JPH11211213A - Indoor unit of air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an indoor unit for air conditioner which is constituted in such a way that the enclosure of the unit can be shared by use even when the housing structure of a heat exchanger is different. SOLUTION: An indoor unit for air conditioner is constituted in such a way that an air passage 4 is provided in its enclosure 3 and heat exchangers 6 and 7 and a supply fan 9 are housed in the passage 4. On the rear-side internal surface of the enclosure 3, supporting members 21 which support an auxiliary casing attached instead of a rear-side heat exchanger 7 arranged continuously from a front-side heat exchanger 6 between the members 21 and a drain receiving section 11 positioned on the bottom end side of the casing are protruded toward the air passage 4 in such a state that the members 21 are arranged in parallel with the drain receiving section 11 while the members 21 are separated from each other. The auxiliary casing is made of a material having no gas permeability, but a heat insulating property, and supports the rear end of the heat exchanger 6 from the bottom side.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an indoor unit of an air conditioner, and more particularly, to a technology capable of sharing a unit housing despite a different storage structure of a heat exchanger.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some air conditioners include an indoor unit mounted on a wall surface of a room to be air-conditioned and an outdoor unit installed outside the room. The indoor unit is shown in a cross-sectional view of FIG. It generally has an internal structure as shown. That is, the indoor unit includes a unit housing in which the open grill 1 and the front panel 2 are combined with the cabinet 3, and an air filter 4 is provided in the air passage 4 provided in the unit housing. 5, a front heat exchanger 6 that dehumidifies and cools the sucked indoor air during cooling and generates air-conditioned air by heating during heating, and a front heat exchanger 6
Means a rear heat exchanger 7 which is continuously arranged and performs the same heat exchange, and a blower fan 9 which blows the generated conditioned air and blows it out from an air outlet 8 of the unit housing.
And are decorated.

A lower drain receiving portion 10 for receiving the drain generated in the front heat exchanger 6 is provided at an upper position of the air outlet 8, while a rear inner surface is provided on a rear inner surface of the cabinet 3. An upper drain receiving portion 11 for accommodating the drain generated in the heat exchanger 7 is provided. Drain collected in the upper drain receiving portion 11 flows into the lower drain receiving portion 10 and is discharged from the lower drain receiving portion 10. Along with the drain accumulated in the drain receiving portion 10, the air is discharged to the outside through a drain pipe (not shown). The air outlet 8
Inside, a horizontal wind direction plate 12 and a vertical wind direction plate 13 are arranged, and by using these horizontal and vertical wind direction plates 12, 13, the blowout air direction of the conditioned air is to be adjusted. Reference numeral 14 in the drawing indicates a blower fan for controlling the wind direction, and the blower fan 14 for controlling the wind direction finely adjusts the blowout wind direction of the conditioned air.

Further, some indoor units do not include the rear heat exchanger 7 but include only the front heat exchanger 6, and this type of indoor unit is shown in FIG.
Generally has an internal structure as shown in FIG. That is, in the case of an indoor unit that does not include the rear heat exchanger 7, the upper part 3 a of the cabinet 3 that constitutes the unit housing in combination with the open grill 1 and the front panel 2 is directed toward the air passage 4. The rear end of the front heat exchanger 6 is received and supported by the upper part 3a of the protruding cabinet 3 and the upper part 3a of the cabinet 3
A heat insulating material 15 having a predetermined thickness is adhered on the outer surface of the heat sink. In addition, since other configurations are basically the same as those in the case where the rear heat exchanger 7 is also provided, in FIG. 6, the same reference numerals are given to the same devices and components as those in FIG. 5. Therefore, the description here is omitted.

[0005]

By the way, among the conventional indoor units, those having a front heat exchanger 6 and a rear heat exchanger 7 and only the front heat exchanger 6 are known. In these indoor units, a dedicated unit housing, specifically, a dedicated cabinet 3 is used for each, so that the heat exchange efficiency is good. I have. However, under the current situation where a dedicated cabinet 3 is used for each indoor unit, the following inconvenience occurs.

