JP5062116B2 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioner having a function of removing dust attached to an air filter.

  In an air conditioner, the indoor air sucked from the suction port is cooled or heated by passing through a heat exchanger and blown out into the room, but dust floating in the air sucked from the suction port causes the heat exchanger to In order to prevent contamination, an air filter is provided upstream of the heat exchanger. If dust adheres to the air filter, resulting in clogging and an increase in ventilation resistance, the air conditioning capacity of the air conditioner decreases and the power consumption increases. In order to eliminate such inconvenience, various air conditioners including a filter cleaning unit that automatically cleans dust adhering to an air filter have been proposed.

  In an air conditioner equipped with this type of filter cleaning unit, dust scraped from the air filter by the cleaning brush is accommodated in the dust box, and the user periodically removes the dust box and puts it in the dust box. It is necessary to throw away the contained dust.

Therefore, in order to reduce the load of maintenance work related to the dust box, an air conditioner has been developed in which the amount of dust that can be accommodated in the dust box is increased by compressing the dust accommodated in the dust box (for example, , See Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-347246 A

  In the air conditioner disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, a scraping unit that scrapes dust separated from the air filter by a brush into the inside of the dust box, and a pushing unit that pushes dust scraped by the scraping unit, Are provided, and the scraping portion and the pushing portion are rotated by separate drive motors, respectively, so that the dust contained in the dust box is compressed. However, in the configuration in which the dust attached to the air filter is pushed by rotating the pushing portion, the dust cannot be moved in the support portion that rotatably supports the pushing portion, and the dust remains in the vicinity of the pushing portion indefinitely. Resulting in. For this reason, there is a problem that the dust separated from the air filter cannot be collected at a predetermined location, and the maintainability is lowered.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide an air conditioner that is excellent in maintainability.

An air conditioner according to a first aspect of the present invention is an air filter, a dust removing means that is disposed in the vicinity of the air filter and along a predetermined first direction, and that removes dust attached to the air filter, A dust box for storing dust; and a dust conveying means rotatably supported so as to be along the first direction and face the dust removing means in the vicinity of the dust inlet of the dust box, Is movable along a predetermined movement direction relative to the dust conveying means, and a plurality of support frames formed along the movement direction and dust between the plurality of support frames. The dust transport means is rotatably supported by a support portion provided at the same position as at least one of the plurality of support frames in the width direction. And wherein the door.

  In this air conditioner, it is possible to suppress the generation of dust that is not transported by the dust transporting means by providing a support portion that rotatably supports the dust transporting means at a portion corresponding to the support frame to which dust does not adhere. it can. As a result, the dust removed from the air filter can be smoothly accommodated in a predetermined location (for example, a dust box), so that maintainability is improved.

  An air conditioner according to a second invention is the air conditioner according to the first invention, wherein the dust removing means is provided with a first gear, and the dust conveying means is provided with a second gear meshing with the first gear. The first gear and the second gear are provided in at least one of the portions corresponding to the plurality of support frames.

  In this air conditioner, by providing the first gear and the second gear at the portion corresponding to the support frame to which dust does not adhere, dust is prevented from entering between the first gear and the second gear. be able to. As a result, it is possible to prevent the cause of the failure caused by the biting of dust between the first gear and the second gear.

An air conditioner according to a third aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of air filters, a dust removing unit that is disposed along the width direction of the plurality of air filters, and that removes dust attached to the plurality of air filters, and dust. A dust box to be housed, and a dust conveying means rotatably supported so as to be along the width direction of the plurality of air filters and to face the dust removing means in the vicinity of the dust inlet of the dust box, The air filter is movable along a predetermined movement direction relative to the dust transfer means, and the dust transfer means is at least one of the portions corresponding to the space between the plurality of air filters in the width direction. It is characterized by being rotatably supported by a support portion provided at the same position as the one.

  In this air conditioner, a support portion that rotatably supports the dust transfer means is provided at a portion corresponding to the space between the air filters to which dust does not adhere, thereby suppressing the generation of dust that is not transferred by the dust transfer means. be able to. As a result, the dust removed from the air filter can be smoothly accommodated in a predetermined location (for example, a dust box), so that maintainability is improved.

  An air conditioner according to a fourth aspect of the invention is the air conditioner according to the third aspect of the invention, wherein the dust removing means is provided with a first gear, and the dust conveying means is provided with a second gear meshing with the first gear. The first gear and the second gear are provided in at least one of the corresponding portions between the plurality of air filters.

  In this air conditioner, by providing the first gear and the second gear in the corresponding part between the air filters to which dust does not adhere, dust enters between the first gear and the second gear. Can be suppressed. As a result, it is possible to prevent the cause of the failure caused by the biting of dust between the first gear and the second gear.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

  In the first invention, by providing a support portion that rotatably supports the dust transfer means at a portion corresponding to the support frame to which dust does not adhere, it is possible to suppress the generation of dust that is not transferred by the dust transfer means. it can. As a result, the dust removed from the air filter can be smoothly accommodated in a predetermined location (for example, a dust box), so that maintainability is improved.

