JP3248512B2 - 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 in which an indoor unit and an outdoor unit are connected by a refrigerant pipe.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional outdoor unit of an air conditioner is, for example, as shown in FIG. 27 which is a perspective view showing an installed state of the outdoor unit. The arrangement of the connection valve for connecting the refrigerant pipe of the outdoor unit will be described below with reference to FIG.

[0003] Reference numeral 22 denotes an outdoor unit of an air conditioner. The outdoor unit 22 is not shown in the figure. A refrigeration cycle is composed of a heat exchanger and the like. This refrigeration cycle is connected to an indoor unit by a refrigerant pipe 23.
Reference numeral 24 denotes a blower, on which a decorative cover 25 is attached. Reference numeral 26 denotes an attachment portion for attaching the decorative cover 25. Reference numeral 27 denotes a blowout port for blowing out the air sucked from the back side by the blower 26. The refrigerant pipe 23 is, as shown in FIG. 27, an outdoor unit 22 installed in a place where nothing exists on the side of the outdoor unit.
Connected to the sides. As a conventional example of this kind, there is Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 05-256475. In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 05-133571 is mentioned. This is because the position where the air outlet is provided is the same as that described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.
Unlike the position provided at the air outlet described in Japanese Patent No. 256475, the air inlet is provided at the front of the outdoor unit, and the air inlet is provided at the side. Furthermore, a connection terminal for connecting the electrical component and the refrigerant pipe is provided at a position aligned with the suction port on the side surface, and a cover for covering the electrical component and the connection terminal and a transport handle are integrally formed to improve the exterior and improve the exterior. An outdoor unit of an air conditioner that shortens the time for attaching a cover is disclosed.

[0004]

The above-mentioned conventional outdoor unit has the following problems.

(1) Since the position of the connection valve is provided on the side surface of the outdoor unit, mounting of the refrigerant pipe on the connection valve is difficult.
At the time of removal, the worker must sit and round the body to perform the work, so the workability is poor.

(2) When performing the above operation, if the side surface of the outdoor unit on the side of the connection valve is installed close to the building, the connection operation of the refrigerant pipe is sandwiched between the side surface of the outdoor unit and the wall of the building. Occupied space (50-100 for the projecting terminal)
mm plus 100 mm or more of work space)
In this case, the worker's body comes into contact with the wall, and the center of gravity of the worker's body is added to the legs on the wall side, which makes the pipe connection work difficult. Since the work is performed in the space between the walls, it is difficult to freely operate the tools.

An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner with improved workability of attaching a refrigerant pipe to a connection valve.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a refrigerant pipe which is provided above an outdoor unit and which is connected to a refrigerant pipe connected to the indoor unit to form a refrigeration cycle. A connection valve having a connection portion and a cap nut at an upper portion thereof, and a valve fixing member to which the connection valve is mounted, wherein a fixing portion of the connection valve in the valve fixing member is provided at a position higher than a surrounding flat portion. /> is obtained by inclination.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The configuration of the outdoor unit will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a sectional front view of a main part of an outdoor unit, FIG. 2 is a left side view of a main part of the outdoor unit, FIG. 3 is a right side view of the outdoor unit, and FIG. Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the outdoor unit, Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of an upper right portion of the outdoor unit, Fig. 7 is a simplified perspective view of the heat exchanger viewed from the upper right, and Fig. 8 is a base of the outer box. Perspective view from the upper right, FIG. 10 is a perspective view from the upper left of the top cover of the outer box, FIG. 9 is a perspective view from the upper left of the decorative cover, FIG. 11 is a perspective view from the upper right of the electric appliance box, FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the electric component box viewed from the upper left,
13 is a perspective view of the valve fixing plate, FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the support member for attaching the blower as viewed from the upper right, FIG. 15 is a front view of the connection valve, FIG. 16 is a top view of the connection valve, and FIG. It is a side view.

Reference numeral 1 denotes an outdoor unit of an air conditioner. The outdoor unit 1 is connected to an indoor unit via a refrigerant pipe to constitute an air conditioner (not shown). And the outdoor unit 1
As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 6, a device such as a compressor 2, a heat exchanger 3, and a blower 8 is built in, and air is sucked in from the rear surface and both side surfaces where the heat exchanger is arranged. The heat exchanged air is blown out from the front.