That is, when manufacturing a dedicated cabinet 3 suitable for each indoor unit having a different internal structure, an injection molding operation using a mold having a different structure is performed in a separate process. Therefore, it is not only troublesome to store and manage jigs and the like required for each of these work processes, but also troublesome to sort and manage the manufactured cabinets 3 and to perform these work and management. You will need a lot of space. When a plurality of types of cabinets 3 are manufactured, cost increases are inevitable as a result of complicating work processes and parts management, and errors in product assembly also occur. .

The present invention has been made in view of such inconvenience, and an indoor unit capable of sharing a unit housing even if the heat exchanger storage structure is different, that is, a rear side unit. It is an object of the present invention to provide an indoor unit of an air conditioner configured using unit housings having the same structure regardless of whether a heat exchanger is provided.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an indoor unit of an air conditioner, wherein an air passage is provided in a unit housing, and a heat exchanger and a blower fan are provided inside the air passage. An auxiliary casing attached to the rear inner surface of the unit housing in place of the rear heat exchanger that is arranged continuously with the front heat exchanger is located at the lower end of the unit housing. The supporting members that are sandwiched and supported between the drain receiving portion and the drain receiving portion are protruded toward the air passage, and these supporting members are spaced apart from each other along a direction parallel to the drain receiving portion. It is characterized by.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an indoor unit for an air conditioner, wherein the auxiliary casing of the indoor unit according to the first aspect is made of a material having both non-air permeability and heat insulation. The rear end is supported from below. In the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 3 of the present invention, the lower end of the auxiliary casing in the indoor unit described in claim 2 is disposed in the drain receiving portion, and the lower end of the auxiliary casing has a drain discharge groove. It is characterized by being formed.

An indoor unit of an air conditioner according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the indoor unit according to the third aspect, wherein an inner surface of the auxiliary casing facing the air passage faces in a direction away from the air passage. It has a curved concave shape. An indoor unit for an air conditioner according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the indoor unit according to the third or fourth aspect, wherein a guide portion for introducing drain into a drain discharge groove is provided on an inner surface of the auxiliary casing. It is characterized by having been done.

[0011]

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

1 and 2 are simplified cross-sectional views showing the internal structure of an indoor unit according to the present embodiment. FIG. 1 shows the interior of an indoor unit having only a front heat exchanger. FIG. 2 shows the internal structure of an indoor unit including both a front heat exchanger and a rear heat exchanger. FIG. 3 is an external perspective view showing the entire shape of the auxiliary casing, and FIG. 4 is a plan sectional view showing a main part structure when the indoor unit is cut along the line AA in FIG. Note that the overall configuration of the indoor unit according to the present embodiment is not fundamentally different from the conventional embodiment, and therefore, in FIGS. 1 to 4, the same devices and parts as those in FIGS. 5 and 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals. And a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0013] Among the indoor units according to the present embodiment,
The indoor unit including only the front heat exchanger 6 includes an open grill 1 and a front panel 2 as shown in FIG.
And a cabinet 3 in combination. An air passage 4 for circulating conditioned air is provided in the unit housing including the cabinet 3, and an air for removing dust from the sucked room air is provided in the air passage 4. A filter 5, a front heat exchanger 6 that dehumidifies and cools the indoor air from which dust has been removed during cooling and generates air-conditioned air by heating during heating, and a front heat exchanger 6
And a blower fan 9 for blowing the conditioned air generated by the air blower from the air outlet 8 of the unit housing.

A lower drain receiving portion 10 for receiving the drain generated in the front heat exchanger 6 is provided at an upper position of the air outlet 8, while a rear side of the cabinet 3 facing the air passage 4 is provided. An upper drain receiving portion 11 is provided on the inner surface, and the drain accumulated in the upper drain receiving portion 11 flows into the lower drain receiving portion 10 and is discharged to the outside through a drain tube (not shown). It is supposed to be. A horizontal wind direction plate 12 and a vertical wind direction plate 13 are arranged in the air outlet 8, and a wind direction controlling blower fan 14 is provided above the air outlet 8.

Further, on a rear inner surface of the cabinet 3 which is an upper position in the air passage 4, a front heat exchanger 6 is provided.
Auxiliary casing 17 used in place of rear heat exchanger 7 to be arranged continuously, specifically, a foam made of styrofoam and at least as high as rear heat exchanger 7 Auxiliary casing 17, which is a molded body having the following, is attached using a water-soluble adhesive or the like.
In addition, the auxiliary casing 17 is not limited to the styrofoam material, and it is needless to say that the auxiliary casing 17 may be a styrofoam material as long as the material has both non-air permeability and heat insulation properties that do not allow air to flow. In this case, the auxiliary casing 17 needs to prevent the passage of the room air flowing from the air inlet of the cabinet 3 and flow around the front heat exchanger 6, so that it is non-permeable. .