  In the second invention, the first gear and the second gear are provided in the portion corresponding to the support frame to which the dust does not adhere, so that the dust enters between the first gear and the second gear. Can be suppressed. As a result, it is possible to prevent the cause of the failure caused by the biting of dust between the first gear and the second gear.

  In the third aspect of the invention, by providing a support portion that pivotally supports the dust transfer means in a portion corresponding to between the air filters to which dust does not adhere, dust that is not transferred by the dust transfer means is generated. Can be suppressed. As a result, the dust removed from the air filter can be smoothly accommodated in a predetermined location (for example, a dust box), so that maintainability is improved.

  In the fourth aspect of the invention, the first gear and the second gear are provided in the corresponding portions between the air filters to which the dust does not adhere, so that the dust enters between the first gear and the second gear. Can be suppressed. As a result, it is possible to prevent the cause of the failure caused by the biting of dust between the first gear and the second gear.

  Hereinafter, an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

[Basic configuration]
Drawing 1 is a typical perspective view which looked at indoor unit 1 concerning the embodiment of the present invention from the diagonally upper front.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the indoor unit 1 shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from the front.
3 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of the indoor unit 1 shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram in which the front panel 20 of the indoor unit 1 shown in FIG. 2 is removed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the indoor unit 1 of this embodiment has an elongated shape in one direction as a whole, and is attached to a wall surface in the room so that the longitudinal direction is horizontal. In the following description, the longitudinal direction of the indoor unit 1 is simply referred to as “longitudinal direction”. Further, the direction protruding from the wall to which the indoor unit 1 is attached is referred to as “front”, and the opposite direction is referred to as “rear”.

  The indoor unit 1 includes a main body unit 10 (main body) and a front panel 20 attached to the front surface of the main body unit 10.

[Main unit]
As shown in FIG. 3, the main unit 10 includes a main body casing 11, an indoor heat exchanger 12, a cross flow fan 13, an electrical component unit 14, a filter unit 15, a cleaning unit 16, and a front grill 17. It is comprised.

  The indoor heat exchanger 12, the cross flow fan 13, the electrical component unit 14, and the filter unit 15 are attached to the main body casing 11.

  The electrical component unit 14 includes electrical components such as a terminal board, an AC circuit unit, a DC high voltage circuit unit, a DC low voltage circuit unit, and a CPU control unit as a power input unit connected to a commercial power source (AC 100V or AC 200V); The electric component box 41 that accommodates the electric component therein and a light emitting display unit 42 (see FIG. 4) attached to the front surface of the electric component box 41 are configured.

  The electrical component box 41 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped outer shape that is elongated in the longitudinal direction of the main unit 10, and is a case that covers the periphery of the electrical component accommodated therein. The electrical component box 41 is arranged with the light emitting display 42 facing forward at a position in front of the drain pan 11c in a state of being arranged substantially parallel to the drain pan 11c extending in the longitudinal direction of the main unit 10.

  The light emitting display unit 42 includes a plurality of LEDs arranged side by side, and these LEDs emit light to display predetermined characters and the like. The front of the light emitting display unit 42 is covered by the front panel 20, but by emitting light that passes through the front panel 20, the display of the light emitting display unit 42 can be visually recognized from the outside.

  The light emitting display unit 42 is provided so as to protrude forward from the front surface of the electrical component box 41. In other words, the display surface of the light emitting display unit 42 is arranged in front of the front surface of the electrical component box 41. Thereby, the back surface of the front panel 20 can be reliably brought into close contact with the display surface of the light emitting display unit 42, and as a result, the display of the light emitting display unit 42 is easily visible from the outside.

  The front grille 17 is attached to the front surface of the main body casing 11 so as to cover components such as the indoor heat exchanger 12, the cross flow fan 13, the electrical component unit 14, and the filter unit 15.

  The indoor heat exchanger 12 is a plate fin type heat exchanger configured by arranging a front heat exchanger 12 a and a rear heat exchanger 12 b in an inverted V shape with respect to the main body casing 11. In addition, in the indoor unit 1 of this embodiment, the auxiliary heat exchanger 12c is attached to the front surface of the front side heat exchanger 12a. An auxiliary heat exchanger 12d is attached to the rear surface of the rear heat exchanger 12b. The auxiliary heat exchanger 12c and the auxiliary heat exchanger 12d are for promoting heat exchange between the refrigerant and the air.

As shown in FIG. 1, the front grill 17 has a top surface inlet 17 a formed in the ceiling portion. The top surface suction port 17a is formed with the ceiling portion of the front grill 17 in a lattice shape.
As shown in FIG. 4, front openings 17 b and 17 c are formed in the front upper portion of the front grill 17. The front openings 17b and 17c are each formed as one opening.
The front grille 17 is formed with an opening 17d that extends in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the indoor unit 1 below the front openings 17b and 17c. The cleaning unit 16 is fitted in the opening 17d.
Further, the front grille 17 is formed with an opening 17e for exposing the light emitting display part 42 forward at the center in the longitudinal direction, below the opening 17d. The opening 17 e is formed in a shape substantially corresponding to the front shape of the light emitting display portion 42, and the light emitting display portion 42 is inserted from the inside of the front grill 17 toward the outside.