That is, in the outdoor unit 1, the heat exchanger 3 is fixed to both sides of the base 4 and to the rear side thereof.
The valve fixing plate 10 to which the connection valve 11 is attached is disposed on the upper right side of the upper end of the valve. An electric component box 9 is mounted on the left side of the valve fixing plate 10 in the horizontal direction, and both side surfaces of the decorative cover 5 are positioned so as to cover both side surfaces of the heat exchanger 3 mounted on the base 4. The lower end of the decorative cover 5 is attached to the face side portion and the front side portion, and the upper end of the side surface of the decorative cover 5 is attached to the right end of the valve fixing plate 10 with a screw.

As a result, the strength of the box of the outdoor unit 1 is ensured. The decorative cover 5 thus attached, the upper surface 3a of the heat exchanger 3, the electric component box 9, the valve fixing plate 1
The upper surface cover 6 is attached so as to cover “0”. As a result, the base 4, the decorative cover 5, the heat exchanger 3, the upper cover 6, the electrical component box 9, the valve fixing plate 10 and the like are organically connected to each other to secure the box strength of the outdoor unit 1 and to install it. There are no partial protrusions that affect the space,
A substantially rectangular box is formed.

As shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 7, the heat exchanger 3 is formed by bending a flat heat exchanger into a U-shape and includes a refrigerant pipe 3e and a side plate 3b. , This side plate 3b
Has a screw hole 3c at its lower end and a screw hole 3d at its upper end.

4 is the compressor 2, heat exchanger 3, blower 8
As shown in FIG. 8, the mounting base has a mounting leg 4d and a flange 4a formed by standing up the periphery, and the flange 4a is attached to the side plate 3 by a screw.
A screw hole 4b for coupling with the screw hole 3c at the lower end of the b, and a screw hole 4c for attaching the lower end of the decorative cover 5 are formed.

The base 4 has an inclined portion 4g at a portion located at both corners on the back of the outdoor unit 1, and the inclined portion 4g
Is formed by the raised flange portion 4a, the twist strength of the base 4 is improved, and it is difficult to resonate with the vibration generated from the compressor and the blower. One of the causes of the difficulty in resonance is that the vibration and the noise due to the vibration are further reduced, and the noise can be hardly felt even in an extremely quiet environment such as at midnight.

The decorative covers 5 are disposed on the front and both side surfaces of the outdoor unit 1 and cover equipment built in the outdoor unit 1. As shown in FIG. 9, this decorative cover 5 has a grill 5a for air blowing, which has a large number of holes at the front center.
An air intake grille 5b comprising a large number of holes is provided on both side surfaces at a position facing the heat exchanger 3, and a lower end portion for screwing with a screw hole 4c of the base 4 is provided. A screw hole 5c is formed.

A screw hole 5 is provided at the upper end of the decorative cover 5.
d and 5e and a hole 5f are formed, and a handle 16 is formed to protrude from the upper end of the left side surface. This handle 16
The outdoor unit 1 is formed so as to be located almost at the middle of the depth, and is used when moving or transporting the outdoor unit 1.
Reference numeral 19 denotes a partition plate having a mouth ring for separating the suction side and the blow-out side of the blower. This partition plate 19 is an embodiment attached to the heat exchanger 3 as shown in FIG. 5, and a decorative cover as shown in FIG. 5 has an embodiment attached thereto. It is also possible to save resources by reducing the thickness of the base 4 to the extent that the twist strength of the base 4 is improved.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a top cover, and the base 4 and the decorative cover 5 constitute a box of the outdoor unit 1. As shown in FIG. 10, a handle 17 used when moving or transporting the outdoor unit 1 is formed on the right side surface of the upper cover 6,
A concave portion 6b is formed on the left side surface to accommodate a handle 16 formed on the decorative cover 5, and a concave portion 6 is formed on the front surface so as not to cover the upper end of the grill 5a of the decorative cover 5.
c are formed, and a plurality of protrusions 6d are formed on the inner surface. Further, a refrigerant pipe 1 is provided on the rear side of the top cover 6.
2 is formed, and a convex portion 6f that engages with the hole 5f of the decorative cover 5 is formed inside the left side surface.

The rear surface of the upper cover 6 where the recess 6e is formed has an inclined surface 6a in the entire width direction.
20, the refrigerant pipe 12 is extended in the horizontal direction as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 23, the left side of the outdoor unit can be installed close to a structure such as a veranda. Further, by arranging the refrigerant pipe 12 along the inclined surface 6a as described above, the refrigerant pipe 12 can be prevented from protruding upward from the upper surface of the outdoor unit 1, so that two outdoor units 1 are stacked and installed. It is possible to

The upper cover 6 and the upper surface 3a of the heat exchanger 3
6, a space 7 having a height H is provided between the two. The electrical component box 9 and the connection valve 11 attached to the valve fixing plate 10 are housed in the space 7, respectively. The height H of the space 7 is determined by the electrical component box 9.
Alternatively, the height is set slightly larger than the height of the connection valve 11.

