JPH08247532A - Air-conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an air-conditioner wherein the drive torque of a louver (first, and second air direction deflectors) can be reduced and the accuracy and reliability of open/closure control of the louver is high. CONSTITUTION: There are provided a lower louver 12b which is driven by a drive means such as a motor to control the blowoff direction of temperature adjusted air, an upper louver 12a which is operatively connected to the lower louver 12b through a connection rod 21 to control the blowoff direction of temperature adjusted air, and a spring 23 which is stretched between a protruding outer end of a rotation axis 17 of the connection rod 21 and a locking protrusion 1b of a main body casing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner having an improved vertical airflow direction adjusting louver that guides temperature-controlled air blown from an indoor fan up and down by a blowing grill.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an example of this type of air conditioner, there is one in which a vertical louver for adjusting the vertical airflow direction and a horizontal louver for adjusting the horizontal airflow direction are provided so as to be swingable in an outlet grill (mouth) or inward thereof. This is the temperature controlled air blown by the indoor fan,
When blown out from the blow-out grill to the outside, the blowing direction of the temperature-controlled air is guided in the vertical direction by the vertical airflow direction adjusting louver and is also guided in the horizontal direction by the horizontal airflow direction adjusting louver.

In this type of vertical louver adjusting louver, an upper louver, which is a first airflow direction changing plate, and a lower louver, which is a second airflow direction changing plate, are required to move up and down in the blowout grill or inside thereof. By vertically arranging the upper and lower louvers in parallel along the horizontal direction with a space provided therebetween, the vertical blowing angle of the blowing air can be controlled appropriately.

In the conventional vertical adjusting louver of this type, when one of the pair of upper and lower louvers, for example, the upper louver is directly driven by a motor, the pair of upper and lower louvers are connected and driven by a link mechanism or the like. Is configured to.

[0005]

However, in such a conventional vertical adjustment louver, since the upper and lower louvers are driven through a link mechanism or the like, the moment caused by the own weight of these upper and lower louvers is generated. There is a loss of torque that acts in the opposite direction of the rotation direction.

Therefore, a large louver driving motor that exceeds torque loss is required, resulting in high cost.

Further, since moments due to the weight of these louvers are always generated, when the louvers are fully closed,
There is a problem that the louver that is not directly driven by the motor is slightly opened by this moment, while it is slightly closed when the louver is fully opened, and the louver control accuracy and reliability are not necessarily high.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner capable of reducing the driving torque of the louvers (first and second wind direction changing plates) and having high accuracy and reliability of louver opening / closing control. And

[0009]

According to each of the first to fourth aspects of the invention, there is provided a first wind direction changing plate which is driven by a driving means such as a motor to control the blowing direction of temperature-controlled air, and the first wind direction changing plate. A second airflow direction changing plate for controlling the blowing direction of the temperature-controlled air by being interlocked with the second airflow direction changing plate or the connecting rod, and at least the connecting rod,
An elastic body stretched between the first and second wind direction changing plates and a housing that houses the second wind direction changing plate.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the elastic body is arranged at a position where the tension is maximized when the center of gravity of the second airflow direction changing plate is located substantially right below the locus of movement thereof.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the position at which the center of gravity of the second wind direction changing plate is located directly below is the substantially middle portion of the rotation angle of the second air direction changing plate.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the elastic body is a spring, and the number of turns of the coil of the hook portion at the end is two or more.

[0013]

According to each of the first to fourth aspects of the invention, the tension of the elastic body such as the spring acts in the direction of canceling the force (moment) caused by the own weight of the second wind direction changing plate that is not directly driven by the motor. The drive torque loss due to this moment can be reduced or eliminated.

Therefore, since a motor having a small driving torque can be used as a motor for rotationally driving the first and second wind direction changing plates, the cost can be reduced.

Further, since the tension of the elastic body such as the spring can be applied in the direction of canceling the moment of the second wind direction changing plate, the moment causes the second air direction changing plate to slightly open when fully closed, Alternatively, it is possible to effectively prevent a slight closure when fully opened. Therefore, the precision and reliability of louver control can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the elastic body is arranged at a position where the tension is maximized when the center of gravity of the second airflow direction changing plate is located substantially right below the moving trajectory, (2) A moment resulting from the weight of the wind direction changing plate can be eliminated, and the driving torque for driving the wind direction changing plate can be reduced.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the position where the center of gravity of the second wind direction changing plate is located directly below is set substantially at the middle of the rotation angle of the second wind direction changing plate. The angle up to the position and the angle up to the fully closed position are substantially equal.
Therefore, it is possible to prevent the bias of the spring that acts more strongly on one side in the fully open direction or the fully closed direction, and to smoothly drive the first and second wind direction changing plates.

