JPH0756395B2 - Air conditioner drain recovery device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to an air conditioner dong collection device.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, the drain is discharged from the drain pan of each air conditioner by gravity flow, or a drain pump is provided in each air conditioner to pump up and discharge the drain.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, there is a problem that the position of the air conditioner and the piping form of the drain discharge pipe are restricted in the natural flow-down type, while in the case where the drain pump is provided in each air conditioner, the above restrictions are avoided and the air conditioning is performed. Although it is possible to give flexibility to the installation position of the air conditioner and the piping of the drain discharge pipe, the cost for installing the drain pump in each air conditioner is high and the overall equipment cost increases, and each air conditioner is large. Therefore, there was a problem that the installability was impaired.

An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner drain recovery device that can solve the above problems and that is highly reliable.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

The characteristic configuration of the air conditioner drain recovery device according to the present invention is that a drain discharge pipe connected to each of the drain pans of a plurality of air conditioners is connected to a closed type drain recovery tank, and the inside of the drain recovery tank is sucked to recover the drain by suction. An air pump for keeping the pressure and an operating means for releasing the negative pressure in the drain recovery tank are provided, and the inflow of air from the recovery drain discharge path is held in the recovery drain outlet of the drain recovery tank in the negative pressure holding state. In addition, the valve device for allowing the recovery drain discharge from the recovery drain discharge passage in the negative pressure released state is provided, and the action and effect thereof are as follows.

[Work]

That is, by operating the air pump with the valve device blocking the inflow of air from the recovery drain discharge passage, the inside of the closed drain recovery tank is kept at a negative pressure, and the negative pressure causes the drain from the drain pan of each air conditioner to drain. Forced suction and recovery to the drain recovery tank via the drain discharge pipe.

Further, when the collected drain is accumulated in the drain collection tank to some extent, the negative pressure is released in the drain collection tank by the operation means, and the valve device is set to the collection drain discharge allowable state, so that the collection drain in the drain collection tank is removed. It is discharged from the collection drain discharge path to the outside.

〔The invention's effect〕

That is, since the drain is forcibly sucked and collected from the drain pan of each air conditioner, there is no restriction on the installation position of the air conditioner and the piping form of the drain discharge pipe, unlike the case where the drain is discharged by gravity flow. This is advantageous in terms of installing an air conditioner and constructing a drain discharge pipe, and the drain discharge pipe can be made smaller than in the case of gravity flow because of forced suction.

Further, since it is not necessary to provide a drain pump for each air conditioner, each air conditioner can be made small and inexpensive, and the installability of each air conditioner can be further improved in combination with the improvement of the installability by the above-mentioned forced suction recovery. The cost can be improved and the total equipment cost can be reduced.

Moreover, since the drain recovery tank is kept at a negative pressure by the air pump and the drain is suctioned and recovered by the negative pressure, for example, one drain pump is used to forcibly discharge the drains of the plurality of air conditioners. On the other hand, there is no problem in the idle operation of the pump when there is no drain in each drain pan, and there is no equipment trouble due to the idle operation of the pump, resulting in excellent reliability.

〔Example〕

 Next, examples will be described.

In the figure, (1) is a cooling coil (2) for cooling, and
This is an indoor unit (air conditioner) in which a drain pan (3) for the cooling coil (2) is installed, and a drain discharge pipe (4) is connected to the drain discharge port (3a) of each drain pan (3).

Each drain discharge pipe (4) is connected to a separately installed closed drain recovery tank (5) via a collecting pipe (6), and each drain pan (3) is connected to the drain recovery tank (5).
An air pump (7) for keeping a negative pressure in the tank is connected so as to suck and collect drainage from the tank.

Further, in the drain recovery tank (5), a water level sensor (8) for detecting that the recovery drain has reached a predetermined water level, a pressure sensor (9) for detecting the tank internal pressure, and a tank for releasing the negative pressure in the tank. A ventilation pipe (10) and a recovery drain discharge passage (11) are attached.

Further, the ventilation pipe (10) is provided with a solenoid valve (12) for opening and closing the ventilation pipe (10), and the recovery drain discharge passage (11) is fed from the recovery drain discharge passage (11) into the tank when the tank negative pressure is maintained. A check valve (13) is provided to prevent the inflow of air into the tank and to allow the collected drain to be discharged from the collected drain discharge path (11) to the outside of the tank when the negative pressure in the tank is released.

(14) is an operation control device, which controls the start and stop of the air pump (7) so as to keep the tank internal pressure at a predetermined negative pressure value based on the detection information of the pressure sensor (9), and the water level of the recovery drain. When reaches the predetermined water level, the electromagnetic valve (12) is opened and the air pump (7) is stopped for a predetermined time based on the detection information of the water level sensor (8).

That is, at the time of drain collection, the solenoid valve (12) is closed to prevent the inflow of air from the ventilation pipe (10), and the check valve (13) prevents the inflow of air from the recovery drain discharge path (11). By operating the air pump (7) in the blocked state, the inside of the drain recovery tank (5) is maintained at a predetermined negative pressure, and the negative pressure causes the drain to recover the drain from the drain pan (3) of each indoor unit (1). (5) is forcibly sucked and collected.