Inside the upper cover 6, an electric component box 9 is provided.
And the connection valve 11 are arranged side by side in the horizontal direction. As described above, since the electric component box 9 is arranged in parallel with the connection valve 11 in the horizontal direction, the electric component box 9 is partitioned in consideration of the case where water such as rain or fog enters the upper cover 6 from the concave portion 6e. The member 6g is provided on the top cover 6 by integral molding. The partition plate 6g functions as a reinforcing member against a load from above the top cover 6 together with the protrusion 6d.

The electrical component box 9 houses electrical components for controlling the compressor motor and the blower of the outdoor unit 1 and the indoor unit 2 and other electrical devices. This electrical goods box 9
As shown in FIG. 11, a screw hole 9a for coupling with the fixing plate 10 is provided on the right side of the electric component box 9. As shown in FIG. Screw holes 9 connected by screws using screw holes 5e at the upper end
c, and a protruding piece 9b having a vertical surface portion in which the screw hole 9c is formed.

The vertical surface of the protruding piece 9b protruding from the left side of the electric component box 9 is located at a position forming a space for accommodating the handle 16 of the decorative cover 5 between itself and the left side of the electric component box 9. It is provided in.

The electric component box 9 is placed on the upper surface 3a of the heat exchanger 3, and is located between the left end of the valve fixing plate 10 and the upper end of the left side of the decorative cover 5, and They are connected to each other by screws so as to connect them.
The electric component box 9 is made of a metal plate, and blocks and absorbs harmful noise generated from the control electric component.
The harmful noise emitted from is prevented from being emitted to the outside. When the electrical component box 9 is made of resin, a metal sheet may be attached to the inner or outer surface of the electrical component box.

Further, the width of the electric component box 9 in the width direction is, as shown in FIG. 1, about 3/4 of the width in the installed state of the heat exchanger 3, and the dimension in the depth direction. Figure 4
As shown in the figure, the size is almost the same as the depth dimension of the heat exchanger.

Numeral 10 is a valve fixing plate made of a metal plate, which is substantially free of the heat exchanger 3 except for a portion overlapping the electric component box 9.
1/4 of the width of
0b.

The valve fixing plate 10 is placed on the upper surface 3a of the heat exchanger 3, and one end is attached to a screw hole 3d at the upper end of the side plate 3b of the heat exchanger 3 with a screw. The other end is attached with a screw to the upper end of the support member 20 of the blower 8 provided at the intermediate position in the width direction of the outdoor unit. In addition, as shown in FIG. 13, the valve fixing plate 10 has a flat and horizontal convex portion 10b on the upper surface formed to protrude upward from the plane of the flat portion 10a, and protrudes higher than the convex portion 10b. It has a convex portion 10c and a convex portion 10f in which the upper surface is formed with an inclined portion so as to have a formed portion and a lower portion.

The convex portions 10c and 10f of the valve fixing plate 10 have holes 10d and 10g for attaching the connection valve 11 to the inclined portions thereof, and screw holes 10e and 10e.
h. In addition, the valve fixing plate 10
Is provided at one end of a peripheral portion thereof at a side plate 3b of the heat exchanger 3.
A bent piece having a screw hole 10i for connecting with a screw hole 3d at the upper end of the decorative cover 5, and a bent piece having a screw hole 10j for connecting with a screw hole 5d at the upper end of the right side surface of the decorative cover 5 with a screw; A protruding piece having a screw hole 10k for screwing to a screw hole 20b of an upper end portion 20a of the support member 20 of the blower 8 and a screw hole 10n connected to the screw hole 9a of the electric component box 9 by a screw.
And a screw hole 10m for inserting and connecting a screw to a hole drilled in the handle 17 for attaching the top cover 6.

As shown in FIG. 14, the support member 20 has an upper end portion 20a formed in a hook shape, and the hook-shaped upper end portion 20a is located on the rear portion of the outdoor unit 1. Hooked on the upper end of
The lower end 20 d is attached to the base 4. The lower end 20d is provided with a screw hole 2 formed in the lower end 20d.
The base 4 is attached to the base 4 by connecting the screw 4e with a screw hole 4f of a projection 4e formed at a middle position in the width direction of the base 4 with a screw.

