JP7008758B1 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner for efficiently cleaning a drain pan inside a housing. SOLUTION: A heat exchanger 10 for heat exchange with air and a drain pan 30 provided below the heat exchanger 10 in which a metal member 32 is arranged on the surface of at least a part of the drain pan 30 to form a heat exchanger. It is provided with a drain pan 30 for receiving the drain water generated from 10, and has a first operation mode for adhering frost or ice to the surface of the metal member 32. [Selection diagram] Fig. 2

Description

The present invention relates to an air conditioner that cleans the inside of a housing.

Today, various air conditioners have been developed, and there is known a technique for automatically cleaning the inside of the air conditioner housing to improve the comfort of the interior space during air conditioner operation. In particular, the drain pan that receives the water generated from the heat exchanger and discharges it to the outside tends to collect dirt and germs, so regular cleaning is required.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-205132 (Patent Document 1) is an example of a technique for cleaning the drain pan of an air conditioner. The air conditioner disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a drain pan for recovering the drain water generated in the casing, a drain pump for discharging the drain water of the drain pan, and external drain water from the drain pump. The inner surface of the drain pan is made of a copper-based material such as copper or a copper alloy, while a check valve is provided near the outlet of the drain pump. According to Patent Document 1, the propagation of various germs can be suppressed.

However, since the prior art such as Patent Document 1 cleans the dirt on the drain pan with the drain water, the dirt on the part where the drain water does not flow cannot be washed, and the drain water is less likely to be generated in winter. At the time, it is not possible to obtain a sufficient cleaning effect.

Therefore, further technology for cleaning the drain pan of the air conditioner has been required.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-205132

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner for efficiently cleaning a drain pan inside a housing.

That is, according to the present invention.
A heat exchanger that exchanges heat with air,
A drain pan provided below the heat exchanger, the drain pan having a metal member arranged on the surface of at least a part of the drain pan and receiving the drain water generated from the heat exchanger.
An air conditioner having a first mode of operation for adhering frost or ice to the surface of the metal member is provided.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an air conditioner that efficiently cleans the drain pan inside the housing.

The cross-sectional perspective view which shows the structure of the air conditioner of this embodiment. Sectional drawing of the side surface of the air conditioner in this embodiment. The figure explaining the modification of the air conditioner in this embodiment. The figure which shows the hardware composition included in the air conditioner of this embodiment.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described later. In each of the figures referred to below, the same reference numerals are used for common elements, and the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing the structure of the air conditioner 1 of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the air conditioner 1 of the present embodiment mainly includes an indoor heat exchanger 10, an indoor blower fan 20, and a drain pan 30. Although not shown, the air conditioner 1 of the present embodiment includes a compressor, an expansion valve, an outdoor heat exchanger, and an outdoor blower fan.

The indoor heat exchanger 10 includes a heat transfer tube and fins as main parts, and exchanges heat between the refrigerant flowing in the heat transfer tube and the air passing between the fins.

The indoor blower fan 20 is driven to rotate to generate an air flow. When the indoor blower fan 20 blows air to the indoor heat exchanger 10, the heat-exchanged air is discharged into the indoor space, and air conditioning can be performed.

The drain pan 30 collects the condensed water (hereinafter referred to as "drain water") generated by the indoor heat exchanger 10 by a cooling operation, a dehumidifying operation, or the like. The drain water collected by the drain pan 30 is discharged to the outside of the air conditioner 1. Further, the drain pan 30 of the present embodiment is configured to include a heat insulating material 31 on the surface receiving the drain water. The material of the drain pan 30 is not particularly limited, but as an example, it may be made of resin, and for example, polystyrene (PS) resin, ABS resin, or the like can be adopted. The thickness of the main body of the drain pan 30 of the present embodiment is preferably 0.5 mm to 4 mm from the viewpoint of efficiently cleaning dirt on the drain pan 30.

By the way, since dirt, germs and the like (hereinafter collectively referred to as "dirt") tend to remain on the drain pan 30, regular cleaning is required. Therefore, the drain pan 30 of the present embodiment is configured to include the metal member 32 (not shown in FIG. 1) so that water is generated from the metal member 32 in addition to the drain water generated from the indoor heat exchanger 10. Can be done. Therefore, since water can be generated in a wide range of the drain pan 30, dirt on the drain pan 30 can be efficiently removed.

Hereinafter, the details of the air conditioner 1 of the present embodiment including the metal member 32 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a side surface of the air conditioner 1 in the present embodiment.

In the air conditioning device 1 of the present embodiment, the indoor blower fan 20 (not shown in FIG. 2) is rotationally driven in a predetermined direction during the air conditioning operation, so that an air flow is generated in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. In the following, with reference to the direction of air flow during the air conditioning operation shown in FIG. 2, the upstream side in that direction will be referred to as the front side of the air conditioning device 1, and the downstream side will be described as the rear side of the air conditioning device 1.

