JPH08312988A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent generation of creaks due to the variation of temperature, by putting some interposing materials between a foamed polystyrene molding and other constituents, in an electric appliance using foamed polystyrene moldings as a part of the constituents in an indoor unit of a heat pump type air conditioner. CONSTITUTION: An indoor unit is constituted of an external board 1, a fan motor 2, a fan 3, a heatexchanger 4, and a drain pan 5 receiving the condensate from the heatexchanger 4. The drain pan 5 is made of a light and easily moldable foamed polystyrene and it is fitted in the external board 1. A metallic stay 14 is attached to fix the drain pan. Accordingly, immediately after the indoor unit has started the heating operation or when it has stopped heat operation, the drain pan 5 expands or contracts and the external board 1 and the stay 14 getting in contact therewith rub against it and hence, creaks are easily brought. Therefore, a buffer material 11 is interposed between the drain pan and the external board to prevent the creaks.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a known example closest to the present invention, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
No. 212834 can be cited. Here, in order to prevent the stress cracking of the Styrofoam drain pan due to oil or the like, a coating film is formed on the surface of the drain pan to provide a drain pan in which cracking is less likely to occur.

However, the present invention is not intended to prevent abnormal noise due to contact between the Styrofoam part and other components, and an example in which the Styrofoam surface is coated or flocked,
No example is found in which a cushioning material is attached to the surface of styrofoam.

[0004]

In a transient state such as immediately after heating operation is started in the air conditioner or immediately after heating operation is stopped, styrofoam parts are expanded or contracted due to temperature change inside the air conditioner. repeat. Therefore, the contact surface between the styrofoam molded product and the metal part or the resin part may rub and squeak. Since indoor units of recent air conditioners are excellent in quietness, this kind of squeaking sound is uncomfortable for the user and may be a complaint of the product.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an indoor unit for an air conditioner which does not produce squeaking noise even though it uses styrofoam parts.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a component for an air conditioner in which a cushioning material is attached to the surface of a Styrofoam component.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a component for an air conditioner in which the surface of a polystyrene foam article is coated.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a component for an air conditioner, in which the surface of a polystyrene foam molded article is flocked.

[0009]

By sandwiching the cushioning material between the Styrofoam molded product and the metal or resin material, it is possible to reduce the squeak noise generated by rubbing against other parts when the Styrofoam expands and contracts.

Further, since the contact resistance with other parts can be reduced by painting or flocking the surface of the Styrofoam, squeaking noise due to rubbing can be alleviated.

[0011]

1 is a sectional view of an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention. The indoor unit is the outer plate 1,
It is composed of a fan motor 2, a fan 3, a heat exchanger 4, and a water receiver 5 for receiving condensed water from the heat exchanger. The water receiver 5 is made of Styrofoam, which is lightweight and easy to mold. The details of the shape are shown in FIG.
A sectional view is shown in FIG.

2 and 3 show the entire construction of a decorative panel of an air conditioner which is another embodiment of the present invention. The decorative panel is attached to the lower surface of the indoor unit, and is made of a resin molded panel 6, a suction grill 7, a blowing guide 10,
It comprises a louver 9 and a louver drive mechanism 8.

The air flow in the indoor unit is as follows. The air sucked from the grill 7 on the lower surface of the indoor unit is distributed in four directions, passes through the heat exchanger 4, passes through the blow-out guide 10, and is blown from the air blow-out port 6a to provide cool air in the cooling operation, and warm air in the heating operation. Blow out. At this time, the blowing direction is adjusted by the louver 9. The blowing guide 10 is processed into a curved surface so as to make the blowing direction and blowing distribution of air uniform, and the material used is styrofoam, which has good moldability. The shape details are shown in Fig. 6.
7 shows a sectional view taken along line BB.

FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of the present invention. In the indoor unit of the air conditioner of FIG. 1, the water receiver 5 is fitted in the outer plate 1 and a metallic stay 14 is attached to fix the same. Therefore, immediately after the indoor unit starts the heating operation or when the heating operation is stopped, the styrofoam water receiver 5 expands and contracts, and a squeaking squeak noise is generated between the outer plate 1 and the stay 14 in contact with the water receiver 5. In order to prevent this, the cushioning material 11 is sandwiched between the water receiver 5 and the outer plate 1 and the stay 14 so that the parts are not in contact with each other,
Squeak noise can be prevented. As the cushioning material 11, a heat insulating material or a tape may be attached. These cushioning materials 11
May be attached to the water receiving side made of Styrofoam,
It may be attached to the metal outer plate or stay side. By sandwiching the cushioning material, the adhesiveness of the gap between the water receiver 5 and the outer plate 1 is improved, and it is also effective in preventing the leakage of cold air and the prevention of dew condensation during the cooling operation.

FIG. 9 shows another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2
The decorative panel 6 described in FIG. 3 is made of ABS resin, and the blow-out guide 10 is attached to the frame of this resin so as to be fitted therein. For this reason, immediately after the indoor unit starts the heating operation or when the heating operation is stopped, the styrofoam blowing guide 10 expands and contracts, and a scraping squeak noise is generated between the indoor unit and the resin decorative panel 6. In order to prevent this, the cushioning material 12 is sandwiched between the blowing guide 10 and the decorative panel 6, so that the parts do not come into contact with each other and squeak noise can be prevented. As the cushioning material 12, a heat insulating material or a tape may be attached. These cushioning materials may be attached to the blow-out guide side made of Styrofoam, or may be attached to the decorative panel side made of resin.

Yet another embodiment of the present invention is a method of forming a coating 13 by subjecting the water receiver 5 and the blowing guide 10 made of styrene foam to surface treatment.

One method is to spray paint on the surface of the blowing guide 10 to form a coating film and prevent squeaking noise due to rubbing with other parts.

According to another method, the surface of the blowing guide 10 is flocked to prevent squeaking noise due to rubbing with other parts. This method is also effective in preventing dew condensation during cooling operation.

Still another method is to braze the surface of the blowing guide 10 to reduce the frictional resistance with other parts and prevent the squeaking noise due to rubbing with other parts.

Still another method is to heat the surface of the blowing guide 10 to form a cured coating on the surface. According to this method, it is possible to form a cured coating simultaneously with the molding of styrofoam.

According to the above method, there is an advantage that the work for attaching these accessories is unnecessary and the work cost is low as compared with the method using the heat insulating material or the tape.

[0022]

According to the present invention, the squeak noise due to temperature change can be reduced by sandwiching the cushioning material in the portion in contact with the water receiver, the outer plate and the stay.

Further, by sandwiching the cushioning material, the sealing property between the parts is improved, and for example, the cool air leakage from the gap between the parts during the cooling operation can be reduced to prevent dew condensation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an indoor unit of an air conditioner.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a surface of a decorative panel of the air conditioner.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the back surface of the decorative panel of the air conditioner.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a water receiver of the air conditioner.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a water receiver of the air conditioner.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a balloon guide of a makeup panel.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a blowing guide of the decorative panel.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of an indoor unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a partial sectional view of a decorative panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of a blowing guide of a decorative panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Outer plate, 2 ... Fan motor, 3 ... Fan, 4 ... Heat exchanger, 5 ... Water receiver, 6 ... Decorative panel, 7 ... Suction grille, 10 ... Blow guide, 11 ... Cushioning material, 13 ... Coating.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An indoor unit of a heat pump type air conditioner having a fan motor, a fan, and a heat exchanger, wherein the styrofoam molded article and the other styrofoam molded article are used in a device in which a styrofoam molded article is used as a part of constituent parts. An air conditioner characterized in that an inclusion is inserted between the constituent parts.