JPH09296938A - Drain device for air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To surely discharge drain water outside by locating an inlet opening of a duct so as to face a water receiving means for collecting the drain water and providing an exhaust fan in the inlet opening. SOLUTION: A drain evaporating device 14 is integrally mounted on an air conditioner 12 and a drain tank 16 as a water receiving means for receiving drain water contained within a housing 15 is provided. An exhaust duct 18 is connected to an appropriate location in an inner space of the housing 15 and an inlet opening 18a of the exhaust duct 18 is located to face an inner space of the drain tank 16. An exhaust fan 19 is provided in the inlet opening 18a. Water collected in the drain tank 16 is naturally evaporated by operation heat of the air conditioner 12 and peripheral heat and resulting steam is forced into the duct 18 by the exhaust fan 19. The forced steam is conveyed by the fan 19 to an end portion of the exhaust duct 18 and is surely discharged outside.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner which is arranged on the ceiling of a building or the like and exposes an air conditioning blowout opening from a ceiling surface in a room. The present invention relates to an air conditioner drain device that discharges air from the ceiling.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventionally known air conditioner, air is cooled by an air heat exchanger in accordance with a cooling operation of the air conditioner, so that water vapor in the cooling air is dehumidified. In particular, in a ceiling cassette type air conditioner arranged on the ceiling surface of a room or the like, it is necessary to reliably discharge this water vapor from the back of the ceiling.

Therefore, conventionally, a drain pan is arranged below the air heat exchanger, and dehumidified water vapor is collected by this drain pan. The collected drain pan was sucked up by a water pump and discharged to the outside through a drain pipe connected to this water pump.

[0004]

When the drain pipe is used as described above, in order to guide the collected drain water to the outside along the ceiling, for example, a drain pipe having a downward slope of 1/100 or more is used. Need to be installed. However, it is difficult to always secure a slope in a narrow space above the ceiling. Moreover, since architectural concrete beams project into the space above the ceiling, there are many restrictions on drain piping,
Occasionally dirt or clogging occurred in the drain pipe. The longer the drain pipe is, the more dirt and clogging are promoted.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner drain device capable of reliably discharging drain water generated in an air conditioner to the outside.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first invention, an air conditioner installed in a space above the ceiling of a building to expose a blowout opening from the ceiling surface, and an air conditioner of this air conditioner are disclosed. An air conditioner drain characterized by comprising water receiving means for collecting drain water generated during operation, a duct having a suction opening facing the water receiving means, and an exhaust fan arranged at the suction opening. A device is provided.

According to a second aspect of the invention, the air conditioner drain device according to the first aspect of the invention is characterized by comprising heating means for forcibly warming the water in the water receiving means.

[0008]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an air conditioner drain device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. A ceiling cassette type air conditioner 12 is installed in a space 11 behind the ceiling defined by the ceiling plate 10 and the ceiling surface of the building. The air blowout opening 13 of the air conditioner 12 is exposed from the ceiling surface 10a in the room formed by the ceiling plate 10. When the air conditioner 12 is operated, cold air or warm air is blown into the room through the blowout opening 13.

The air conditioner drain device AD includes a drain evaporation device 14 integrally attached to the air conditioner 12. The drain evaporation device 14 includes a drain tank 16 that is housed in the housing 15 and serves as a water receiving unit that receives drain water. Water vapor generated by an air heat exchanger (not shown) installed inside the air conditioner 12 is sent to the drain tank 16 through a drain pipe 17. Such water vapor is collected in the form of water in a drain pan (not shown) below the air heat exchanger, and then sucked up by a water pump (not shown).

In the inner space of the housing 15, at appropriate places,
The exhaust duct 18 is connected. The suction opening 18a of the exhaust duct 18 preferably faces the internal space of the drain tank 16. An exhaust fan 19 is arranged in the suction opening 18a, and by this exhaust fan 19, water vapor that spontaneously evaporates from the drain tank 16 can be sent into the exhaust duct 18.

Now, when the air conditioner 12 performs the cooling operation, steam is generated in the air heat exchanger. The water vapor collected through the drain pan is stored in the drain tank 16. The collected water is naturally evaporated by the operating heat of the air conditioner 12 and the ambient heat, and the water vapor is sent to the duct 18 by the exhaust fan 19. The steam thus fed is carried to the end of the duct 18 by the function of the exhaust fan 19 and is reliably discharged to the outside.

Since the drain water is carried in the form of air as described above, the drain water can be reliably carried out to the outside without being significantly affected by the gradient of the duct 18 or the like.
Therefore, even in the narrow space 11 above the ceiling, relatively free piping can be implemented by ignoring the protrusion of the beam and the piping obstacles such as other devices and lighting.

FIG. 2 shows an air conditioner drain device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The second embodiment is characterized in that the drain evaporator 14 is installed separately from the air conditioner 12. The same components as those in the first embodiment described above are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

According to this structure, due to the restriction of the space 11 above the ceiling, the air conditioner 13 integrated with the drain evaporation device 14 is provided.
Drainage device 1
4 and the air conditioner 13 can be separated to enable installation.

FIG. 3 shows an air conditioner drain device according to a third embodiment of the present invention. The third embodiment is characterized by including an electric heater 20 as a heating means for forcibly warming the water collected in the drain tank 16. The same components as those in the first and second embodiments described above are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. According to such an electric heater 20, not only can the drain tank 16 be directly heated to accelerate the evaporation of the drain water, but also the inside of the housing of the drain evaporation device can be heated by the electric heater to promote the evaporation of the drain water. be able to. As a result, the amount of drain water evaporated can be increased by the electric heater 20, and exhaust can be promoted. As a result, it is possible to contribute to downsizing of the drain evaporation device 14.

[0017]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, since the drain water is carried in the form of air, the drain water can be reliably carried out to the outside without being significantly affected by the gradient of the duct or the like. You can Therefore, even in a narrow space above the ceiling, relatively free piping can be implemented by ignoring the protrusion of the beam and obstacles to piping such as other devices and lighting.

According to the second invention, the evaporation of drain water can be promoted by the action of the heating means.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an air conditioner drain device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of an air conditioner drain device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of an air conditioner drain device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 space above the ceiling, 12 air conditioner, 13 blowout opening, 16 drain tank as water receiving means, 18 duct, 18a suction opening, 19 exhaust fan, 20
Heating means.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioner installed in a space above the ceiling of a building to expose a blowout opening from the ceiling surface, and a water receiving means for collecting drain water generated during operation of the air conditioner,
A duct having a suction opening facing the water receiving means,
An air conditioner drain device, comprising: an exhaust fan disposed in the suction opening. 2. The air conditioner drain device according to claim 1, further comprising heating means for forcibly warming the water in the water receiving means.