In the drain pan 30 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the heat insulating material 31 is arranged on the surface receiving the drain water from the indoor heat exchanger 10. Styrofoam can be mentioned as an example of the heat insulating material 31, but the embodiment is not particularly limited.

Further, in the drain pan 30 of the present embodiment, a metal member 32 that covers at least a part of the surface of the heat insulating material 31 is arranged. The heat insulating material 31 and the metal member 32 can be fixed by an adhesive.

The metal member 32 of the present embodiment may be arranged in close proximity to the indoor heat exchanger 10 and may be arranged in contact with a part of the indoor heat exchanger 10. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a sheet material 40 for improving airtightness may be inserted between the metal member 32 and the indoor heat exchanger 10. In this way, the metal member 32 and the indoor heat exchanger 10 are in contact with each other, or the sheet material 40 is inserted between the metal member 32 and the indoor heat exchanger 10, so that the indoor heat exchanger 10 is inserted. The upstream side and the downstream side of the can be separated. As a result, during air harmonized operation, the air taken in from the indoor space (air before heat exchange) and the air discharged into the indoor space (heat exchanged air) can be separated, resulting in efficient heat exchange. It can be performed. The sheet material 40 of the present embodiment is preferably thicker than the metal member 32 in order to ensure sufficient airtightness.

Further, the metal member 32 of the present embodiment is preferably made of a material having high thermal conductivity. The metal member 32 is preferably, for example, a material having a higher thermal conductivity than stainless steel used as a material for general mechanical parts, and may be copper or aluminum, although the embodiment is not limited. .. The thickness of the metal member 32 of the present embodiment is preferably 0.1 mm to 2 mm from the viewpoint of efficiently cleaning the dirt on the drain pan 30.

In this way, by forming the indoor heat exchanger 10 and the metal member 32 having high thermal conductivity in contact with each other, the metal member 32 can be efficiently cooled when the indoor heat exchanger 10 is cooled to a low temperature. Can be done. Then, as the temperature of the metal member 32 decreases, dew, frost, or ice can be attached to the surface of the metal member 32.

In particular, since one surface of the metal member 32 is cooled by the indoor heat exchanger 10 and the other surface is in contact with the heat insulating material 31, frost or ice is formed on a wide range of the surface on the indoor heat exchanger 10 side. The dirt on the surface of the drain pan 30 can be cleaned by the moisture of the frost or ice. In particular, by adhering frost or ice to the surface of the metal member 32, dirt on the surface of the drain pan 30 can be cleaned more effectively. Further, since the heat insulating material 31 is inserted between the metal member 32 and the main body of the drain pan 30, it is possible to suppress the temperature drop of the main body of the drain pan 30 and suppress the dew condensation on the outer shell of the drain pan 30.

The dirt on the surface of the drain pan 30 referred to here includes the dirt on the surface of the heat insulating material 31 and the metal member 32. Further, the contact between the indoor heat exchanger 10 and the metal member 32 as used herein includes contact via the sheet material 40, contact via moisture condensed on the surface of the indoor heat exchanger 10, and the like.

Further, since the indoor heat exchanger 10 and the metal member 32 are in contact with each other, when the air conditioner 1 of the present embodiment is operated to a high temperature such as a drying operation, the temperature of the metal member 32 is also increased. Can be raised. As a result, the water remaining in the drain pan 30 can be evaporated, and the cleanliness of the drain pan 30 can be improved. Further, since the heat insulating material 31 is inserted between the metal member 32 and the main body of the drain pan 30, the temperature rise of the main body of the drain pan 30 can be suppressed, and the air discharged into the indoor space becomes excessively high temperature. Can be prevented.

In the drying operation, for example, the compressor, the expansion valve or the indoor blower fan 20 is controlled so that the temperature of the metal member 32 is maintained at 45 ° C. or higher and 59 ° C. or lower for a predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes). In particular, it is desirable that the temperature of the metal member 32 be 45 ° C. or higher and 59 ° C. or lower in a state where the dew condensation water generated in the indoor heat exchanger 10 remains in the metal member 32. This is because the amount of heat acting on mold and bacteria is larger when the metal member 32 is heated in the presence of dew water than when the metal member 32 is heated in the absence of dew water.

