JPH10160181A - Indoor unit for air-conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a highly efficient deodorizing operation with low ventilation resistance by arranging an ultraviolet lamp for regenerating a deodorization film formed by applying a deodorant composed of an adsorbent and/or a photocatalyst to the surface of a fan disposed in a second air supply path or on the surface of an air supply casing. SOLUTION: Indoor air is sucked through a first air suction port A made in the side face of an indoor unit and a first air suction port B made in the upper face of the indoor unit and heat-exchanged through a heat-exchanger 2 before being blown out from a first air blow-out port C made at the lower part of the indoor unit. The indoor unit is further provided with a second air supply path comprising a second air suction port D, a second air supply fan 3 and a second air blow-out port E. A deodorization film is formed on the surface of the second air supply fan 3 or the surface of casing 6 of the second air supply path by applying a deodorant composed of an adsorbent and/or a photocatalyst thereto and an ultraviolet lamp 4 for irradiating the deodorization film is disposed in the second air supply path.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an indoor unit of an air conditioner having a deodorizing function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, as a deodorizing method in which an air conditioner is capable of regenerating deodorizing means, a method for regenerating by applying electric current has been commercialized and disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-158876. One conventional example will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, a heat exchanger 111 and a blowing means 112 are provided in an indoor unit of the air conditioner, and a deodorizing unit 1 is provided between the heat exchanger 111 and the blowing means 112.
01 is arranged. During operation of the air conditioner, room air is sucked in from the inlet 110, passes through the heat exchanger 111, the deodorizing unit 101, and the blowing means 112, and passes through the outlet 113.
From the room.

An adsorbent and a noble metal-based oxidation catalyst are supported on the surface of the resistance heating element in the deodorization unit 1, and the adsorption and deodorization are usually carried out at normal temperature. By heating to 300 ° C. or more, the odor component adsorbed on the surface is oxidized and decomposed to regenerate the adsorption performance.

On the other hand, a method using a photocatalyst using an ultraviolet lamp is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-128662, which is described as a second conventional example with reference to FIG.
In FIG. 4, in the indoor unit 201 of the air conditioner,
A heat exchanger 202 and a blower fan 203 are provided, and an ultraviolet regeneration deodorizer 213 is provided between the heat exchanger 202 and the blower fan 203.

During the operation of the air conditioner, the indoor air is sucked through the suction port 205, passes through the heat exchanger 202, the ultraviolet regeneration deodorizer 213, and the blower fan 203.
The air is blown into the room from the air outlet 206. The ultraviolet regeneration deodorizer 213 is composed of a current plate carrying a photocatalyst and an ultraviolet lamp.

[0006]

In the first conventional example (deodorization method using heating and regeneration by energization) as described above,
Approximately 3 resistance heating elements are used for heating and regeneration of the resistance heating elements.
It is necessary to raise the temperature to 00 ° C. or higher, and the surrounding temperature rises unnecessarily. Therefore, there is a problem that the cost is increased due to the problem of the heat-resistant temperature of the material, and there is a high risk in terms of safety.

In the second conventional example (deodorization method using a photocatalyst using an ultraviolet lamp), since the contact area between the photocatalyst and room air is small, a sufficient contact time between the odorous gas and the photocatalyst cannot be obtained. The problem had arisen.

Further, in both the first conventional example and the second conventional example, the heat exchanger disposed in the air passage occupies most of the ventilation resistance during operation, and is operated when only deodorization is performed. There was a large ventilation resistance due to no heat exchanger, consuming extra power. The period during which only the deodorizing operation is performed is estimated to be considerably long even in the middle period such as spring and autumn when cooling and heating are not performed, and even during the cooling and heating period, and the ventilation resistance of the heat exchanger has been a problem in terms of energy saving.

An object of the present invention is to provide an indoor unit of an air conditioner that can perform an efficient deodorizing operation with low ventilation resistance.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An indoor unit of an air conditioner according to the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and has a second air passage different from the first air passage, and a second air passage. A deodorizer composed of a photocatalyst or a photocatalyst and an adsorbent is applied to the surface of a second blower fan disposed inside or the surface of the casing of the second blower passage to form a deodorant film, and the deodorant film is further regenerated. UV lamp is provided.
According to the above configuration, the odor contained in the room air comes into contact with and is adsorbed by the deodorizing film. The adsorbed odor is decomposed into carbon dioxide and water at room temperature by the oxidizing action of the photocatalyst, becomes odorless and separates from the catalyst film to regenerate the catalyst film.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to the present invention will be described.

<First Embodiment> FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.
It is sectional drawing of the indoor unit which shows embodiment. FIG.
As shown in (1), the indoor air is supplied from a first air suction port A formed on the side surface of the indoor unit and a first air suction port B formed on the upper surface of the indoor unit by driving the first blower fan 1. And a first air passage that blows out the heat-exchanged air from a first air outlet C formed in a lower portion of the indoor unit after the indoor air sucked in by the heat exchanger 2 is exchanged.

Further, the indoor unit is provided with a second air passage composed of a second air suction port D, a second air blower fan 3, and a second air outlet E. Further, the second air inlet D is formed below the first air inlet A, and the second air outlet is formed above the first air outlet C. In addition, a photocatalyst (titanium oxide or the like) or a deodorant composed of a photocatalyst and an adsorbent is applied to the surface of the second blower fan 3 or the surface of the casing 6 constituting the second blower passage to remove the deodorant film. And an ultraviolet lamp 4 for irradiating the deodorizing film with ultraviolet light is provided in the second air passage. Also,
On the back surface of the ultraviolet lamp 4, there is provided a reflection plate 5 made of aluminum or the like that reflects ultraviolet light and irradiates the deodorant. The second blower fan 3 and the casing 6 forming the second blower path are formed using a resin or a metal that is not deteriorated by ultraviolet rays.

