KR100216474B1 - Condensed water anti-leakage apparatus of airconditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses a novel condensate leakage preventing device of an air conditioner.

Conventionally, since there is no other means for detecting the level of condensation water, there is a problem that condensation water overflows to the outside of the drain pan to contaminate the air conditioner and the room when the drain pan of the drain pan is blocked.

In the present invention, the drain pan is installed in the lower part of the evaporator to collect condensed water and composed of a conductor, a drain hose connected to the drain pan to discharge the collected condensed water to the outside, and the drain pan to be electrically isolated from the drain pan. It is installed inside of and is spaced apart from the bottom by a predetermined interval, the internal electrode rods to be applied power, the external electrode rods are installed to be in contact with the outer circumferential surface of the drain pan, the current display unit to indicate whether the electricity between the internal and external electrodes And a control unit which is connected to the internal and external electrode rods, respectively, to detect the energization between them, and which operates the electricity supply indicator and stops the operation of the air conditioning system. It was made.

Description

Condensate leak prevention device of air conditioner

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to air conditioners, and more particularly, to an apparatus for preventing condensation water generated during evaporation of a refrigerant from overflowing a drain pan.

Air conditioners used to cool the room using a cooling cycle, as is well known, liquefy refrigerant compressed in the compressor by heat exchange with ambient air in a condenser, and expansion valve. It is an air conditioner that performs cooling by the latent heat of evaporation of the refrigerant absorbed by evaporating the liquid refrigerant changed to low temperature by the heat exchange with the ambient air in the evaporator.

Accordingly, a large amount of condensed water is generated on the surface of the evaporator by condensation due to the rapid drop in temperature, which contaminates not only the air conditioner but also the room, so it must be properly collected and drained.

To this end, as shown in FIG. 1, a drain pan (P) is installed in the lower part of the evaporator (E), and a drain hose (H) is connected to the drain pan (P). The condensed water (W) generated in E) is collected in the drain pan (P) and discharged to the outside through the drain hose (H).

However, in the conventional air conditioner, since the drain hole S of the drain pan P is blocked, there is no other means to cope with it, and thus the collected condensed water W overflows to the outside of the drain pan P. There was a problem of polluting the interior of the air conditioner as well as the interior. That is, the condensed water (W) contains a large amount of foreign matter in the air, they are entangled in the drain hole (S) of the drain pan (P), the size of the drain hole (S) becomes small or clogged in severe cases after a long time The amount of drainage per unit time decreases, so that the compressor continues to be driven, so that the condensed water W overflows to the outside of the drain pan P as shown by a dotted line in FIG. 1. Therefore, conventional air conditioners could not guarantee the quality, reliability and safety of use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a condensation water leakage preventing device of an air conditioner which can effectively prevent condensation water collected in a drain pan from overflowing to the outside in view of the above-described conventional problem.

In order to achieve the above object, the condensation water leakage preventing device of an air conditioner according to the present invention includes a compressor for compressing a refrigerant, a condenser for liquefying a compressed refrigerant, an evaporator for evaporating a liquid refrigerant, and a lower portion of the evaporator. An air conditioner having a drain pan for collecting condensed water, and a drain hose connected to the drain pan for discharging the collected condensed water to the outside, comprising: an upper drain pan made of a conductor; It is installed inside the drain pan so as to be isolated and spaced apart from the bottom surface by a predetermined distance, and is connected to the outer circumferential surface of the drain pan, the outer electrode is installed to be in contact with the power supply, and the electricity between the inner and outer electrodes An electricity supply indicator to indicate whether it is connected to the internal and external electrodes, respectively, to detect electricity supply between them. Sikkim and at the same time being formed by a control unit that stops the drive of the air conditioning system.

According to one preferred feature of the present invention, the control unit is configured to stop driving of the compressor only when the upper and lower electrodes are energized.

Accordingly, the present invention exhibits a great effect on improving the safety and reliability of the use of the air conditioner because the condensed water does not overflow to the outside of the drain pan as in the prior art even if the drained hole of the drain pan is blocked and the condensed water is not discharged smoothly. do.

1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a condensate drainage structure of a general air conditioner,

Figure 2 is a block diagram schematically showing a condensation water leak prevention apparatus according to the present invention.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

E: evaporator P: drain pan

S: Drainage hole (drain pan) H: Drain hose

1: internal electrode 2: external electrode

3: Bracket 4: Controller

5: energization indicator 6: compressor

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In Figure 2, the condensation water leakage preventing device of the air conditioner according to the present invention is provided with a drain pan (P) for collecting the condensed water (W) generated in the evaporator (E) at the bottom of the evaporator (E), the drain pan The lower portion of the (P) is connected to the drain hose (H) for discharging the condensed water (W) collected in the drain pan (P) to the outside.

According to a feature of the invention the drain pan (P) is composed of a conductor such as stainless steel (stainless steel). Inside the drain pan P, an internal electrode rod 1 to which power is applied is supported by the drain pan P through a non-conductor bracket 3 so as to be spaced apart from the bottom surface of the drain pan P by a predetermined distance. The external electrode 2 to which the power is applied is also fixed to one side of the outer circumferential surface of the drain pan P. In addition, a control panel (not shown) provided in the main body of the air conditioner is provided with an electricity supply indicator 5 for displaying whether electricity is supplied between the internal and external electrodes 1 and 2.

