JP6488011B2 - Air conditioner indoor unit - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an indoor unit of an air conditioner, and more particularly to an indoor unit of a ceiling embedded type air conditioner.

  As an indoor unit of an air conditioner, there is a type in which an indoor unit is embedded in a ceiling (ceiling embedded type). An indoor unit of a ceiling-embedded air conditioner sucks indoor air by rotating a centrifugal fan, cools the sucked air with a heat exchanger, and cools the room by blowing it out from an outlet.

  In such an indoor unit of an air conditioner, during cooling operation, drain water is generated in the heat exchanger, and the drain water is collected in a drain pan and discharged from the indoor unit by a drain pump. However, since the drain pump cannot discharge drain water that is lower than its suction limit height, a certain amount of drain water always remains in the drain pan after the operation is stopped. Bacteria grow on the remaining drain water, and a slimy slime is generated, which may cause a problem of clogging the drain pump.

In order to prevent such inconveniences, measures are generally taken to install an antibacterial agent inside the drain pan.
Conventionally, for example, a liquid antibacterial agent is applied to the inner surface of the drain pan, or the antibacterial agent is kneaded into the drain pan sheet of the resin on the surface of the drain pan so that the antibacterial agent is gradually dissolved in the drain water. is there. However, with this measure, the antibacterial effect weakens relatively quickly, so the drain pan itself had to be replaced to maintain the antibacterial effect.
Therefore, recently, a solid antibacterial agent is generally placed in the case and installed on the bottom of the drain pan (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

Japanese Patent No. 4821342 Japanese Patent No. 4252530

  Antibacterial agents are often installed near drain pumps where drain water collects in the drain pan in order to effectively antibacterial drain water. In addition, a float switch is installed near the drain pump to prevent overflow of drain water from the drain pan. Therefore, a space for installing the antibacterial agent is newly required at a place where such various parts on the drain pan are installed.

  However, widening (enlarging) the drain pan in order to provide an installation space for the antibacterial agent near the drain pump on the drain pan reduces the cross-sectional area of the cooling air blowing air path formed between the drain pan and the main body case. Will do. For this reason, an increase in noise and an increase in fan power are caused. Especially for small indoor units, the same drain pump, float switch, and antibacterial agent as the standard indoor units are generally used. Therefore, the ratio of the space occupied by these parts to the entire drain pan increases, and the blowout air passage is interrupted. The degree of area reduction is further increased.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner indoor unit in which an antibacterial agent is installed on a drain pan while suppressing a decrease in the cross-sectional area of the blowout air passage. To do.

In order to solve the above-described problems, an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to the present invention includes a blower fan provided in a housing, a heat exchanger that surrounds a discharge direction of air from the blower fan, and the heat exchanger. A drain pan disposed below, and an antibacterial unit having an antibacterial agent for antibacterial drain water installed on the drain pan, wherein at least a part of the antibacterial unit is disposed immediately below the heat exchanger , The drain pan has a partition wall that partitions a primary space located upstream of the heat exchanger on the drain pan and a secondary space located downstream, and includes a bottom surface of the drain pan on the primary space side and the secondary space. The bottom surface on the secondary space side is set lower than the upper end surface of the partition wall, and the partition wall is formed with an opening groove that communicates the primary space and the secondary space. Knit, Ru is installed in the opening groove of the partition wall.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the indoor unit of the air conditioner which installed the antibacterial agent on the drain pan can be provided, suppressing the reduction | decrease of the cross-sectional area of a blowing wind path.

It is a half sectional view of an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a cross-sectional perspective view for demonstrating the flow of the air in the indoor unit shown by FIG. It is a cross-sectional perspective view which shows the drain pump periphery of the indoor unit shown by FIG. It is a perspective view for demonstrating the installation state of the antibacterial unit on a drain pan. It is a top view for demonstrating the installation state of the antibacterial unit on a drain pan. It is a top view which shows the installation position of the antibacterial unit as a comparative example. It is a top view which shows the installation position of the antibacterial unit in this embodiment. It is sectional drawing which follows the AA line of FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the BB line of FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the modification of this embodiment.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate.
In the drawings shown below, the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals.

