JPH0268216A - Air-conditioning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To suppress the generation of a nasty smell by making the inside of a case into a hot air ambiance, and providing a heating device to sterilize microorganisms in the case and around an evaporator. CONSTITUTION:By rotating the second blower 45 with a motor 46 for blower on condition that the first blower 4 is being stopped, the air is circulated in an evaporator case 14 in the direction of the arrow A. The air flowing in a heater 18 for heat-sterilizing purpose from the second blower 45 through a bypass duct 16 passes through the clearances between fins 19, 20, and 21, and the heat is absorbed from the fins 19, 20, and 21 at that time, raising the temperature of the air up to 60-100 deg.C, for example. The air heated in the sterilizing heater 18 heats an evaporator 15, and furthermore, heats the inner wall of the evaporator case 14. As a result, since the evaporator 15, the inner wall of the evaporator case 14, and the other every nook and corner in the evaporator case 14 are heated by the hot air, microorganisms causing a nasty smell attached around the evaporator are heated and sterilized thoroughly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and particularly to a device for cleaning an air conditioner.
Applicable to home air conditioner systems.

(Prior Art) When an air conditioner is started, the air blown out from the air outlet may generate unpleasant odors such as dust, moisture, and mold odors. The main reason for this is that when the condensed water in the evaporator evaporates, odor substances are generated by microorganisms attached to the evaporator.

A device for reducing the odor generated from such an air conditioner, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 60-49010, is a device that provides a heating element in the evaporator and heats only the evaporator by energizing the heating element. The generation of unpleasant odors is suppressed by sterilizing microorganisms attached to the evaporator.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, according to conventional air conditioners, the odor generated from the air conditioner when starting the air conditioner is caused by microorganisms that have grown inside the evaporator case. Even if the main body is heated, for example, the heat is not sufficiently transmitted to every corner of the inner peripheral wall of the evaporator case, so it does not sterilize everything inside the evaporator case, and it may cause discomfort felt from the cold air blown into the passenger compartment. There is a problem in that the odor cannot be sufficiently reduced. Furthermore, if a heat sterilizer is attached to each air conditioner unit, there is a problem that the air conditioner becomes complicated and large.

The present invention was made to solve these problems, and by circulating hot air inside the case that houses the evaporator, the inside of the case is made into a warm air atmosphere, thereby heating the microorganisms that cause bad odors. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner that sterilizes and suppresses the generation of unpleasant odors.

(Means for Solving the Problems) To achieve this, the air conditioner of the present invention includes an evaporator that cools air for air conditioning, and a case that holds the evaporator.

The apparatus is characterized in that a heating means is provided for sterilizing microorganisms in the case and in the evaporator by creating a warm air atmosphere in the case.

(Function) According to the air conditioner of the present invention, since the air conditioner is configured to circulate air heated by the heating means in the case that houses the evaporator, the evaporator and the evaporator are easily propagated by microorganisms. The inner wall of the case and its surroundings are evenly heated with warm air, and all microorganisms attached to the air conditioner unit around the evaporator are sterilized, which greatly reduces the unpleasant odor that occurs when the air conditioner is started. reduce

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

The first embodiment is applied to an air conditioner mounted on a vehicle, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4.

As shown in FIG. 1, an air intake port 3 is opened in a blower case 2 provided at the most upstream side of the air passage 1, and a first blower 4 is provided in the blower case 2 to take in air from the air intake port 3. , this first blower 4 is rotationally driven by a blower motor 5.

The air passage 1a on the downstream side of the first blower 4 has two air passages.
Shaft 8.10 into these two air flow channels
An upstream shutter 9 that rotatably opens and closes the flow path using the upstream shutter as a fulcrum.
．． 11 are provided respectively.

The evaporator case 14 provided on the downstream side of the air passage la in which the two shutters 9 and 11 are interposed has a larger volume than the internal space in the air passage la, and is an evaporator case having a heat exchanger inside. (Evaporator) 15 is stored. The evaporator 15 cools the air by removing heat from the air flowing through the heat exchanger using a refrigerant.

