KR101463161B1 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

The air conditioner according to the present invention is further configured to include a hose guide for guiding up and down movement of the corrugated hose for communicating the foreign matter separation unit and the suction unit, thereby providing an advantage of improving the foreign matter discharge performance and the cleaning performance of the cleaning unit .

Filter, foreign matter separation unit, suction unit, corrugated hose, hose guide

Description

Air conditioner

The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly, to an air conditioner having a hose guide for communicating a foreign matter separating unit for cleaning a filter with a suction unit using a corrugated hose and guiding the upward and downward movement of the corrugated hose, The present invention relates to an air conditioner capable of improving the cleaning performance of the air conditioner.

Generally, an air conditioner is a device for cooling and heating indoor air or purifying air using a refrigerating cycle of a refrigerant composed of a compressor, a condenser, an expansion device, and an evaporator in order to create a more comfortable indoor environment for a user. Respectively.

The separate type and the integral type are the same in function but the separate type indoor and outdoor units are connected to each other by a cooling / heat radiating device installed in the indoor unit, a heat radiating / cooling and compressing device installed in the outdoor unit, To integrate the functions of the house walls and holes in the wall of the house is installed directly by hanging device.

Such an air conditioner is provided with a filter for collecting foreign matter in the air to be sucked into the air conditioner in order to protect the parts in the air conditioner as well as to purify the air in the air conditioner.

Since the filter performs the filter function by collecting the foreign substances in the air sucked into the air conditioner as described above, the amount of the foreign substances collected in the filter increases with the use period of the filter, There is a fear that the air flow passing through the air conditioner is disturbed and the function of the air conditioner is lowered. Therefore, the filter provided in the air conditioner should be replaced occasionally or cleaned to remove foreign matter collected on the filter.

Conventionally, such a cleaning operation of the filter has been performed manually, for example, by the user manually removing the water from the outside and washing the water. Recently, however, the filter has been installed with a cleaning unit operated by a simple operation method of operating the remote control key or the like So that the convenience of the user is increased.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a filter 10 is cleaned using a cleaning unit according to the related art. Referring to FIG. 1, an air conditioner according to the related art includes a filter 10 disposed on one side of a case (not shown) so as to be vertically arranged on at least one air intake port 5 formed vertically. A suction panel (15) for selectively opening and closing the air inlet (5) according to a user's operation is disposed outside the air inlet (5).

A foreign matter separating unit 20 for separating foreign matters filtered by the filter 10 is disposed at an outer side of the filter 10 so as to be in contact with the filter 10. The foreign matter separation unit 20 can be moved up and down by the guide of the movement guide 35 formed on the air intake port side. The foreign matter separated from the filter 10 by the foreign matter separating unit 20 is collected into the dust chamber 25 which is a predetermined space formed inside the foreign matter separating unit 20.

The foreign substances collected by the dust chamber 25 are sucked by a suction unit which is connected to the foreign matter separation unit 20 and the hose 40 by a foreign matter collecting unit (not shown) .

However, in the air conditioner according to the related art as described above, the hose 40 connecting the foreign matter separation unit 20 and the suction unit must be as long as the moving distance of the foreign matter separation unit 20, Since the hose 40 must be moved along the foreign matter separation unit 20, there is a problem that a predetermined space is required for the hose 40 to move.

In addition, when the hose 40 is bent, a foreign matter moving along the hose 40 is accumulated on the bent portion of the hose 40 or the hose 40 is blocked, thereby adversely affecting the foreign matter discharge performance have.

The present invention is characterized in that a hose guide is provided so as to allow the foreign matter separating unit and the suction unit to communicate with each other by using a corrugated pipe hose whose length is variable (i.e., expanded and contracted) and to guide smooth expansion and contraction of the corrugated pipe hose, And it is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner capable of saving foreign matter and improving the cleaning performance of the cleaning unit.

