JP4580379B2 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioner including an air guide panel that is rotatable with respect to a blowout port of a casing.

  In order to blow conditioned air in a desired direction from the air outlet of the indoor unit of the air conditioner in a desired direction, a front panel for opening and closing the air outlet is provided in the vicinity of the upper end or the lower end of the air outlet as shown in Patent Document 1. The thing of the structure which rotates this is known.

The front panel is configured to be rotatable around a rotation axis provided in the vicinity of the upper end or the lower end of the air outlet and having an axial direction parallel to the lateral direction of the casing.
JP 2005-315536 A

  However, in the above air conditioner, when a front panel having a size for opening and closing the air outlet is used, warping and bending are likely to occur, and the appearance of the air conditioner may be impaired.

  In addition, when a plate-shaped panel is used as the front panel, when cool air is blown out from the air outlet, the cold air blown out from the air outlet is in contact with the back side of the front panel, and unbalanced air in the room is on the opposite surface side. Contact. Then, when the front panel is cooled with cold air, condensation may occur on the surface of the panel, which may cause dirt and bacteria to propagate.

  In addition, when the front panel is formed in a plate shape, pursuing the design of the outer surface side of the front panel inevitably determines the shape of the inner surface side that becomes the air guide surface, and the air from the outlet Cannot be guided in an appropriate direction. On the other hand, if the shape on the inner surface side of the front panel is determined with emphasis on the air guide surface, the design on the outer surface side will be deteriorated. Thus, it may be difficult to achieve both design and functionality.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and is to provide an air conditioner that is less likely to warp or bend, further less likely to cause dew condensation, and can achieve both design and functional aspects. Objective.

In order to solve the above problems, an air conditioner according to the present invention is provided with a casing having a blow-out port for blowing out air and a casing that is rotatable with respect to the casing in the vicinity of the upper edge or the lower edge of the blow-out port of the casing. And a reinforcing member is provided on the wind guide panel.
According to the said structure, since the curvature and bending of a wind guide panel are suppressed with a reinforcing material, an external appearance design is not impaired.

  The wind guide panel is formed in a plate shape, one surface of which forms a wind guide surface, and a reinforcing material can be provided on the wind guide surface side, so that the reinforcing material is not exposed on the surface of the wind guide panel. Good design of the air conditioner can be maintained. Here, the air guide surface refers to the surface of the air guide panel on the side where the air blown out from the air outlet comes into contact, that is, the back surface side of the air guide panel when the air guide panel takes the posture of closing the air outlet. means.

Furthermore, the wind guide panel can be configured such that a foam layer is laminated on the back surface of a plate-shaped exterior material, and a reinforcing material is embedded in the foam layer.
According to the above configuration, since the foam layer is laminated on the exterior material and the reinforcing material is embedded in the foam layer, condensation does not occur on the surface side of the wind guide panel, that is, the surface of the exterior material. Therefore, an air conditioner that can achieve both a design aspect and a functional aspect can be obtained.

  That is, by forming a foam layer having heat insulation properties, it is possible to effectively prevent the occurrence of condensation without being cooled to the exterior material even when cold air blows out from the outlet. Become.

  Further, by laminating the foam layer on the exterior material, the one surface side and the other surface side can be formed in different shapes. Therefore, even when the frame material forming the one surface side of the panel is molded with emphasis on design, the foam layer laminated on the inner surface side can be curved and formed into the desired wind guide shape, so the wind guide direction Can be set freely.

  When laminating a foam layer on an exterior material, an air guide panel in which the foam layer is laminated on the exterior material can be obtained by injecting a foaming raw material into a mold charged with the exterior material to form a foam. However, when different materials such as an exterior material and a foam layer are laminated, warping and bending are likely to occur. In particular, in the wind guide panel, when the length in the width direction is increased with respect to the length direction, warpage and deflection of the center portion in the width direction are likely to increase.

  Therefore, when the foam layer is laminated on the exterior material, the reinforcing material is foamed by injecting the foam material in a state where the rigid reinforcement material is charged in the mold together with the exterior material. A wind guide panel embedded in the layer can be obtained, and the aesthetic appearance on the appearance can be maintained by suppressing the warp and deflection of the wind guide panel.