The evaporator case 14 is provided with a bypass duct 16 that forms a second air passage separate from the air passage in which the evaporator 15 is housed. Bypass duct ■6 is 1
For example, the evaporator case 1 is made of phenol resin, etc.
4, the upstream and downstream sides of the evaporator 15 are connected to form a bypass air flow path as shown by arrow A in FIG. A fin-shaped sterilization heater 18 is provided in the middle of the bypass duct 16.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the heater 1 for heat sterilization
8, three heat-resistant square cylindrical frames 24 made of an insulating material such as phenolic resin are arranged in series in the air flow direction. Corrugated fins 19, 20, and 21 are stacked in three stages on the inner frame of the frame 24, and a thin rectangular PTC heater body 30 is sandwiched between the heat transfer plates 32 and 33 between the fins 19 and 20. It is provided. The PTC heater main body 30 is made of barium carbonate, a
It is made of titanium dioxide and other semiconductor additive elements, and silver electrodes are attached to both the front and back surfaces of the plate. fin 2
0 and 21, a thin plate-shaped PTC heater main body 35 is sandwiched between heat transfer plates 36 and 37. A copper earth electrode 38 serving as a heat transfer plate is attached to the upper surface of the fin 21 by soldering. A spring 4 . It is fixed to the inner frame.

The PTC heater main body 30.35 is heated by the heat exchanger plates 32 and 33 or the heat exchanger plates 36, 37 only by the pressing force of the spring 40.
It is crimped with. In this case, the electrode 36 as a heat transfer plate
becomes the positive electrode, and the earth side electrode 32 serves as a heat transfer plate.
and 38 are negative electrodes, respectively. The three heaters are connected in series by nuts that fit into screws at both ends of a shaft inserted into bolt holes 41 provided at the corners of the frame 24. These frames 24 are fixed in the middle of the above-mentioned bypass duct +6 with bolts or the like.

The second blower 45 provided upstream of the heat sterilization heater 18 is a sirocco fan made of polypropylene or aluminum, and has a diameter of, for example, 5.2 m.
m, the fan width is 33mm. The blower motor 46 that drives the second blower 45 is a DC motor.
For example, the driving voltage is 12■, the power consumption is 2W, and the rotation speed is 3
00 Orpm is used.

The air passage 1b connected to the downstream side of the evaporator case 14 has a downstream shutter 5 in which the air passage is divided into two.
0 and 51 are respectively rotatably mounted around shafts 52 and 53.

A heater case 60 is connected downstream of the air passage 1b, and a rotatable air mix damper 61 is provided inside the heater case 60.
is attached, and a heating heater 62 is attached downstream of the air mix damper 61. The heater case 60 includes a defroster 63, a ventilation 64, and a foot outlet 65 from which cold air cooled by the evaporator 15 or warm air heated by the heating heater 62 is blown out.
are each opened.

Next, the operation of the air conditioner will be explained.

First, the DC voltage 12 is applied to the electrode 36 of the heater 18 for heat sterilization.
When V is applied and the ground is connected to the ground side electrodes 32 and 38, the electrodes 36, PTC heater body 35, and heat exchanger plate
, fin 21. From electrode 38 or electrode 36 to fin 20
, the heat exchanger plate 33, and the PTC heater main body 30.71 32 are energized, and the PTC heater main body 30.35 generates heat. The generated heat is transferred to the fins 19.20 or 21 by thermal conduction.
The temperature of the fins 19.20.2I increases.

When the first blower 4 is stopped, the upstream shutters 9, I+ located upstream and downstream of the evaporator case 14
, and downstream shutters 50, 51 close their respective air flow paths due to gravity. When the second blower 45 is rotated by the blower motor 46 in this state, the first
Air circulates within the evaporator case 14 in the direction of arrow A shown in the figure.