Although the temperature sensor may be arranged on the metal member 32, the temperature of the metal member 32 may be calculated from the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger 10 without necessarily arranging the temperature sensor. When copper having a thickness of 0.1 mm is used as the metal member 32, when the indoor heat exchanger 10 is heated to 60 ° C. under the condition that the ambient temperature is 27 ° C., the tip of the metal member 32 (the metal member 32 and the indoor heat) The temperature of the contact with the exchanger 10 or the position farthest from the nearest position) is 55 ° C. Further, when the indoor heat exchanger 10 is cooled to −20 ° C. under the condition that the ambient temperature is 27 ° C., the temperature at the tip of the metal member 32 becomes −12 ° C. In this way, the temperature of the metal member 32 can be calculated from the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger 10.

When stainless steel having a thickness of 0.1 mm is used as the metal member 32, the temperature at the tip of the metal member 32 becomes 36 when the indoor heat exchanger 10 is heated to 60 ° C. under the condition that the ambient temperature is 27 ° C. It becomes ℃. Further, when the indoor heat exchanger 10 is cooled to −20 ° C. under the condition that the ambient temperature is 27 ° C., the temperature at the tip of the metal member 32 becomes 14 ° C. That is, in order to heat or cool the metal member 32, it is preferable that the material has a higher thermal conductivity than stainless steel.

So far, the basic embodiment of the present invention has been described. However, the present invention may employ various modifications in the embodiments described above. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a modified example of the air conditioner 1 in the present embodiment, and is an enlarged view of a part of FIG. 2. It should be noted that FIG. 3 is shown in a simplified manner by omitting some parts from the viewpoint of legibility of the drawing.

FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a first modification of the present embodiment. In the first modification, the space shown by the broken line region in FIG. 3A is provided in front of the indoor heat exchanger 10. By providing such a space, air before heat exchange, that is, air having a large amount of water can pass through the space. Therefore, air having a large amount of water can be brought into contact with the metal member 32 having a lowered temperature, and frost or ice can be easily attached to the metal member 32.

Here, the space in front of the indoor heat exchanger 10 is preferably sized as shown in FIG. 3A. That is, when the distance (opening) from the indoor heat exchanger 10 to the drain pan 30 main body is A and the distance from the indoor heat exchanger 10 to the surface of the metal member 32 is B, B> 0.2A. It is preferable to provide a space in. By providing a space satisfying B> 0.2A shown in FIG. 3A in front of the indoor heat exchanger 10, frost or ice can easily adhere to the metal member 32, and dirt on the drain pan 30 can be efficiently cleaned. can.

Further, FIG. 3B is a diagram showing a second modification of the present embodiment. In the second modification, as shown in FIG. 3B, the metal member 32 is arranged on a part of the surface of the heat insulating material 31. Here, the metal member 32 of the second modification is arranged at a place where the metal member 32 and the indoor heat exchanger 10 are closest to each other (the place shown by the broken line in FIG. 3B) and in front of the place. To. Since air with a large amount of water exists in front of the indoor heat exchanger 10, frost or ice can be efficiently formed on the metal member 32 by setting the range in which the metal member 32 is arranged as shown in FIG. 3 (b). Can be attached.

Up to this point, the mechanical configuration of the air conditioner 1 of the present embodiment has been described. Next, the hardware configuration of the air conditioner 1 of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration included in the air conditioner 1 of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 4, the air conditioner 1 includes a control unit 101, a sensor 102, and an operation I / F 103 in addition to the indoor heat exchanger 10 and the indoor blower fan 20 described in FIGS. 1 to 3. Each piece of hardware is electrically connected by a bus. Since the indoor heat exchanger 10 and the indoor blower fan 20 have already been described, the details will be omitted here.

The control unit 101 is a device that executes a program for controlling the operation of the air conditioning device 1 and performs predetermined processing, and can be configured by, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control unit 101 can control the operation of various hardware. The control unit 101 of the present embodiment can control the operation of each hardware in various air-conditioning operation modes such as cooling operation, dehumidifying operation, and heating operation.

The sensor 102 is a device that measures the temperature, humidity, and the like of the space in which the air conditioner 1 is installed. The control unit 101 can obtain a desired indoor environment by performing control based on the measured value of the sensor 102 during the air-conditioned operation.

The operation I / F 103 is an interface for receiving a signal transmitted from an operation device such as a remote controller used by the user. When the operation I / F 103 receives various operation signals, the control unit 101 controls the operation of the air conditioner 1 based on the signals. Examples of the operation signal include operation or stop of the air conditioning device 1, temperature setting, wind direction setting, timer setting, air conditioning operation mode switching, start of internal cleaning operation, and the like.

