JPH0719514A - Indoor unit for air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To quicken the start-up of an indoor unit, provided with two sets of constituting elements such as a cross flow fan, a heat exchanger, an air suction port, an air outlet port and the like, upon heating operation. CONSTITUTION:A louver unit 31, provided at the air outlet port 11 of a first unit 3, is divided laterally into three divisions. A part of outlet air from the air outlet port 11, which is guided to a central louver 31a, is sucked into the air suction port 9 of a second unit 5 while air, guided to left and right louvers 11b, 31c, is sucked into the air suction port 7 of a first unit 3, then, the air is heated in heat exchangers 21, 19 respectively and, thereafter, is sent out of the air outlet ports 13, 11. By this method, the temperature of outlet air is risen.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a blower, a heat exchanger,
The present invention relates to an indoor unit of an air conditioner in which two units each having an air inlet and an air outlet are arranged in parallel with each other.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some indoor units of an air conditioner are equipped with two cross flow fans and two heat exchangers corresponding to the two cross flow fans, and these are contained in one housing. . In such an indoor unit, two heat exchangers are arranged in parallel in the vertical direction so as to be adjacent to each other, and an air suction port is provided corresponding to each heat exchanger. Each of the air sucked from the two air suction ports passes through the heat exchanger and the cross-flow blower, and is blown into the room from one of the air outlets, one upward and the other downward.

In such an indoor unit, since there are two upper and lower air outlets and the outlet directions are dispersed, the temperature distribution in the room during cooling operation or heating operation becomes more uniform, and comfort is improved. improves.

[0004]

However, in such an indoor unit of the conventional air conditioner, although the temperature distribution in the room is more uniform, the rising speed during the heating operation is different from that of the blower and A set of components such as a heat exchanger is faster, and heating start-up performance is inferior. In other words, the indoor unit with one set of each component is provided with one air outlet that blows warm air downward, and the amount of air blown by the blower is larger than that of the two sets of each component, Therefore, it is easy to warm the cold floor and the air near the floor.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to speed up the start-up during heating operation of an indoor unit provided with two sets of each component such as a blower and a heat exchanger.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is, firstly, a blower, a heat exchanger, an air suction port through which outside air is sucked by the blower, and this air suction port. The first unit and the second unit, each of which has an air outlet that is blown to the outside after the air sucked from the air is heat-exchanged by the heat exchanger, are arranged in parallel with each other, and the air of the first unit is The airflow direction control member provided at the air outlet is configured to be displaceable so that the air blown from the air outlet is guided to the air inlets of the first unit and the second unit.

Secondly, in the first configuration, the refrigerant pipes in the heat exchangers of the first unit and the second unit are connected to each other via a throttling mechanism having a pressure reducing function for the refrigerant, and The heat exchanger is operable as an evaporator and the heat exchanger of the second unit is operable as a condenser.

[0008]

According to the first configuration, at the start of the heating operation, the outside air is sucked from the air suction ports of the first unit and the second unit, and the sucked air is heat-exchanged by each heat exchanger. After being warmed, it is blown out from the air outlet of each unit. The air blown out from the air outlet of the first unit is guided to and sucked into the air intakes of the first unit and the second unit by the wind direction control member provided at the air outlet, and heat is exchanged between the units. It is heat-exchanged again in the container to be further warmed, and is blown out from the air outlet of each unit.

According to the second configuration, during the dehumidifying operation, the heat exchanger of the second unit serves as a condenser for condensing the refrigerant, and the heat exchanger of the first unit serves as an evaporator for evaporating the refrigerant. In this state, the air sucked from the air suction port of the first unit passes through a heat exchanger serving as an evaporator to exchange heat with a low-temperature refrigerant to be cooled. The cooled air is blown to the outside from the air outlet of the first unit, and a part of the air blown at this time is guided to the air inlet of the second unit by the wind direction control member and is sucked into the condenser. After passing through the heat exchanger, the heat is exchanged with the high temperature refrigerant to be warmed and then blown out.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an indoor unit of an air conditioner showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view thereof. This indoor unit is attached to the wall 1 in the room, and the first unit 3 and the second unit 5 share one case. The first unit 3 is located in the upper part and the second unit 5 is located in the lower part, and these are arranged in parallel with each other. Each of the units 3 and 5 is provided with air inlets 7 and 9 on the front surface, the air outlet 11 of the first unit 3 is provided in the upper portion, and the air outlet 13 of the second unit 5 is provided in the lower portion.

An air passage 15 which connects the air inlet 7 and the air outlet 11 of the first unit 3 and the second unit 5
In the air flow path 17 that connects the air intake port 9 and the air outlet port 13 of the heat exchangers 19 and 2 on the air intake ports 7 and 9 side.
1 are arranged respectively, and cross-flow fans 23 and 25 as blowers are arranged behind the heat exchangers 19 and 21, respectively. Drain pans 27 and 29 for collecting drain water are provided below the heat exchangers 19 and 21, respectively. The respective refrigerant pipes of the heat exchangers 19 and 21 may be connected in series or in parallel.