According to the invention of claim 4, since the coil winding of the hook portion of the spring is two or more turns, the mechanical strength can be increased by that amount.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 9, the same or corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway vertical sectional view of the embodiment. In these drawings, the air conditioner is a main casing 1a of an indoor unit 1. On the front panel 2, a suction grill 3 and a blow-out grill 4 which is a blow-out port are arranged in the upper and lower sides in the figure, while a fan is provided with a ventilation passage 5 for communicating the suction grill 3 and the blow-out grill 4 in the main body casing 1a. It is formed in the casing 6.

The ventilation passage 5 is provided with an indoor heat exchanger 7 which is bent in an inverted V shape, and an indoor fan 8 which is a cross-flow fan downstream of the indoor heat exchanger 7,
The indoor air sucked from the suction grill 3 into the main casing 1a is heat-exchanged by the indoor heat exchanger 7, and cool air or temperature-controlled air for heating is blown again from the blow grill 4 to the room by the indoor fan 8 to cool or It is designed to be heated. The indoor fan 8 is configured as a blower by the fan casing 6 and the nose 9, and the nose 9 is fixed to the rear side wall of the drain pan 10 that receives the drain from the indoor heat exchanger 7.

Inside the blow-out grill 4, the blown air 11 blown outward from the blow-out grill 4 is shown in FIG.
A vertical airflow direction adjustment louver 12 for adjusting the air blowout direction in the vertical direction and a horizontal airflow direction control louver 13 for adjusting the airflow direction in the horizontal direction in FIG.

The left-right airflow direction adjusting louver 13 has a plurality of vertical louvers 14 standing upright along the vertical direction of the blowing grill 4 in FIG. 2 and arranged at a required pitch in the longitudinal direction of the blowing grill 4, that is, the left-right direction. There is.

Each vertical louver 14 is the upstream end 1 of the blower 11.
4a and the downstream end 14b, and the upstream end 14a is fixed to the outer bottom of the drain pan 10 to form a fixed louver 14a, and the downstream end 14b is attached to the outer bottom of the drain pan 10. The movable louver 14b is configured so as to be rotatable around the center.

On the other hand, in the vertical airflow direction adjusting louver 12, for example, a pair of upper and lower louvers 12a and 12b, which are first and second airflow direction changing plates made of strip-shaped thin plates, are arranged in parallel over substantially the entire length of the blowing grill 4 in the longitudinal direction. Together with these, the main body casing 1 is swingable in the vertical direction with a required space in the vertical direction.
a pair of upper and lower louvers 12a, 1
By appropriately adjusting the vertical swinging angle of 2b, the vertical blowing angle of the blower 11 is controlled.

As shown in FIG. 1, the upper and lower louvers 12a and 12b have a center of gravity W located at one end portion in the longitudinal direction of the upper and lower louvers 12a and 12b at an intermediate portion in the width direction of the louvers 12a and 12b.
Support legs 15 and 16 are erected on a and Wb so as to stand substantially at right angles.

Each of the support legs 15 and 16 has an upper and lower rotary shaft 17, 1 formed at its tip (upper end in FIG. 1).
8 is rotatably supported by the main body casing 1a, and upper and lower arms 19 and 20 are integrally formed at a front end of the main casing 1a with a predetermined angle.

The other ends of the upper and lower arms 19 and 20 are rotatably connected to both ends of a connecting arm 21 which is a connecting rod via arm rotating shafts 22a and 22b. The lower rotary shaft 18 is directly driven by being connected to a rotary shaft of a motor (not shown).