Then, while the air sucked from the second air suction port D passes through the second blower fan 3 or the second blower passage, the odor component is adsorbed on the photocatalyst. Then, when ultraviolet rays are irradiated from the ultraviolet lamp 4, the photocatalyst is excited, and the odor component is decomposed into carbon dioxide gas, water and the like by the oxidative decomposition action of the photocatalyst, and the deodorizing film is regenerated. In addition, when only the regeneration of the deodorizing film is performed without performing the deodorizing operation, only the rotation of the second blowing fan is performed, and the entire deodorizing film formed on the surface of the blowing fan can be regenerated.

Further, the second blower fan can be used in the indoor unit as an auxiliary to the first blower fan. Specifically, during the heating operation, the first air blower and the second air blower are operated at the same time in order to prevent the high-temperature air blown out from the first air outlet from rising upward in the room due to buoyancy. By flowing the high-temperature air downward, the heating effect near the floor can be improved.

According to the first embodiment, since the indoor air to be deodorized does not pass through the heat exchanger 2, it is possible to safely perform maintenance-free deodorization using the photocatalyst with small blowing power.

<Second Embodiment> FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In the second embodiment, the first fan 1
A photocatalyst or a deodorant composed of a photocatalyst and an adsorbent is applied to the surface to form a deodorizing film, and an ultraviolet lamp 7 and an ultraviolet lamp 7 for irradiating the photocatalyst with ultraviolet light are applied to the first air passage. A reflecting plate 8 that reflects ultraviolet light and irradiates the photocatalyst is provided.

In FIG. 2, when the first blower fan is driven during the cooling or heating operation, and there is no command for the auxiliary blower operation of the second blower fan, the deodorizing operation command is issued. The second blower fan is not driven, and deodorization is performed only by the photocatalyst disposed in the first blower fan.

When a command for a deodorizing operation is input in a state in which the first blower fan is stopped without performing cooling or heating operation, the second blower fan is driven, and the second blower fan is driven.
Deodorization is performed by a photocatalyst arranged in a blower fan of the above.

According to the second embodiment, when the first blower fan is driven by a cooling or heating operation or the like, the deodorizing operation is also performed by the photocatalyst disposed in the first blower fan so that indoor air can be removed. Since the odor component is adsorbed and regenerated, the deodorizing operation can be performed without adding extra blowing power for deodorizing.

Also, without performing a cooling or heating operation,
When the first blower fan is stopped, the odor component is adsorbed and regenerated by the photocatalyst disposed in the second blower fan, so that the deodorizing operation can be performed with a small blowing power. Thus, in the second embodiment, the deodorizing operation can be performed with less energy consumption than in the first embodiment.

[0023]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the indoor unit of the air conditioner of the present invention is configured as described above, so that the intake air passes directly to the second blower fan without passing through the heat exchanger. Therefore, the deodorizing operation can be performed with a small amount of blowing power.

According to claim 2, the second blower fan is
It can be used as an aid to the first blower fan.

According to the third and fourth aspects, the photocatalyst is formed on the surface of the second blower having a large surface area or the surface of the second air passage, so that the contact area between the photocatalyst and the odor can be increased. In addition, the removal of odor and the like become higher, and a deodorization speed which has not been achieved in the past can be obtained. Furthermore, there is no extra ventilation resistance in the ventilation path, there is no increase in fan power, and quiet deodorizing operation can be performed.

According to the fifth aspect, the first photocatalyst can efficiently perform deodorization during the cooling or heating operation.

According to the sixth and seventh aspects, when the first blower fan is driven by a cooling or heating operation or the like, deodorization is performed by the photocatalyst of the first blower fan. Low deodorizing operation can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of an indoor unit of an air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the indoor unit of the air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of an indoor unit of the first conventional air conditioner.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an indoor unit of a second conventional air conditioner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 1st ventilation fan 2 heat exchanger 3 2nd ventilation fan 4 2nd ultraviolet lamp 8 1st ultraviolet lamp A 1st air inlet (side surface) B 1st air inlet (top surface) C 1st 1 air outlet D second air inlet E second air outlet

Claims (8)

[Claims] A first suction port for sucking indoor air, a heat exchanger for exchanging heat with indoor air sucked from the first suction port, and a second air outlet for blowing indoor air heat exchanged by the heat exchanger. An air conditioner indoor unit including a first blower path including a first outlet and a first blower for guiding the room air to the heat exchanger, wherein a second suction port for sucking room air and a second suction port for sucking room air are provided. A second photocatalyst that decomposes odor contained in indoor air, a second light source that irradiates the second photocatalyst with ultraviolet light, and a second outlet that blows out deodorized indoor air into the room. An indoor unit for an air conditioner, comprising an air passage. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second outlet is located above the first outlet.
The indoor unit for an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the air outlet is formed. 3. The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the second photocatalyst is formed on a surface of a second blower. 4. The indoor unit for an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the second photocatalyst is formed on a surface of a second air passage. 5. The air conditioner according to claim 1, further comprising a first photocatalyst disposed in the first air passage, and a first light source that excites the first photocatalyst. Indoor unit. 6. The deodorization by the first photocatalyst while the first blower is driven.
An indoor unit for an air conditioner according to item 1. 7. The deodorization by the second photocatalyst while the first blower is stopped.
Indoor unit of air conditioner. 8. The indoor unit for an air conditioner according to claim 4, wherein a first photocatalyst is formed on a surface of the first blower.