  As shown in FIG. 1, with the front panel 20 closed, external air is supplied from the top suction port 17 a of the front grille 17 and the front suction port 20 a located at the top of the front panel 20 to the front grille 17. Is sucked into the inside.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a cross flow fan 13 is provided inside the inverted V shape of the indoor heat exchanger 12. The cross flow fan 13 is called an axial fan, and is arranged such that its axial direction is along the longitudinal direction of the indoor unit 1. The main body casing 11 is formed with a scroll portion 11 a having a curved wall surface behind the cross flow fan 13. With the scroll portion 11a, air can be smoothly guided from the cross flow fan 13 to the air outlet 17f that opens to the lower front side of the front grill 17.

  The main body casing 11 has an upper wall surface 11b so as to be positioned above the air outlet 17f. The upper wall surface 11 b is formed integrally with a drain pan 11 c located below the front heat exchanger 2.

  An electrical component unit 14 is disposed at a position between the drain pan 11 c and the front panel 20. A rear drain pan 11d is disposed below the rear heat exchanger 12b.

  The main casing 11, the front grille 17, and the front panel 20 are horizontally long. Further, the air outlet 17 f is formed so as to extend along the longitudinal direction of the front grill 17.

  In the indoor unit 1, the indoor air sucked by the crossflow fan 13 from the top surface suction port 17 a and the front surface suction port 20 a on the upper surface is passed through the indoor heat exchanger 12 to exchange heat with the refrigerant. Air cooling or heating is performed. The air after the heat exchange is blown out into the room from the blower outlet 17f on the lower surface.

[Filter unit]
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the filter unit.
FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the air filter and the cleaning unit.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a positional relationship among the air filter, the brush, the compression rod, and the bearing member.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a meshed state of the rack portion of the air filter and the pinion.
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the filter unit.

  The filter unit 15 is a unit for removing dust contained in the room air sucked from the top surface suction port 17a and the front surface suction port 20a. As shown in FIG. It is lined up along the direction. Each filter unit 15 includes an air filter 50 that collects dust contained in the room air, a frame unit 51 that movably houses the air filter 50, and a predetermined movement of the air filter 50 within the frame unit 51. And a moving mechanism 52 that moves in the direction.

  The air filter 50 is disposed between the top surface suction port 17a and the front surface suction port 20a and the indoor heat exchanger 12, and on the flow path from the top surface suction port 17a and the front surface suction port 20a to the indoor heat exchanger 12. To collect dust contained in room air. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the air filter 50 includes a frame body 53 and a mesh portion 54 provided inside the frame body 53. The frame 53 has a vertical support frame 53a formed along the moving direction of the air filter 50 and a horizontal support frame 53b orthogonal to the vertical support frame 53a assembled in a lattice shape, and these vertical support frames 53a. Further, the mesh portion 54 is supported by the lateral support frame 53b so as not to loosen. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, rack portions 55 that mesh with pinions 60 of a moving mechanism 52 described later are formed at both ends in the width direction of the frame 53.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the frame unit 51 is formed with a movement path (normal guide path 50a, turn-back guide path 50b, and retraction guide path 50c) of the air filter 50 accommodated therein. Here, the normal guide path 50a is provided on the front panel 20 side, and the retraction guide path 50c is provided on the indoor heat exchanger 12 side. The folding guide path 50b connects the normal guide path 50a and the retreat guide path 50c described above at the lower part of the frame unit 51. During the air conditioning operation, the air filter 50 is disposed in the normal guide path 50a, and during the automatic cleaning of the air filter 50 by the cleaning unit 16 described later, the air filter 50 moves between the normal guide path 50a and the retraction guide path 50c. To do. The frame unit 51 includes a guide member 56 that forms a normal guide path 50a, an under cover 57 that forms a folded guide path 50b, a guide member 58 that forms a retraction guide path 50c, and a guide member 56 and a guide member 58. And a partition member 59 disposed therebetween. Note that a pinion 60 of the moving mechanism 52 described later is disposed between the under cover 57 and the partition member 59. The under cover 57 is opened so that a brush 70 of the cleaning unit 16 described later comes into contact with the air filter 50 that passes through the folded guide path 50b.

  The moving mechanism 52 moves the air filter 50 to the normal guide path 50a and the retraction guide path 50c described above so that the entire area of the air filter 50 is in contact with a brush 70 of the cleaning unit 16 described later when the air filter 50 is automatically cleaned. Move between. The moving mechanism 52 includes a motor 61 serving as a driving source, a plurality of intermediate gears (not shown) that transmit the driving force of the motor 61, and a pinion 60 that meshes with the rack portion 55 described above. The pinion 60 is arranged so that the rotation axis is in the horizontal direction, and moves the air filter 50 in a direction orthogonal to the horizontal direction.