As described above, by connecting the above-described members, the back surface portion and the side surface portion of the heat exchanger 3 are firmly connected by the valve fixing plate 10 and the support member 20, and the heat exchanger 3 Eliminates deformation and ensures the positioning of the heat exchanger mounting position. Further, the valve fixing plate 10 and the electric component box 9
The support member 20 and the heat exchanger 3 constitute a reinforcing member for reinforcing the box body of the outdoor unit, and the reinforcing member, the decorative cover 5 and the base 4 are combined to form a substantial outdoor unit 1 And a sufficient strength is ensured.

That is, the base 4 and the lower end of the support member 20, the upper end 20 a of the support member 20, the left end of the valve fixing plate 10, the right end of the valve fixing plate 10, and the right side of the outdoor unit of the heat exchanger 3. The upper end of the side plate 3b to be connected, the lower end of the side plate 3b, and the base 4 are connected to form a square when viewed from the front side.
Because the upper end 20a of the heat exchanger 3 engages and supports the upper end of the heat exchanger 3 located on the back of the outdoor unit, the heat exchanger 3 can be placed on either the lower end side or the upper end side when viewed from above. Are also triangular. Like this, since the front shape square and the shape of the lower end surface side and the upper end surface side are a combination of triangles, and have a triangular prism-like connection relationship,
Strength could be increased.

Further, the size in the height direction of the decorative cover 5 connected to the left side of the base 4 and the left side of the electric component box 9 can be held between the base 4 and the electric component box 9 so as not to move freely. In the case of the embodiment set as above, the screws for fixing the left side of the heat exchanger 8 and other mounting members can be omitted, and the increase in strength due to the combination with the above-described triangular prism-like coupling relationship is reduced. it can.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a connection valve.
A refrigerant pipe 12 connected to an indoor unit (not shown) is connected to a and 11b so that the indoor unit and the outdoor unit 1 constitute a refrigeration cycle.

The connection valve 11 is connected to the valve fixing plate 10.
Through the hole 10d and the hole 10g, and the refrigerant pipe 1
4 or a refrigerant pipe 15 has a refrigerant pipe connection portion 11g to which a brazing connection is made, and as shown in FIGS. 15 to 17, a screw 12a of a refrigerant pipe 12 which is a high pressure side or a low pressure side for connection with an indoor unit. Connected to the refrigerant pipe connection portion 11e
And a cap nut 11c to be removed when opening and closing the refrigerant conduction operation valve provided therein, and to be removed when air purging is performed by operating the built-in valve after completion of installation of the refrigerant pipe and other installation work. Cap nut 11f
And Note that the connection valve 11b to which the refrigerant pipe 12 on the high pressure side is connected does not require a valve for performing air purging and a cap nut 11f. Therefore, a connection valve having a structure in which this is omitted is generally used. . The refrigerant pipe 12 on the high pressure side, which has a small outer diameter and is easy to bend, is connected to the recess 6.
e, the low pressure side refrigerant pipe 12 having a larger pipe outer diameter than the high pressure side refrigerant pipe 12 and being difficult to handle is attached to the valve 11b located at the convex part 10f remote from the concave part 6e of the upper surface cover 6 near the concave part 6e. Connection valve 1 located in section 10c
1a.

In this case, the refrigerant pipe 12 is attached by connecting the refrigerant pipe 12 on the low pressure side, which has a large outside diameter and is difficult to handle.
If the refrigerant pipe 12 on the high pressure side is attached to the connection valve 11a, and then the flare nut 12a of the refrigerant pipe 12 is not obstructed when the tool is turned by a tool and can be easily bent, the refrigerant pipe 12 on the low pressure side Therefore, the refrigerant pipe 12 on the low pressure side and the refrigerant pipe 12 on the high pressure side can be compactly bundled and then drawn out of the outdoor unit 1.

The connection valve 11 is attached so as to be orthogonal to the inclined portion of the convex portion formed by narrowing the valve fixing plate 10 and lowering the side surface of the heat exchanger 3 as described above.
Therefore, a tool is attached to the cap nut 11c of the connection valve 11a, 11b.
The tool 13 is not obstructed by the side end 9a of the electric component box 9 when the user touches the tool 13. Of course, at this time, the connection valves 11a, 11
The mounting height of b with respect to the inclined portion is also set.
That is, when connecting the refrigerant pipe 12 to the conduit portion 11e of the connection valve, the flare nut 12a of the refrigerant pipe 12 must be connected to the connection valves 11a and 11b so that the use of the tool is not interfered with. It is set to a position where it can be turned using a tool.

