JPH03164624A - Drainage unit for air-conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce power consumption and prevent noise from being produced owing to air suction by providing a water level detector in a drain pan, and driving the drain pan once a high water level is attained and stopping a drain pump once a low water level is attained. CONSTITUTION:With cooling operation or drying operation being started a control circuit 15 receives a detection signal by a water level detector 11, but since a drain water 2 level in a drain pan 1 upon the starting of the operation is low, a drain pump 3 remains stopped. The drain pump 3 is thereafter driven when the water level rises to a high level L0. The drain pump 3 is stopped when the drain water 2 level is stopped when the drain water 2 level is lowered to a low level L1. After the stoppage of the drain pump, provided the drain water level rises and the high level L is again detected, the drain pump 3 is driven and the above control is repeated. The drain pump 3 is actuated in such a manner in response to the drain water level and only when drainage is required, whereby need of successive operation at all times in cooling operation is eliminated, saving power consumption.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a novel drain water drainage device for an air conditioner,
In particular, this invention aims to improve a drain water drainage device that drains drain water accumulated in a drain pan using a drain pump.

(Prior art) In ceiling cassette type or embedded duct type air conditioners, a drain pan is provided at the bottom of the indoor heat exchanger, and drain water accumulated in this drain pan is drained via a drain pump. There is. This drain water drainage device will be explained with reference to FIG.

In Figure 3, a is a drain pan, and the drain pan a
A drain pump C is provided to drain the drain water that has accumulated in the drain tank. This drain pump C has a pump part d and a motor part e.
A suction port f is formed in the lower part of the pump part d, and a discharge pipe is connected to the discharge port g. Further, the motor part e is fixed to a support j as via a vibration isolating rubber i.

In this drain drainage device, as shown in Fig. 4,
When the air conditioner is in cooling operation or dry operation, the temperature control thermo switch is turned on.

The compressor is also turned on and off when the air conditioner is turned off, but the indoor fan and drain pump are always kept on during operation. For this reason, the drain pump C is set to have a drainage capacity that does not drop to the same minimum drain drain level as the suction port f even if the drain pump C continues to operate constantly during cooling or dry operation. .

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, depending on the load situation in the room, if the amount of drain water generated is small, the drainage capacity of the drain pump C will be greater, and the drain will drop below the minimum level that can drain the drain. In this case, air is also sucked in from the suction port f along with the drain, which poses a problem of generating noise.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a drain water drainage device for an air conditioner that maintains an appropriate level of drain water in a drain pan and does not generate air suction noise from a drain pump. shall be.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a drain pump for draining drain water that condenses on the heat exchanger and flows down into the drain pan. In the drain water drainage device of an air conditioner, the water level of the drain water accumulated in the drain pan has reached a high water level that is sufficiently higher than the suction port of the drain pump, and the water level of the drain water has reached a low water level that is slightly higher than the suction port. a drain pump drive that drives the drain pump when the water level detector detects a high water level and stops driving the drain pump when the low water level is detected; It is equipped with a control circuit.

(Function) According to the above configuration, a water level detector is provided in the drain pan,
By driving the drain pump when the water level reaches a high level and stopping the drain pump when the water level drops to a low level, the water level will not fall below the level of the drain pump suction port, eliminating noise and eliminating the need for drainage. Since the drain pump is driven only when necessary, power consumption can be reduced.

(Embodiments) Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a drain pan provided below an indoor heat exchanger (not shown), and only the drainage portion is shown in the figure. A drain pump 3 is provided to drain the drain water 2 accumulated in this drain pan. This drain pump 3 consists of a pump section 4 and a motor section 5, a suction port 6 is formed in the lower part of the pump section 4, and a drain pipe 8 is connected to a discharge lower part.

The motor section 5 is fixed to a support fitting 10 via a vibration isolating rubber 9.

The support fitting 10 includes a mounting plate 1 that supports the water level detector 11.
2 is provided. This water level detector 11 consists of a float part 13 that moves up and down according to fluctuations in the water level of the drain water 2, and a detection part 14 that detects the water level by the up and down movement of the float part 13. is input to the drain pump drive control circuit 15, and its rrlJ control circuit 15
The drain pump 3 is controlled to turn on and off.

First, the water level detector 11 detects the drain water 2 using the drain pump 3.
The high water level L0 at which drain water should be drained and the low water level at which drain water should be stopped are detected, and the high water level L0 and low water level L0 are detected.
1 signal is input to the drain pump drive control circuit 15.

The control circuit 15 is at a high level. When the signal is input, the drain pump 3 is activated (ON). When the signal is input, the drain pump 3 is turned OFF if it is ON, and even if the drain pump 3 is stopped (OFF). Leave it OFF.

This low water level is set at a position slightly higher than the position of the suction port 6 of the drain pump 3, and the high water level L0 is set so that air is not sucked from the suction port 6 at this water level.
The setting is based on the assumption that when the drain pump 3 is stopped at a low water level, the drain water in the pump section 7 will return to the drain pan 1 and the water level will rise above the low water level L1, and the water level should be sufficiently higher than the water level after that rise. position.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, when cooling operation or dry operation is performed, the control circuit 15 receives a detection signal from the water level detector 11, but since the water level of the drain water 2 in the drain pan 1 is low at the start of operation, the drain pump 3 is stopped. It remains as it is. Thereafter, the water level rises and when it reaches a high water level L0, the drain pump 3 is driven. While the drain pump 3 is being driven, the water level of the drain water 2 decreases, and when the water level reaches the low water level L0, the drain pump 3 is stopped. After the drain pump 3 stops, the drain water level rises and if the high water level L0 is detected again, the drain pump 3
is driven and the above control is repeated.

In this way, by operating the drain pump 3 only when drainage is necessary according to the level of drain water, it is not necessary to operate it constantly during cooling operation, and approximately 20 units of power consumption can be saved.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above explanation, the present invention exhibits the following excellent effects.

(1) Power consumption can be reduced by detecting the water level of drain water and driving the drain pump only when drainage is necessary.

(2) By stopping the pump when the drain water level drops to a low water level, noise caused by air suction can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 shows a flowchart of the drive control circuit of the invention, Fig. 3 shows a conventional example, and Fig. 4 shows a conventional control circuit. FIG. In the figure, 1 is a drain pan, 2 is drain water, 3 is a drain pump, 11 is a water level detector, and 15 is a drain pump drive control circuit. Patent ratio 1N people Toshiba Corporation

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a drain water drainage device for an air conditioner that is provided with a drain pump for draining drain water that condenses on a heat exchanger and flows down into a drain pan, the water level of the drain water that accumulates in the drain pan is determined by the drain pump. A water level detector that detects when the water level reaches a high water level that is sufficiently higher than the suction port, and when the drain water level reaches a low water level that is slightly higher than the suction port, and when the water level detector detects a high water level A drain water drainage device for an air conditioner, comprising a drain pump drive control circuit that drives a drain pump and stops driving the drain pump when the low water level is detected.