[Cleaning unit]
FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the cleaning unit.
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the compression rod.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the positional relationship of the corrugated shape of the protrusions of the compression rod.
FIG. 13 is an enlarged sectional view showing gaps S1 and S2 between the compression rod and the guide portion.

  The cleaning unit 16 is provided to remove dust adhering to the air filter 50. As shown in FIG. 6, the brush 70, the compression rod 71, the dust box 72, the comb member 73, the brush 70, And a rotation mechanism 74 that rotationally drives the compression rod 71.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the brush 70 is disposed below the under cover 57 and is in contact with the air filter 50 exposed from the opening of the under cover 57. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the brush 70 is disposed along the width direction (first direction) of the air filter 50, and is rotatably supported with the width direction as an axial direction. The bristles 70a contacting the surface of the air filter 50 are opposite to the rotation direction D2 of the brush 70 and the rotation direction D1 of the pinion 60 that moves the air filter 50, and the movement direction of the air filter 50 in the turn-back guide path 50b. It is moving to go against. The brush 70 includes a rotating shaft 70b, brush bristles 70a provided radially around the rotating shaft 70b, and a gear mounting portion 70c provided at a substantially central portion in the longitudinal direction. A drive gear 70d that meshes with a driven gear 71e attached to a compression rod 71, which will be described later, is attached to the gear attachment portion 70c. The drive gear 70d is provided in a portion corresponding to a region provided between the two air filters 50.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the brush 70 scrapes off dust adhering to the surface of the air filter 50 at the filter contact portion A where the brush 70 and the air filter 50 are in contact with each other, and scrapes off at the filter contact portion A. The generated dust is guided to the proximity B where the brush 70 and the compression rod 71 are close to each other. The filter contact portion A and the proximity portion B are provided at positions spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance in the rotation direction of the brush 70, and the filter contact portion A is provided above the proximity portion B and a dust inlet 72a described later. ing. Thereby, the dust adhering in the filter contact part A can be conveyed in the direction of gravity.

  The compression rod 71 is provided to compress the dust scraped by the brush 70 described above. Specifically, the dust scraped by the brush 70 is compressed between the compression rod 71 and the brush 70 before being accommodated in the dust accommodating portion 72b of the dust box 72, and will be described later with the compression rod 71. It is compressed between the second guide portion 79 of the bearing member 77. Further, the dust accommodated in the dust box 72 is pressed against the inner peripheral surface of the dust box 72 (particularly, the check wall 77c of the bearing member 77) by the rotation of the compression rod 71 in the dust accommodating portion 72b which is a substantially sealed space. Compressed.

  The compression rod 71 is disposed below the brush 70 as shown in FIG. Moreover, the compression rod 71 is arrange | positioned along the width direction (1st direction) of the air filter 50, and is rotatably supported by making the width direction into an axial direction. Further, the rotation direction D3 of the compression rod 71 and the rotation direction D2 of the brush 70 are opposite to each other, and the compression rod 71 compresses so as to entrain dust between the brush 70. In the present embodiment, the compression rod 71 and the brush 70 are disposed to face each other in a close proximity. Here, the “close state” means a “substantially contacted state”, specifically, not only the state where the compression rod 71 and the brush 70 are in contact but also the compression rod 71 and the brush. There is only a very small gap with respect to 70, which means a state in which dust can be compressed while being transported between the compression rod 71 and the brush 70. Furthermore, depending on the shape of the protrusion 71b described later, the case where the compression rod 71 (protrusion 71b) and the brush 70 are partially contacted and partially not contacted is also included.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the compression rod 71 includes a cylindrical rotary shaft 71a, a protrusion 71b provided so as to protrude radially outward from the surface of the rotary shaft 71a, and a predetermined length along the axial direction. And a plurality of support portions 71c provided at a distance from each other, and a gear attachment portion 71d provided at a substantially central portion in the axial direction. The compression rod 71 includes a right rod 71R and a left rod 71L that can be attached to the gear attachment portion 71d.

  Further, the protrusion 71b is erected radially outward from the surface of the rotation shaft 71a, and as shown in FIG. 12, the dust placed on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the protrusion 71b is rotated in the rotation direction. Extrude to D3. In each of the rods 71R and 71L, the protrusions 71b are provided at two positions on the outer peripheral surface of the rotation shaft 71a at positions 180 ° apart in the rotation direction. Any protrusion 71b is formed in a corrugated shape extending along the longitudinal direction. Thus, by making the protrusion 71b into a corrugated shape, it is possible to restrict the movement of dust in the longitudinal direction at a portion that becomes a valley with respect to the rotation direction of the compression rod 71. In the present embodiment, the corrugated valley of the protrusion 71b provided at the rotation angle of 0 ° of the left rod 71L is the wave shape of the protrusion 71b provided at the rotation angle of 180 °. It is shifted in the longitudinal direction with respect to the portion that becomes the valley of the. Similarly, in the right rod 71R, the corrugated valley of the protrusion 71b provided at the rotation angle of 90 ° is the corrugated valley of the protrusion 71b provided at the rotation angle of 270 °. It is shifted in the longitudinal direction with respect to the part. The wave shape of the protrusion 71b of the present embodiment has the same amplitude and frequency, and the two wave shapes of the rods 71L and 71R are provided with a phase difference of 180 °.

