JP3938347B2 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is an air conditioner comprising a drain pan that receives condensed water generated in a heat exchanger provided inside an air conditioner body, and a drain hose that is connected to the drain pan and discharges the condensed water to the outside. In particular, the present invention relates to an air conditioner in which, for example, an operation fitting protruding in the front direction of the air conditioner is provided in the vicinity of the connection end of the drain hose to the drain pan, and the operability of the drain hose is improved. .
[0002]
[Prior art]
When the air conditioner performs cooling operation, condensed water is generated in the indoor heat exchanger. The condensed water flows into a drain pan disposed under the heat exchanger, and is drained to the outside by a drain hose connected to the drain pan. The connection between the drain pan and the drain hose includes a press-fitting method, a method of locking by rotation after insertion, and a method of fixing with a metal fitting and a screw.
For example, as shown in FIG. 10 as Conventional Example 1, a hose fixing bracket 7 is inserted into an annular groove 6 a formed at the end of the drain hose 6, and the drain hose 6 is attached obliquely rearward to the outlet portion 5 a of the drain pan 5. In order to prevent loosening, a screw 8 is inserted into the screw insertion hole 7a of the fixing bracket 7 and the screw 8 is tightened.
However, the air conditioner is attached to the wall surface. In this stopping method, the screw 8 is operated from the rear side of the indoor unit of the air conditioner. The drain hose 6 has to be attached and detached by removing the other components or removing a part of the outer shell of the product.
Therefore, in this method, since the operation of the screw 8 is performed from the rear side of the indoor unit, the indoor unit is removed from the wall as described above only for the purpose of simply removing the drain hose, and further, the parts after the screw 8 The operability was bad because it took time and effort.
Various proposals have been made for these measures. For example, in the conventional example 2 (Patent Document 1), a cylindrical body having a plurality of locking pieces on the outer periphery of the drain hose is provided at the tip, and is held in a fan-shaped hole provided in a notch at the bottom of the base. Has been made.
In addition, in Conventional Example 3 (Patent Document 2) as another known example, an engaging claw is provided in the drain discharge port, and the drain hose is provided by the engaging claw provided in the connecting claw member of the engaging claw and the drain hose. Proposals have been made to make a fixed connection to the drain outlet with a single touch.
Furthermore, in Conventional Example 4 (Patent Document 3) as another known example, the drain hose is provided with a ridge, and the upper locking piece is locked to the hanging hook provided on the back surface of the dew tray, There has been a proposal of pressing and fixing in a dew tray direction by a hose presser having a through hole that is fixed by inserting a set screw into a boss portion provided on the bottom lower surface.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Utility Model Publication 4-113820 [Patent Document 2]
JP-A-9-112948 [Patent Document 3]
Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-13819
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above-described Conventional Example 2 or Conventional Example 3, when it is necessary to remove the drain hose for maintenance or inspection, it is necessary to remove the drain hose by putting a hand from the back of the product as in Conventional Example 1. Since the work is usually performed at a high place and the product is lifted with both hands, it is dangerous and cannot be performed alone.
In the proposal of Conventional Example 4, when removing the drain hose, work can be performed from the bottom surface of the product, but it is necessary to insert a hand into the product from the bottom surface and remove the hook of the locking piece in the back. However, regardless of the person skilled in this blind work, the maintenance and inspection that requires the drain hose to be removed is not so frequent, resulting in a difficult work.
The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and an object thereof is to provide an air conditioner having a structure that allows a drain pan and a drain hose to be easily and safely detached.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve this problem, the present invention provides an operation fitting that protrudes in the front direction of the air conditioner near the connection end of the drain hose to the drain pan, and the drain hose can be detached from the front side of the air conditioner body. Air conditioner.
The operation fitting protrudes toward the front surface of the air conditioner, and has a substantially U shape that is fitted and fixed to an operation end that can be pushed or pulled with respect to the drain pan and an annular groove formed in the drain hose. It is formed in a substantially L shape from a connection end having a portion.
Moreover, in order to stabilize the fixed state of the operation fitting, a fixing means for fixing the operation fitting to the air conditioner main body can be provided.
In this case, in order to improve the strength of the substantially U-shaped part, it is desirable that the substantially U-shaped part is open in the direction of the substantially L-shaped bent part.
And in order to improve the operativity of an operation metal fitting, it is desirable to provide the guide member for guiding the said operation end of the said operation metal fitting to the front-back direction of the said air conditioner main body .
As a method for improving the holding force of the drain hose by the U-shaped portion as described above, it is desirable to attach another substantially U-shaped metal fitting to the drain hose in parallel with the substantially U-shaped mounting portion. .
Further, as a method for improving the operability of the fixing means, the fixing piece provided on the operation fitting side and the mounting piece provided on the air conditioner main body side are arranged so as to face each other when the drain hose is inserted. The fixing piece can be fixed to the mounting piece by fixing means operable from the front of the air conditioner body .