  The said wind guide panel can also be made into the shape divided into 2 up and down. That is, the wind guide panel is rotatable with respect to the casing in the vicinity of the lower end edge of the blower outlet, and is arranged along the wind guide posture for guiding the air blown from the blower outlet in a substantially horizontal direction, along the front surface of the casing, Switchable to a covering posture covering at least the lower half of the front surface of the casing including the air outlet, and the wind guide panel is arranged on the upper side of the cover panel, which mainly covers the air outlet in the covering posture. The cover panel is rotatably supported with respect to the extension panel, and a reinforcing material is embedded in the end of the cover panel facing the extension panel. .

  According to the above configuration, even if the extension panel or cover panel warps or bends due to the opening / closing operation of the wind guide panel or changes over time, the original state can be maintained as much as possible by the reinforcing material. Since leakage of conditioned air from the gap between the extension panel and the cover panel can be prevented, it is possible to prevent dew condensation and a decrease in blowing efficiency. Also, if the air from the outlet is blown downward by rotating only the cover panel and turning downward while covering the extension panel, by reinforcing the end of the cover panel with a reinforcing material, The appearance of the wind guide panel can be maintained.

  That is, a gap for rotating the cover panel is required between the extension panel and the cover panel. However, if the cover panel on the rotating side is warped or bent, this gap must be set larger. The large gap between the extension panel and the cover panel makes the appearance design of the wind guide panel remarkably different. Will be reduced.

  Therefore, in the present invention, the gap between the extension panel and the cover panel is suppressed by reinforcing the end portion of the cover panel facing the extension panel with a reinforcing material and suppressing distortion such as warpage and bending at the end portion. The air conditioner having a good appearance design can be obtained by improving the visual sense of unity as a wind guide panel.

  Furthermore, if a reinforcing material is also embedded at the end of the extension panel facing the cover panel, it becomes possible to suppress warping or bending of the extension panel, and to further reduce the gap between the extension panel and the cover panel. Is possible.

  The cover panel, which is provided at the upper end of the cover panel so as to be rotatable around the rotation axis set in parallel with the casing left-right direction, needs to set a larger gap between the cover panel and the extension panel. Arise. Therefore, the gap between the cover panel and the extension panel can be effectively reduced by applying the present invention.

  The above reason will be described in detail. FIGS. 12 to 14 are schematic views of both ends of the cover panel and the extension panel facing each other as viewed from the side of the panel. As shown in FIG. 12, when the cover panel 8 is not bent and the cover panel 8 and the extension panel 9 have substantially the same thickness, the cover panel 8 is covered around the rotation axis 11 a formed at the end of the cover panel 8. In order to make the panel 8 rotatable, the gap between the cover panel 8 and the extension panel 9 needs to be X1.

  Next, when the deflection D occurs in the cover panel 8, as shown in FIG. 13, in order to allow the cover panel 8 to rotate around the rotation axis 11a including this deflection D portion, the cover panel 8 And the extension panel 9 must be expanded to X2.

  However, even when the deflection D occurs in the cover panel 8, as shown in FIG. 14, if the distance from the edge of the cover panel 8 to the rotation axis 11a is increased from Y1 to Y2, the cover panel 8 and the extension panel 9 Can be reduced to X3 (where X3 <X2). That is, the closer the rotation axis 11a is to the edge of the cover panel, the wider the gap between the cover panel 8 and the extension panel 9 is required.

  As the reinforcing material, any material having higher rigidity than the exterior plate or the foam layer constituting the wind guide panel may be used, and a metal material is preferably used. Further, as the reinforcing material, a shaft, an L-shaped angle, a U-shaped angle, or the like can be used. When a shaft is used as the reinforcing member of the cover panel, if the shaft is used as the rotation shaft, there is an advantage that the structure of the cover panel can be simplified because it is not necessary to provide a separate rotation shaft.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the foam is provided on the back surface of the plate-shaped exterior material as the wind guide panel provided to be rotatable with respect to the casing in the vicinity of the upper end edge or the lower end edge of the outlet of the casing. Since layers in which the layers are laminated and the reinforcing material is embedded in the foam layer are used, it is possible to provide an air conditioner that can achieve both design and function without causing condensation.

  FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a covering posture of a wind guide panel in an indoor unit of a separate type air conditioner of the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the same. FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the open posture of the cover panel of the indoor unit, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the same. FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a wind guide posture of the wind guide panel in the indoor unit, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the same.

  In the indoor unit 1 in the present embodiment, an air inlet 3 is formed on the upper surface of the casing 2, and an air outlet 4 is formed on the lower front surface of the casing 2. A heat exchanger 5 is disposed in the internal air flow passage of the casing 2 from the suction port 3 to the blower outlet 4, is surrounded by the heat exchanger 5, and the indoor fan 6 is formed of a cross flow fan on the blower outlet 4 side. Is built-in.

  The blower outlet 4 is provided with a wind direction changing device 36 including a vertical louver 36a and a horizontal louver 36b so that the direction of the wind blown from the blower outlet 4 can be changed. This wind direction changing device 36 has a known structure. In the present invention, a wind guide panel 7 that can be switched between a covering posture and a wind guide posture is provided on the front surface of the casing 2 separately from the wind direction changing device 36. The wind guide panel 7 guides the air blown from the outlet 4 in a substantially horizontal direction, and the lower end of the wind guide panel 7 is pivotally supported on the casing 2 so as to be rotatable around the first rotation shaft 10. Has been.

  And the wind guide panel 7 is arranged around the first rotation shaft 10 and is arranged in the substantially horizontal direction from the outlet 4 to guide the air blown out from the outlet 4 in the substantially horizontal direction, It is arranged along the front surface of the casing 2 and can be switched to a covering posture that covers at least the lower half of the front surface of the casing including the air outlet 4.

  The wind guide posture of the wind guide panel 7 is mainly to guide the wind blown from the outlet 4 during the cooling operation along the wind guide panel 7 in a substantially horizontal direction or obliquely upward, and to distant air along the indoor ceiling. Adopted when guiding.

  Moreover, the wind guide panel 7 is installed so as to cover the air outlet 4 and its peripheral portion from the lower front surface of the casing 2 to the front surface in the covering posture. That is, the wind guide panel 7 is formed larger than the air outlet 4 and has a size covering almost the entire front surface of the casing 2. Therefore, when the wind guide panel 7 takes a wind guide posture, a sufficiently long wind guide surface can be secured, and conditioned air can be efficiently sent to a distance.

  Further, the wind guide panel 7 is divided into a cover panel 8 that mainly covers the outlet 4 and an extension panel 9 that is provided continuously at the tip of the cover panel 8. The cover panel 8 is supported by the extension panel 9 so as to be openable and closable around the second rotation shaft 11. The cover panel 8 has a closed posture in which the extension panel 9 is covered with the front surface of the casing 2 and is closed around the outlet 4 by turning around the second turning shaft 11. It is possible to switch to an open posture that opens in the vertical direction. The open posture of the cover panel 8 is mainly used when the wind blown from the outlet 4 is guided vertically downward during heating operation or rapid cooling operation in which cold air is to be blown locally.

  Further, in the wind guide panel 7, the cover panel 8 is formed in a concave curved shape in a side view so that the wind can be continuously guided to the far side of the curved passage wall on the back side of the air outlet 4. The extension panel 9 is formed in a convex curved shape on the inside so that the wind guided from the cover panel 8 is sucked into the suction port 3 on the upper surface of the casing and does not cause a short circuit.

  The rotation mechanism of the wind guide panel 7 will be described in further detail. The extension panel 9 is provided with a pair of left and right legs 9 b vertically at the left and right outer positions of the air outlet 4. The lower end portion of the leg portion 9 b is pivotally supported by the casing 2 so as to be rotatable around the first rotation shaft 10.

  In addition, turning arms 16 are attached to the left and right ends of the extension panel 9 constituting the air guide panel 7. A rack 16 a that is curved in an arc shape around the first rotation shaft 10 is formed on the rotation arm 16. The rack 16a meshes with a pinion (not shown) installed in the casing 2, and when the pinion is driven, the extension panel 9 rotates around the rotation axis 10a.