  FIG. 1 is a half cross-sectional view of an indoor unit (hereinafter simply referred to as “indoor unit”) 100 of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional perspective view for explaining the flow of air in the indoor unit 100 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 shows a state where the decorative panel 42 (see FIG. 1) is removed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the indoor unit 100 according to the present embodiment is an indoor unit of a type embedded in a ceiling 41 (ceiling embedded type). In the air conditioning apparatus according to the present embodiment, an indoor unit 100 and an outdoor unit (not shown) are connected by a refrigerant pipe (not shown) to constitute a refrigeration cycle and perform air conditioning.

  The indoor unit 100 includes a main body case 1 and a decorative panel 42. The lower surface of the decorative panel 42 faces the room, and the main body case 1 is disposed so as to be embedded in the ceiling 41. The decorative panel 42 is attached below the main body case 1 so as to be substantially flush with the surface of the ceiling 41. The main body case 1 is installed and fixed on the back of the ceiling (above the surface of the ceiling 41) using a hanging metal fitting and a hanging bolt (not shown). The decorative panel 42 is fixed to the main body case 1 using a screw member (not shown) or the like.

  The main body case 1 includes a housing 1a and a heat insulating material 1b. The housing 1a has a quadrangular shape in plan view, and is formed in a bottomed box shape having an opening below using a metal plate. Here, the term “rectangular shape” is a concept that includes, in addition to “strict rectangular shape”, for example, “substantially rectangular shape” in which corners are chamfered or rounded. The housing 1a is formed by forming two or more sheet metals into a predetermined shape by a press and joining them with screws, rivets or the like. In the main body case 1, a heat insulating material 1 b for heat insulation, prevention of condensation, soundproofing, and the like is disposed inside the housing 1 a with an opening facing downward.

  The indoor unit 100 includes a blower fan 2 provided in the housing 1a, a heat exchanger 4 that surrounds the discharge direction of air from the blower fan 2, and a drain pan 5 that is disposed below the heat exchanger 4. ing. The blower fan 2 is a centrifugal fan, for example, and sends it to the heat exchanger 4 while changing the direction of air flow by approximately 90 degrees. The blower fan 2 is rotationally driven by a fan motor 3 provided in the housing 1a. The fan motor 3 is fixed to the top plate of the housing 1a. The blower fan 2 and the fan motor 3 constitute a blower.

  The drain pan 5 receives and collects drain water which is condensed and dripped on the surface of the heat exchanger 4. The drain pan 5 is a foamed polystyrene molded product, for example, and a resin layer made of a resin such as an ABS resin is formed on the inner surface side in contact with the drain water.

  An air inlet 6 is provided at the center of the lower surface of the indoor unit 100. In addition, air outlets 7 (here, four locations) are provided on the periphery of the lower surface of the indoor unit 100. The blower fan 2 is provided in an air passage in the housing 1 a that connects the suction port 6 and the blowout port 7. The heat exchanger 4 is disposed between the blower fan 2 and the outlet 7. A bell mouth 8 is provided between the blower fan 2 and the suction port 6.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the indoor air 21 is sucked in from the suction port 6 (see FIG. 1) by the rotation operation of the blower fan 2, passes through the blower fan 2, and is blown out toward the heat exchanger 4. In the cooling operation, the air 21 is cooled by passing through the heat exchanger 4. The air 21 cooled through the heat exchanger 4 passes through the blowout air passage 9 formed between the drain pan 5 and the heat insulating material 1b of the main body case 1, passes through the blowout port 7 (see FIG. 1), The air is blown out from the indoor unit 100 into the room.

  3 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing the periphery of the drain pump 14 of the indoor unit 100 shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view for explaining an installation state of the antibacterial unit 15 on the drain pan 5. FIG. 5 is a plan view for explaining an installation state of the antibacterial unit 15 on the drain pan 5. In FIG. 4, the display of the heat exchanger 4 is omitted for convenience of explanation.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 4, the drain pan 5 includes a primary space and a downstream located on the upstream side (primary side) of the air 21 (see FIG. 2, the same applies hereinafter) of the heat exchanger 4 on the drain pan 5. It has the partition wall 12 which partitions off the secondary space located in the side (secondary side). The partition wall 12 is formed with an opening groove 13 that is partially cut away so as to allow the primary space and the secondary space to communicate with each other.

