JPH0119002Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] This invention is a wind direction switch that can selectively change the air blowing direction in the indoor unit of an air conditioner between horizontal direction (side blowing) and vertical downward direction (bottom blowing). It is related to the device.

In particular, indoor units of heat pump type air conditioners are designed to quickly cool only the necessary area during rapid cooling, and to effectively circulate warm air from above to below during heating. Therefore, there are some devices that allow the air blowing direction to be changed from the normal horizontal blowing to a downward blowing 90 degrees downward. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the housing 1 of the indoor unit includes an indoor heat exchanger 2 and a fan 3 disposed below it, and the fan 3 sends air downward. Although an air flow path is formed,
In this case, an opening 6 is formed in the lower part of the housing 1, which is the outlet of the air flow path, and is connected to the front and bottom surfaces. Inside this opening 6 is a wind direction adjustment member 4 called a deflection grill for finely adjusting the air blowing direction within a limited range of the horizontal direction and the vertical direction. A wind direction switching plate 5 is provided that can change the blow direction significantly. This wind direction switching plate 5 is
It is designed to be selectively rotated between the bottom surface of the opening and the front surface of the opening, and FIG. 2 illustrates a state in which it is set on the front side of the opening and the blown air is deflected in the downward blowing direction. In this way, by operating the wind direction switching plate 5, the air blowing direction can be switched between horizontal blowing and downward blowing. It is held in a predetermined position by the spring action of a leaf spring that comes into contact with the cam. Therefore, in this conventional device, when trying to change the air blowing direction, the wind direction switching plate 5
is rotated vigorously by the biasing force of the leaf spring, and the direction of the wind is changed rapidly, causing an unpleasant "whirring" noise. Moreover, since an impact sound is generated when the wind direction switching plate 5 collides with the opening end wall, this has an unfavorable effect on the product image.

Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide a wind direction switching device for an air conditioner in which the wind direction switching plate is rotated smoothly and slowly in order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks.

Hereinafter, embodiments of this invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the wind direction switching plate 5 described in the explanation related to FIG. is actually rotatably attached within the opening 6 via a pair of left and right arms 7 provided on both sides of the back surface. In this case, one of the illustrated arms 7 is inserted through a bearing hole 9 formed in the side wall 8 of the opening 6 and projects into the housing 1, as shown in FIG. A braking device 11 including an oil damper 12 is attached to the rotating shaft 10. Referring also to FIG. 4, the braking device 11 includes a transmission gear 13 that is eccentrically fixed to the rotation shaft 10 and rotates about the rotation shaft 10 together with the wind direction switching plate 5, and a rotation support shaft 14. The oil damper 12 has a pair of left and right connecting arms 15, 15, one end of which is pivotally supported at the center of the transmission gear 13.
6 is attached to one side of the connecting arm 15 so as to mesh with the transmission gear 13. Furthermore, slits 18, 18 are formed at the other ends of the connecting arms 15, 15, respectively, to cooperate with a fixed guide pin 17 implanted inside the housing 1. Therefore, when the transmission gear 13 rotates, one end of each connecting arm 15 draws an arc centered on the rotating shaft 10, and the other end moves linearly along the guide pin 17. . The oil damper 12 is composed of a pair of relatively rotating discs coaxially arranged with a viscous fluid such as grease in between, and a predetermined control is achieved by the viscous friction generated between the two discs. It is configured to provide power. Although not shown, this wind direction switching device is provided with releasable locking means, such as a hook and a lock pin, for locking the wind direction switching plate 5 at the front side position of the opening 6.