An air conditioner according to the present invention comprises: a filter for filtering out foreign matter in air sucked into an air inlet; A foreign matter separating unit for separating foreign matter from the filter while linearly moving along the filter; A suction unit which is in communication with the foreign matter separation unit and sucks foreign matter separated by the foreign matter separation unit; A corrugated pipe hose connecting the foreign matter separating unit and the suction unit and having a length varying in a straight line when the foreign matter separating unit moves linearly; A hose guide for guiding the corrugated pipe hose such that the corrugated pipe hose is inserted therein and the corrugated pipe hose is linearly expanded and contracted when the foreign matter separating unit moves linearly; .

The hose guide may further include a hose guide for guiding the corrugated pipe hose in a straight line.

Further, the hose guide may have a cylindrical cross section having a larger diameter than the outer periphery of the pleated pipe hose.

The hose guide may be cut up and down along the upper movement path of the corrugated pipe hose so as not to interfere with the corrugated pipe hose when vertically moving the foreign matter separation unit.

Further, the air conditioner may further include a suction panel disposed outside the filter to open and close the air inlet, and the hose guide may be disposed between the suction panel and the filter.

The hose guide is disposed between the suction panel and the filter so that the flow of the air sucked through the air suction port is not disturbed. The suction panel is disposed outside the filter, , And may be disposed at one side of the foreign matter separation unit.

The air conditioner according to the present invention is provided with the hose for communicating the foreign matter separation unit and the suction unit as the corrugated pipe hose having a variable length and guiding the variable length of the corrugated pipe hose using the hose guide, And the cleaning performance of the cleaning unit is improved.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of an air conditioner according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. For convenience of explanation, the arrows X, Y, and Z shown in FIG. 2 in the accompanying drawings mean the front-rear direction, the left-right direction, and the vertical direction, respectively.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the air conditioner 100 according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the air conditioner 100 with the front panel 150 shown in FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the filter 210 assembly shown in FIG. 2 to 4, an air conditioner 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a base 110 disposed on one side of a floor of an indoor unit, (Not shown). The front surface of the cabinet 115 is opened and left and right sides of the cabinet 115 have a predetermined space so that the air conditioning unit can be installed inside the cabinet 115. The front panel 150 is rotated to open and close the internal space of the cabinet 115 on the opened front side of the cabinet 115.

Air is drawn vertically downward to the left and right sides of the cabinet 115 so that air can be sucked into the cabinet 115 and air is sucked into the cabinet 115 from upper and lower sides of the left and right sides of the cabinet 115, An air outlet 125 through which the air sucked through the air inlet 120 is discharged after being heat-exchanged is formed. The air outlet 125 may include upper air outlets 126 and 125 formed on the upper surface of the cabinet 115. A suction panel 130 is rotatably disposed on the air inlet 120 to selectively open and close the air inlet 120 according to a user's operation. The air discharge port 125 may also be provided with a discharge panel 140 for opening and closing the air discharge port 125.

As shown in FIG. 3, a filter assembly 210 is installed inside the suction panel 130 of the air inlet 120 so as to filter out foreign matter in the air drawn through the air inlet 120. .

4, the filter assembly includes a filter panel 206 on which the filter 210 is installed, a suction grill (not shown) disposed on the air inlet 120 side for fixing the filter panel 206, 202, and the filter 210. The suction grille 202 is provided with the suction panel 130.

The filter panel 206 and the suction grille 202 are formed so that the middle portion of the filter panel 206 and the suction grille 202 are vertically penetrated so that the air on the indoor side can be sucked into the cabinet 115 through the air suction port 120 . A foreign matter separating unit 210 is provided between the filter panel 206 and the suction grill 202 to move a filter 210 fixed to the filter panel 206 to clean foreign substances filtered by the filter 210. [ A cleaning unit (not shown) including a cleaning unit 220 may be disposed. The foreign matter separation unit 220 may be moved in any direction along the filter 210. However, in an embodiment of the present invention, the filter 210 may be moved up and down in correspondence with the longitudinal direction of the air intake port 120 And is configured to be moved in the vertical direction.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the hose guide 230 shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 5 to 7, the cleaning unit is disposed between the suction grill 202 and the filter panel 206, and moves up and down along the filter 210 installed on the filter panel 206 And a foreign matter separation unit 220 for separating the foreign matter filtered by the filter 210.

