JP7510489B1 - Protective cover for air conditioner outdoor unit - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a protective cover for an air conditioner outdoor unit with excellent strength and workability. [Solution] This protective cover for an air conditioner outdoor unit is composed of a front panel member, a back panel member, a left side panel member 4, a right side panel member, and a top panel member arranged around the air conditioner outdoor unit. Each panel member is formed in a lattice shape by crossing vertical bars made of bar-shaped steel material and horizontal bars made of long flat steel material. The front panel member is composed of two panels, of which the lower front panel 2b has engagement grooves 27 on both sides thereof that function as temporary fastening engagement parts for self-support, and the left side panel member 4 has engagement protrusions 45b that function as temporary fastening engaged parts for self-support. When the two panels are engaged, the lower front panel 2b and the left side panel member 4 are temporarily fastened and held in an L-shape in a self-supporting state. Other panel members are then successively assembled to this temporarily fastened and self-supporting state. [Selected Figure] Fig. 7

Description

The present invention relates to a protective cover for an air conditioner outdoor unit that is installed around the outdoor unit.

Conventionally, air conditioner outdoor unit covers that cover the periphery of an air conditioner outdoor unit have been devised (for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). Many of these conventional air conditioner outdoor unit covers were intended for small outdoor units for home use, such as in detached houses and apartment buildings.

On the other hand, the outdoor air conditioner units installed in schools and large facilities are often large, and the covers they require are inevitably large as well. However, there are few ready-made covers for such large units, so it has not been uncommon for them to be built out of net fences by outsourcing the design and construction to a construction company or other specialist company.

In addition, in schools and other facilities, air conditioner outdoor units often face playgrounds or open spaces, and need to be protected from the strong impact of a direct hit from a ball (such as a baseball). For this reason, the covers used for them also need to be strong enough.

Registered Utility Model No. 3219089 Registered Utility Model No. 3195323

However, when hiring a construction company, etc., there are problems such as the need to pay design and installation fees, and the time it takes to complete the work.

In addition, when a cover is constructed using a net fence, it is made of wire woven together into a mesh, so there is a risk that the cover itself may be deformed or damaged by the impact of a ball or other object hitting it, and the strength of the cover itself is not necessarily sufficient.

On the other hand, if you try to increase the strength of the cover itself, the weight of the cover itself generally increases, making it less easy to install. In particular, if you assemble the cover yourself, rather than asking a construction company or other contractor to do it for you, it will be difficult to assemble it yourself if the individual panels that make up the cover are heavy.

The present invention was made to solve these problems, and aims to provide a protective cover for an air conditioner outdoor unit that is strong and easy to install.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized by the following configuration.
That is, the present invention is a protective cover for an air conditioner outdoor unit that can be installed around the air conditioner outdoor unit,
the cover includes at least a first panel member provided on a front side or a rear side of the air conditioner outdoor unit, and a second panel member provided on a left side side or a right side side of the air conditioner outdoor unit,
The first and second panel members each have a lattice shape in which two directional bars intersect, and at least one of the two directional bars is made of a long flat steel material,
The first and second panel members are characterized in that they are provided with a self-supporting temporary fastening engaging portion and an engaged portion for temporarily fastening and holding the first and second panel members in a self-supporting state.

Here, the first and second panel members used in the present invention are not made of wires woven together in a mesh like a net fence, but at least one of the bars in two directions that make up the lattice is made of long flat steel material, so they are strong and relatively heavy. A typical example is lattice steel material, which is used for gratings. Such lattice steel material for gratings is generally strong and sturdy, and when it is used as a panel to make a cover, it provides high protection from external impacts, but on the other hand, it is heavy in itself (for example, the weight of each panel that makes up one side is about 5 to 10 kg, depending on the size of the outdoor unit it covers), so it generally has poor workability.

However, in the present invention, a self-supporting temporary fastening engaging portion and an engaged portion are provided to temporarily fasten and hold the first and second panel members in a self-supporting state, so that the first and second panel members can be made to stand on their own in a temporarily fastened state by engaging these with each other before final fastening. This allows the other panel members to be assembled in sequence while remaining in this state.

Here, as one preferred embodiment of the present invention, when the first panel member and the second panel member are made to stand on their own by engaging the self-supporting temporary fastening engaging portion and the engaged portion, the lower frame of either the first panel member or the second panel member may be configured to be in contact with the ground.

In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the two directional bars are made up of vertical bars and horizontal bars, and one of the vertical bars or horizontal bars may be made of long flat steel material, and the other may be made of bar-shaped steel material.

As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first and second panel members may be provided with a temporary locking portion for permanent fixation and a locked portion, respectively, in addition to the self-supporting temporary locking portion and the locked portion, for temporarily locking the two together for permanent fixation.

In addition, as one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, when the first panel member and the second panel member are made to stand on their own by engaging the self-supporting provisional engagement portion and the engaged portion, the bottom frame of one of the first panel member or the second panel member is in contact with the ground, whereas when the permanent fixing provisional locking portion and the locked portion are locked, the bottom frame of the one panel member is separated from the ground.

Furthermore, as one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, one of the self-supporting provisional engagement portion or the engaged portion may be configured to also serve as the permanently fixed provisional locking portion or the engaged portion.

Furthermore, as one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, the cover may be provided with height-adjustable legs.

The first and second panel members of the present invention are latticed with cross bars in two directions, and at least one of them is made of long flat steel material, so they are strong and can effectively protect the air conditioner outdoor unit from strong external impacts.