The connecting arm 21 is made of, for example, an arcuate rod-shaped body which is convex outward. Then, a protruding outer end portion of a rotary shaft 22a that pivotally connects the connecting arm 21 and the upper arm 19 to each other, and a locking protrusion 1b protrudingly provided on an inner wall surface of the main body casing 1a near the outlet grill 4 are provided. A coil spring 23, which is an elastic body, is stretched between them.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, hooks 23a composed of two or more turns of an annular coil are integrally formed at both ends of the coil spring 23, and each hook 23a is projected from one rotating shaft 22a of the connecting arm 21. A coil spring 22 is stretched in an axially contractible manner by being hooked on the outer end and under the jaw of the locking projection 1b of the main body casing 1a. The coil spring 22 may be an elastic body, synthetic or natural rubber, and the spring is not limited to the coil spring 23, and may be a leaf spring as long as it has a predetermined spring constant. Good.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7 show only the operation of the upper louver 12a that is not directly driven by the motor, and the lower louver 12b that is directly driven by the motor in conjunction with this is omitted from the drawing.

FIG. 5 shows a part of the state in which the blowing grill 4 is fully closed by the pair of upper and lower louvers 12a and 12b. In this case, the center of gravity Wa of the upper louver 12a is the upper louver 1
Since the upper louver 12a is not located directly below the opening / closing movement locus of the 2a, but is located slightly to the left in the figure from directly below, the force (moment) in the direction of opening the upper louver 12a due to its own weight G. Mo acts. For this reason, if the spring 23 is not provided, the upper louver 12a will be slightly opened even though it is in the fully closed position. However, in this embodiment, since the spring 23 is provided, the force Mp in the direction opposite to the force Mo in the opening direction acts due to the tension of the spring 23.
By setting Mp = Mo, the upper louver 12a can be reliably held at the fully closed position, and the deviation can be effectively prevented.

FIG. 6 shows a part of a state in which the outlet grill 4 is substantially half-opened by the pair of upper and lower louvers 12a and 12b. In this case, since the center of gravity Wa of the upper louver 12a is located almost directly below, its own weight G acts almost directly below.
Therefore, the force Mo for opening the upper louver 12a
Rarely occurs.

Further, the tension of the spring 23 at this time acts on the one hooking portion 22a in a direction to pull it straight toward the rotating shaft 17 along the axial direction of the central axis 21a of the connecting arm 21, so that the rotation of the hooking portion 22a is prevented. By the drag force of the shaft 17,
The tensions are canceled out, and the force Mp for opening the upper louver 12a is not generated. Therefore, also in this case, the upper louver 12a can reliably hold the half-open position.

FIG. 7 shows a part of a state in which the outlet grill 4 is almost fully opened by the pair of upper and lower louvers 12a and 12b. In this case, contrary to the fully closed state shown in FIG. 5, the upper louver 12a has its own weight G, which causes the upper louver 12a to move.
A force Mo in the direction of closing the is applied. Therefore, without the spring 23, the upper louver 12a moves (shifts) slightly in the closing direction even though it is in the fully open position. However, since the spring 23 is provided in this embodiment,
Due to the tension, the force Mp in the direction opposite to the force Mo in the closing direction acts, so that if Mo = Mp, the upper louver 12a can be reliably held in the fully open position, and the deviation can be effectively prevented. be able to.

Therefore, when the upper louver 12a is driven from the fully closed state shown in FIG. 5 to the half open state shown in FIG. 6, the driving direction of the connecting arm 21 coincides with the direction of the force Mo. It is considered that the driving torque may be small, but when driving from the half-open state to the full-open state shown in FIG. 7, the opposite is true. Therefore, considering the total full-open to full-closed drive, it is better that there is no force Mo. .

That is, assuming that the spring 23 is not provided, when driving from the fully closed state (FIG. 5) to the half open state (FIG. 6), the force Mo is applied in addition to the driving torque, while from the half open state (FIG. 6). When driving to the fully open state (Fig. 7), the force Mo works against the drive torque, so even if the drive torque is constant, the moving speed from fully closed to half open becomes faster than the moving speed from half open to fully open. , I can't control the louver reliably.

Further, when driving from half open to full open, force M
Since the drive torque is determined in consideration of o, the drive torque becomes large.

However, if the forces Mo are offset as in the present invention, it is possible to drive the vertical wind individual adjustment louver 12 at an average moving speed with a minimum required drive torque.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, when the center of gravity Wa of the upper louver 12a is located substantially right below the locus of movement thereof, the tension of the spring 23 is set to the maximum so that Mo = 0. At this time, Mp = 0, and when there is no influence of gravity on the upper louver 12a, the spring 23
Since the tension of the above is eliminated, the maximum driving torque reduction effect can be obtained.