The internal and external electrodes (1) and (2) are connected to a controller (4) which senses whether electricity is supplied between them and drives the electricity supply indicator 5 when the electricity is supplied, and at the same time stops the operation of the air conditioning cooling system. At this time, when the control unit 4 stops the entire operation of the air conditioning cooling system, there is a high possibility of causing discomfort and reduced confidence in the user due to sudden stop of the air conditioner, it is preferable to be configured to stop only the driving of the compressor (6). will be.

That is, when the entire cooling system is stopped, the discharged cold air stops abruptly, whereas when only the driving of the compressor 6 is stopped, no condensation water (W) is generated on the surface of the evaporator (not shown). Not only does condensation (W) increase in (P), but also cooling continues due to the residual heat of the evaporator for a certain period of time due to continuous fan operation, thereby effectively suppressing the discomfort caused by sudden air conditioning stop. .

The control unit 4 may be configured separately, but preferably comprises a main control unit for controlling the driving of the air conditioning cooling system.

The energization indicator 5 only needs to be able to display the energization between the internal and external electrode rods 1 and 2, for example, to be selectively turned on / off by a signal of the controller 4. It may consist of a warning buzzer or a warning lamp or a combination thereof.

On the other hand, the power applied to the internal and external electrodes (1) and (2) need only be able to detect whether electricity is being supplied between them. For example, a current of about 5 to 30V is suitable, which is suitable for various control components of the air conditioner. It may be supplied directly from the step-down transformer for applying power, or may be applied through the control unit (4). In this case, although not shown separately between the two electrodes (1) (2) and the control unit 4 for the stabilization of the control unit 4, it would be preferable that a constant voltage device is provided.

Operation of the condensation water leakage preventing device of the air conditioner according to the present invention configured as described above is as follows.

When the air conditioner is driven, moisture in the air is condensed on the surface of the evaporator (E) to generate a large amount of condensed water (W), and the condensed water (W) falls to the drain pan (P) under the evaporator (E). Is collected. The collected condensed water (W) is discharged to the outside through the bath hose (H) connected to the drain pan (P), at this time, the condensed water (W) and the internal electrode (1) as shown in solid line in FIG. ) Are spaced apart from each other so that the two electrodes (1) and (2) are electrically isolated so that no current flows between them. As a result, the controller 4 normally drives the compressor 6 without outputting a drive signal to the energization indicator 5.

On the other hand, when the drain hole S of the drain pan P is blocked by foreign matter or the like, the condensed water W is not discharged and is stored in the drain pan P. Accordingly, when the condensed water W is stored at a predetermined level in the drain pan P, the condensed water W and the internal electrode 1 come into contact with each other, as shown by a virtual line in FIG. The energization is made between the electrodes (1) (2). Then, the control unit 4 connected thereto detects that the condensation water (W) in the drain pan (P) is a dangerous water level, outputs a drive signal to the energization indicator (5), and outputs a drive stop signal to the compressor (6). do.

Accordingly, when the energization indicator 5 is driven, the user recognizes that the condensed water W is a dangerous water level, and no more condensed water W is generated on the surface of the evaporator E. ) Overflows to the outside of the drain pan (P) is essentially prevented. At this time, since the fan for the evaporator (E) continues to be driven, cooling by the residual heat of the evaporator (E) lasts for a predetermined time, thereby minimizing user's discomfort.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the condensation water from overflowing to the outside by clogging the drain hole of the drain pan, etc. The present invention greatly improves the safety, reliability, and quality of the use of the air conditioner. Has a very good effect of improving.

Claims (4)

A compressor for compressing the refrigerant, a condenser for liquefying the compressed refrigerant, an evaporator for evaporating the liquid refrigerant, a drain pan installed under the evaporator to collect condensed water, and condensed water collected by being connected to the drain pan. In an air conditioner having a drain hose for discharging to the outside, The drain pan (P) composed of a conductor, An internal electrode rod (1) installed inside the drain pan (P) to be electrically isolated from the drain pan (P) and spaced apart from the bottom of the drain pan (P) by a power supply; An external electrode rod 2 installed to be in contact with the outer circumferential surface of the drain pan P and to which power is applied; An electricity supply indicator 5 for displaying whether electricity is supplied between the internal and external electrodes 1 and 2; It is connected to the internal and external electrode rods (1) and (2), respectively, and detects the power supply between them, and when the power supply is provided with a control unit (4) for driving the current display unit 5 and at the same time stop the driving of the air conditioning system Condensation water leakage prevention device of the air conditioner, characterized in that the configuration. The method of claim 1, Condensate leakage preventing device of the air conditioner, characterized in that the control unit (4) is configured to stop only the drive of the compressor (6) when the electricity between the upper and lower electrode (1) (2). The method according to claim 1 or 2, Condensation leak prevention device of the air conditioner, characterized in that the control unit (4) comprises a main control unit for controlling the operation of the air conditioner. The method of claim 1, Condensation leak prevention device of the air conditioner, characterized in that the energization indicator (5) is composed of an alarm buzzer or an alarm lamp or a combination thereof.

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