  Moreover, the support part 71c is provided in six places including both ends, and is rotatably supported by each of the six bearing parts 77a provided in the bearing member 77 mentioned later. As shown in FIG. 7, the support portion 71 c is provided in a portion corresponding to the vertical support frame 53 a of the air filter 50 described above.

  A driven gear 71e that meshes with the drive gear 70d is attached to the gear attachment portion 71d. And the driven gear 71e is provided in the part corresponding between the two air filters 50, as shown in FIG.

  The dust box 72 is provided to accommodate the dust compressed by the compression rod 71. As shown in FIG. 10, the dust box 72 includes a bottom member 75, a bearing member 76 that rotatably supports the brush 70, and a bearing member 77 that rotatably supports the compression rod 71. By assembling the bearing member 76 and the bearing member 77 to the material 75, a box shape capable of accommodating dust is obtained. The bearing member 76 and the bearing member 77 are disposed so as to face each other, and the brush 70, the compression rod 71, and the comb member 73 are disposed therebetween. The dust box 72 is provided with a dust inlet 72a for taking in dust, and a dust container 72b for storing the dust taken in from the dust inlet 72a. The dust inlet 72a is provided in the vicinity of the lower end portion of the brush 70 and upstream of the lower end portion in the rotation direction D2.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the bearing member 76 is provided with a bearing hole 76 a that rotatably supports both ends of the brush 70, and a bearing portion 76 b that rotatably supports the gear mounting portion 70 c of the brush 70. It has been. Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the bearing member 76 is provided with a convex portion 76 c for attaching the comb member 73. The convex portion 76 c protrudes in a direction opposite to the direction in which the comb member 73 receives a force from the rotating brush 70.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the bearing member 77 has six bearing portions 77 a that rotatably support the six support portions 71 c of the compression rod 71 and a gear mounting portion 71 d of the compression rod 71 that is rotatably supported. Bearing portion 77b is provided. As shown in FIG. 7, the six bearing portions 77 a are provided at portions corresponding to the support portion 71 c of the compression rod 71 and the vertical support frame 53 a of the air filter 50. Further, as shown in FIG. 10, the bearing member 77 is provided with a first guide portion 78 and a second guide portion 79 with a compression rod 71 supported on the shaft interposed therebetween. The first guide portion 78 is provided on the upstream side in the dust conveyance direction with respect to the compression rod 71, and the second guide portion 79 is provided on the downstream side in the dust conveyance direction with respect to the compression rod 71. The first guide portion 78 is provided in a portion facing the portion between the filter contact portion A and the proximity portion B of the brush 70, and has a shape along the rotation direction D2 of the brush 70.

  Between the first guide part 78 and the second guide part 79, the above-described dust intake 72a is formed. A compression rod 71 is disposed inside the dust inlet 72a. As shown in FIG. 13, between the compression rod 71 and the first guide portion 78, and between the compression rod 71 and the second guide portion 79. Clearances S1 and S2 are provided between the two. The first gap S1 between the compression rod 71 and the first guide portion 78 is a second gap between the compression rod 71 and the second guide portion 79 due to the proximity of the compression rod 71 and the first guide portion 78. The passage width is smaller than the gap S2. The first gap S1 is formed along a direction D4 that is substantially orthogonal to the rotation direction D21 of the brush 70 in the first gap S1. The second gap S2 between the compression rod 71 and the second guide portion 79 is a passage that guides dust compressed between the brush 70 and the compression rod 71 to the dust container 72b. And since the surface 79a which opposes the compression rod 71 of the 2nd guide part 79 is a curved surface form along the rotation direction D3 of the compression rod 71, the said clearance gap S2 becomes a channel | path which has predetermined | prescribed channel | path length. Thereby, dust continues to be compressed between the compression rod 71 and the second guide portion 79 while passing through the gap S2.

  The comb member 73 is provided in order to remove dust adhering to the brush bristles 70 a of the brush 70. As shown in FIG. 10, the above-described dust intake 72a is disposed in the vicinity of the comb member 73, and the dust released from the brush bristles 70a of the brush 70 falls to the vicinity of the dust intake 72a. . The comb member 73 is provided with a brush contact portion 73 a disposed inside the brush bristles 70 a of the brush 70 and a concave portion 73 b that fits into the convex portion 76 c of the bearing member 76 described above. Since the fitting direction of the convex portion 76c and the concave portion 73b and the direction of the force that the comb member 73 receives from the brush 70 are substantially the same direction, the comb member 73 can be used while the brush 70 is used for a long time. The separation from the bearing member 76 can be prevented.