  When the indoor air 21 is dehumidified by the heat exchanger 4, drain water is generated. The drain water is divided into drain water 10 that flows into the primary space on the drain pan 5 and drain water 11 that flows into the secondary space on the drain pan 5.

  The indoor unit 100 (see FIG. 1, the same applies hereinafter) includes a drain pump 14 that discharges drain water accumulated in the drain pan 5. The drain water 10 flowing down into the primary space on the drain pan 5 is guided toward the drain pump 14 through the opening groove 13 of the partition wall 12. The drain water 10 and the drain water 11 merge in the vicinity of the opening groove 13 of the partition wall 12, sucked up by the drain pump 14, and discharged outside the apparatus. Since the drain pump 14 cannot discharge drain water below the suction maximum height, a certain amount of drain water always remains in the drain pan 5 after the operation of the air conditioner is stopped. Bacteria may grow in the remaining drain water, and slime may be generated, resulting in a problem of clogging the drain pump 14.

  As a measure for preventing this, an antibacterial unit 15 having an antibacterial agent that antibacterizes drain water is installed on the drain pan 5. The antibacterial unit 15 is configured by housing a solid antibacterial agent in a resin case. The wall portion of the case is formed with a plurality of through holes that allow the drain water to pass through the case. The antibacterial unit 15 is fixed on the drain pan 5 using, for example, a screw member 16.

  The antibacterial unit 15 is preferably installed in the vicinity of the drain pump 14 on the drain pan 5. This is because the bottom surface of the drain pan 5 at a position facing the suction port 14 a of the drain pump 14 is formed lower than the peripheral portion, and drain water is collected toward the drain pump 14.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the drain pan 5 has a square frame shape in plan view. Here, the term “square frame shape” is a concept including “strict square frame shape” as well as “substantially square frame shape” in which, for example, the corners are expanded outward or chamfered. The drain pump 14 is generally installed at the corner of the drain pan 5 together with the float switch 17.

  The blowout air passage 9 formed between the drain pan 5 and the heat insulating material 1b (see FIG. 2) of the main body case 1 in the radial direction of the rotational axis of the blower fan 2 has a square frame shape in the circumferential direction. 5 is formed between adjacent corners. The blowing air passage 9 is formed in four places here. Reference numerals L1 to L4 shown in FIG. 5 indicate circumferential lengths of the cross sections perpendicular to the air flow direction in the blowout air passages 9 (hereinafter also referred to as “circumferential dimensions of the air passage cross section”).

  The float switch 17 detects that the drain water accumulated in the drain pan 5 has exceeded a predetermined amount. When it is detected by the float switch 17 that the drain water accumulated in the drain pan 5 has exceeded a predetermined amount, the operation of the air conditioner is stopped. Thereby, the overflow of drain water from the drain pan 5 can be prevented.

  By the way, in the indoor unit 100 of a small ceiling-embedded air conditioner, the installation space for the components at the corner of the drain pan 5 is narrow, and the drain pump 14, the float switch 17, and the antibacterial unit 15 are connected to the drain pan 5. It is difficult to place them at the same corner.

  FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an installation position of the antibacterial unit 15 as a comparative example. The comparative example shown in FIG. 6 is an example in which the installation space at the corner of the drain pan 5 is expanded (enlarged). However, in this comparative example, the circumferential dimension L0 of the cross section of the air passage is shortened by the amount of installation space at the corner of the drain pan 5. For this reason, the cross-sectional area of the blowout air passage 9 is reduced, which may increase noise and increase fan power.

  The amount of drain water generated is greater in drain water 10 (see FIG. 3) than in drain water 11 (see FIG. 3). This is because the heat exchanger 4 has the highest heat exchange amount in the vicinity of the refrigerant pipe in the first row from the primary side (upstream side of the air flow). As shown in FIG. 6, the drain waters 10 and 11 (see FIG. 3) gathered toward the drain pump 14 flow as drain waters 10a, 10b, 11a, and 11b along the four paths, respectively. However, in the comparative example shown in FIG. 6, since the drain waters 10a, 10b, and 11b flow away from the antibacterial unit 15, it is difficult for the antibacterial unit 15 to perform antibacterial effects, and the antibacterial effect may not be sufficiently exhibited.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the installation position of the antibacterial unit 15 in the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 7, in this embodiment, the antibacterial unit 15 is arrange | positioned directly under the heat exchanger 4 (refer also FIG. 3). Here, almost the entire antibacterial unit 15 is disposed directly under the heat exchanger 4, but a configuration in which a part of the antibacterial unit 15 is disposed directly under the heat exchanger 4 may be employed.

