JP5780986B2 - Air conditioner indoor unit and air conditioner equipped with the indoor unit - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an indoor unit of an air conditioner and an air conditioner including the indoor unit.

  A conventional indoor unit of an air conditioner has been proposed in which a suction port is formed in the upper part of a casing. As such a conventional indoor unit, for example, “the suction port 2 is formed in the upper part of the casing 1. The outlet 3 is formed in the lower part of the casing 1 (more specifically, on the lower side of the front part of the casing 1). The fan 4 is disposed on the downstream side of the suction port 2 and on the upstream side of the heat exchanger 5, and is configured by, for example, an axial fan or a mixed flow fan. The vessel 5 is disposed on the leeward side of the fan 4. ... The indoor unit "Finger guard 6 and air filter 7 are provided in the suction port 2" (see Patent Document 1) is proposed. ing.

  The air filter is located upstream of the heat exchanger or blower to prevent contamination of the heat exchanger or blower, that is, to prevent deterioration of the heat exchange performance due to intrusion of dust in the air into the indoor unit. It is arranged in the air path on the side. Such an air filter includes a mesh portion that removes (filters out) dust from the air flowing into the air passage. Moreover, the mesh part is provided with the grating | lattice part for supplementing the shape maintenance and rigidity of this mesh part. The air filter has a structure that can be attached and detached so that the user can clean the dust adhering to the air filter. Air filters are generally configured with the minimum necessary area for reasons such as cost reduction, and the outer frame and inner lattice forming the lattice portion are made as small as possible to reduce ventilation resistance and reduce size. I am trying.

WO2010 / 089920 (paragraph 0012, FIG. 1)

  As described above, the air filter is usually configured with a necessary minimum area. For this reason, in the indoor unit of an air conditioner described in Patent Document 1 in which a suction port is formed in the upper part of the casing, the air filter is located at a position facing the suction port, that is, in the air path near the uppermost portion of the casing. Will be placed. For this reason, the indoor unit described in Patent Document 1 has a problem that it is difficult to attach and detach the air filter for maintenance (for example, cleaning) because the air filter is disposed at a high place.

  Moreover, the noise that propagates from the indoor unit to the room is generated by the operation of a blower that is a sound source. In addition to the energy radiated from the openings such as the suction port and the air outlet, this noise includes energy transmitted through the casing near the noise source having a large noise level and transmitted to the living room. For this reason, the air conditioner indoor unit described in Patent Document 1 in which a suction port is formed in the upper part of the casing has a single side wall on the front side of the casing. There was also a problem that the noise to be increased.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems. In an indoor unit in which a suction port is formed in the upper part of a casing and an air conditioner including the indoor unit, the maintenance performance is higher than that in the past. An object of the present invention is to provide an unprecedented indoor unit and an air conditioner equipped with the indoor unit that can be improved and further reduce noise.

An indoor unit of an air conditioner according to the present invention includes a suction port formed in an upper portion, a blower port formed on a lower side of a front surface, and a casing having an air passage communicating the suction port and the blower port, An air conditioner indoor unit comprising: a blower and a heat exchanger provided in an air passage; and an air filter provided detachably and removing dust from air flowing into the air passage. The air filter is disposed above the blower and the heat exchanger so as to face the suction port, and flows into the air passage. A mesh portion that removes dust from the air to be removed, and a plate-like member that extends downward from a front edge portion of the mesh portion and is arranged behind the design panel and has a knob portion formed thereon, and the air Said of the filter Jo member, and constitutes a part of the front side wall of the air duct.
Moreover, the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to the present invention includes a suction port formed in the upper part, a blower outlet formed on the lower side of the front surface portion, and a casing having an air passage communicating the suction port and the blower outlet. An air conditioner indoor unit comprising: a blower and a heat exchanger provided in the air passage; and an air filter that is detachably provided and removes dust from the air flowing into the air passage. A design panel that covers the opening formed in the front portion of the casing so as to be openable and closable is provided, and the air filter is disposed above the blower and the heat exchanger so as to face the suction port, A mesh portion that removes dust from the air flowing into the plate, and a plate-like member that extends downward from the front edge portion of the mesh portion and is arranged behind the design panel, and in which a knob portion is formed, The blower is An axial flow fan or a mixed flow fan provided on the upstream side of the exchanger, and a front cover constituting a front side wall of the air passage between the blower and the heat exchanger is provided in the casing. The plate member of the air filter is disposed in front of the front cover.