Further, if the center of rotation of the upper louver 12a is made equal from the position where the center of gravity Wa is right below to the angle where it is fully opened and the angle where it is fully closed, the tension of the spring 23 is the minimum required. The force can be limited, and the louver opening / closing drive is smoothed by eliminating the deviation between the fully closed state and the fully opened state to improve the reliability and facilitate the design.

Further, since the coil of the hook 23a of the spring 23 has two or more turns, the force applied to the hook 23a can be dispersed, and the rotary shaft 22a due to the friction of the hook 23a.
It is possible to prevent abrasion of the projecting outer end portion and the locking projection 1b of the main body casing 1a, and it is possible to enhance the mechanical strength of the hook 23a.

[0043]

As described above, according to each of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, the tension of the elastic body such as the spring is applied to the force (moment) caused by the own weight of the second wind direction changing plate which is not directly driven by the motor. Since it acts in a canceling direction, it is possible to reduce or eliminate the loss of drive torque due to this moment.

For this reason, since a motor having a small driving torque can be used as the motor for rotationally driving the first and second wind direction changing plates, the cost can be reduced.

Further, since the tension of the elastic body such as the spring can be applied in the direction of canceling the moment of the second airflow direction changing plate, this moment causes the second airflow direction changing plate to slightly open when fully closed, Alternatively, it is possible to effectively prevent a slight closure when fully opened.

Therefore, the precision and reliability of louver control can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the invention, when the center of gravity of the second wind direction changing plate is located substantially right below the moving locus, the elastic body is arranged at a position where the tension is maximized. (2) A moment resulting from the weight of the wind direction changing plate can be eliminated, and the driving torque for driving the wind direction changing plate can be reduced.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the position where the center of gravity of the second wind direction changing plate is located directly below is set substantially at the middle of the rotation angle of the second wind direction changing plate. The angle up to the position and the angle up to the fully closed position are substantially equal.
Therefore, it is possible to prevent the bias of the spring that acts more strongly on one side in the fully open direction or the fully closed direction, and to smoothly drive the first and second wind direction changing plates.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, since the coil winding of the hook portion of the spring is two or more, the mechanical strength can be increased accordingly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a main part of an embodiment of an air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an example of an indoor unit incorporating the main part shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the indoor unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view showing a hooked state of the spring shown in FIG.

5 is a schematic diagram showing a fully closed state of the upper louver shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a half-open state of the upper louver shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a fully opened state of the upper louver shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Indoor Unit 1a Main Unit Casing 1b Locking Protrusion 2 Front Panel 3 Suction Grill 4 Blow-out Grill 5 Ventilation Path 6 Fan Casing 7 Indoor Heat Exchanger 8 Indoor Fan 9 Nose 10 Drain Van 11 Blower 12 Up / Down Air Direction Louver 12a Upper Louver 12b Lower louver 13 Left and right wind direction adjustment louvers 14 Vertical louvers for left and right air direction adjustment louvers 14a Fixed louvers 15,16 Support legs 17,18 Rotating shafts 19,20 Upper and lower arms 21 Connecting arms 22a, 22b Rotating shafts 23 Springs 23a Spring hooks Wa, Wb Center of gravity Mp Spring tension M Drive torque

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A first airflow direction changing plate which is driven by a driving means such as a motor to control the blowing direction of temperature-controlled air, and the first airflow direction changing plate is operably connected to the first air direction changing plate via a connecting rod to adjust the temperature. A second wind direction changing plate for controlling the air blowing direction, the second wind direction changing plate or the connecting rod, and at least the connecting rod and a housing for accommodating the first and second wind direction changing plates. An air conditioner comprising: 2. The elastic body is arranged at a position where the tension is maximized when the center of gravity of the second wind direction changing plate is located almost right below the moving locus thereof. Air conditioner described. 3. The air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein the position where the center of gravity of the second airflow direction changing plate is located directly below is a substantially middle portion of the rotation angle of the second airflow direction changing plate. 4. The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the elastic body is a spring, and the number of coil turns of the hook portion at its end is two or more.