In addition, because the first and second panel members are provided with a self-supporting temporary fastening engaging portion and an engaged portion for temporarily holding them in a self-supporting state, the first and second panel members can be made to stand on their own in a temporarily fastened state by engaging these before final fastening. Then, since the other panel members can be assembled in sequence while remaining in this state, there is no need to carry out the cumbersome task of supporting a panel member in the middle of assembly with one's hand while assembling other panel members to it. As a result, the protective cover can be easily assembled even when the weight of each panel member is large.

As described above, the present invention has the advantage of being strong and able to effectively protect the outdoor air conditioner unit from strong external impacts, while at the same time overcoming the poor workability and cumbersome assembly process caused by the weight of each panel component, improving workability.

1 is a schematic layout diagram of an air conditioner outdoor unit protective cover according to an embodiment. 3A and 3B are perspective views of front panel members in the embodiment, where FIG. 3A is a perspective view of an upper front panel, and FIG. 3B is a perspective view of a lower front panel. 3A and 3B are perspective views of rear panel members in the embodiment, where FIG. 3A is a perspective view of an upper rear panel, and FIG. 3B is a perspective view of a lower rear panel. 4 is a perspective view of a left side panel member and a right side panel member in the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the left side panel member and the right side panel member in the embodiment, viewed from a different direction than FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a top panel member in the embodiment. 13A and 13B are diagrams showing how the left side panel member and the lower front panel are temporarily fastened together in the embodiment. 11 is a schematic diagram showing the corresponding relationship between the left side panel member and the upper and lower front panels in the embodiment. FIG. 4A is a front view of the height-adjusting anchor plate in the above embodiment, FIG. 4B is a left side view, and FIG. 13A and 13B are diagrams for explaining the procedure for assembling the protective cover according to the embodiment (showing the left side panel member and the lower front panel temporarily fastened together). 13A to 13C are diagrams for explaining the procedure for assembling the protective cover according to the embodiment (which then show the state in which the right side panel member is temporarily attached thereto). 13A and 13B are diagrams for explaining the procedure for assembling the protective cover according to the embodiment (and further showing the state in which the lower rear panel is finally fixed thereto). 13A and 13B are diagrams for explaining the procedure for assembling the protective cover according to the embodiment (and further showing the state in which the upper rear panel is finally fixed thereto). 13A to 13C are diagrams for explaining the procedure for assembling the protective cover according to the embodiment (showing the state in which the lower front panel is finally fixed in this state). 13A and 13B are diagrams for explaining the procedure for assembling the protective cover according to the embodiment (and further showing the state in which the upper front panel has been firmly fixed thereto). FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the procedure for assembling the protective cover according to the embodiment (showing the state where the top panel member is finally attached and the state where the assembly of the protective cover is completed).

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

[1] Overview (overall structure)
As shown in Figures 1 and 16, an air conditioner outdoor unit protective cover 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as "protective cover 1") according to an embodiment of the present invention is configured in a rectangular parallelepiped shape to cover the four sides and the top of an air conditioner outdoor unit A (two air conditioner outdoor units are shown in Figure 1, but this is merely an example, and here they are collectively referred to as "air conditioner outdoor unit A") except for the bottom surface, and includes a front panel member 2 arranged on the front side of the outdoor unit A, a rear panel member 3 arranged on the rear side, a left side panel member 4 arranged on the left side, a right side panel member 5 arranged on the right side, and a top panel member 6 arranged above them. Each of the panel members 2 to 6 is made of steel, and each is coated with hot-dip galvanization for excellent corrosion resistance.

Of these, the front panel member 2 and the rear panel member 3 each further comprise two element panels. Specifically, the front panel member 2 comprises an upper front panel 2a and a lower front panel 2b (Fig. 2), and the rear panel member 3 comprises an upper rear panel 3a and a lower rear panel 3b (Fig. 3). The upper front panel 2a and the lower front panel 2b as well as the upper rear panel 3a and the lower rear panel 3b are all formed in a horizontally long rectangular shape (rectangular shape), and each panel surface is formed in a lattice shape, and they are in a communicating state so that air can pass between the front and back (inside and outside when constructed as a protective cover 1) through the gaps in the lattice.

On the other hand, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5 are both of the same configuration, formed in a vertically long rectangular shape, and both have legs 4a and 5a at the bottom of both sides (the side closer to the front and the side closer to the back). Therefore, when the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5 are erected, large gaps (spaces) are created between the legs 4a and 4a and between the legs 5a and 5a. The panel surfaces of the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5 are also formed in a lattice pattern, and are in a communicating state so that air can pass between the front and back (inside and outside when constructed as a protective cover 1) through the gaps in the lattice.

Furthermore, as shown in Figure 6, the top panel member 6 is also formed in a horizontally long rectangular shape (rectangular shape), and its panel surface is formed in a lattice pattern. The lattice openings allow air to pass between the front and back (inside and outside when constructed as a protective cover 1), creating a state of communication.

In this way, the front panel member 2 (upper front panel 2a and lower front panel 2b), rear panel member 3 (upper rear panel 3a and lower rear panel 3b), left side panel member 4, right side panel member 5, and top panel member 6 are all formed in a lattice pattern and have sufficient breathability in common. The protective cover 1 of this embodiment is formed by assembling such panel members 2 to 6.
The configuration of each of the panel members 2 to 6 will now be described in detail.