  Specifically, the antibacterial unit 15 is installed in the opening groove 13 of the partition wall 12 in the drain pan 5. The opening groove 13 is formed in a size corresponding to the size of the antibacterial unit 15, and the antibacterial unit 15 is fitted into the opening groove 13. Thereby, the circumferential direction dimension L1 of the airway cross section in this embodiment can ensure the same dimension as the dimension when the antibacterial unit 15 is not installed. That is, according to the present embodiment, it is not necessary to make the length ΔL shorter than the dimension L1 when the antibacterial unit 15 is not installed like the circumferential dimension L0 of the air passage cross section in the comparative example.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, the drain pump 14, the antibacterial unit 15, and the float switch 17 have the same corner portion of the drain pan 5 that has a square frame shape in plan view, that is, a rectangular shape in plan view. It is installed at the same one of the four corners in the housing 1a.

  The heat exchanger 4 has two bent portions 4a at one corner in the housing 1a, specifically at the corner where the drain pump 14 is installed. The antibacterial unit 15 is disposed between the two bent portions 4a and 4a in plan view. The antibacterial unit 15 is installed such that the longitudinal direction of the antibacterial unit 15 in plan view is along the extending direction of the heat exchanger 4 in plan view.

8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 8, the bottom surface of the opening groove 13 is positioned on the bottom surface of the drain pan 5 in the primary space (the space located on the upstream side of the heat exchanger 4) and the secondary space (on the downstream side of the heat exchanger 4). It is set to the same height as the bottom of the (space) side.

  The partition wall 12 has a function of preventing air 21 (see FIG. 2, hereinafter the same) from passing through to the secondary side (downstream side) of the heat exchanger 4 without passing through the heat exchanger 4. . On the partition wall 12, an air resistor 30 that fills the gap between the partition wall 12 and the heat exchanger 4 is installed. Further, it is desirable that the opening groove 13 of the partition wall 12 does not allow air 21 to pass but allows only drain water to pass. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 9, on the antibacterial unit 15, the air resistance body 31 which fills the clearance gap between this antibacterial unit 15 and the heat exchanger 4 (and resistor 30) is installed. As the material of the resistors 30 and 31, for example, a material such as foam rubber can be used. In other drawings such as FIG. 1, the display of the resistors 30 and 31 is omitted for convenience of explanation.

  As described above, the indoor unit 100 of the air conditioner according to the present embodiment includes the heat exchanger 4 that surrounds the air discharge direction from the blower fan 2, the drain pan 5 that is disposed below the heat exchanger 4, And an antibacterial unit 15 having an antibacterial agent for antibacterial drain water. At least a part of the antibacterial unit 15 is disposed immediately below the heat exchanger 4.

  According to such this embodiment, the indoor unit 100 of the air conditioner which installed the antibacterial agent on the drain pan 5 can be provided, suppressing the reduction | decrease of the cross-sectional area of the blowing air path 9. FIG. Therefore, the cross-sectional area of the blowout air passage is reduced, and noise and fan power are not increased.

  In this embodiment, the antibacterial unit 15 is installed in the opening groove 13 of the partition wall 12 in the drain pan 5. In this configuration, the antibacterial unit 15 can be efficiently installed on the drain pan 5 by forming the opening groove 13 corresponding to the antibacterial unit 15 in the partition wall 12 on the drain pan 5. In addition, since the antibacterial unit 15 is installed in the opening groove 13 that is a portion through which drain water flowing on the drain pan 5 passes or merges, the antibacterial effect of the antibacterial unit 15 can be sufficiently exerted.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, the drain pump 14, the antibacterial unit 15, and the float switch 17 are installed in the same corner within the housing 1a. Therefore, the antibacterial unit 15 can be installed in a narrow space near the drain pump 14 and the float switch 17 on the drain pan 5. Further, since the drain water is collected toward the drain pump 14, the drain water around the drain pump 14 can be effectively antibacterial and the generation of slime can be more effectively prevented.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, since the bottom face of the opening groove part 13, the bottom face on the primary space side of the drain pan 5 and the bottom face on the secondary space side have the same depth, the flow of drain water is not hindered. . Thereby, it can suppress that drain water accumulates and bacteria propagate.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, the antibacterial unit 15 is arrange | positioned between the two bending parts 4a and 4a of the heat exchanger 4 in the one corner | angular part in the housing | casing 1a. For this reason, while being able to ensure the space where the drain pump 14 is installed in the corner part in the housing | casing 1a, the antibacterial unit 15 can be efficiently arrange | positioned near the drain pump 14. FIG.