The foreign matter separation unit 220 may include a dust chamber 225 having a predetermined space therein. The dust chamber 225 is formed such that one side of the dust chamber 225 facing the filter 210 and a side of the dust chamber 225 facing the suction panel 130 are opened. An agitator 222 is rotatably disposed in an inner space of one side of the dust chamber 225 opened toward the filter 210 side. The agitator 222 is disposed so that a part of the outer circumference thereof is in contact with the filter 210 and separates the foreign matter filtered by the filter 210 when the foreign matter separation unit 220 is moved up and down along the filter 210 And is collected into the dust chamber 225.

In order to guide the vertical movement of the foreign material separation unit 220, a movement guide 235 is formed vertically and vertically inside the suction grille 202. Although not shown in detail in the figure, the movement guide 235 may be formed with a rack gear portion that is coupled to the foreign matter separating unit 220 and is engaged with a pinion gear portion that is rotationally driven.

The other side of the dust chamber 225 opened toward the suction panel 130 is connected to a suction unit (not shown) disposed inside the cabinet 115 to provide a predetermined suction force into the dust chamber 225, . Hereinafter, the open portion formed on the other side of the dust chamber 225 will be referred to as a suction hole 229 for convenience of explanation.

The suction hole 229 may be formed at the lower end of the dust chamber 225. This is problematic in that when the suction hole 229 is formed in the upper end portion or the intermediate portion of the dust chamber 225, the suction force of the suction unit for sucking foreign substances must be large. As a result of testing the cleaning performance by arranging the suction unit having the same suction force and changing only the position of the suction hole 229, the suction hole 229 is disposed at the lower end of the dust chamber 225 , It was confirmed that the cleaning performance was 95%. In addition, when the suction hole 229 is disposed at the upper or middle portion of the dust chamber 225, the cleaning performance is reduced to 92% or less.

The hose connecting the suction hole 229 and the suction unit is provided with a corrugated pipe hose 227 having a variable length. The pleated pipe hose 227 here is a hose having a so-called bellows shape and having a length between one end and another end expanded or contracted by an external force acting thereon. Preferably, the corrugated pipe hose 227 is vertically arranged in the vertical direction corresponding to the movement path of the foreign matter separation unit 220. When the foreign matter separation unit 220 moves downward from the upper part along the filter 210 in the above state, the compression force is transmitted to the upper part of the pipe 224 adjacent to the suction hole 229, So that the vertical length of the corrugated pipe hose 227 is reduced. On the other hand, when the foreign matter separating unit 220 is moved upward from the bottom along the filter 210, a tensile force is transmitted, and a portion adjacent to the suction hole 229 gradually expands from the upper portion, And the upper and lower lengths thereof are extended.

Generally, the pleated pipe hose 227 is made of a rubber material that is stretchable and contractible. Therefore, there is a fear that a phenomenon of bending to one side occurs when the length of the foreign matter separation unit 220 is expanded or contracted. If the corrugated pipe hose 227 is bent, the foreign matter moving inside the corrugated pipe hose 227 may accumulate at the bent portion or may block the inside of the corrugated pipe hose 227, have. In an embodiment of the present invention, the hose guide 230 may further include a hose guide 230 for guiding the expansion and contraction of the corrugated pipe hose 227 in the straight direction in order to prevent the bending of the corrugated pipe hose 227 described above.

The hose guide 230 may have a hollow circumferential cross section having a larger diameter than the outer periphery of the corrugated pipe hose 227. More specifically, it is preferable that the inner diameter of the hose guide 230 has a larger diameter than the outer diameter of the corrugated pipe hose 227 when the corrugated pipe hose 227 is folded. The hose guide 230 supports the outer periphery of the corrugated pipe hose 227 when the corrugated pipe hose 227 is expanded and contracted so that the corrugated pipe hose 227 is sequentially folded or unfolded.

6, one side of the hose guide 230 is connected to the suction hole 229 so as not to interfere with the connection with the suction hole 229 when the foreign matter separating unit 220 moves up and down, 229 are formed. Preferably, the incising portion is cut up and down in correspondence with the upper movement path of the corrugated pipe hose 227 on which the connection portion is disposed.