Further, the flare nut 1 of the refrigerant pipe 12
As shown in FIG. 4, in order to make it easier to rotate 2a using a tool, the positions and sizes of the protrusions 10c and 10f of the valve fixing plate 10 are obstructed when the flare nut 12a is operated and rotated by the tool. I try not to be.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a suction pipe (low pressure) having one end connected to the connection valve 11a and the other end connected to a pipe on the compressor 2 side.
And 15 is a discharge pipe (high pressure). These tubes 14, 15
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, is connected to the refrigerant pipe connection portion 11g of the connection valves 11a and 11b in a direction orthogonal to the inclined portion of the valve fixing plate 10.

14a and 15a are bent portions provided in the middle of the pipes 14 and 15, and the role of the bent portions 14a and 15a is to use a tool when connecting the refrigerant pipe 12 to the connection valves 11a and 11b. When turning the flare nut 12a and turning the cap nut 11c using the tool 13 after connecting the refrigerant pipe 12, the connection valves 11a and 11b also rotate slightly following the rotation of the tool 13. try to. This is for preventing stress from being applied to the welded portions of the pipes 14 and 15 in the case of this rotation. That is, the pipes 14 and 15 are
a, 15a to make it easy to bend and rotate
It is absorbed by the bending of 14a and 15a.

The bent portions 14 a and 15 a are provided so as to be located in a space surrounded by the valve fixing plate 10 and the heat exchanger 3 from which the rotation trajectory of the blower 8 is removed. By effectively using this space, the tubes 14 and 15 can be attached in a direction orthogonal to the inclined portion of the valve fixing plate 10, and the bent portions 14a and 15a can be provided.

Next, a handle for transporting the outdoor unit 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the handles 16 and 17 are located on substantially the same plane (that is, substantially the same height) of the upper portion of the outdoor unit 1 and at a substantially intermediate position in the depth direction (with respect to the center of gravity of the outdoor unit). (Substantially coincident positions).
Thus, the handle 16 is provided on the decorative cover 5, and the handle 16
17 is provided on the top cover 6 side. For this reason, when the top cover 6 is removed, the handle 17 comes off together. Therefore, when connecting the refrigerant pipe 12 to the connection valve 11, the handle 17 is also removed when the top cover 6 is removed, and the connection valve 11 is removed.
The workability can be improved without the handle 17 projecting to the side interfering with the connection work. Moreover, the handle 17 is housed inside the outdoor unit by utilizing the space in which the connection valve 11 is housed above the heat exchanger 3, so that the heat exchanger 3 is obstructed when the handle is provided. , And can be provided substantially in the middle in the depth direction of the outdoor unit as described above.

Therefore, the heat exchanger is located in a clearance space where the heat exchanger is not disposed (for example, a clearance space formed between a bent portion of the heat exchanger and both corners on the back side of the outer box). Compared to a case where the outdoor unit 1 is disposed at a position largely deviated from the center of gravity of the outdoor unit, the outdoor unit 1 can be provided at a position corresponding to the center of gravity of the outdoor unit. The top cover covering the connection valve 11 is divided into a plurality of parts, and it is possible to remove only the cover at this part, so that it is not necessary to remove the entire top cover, and it is easy to work, and furthermore, piping on a rainy day is easy. Even when working, it is possible to prevent rain from dropping and adhering to the electrical components, thereby preventing a failure from occurring.

The top cover is connected to the connection valve 11.
The height of the other portion may be made lower than the height of the portion that covers the, and the overall height may be reduced. Further, when the portion of the top cover that covers the connection valve 11 is divided, when the portion that covers the connection valve 11 is removed and the refrigerant pipe is connected, the height of the other portions is low, so that the portion is less likely to be an obstacle. Workability is improved. Reference numeral 18 denotes a guard net for protecting the outer periphery of the heat exchanger from the outside. The guard net 18 may not be attached.

The operation of installing the outdoor unit 1 having such a configuration will be described below. The outdoor unit 1 is installed so as not to have a large gap with the wall 21 of the building as shown in FIG. Therefore, after the completion of the installation of the refrigerant pipe, even if the user attempts to operate the tool from the wall 21 side so that the cap nut 11c is removed and the internal valve is operated to conduct the electric current, the space necessary for the operation of the tool is secured. Work is difficult.

In the case of this embodiment, the handle portion of the tool 13 is adjusted in consideration of the angle and height of the inclined portion provided on the valve fixing plate 10 so that the tool 13 does not hit the end 9 b of the electric component box 9. Work can be performed in a state where it is positioned above the electrical component box 9, thereby improving workability.

Using the tool 13, the refrigerant pipe 12 is also securely screwed to the connection valves 11a and 11b.