  Moreover, the air conditioner which concerns on this invention is provided with the indoor unit of the air conditioner which concerns on this invention.

  In the present invention, the air filter is disposed above the blower and the heat exchanger so as to face the suction port, and removes dust from the air flowing into the air passage, and below the front edge of the mesh portion. And a plate-like member which is disposed behind the design panel and has a knob portion. For this reason, in this invention, since a knob part can be provided in the low position of an indoor unit, the operativity at the time of attaching or detaching an air filter improves from the past, and maintainability improves from the past. Furthermore, in the present invention, since the plate member and the design panel of the air filter have a double wall structure, the noise of the blower and the like generated inside the casing is transmitted into the room, so that the sound insulation effect by the double wall structure can be reduced. The effect which can be suppressed by improvement can be produced.

It is a disassembled perspective view which shows an example of the indoor unit of the air conditioner which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows an example of the indoor unit of the air conditioner which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following drawings, the size and detailed shape of each component may be different from the actual one. Moreover, the case where the indoor unit is a wall-mounted type attached to the wall surface of the air-conditioning target area is shown as an example.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Hereinafter, based on FIG. 1, the structure of the indoor unit 100 of the air conditioner which concerns on this Embodiment 1 is demonstrated.

  The indoor unit 100 supplies conditioned air to an air-conditioning target area such as a room by using a refrigeration cycle in which a refrigerant is circulated. The indoor unit 100 is mainly housed in a casing in which a suction port 11 for sucking indoor air into the interior and a blower outlet 12 for supplying conditioned air to an air-conditioning target area are formed. A blower 5 that sucks in indoor air from the suction port 11 and blows out conditioned air from the blower outlet 12 and a mesh portion 23 are disposed in the air path on the upstream side of the blower 5 to filter (remove) dust contained in the indoor air. ) It has an air filter 20 and a heat exchanger 4 that is arranged in an air passage from the blower 5 to the outlet 12 and that produces conditioned air by exchanging heat between the refrigerant and the room air.

  The casing is a general term for a portion that forms the skeleton of the indoor unit 100 and is configured for the purpose of the structure of the air passage, and may be configured by a combination of a plurality of parts or may be an integrated structure. In the first embodiment, the rear casing 1, the upper casing 2, the side casing 7, and the design panel 9 constitute a casing. The back casing 1 constitutes the rear side of the casing and the rear side of the bottom surface. The upper casing 2 holds the blower 5 and is attached to the rear casing 1. A number of bell mouths corresponding to the number of the blowers 5 are formed in the upper casing 2, and the blowers 5 are arranged in the bell mouths. In the first embodiment, three blowers 5 are juxtaposed in the left-right direction. For this reason, the top casing 2 is also provided with three bell mouths in the left-right direction.

  The side casing 7 constitutes a part of the front surface portion of the casing, the upper surface portion, and the side surface portion, and is attached to the rear casing 1. In the side casing 7, a suction port 11 is formed at a position above the upper surface portion, that is, the upper surface casing 2. As described above, since the three blowers 5 are provided side by side in the upper casing 2, the three suction ports 11 are formed side by side on the upper surface of the side casing 7 at positions corresponding to the blowers 5. Each suction port 11 has, for example, a substantially square shape, and a top grid 8 is formed inside. Further, the side casing 7 has an opening 7a formed on the front surface. The opening 7a is provided with a design panel 9 that covers the opening 7a so as to be freely opened and closed. When the side casing 7 is attached to the rear casing 1, for example, a space between the lower end of the front surface of the side casing 7 and the rear casing 1 is the blower outlet 12. In other words, the blower outlet 12 has an opening formed in the lower part of the casing (more specifically, on the lower side of the front part of the casing).

  Thus, the blower 5, the heat exchanger 4, and the air filter are provided in the casing in which the suction port 11 is formed in the upper part and the air outlet 12 is formed in the lower part of the casing (more specifically, the lower part of the front part of the casing). 20 etc. are accommodated. That is, the blower 5, the heat exchanger 4, the air filter 20, and the like are accommodated in the air passage in the casing that communicates the suction port 11 and the air outlet 12.