  The leg portion 9 b is plate-shaped and is formed in a curved shape along the casing 2. In addition, a ventilation portion 9a having substantially the same size as the air outlet 4 is formed between the pair of leg portions 9b. On the other hand, the cover panel 8 has a lateral width that is substantially the same as the lateral width of the casing 2. And the cover panel 8 is arrange | positioned at the front side of the extension panel 9 so that the leg part 9b of the extension panel 9 may be covered up. The upper end of the cover panel 8 is rotatably attached around the axis 11 a of the second rotation shaft 11 provided on the extension panel 9.

  More specifically, the left and right ends of the cover panel 8 are formed with second rotating shafts 11 that are set so that the axis 11 a is parallel to the left-right direction A of the casing 2. The first rotating shaft 10 is also set so that the direction of the axis 10a is parallel to the left-right direction A of the casing. The second rotation shaft 11 is rotatably supported by a bearing portion formed on the leg portion 9 b of the extension panel 9. This bearing portion is disposed at a position higher than the upper end of the air outlet 4.

  Further, the cover panel 8 is provided with a fan-shaped gear 15 around the second rotation shaft 11. Then, the fan-shaped gear 15 meshes with the drive gear installed in the casing in a covering posture in which the extension panel 9 approaches the casing 2. The fan gear 15 meshing with the drive gear is rotated by the rotation driving operation of the drive gear, and the cover panel 8 is rotated.

  When the air guide panel 7 opens the air outlet 4, the cover panel 8 rotates integrally with the extension panel 9 around the rotation axis 10 a while maintaining the posture of closing the ventilation portion 9 a. As a result, the extension panel 9 can be freely switched and switched between a cover posture arranged along the casing 2 and a wind guide posture positioned in a substantially horizontal direction.

  Further, the cover panel 8 is formed with a seal portion 12 on the opposite side across the rotation axis 11a. Opposite to the seal portion 12, a groove portion 19 is formed in the casing left-right width direction A at a position above the outlet 4 of the casing. The groove portion 19 is formed to allow the seal portion 12 to rotate in a direction approaching the casing 2 when the cover panel 8 is in the open posture with the lower end opened with respect to the extension panel 9. Then, the lower wall portion 13 of the groove portion 19 comes into contact with the seal portion 12.

  The extension panel 9 is provided with a sealing material 17 that seals a gap between the seal portion 12 and the extension panel 9. A sealing material 18 that seals a gap between the air guide panel 7 and the casing 2 is disposed at the lower edge of the air outlet 4 of the casing 2.

  The configuration of the cover panel 8 and the extension panel 9 will be described in detail. 7 is a sectional view of the cover panel 8, FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the extension panel, and FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of the extension panel.

  The cover panel 8 is formed by laminating polyurethane foam as the foam layer 802 on the exterior material 801, and the surface of the foam layer 802 is curved in a wind guide shape. The surface of the foam layer 802 is protected by a decorative sheet 803. The exterior material 801 is made of a synthetic resin and is formed into a curved plate shape. Actually, the exterior material 801 has a U-shaped cross-section with a side wall formed at the periphery, and a foaming material is injected into the interior, and the foam layer 802 is formed by foam molding.

  At the end of the cover panel 8 facing the extension panel 9, that is, the upper end of the cover panel 8, a metal shaft is embedded as the rotation shaft 11 in the foam layer 802, whereby the cover panel 8 warpage and deflection are suppressed. The rotating shaft 11 is formed so as to be exposed to the outside at both left and right end portions of the cover panel 8, and this portion is pivotally supported by a bearing portion formed at the upper end portion of the leg portion 9b.

  The extension panel 9 has a pair of left and right leg portions 9b provided at both ends thereof, and a ventilation portion 9a that is a space is formed between the pair of leg portions 9b. The extension panel 9 is formed by laminating polyurethane foam as a foam layer 902 on an exterior material 901, and the surface of the foam layer 902 is curved in a wind guide shape. The surface of the foam layer 902 is protected by a decorative sheet 903. The exterior material 901 is made of a synthetic resin and is formed into a curved plate shape. Actually, the exterior material 901 has a U-shaped cross-section with a side wall formed at the periphery, and a foaming raw material is injected into the exterior material 901 to form a foam layer 902 by foam molding.

  At the end of the extension panel 9 facing the cover panel 8, that is, at the lower end of the extension panel 9, a metal square is embedded as a reinforcing material 26 in the foam layer 902. In addition, at the end of the extension panel 9 facing the cover panel 8, the exterior material 901 is formed with a plurality of holding wall portions 904 for holding the reinforcing material 26 in parallel to the side walls.