The air outlet 11 of the first unit 3 is provided with two sets of louver units 31 as a wind direction control member divided into three parts in the lateral direction (the direction orthogonal to the paper surface in FIG. 2). The air outlet 13 of the unit 5 is provided with two laterally extending louvers 33.

A pair of louver units 3 of the first unit 3
1 is shown in a perspective view in FIG. The louver unit 31 is divided into three parts, a central louver 31a and left and right louvers 31b and 31c, which have substantially the same lateral length,
Regarding the length in the front-rear direction, the central louver 31a is formed longer than the other left and right louvers 31b and 31c. The three louvers 31a, 31b, 31c have hinges 35a, 35b, 35c, respectively.
It swings around a, 35b and 35c to control the blowing direction at the air outlet 11. The central louver 31a and the left and right louvers 31b, 31c can be set at different angles.

The louver unit 3 is used in the normal operation except the start-up in the heating operation and in the cooling operation.
In No. 1, three louvers 31a, 31b, 31c are integrally swung to perform the same wind direction control as the louver 33 of the second unit. On the other hand, at the time of rising in the heating operation, the central louver 31a of the louver unit 31 of the first unit 3 is
The angle is set so that the blown air guided by the louver 31a is guided to and sucked into the air suction port 9 of the second unit 5. The state at this time is shown in FIG. 4, which is a cross-sectional view at the position of the central louver 31a in FIG. On the other hand, the left and right louvers 31b and 31c are set to an angle such that the blowout air guided by the louvers 31b and 31c is guided to and sucked into the air suction port 7 of the first unit 3.
The state at this time is shown in FIG. 5, which is a cross-sectional view at the positions of the left and right louvers 31b and 31c in FIG. The louver 33 of the second unit 5 is appropriately set so that the air blown out from the air blowout port 13 is blown out toward the room even at the time of rising in the heating operation, as in the normal operation.

Next, the operation of the indoor unit of the air conditioner thus constructed will be described. At the start of the heating operation, the air sucked from the air suction port 7 of the first unit 3 and heat-exchanged by the heat exchanger 19 and warmed is the air outlet port 11.
When blown out from, the part of the blown air guided by the central louver 31a is guided and sucked into the air suction port 9 of the second unit 5 as shown in FIG.
A part of the blown air guided by 1c is guided to and sucked into the air suction port 7 of the first unit 3 as shown in FIG. The air sucked into the air suction ports 7 and 9 passes through the heat exchangers 19 and 21 again to be reheated, and then is blown out from the air outlets 11 and 13. By repeating such a process, the temperature of the air blown from the air outlets 11 and 13 becomes high, and in particular, the temperature of the air blown from the air outlet 13 that is the majority of the air blown into the room becomes high. , The start-up in heating operation becomes faster.

After the heating operation is started, if the temperature of the room reaches a predetermined temperature or a predetermined time elapses, the louver unit 31 of the first unit 3 has three louvers 31a, 31.
b and 31c are integrated to control the wind direction, and the normal heating operation is performed. During the cooling operation, the louver unit 31 has three louvers 31a, 31b, 31 from the start-up.
c integrates and controls the wind direction.

FIG. 6 shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a system in which an indoor unit is embedded in a ceiling 37 in a room. Here, the same components as those in FIG. 2 are designated by the same reference numerals. In this example, the left side in the drawing is the first unit 3,
The right side is the second unit 5, and the louver unit 31 provided at the air outlet 11 of the first unit 3 is divided into three parts as in the case of FIG. 3, and its operation is also the same.

That is, at the start of the heating operation, the air blown from the air outlet 11 of the first unit 3 is
At the same time as being guided by the central louver 31a and being sucked into the air suction port 9 of the second unit 5, the left and right louvers 31b, 31
It is guided by c and is sucked into the air suction port 7 of the first unit 3. As a result, the temperature of the air blown from the air outlets 11 and 13 becomes high, and the heating rise speeds up.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the indoor unit shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, in which the air blown out from the first unit 3 can be sucked into the second unit 5 when the heating operation is started up. It is a refrigerating-cycle block diagram for performing. The heat exchanger 19 of the first unit 3 and the heat exchanger 21 of the second unit 5 are connected in series by a pipe 39, and in this pipe 39, a capillary tube 41 and an opening / closing unit that are connected in parallel to each other are connected. A valve 43 is provided. The capillary tube 41 and the opening / closing valve 43 constitute a throttling mechanism 44 that can have a pressure reducing function for the refrigerant or can be eliminated.

A pipe 47 connecting the heat exchanger 19 of the first unit 3 and the heat exchanger 45 of the outdoor unit has a capillary tube 49 and an on-off valve 5 connected in parallel with each other.
1 is provided. A four-way valve 54 and a compressor 55 are provided in a pipe 53 that connects the heat exchanger 21 of the second unit 5 and the heat exchanger 45 of the outdoor unit. Four-way valve 54
Indicates that the flow path indicated by the solid line is during heating or dehumidification, and the flow path indicated by the broken line is during cooling.