  As described above, the blower 5 is juxtaposed to the upper casing 2 that is on the downstream (leeward) side of the suction port 11. These blowers 5 are constituted by, for example, an axial flow blower or a mixed flow blower. Further, a finger guard and a mesh part 23 of the air filter 20 are provided at the suction port of each blower 5. Details of the air filter 20 will be described later.

  The heat exchanger 4 is, for example, a fin tube type heat exchanger, and is formed in, for example, a substantially Λ shape in side view. The heat exchanger 4 is provided below the blower 5, that is, downstream (downward) of the blower 5. The heat exchanger 4 is provided with side plates at both left and right ends, and is attached to the back casing 1 via the side plates. These side plates also function as side walls together with the rear casing 1 in the air passage on the downstream side of the blower 5. In FIG. 1, the side plates are not shown for easy understanding of the configuration in the vicinity of the heat exchanger 4.

  The casing of the indoor unit 100 is also provided with a drain pan 30 and a wind direction adjusting mechanism 40 at a position below (that is, downstream) the heat exchanger 4. The drain pan 30 collects dew adhering to the heat exchanger 4 during the cooling operation. The drain pan 30 includes a front drain pan 30 a disposed below the front lower end of the heat exchanger 4 and a rear drain pan 30 b disposed below the rear lower end of the heat exchanger 4. In addition, the drain pan 30 according to the first embodiment also functions as a nozzle portion that communicates with the air outlet 12 between the front drain pan 30a and the rear drain pan 30b. In the first embodiment, when the air blown out from the blower 5 flows forward of the heat exchanger 4, the air is prevented from flowing to the outlet 12 without passing through the heat exchanger 4. A space between the front lower end of the heat exchanger 4 and the front drain pan 30a is sealed with a seal (not shown). Similarly, when the air blown out from the blower 5 flows to the rear of the heat exchanger 4, in order to prevent the air from flowing to the outlet 12 without passing through the heat exchanger 4, A seal (not shown) seals between the side lower end and the rear drain pan 30b.

The air direction adjusting mechanism 40 is a mechanism for adjusting the direction of the conditioned air blown from the air outlet 12 and is configured by, for example, a vane or the like (not shown). The wind direction adjusting mechanism 40 is provided at the air outlet 12.
The indoor unit 100 is also provided with an electric board (not shown) for controlling the motor for driving the blower 5 and the motor for driving the vane of the wind direction adjusting mechanism 40.

  Here, in the indoor unit 100 according to Embodiment 1, the blower 5 is provided on the upstream side of the heat exchanger 4 in the air path of the casing. For this reason, in the indoor unit 100 according to the first embodiment, the front cover 3 is disposed in front of the heat exchanger 4 for the following reason.

  Usually, the front side wall of the air passage formed in the casing is constituted by the design panel 9 and the front surface portion of the side casing 7. At this time, when the blower 5 is provided on the downstream side of the heat exchanger 4 in the air passage of the casing, the air passing through the heat exchanger 4 becomes air sucked by the blower 5. For this reason, the air passing through the gap between the design panel 9 and the side casing 7 flows into the heat exchanger 4. Therefore, when the blower 5 is provided on the downstream side of the heat exchanger 4 in the air passage of the casing, even if the front wall of the air passage is constituted by the front face portions of the design panel 9 and the side casing 7, there is a particular problem. There is no.

  On the other hand, when the blower 5 is provided on the upstream side of the heat exchanger 4 in the air passage of the casing, the air passing through the heat exchanger 4 is air blown out from the blower 5. In other words, when the blower 5 is provided on the upstream side of the heat exchanger 4 in the air passage of the casing, the air is pushed into the heat exchanger 4 by the blower 5 (air is not sucked from the downstream side of the heat exchanger 4). Composition). For this reason, a part of the air blown out from the blower 5 may not flow into the heat exchanger 4 and may leak out of the casing through the gap between the design panel 9 and the side casing 7. And if there is much air leaking out of a casing, the heat exchange performance of the indoor unit 100 will fall. For this reason, in the indoor unit 100 which concerns on this Embodiment 1 with which the air blower 5 is provided in the upstream of the heat exchanger 4, the front edge part of the upper surface casing 2, the front edge part of the right-and-left side board of the heat exchanger 4, and An opening formed by the front drain pan 30 a is sealed with the front cover 3. That is, in the indoor unit 100 according to the first embodiment, the front side wall of the air passage between the blower 5 and the heat exchanger 4 is configured by the front cover 3. Thereby, it can prevent that air leaks out of a casing from the clearance gap between the design panel 9 and the side casing 7, and can prevent that the heat exchange performance of the indoor unit 100 falls. In addition, when the air blower 5 is provided in the downstream of the heat exchanger 4 in the air path of a casing, it is not necessary to provide the front cover 3 in particular.