7, the hose guide 230 may be disposed between the filter 210 and the suction panel 130, and may be disposed on the air inlet 120 side. At this time, the hose guide 230 is disposed close to the foreign matter separation unit 220, and the connection part connecting the suction hole 229 and the upper end of the corrugated pipe hose 227 needs to be formed long There is no.

However, the hose guide 230 does not necessarily have to be disposed between the filter 210 and the suction panel 130. That is, since the intake air flows between the filter 210 and the suction panel 130 through which the air flows through the air inlet 120, the suction performance of the air conditioner 100 is not impaired The hose guide 230 may be disposed on one side of the foreign matter separating unit 220 which is disposed between the suction panel 130 and the filter 210 and in which the hose guide 230 is deviated from the air flow path . 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the hose guide 230 is disposed on one side of the foreign matter separating unit 220, and the above description is well reflected.

The operation of the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described.

When the user operates the cleaning unit using a remote control key or the like, the foreign matter separation unit 220 receives the guide of the movement guide 235 and moves up and down along the filter 210, And the separated foreign substances are collected and collected into the dust chamber 225.

At this time, when the foreign matter separation unit 220 is moved up and down, the corrugated pipe hose 227 is guided by the hose guide 230 and expanded and contracted in the up and down direction. As described above, the air conditioner 100 has the hose for communicating the foreign matter separation unit 220 and the suction unit with the corrugated pipe hose 227 having a variable length, so that the internal space of the cabinet 115 is sufficient It is advantageous to use it efficiently. Also, the corrugated pipe hose 227 has an advantage of improving the foreign matter discharging performance by guiding the expansion and contraction in the linear direction by the hose guide 230 so as to prevent a bending phenomenon.

The preferred embodiments of the air conditioner according to the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the present invention are not necessarily limited to the above-described embodiments, and that various modifications and other embodiments falling within the scope of the present invention are possible by those skilled in the art Of course. Accordingly, the true scope of the invention should be determined by the following claims.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where a filter is cleaned using a cleaning unit according to a related art,

2 is a perspective view showing an appearance of an air conditioner according to the present invention,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the air conditioner of FIG. 2 with the front panel opened; FIG.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the filter assembly shown in Figure 3,

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of Fig. 4,

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the hose guide shown in FIG. 4,

7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B in Fig. 4,

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B in Fig. 4, and is a sectional view showing a state in which the hose guide is disposed on one side of the foreign matter separation unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig.

100: air conditioner 110: base

115: Case 120: Air inlet

125: air outlet 126: upper air outlet

130: Suction panel 140: Discharge panel

150: front panel 202: suction grill

206: Filter panel 210: Filter

220: Foreign matter separation unit 222: Agitator

225: Dust chamber 227: Corrugated pipe hose

229: suction hole 230: hose guide

232: incision

Claims (6)

A filter for filtering foreign matter in the air sucked into the air inlet; A foreign matter separating unit for separating foreign matter from the filter while linearly moving along the filter; A suction unit which is in communication with the foreign matter separation unit and sucks foreign matter separated by the foreign matter separation unit; A corrugated pipe hose connecting the foreign matter separating unit and the suction unit and having a length varying in a straight line when the foreign matter separating unit moves linearly; A hose guide for guiding the corrugated pipe hose such that the corrugated pipe hose is inserted therein and the corrugated pipe hose is linearly expanded and contracted when the foreign matter separating unit moves linearly; And an air conditioner. delete The method according to claim 1, Wherein the hose guide has a cylindrical cross section having a larger diameter than the outer periphery of the pleated pipe hose. The method according to claim 1, The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a cut-away portion extending in the longitudinal direction of the hose guide so as not to interfere with the hose when the foreign matter separating unit moves linearly. The method according to claim 1, And a suction panel disposed outside the filter to open and close the air inlet, Wherein the hose guide is disposed between the suction panel and the filter. The method according to claim 1, And a suction panel disposed outside the filter to open and close the air inlet, Wherein the hose guide is disposed between the suction panel and the filter so that the flow of air sucked through the air suction port is not disturbed, and is disposed at one side of the foreign matter separation unit.

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