[2] Front panel member 2
As shown in Fig. 2, the upper front panel 2a and the lower front panel 2b constituting the front panel member 2 each consist of a horizontally long rectangular (rectangular) steel frame 21a/21b and a plurality of vertical bars 22a/22b and horizontal bars 23a/23b made of steel that cross each other at right angles inside the frame 21a/21b. Of these, each vertical bar 22a/22b is made of a bar-shaped steel material (diameter 5 mm), and each horizontal bar 23a/23b is made of a long flat steel material (SS400 3 mm x 19 mm). Each horizontal bar 23a/23b is attached to the frame 21a/21b so that the flat surface of the flat steel material is parallel to the thickness direction of the front panel member 2, and each vertical bar 22a/22b is attached to the frame 21a/21b so that the flat surface is perpendicular to the frame 21a/21b. Specifically, the upper front panel 2a and the lower front panel 2b in this embodiment are made of lattice-shaped steel material for gratings, with the vertical bars 22a and 22b corresponding to so-called cross bars and the horizontal bars 23a and 23b corresponding to what are called main bars. The upper front panel 2a and the lower front panel 2b in this embodiment are relatively heavy, each weighing 6.6 kg.

Of the upper front panel 2a and the lower front panel 2b, the upper front panel 2a will be described first. As shown in Fig. 2(A), the vertical frames 24a, 24a located on both sides of the upper front panel 2a each have a notched engagement groove 25a formed in the center, and bolt holes 26a, 26a formed in two locations near the upper and lower ends. Of these, the engagement groove 25a has a shape cut out from the side end of the vertical frame 24a so that the opening is located downward and the inner depth of the groove is located upward, and as will be described later, it is designed to be freely engaged with the engagement protrusions 45a, 55a provided on the support members 41, 51 near the front of the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5 (Figs. 4 and 8). On the other hand, each bolt hole 26a is provided at a position that matches the bolt holes 44a and bolt holes 54a provided in the support members 41 and 51 near the front of the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5, respectively. By aligning each bolt hole 26a of one vertical frame 24a with each bolt hole 44a near the front of the left side panel member 4 and each bolt hole 26a of the other vertical frame 24a with each bolt hole 54a near the front of the right side panel member 5, and then fastening them with bolts and nuts (not shown), the upper front panel 2a can be fixed (mainly fixed) to the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5.

Here, the positional relationship between the engagement grooves 25a and the bolt holes 26a in the upper front panel 2a will be explained. When each engagement groove 25a is engaged with the engagement protrusions 45a and 55a near the front of the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5, respectively, the position of each bolt hole 26a in the upper front panel 2a coincides with the position of each bolt hole 44a near the front of the left side panel member 4 and the position of each bolt hole 54a near the front of the right side panel member 5. In other words, by engaging each engagement groove 25a with the engagement protrusions 45a and 55a near the front of the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5, respectively, the position of each bolt hole 26a in the upper front panel 2a is also simultaneously aligned with each bolt hole 44a near the front of the left side panel member 4 and each bolt hole 54a near the front of the right side panel member 5. This engagement groove 25a corresponds to the "temporarily fixed locking portion for permanent fixation" of the present invention, and the engagement protrusions 45a and 55a near the front of the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5 correspond to the "temporarily fixed locked portion for permanent fixation" of the present invention.

Next, the lower front panel 2b will be described.
The lower front panel 2b has a structure similar to that of the upper front panel 2a, but differs in the number of engagement grooves. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 2B, the vertical bars 24b, 24b located on both sides of the lower front panel 2b are each formed with engagement grooves 25b, 27 having the same structure as the engagement groove 25a at two locations, the center and the upper end. As described later, the engagement grooves 25b, 27 are also designed to be freely engaged with an engagement protrusion 45b provided on a support member 41 near the front of the left side panel member 4 and an engagement protrusion 55b provided on a support member 51 near the front of the right side panel member 5, respectively. The other structures of the lower front panel 2b are similar to those of the upper front panel 2a. In particular, like the upper front panel 2a, two bolt holes 26b are formed in each vertical frame 24b of the lower front panel 2b, and these bolt holes 26b are provided at positions which coincide with bolt holes 44b, 44b provided in the support member 41 near the front of the left side panel member 4 and bolt holes 54b, 54b provided in the support member 51 near the front of the right side panel member 5, and the bolt holes 26b of one vertical frame 24b are aligned with the bolt holes 44b near the front of the left side panel member 4 and the bolt holes 26b of the other vertical frame 24b are aligned with the bolt holes 54b near the front of the right side panel member 5, and then the lower front panel 2b can be fixed (mainly fixed) to the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5 by fastening them together with bolts and nuts not shown.

Here, the reason why two engagement grooves are provided on the lower front panel 2b will be explained. First, the engagement grooves 25b, 25b provided in the centre of each vertical frame 24b, 24b of the lower front panel 2b are capable of freely engaging with and releasably engaging the engagement protrusions 45b, 55b near the front of the left side panel member 4 and right side panel member 5, which will be described later, respectively, and have the same function as the engagement groove 25a of the upper front panel 2a described above. That is, when the engagement grooves 25b and 25b are engaged with the engagement protrusions 45b and 55b on the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5, respectively, the positions of the bolt holes 26b and 26b of the lower front panel 2b match the positions of the bolt holes 44b and 44b on the left side panel member 4 and the bolt holes 54b and 54b on the right side panel member 5 (FIG. 8). By engaging the engagement grooves 25b and 25b with the engagement protrusions 45b and 55b, respectively, the bolt holes 26b and 26b of the lower front panel 2b are also aligned with the bolt holes 44b and 44b of the left side panel member 4 and the bolt holes 54b and 54b of the right side panel member 5 at the same time.