At this time, the projecting heights of the connection valves 10a and 10b from the valve fixing plate 10 are set to be different from each other, so that the above operation is facilitated. That is,
The connection valve 11 attached to the protrusion 10c on the near side or the protrusion 10c on the close side by lowering the protrusion 10c on the side closer to the recess 6e provided on the back side of the top cover 6 and increasing the protrusion 10f on the far side. Furthermore, the refrigerant pipe 12 of the connection valve 11 attached to the projection 10f on the far side can be prevented from contacting or approaching too much. Instead of changing the height of the protrusion,
The height dimension of the connection valve 11 may be changed.

Further, in addition to the angle and the height of the inclined portion, the longitudinal direction of the inclined portion of the convex portion 10c on the side close to the concave portion 6e is substantially parallel to the rear surface of the outdoor unit 1 as shown in FIG. Provided in parallel, the longitudinal direction of the inclined portion of the convex portion 10f on the far side is
The refrigerant pipe 12 connected to the connection valve 11b on the far side is provided obliquely with respect to the back surface of the outdoor unit 1,
Preventing contact or excessive contact with the protruding portion on the near side or the connection valve on the near side can reduce the angle and height of the inclined portion as compared with an attempt to achieve only by the angle and height of the inclined portion. The workability is further improved due to the small size.

After the above connection work has been completed, the upper cover 6 is attached, and the electric component box 8 and the connection valve portion 11 are attached.
Is to cover.

As described above, the outdoor unit has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. For example, by setting the surface on which the front decorative cover is located to be a substantially square surface, the outline of the grill at the outlet of the blower and the makeup can be improved. The center point of the contour of the front shape of the cover 5 does not largely shift, and the appearance design can be improved.

When the tool 13 is used, the valve fixing plate 10
The stress applied to the outdoor heat exchanger 3
And the upper end 2 of the support member 20 of the blower 8
Oa, the electrical component box 9 and the upper end of the decorative cover 5 are fixed to the upper end of the decorative cover 5 by screwing or the like, and the left side of the electrical component box 9 is screwed to the upper end of the decorative cover 5 so that Thus, the valve fixing plate 10 can be prevented from being deformed. In addition, since the valve fixing plate 10 has the convex portion formed by drawing, the deformation can be further prevented.

Next, the installation of the outdoor unit having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the upper cover 6 as viewed from the upper rear left. FIG. 19 is a simplified cross-sectional view illustrating the state of attachment of the top cover 6.
FIG. 20 is a perspective view from the upper rear side showing an example of the outdoor unit in a refrigerant pipe connection state. 21 to 23 are perspective views showing the installation state of each embodiment, and FIG. 24 is a schematic diagram comparing the installation space of the present invention with the conventional installation space.

As shown in FIG. 18, the lower end corner of the recess 6e into which the refrigerant pipe 12 is inserted is rounded, so that the upper cover 6 is engaged with the left side as shown in FIG. When the right side is pivoted with the joint as a fulcrum and attached to the decorative cover 5, it can be prevented from being caught by the refrigerant pipe 12.

According to the outdoor unit 1 having the configuration in which the connection valve 11 is provided on the upper surface side of the outdoor unit of the above embodiment, the outdoor unit 1 can be installed close to the building as shown in FIGS. it can. That is, FIG. 21 is a perspective view showing that the right side of the outdoor unit 1 can be installed close to the building, and the gap dimension L1 between the outdoor unit 1 and the veranda which is the structure of the building is shown.
As shown in FIG. 24, it is possible to greatly reduce the conventional gap dimension L4 having a connection valve on the side surface of the outdoor unit. Compared to the conventional gap size L4 of 200 mm, the gap size L1 of the embodiment is 100 mm,
2.

The gap L2 between the outdoor unit 1 and the wall of the building is 50 mm as in the conventional case. This clearance dimension L
The reason why the gap L1 is larger than 2 is that the air flowing into the gap having the gap L1 also flows into the back side in addition to the air sucked into the side air suction grill 5b.

Further, since the outdoor unit 1 of the embodiment does not have the connection valve on the side surface, the dimension in the width direction is reduced by that much, and the window of the building is not closed as shown in FIG. Become. That is, the dimensions of the embodiment of the outdoor unit 1 are 595
The dimension 695 mm (approximately 700 mm) obtained by adding 100 mm of the gap dimension L1 to the above is not larger than 700 mm to 800 mm, which is a large dimension between the veranda and the window of a general residential building. Can be prevented.

FIG. 22 is a perspective view showing an example in which the right side surface of the outdoor unit 1 is installed with a gap L1 between it and the wall of the building. In this case, the clearance dimension between the left side surface of the outdoor unit 1 and the veranda is 100 mm, which is obtained by subtracting the above 695 mm (about 700 mm) from a general veranda depth dimension of 800 mm,
The dimensions required for air inflow can be secured. Although some verandas have a size larger than 800 mm, the gap L4 of the conventional outdoor unit having a connection valve on the side surface is provided.
Is an installation example that cannot be installed on a general veranda because the veranda has a depth dimension of 900 mm because it is 100 mm larger than the gap dimension L1 of the embodiment.

