JP7489337B2 - Air conditioning equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an air conditioner having a filter.

Many air conditioners are equipped with a filter to prevent dust from entering the case from the outside. Patent Document 1 discloses a conventional technique for an air conditioner with a filter.

As shown in FIG. 6 of Patent Document 1, the air conditioner has a support frame for guiding the filter that is integrally formed with the front grill. The front grill is a part that constitutes part of the case.

The worker cleaning the filter can remove the filter from the case or attach it to the case by moving the filter along the support frame. In other words, the support frame acts as a guide for the filter when removing or attaching the filter.

In general, the case of an air conditioner is made of a resin molded product. It is preferable to integrally form guide parts for guiding the filter into the main body of the case, as this reduces the number of parts.

Patent No. 3006590

As mentioned above, the case is generally formed by resin molding, and low mold costs are preferable because they contribute to reducing the manufacturing costs of the air conditioner.

The objective of this invention is to provide an inexpensive air conditioner.

This disclosure is explained below.

According to the present disclosure, a case is provided which is fixed to a wall, has an inlet opening on an upper surface thereof for introducing air, and has an air blowing opening on a front lower surface thereof for blowing the air introduced from the inlet opening into a room;
a filter that covers the introduction opening in order to prevent dust from entering the inside of the case and is detachably provided on the case,
the case has guide portions formed along the back surfaces of the left and right ends of the filter and guiding the filter when the filter is attached or detached, vertical bar portions extending in the front-rear direction inside the introduction opening to reinforce the introduction opening and positioned above the filter, and horizontal bar portions extending in the left-right direction inside the introduction opening so as to intersect with the vertical bar portions and positioned above the filter,
An air conditioner is provided, wherein, when the case is viewed from above, the vertical and horizontal rails are formed between the left and right guide portions.

The present invention makes it possible to provide an inexpensive air conditioner.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an air conditioner according to an embodiment. This is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Figure 1. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the right side of the air conditioner shown in FIG. 1 with a front panel and a right filter removed. FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4A-4A in FIG. 3, and FIG. 4B is a diagram for explaining a molding method for the portion in FIG. 4A. 5A is a diagram showing the guide portion of an air conditioner according to a comparative example as viewed from above, FIG. 5B is a diagram explaining a method for molding the portion corresponding to the cross section along line 5B-5B in FIG. 5A, FIG. 5C is an enlarged view of portion 5C in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5D is a diagram explaining a method for molding the portion corresponding to the cross section along line 5D-5D in FIG. 5C.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings. In the description, left and right refer to the left and right when viewed from the front of the air conditioner, front refers to the direction away from the wall into the room, and rear refers to the direction from the room toward the wall. In the drawings, Fr means front, Rr means rear, Le means left, Ri means right, Up means top, and Dn means bottom. The embodiment shown in the attached drawings is one example of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

<Example>
Please refer to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 shows an indoor unit 20 of an air conditioner 10. In general, the air conditioner 10 has an indoor unit 20 that is fixed to a wall Wa indoors, an outdoor unit that is placed outdoors and adjusts a refrigerant to an appropriate temperature, and piping that connects the indoor unit 20 and the outdoor unit and through which the refrigerant flows. In the present invention, the outdoor unit and piping can be well known, so a description thereof will be omitted.

The air conditioner 10 can switch between a cooling mode to lower the temperature inside the room, a heating mode to raise the temperature inside the room, and a dehumidification mode to lower the humidity inside the room, depending on the temperature and humidity inside the room, for example.

See also FIG. 2. The indoor unit 20 has a plate-shaped support plate 21 fixed to the wall Wa, a case 22 supported by the support plate 21, a plurality of heat exchangers 23 housed inside the case 22 and exchanging heat between the indoor air and the refrigerant flowing inside, a fan 24 rotatably installed below the heat exchangers 23 for blowing air into the room, a louver 25 swingably installed at the front lower part of the case 22 for adjusting the direction of the air blowing, a front panel 26 installed above the louver 25 and swingably supported by the case 30, and a filter 27 installed from the front to the top of the case 30 to prevent dust from entering the inside of the case 30.

The support plate portion 21 is made of a single metal plate. The support plate portion 21 is formed into a predetermined shape by pressing the metal plate. The upper and lower ends of the support plate portion 21 are bent forward to form an upper protruding portion 21a and a lower protruding portion 21b.