When the engagement grooves 25b and 25b are engaged with the engagement protrusions 45b and 55b, respectively, the lower frame 28 (the part constituting the lower side of the frame body 21b) of the lower front panel 2b is separated from the ground (the installation surface on which the protective cover 1 is installed) to form a large gap below it. The same is true when the bolt holes 26b and 26b of the lower front panel 2b are aligned with the bolt holes 44b and 44b of the left side panel member 4 and the bolt holes 54b and 54b of the right side panel member 5, respectively, for bolt fixing (full fixing). The engagement grooves 25b and 25b correspond to the "provisional locking portion for full fixing" of the present invention, and the engagement protrusion 45b near the front of the left side panel member 4 and the engagement protrusion 55b near the front of the right side panel member 5 correspond to the "provisional locking portion for full fixing" of the present invention.

On the other hand, the engagement grooves 27/27 provided near the upper ends of the vertical frames 24b/24b of the lower front panel 2b are similar to the engagement grooves 25b/25b provided in the central portion in that they are capable of freely engaging with and releasably engaging the engagement protrusion 45b provided near the front of the left side panel member 4 and the engagement protrusion 55b provided near the front of the right side panel member 5, but differ in that they are not intended for permanent fixation. Specifically, as shown in Figures 7 and 8, when the engagement grooves 27, 27 provided near the upper ends of the vertical frames 24b, 24b of the lower front panel 2b are engaged with the engagement protrusions 45b near the front of the left side panel member 4 or the engagement protrusions 55b near the front of the right side panel member 5, the lower frame 28 of the lower front panel 2b is brought into contact with the ground. As a result, for example, by engaging the engagement groove 27 with the engagement protrusions 45b near the front of the left side panel member 4, the lower front panel 2b and the left side panel member 4 are assembled in an L-shape and temporarily held in place, and the lower frame 28 of the lower front panel 2b and the two legs 4a, 4a of the left side panel member 4 are brought into contact with the ground, allowing the panel to stand on its own in this state.

This is also the case when the engagement groove 27 of the other vertical frame 24b is engaged with the engagement protrusion 55b near the front of the right side panel member 5. In other words, by engaging this engagement groove 27 with the engagement protrusion 55b near the front of the right side panel member 5, the lower front panel 2b and the right side panel member 5 are assembled in an L-shape and temporarily held in place, and the lower frame 28 of the lower front panel 2b and the two legs 5a, 5a of the right side panel member 5 are in contact with the ground, allowing the panel to stand on its own in this state.

These engagement grooves 27, 27 correspond to the "self-supporting provisionally fastened engaging portion" of the present invention, and the engagement protrusion 45b near the front of the left side panel member 4 or the engagement protrusion 55b near the front of the right side panel member 5 corresponds to the "self-supporting provisionally fastened engaged portion" of the present invention. In this embodiment, the engagement protrusion 45b near the front of the left side panel member 4 and the engagement protrusion 55b near the front of the right side panel member 5 are each configured to be both a "self-supporting provisionally fastened engaged portion" and a "full-fixing provisionally fastened engaged portion", and in this sense, in this embodiment, they are used as both a "self-supporting provisionally fastened engaged portion" and a "full-fixing provisionally fastened engaged portion".

The upper front panel 2a and the lower front panel 2b configured as described above are arranged one above the other, and then assembled to the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5, respectively, to form the front panel member 2.

[3] Rear panel member 3
As shown in Fig. 3, the upper back panel 3a and the lower back panel 3b constituting the back panel member 3 are constructed almost the same as the upper front panel 2a and the lower front panel 2b, respectively. The only difference between the two is the number of bar-shaped steel members constituting the vertical bars. Specifically, the number of vertical bars 22a and 22b in the upper front panel 2a and the lower front panel 2b in this embodiment is 22, while the number of vertical bars 32a and 32b in the upper back panel 3a and the lower back panel 3b is half that, that is, 11. Therefore, since the number of vertical bars 32a and 32b is smaller, the upper back panel 3a and the lower back panel 3b are slightly lighter than the upper front panel 2a and the lower front panel 2b, respectively, and both weigh 5.7 kg. The number of cross bars 33a, 33b (long flat steel members) on the upper rear panel 3a and the lower rear panel 3b is the same as the number of cross bars 23a, 23b on the upper front panel 2a and the lower front panel 2b.

In addition, the upper rear panel 3a has a notched engagement groove 35a formed in the center of the vertical frame 34a located on both sides, and the lower rear panel 3b has engagement grooves 35b and 37 of the same configuration as the engagement grooves 25b and 27 formed in two places, the center and the upper end, of the vertical frame 34b located on both sides, similar to the upper front panel 2a and the lower front panel 2b. Also, the engagement groove 35a provided in the center of the vertical frame 34a of the upper rear panel 3a corresponds to the "provisional locking portion for permanent fixation" of the present invention, and the engagement protrusions 45a and 55a provided on the support members 41 and 51 near the rear of the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5 correspond to the "provisional locking portion for permanent fixation" of the present invention, similar to the upper front panel 2a. In addition, the engagement groove 35b provided in the center of the vertical frame 34b of the lower rear panel 3b corresponds to the "temporary locking portion for permanent fixation" of the present invention, and the engagement protrusions 45b and 55b provided on the support members 41 and 51 near the rear of the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5 correspond to the "temporary locked portion for permanent fixation" of the present invention, which is the same as in the case of the lower front panel 2b.