The rotation mechanism 74 rotates the compression rod 71 and the brush 70 in conjunction with each other when the air filter 50 is automatically cleaned. The rotating mechanism 74 includes a motor 80 (see FIG. 5) serving as a driving source and a plurality of intermediate gears (not shown) that transmit the driving force of the motor 80. The rotating mechanism 74 transmits the driving force from the motor 80 to the driving gear 70d of the brush 70 and the driven gear 71e of the compression rod 71 via a plurality of intermediate gears, thereby causing the brush 70 and the compression rod 71 to move. Rotate in conjunction. In the present embodiment, since the drive gear 70d and the driven gear 71e are directly meshed with each other, the rotation direction D2 of the brush 70 and the rotation direction D3 of the compression rod 71 are opposite to each other.
[Automatic air filter cleaning]

  In the indoor unit 1 of this embodiment, the automatic cleaning operation | work of the air filter 50 is performed after completion | finish of an air conditioning driving | operation. 14 and 15 are diagrams for explaining a method of moving the air filter in the filter unit. Hereinafter, the automatic cleaning operation of the air filter 50 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15.

  When the air conditioning operation is completed, each motor 61 of the moving mechanism 52 of the filter unit 15 is driven to rotate the pinion 60, and the motor 80 of the rotating mechanism 74 is driven to rotate the brush 70 and the compression rod 71. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 14, the air filter 50 having the rack portion 55 that meshes with the pinion 60 starts to move from the normal guide path 50a toward the folded guide path 50b. Then, the air filter 50 that has reached the folding guide path 50b makes a U-turn in the folding guide path 50b along the shape of the under cover 57, moves toward the retraction guide path 50c, and as shown in FIG. The air filter 50 is disposed in the retraction guide path 50c. At this time, the brush 70 contacts the surface of the air filter 50 exposed from the opening of the under cover 57 to scrape off dust adhering to the surface. The rotation of the brush 70 is continued until the air filter 50 reaches the retraction guide path 50c from the normal guide path 50a. When the air filter 50 is completely stored in the retraction guide path 50c, the pinion 60 and the brush 70 are driven. Is stopped and the outward cleaning work is completed.

When the forward path cleaning operation is completed, the return path cleaning process is performed with the rotation directions of the pinion 60 and the brush 70 being opposite to those in the forward path cleaning operation.
[Dust compression work by the cleaning unit]

In the indoor unit 1 of the present embodiment, the dust scraped out by the above-described automatic cleaning operation of the air filter 50 is stored in the dust storage portion 72b of the dust box 72 in a compressed state. FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining a method of compressing (secondary compression) dust stored in the dust storage unit. Hereinafter, the dust compression operation by the cleaning unit 16 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 6 and 16.
[Primary compression (compression before storing in dust box)]

  The dust scraped out of the air filter 50 by the above-described automatic cleaning operation of the air filter 50 is compressed (primary compression) before being stored in the dust storage portion 72b of the dust box 72. In this primary compression, (i) first, dust adhering to the brush 70 is compressed between the brush bristles 70 a and the first guide portion 78 in the proximity portion C where the brush 70 and the first guide portion 78 are close to each other. The (Ii) The dust that has passed through the proximity portion C is compressed between the brush bristles 70 a and the compression rod 71 in the proximity portion B downstream of the proximity portion C in the dust conveyance direction. (Iii) Furthermore, the dust that has passed through the proximity portion B is compressed between the compression rod 71 and the second guide portion 79 in the clearance S2 (see FIG. 13) downstream from the proximity portion C in the dust conveyance direction. The That is, in the filter contact portion A, the dust scraped by the brush 70 is stored in the dust storage portion 72b of the dust box 72 after undergoing the above-described three-stage compression.

The dust that has entered the inside of the brush bristles 70 a passes through the comb member 73 as the brush 70 rotates, and is separated from the brush 70 and falls near the compression rod 71. As a result, (ii) compression between the brush 70 and the compression rod 71 and (iii) compression between the compression rod 71 and the second guide portion 79 against the dust that has entered the brush bristles 70a. Can be done with compression.
[Secondary compression (compression after storing in dust box)]

  The dust compressed to some extent by the primary compression described above is also compressed after being accommodated in the dust accommodating portion 72b of the dust box 72 (secondary compression). In this secondary compression, as shown in FIG. 16, when the amount of dust stored in the dust storage portion 72b reaches a predetermined amount, the dust is stored in the dust storage portion 72b, which is a substantially sealed space, by the rotation of the compression rod 71. It is pressed against the inner peripheral surface of the dust box 72 (in particular, the check wall 77c of the bearing member 77). Thereby, the dust accommodated in the dust accommodating part 72b is compressed.

  As described above, the primary unit and the secondary compression are performed on the dust adhering to the air filter 50, thereby reducing the number of times and labor required for discarding the dust accumulated in the dust box 72 and excellent in maintainability. 1 can be obtained.

[Features of indoor unit of this embodiment]
The indoor unit 1 of the present embodiment has the following characteristics.