In addition to the air-conditioned operation mode described above, the control unit 101 of the present embodiment can control the operation of each hardware by an operation mode for cleaning the inside of the housing. As an example of the operation mode for cleaning the inside of the housing, there is a mode for cleaning dirt on the drain pan 30 (hereinafter referred to as a cleaning mode). In the cleaning mode in the present embodiment, the control unit 101 controls to cool the indoor heat exchanger 10 to lower the temperature of the metal member 32 and attach frost or ice to the metal member 32. Alternatively, in the cleaning mode in the present embodiment, the control unit 101 controls to heat the indoor heat exchanger 10 to raise the temperature of the metal member 32.

Further, in the cleaning mode, the control unit 101 may control to drive the indoor blower fan 20. By driving the indoor blower fan 20 in the cleaning mode, air containing moisture can be taken into the housing, and frost or ice can be easily attached to the metal member 32. Further, by driving the indoor blower fan 20 while the cleaning mode is being executed, dew condensation on the indoor blower fan 20 can be prevented, and the cleanliness of the indoor blower fan 20 can be maintained.

Further, the control unit 101 of the present embodiment may perform an operation of lowering the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger 10 to cause dew condensation on the surface of the indoor heat exchanger 10 before operating in the cleaning mode. By condensing the indoor heat exchanger 10, the indoor heat exchanger 10 and the metal member 32 can be brought into contact with each other via moisture, and the thermal conductivity between the indoor heat exchanger 10 and the metal member 32 is improved. can. Therefore, in the subsequent cleaning mode, frost or ice can be easily attached to the metal member 32. The control for dew condensation on the indoor heat exchanger 10 may be executed as a dedicated operation mode, or may be performed by air conditioning such as cooling operation and dehumidification operation.

Further, the control unit 101 of the present embodiment may have an operation mode for raising the temperature of the metal member 32. Since the air conditioner 1 of the present embodiment is in contact with the indoor heat exchanger 10 and the metal member 32, the control unit 101 controls, for example, to raise the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger 10 to a metal. The temperature of the member 32 is raised. By raising the temperature of the metal member 32 in this way, the water remaining in the drain pan 30 can be evaporated, and the cleanliness of the drain pan 30 can be improved. The operation mode for raising the temperature of the metal member 32 may be performed after the cooling operation or the dehumidifying operation. As a result, the drain pan 30 can be washed with the condensed water and then the water can be evaporated, and the cleanliness of the drain pan 30 can be further improved.

According to the embodiment of the present invention described above, it is possible to provide an air conditioner for efficiently cleaning the drain pan inside the housing.

Although the present invention has been described above with embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and as long as the present invention exerts its actions and effects within the range of embodiments that can be inferred by those skilled in the art. , Is included in the scope of the present invention.

1 ... Air conditioner,
10 ... Indoor heat exchanger,
20 ... Indoor blower fan,
30 ... Drain pan,
31 ... Insulation material,
32 ... Metal member,
40 ... Sheet material,
101 ... Control unit,
102 ... Sensor,
103 ... Operation I / F

Claims (6)

A heat exchanger that exchanges heat with air,
A drain pan provided below the heat exchanger, the drain pan having a metal member arranged on the surface of at least a part of the drain pan and receiving the drain water generated from the heat exchanger.
A first operation mode in which dew condensation is generated in the heat exchanger and the heat exchanger and the metal member are brought into contact with each other through the dew condensation.
It has a second operating mode, which is performed after the first operating mode, in which frost or ice is attached to the surface of the metal member by the heat exchanger.
The metal member and the heat exchanger are in direct contact with each other or are in contact with each other via a sheet material.
Air conditioner. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the second operation mode lowers the temperature of the drain pan. A heat exchanger that exchanges heat with air,
A drain pan provided below the heat exchanger, the drain pan having a metal member arranged on the surface of at least a part of the drain pan and receiving the drain water generated from the heat exchanger.
Frost or frost on the surface of the metal member by the heat exchanger, which is performed after the cooling operation or the dehumidifying operation in which the heat exchanger causes dew condensation and the heat exchanger and the metal member are brought into contact with each other through the dew. Has a second mode of operation to attach ice,
The metal member and the heat exchanger are in direct contact with each other or are in contact with each other via a sheet material.
Air conditioner. The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the blower fan is rotationally driven when operating in the second operation mode. A heat exchanger that exchanges heat with air,
A drain pan provided below the heat exchanger, the drain pan having a metal member arranged on the surface of at least a part of the drain pan and receiving the drain water generated from the heat exchanger.
It has a third operation mode in which the temperature of the metal member is raised by the heat exchanger in a state where the heat exchanger and the metal member are in contact with each other through dew condensation.
The third operation mode is an air conditioner that maintains the temperature of the metal member at 45 ° C. or higher and 59 ° C. or lower for a predetermined time in a state where the dew is attached to the metal member. The air conditioner according to claim 5, wherein the third operation mode is performed after a cooling operation or a dehumidifying operation.

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