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the auxiliary casing 17 has an appearance similar to that of the rear heat exchanger 7 and supports the rear end of the front heat exchanger 6 from below. The lower end of the auxiliary casing 17 attached to the air passage 4 is disposed in the upper drain receiving portion 11, and the lower end of the auxiliary casing 17 has a drain discharge groove 1.
8 is formed by cutting or the like, and a step portion 19 to which the rear end of the front heat exchanger 6 is fitted and positioned is formed at the upper end by cutting or the like. And the lower end of the auxiliary casing 17 at this time is in a state of floating in the upper drain receiving portion 11,
A space is provided between the lower end of the auxiliary casing 17 and the bottom surface of the upper drain receiving portion 11 so that the drain generated during cooling can flow.

The inner surface 17a of the auxiliary casing 17 mounted on the inner surface of the rear side of the cabinet 3 faces the air passage 4, so that the inner surface 17a of the conditioned air exchanged by the front heat exchanger 6 at the time of cooling is used. Water is condensed and the auxiliary casing 1
The drain attached to the inner surface 17a of the auxiliary casing 17 flows down the inner surface 17a of the auxiliary casing 17 and then drops from the drain discharge groove 18 to the upper drain receiving portion. 11 will flow. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the inner surface 17 a of the auxiliary casing 17 is curved in a direction away from the air passage 4 so as to easily prevent the occurrence of turbulence by suppressing the change in the flow velocity of the conditioned air. It is preferable to form a concave shape. With such a shape, there is also obtained an advantage that drain generated on the inner surface 17a of the auxiliary casing 17 easily flows down.

The inner surface 17a of the auxiliary casing 17
It is also possible to provide a guide portion for introducing the drain into the drain discharge groove 18 on the upper side, and as the guide portion at this time, as shown in FIG. A pair of ridge members 20 and the like stuck opposite to each other on the inner surface 17a of the auxiliary casing 17 may be considered as an inclined shape that can be guided toward the main casing 17. That is, when such a guide portion is provided, the auxiliary casing 17
This has the advantage that the drain generated on the inner surface of the nozzle is introduced into the drain discharge groove 18 in a smoother state. In this case, it is not always necessary that the guide portion is constituted by the ridge member 20.
Of course, it may be a concave groove or the like formed on the surface 7a.

On the other hand, on the rear inner surface of the cabinet 3 constituting the unit housing, a support member 21 for sandwiching and supporting the auxiliary casing 17 with the upper drain receiving portion 11 located at the lower end thereof, That is, a plurality of (four in the figure) support members 21 having a flat plate shape are
1 and 4, these support members 21 are spaced apart from each other along a direction parallel to the drain receiving portion 11, and between the pair of adjacent ones. Is provided with a space of a predetermined width. 1 and 4 are vertical ribs, which are disposed between the cabinet 3 and the support member 21 to reinforce each of the support members 21.

In this case, the auxiliary casing 17
As shown in FIG. 4, grooves 23 for fitting the vertical ribs 22 are formed in advance, and each of the vertical ribs 22 fitted in the groove 23 supports the support member 21. Become. However, it is not always necessary that these vertical ribs 22 are arranged at positions corresponding to the respective support members 21, and each of the vertical ribs 22 is simply provided to reinforce the cabinet 3. Of course, there may be. Further, a heat insulating material 24 having a predetermined thickness is provided on the rear outer surface of the cabinet 3 at this time.
The auxiliary casing 17 attached to the rear inner surface of the cabinet 3 and having heat insulating properties together with the heat insulating material 24 maintains the air-conditioned state of the conditioned air flowing through the air passage 4. It is supposed to be.