  In the indoor unit 1 of the present embodiment, dust that is not conveyed and compressed by the compression rod 71 by providing a support portion 71c that rotatably supports the compression rod 71 in a portion corresponding to the vertical support frame 53a to which dust does not adhere. Can be suppressed. As a result, the dust removed from the air filter 50 can be smoothly accommodated in the dust box 72, and it is possible to prevent the dust from remaining without being compressed. improves.

  Further, in the indoor unit 1 of the present embodiment, the drive gear 70d and the driven gear 71e are provided between the two air filters 50 to which dust does not adhere, so that the drive gear 70d and the driven gear 71e are connected. It is possible to suppress dust from entering in between. As a result, it is possible to prevent the cause of the failure due to the biting of dust between the drive gear 70d and the driven gear 71e.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described based on drawing, it should be thought that a specific structure is not limited to these embodiment. The scope of the present invention is shown not only by the above description of the embodiments but also by the scope of claims for patent, and further includes all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of claims for patent.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the example in which the air filter 50 is moved by the filter unit 15 to clean the air filter 50 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the cleaning unit is moved to clean the air filter. May be. By relatively moving the air filter and the cleaning unit, the entire range of the air filter can be cleaned.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the example which provided the protrusion part 71b of the compression rod 71 so that it might extend in the rotating shaft direction, this invention is not restricted to this, At least one part of the outer peripheral surface of a compression rod By providing the protrusions on the surface, dust can be pushed out and moved.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the example which provides the waveform-shaped projection part 71b in the compression rod 71, when a compression rod rotates in the rotation direction, it has a surface which can convey dust. If it is, the shape of the said projection part will not be limited.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the example which provides the waveform-shaped projection part 71b in the compression rod 71, this invention is not restricted to this, Like the compression rod 171 which concerns on the 1st modification shown in FIG. The projecting portion 171b may be formed into a pulse waveform. The corrugated protrusion 171b extends in the rotational axis direction, and a portion 171c corresponding to the corrugated mountain extends along the rotational direction D3. If comprised in this way, it will become possible to push out and move the said dust, restrict | limiting that the dust arrange | positioned between the said adjacent parts 171c moves to a rotating shaft direction.

  Further, the compression rod of the present invention is configured by disposing projections 271b extending in the rotation axis direction at a predetermined angular interval in the rotation direction D3 like the compression rod 271 according to the second modification shown in FIG. Alternatively, it may be formed in a gear shape.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the example which provides the protrusion part 71b extended in a rotating shaft direction in two places of the position 180 degrees away in the rotation direction D3, this invention is not limited to this, and a protrusion part is 1 You may provide only in a location and may provide three or more protrusion parts in the position away in the rotation direction D3. As an example, like the compression rod 371 according to the third modification shown in FIG. 19, the protrusions 371 b may be provided at four positions that are 90 ° apart in the rotation direction D <b> 3. At this time, it is preferable to shift the corrugated valleys of the protrusions 371b provided at the rotation angles of 0 °, 90 °, 180 °, and 270 ° to each other in the rotation axis direction. Here, the corrugated shape of each protrusion 371b is provided with a phase difference of 90 °.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the cleaning unit 16 which has arrange | positioned the brush 70 and the compression rod 71 adjacently was demonstrated, this invention is not limited to this, The cleaning unit 460 which concerns on the 4th modification shown in FIG. As described above, the brush 470 and the compression rod 471 may be arranged at a predetermined interval. The cleaning unit 460 includes a brush 470, a compression rod 471, a dust box 472, and a comb member 473. Also in this cleaning unit 460, the brush 470 and the compression rod 471 rotate in conjunction with each other through a gear or the like. The rotation direction D402 of the brush 470 and the rotation direction D403 of the compression rod 471 are the same rotation direction. Similar to the compression rod 71 of the first embodiment, this compression rod 471 also has a protrusion provided so as to protrude radially outward from the outer peripheral surface. The compression rod 471 is also rotatably supported by a support portion provided in at least one of the portions corresponding to the support frame of the air filter (not shown) as in the first embodiment.

  The dust box 472 is formed in a horizontally long box shape by combining the main body case 472c and the lid case 472d attached to the main body case 472c. In the dust box 472, a dust inlet 472a is opened at a position below the brush 470, and a dust container 472b for storing the dust taken in from the dust inlet 472a is provided. The dust inlet 472a is partitioned into a plate-shaped guide wall 474 protruding from the main body case 472c side and a plate-shaped check wall 475 protruding from the lid case 472d side. The guide wall 474 and the check wall 475 are arranged in a substantially V shape, and a gap located at the bottom of the guide wall 474 and the check wall 475 serves as a dust intake 472a. The lower space of the main body case 472c partitioned by the guide wall 474 and the check wall 475 serves as a dust container 472b.