[0006]
[Action]
By comprising as mentioned above, a drain hose can be attached or detached from a drain pan only by pushing or pulling the operation metal fitting which concerns on this invention from the front side of an air conditioner main body.
When the connection end to the drain hose is formed in a substantially U shape, the connection state to the drain hose can be easily obtained or removed from the drain hose simply by pushing in the connection end.
When the substantially U-shaped part is open in the direction of the substantially L-shaped bent part, the strength of the substantially U-shaped part is improved.
The operation of the operation fitting is a simple operation of “pushing” or “pulling” from the front surface of the air conditioner body. In order to perform this operation more reliably, a guide member for the operation fitting is provided on the drain pan. It is desirable.
Further, if another substantially U-shaped metal fitting is attached to the drain hose in parallel with the substantially U-shaped attachment portion, the attachment strength of the connection end is improved.
Further, the operability is further improved by configuring the fixing means so that it can be operated from the front side of the air conditioner in the same manner as the operation fitting.
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of the entire air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 show a drain hose fixture usable in the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a view showing an operation of attaching the operation fitting according to an embodiment of the present invention to the drain hose, and FIG. 5 is an operation of attaching the operation fitting according to an embodiment of the present invention to the drain hose. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the operation fitting according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the operation fitting according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a front view of a retaining ring used together with the operation fitting, FIG. 9A is a diagram showing a state before the operation fitting according to the embodiment is attached to the drain pan, and FIG. 9B is a diagram showing a state after the attachment. .
[0008]
As apparent from FIG. 3, the operation fitting 7 is fitted and fixed in the annular groove 6 a formed near the connection end of the drain hose 6 with the drain pan 5 outlet 5 a. As shown in FIG. 1, the operation fitting 7 includes an operation end 7 a that protrudes in the front direction so that the rear surface 2 a can be operated from the front surface 2 b side of the air conditioner body 2 attached to the wall. The operation end 7a is provided with a locking hole 9 which is an example of a fixing means according to the present invention, and the operation fitting 7 is fixed to the drain pan 5 by a screw 8a inserted into the locking hole 9. It is configured.
Details of the operation fitting 7 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 6.
In the figure, 1 is a blower guide, 2 is an air conditioner body, 3 is a heat exchanger, and 4 is a fan.
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 2, the operation fitting 7 is a horizontally long fitting formed in a substantially L shape when viewed from the side direction indicated by the arrow X (direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 2). 7a and the connection end 7b are connected by a bent portion 7e.
The locking hole 9 is formed in the middle of the operation end 7a, and the connection end 7b to the drain hose 6 is substantially U-shaped so that the drain hose 6 can be easily held when viewed from the rear surface indicated by the arrow Y. It has bifurcated arms 7c, 7c formed in a letter shape.
As is apparent from FIGS. 1 and 2, guide members 10 and 10 for guiding the operation end 7a in the front-rear direction of the air conditioner are provided on the drain pan 5 side, that is, the air conditioner main body side. The pushing or pulling operation of 7a is easy and reliable.
In order to attach the drain hose 6 as described above to the drain pan 5, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), the drain hose is used by using the bifurcated arms 7c and 7c formed with the operation fitting 7 on the connection end 7b in advance. 6 is attached to the annular groove 6a as shown in the figure. Then, the axial centers of the drain hose 6 and the outlet 5a of the drain pan 5 are aligned as shown in FIG. Thereafter, by pulling the operation end 7a, the drain hose 6 is inserted into the outlet 5a as shown in (b). At this time, the guide members 10 and 10 for guiding the operation end 7 make the insertion operation easy and reliable.
When the insertion of the drain hose 6 is completed, the operation fitting 7 is fixed to the drain pan 5 or the air conditioner body in the vicinity thereof by the screw 8a.
Next, when the drain hose 6 is removed from the drain pan 5, after loosening the screw 8a, the operation end 7a of the operation fitting 7 is simply pushed from the front surface 2b direction of the air conditioner body toward the rear surface 2a. The drain hose 6 can be removed from the drain pan 5.
To attach the drain hose 6 again, it is only necessary to pull the operation fitting 7 from the front side of the air conditioner main body. However, since the guide members 10 and 10 guide the operation fitting 7 at that time, the operation becomes extremely easy.
[0009]
The operation fitting 7 according to the embodiment described above is substantially L-shaped when viewed from the side, and the connection end 7b is open in the direction of the tip 7d of the connection end 7b. 7c and 7c are cantilevered and there is a problem in strength. Next, an embodiment in which this point is improved will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 4 shows an operation of attaching the operation fitting according to this embodiment to the drain hose, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the operation fitting according to this embodiment.