  In the present embodiment, the longitudinal direction of the antibacterial unit 15 in a plan view is generally along the extending direction of the heat exchanger 4 in a plan view. For this reason, most of the antibacterial unit 15 can be positioned directly under the heat exchanger 4, and the reduction in the cross-sectional area of the blowout air passage 9 can be further suppressed.

  In the present embodiment, an air resistor 31 is installed on the antibacterial unit 15. In this configuration, since the gap between the antibacterial unit 15 and the heat exchanger 4 in the opening groove 13 of the partition wall 12 is filled with the resistor 31, it is possible to pass only drain water without passing the air 21. It becomes. Further, when there is drain water up to the height of the antibacterial unit 15 during the cooling operation of the indoor unit 100, it is possible to prevent the air 21 from escaping to the secondary side of the heat exchanger 4.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on embodiment, this invention is not limited to above-described embodiment, Various modifications are included. For example, the above-described embodiment has been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and is not necessarily limited to one having all the configurations described. Further, it is possible to add, delete, and replace other configurations for a part of the configuration of the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a modification of the present embodiment.
In the above-described embodiment, the antibacterial unit 15 is installed in the opening groove 13 of the partition wall 12 in the drain pan 5, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the drain pan 5a may have a step formed by a first bottom surface 12a and a second bottom surface 12b lower than the first bottom surface 12a. In this case, it is good to form the recessed part 13a in the part located under the heat exchanger 4 in the 1st bottom face 12a, and to install the antimicrobial unit 15 in this recessed part 13a.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body case 1a Housing | casing 2 Blower fan 3 Fan motor 4 Heat exchanger 4a Bending part 5, 5a Drain pan 6 Suction port 7 Air outlet 8 Bell mouth 9 Air outlet 10, 11 Drain water

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 Partition wall 13 Opening groove part 14 Drain pump 15 Antibacterial unit 17 Float switch 21 Air 30, 31 Resistor 100 Air conditioner of an air conditioner

Claims (6)

A blower fan provided in the housing;
A heat exchanger enclosing the discharge direction of air from the blower fan;
A drain pan disposed below the heat exchanger;
An antibacterial unit installed on the drain pan and having an antibacterial agent for antibacterial drain water; and
At least a portion of the antibacterial unit is disposed directly below the heat exchanger;
The drain pan has a partition wall that partitions a primary space located upstream of the heat exchanger on the drain pan and a secondary space located downstream.
The bottom surface on the primary space side and the bottom surface on the secondary space side of the drain pan are set lower than the upper end surface of the partition wall,
The partition wall is formed with an opening groove that allows the primary space and the secondary space to communicate with each other.
The antibacterial unit is installed in the opening groove of the partition wall, and is an indoor unit of an air conditioner. A drain pump for discharging drain water accumulated in the drain pan;
The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the drain pump and the antibacterial unit are installed at the same corner in the casing having a quadrangular shape in plan view.   2. The air conditioner room according to claim 1, wherein a bottom surface of the opening groove is set to have the same height as a bottom surface of the drain pan on the primary space side and a bottom surface of the secondary space side. Machine. The heat exchanger has two bent portions at one corner in the casing that has a rectangular shape in plan view,
The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the antibacterial unit is disposed between the two bent portions in plan view.   The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the antibacterial unit is installed so that a longitudinal direction of the antibacterial unit in plan view extends along an extending direction of the heat exchanger in plan view. .   The indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein an air resistor that fills a gap between the antibacterial unit and the heat exchanger is installed on the antibacterial unit.

Images