The air flowing from the second blower 45 through the bypass duct 16 into the heat sterilization heater 18 is
Or pass through the gap 21, at this time fin 19.2
The temperature of the air is, for example, 60~ by adding heat from 0 or 21.
The air heated to 100° C. by the heat sterilization heater 18 heats the evaporator 15 and further the inner peripheral wall of the evaporator case 14 . For this reason, the evaporator 15
Since the inner circumferential wall of the evaporator case 1 and other every corner of the evaporator case 14 are heated by hot air, microorganisms that cause unpleasant odors adhering around the evaporator are thoroughly sterilized by heating.

The operation switch for such a sterilization system is provided separately from a normal air conditioner switch, and the operation of the above-mentioned sterilization system is prohibited when the air conditioner switch is turned on. This sterilization system may be operated, for example, once a month to remove unpleasant odors generated from the air conditioner.

Note that during normal air conditioner operation, air is taken into the blower case 2 from the air intake port 3 due to the rotation of the first blower 4, and since the dynamic pressure of this air is large, the upstream shutter 9.11 and the downstream shutter 50 .51 is opened as shown in FIG. 1, and air cooled by the evaporator 15 passes through the heater case 60 and is blown out into the vehicle interior from the ventilation 64 or foot outlet 65.

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the invention.

In FIG. 5, components that are substantially the same as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In the second embodiment, a separate air conditioner cleaning device is installed upstream of the blower case of a conventional air conditioner.

The air conditioner cleaning device 70 opens the air intake lower 5 to the upstream air passage 1c connected to the air intake port 3, and the motor 71
The air taken in from the air intake lower 5 by the rotation of the blower 72 driven by is heated by the heater 74 for heat sterilization,
This heated air is sent to the blower case 4. The heating sterilization heater 74 has a heater power of about 3000 W, and is preferably used mainly as a commercial air conditioner cleaner at a gas station or the like.

According to the second embodiment, the heat sterilization heater 74 is a large heater with a power of 3000 W, and has a sufficient heating effect, so it heats the inside of the evaporator bamboo 7 14 in a short time, and the surrounding area of the evaporator is heated. can be sterilized quickly and reliably.

FIG. 6 shows a third embodiment of the invention.

In FIG. 6, components that are substantially the same as those in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals.

In the third embodiment, an air conditioner cleaning device 80 is installed inside the evaporator case 14. air conditioner cleaning bag r
n80 is provided with an axial fan 83 driven by a motor 82 in the air duct 81.

A heater 84 is attached to the downstream side thereof.

Upstream shutter when the air conditioner stops 9.11. Since the downstream shutters 50 and 51 close the air passage by gravity,
When the motor 82 and heater 84 are driven, airflow generated by the rotation of the axial fan 83 passes through the heater 84 and circulates within the evaporator case 14 as indicated by arrow B in FIG. The air heated through the heater 84 is heated to the inner peripheral wall of the evaporator case 14 and further to the evaporator 15.
etc., the air temperature inside the evaporator case 14 gradually rises, and the circulation of warm air inside the evaporator case heats and sterilizes the surrounding area, reducing unpleasant odors generated from the cold air blown out from the air conditioner. be able to.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the present invention, since the configuration is such that hot air flows through the case of the air conditioner and the evaporator, the evaporator is not only heated and sterilized, but also the evaporator is housed. Since the entire unit constituting the evaporator is heated and sterilized in every corner of the case, it is possible to sufficiently reduce unpleasant odors that are likely to occur when the air conditioner is started.

... Second blower (heating means), 46 ... Blower motor (heating means), 65 ...
・Foot outlet.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing the first embodiment of the present invention;
The figure is a schematic sectional view showing a part of the air passage of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a plan view showing a heater device for heat sterilization.
4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view showing a third embodiment of the present invention. It is.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In an air conditioner that includes an evaporator that cools air for air conditioning and a case that holds this evaporator, by creating a warm air atmosphere in the case, microorganisms in the case and in the evaporator are reduced. An air conditioner characterized by being provided with heating means for sterilizing.