  The wall portion 904 for holding the reinforcing material is for preventing the displacement of the reinforcing material 26 when the foaming material is injected and foam-molded. The reinforcing material 26 is finally fixed by the foam layer 902. Integrated into the panel. Thereby, the curvature of the extension panel 9 and a bending are suppressed.

  In the present embodiment, the wall portion 904 is mainly used for preventing the displacement of the reinforcing material. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a locking means for locking the reinforcing material 26 can also be used. In this case, regardless of the foam layer 902, the reinforcing material 26 can be fixed to suppress the warping and bending of the extension panel 9.

  As a specific locking means, for example, as shown in FIG. 10, locking claws 905 may be formed on the tip and side walls of the above-mentioned wall portion 904, or as shown in FIG. A locking portion 907 having a locking hole 906 for inserting and locking 26 may be formed.

  As described above, by suppressing the warpage and bending of the cover panel 8 and the extension panel 9, it becomes possible to narrow the gap between the two, enhancing the sense of unity as the wind guide panel 7, and having a good appearance design. An air conditioner can be obtained.

Sectional drawing of the indoor unit of the air conditioner which shows 1st Embodiment of this invention The perspective view which shows the external appearance of the indoor unit of FIG. Sectional drawing which shows the state which the cover body of the indoor unit in FIG. 1 rotated The perspective view which shows the external appearance of the indoor unit of FIG. Sectional drawing which shows the state which the wind guide panel of the indoor unit in FIG. 1 rotated The perspective view which shows the external appearance of the indoor unit of FIG. Sectional view showing the cover panel Sectional view showing extension panel Exploded perspective view of extension panel FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view showing another embodiment FIG. 10 is a partial cross-sectional view showing another embodiment. Schematic showing the boundary between the cover panel and extension panel Schematic showing the second aspect of FIG. Schematic showing the third aspect of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Indoor unit 2 Casing 3 Inlet 4 Outlet 5 Heat exchanger 6 Indoor fan 7 Air guide panel 8 Cover panel 9 Extension panel 9a Ventilation part 9b Leg part 10 1st rotation axis 11 2nd rotation axis 12 Seal part 14 Seal material 15 Fan gear 16 Arm 16a Rack portion 17, 18 Seal material 19 Groove portion 26 Reinforcement material 36 Wind direction change device 36a Vertical louver 36b Horizontal louver 801 Exterior material 802 Foam layer 803 Cosmetic sheet 901 Exterior material 902 Foam layer 903 Cosmetic sheet 904 Wall portion 905 Locking claw 906 Locking hole 907 Locking portion A Casing left-right direction

Claims (7)

A casing having a blowout port for blowing out air; and a wind guide panel provided to be rotatable with respect to the casing in the vicinity of an upper end edge or a lower end edge of the blowout port of the casing, and the reinforcing member is provided on the wind guide panel. An air conditioner characterized by being provided. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the wind guide panel is formed in a plate shape, one surface of which forms a wind guide surface, and a reinforcing material is provided on the wind guide surface side. The air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein the wind guide panel has a foam layer laminated on a back surface of a plate-shaped exterior member, and a reinforcing material is embedded in the foam layer. The wind guide panel is rotatable with respect to the casing in the vicinity of the lower end edge of the air outlet, and is disposed along the air guide posture for guiding the air blown from the air outlet in a substantially horizontal direction, along the front surface of the casing, Switchable to a covering posture that covers at least the lower half of the front surface of the casing including the outlet, and the wind guide panel is arranged on the upper side of the cover panel that mainly covers the outlet in the covering posture. The cover panel is rotatably supported with respect to the extension panel, and a reinforcing material is embedded in the end of the cover panel facing the extension panel. The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The air conditioner according to claim 4, wherein a reinforcing material is embedded in an end portion of the extension panel facing the cover panel. The air conditioner according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the cover panel is provided at the upper end portion of the cover panel so as to be rotatable around a rotation axis set in parallel with the lateral direction of the casing. The air conditioner according to claim 6, wherein the reinforcing member of the cover panel is a shaft and functions as the rotating shaft.

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