Furthermore, when the engagement grooves 37, 37 provided near the upper ends of the vertical frames 34b, 34b of the lower rear panel 3b are engaged with the engagement protrusions 45b near the rear of the left side panel member 4 or the engagement protrusions 55b near the rear of the right side panel member 5, the lower frame 38 of the lower rear panel 3b comes into contact with the ground. As a result, by engaging the engagement grooves 37, 37 with the engagement protrusions 45b near the rear of the left side panel member 4 or the engagement protrusions 55b near the rear of the right side panel member 5, the lower rear panel 3b and the left side panel member 4 or the right side panel member 5 are assembled in an L-shape and temporarily held in place. At this time, the lower frame 38 of the lower rear panel 3b and the two legs 4a, 4a of the left side panel member 4 or the two legs 5a, 5a of the right side panel member 5 come into contact with the ground, allowing both to stand on their own, just like the lower front panel 2b. Therefore, the engagement groove 37 provided near the upper end of the vertical frame 34b of the lower rear panel 3b corresponds to the "self-supporting provisionally fastened engaging portion" of the present invention, and the engagement protrusion 45b provided on the support member 41 near the rear of the left side panel member 4 or the engagement protrusion 55b provided on the support member 51 near the rear of the right side panel member 5 corresponds to the "self-supporting provisionally fastened engaged portion" of the present invention, and the "self-supporting provisionally fastened engaged portion" and the "full-fixing provisionally fastened engaged portion" are used in combination, just like the lower front panel 2b.

[4] Left side panel member 4 and right side panel member 5
Since the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5 have the same configuration, the following description will mainly focus on the left side panel member 4.
4 and 5, the left side panel member 4 includes two support members 41, 41 provided on both sides, a plurality of vertical bars 42 provided vertically (parallel to the support members 41, 41) between the two support members 41, 41, and a plurality of horizontal bars 43 provided horizontally (perpendicular to the support members 41, 41) between the two support members 41. Each vertical bar 42 is made of a rod-shaped steel material (diameter 5 mm), and each horizontal bar 43 is made of a long flat steel material (SS400 3 mm x 19 mm). On the other hand, both of the two support members 41, 41 are made of L-shaped angle steel material and have the same structure. Each horizontal crosspiece 43 has its end fixed to one surface portion forming an angle (mountain shape) of each support member 41, 41 so that the flat surface of the flat steel material is parallel to the thickness direction of the left side panel member 4, and each vertical crosspiece 42 is arranged so as to be perpendicular to this flat surface. However, no horizontal crosspiece 43 is provided below the support member 41, and therefore a large gap (space) is formed between the two support members 41, 41. In other words, the lower ends of the two support members 41, 41 protrude further downward from the lowest horizontal crosspiece 43, and this protruding portion corresponds to the legs 4a, 4a of the left side panel member 4.

The leg 4a is provided with an anchor plate 70 for adjusting the height. As shown in FIG. 9, the anchor plate 70 for adjusting the height is made of a steel plate in a substantially L-shape, with one long hole 70a formed on one surface forming the L-shape and two long holes 70b, 70b formed on the other surface. The surface with the long hole 70a is the grounding portion that is grounded to the ground, and can be fixed to the ground with an anchor bolt (not shown) through the long hole 70a. On the other hand, the surface with the two long holes 70b, 70b is overlapped with one surface forming the angle (mountain shape) of the support member 41 and then bolted. Specifically, two round holes 70c are formed at the lower end of each support member 41 at positions corresponding to the two long holes 70b of the anchor plate 70 (see Figures 4 and 5). The length (height) of each leg 4a can be adjusted by adjusting the positions of the long holes 70b and the round holes 70c and then fastening them with bolts. This makes it easy to accommodate installation surfaces that are not flat.

On the other surface forming the angle (mountain shape) of the support member 41, i.e., on the surface other than the surface to which the end of the horizontal bar 43 is fixed, a plurality of bolt holes 44a, 44b are arranged in parallel in the vertical direction (see FIG. 4). These bolt holes 44a, 44b are for fixing (mainly fixing) the front panel member 2 or the back panel member 3. In this embodiment, two bolt holes 44a, 44a are provided in the area above the center of each support member 41, and two bolt holes 44b, 44b are provided in the area below the center (thus a total of four). Because the two support members 41 have the same configuration, here we will explain the support member 41 to which the front panel member 2 is fixed (the support member 41 closer to the front of the two support members 41). The two bolt holes 44a provided in the area above the center of the support member 41 correspond to the two bolt holes 26a provided in the upper front panel 2a, and the two bolt holes 44b provided in the area below the center of the support member 41 correspond to the two bolt holes 26b provided in the lower front panel. By aligning these bolt holes 44a/44a with bolt holes 26a/26a and bolt holes 44b/44b with bolt holes 26b/26b, respectively, and then fastening them with bolts and nuts (not shown), the upper front panel 2a and the lower front panel 2b are fixed (mainly fixed) to the left side panel member 4, thereby constructing the front panel member 2.