According to the installation example shown in FIG. 22, even when the distance from the door to the object such as a veranda is extremely small (for example, 300 mm), the door can be installed without covering a part of the door with the outdoor unit 1. . FIG. 22 shows an example in which it is installed on the left side of the veranda, but it can be similarly installed on the right side of the veranda. FIG. 23 is a perspective view in which the back surface of the outdoor unit 1 is installed between the veranda and the wall of the building on the left side of the veranda with a gap L2 therebetween.

In this case, when the refrigerant pipe 12 for connecting to the indoor unit is connected to the connection valve 11, the refrigerant pipe 1
The refrigerant pipe 12 may be bent in advance so that the refrigerant pipe 12 can be arranged along the inclined portion 6a of the top cover 6 to be attached after the 2 is attached to the connection valve 11. Accordingly, the refrigerant pipe 12 can be prevented from protruding upward from the upper surface of the outdoor unit 1, so that the refrigerant pipe 12 is not conspicuous, and the external fusion with the building is improved. Further, by arranging the refrigerant pipe 12 along the inclined surface 6a as described above, the refrigerant pipe 12 can be prevented from protruding upward from the upper surface of the outdoor unit 1, so that two outdoor units 1 are stacked and installed. It is possible to

As described above, in the embodiment, since the connection valve is not on the side, the installation space can be saved, and the appearance can be made a rectangular parallelepiped, so that the design to be integrated with the building is easy.

In the above embodiment, the connection valve 11 is provided so as to be inclined. However, as shown in FIG. 25 or FIG. The direction of rotation of the conduction valve (not shown) and the cap nut may be provided to be horizontal or vertical.

That is, as shown in FIG.
When the rotation direction of the cap nuts 1a 'and 11b' is provided horizontally, the electric component box 9 hinders the turning of the cap nuts by a tool, and the operation rotation angle of the tool is about 90 degrees. However, the workability is better as compared with the related art in which the connection valve is provided on the side surface. Moreover, since the upper surface is open, the workability when connecting the refrigerant pipe 12 is extremely good as in the embodiment shown in FIG. Instead of a very general linear general-purpose tool that has been widely used for a long time as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, a tool having an L-shaped shape that has been widely used in recent years has been used. For example, the operation rotation angle is about 150 to 180 degrees as in the embodiment of FIG. 6, and the workability is extremely good as in the embodiment of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 26, the refrigerant conduction valve 1
When the rotation direction of the operation units 1a "and 11b" is provided vertically, the electric component box 9 does not become an obstacle when the operation unit is turned with a tool, and the operation rotation angle of the tool is about 120 degrees. Workability is much better than in the past, where the valve was provided on the side. The workability when connecting the refrigerant pipe 12 is illustrated in FIG. 25 and FIG.
In the drawing forming of 0 'and 10 ", a convex portion is provided similarly to the convex portion 10c and the convex portion 10f of the valve fixing plate 10 shown in FIG. 13, and the size of this convex portion is shown in FIG. Similarly, the screw 12a for mounting the refrigerant pipe 12 is not obstructed when the screw 12a is rotated by a tool.

As described above, according to the above embodiment, many effects can be obtained, and the typical effects are as follows. Since the connection valve 11 is provided on the upper surface, compared with the related art in which the connection valve is provided on the side surface,
Installation work of the refrigerant pipe 12 and connection valves 11a, 11
b, 11a ', 11b', 11a ", and 11b", removing and attaching the cap nut 11c, and, after removing the cap nut 11c, opening and closing by rotating a refrigerant conduction operation valve provided therein. Since the operation work can be performed on the upper surface side of the outdoor unit, it is not necessary to work in a cramped posture, and a reliable and efficient work can be performed.

Since the connection valve 11 was inclined, the tool 1
Since the rotation locus of 3 does not hang on the electrical component box 9, work using a general-purpose tool that is generally widely used can be performed even at the wall without being greatly affected by either the electrical component box 9 or the wall. Workability is good and there is no need to prepare special tools.

In the embodiment in which the valve fixing plate 10, the heat exchanger 3, the support member 20 of the blower, and the electric component box 9 are made as components for ensuring the strength of the box of the outdoor unit 1, the reinforcing member of the box is different. There is no need to prepare parts, and the size can be reduced, and the number of parts to be assembled and the assembly time can be reduced.