In the present embodiment, the indoor unit includes only the front heat exchanger 6, but the indoor unit includes both the front heat exchanger 6 and the rear heat exchanger 7. The internal structure at the time of is as shown in FIG. In this case, since the overall configuration is basically the same as that of FIG. 1, the same reference numerals are given to the same devices and components in FIG. 2 as those in FIG. 1, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

That is, even in the case of an indoor unit having the front heat exchanger 6 and the rear heat exchanger 7, the upper drain is placed on the rear inner surface of the cabinet 3 facing the air passage 4. A receiving portion 11 is provided, and a rear heat exchanger 7 is arranged at a position above the rear inner surface of the cabinet 3 so as to be continuous with the front heat exchanger 6. The support members 21 protruding from the rear inner surface of the cabinet 3 do not come into contact with the rear heat exchanger 7, and the plurality of support members 21 supporting the auxiliary casing 17 are connected to the rear heat exchanger 7. The arrangement of the exchanger 7 is not to be given any inconvenience. Note that each of the support members 21 may be in contact with the rear heat exchanger 7, and these support members 21 may of course be used for positioning the rear heat exchanger 7. .

Therefore, even in the cabinet 3 described in the present embodiment, that is, the cabinet 3 in which the support member 21 is protruded on the rear inner surface, the front heat exchanger 6 and the rear heat exchanger 7 can be used. The present embodiment has been described in the case of configuring an indoor unit including the front heat exchanger 6 and the rear heat exchanger 7 without causing any inconvenience in configuring the indoor unit including the heat exchanger. The same cabinets 3 can be used, and the cabinets 3 can be shared. At this time, since a space having a predetermined width is provided between the support members 21, the room air flowing from the air inlet such as the cabinet 3 flows into the rear heat exchanger 7. No problem occurs, and the drain generated in the rear heat exchanger 7 during cooling is accommodated in the upper drain receiving portion 11.

[0024]

As described above, in the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to the present invention, the auxiliary casing is used in place of the rear heat exchanger that is arranged continuously with the front heat exchanger. A support member that sandwiches and supports the auxiliary casing attached to the rear inner surface of the housing between a drain receiving portion located at the lower end thereof and protrudes from the rear inner surface of the unit housing, and Are spaced apart along the direction parallel to the drain receiving portion. As a result, even if the storage structures of the heat exchangers are different, that is, either the case where both the front heat exchanger and the rear heat exchanger are provided or the case where only the front heat exchanger is provided. However, it is possible to share the unit housing, regardless of whether or not it has a rear heat exchanger. The effect that a unit can be constituted is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of an indoor unit including only a front heat exchanger among indoor units according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of an indoor unit including a front heat exchanger and a rear heat exchanger among the indoor units according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view showing the overall shape of an auxiliary casing.

FIG. 4 is a plan cross-sectional view showing a main structure when the indoor unit is cut along the line AA in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of an indoor unit including a front heat exchanger and a rear heat exchanger among the indoor units according to the related art.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of an indoor unit including only a front heat exchanger among indoor units according to a conventional mode.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 3 cabinet (unit housing) 4 air passage 6 front heat exchanger (heat exchanger) 7 rear heat exchanger (heat exchanger) 9 blower fan 11 upper drain receiver (drain receiver) 17 auxiliary casing 21 support member

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioner indoor unit in which a heat exchanger and a blower fan are provided, wherein an air passage is provided in a unit housing, and the air passage is provided in the air passage. On the side inner surface, a support for sandwiching and supporting an auxiliary casing attached in place of the rear heat exchanger arranged continuously with the front heat exchanger between a drain receiving portion located at the lower end side thereof An indoor unit for an air conditioner, wherein members are protruded toward an air passage, and these support members are spaced apart from each other along a direction parallel to the drain receiving portion. 2. The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary casing is made of a material having both air permeability and heat insulation, and supports a rear end of the front heat exchanger from below. An indoor unit of an air conditioner, characterized in that: 3. The indoor unit for an air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein a lower end of the auxiliary casing is disposed in a drain receiving portion, and a drain discharge groove is formed at a lower end of the auxiliary casing. An indoor unit for an air conditioner, comprising: 4. The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein the inner surface of the auxiliary casing facing the air passage has a concave shape curved in a direction away from the air passage. An indoor unit for an air conditioner, comprising: 5. The indoor unit for an air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein a guide portion for introducing a drain into a drain discharge groove is provided on an inner surface of the auxiliary casing. An indoor unit of an air conditioner characterized by the above.