  Next, the detailed structure of the air filter 20 will be described.

  The air filter 20 includes a mesh portion 23 that filters (removes) dust from room air flowing into the casing, and a plate-like member 24 extended from the mesh portion 23. The mesh unit 23 prevents dust that has entered the casing together with the indoor air from adhering to the heat exchanger 4 and the blower (and the heat exchange performance of the indoor unit 100 is lowered accordingly). . The mesh portion 23 is provided in an air path that is an upstream portion of the blower 5 so as to face the suction port 11. The mesh part 23 includes a mesh member 21 that filters (removes) dust, and a lattice part 22 provided for the purpose of maintaining the shape and rigidity of the mesh member 21. The lattice portion 22 includes an outer frame 22a provided at the outer edge portion of the mesh member 21, and a lattice-shaped inner frame 22b provided inside the outer frame 22a. The mesh part 23 is slidably supported on the left and right side edges of the outer frame 22a by the guide part 11a formed on the left and right side edges of the suction port 11, and is movable in the front-rear direction.

  The plate-like member 24 extends downward from the front edge portion of the mesh portion 23 (more specifically, the outer frame 22a). The plate-like member 24 has a side edge portion by a side edge portion of the opening portion 7a of the side casing 7 or a support portion 7b provided vertically in the opening portion 7a at a position below the guide portion 11a. Is detachably supported. That is, the plate-like member 24 is disposed behind the design panel 9. Further, the plate-like member 24 is formed with a knob portion that is gripped when the air filter 20 is removed, for example, in the vicinity of the lower portion. In addition, as a support structure of the plate-like member 24, for example, an engagement convex portion is formed in the opening 7a and the support portion 7b, and the side edge portion of the plate-like member 24 is detachably locked by the engagement convex portion. May be. Further, for example, a guide mechanism that slidably supports the left and right side edge portions of the plate-like member 24 may be provided on at least the upper portion of the opening 7a and the support portion 7b. By inserting the mesh portion 23 into the guide mechanism, the mesh portion 23 can be guided to the guide portion 11a of the suction port 11, that is, the air filter 20 can be easily attached.

  The indoor unit 100 configured as described above removes and attaches the air filter 20 as follows.

  When removing the air filter 20 from the casing, first, the design panel 9 is opened, and the plate-like member 24 of the air filter 20 disposed in the opening 7a of the side casing 7 is exposed. The air filter 20 can be removed from the casing by grasping the knob portion 25 of the plate-like member 24, pulling the plate-like member 24, and pulling out the mesh portion 23 from the guide portion 11a of the suction port 11.

  The air filter 20 removed from the casing is attached to the casing again after cleaning, for example, dust adhering to the mesh portion 23. At this time, the mesh part 23 of the air filter 20 is inserted into the guide part 11 a of the suction port 11 from the front of the side casing 7. Then, the air filter 20 can be attached to the casing by pushing the mesh portion 23 to a position facing the suction port 11 and locking the plate-like member 24 of the air filter 20 to the opening 7a and the support portion 7b. .

  As described above, in the indoor unit 100 configured as in the first embodiment, since the knob portion 25 of the air filter 20 can be provided at the low position of the casing, the operability when the air filter 20 is detached is improved. And maintainability is improved. Furthermore, in the indoor unit 100 according to Embodiment 1, the front portion of the casing has a double wall structure due to the plate-like member 24 of the air filter 20 and the design panel 9. For this reason, it can suppress that the noise of the air blower 5 etc. which generate | occur | produces inside a casing permeate | transmits a casing, and permeate | transmits indoors by the improvement of the sound-insulation effect by a double wall structure.