The above also applies to the relationship between the support member 41 (the support member 41 closest to the back of the two support members 41) to which the back panel member 3 is fixed and the back panel member 3 (the upper back panel 3a and the lower back panel 3b). That is, the two bolt holes 44a provided in the area above the center of the support member 41 closest to the back of the two support members 41 correspond to the two bolt holes 36a provided in the upper back panel 3a, and the two bolt holes 44b provided in the area below the center of the support member 41 correspond to the two bolt holes 36b provided in the lower back panel 3b. By aligning these bolt holes 44a/44a with bolt holes 36a/36a and bolt holes 44b/44b with bolt holes 36b/36b, respectively, and then fastening them with bolts and nuts (not shown), the upper rear panel 3a and the lower rear panel 3b are fixed (mainly fixed) to the left side panel member 4, thereby constructing the rear panel member 3.

In addition, the surface of each support member 41, on which the bolt holes 44a, 44b are formed, has engagement protrusions 45a, 45b made of headed pins protruding therefrom. These engagement protrusions 45a, 45b are intended to engage with the notched engagement grooves 25a, 25b, 27 formed in the front panel member 2 or the notched engagement grooves 35a, 35b, 37 formed in the back panel member 3, respectively. In this embodiment, one engagement protrusion 45a is provided in the region above the center of the support member 41, and one engagement protrusion 45b is provided in the region below the center of the support member, for a total of two engagement protrusions. The engagement protrusion 45a provided in the region above the center of the support member 41 is located between the two bolt holes 44a, 44a provided in the same region, and the engagement protrusion 45b provided in the region below the center of the support member 41 is located between the two bolt holes 44b, 44b provided in the same region.

In this embodiment, the weight of the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5 is both 10.5 kg.

[5] Top panel member 6
As shown in FIG. 6, the top panel member 6 is composed of a horizontally long rectangular (rectangular) steel frame 61 and a plurality of vertical bars 62 and horizontal bars 63 made of steel that cross each other at right angles inside the frame (the vertical and horizontal directions are based on a plan view of the protective cover 1 assembled). Of these, each vertical bar 62 is made of a bar-shaped steel material (diameter 5 mm), and each horizontal bar 63 is made of a long flat steel material (SS400 3 mm x 19 mm). Each horizontal bar 63 is attached to the frame 61 so that the flat surface of the flat steel material is parallel to the thickness direction of the top panel member 6, and each vertical bar 62 is attached to the frame 61 so that it is perpendicular to this flat surface. The top panel member 6 of this embodiment is also composed of a lattice-shaped steel material for gratings, and its weight is 9.3 kg.

This top panel member 6 can be fixed to the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5 using bolts and nuts (not shown).

[6] Assembly Procedure of Protective Cover 1 The panel members 2 to 6 configured as described above are assembled in the following procedure. Here, the procedure will be described in which the left side panel member 4 and the lower front panel 2b are first temporarily fixed together to allow them to stand independently.

First, as shown in Figure 7, the left side panel member 4 and the lower front panel 2b are raised vertically, and the engagement protrusion 45b near the front of the left side panel member 4 is engaged with the engagement groove 27 of the lower front panel 2b. This allows the left side panel member 4 and the lower front panel 2b to be assembled in an L-shape and temporarily held in place, and the bottom frame 28 of the lower front panel 2b and the two legs 4a, 4a of the left side panel member 4 to be in contact with the ground, allowing both to stand on their own (Figure 10).

In this state, the right side panel member 5 is further temporarily attached to the lower front panel 2b (Figure 11). Specifically, the engagement protrusion 55b near the front of the right side panel member 5 is engaged with the engagement groove 27 of the lower front panel 2b to temporarily attach the two together. This results in the left side panel member 4, the lower front panel 2b, and the right side panel member 5 being assembled in a U-shape in plan view. Of course, it goes without saying that they remain self-supporting even in this state.

In this state, the rear panel member 3 is permanently fixed. Specifically, first, the engagement grooves 35b, 35b for permanent fixation of the lower rear panel 3b are engaged with the engagement protrusions 45b near the rear of the left side panel member 4 and the engagement protrusions 55b near the rear of the right side panel member 5, respectively. As a result, the lower rear panel 3b is provisionally locked to the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5, respectively, and the bolt holes 36b of the lower rear panel 3b are aligned with the bolt holes 44b near the rear of the left side panel member 4 and the bolt holes 54b near the rear of the right side panel member 5, respectively, and these are fastened with bolts and nuts (not shown) to fix (permanently fix) the lower rear panel 3b to the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5, respectively (FIG. 12). In addition, the upper rear panel 3a is provisionally secured to the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5 by engaging the engagement protrusion 45a near the rear of the left side panel member 4 and the engagement protrusion 55a near the rear of the right side panel member 5 with the engagement grooves 35a, 35a for permanent fastening provided on the upper rear panel 3a, and the bolt holes 36a in the upper rear panel 3a are aligned with the bolt holes 44a near the rear of the left side panel member 4 and the bolt holes 54a near the rear of the right side panel member 5, and these are fastened together with bolts and nuts (not shown) to fix (permanently fix) the upper rear panel 3a to the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5 (FIG. 13).

Next, the front panel member 2, which was temporarily fixed, is permanently fixed (FIG. 14). Specifically, the lower front panel 2b, which was temporarily fixed, is lifted upward, and the engagement grooves 25b for permanent fixation of the lower front panel 2b are engaged with the engagement protrusions 45b near the front of the left side panel member 4 and the engagement protrusions 55b near the front of the right side panel member 5. As a result, the lower front panel 2b is temporarily locked to the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5, respectively, and the bolt holes 26b of the lower front panel 2b are aligned with the bolt holes 44b near the front of the left side panel member 4 and the bolt holes 54b near the front of the right side panel member 5, respectively, and these are fastened with bolts and nuts (not shown) to fix the lower front panel 2b to the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5, respectively. At this time, the lower frame 28 of the lower front panel 2b, which had been in contact with the ground, is separated from the ground, and a large gap is formed below. In this embodiment, the height of the gap formed below the lower front panel 2b is the same as the height of the gaps formed below the left side panel member 4, the right side panel member 5, and the rear panel member 3 (lower rear panel 3b).