The case 30 has a rear case 31 supported by the support plate portion 21, and a front case 40 supported by the rear case 31. Both the rear case 31 and the front case 40 are made of resin molded parts. By combining the rear case 31, which has an open front face, with the front case 40, which has an open rear face, a space is formed inside the case 30.

The upper end of the front panel 26 is fixed to the front case 40, and the lower end can be swung upward around the upper end. The front panel 26 can also be removed from the front case 40 when cleaning the filter 27, etc. In other words, the front panel 26 is supported so as to be swingable relative to the front case 40, and is detachably attached to the front case 40.

Please refer to Figure 3. Figure 3 shows the front case 40 with the filter 27 only on the left side. A filter 27 is also provided on the right side of the front case 40, but for the sake of explanation, the right filter 27 has been removed.

The filter 27 is detachably attached to the front case 40. The filter 27 has a filter frame 27a that is supported by the front case 40 and is formed in a substantially rectangular shape, and a filter body 27b that is provided inside the filter frame 27a and is formed in a mesh shape. Dust outside the case 30 is caught by the filter body 27b that is formed in a mesh shape, thereby preventing dust from entering the inside of the case 30.

Refer to FIG. 2. The rear case 31 has an upper engagement portion 31a that is hooked onto the upper protrusion 21a, and a lower engagement portion 31b that is hooked onto the lower protrusion 21b. The rear case 31 is supported by the support plate portion 21 via the upper engagement portion 31a and the lower engagement portion 31b.

See also FIG. 3. The front case 40 has a case body 41 that is overlapped with the rear case 31, inlet openings 42, 42 that are opened on the upper surface 41u of the case body 41 to introduce air, an air blowing opening 43 that is opened on the front lower surface of the case body 41 to blow the air introduced from the inlet openings 42, 42 into the room, guides 44, 44 that are formed along the back surface of the left and right ends of the filter frame 27a and guide the filter 27 when the filter 27 is attached or detached, vertical bar portions 45 that extend in the front-rear direction inside the inlet openings 42, 42 to reinforce the inlet openings 42, 42 and are located above the filter 27, horizontal bar portions 46 that extend in the left-right direction inside the inlet openings 42, 42 so as to intersect with the vertical bar portions 45, and an open front end portion 47 that is formed approximately parallel to the horizontal bar portions 46 and extends left and right to close the front ends of the inlet openings 42, 42.

The introduction openings 42, 42 are formed in two locations on the left and right sides of the upper surface 41u of the case body 41 and are approximately rectangular in shape.

The ventilation opening 43 is formed at one location on the left and right sides of the case body 41.

The guide parts 44, 44 are generally rectangular parts that are long in the front-rear direction and are formed so as to face the left and right ends of the respective introduction openings 42, 42. The guide parts 44, 44 are formed below the upper surface 41u of the case main body 41 and are formed with an upward gradient from the front to the rear.

Four vertical bars 45 are formed in each of the introduction openings 42, 42. The four vertical bars 45 are all formed between the left and right guide sections 44, 44 when viewed from above. The upper surface of the vertical bars 45 is at approximately the same height as the upper surface 41u of the case main body 41, and the lower surface 45d of the vertical bars 45 is located above the guide sections 44, 44 and is formed approximately parallel to the upper surface 44u of the guide sections 44, 44. The lower surface 45d of the vertical bars 45 is located above the filter 27.

One horizontal bar 46 is formed at each of the introduction openings 42, 42, and extends left and right to connect approximately the center of each vertical bar 45. Both left and right ends of the horizontal bar 46 are connected to the vertical bar 45. Therefore, the horizontal bar 46 is formed between the left and right guide sections 44, 44 when viewed from above.

See Figures 3 and 4A. The open front end 47 is formed in a beam shape to close the front ends of the introduction openings 42, 42, and the upper surface is formed in a roughly U-shape. The rear surface of the open front end 47 is formed along the parting line 48 formed in the case body 41. The parting line 48 is a line formed in a region corresponding to the boundary between the two molds when the front case 40 is molded.

The parting line 48 will be described in detail with reference to Figures 4A and 4B. For example, the front case 40 is molded using a fixed mold 61 that is located at the front and does not move, a first movable mold 62 that can move in the front-rear direction relative to the fixed mold 61, and a second movable mold 63 that can move in the up-down direction relative to the fixed mold 61.

