out of the lower opening 19 is caused by the protrusion 29 and the flow path forming member 41.
Is determined by the shape of the flow path between them and the like, and at this time, the projection 29 gives a trigger. FIG.
In the example of the above, these shapes are set so as to have the above flow. At this time, a clockwise eccentric vortex S in the figure is generated near the outer peripheral portion of the crossflow blower 15 under the influence of the projection 29 and in the vicinity of the projection 29, and the eccentric vortex S causes the above-described flow. Will be maintained.

The flow reverse to that of FIG. 1 in the state of performing the cooling operation of FIG. 4 is as follows. When the flow path forming member 41 is largely opened, the rear projection 37 at a point symmetrical position with respect to the projection 29 is In this case, the protrusion 29, that is, a factor that triggers the flow. Therefore, in this case, the eccentric vortex S for stabilizing the flow direction is generated in the vicinity of the rear projection 37, and as a result, the air flow flows in from the lower opening 19 and flows out from the upper openings 21 and 23. Become. This corresponds to a state where the indoor unit in the state of FIG. 1 is rotated 180 degrees and turned upside down. Of course, at this time, the rotation direction of the cross flow blower 15 is the same.

As described above, the air blowing direction is downward from the lower opening 19 during heating, and the upper opening 21 and 21 during cooling.
The structure provided to the rear casing 11 in order to make it upward from 23 only needs to provide the rear projection 37 and the flow path forming member 41 that makes the flow path variable, and is a simplified mechanism. For this reason, the seal for preventing dewing during the cooling operation can be simple.

The air filter 31 is provided with the upper opening 2.
It is provided movably between 1, 23 and the lower opening 19,
Because one unit can be used for both heating and cooling, when two separate air filters are used in total,
It is possible to prevent dust adhering at the time of suction when the air comes to the air outlet side from being blown out into the room, reduce pressure loss due to the air filter 31, and is advantageous in maintenance such as attaching and detaching work for cleaning. Becomes

[0026]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the width of the flow path between the lower opening of the casing and the cross flow fan is adjusted by the flow path changing means to one of the protrusions. On the other hand, it has a simple structure of moving closer and narrower and wider by moving away from each other. Air can be blown out from the lower part of the casing during heating and air can be blown out from the upper part of the casing during cooling, so that the cooling and heating capacity can be maintained as desired.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flow path changing means for changing the width of the flow path between the side opposite to the heat exchanger and the cross flow blower in the upper and lower openings of the casing. With this simple structure, air can be blown out from the lower part of the casing during heating, and air can be blown out from the upper part of the casing during cooling, so that the cooling and heating capacity can be maintained as desired. Further, the air filter is configured to be movable between a state covering the upper opening and a state covering the lower opening, so that only one air filter is required for heating and cooling, and a separate filter is used. In the case where a total of two pieces are used, it is possible to prevent dust adhering to the room at the time of suction when it comes to the blowing side from blowing out into the room, reduce the pressure loss, and be advantageous in terms of maintenance.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention during a heating operation of an indoor unit.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an air flow in a state where a flow path forming member in the indoor unit in FIG. 1 is slightly opened.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an air flow in a state where a flow path forming member in the indoor unit of FIG. 1 is further opened from the state of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the indoor unit of FIG. 1 during a cooling operation.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of an indoor unit of an air conditioner showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 14 Casing 15 Cross-flow blower 17 Heat exchanger 19 Lower opening 21, 23 Upper opening 29 Projection 31 Air filter 37 Rear projection 41 Flow path forming member (flow path variable means)

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F24F 1/00 311 F24F 13/14 F24F 13/28

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A casing for rotatably supporting a cross flow fan, an upper opening and a lower opening serving as a passage of an air flow generated by rotation of the cross flow fan are provided, and a rotation center axis of the cross flow fan is provided on an inner wall of the casing. The projections are provided at two locations substantially symmetrical with respect to the point, a heat exchanger is disposed in a flow path between the upper opening and the cross flow fan, and a flow path between the lower opening and the cross flow fan is provided. Flow path changing means for changing the shape of the cross-flow fan is provided on the casing, and one of the two projections is located at an end of the flow path between the lower opening and the cross-flow fan on the side of the cross-flow fan. Then, the flow path variable means is rotated around the other protrusion portion as a fulcrum, moved closer to the one protrusion portion, and narrowed the flow passage between the lower opening and the cross flow fan. When the outside air is in the upper opening When a flow of air that flows in from the lower opening and flows out from the lower opening is generated and moves away from the one protrusion to widen the flow path between the lower opening and the cross flow fan, the external air An indoor unit of an air conditioner, characterized in that air flows from the lower opening and flows out from the upper opening to the outside. 2. A casing for rotatably supporting a cross flow fan, an upper opening and a lower opening serving as a passage of an air flow generated by rotation of the cross flow fan are provided, and a rotation center axis of the cross flow fan is provided on an inner wall of the casing. Protrusions are provided at approximately two point-symmetric positions with respect to the first opening, and a heat exchanger is disposed in a flow path between one of the two openings and the cross flow blower, and the other of the two openings is provided. A flow path changing means for changing a flow path shape between the side and the cross flow blower is provided in the casing, an air filter is formed in a circular arc shape having a predetermined width, and the air filter is provided at an upper opening of the casing. An indoor unit of an air conditioner, wherein the indoor unit is provided so as to be rotatable between a position for closing the opening and a position for closing the lower opening.