In this state, the upper front panel 2a is further fixed (Fig. 15). Specifically, the engagement grooves 25a, 25a for the final fixation of the upper front panel 2a are engaged with the engagement protrusions 45a, 55a, respectively, on the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5, so that the bolt holes 26a of the upper front panel 2a are aligned with the bolt holes 44a, 54a, respectively, on the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5, and these are fastened together with bolts and nuts (not shown) to fix the upper front panel 2a to the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5.

Next, the top panel member 6 is placed on top of it, and the top panel member 6 is bolted to the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5. This completes the assembly of the protective cover 1 (Figure 16).

The legs 4a, 5a of the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5 are fixed to the ground with anchor bolts or the like (not shown) after the height is adjusted. This can be done at an appropriate stage. The piping to the air conditioner outdoor unit A is connected through various gaps (lattice gaps or gaps formed below each panel member) formed in the protective cover 1.

The above assembly procedure is merely an example, and instead of the above procedure, the right side panel member 5 and the lower front panel 2b may be temporarily fastened together first to make them stand on their own, or the left side panel member 4 or the right side panel member 5 and the lower back panel 3b may be temporarily fastened together first to make them stand on their own. In this embodiment, the lower front panel 2b and the lower back panel 3b are both provided with the engagement grooves 27 and 37 that function as temporary fastening engagement parts for standing on their own, and the engagement grooves 25b and 35b that function as temporary fastening engagement parts for permanent fixing, so that either the lower front panel 2b or the lower back panel 3b can be temporarily fastened to the left side panel member 4 or the right side panel member 5 to make them stand on their own.

[7] Effects of the Present Embodiment As described above, according to the protective cover 1 of the present embodiment, since each panel member 2 to 6 is made of a lattice-shaped steel material for gratings, on the one hand, it has the advantage of being strong and sturdy, and being able to effectively protect the air conditioner outdoor unit A against strong external impacts, while on the other hand, it is possible to easily assemble the protective cover 1 by overcoming the poor workability and cumbersomeness during assembly caused by the weight of each panel member 2 to 6. That is, in this embodiment, the lower front panel 2b or the lower back panel 3b and the left side panel member 4 or the right side panel member 5 can be temporarily fixed and held in a self-supporting state, so that other panel members can be assembled in this state. Therefore, there is no need to perform the cumbersome work of assembling other panel members while supporting the panel member in the middle of assembly with one's hand so that it does not fall over, and the protective cover can be easily assembled despite the weight of each panel member.

[8] Modifications Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. In the above embodiment, the front panel member 2 is composed of two element panels, the upper front panel 2a and the lower front panel 2b, and the back panel member 3 is composed of two element panels, the upper back panel 3a and the lower back panel 3b. However, each may be composed of one panel, or may be composed of three or more element panels.

In the above embodiment, the front panel member 2 and the back panel member 3 are each composed of two element panels, but the left side panel member 4 and the right side panel member 5 may each be composed of two or more element panels. The top panel member 6 may also be composed of two or more element panels.

In the above embodiment, the front panel member 2 and the back panel member 3 are each composed of two element panels divided vertically, but instead, they may be composed of element panels divided horizontally into two or more pieces. In addition, the left side panel member 4 or the right side panel member 5 may also be composed of element panels divided horizontally into two or more pieces as well as vertically.

In the above embodiment, each panel member is formed in a lattice shape with vertical and horizontal bars that are perpendicular to each other, but it may also be formed in a lattice shape with bars in two directions that intersect diagonally. Also, in the above embodiment, one bar (vertical bar) is made of rod-shaped steel material and the other bar (horizontal bar) is made of long flat steel material, but this is not necessarily limited to such a configuration, and it is sufficient that one of the bars is made of long flat steel material.

In the above embodiment, each panel member is made of lattice steel material for gratings, but it does not necessarily have to be made of lattice steel material for gratings, and other materials may be used as long as at least one of the bars in the two directions is made of long flat steel material.

In the above embodiment, the engagement grooves 27 and 37 functioning as the self-supporting provisional engagement portion and the engagement grooves 25b and 35b functioning as the permanently fixed provisional engagement portion were provided on both the lower front panel 2b and the lower back panel 3b, but the self-supporting provisional engagement portion and the permanently fixed provisional engagement portion may be provided on only one of the lower front panel 2b or the lower back panel 3b.

In the above embodiment, the self-supporting provisionally fixed engaging portion is configured with an engaging groove, and the self-supporting provisionally fixed engaged portion is configured with an engaging protrusion, but the former may be configured with an engaging protrusion and the latter with an engaging groove. Furthermore, the self-supporting provisionally fixed engaging portion and the engaged portion are not necessarily limited to a combination of an engaging groove and an engaging protrusion, and may be any that are in an engaging relationship with each other.

In the above embodiment, the temporary fixing locking portion for permanent fixation is configured with an engagement groove, and the temporary fixing locked portion for permanent fixation is configured with an engagement protrusion, but the former may be configured with an engagement protrusion and the latter with an engagement groove. In addition, the temporary fixing locking portion for permanent fixation and the locked portion are not necessarily limited to a combination of an engagement groove and an engagement protrusion, and may be any combination that is in a locking relationship with each other.