A convex portion is provided on a part of the valve fixing plate 10 to provide an inclined portion so that the side surface of the outdoor unit 1 is lowered, and the connection valve 11 attached to the inclined portion is substantially perpendicular to the inclined portion. To the refrigerant pipe 1
(2) The connection valve 11 is securely attached to the valve fixing plate 10, and the height of the connection valve 11 is reduced. Thereby, the height dimension of the space between the upper end of the heat exchanger 3 and the upper cover 6 can be reduced.

By using the valve fixing plate 10 as a drawn metal plate, the strength of the valve fixing plate itself is increased, and the valve fixing plate 10 is attached to the upper end of the side surface of the heat exchanger 3 and the rear surface of the heat exchanger 3 By attaching to the hooked support member 20 to jointly increase the connection strength between the respective parts, and to connect the connection valve 11 to the convex portion of the valve fixing plate 10, the connection valve 11 When the refrigerant pipe 12 is connected or otherwise,
Since the external force is dispersed to the heat exchanger 3 and the support member 20, the strength against the external force can be secured without requiring a reinforcing member.

[0070]

As described above, the present invention relates to a connection valve.
The refrigerant piping is connected to the connection valve by disposing the
The workability during installation is improved and the connection valve
When turning the cap nut in the part with a tool,
Can be prevented from being disturbed .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional front view of an essential part of an outdoor unit equipped with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a left side view of a cross section of a main part of the outdoor unit.

FIG. 3 is a right side view of the outdoor unit.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional top view of a main part when a refrigerant pipe is connected to FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the outdoor unit shown in FIGS. 1 to 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a refrigerant pipe connection portion in an upper right portion of the outdoor unit.

FIG. 7 is a simplified perspective view of the heat exchanger shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from the upper right.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the base of the box of the outdoor unit viewed from the upper right.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the decorative cover as viewed from the upper left.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the top cover of the box viewed from the upper left.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the electric component box as viewed from the upper right.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the electric component box as viewed from the upper left.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a valve fixing plate for connecting a connection valve.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a support member that supports the blower as viewed from the upper right.

FIG. 15 is a front view of an end of a refrigerant pipe and a connection valve to which the end is connected.

FIG. 16 is a top view of a connection valve.

FIG. 17 is a side view of a connection valve.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the upper cover as viewed from the upper left rear.

FIG. 19 is a simplified cross-sectional view illustrating a state where the top cover is attached.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view from the upper left rear side showing an example of the outdoor unit in a refrigerant pipe connection state.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view showing an example in which an outdoor unit is installed.

FIG. 22 is a perspective view showing an example in which an outdoor unit is installed.

FIG. 23 is a perspective view showing an example in which an outdoor unit is installed.

FIG. 24 is a schematic view showing an embodiment and a conventional installation space.

FIG. 25 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a refrigerant pipe connection portion in an upper right portion of the outdoor unit corresponding to FIG. 6;

FIG. 26 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a refrigerant pipe connection portion in an upper right portion of the outdoor unit corresponding to FIG. 6;

FIG. 27 is a perspective view showing an installation state of a conventional outdoor unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Outdoor unit main body, 2 ... Compressor, 3 ... Heat exchanger, 3a ... Upper end, 4 ... Base, 5 ... Decorative cover, 6 ... Top cover, 7
... gap, 8 ... blower, 9 ... electric box, 9a ... side end, 9b
... End, 10 ... Valve fixing plate, 11 ... Connection valve, 12 ... Refrigerant pipe, 12a ... Flare nut, 13 ... Tool, 14 ... Suction pipe,
14a: bent part, 15: discharge pipe, 15a: bent part, 16: transport handle, 17: transport handle, 18: guard net, 19: partition plate with mouth ring, 20: support frame, 21: building wall.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tomotsu Kaneko 800, Tomita, Ohira-machi, Ohira-machi, Shimotsuga-gun, Tochigi Prefecture Within the Living Equipment Division, Hitachi, Ltd. Hitachi, Ltd. Living Equipment Division (56) References JP-A-8-86471 (JP, A) JP-A-63-294429 (JP, A) JP-A-1-134825 (JP, U) JP-A-4 -101098 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model 1-66528 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F24F 5/00 F25B 41/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A connection valve provided at an upper part of an outdoor unit and connected to a refrigerant pipe connected to the indoor unit to form a refrigeration cycle and a cap nut at an upper part, and a connection valve. And a valve fixing member to which the connection valve of the valve fixing member is provided at a position higher than a surrounding flat portion and inclined.
Air conditioner was.