  Moreover, in this Embodiment 1, when the air blower 5 is provided in the upstream of the heat exchanger 4 in the air path of a casing, the front edge part of the upper surface casing 2, the front edge of the right-and-left side board of the heat exchanger 4 An opening formed by the front and front drain pans 30 a is sealed with the front cover 3, and the front side wall of the air path between the blower 5 and the heat exchanger 4 is constituted by the front cover 3. For this reason, it can prevent that air leaks out of a casing from the clearance gap between the design panel 9 and the side casing 7, and can prevent that the heat exchange performance of the indoor unit 100 falls.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
Even when the blower 5 is provided on the downstream side of the heat exchanger 4 in the air passage of the casing, or even when the blower 5 is provided on the upstream side of the heat exchanger 4 in the air passage of the casing. When there is no need to worry about a decrease in heat exchange performance due to leaking air, for example, the indoor unit 100 may be configured as follows. Note that items not particularly described in the second embodiment are the same as those in the first embodiment, and the same functions and configurations are described using the same reference numerals.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
The indoor unit 100 according to the second embodiment has a configuration in which the front cover 3 shown in the first embodiment is not provided. That is, the indoor unit 100 according to the second embodiment has a configuration in which the plate-like member 24 of the air filter 20 also serves as a member constituting the front side wall of the air passage.

  By configuring the indoor unit 100 as in the second embodiment, an effect that the number of parts can be reduced can be obtained. Further, in the indoor unit 100 according to the second embodiment, by removing the air filter 20, the heat exchanger 4, the blower 5, the motor that drives the blower 5, and the like from the opening 7 a of the side casing 7. Access at the time of service becomes possible. For this reason, the maintainability of the indoor unit 100 is further improved in the indoor unit 100 according to the second embodiment compared to the indoor unit 100 according to the first embodiment.

  As described above, in the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the configuration of the air conditioner including the indoor unit 100, that is, the connection configuration between the indoor unit 100 and the outdoor unit is not particularly mentioned. The present invention is not limited by the connection configuration between the outdoor unit and the outdoor unit. The indoor unit 100 may be used for an air conditioner in which one indoor unit is connected to one outdoor unit, or an air conditioner in which a plurality of indoor units are connected to one outdoor unit. The indoor unit 100 may be used. That is, the effects shown in the first and second embodiments can be obtained by adopting the indoor unit 100 shown in the first and second embodiments in various known air conditioners.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Back casing, 2 Upper surface casing, 3 Front cover, 4 Heat exchanger, 5 Air blower, 7 Side casing, 7a Opening part, 7b Support part, 8 Top grid, 9 Design panel, 11 Suction inlet, 11a Guide part, 12 Air outlet, 20 Air filter, 21 Mesh member, 22 Lattice part, 22a Outer frame, 22b Inner frame, 23 Mesh part, 24 Plate member, 25 Knob part, 30 Drain pan, 30a Front drain pan, 30b Rear drain pan, 40 Wind direction Adjustment mechanism, 100 indoor unit.

Claims (3)

A suction port formed in the upper part, a blower outlet formed on the lower side of the front surface, and a casing having an air passage communicating the suction port and the blower port;
A blower and a heat exchanger provided in the air passage;
An air filter that is detachably provided and removes dust from the air flowing into the air passage;
In the indoor unit of an air conditioner equipped with
A design panel that covers the opening formed in the front portion of the casing so as to be freely opened and closed,
The air filter is
A mesh portion that is disposed above the blower and the heat exchanger so as to face the suction port and removes dust from the air flowing into the air passage,
A plate-like member that extends downward from the front edge of the mesh portion and is arranged behind the design panel, and in which a knob portion is formed;
Equipped with a,
The indoor unit of an air conditioner , wherein the plate member of the air filter constitutes a part of a front side wall of the air passage . A suction port formed in the upper part, a blower outlet formed on the lower side of the front surface, and a casing having an air passage communicating the suction port and the blower port;
A blower and a heat exchanger provided in the air passage;
An air filter that is detachably provided and removes dust from the air flowing into the air passage;
In the indoor unit of an air conditioner equipped with
A design panel that covers the opening formed in the front portion of the casing so as to be freely opened and closed,
The air filter is
A mesh portion that is disposed above the blower and the heat exchanger so as to face the suction port and removes dust from the air flowing into the air passage,
A plate-like member that extends downward from the front edge of the mesh portion and is arranged behind the design panel, and in which a knob portion is formed;
Equipped with a,
The blower is an axial fan or a mixed flow fan provided on the upstream side of the heat exchanger,
In the casing, a front cover constituting a front side wall of the air passage between the blower and the heat exchanger is provided,
The indoor unit of an air conditioner , wherein the plate member of the air filter is disposed in front of the front cover . An air conditioner comprising the air conditioner indoor unit according to claim 1 .

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