Then, when the collected drain reaches a predetermined water level, the solenoid valve (12) is opened, the air pump (7) is stopped, and the negative pressure in the drain collection tank (5) is released. The recovery drain in the recovery tank (5) is automatically discharged from the recovery drain discharge passage (11) through the check valve (13) to the outside.

After that, when a predetermined time has elapsed, the solenoid valve (12) is closed and the start / stop control of the air pump (7) based on the detection information of the pressure sensor (9) is restored.
Drain suction collection is automatically restarted.

In the figure, (15) is a check valve attached to each drain discharge pipe (4) to prevent the reverse flow of the recovered drain.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b), the drain pan (3) in each indoor unit (1) has a drain outlet (3a) as the drain water level in the drain pan (3) rises.
There is a float valve body (16) that opens the valve and closes the drain discharge port (3a) when the drain water level drops. This allows air to be discharged from the drain discharge port (3a) while most of the drain is sucked and discharged. ) Is prevented from being sucked, and the deterioration of the drain suction function for the other indoor unit (1) due to the air suction is avoided.

[Another embodiment]

 Next, another embodiment will be described.

It is possible to change the negative pressure of the drain recovery tank (5) manually, and the specific device configuration for releasing the negative pressure can be modified in various ways. And is referred to as operating means.

As a valve device for preventing the inflow of air from the recovery drain discharge passage (11) in the negative pressure holding state and allowing the recovery drain discharge from the recovery drain discharge passage (11) in the negative pressure released state, the above-mentioned embodiment Instead of attaching the check valve (13) to the collection drain discharge passage (11) as described above, an opening / closing valve that is opened and closed by manual operation or automatic operation may be attached to the collection drain discharge passage (11).

The air pump (7) may be continuously operated at the time of drain suction and recovery, and the air pump (7) may be started and stopped manually.

The drain discharge port (3a) of each drain pan (3) may be always open, and a valve mechanism for preventing air suction when the drain pan (3) has no drain is drained. When it is provided at the outlet (3a), instead of providing the float valve body (16) as in the above-mentioned embodiment, the drain discharge port (3a) is opened and closed as shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b). A valve body (17), a biasing means (18) such as a spring for biasing the valve body (17) to the closing side, and a valve due to the deformation of the shape memory alloy (19a) due to the cooling action of the retention drain. The drain pan (3) may be provided with valve opening operation means (19) for closing and opening the body (17) against the biasing force, and the valve mechanism for preventing air intake can be modified in various ways. Is.

The valve mechanism using the shape memory alloy (19A) may be provided in the middle of the drain discharge pipe (4).

In the cooling device in which the outdoor unit is installed, the drain recovery tank (5) and the air pump (7) may be installed inside the casing of the outdoor unit.

The air conditioner for drain collection may be of any type.

It should be noted that reference numerals are added to the claims for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the structures of the accompanying drawings by the entry.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIGS. 1 and 2 show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram, and FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b) are operation explanatory diagrams of the float valve element in the drain pan. 3 (a) and 3 (b) are operation explanatory views showing another embodiment of the present invention. (1) …… Air conditioner, (3) …… Drain pan, (3a) ……
Drain discharge port, (4) …… Drain discharge pipe, (5) …… Drain recovery chest, (7) …… Air pump, (11) …… Recovery drain discharge path, (12) …… Operating means, (13) ) …… Valve device, (16) …… Float valve body, (17) …… Valve body, (18)
...... Biasing means, (19) …… Valve opening operation means, (19a) ……
Shape memory alloy.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A drain recovery pipe (4) connected to each of the drain pans (3) of a plurality of air conditioners (1) is connected to a closed drain recovery tank (5) to collect the drain by suction. An air pump (7) for maintaining a negative pressure in the tank (5) and an operation means (12) for releasing the negative pressure in the drain recovery tank (5) are provided, and the recovery drain of the drain recovery tank (5) is provided. In the discharge passage (11), air is prevented from flowing from the recovery drain discharge passage (11) in a negative pressure holding state, and the recovery drain discharge from the recovery drain discharge passage (11) is allowed in a negative pressure released state. Valve equipment for (13)
Air conditioner drain recovery device equipped with. 2. A float valve body (16) which opens a drain discharge port (3a) in the drain pan (3) as the drain water level rises and closes the drain discharge port (3a) as the drain water level falls. The air conditioner drain recovery device according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. A valve body (17) for opening and closing a drain discharge path in the drain pan (3) or the drain discharge pipe (4),
An urging means (18) for urging the valve body (17) toward the closing side and a urging force for closing the valve body (17) by the deformation of the shape memory alloy (19a) due to the cooling action of the accumulated drain. The air conditioner drain recovery device according to claim 1, further comprising valve opening operation means (19) for opening the valve against the air.