  The compression rod 471 is disposed between the guide wall 474 and the check wall 475, and the distance between the compression rod 471 and the guide wall 474 is made larger than the distance between the compression rod 471 and the check wall 475. . Thereby, the dust scraped off from the brush 470 and attached to the compression rod 471 can be smoothly guided into the dust container 472b from between the compression rod 471 and the guide wall 474. Moreover, it is possible to prevent the dust remaining on the compression rod 471 from leaking out from the dust inlet 472a.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the indoor unit 1 provided with the two air filters 50 was demonstrated, this invention is not limited to this, One air filter may be sufficient as three sheets or more. . In the above embodiment, the driving gear 70d of the brush 70 and the driven gear 71e of the compression rod 71 are provided between the two air filters 50. However, as in the fifth modification shown in FIG. In the case of a sheet, it is preferable to provide the drive gear 570d of the brush 570 and the driven gear 571e of the compression rod 571 in a portion corresponding to the vertical support frame 553a of the air filter 550. Note that the support portion 571c of the compression rod 571 is also preferably provided in a portion corresponding to the vertical support frame 553a of the air filter 550. In this case, generation of dust that is not conveyed by the compression rod 71 can be suppressed. As a result, the dust removed from the air filter 550 can be smoothly accommodated in the dust box, so that maintainability is improved. Further, since dust can be prevented from entering between the drive gear 570d and the driven gear 571e, the cause of failure due to the biting of dust between the drive gear 570d and the driven gear 571e can be prevented. can do.

  Moreover, although the substantially rectangular air filter 50 was demonstrated in the said embodiment, this invention is not limited to this, You may use the circular air filter 650 which concerns on the 6th modification shown in FIG. Here, the brush (not shown) and the compression rod 671 are arranged along the radial direction (first direction) D600 with respect to the circular air filter 650. The compression rod 671 is rotatably supported by a support portion 671a provided at a portion corresponding to the annular support frame 651 formed along the rotation direction (movement direction) D601 of the air filter 650.

  If this invention is utilized, the air conditioner excellent in maintainability can be obtained.

The typical perspective view showing the indoor unit concerning the embodiment of the present invention. The front view of the indoor unit shown in FIG. AA sectional drawing of the indoor unit shown in FIG. The figure which removed the front panel of the indoor unit shown in FIG. The perspective view of a filter unit. The disassembled perspective view of an air filter and a cleaning unit. The schematic diagram which showed the positional relationship of an air filter, a brush, a compression rod, and a bearing member. The perspective view which showed the meshing state of the rack part and pinion of an air filter. Sectional drawing of a filter unit. The expanded sectional view of a cleaning unit. The perspective view of a compression rod. The figure which showed the positional relationship of the waveform shape of the protrusion part of a compression rod. The expanded sectional view which showed the clearance gaps S1 and S2 between a compression rod and a guide part. The figure for demonstrating the movement method of the air filter in a filter unit. The figure for demonstrating the movement method of the air filter in a filter unit. The figure for demonstrating the method to compress the dust accommodated in the dust accommodating part (secondary compression). The perspective view which showed the compression rod which concerns on a 1st modification. The perspective view which showed the compression rod which concerns on a 2nd modification. The perspective view which showed the compression rod which concerns on a 3rd modification. Sectional drawing which showed the cleaning unit which concerns on a 4th modification. The schematic diagram which showed the positional relationship of the air filter which concerns on a 5th modification, a brush, and a compression rod. The schematic diagram which showed the positional relationship of the air filter and compression rod which concern on a 6th modification.

1 Indoor unit (air conditioner)
50, 550, 650 Air filter 53a, 553a, 651 Vertical support frame (support frame)
70,570 brush (dust removing means)
70d, 570d Drive gear (first gear)
71,171,271,371,471,571,671 Compression rod (dust transport means)
71c, 571c, 671a Support portion 71e, 571e Driven gear (second gear)

Claims (4)

An air filter,
A dust removing means disposed in the vicinity of the air filter and along a predetermined first direction to remove dust attached to the air filter;
A dust box for storing dust,
A dust transporting means rotatably supported so as to be along the first direction and face the dust removing means in the vicinity of the dust inlet of the dust box ;
The air filter is movable along a predetermined movement direction relative to the dust conveying means, and is formed between a plurality of support frames formed along the movement direction and the plurality of support frames. Including a mesh part for collecting dust,
The air conditioner is characterized in that the dust transfer means is rotatably supported by a support portion provided at the same position as at least one of the plurality of support frames in the width direction . The dust removing means is provided with a first gear, and the dust conveying means is provided with a second gear meshing with the first gear,
The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the first gear and the second gear are provided in at least one of the portions corresponding to the plurality of support frames. Multiple air filters,
A dust removing means disposed along the width direction of the plurality of air filters, for removing dust attached to the plurality of air filters;
A dust box for storing dust,
Near the dust intake port of the dust box, it is provided with dust conveying means rotatably supported so as to be along the width direction of the plurality of air filters and to face the dust removing means ,
Each air filter is movable along a predetermined movement direction relative to the dust conveying means,
The air conditioner is characterized in that the dust transfer means is rotatably supported by a support portion provided at the same position as at least one of the corresponding portions between the plurality of air filters in the width direction . The dust removing means is provided with a first gear, and the dust conveying means is provided with a second gear meshing with the first gear,
The air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein the first gear and the second gear are provided in at least one of corresponding portions between the plurality of air filters.

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