In the above embodiment, the self-supporting provisionally fixed engaged portion and the permanently fixed provisionally fixed locked portion are configured to serve as a common engaging protrusion, but they do not necessarily have to be configured to serve as a common engaging protrusion, and the two may be configured separately. Also, instead of serving as a self-supporting provisionally fixed engaged portion and a permanently fixed provisionally fixed locked portion, the self-supporting provisionally fixed engaging portion and the temporaryly fixed provisionally fixed locked portion may be configured to serve as a common engaging protrusion.

In the above embodiment, each of the legs 4a and 5a located at the four corners of the protective cover 1 is configured to be height adjustable by the anchor plate 70 and the long holes 70b formed therein, but it is not essential to make each leg height adjustable in the first place, and even if it is made height adjustable, it is not limited to such a configuration. Furthermore, it is not necessary to configure all of the legs to be height adjustable.

In the above embodiment, each panel member is fixed (mainly fixed) with bolts and nuts and assembled, but the means for fixing (mainly fixing) each panel member is not limited to bolts and nuts.

1...protective cover for air conditioner outdoor unit, 2...front panel member, 2a...upper front panel, 2b...lower front panel, 3...rear panel member, 3a...upper rear panel, 3b...lower rear panel, 4...left side panel member, 4a...legs, 5...right side panel member, 5a...legs, 6...top panel member, 21a...frame body of upper front panel, 21b...frame body of lower front panel, 22a...vertical bar of upper front panel, 22b...vertical bar of lower front panel, 23a...horizontal bar of upper front panel, 23b...horizontal bar of lower front panel, 24a...vertical frame of upper front panel, 24b...vertical frame of lower front panel, 25a...engagement groove of upper front panel ( Temporary fastening portion for permanent fixation), 25b...engagement groove of lower front panel (temporary fastening portion for permanent fixation), 26a...bolt hole of upper front panel, 26b...bolt hole of lower front panel, 27...engagement groove of lower front panel (temporary fastening portion for self-support), 28...lower frame of lower front panel, 31a...frame of upper rear panel, 31b...frame of lower rear panel, 32a...vertical bar of upper rear panel, 32b...vertical bar of lower rear panel, 33a...horizontal bar of upper rear panel, 33b...horizontal bar of lower rear panel, 34a...vertical bar of upper rear panel, 34b...vertical bar of lower rear panel, 35a...engagement groove of upper rear panel (temporary fastening portion for permanent fixation), 35b...engagement groove of lower rear panel (provisional fastening engaging portion for final fixation), 36a...bolt hole of upper rear panel, 36b...bolt hole of lower rear panel, 37...engagement groove of lower rear panel (provisional fastening engaging portion for self-support), 38...lower frame of lower rear panel, 41...support member of left side panel member, 42...vertical rail of left side panel member, 43...horizontal rail of left side panel member, 44a...bolt hole (upper row) of left side panel member, 44b...bolt hole (lower row) of left side panel member, 45a...engagement protrusion of left side panel member (provisional fastening engaged portion for final fixation), 45b...engagement protrusion of left side panel member (provisional fastening engaged portion for self-support and temporary fastening Locked portion), 51...support member of right side panel member, 52...vertical bar of right side panel member, 53...horizontal bar of right side panel member, 54a...bolt hole (upper row) of right side panel member, 54b...bolt hole (lower row) of right side panel member, 55a...engagement protrusion of right side panel member (temporarily fixed locked portion), 55b...engagement protrusion of right side panel member (temporarily fixed engaged portion for self-support and temporarily fixed locked portion for permanent fixation), 61...frame of top panel member, 62...vertical bar of top panel member, 63...horizontal bar of top panel member, 70...height adjustment anchor plate, 70a...long hole, 70b...long hole, 70c...round hole, A...air conditioner outdoor unit.

Claims (4)

A protective cover for an air conditioner outdoor unit that can be installed around the air conditioner outdoor unit,
the cover includes at least a first panel member provided on a front side or a rear side of the air conditioner outdoor unit, and a second panel member provided on a left side side or a right side side of the air conditioner outdoor unit,
The first and second panel members each have a lattice shape in which two directional bars intersect, and at least one of the two directional bars is made of a long flat steel material,
The first and second panel members are provided with a self-supporting temporary fastening engaging portion and an engaged portion for temporarily fastening and holding the first and second panel members in a self-supporting state ,
The first and second panel members are provided with a temporary locking portion for full fixation and a locked portion for temporary locking the first and second panel members in order to fully fix the first and second panel members to each other in addition to the temporary locking portion for self-support and the locked portion,
When the first panel member and the second panel member are made to stand on their own by engaging the self-supporting temporary engagement portion and the engaged portion, the bottom frame of one of the first panel member or the second panel member is in contact with the ground, whereas when the final fixation temporary locking portion and the locked portion are locked, the bottom frame of the one panel member is separated from the ground. The protective cover for an air conditioner outdoor unit according to claim 1, characterized in that the bars in the two directions are made up of vertical bars and horizontal bars, one of the vertical bars or horizontal bars being made of a long flat steel material and the other being made of a bar-shaped steel material. 2. The protective cover for an air conditioner outdoor unit according to claim 1 , wherein one of the self-supporting temporary engagement portion or the engaged portion also serves as the permanent fixing temporary locking portion or the locked portion. A protective cover for an air conditioner outdoor unit according to claim 1, characterized in that the cover has height-adjustable legs.

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