More specifically, a cavity is formed using molds 61 to 63, and molten resin is poured into the cavity. The resin then hardens to form the front case 40. At this time, a small amount of molten resin also seeps into the mating surface between the fixed mold 61 and the second movable mold 63. The parting line 48 is formed as the resin hardens.

As will be described in detail later, by limiting the portion formed across the left and right ends of the introduction openings 42, 42 to the front opening end 47, the case 30 can be molded using only the simple dies 61-63.

Refer to FIG. 5A. In the front case 140 according to the comparative example, the horizontal bars 146 are formed on both sides of the introduction opening 142. Therefore, the ends of the horizontal bars 146 overlap the upper part of the guide portion 144.

See also FIG. 5B. In order to form the guide portion 144 integrally with both the left and right ends of the introduction opening 142, it is necessary to form a slide portion 162a, which slides in the left-right direction perpendicular to the drawing direction of the first movable mold 162, in the first movable mold 162 that forms the inner surface of the front case 140. The need for the slide portion 162a makes the first movable mold 162 more expensive, which increases the manufacturing cost of the air conditioner 110.

Refer to Figures 3 and 5C. In the air conditioner 10 according to the embodiment, when the case 30 is viewed from above, the vertical and horizontal bars 45 and 46 are formed between the left and right guide parts 44, 44. In other words, the vertical and horizontal bars 45 and 46 do not overlap above the guide parts 44, 44.

See Figures 5C and 5D. By configuring the vertical and horizontal rails 45 and 46 so that they do not overlap above the guides 44, 44, it is not necessary to provide the first movable mold 62 with a slide portion (see Figure 5B). This makes it possible to reduce the cost of the mold required to manufacture the front case 40, and to provide an inexpensive air conditioner 10.

See FIG. 2. The lower surface 45d of the vertical bar portion 45 is formed approximately parallel to the upper surface 44u of the guide portions 44, 44. This allows the lower surface 45d of the vertical bar portion 45 to guide the filter 27 when attaching or detaching it. By guiding the filter 27 from above and below, it is possible to further improve the ease of attachment and detachment.

See Figures 3 and 4B. The opening front end 47 is formed along the parting line 48. A portion that overlaps with the guide portion 44, 44 is formed only at the front end of the introduction openings 42, 42. Because the opening front end 47 is formed at the boundary between the two dies 61, 63, no slide portion (see Figure 5B) is required. This makes it possible to provide an air conditioner 10 that is inexpensive to manufacture while reinforcing the introduction openings 42, 42.

The air conditioner according to the present invention has been described as having both a heating function and a dehumidifying function, but the present invention can also be applied to air conditioners with only a cooling function, air conditioners with only a dehumidifying function, and air conditioners with both a cooling function and a dehumidifying function but no heating function. In other words, the present invention is not limited to the examples, so long as the effects and advantages of the present invention are achieved.

The air conditioner of the present invention is suitable for use as a home air conditioner.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10: air conditioner 27: filter 30: case 42: inlet opening 43: air outlet opening 44: guide portion 45: vertical rib portion 46: horizontal rib portion 47: opening front end 48: parting line Wa: wall

Claims (3)

a case fixed to a wall, the case having an inlet opening on an upper surface thereof for introducing air and an air blowing opening on a lower front surface thereof for blowing the air introduced from the inlet opening into a room;
a filter that covers the introduction opening in order to prevent dust from entering the inside of the case and is detachably provided on the case,
the case has guide sections formed along the back surfaces of the left and right ends of the filter and guiding the filter when the filter is attached or detached, vertical bar sections extending in the front-rear direction inside the introduction opening to reinforce the introduction opening and positioned above the filter, and horizontal bar sections extending in the left-right direction inside the introduction opening so as to intersect with the vertical bar sections and positioned above the filter , the introduction opening and the guide sections being integrally formed,
an air conditioning device, wherein when the case is viewed from above with the filter removed , the guide portion is visible, and the vertical and horizontal bar portions are formed between the left and right guide portions. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the lower surface of the vertical bar portion is formed substantially parallel to the upper surface of the guide portion. The case has a parting line formed at a front portion thereof at a portion corresponding to a boundary portion between two molds during molding of the case, and an opening front end portion extends to the left and right so as to close the front end of the introduction opening portion,
3. The air conditioning device according to claim 1, wherein the opening front end portion is formed along the parting line.

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