Next, the operation of this invention will be explained. Fourth
In the figure, when the wind direction switching plate 5 is at the position shown by the solid line, that is, at the front side of the opening 6, and air is being blown downward from the bottom of the opening, when the locking means (not shown) is released, the wind direction is switched. The plate 5 rotates toward the bottom of the opening due to its own weight. In this case, as the transmission gear 13 moves, the rotation shaft 10
Since the oil damper 12 rotates around the wind direction switching plate 5, the braking force of the oil damper 12 is transmitted to the wind direction switching plate 5 via the output gear 16 meshing with the oil damper 12. In this way,
While receiving the braking force from the oil damper 12, the wind direction switching plate 5 eventually rotates to the bottom side of the opening 6 as shown by the imaginary line in FIG. The braking force of the oil damper 12 acting on the oil damper 12 gradually changes depending on the rotation angle of the oil damper 12. That is, if the position of the rotating shaft 10 is O, the point of action of the oil damper 12 is A, and the braking force of the oil damper 12 is T, then when the wind direction switching plate 5 starts rotating from the opening front side position, The braking torque from the oil damper 12 added to this is xT. By the way, due to the rotation of the wind direction switching plate 5, the transmission gear 13 is rotated to the rotation axis 10.
Since the connecting arm 1 rotates around the center of the transmission gear 13, the connecting arm 1 is pivoted at the center of the transmission gear 13.
One end of 5, 15 moves upward while drawing an arc centered on the rotation axis 10, while the other end is drawn linearly toward the left in FIG. 4 along the guide pin 17, and finally It is moved to the position shown by the imaginary line in the figure. If the point of action of the oil damper 12 at this time is A', then since '<, the braking torque applied to the wind direction switching plate 5 is gradually attenuated to '×T' as it approaches the bottom side of the opening. In this way, by changing the distance between the point of action of the oil damper 12 and the rotating shaft 10 according to the rotation angle of the wind direction switching plate 5, the braking torque of the oil damper 12 to the wind direction switching plate 5 is adjusted appropriately. be able to. Therefore, the wind direction switching plate 5 does not stop midway due to the influence of the braking torque of the oil damper 12, and a smooth lowering is achieved over the entire stroke, which eliminates the unpleasant noise that occurs in the conventional case. You can switch from the bottom blow to the side blow. On the other hand, in order to switch the air blowing direction to the vertically downward direction again from this state, the air direction switching plate 5 may be pushed up toward the front side of the opening and held in that position by a locking means (not shown). In this case as well, since the oil damper 12 works, there is almost no possibility that the wind direction switching plate 5 will be suddenly switched.

In the above embodiment, the guide pin 17 is provided on the housing 1 side, and the slit 18 that cooperates with the guide pin 17 is provided on the connecting arm side. Of course, it may be modified so as to be formed as follows.

As is clear from the description of the embodiments described above, according to this invention, in a wind direction switching device having a wind direction switching plate installed in an air blowing opening so as to rotate under its own weight, the wind direction switching plate is It can be rotated slowly and smoothly, and there is no risk of generating unpleasant noise when changing the wind direction or impact noise due to sudden collision with the opening end wall, and it gives a favorable product image to the user. I can do it. In addition, in this invention, in particular, the distance between the point of action of the damper and the rotation axis of the wind direction switching plate is changed according to the rotation angle of the wind direction switching plate, so that the rotational moment due to the weight of the wind direction switching plate is reduced. By attenuating the damper's braking torque, the wind direction switching plate does not stop midway and can be lowered smoothly over the entire stroke.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 and 2 are side views schematically showing the internal structure of a conventional indoor unit, Figure 3 is a perspective view of the wind direction switching device according to this invention, seen from inside the housing, and Figure 4 is an explanation of its operation. 5 is a partial sectional view of the left side of FIG. 4. In the figure, 1 is a housing, 2 is a heat exchanger, 3 is a blower, 5 is a wind direction switching plate, 6 is an opening, 7 is an arm,
10 is a rotating shaft, 11 is a braking device, 12 is an oil damper, 13 is a transmission gear, 15 is a connecting arm, 16
1 is an output gear, 17 is a guide pin, and 18 is a slit.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (1) A housing having an air passage passing through a heat exchanger and a blower, and a horizontally long air passage formed between the front and bottom surfaces of the housing corresponding to the outlet of the air passage. The airflow direction switching plate includes an air outlet opening, and a wind direction switching plate located within the opening and formed to be selectively rotated between a front side and a bottom side of the opening to close one of them, and the airflow direction switching plate includes: The wind direction switching plate is mounted so as to be rotated by its own weight from the front side position of the opening toward the bottom side position via an arm provided on the back surface thereof, and the rotation axis of the arm is attached to the rotating shaft of the wind direction switching plate. In the wind direction switching device for an air conditioner, the output gear of an oil damper is operatively connected to the output gear of the oil damper through a braking torque adjustment mechanism that operates in relation to the rotational movement, the braking torque adjustment mechanism being eccentrically connected to the rotating shaft. A fixed transmission gear, one end of which is pivotally supported by the transmission gear and moves along with it in an arc around the rotating shaft, and the other end of which moves linearly by a guide means provided between the housing and the transmission gear. and a connecting arm held so as to
The oil damper is fixed to the connection arm so that its output gear meshes with the transmission gear, and when the wind direction switching plate descends due to its own weight, the oil damper is fixed to the connection arm so that the output gear meshes with the transmission gear. A wind direction switching device for an air conditioner, characterized in that the device moves close to the rotation axis. (2) The wind direction switching device for an air conditioner according to claim (1), wherein the guide means comprises a combination of a guide pin and a slit that cooperates with the guide pin.