In the refrigeration cycle having such a structure,
During the isothermal dehumidifying operation, the opening / closing valve 43 on the indoor unit side is closed and the opening / closing valve 51 on the outdoor unit side is opened. In this state,
The high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant discharged from the compressor 55 is
After passing through the heat exchanger 21 of the unit 5, the heat is exchanged with the room air to be condensed, and after being squeezed by the capillary tube 41, it becomes a low-temperature liquid refrigerant to become the heat exchanger 1 of the first unit 3.
Reach 9 In the heat exchanger 19, the refrigerant exchanges heat with the room air to evaporate, and returns to the compressor 55 via the open / close valve 51 and the heat exchanger 45. Therefore, during this isothermal dehumidifying operation, the heat exchanger 19 of the first unit 3 becomes an evaporator,
The heat exchanger 21 of the second unit 5 serves as a condenser.

In the course of the flow of the refrigerant in the refrigeration cycle, the first unit 3 is operated as when the heating operation is started in the indoor unit in FIGS. 2 and 6 as described above.
Consider a case in which a part of the air blown from the air outlet 11 is guided by the central louver 31 a of the louver unit 31 and sucked into the air suction port 9 of the second unit 5. In this case, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 7, the indoor air is cooled by passing through the heat exchanger 19 serving as the evaporator of the first unit 3, and the drain generated in the heat exchanger 19 is drained. Water is collected by the drain pan 27. The air cooled by the heat exchanger 19 is blown out into the room from the air outlet 11, and of the blown out cool air, the air guided to the central louver 31a becomes a condenser of the second unit 5. 21
After being warmed by passing through, the air is blown into the room from the air outlet 13. As a result, the dehumidifying operation can be performed while suppressing the temperature decrease in the room.

To perform the heating operation in the refrigeration cycle of FIG. 7, as shown in FIG. 8, the opening / closing valve 43 on the indoor unit side is opened and the opening / closing valve 51 on the outdoor unit side is closed. In this case, the two heat exchangers 19 and 21 on the indoor unit side serve as condensers, and the heat exchanger 45 on the outdoor unit side serves as an evaporator.

In FIGS. 7 and 8, the throttle mechanism 4 in which the capillary tube 41 and the opening / closing valve 43 are connected in parallel.
Instead of 4, an electronic expansion valve that can switch between the fully open state and the throttled state may be used. An electronic expansion valve may be used instead of the combination of the capillary tube 49 and the opening / closing valve 51 on the outdoor unit side.

[0026]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the air blown from the air outlet of the first unit is controlled by the wind direction control member provided at the air outlet of the first unit. The air is sucked into each air intake port of the second unit, exchanges heat again with the heat exchanger of each unit to be further warmed, and is blown out from the air blowout port to the outside. , Heating can start up faster.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the warm air sucked from the air suction port of the first unit passes through the heat exchanger serving as the evaporator to exchange heat with the low-temperature refrigerant and is cooled. Since the heat of the second unit is passed through the heat exchanger serving as the condenser of the second unit to exchange heat with the high temperature refrigerant, the temperature of the room can be suppressed and the dehumidification can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an indoor unit of an air conditioner showing an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view of an indoor unit of the air conditioner of FIG.

3 is a perspective view of a louver on the side of the first unit used in the indoor unit of the air conditioner of FIG. 1. FIG.

4 is a cross-sectional view showing the flow state of blown air guided by the central louver of the louvers of the first unit at the start of heating operation in the indoor unit of the air-conditioning apparatus of FIG.

5 is a cross-sectional view showing the flow state of blown air guided by the left and right louvers of the louvers of the first unit at the start of heating operation in the indoor unit of the air-conditioning apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing an example in which the present invention is applied to a ceiling-embedded indoor unit.

7 is a refrigeration cycle configuration diagram for performing an isothermal dehumidifying operation using the indoor unit of FIGS. 1 and 6. FIG.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a refrigerant flow in a heating operation in the refrigeration cycle of FIG. 7.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 1st unit 5 2nd unit 7,9 Air inlet 11,13 Air outlet 19,21 Heat exchanger 23,25 Cross flow fan (blower) 31 Louver unit (wind direction control member) 44 Throttling mechanism

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A blower, a heat exchanger, an air suction port through which external air is sucked by the blower, and air sucked through the air suction port is heat-exchanged by the heat exchanger and then blown out to the outside. A first unit and a second unit, each of which is provided with an air outlet, are arranged in parallel with each other, and the wind direction control member provided at the air outlet of the first unit is
An indoor unit of an air conditioner, wherein the air blown out from the air outlet is displaceable so as to be guided to the air inlets of the first unit and the second unit. 2. The heat exchangers of the first unit and the second unit are connected to each other via refrigerant pipes through a throttle mechanism having a pressure reducing function for the refrigerant, and the heat exchanger of the first unit is connected to an evaporator, The indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the two heat exchangers are operable as a condenser.