The metal fitting 70 according to this embodiment is similar to the above embodiment in that the connection end 70b is formed on a substantially U shape when viewed from the rear surface side. 70a and the connection end 70b are opened in the direction of the bent portion 70e to which the connection end 70b is connected. Thus, since the open part of the substantially U-shaped part is connected to the operation end 70a and is reinforced in strength, the drain hose 6 once attached cannot be easily removed. The connecting end 70b of intensity adjustment pollock To, the notch 70f indicated by a broken line is formed in the connection end 70a, may be adjusted with this notch depth.
The operation of attaching and detaching the operation fitting 70 to / from the drain hose 6 is shown in FIG.
If the holding force of the drain hose 6 by the connecting end 7b or 70b is a problem, as shown in FIG. 5, the single substantially U-shaped retaining ring 11 shown in FIG. 8 is connected as shown in FIG. You may insert in the annular groove 6a along with the end 7b or 70b in parallel.
Furthermore, in the said embodiment, the screw 8a which fixes the operation metal fitting 7 to the drain pan 5 etc. is stopped from the direction orthogonal to the drain hose 6, and there exists a problem that operation of the screw 8a is difficult.
In order to solve this problem, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, a screwing piece 71 g (an example of a fixing piece) perpendicular to the drain hose 5 is formed on the operation end 71 a of the operation fitting 71. It is desirable to form the locking hole 9 in the piece 71g and provide the screw mounting piece 71h parallel to the screwing piece 71g on the drain pan 5 side. In this case, when the drain hose 6 is aligned with the drain pan outlet 5a as shown in FIG. 9A and the drain hose 6 is inserted into the outlet 5a as shown in FIG. The screw hole of 71h matches, and by inserting the screw 8a here, the screw 8a can be operated from the air conditioner main body front surface 2b, and the operability of the screw is improved.
[0010]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, in the air conditioner according to the present invention, since the operation fitting protrudes toward the front side of the air conditioner body, the drain hose can be attached only by pushing or pulling the operation fitting from the front side of the air conditioner body. Can be removed from the drain pan.
When the connection end to the drain hose is formed in a substantially U shape, the connection state to the drain hose can be easily obtained or removed from the drain hose simply by pushing in the connection end.
When the substantially U-shaped part is open in the direction of the substantially L-shaped bent part, the strength of the substantially U-shaped part is improved.
Furthermore, when the guide member for the operation fitting is provided on the drain pan, the operability in the operation of pushing or pulling the operation fitting is improved.
Furthermore, if another substantially U-shaped metal fitting is attached to the drain hose in parallel with the substantially U-shaped attachment portion, the attachment strength of the connection end is improved.
Further, the operability for fixing the drain hose is further improved by configuring the fixing means so that the operation direction of the fixing means can be operated from the front surface direction of the air conditioner in the same manner as the operation fitting.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an entire air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a side view showing a state (a) before assembling and a state (b) after assembling of the operating metal fitting used in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;
3A is a view showing a state before the operation fitting shown in FIG. 2 is attached to a drain pan, and FIG. 3B is a view showing a state after the attachment.
FIG. 4 is a view showing an operation fitting according to an embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a view showing an operation fitting according to an embodiment.
6 is a perspective view showing an operation fitting according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an operation fitting according to an embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a front view of a retaining ring used in the example.
FIG. 9A is a diagram illustrating a state before the operation fitting according to the embodiment is attached to the drain pan, and FIG. 9B is a diagram illustrating the state after the attachment.
FIG. 10 is a side sectional view of the entire air conditioner according to a conventional example.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Air blow guide 2 Air conditioner main body 3 Heat exchanger 4 Fan 5 Drain pan 5a Drain pan outlet 6 Drain hose 6a Annular groove 7 70 71 Operation metal fitting 7a 70a 71a Operation end 7b 70b 71b Connection end 7c Arm part 8a Screw 9 Locking hole 10 Guide member 71g Screw fixing piece 71h Screw mounting piece

Claims (5)

In an air conditioner comprising a drain pan that receives condensed water generated in a heat exchanger provided inside the air conditioner body, and a drain hose that is connected to the drain pan and discharges the condensed water,
An operation fitting is provided in the vicinity of the drain hose connection portion to the drain pan, the operation fitting protrudes toward the front surface of the air conditioner, and an operation end that can be pushed or pulled with respect to the drain pan, and An air conditioner characterized by being formed in a substantially L shape from a connection end having a substantially U-shaped portion fitted and fixed in an annular groove formed in a drain hose . The air conditioner according to claim 1 , wherein the substantially U-shaped part has a shape opened in a direction of the substantially L-shaped bent part. The air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein a guide member is provided for guiding the operation end of the operation fitting in a front-rear direction of the air conditioner body . The substantially parallel to the U-shaped mounting portion, the air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3 in which another substantially U-shaped reinforcing brackets, which are attached to the drain hose. The fixing piece provided on the operation fitting side and the mounting piece provided on the air conditioner main body side are arranged so as to face each other when the drain hose is inserted, and can be operated from the front of the air conditioner main body. the air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein said fixing piece is characterized by comprising fixed to the mounting piece by means.

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