KR20040025548A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent moisture condensation and mold in an oxygen supply pipe of an oxygen enriching device of an outdoor machine, facilitate maintenance, and perform indoor multipurpose air conditioning together with ventilation. CONSTITUTION: The oxygen enriching device 6 is incorporated in an indoor unit 1, and unnecessary air from the oxygen enriching device is exhausted by utilizing a drain pipe 12. A mechanism 10 for sucking and exhausting indoor air is provided by utilizing an outside air supply pipe to the oxygen enriching device. Moreover, a sensor 16 detecting oxygen concentration and degree of foulness of air is provided in the indoor unit 1. Consequently, a filter can be cleaned and replaced while a user is in a room to supply fresh air as required by suction and exhaust functions without opening a window. Oxygen concentration and degree of foulness of air in the room can be detected by the sensor to keep fresh air. An air conditioner according to this invention can be installed in the same way as conventional method because of use of the drain pipe for excess air in the oxygen enriching device.

Description

Air Conditioner {AIR CONDITIONER}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly, to an air conditioner having excellent water maintainability suitable for supplying air having a high oxygen concentration to a room.

The conventional air conditioner only performed temperature control such as cooling and heating, and humidity control such as dehumidification or humidification.

Moreover, even if it has an oxygen incubator with a special specification, it is built in an outdoor unit, and there is no function which inhales outside air or exhausts indoor air indoors, and only supplies a certain amount of oxygen enriched air to a room continuously ( See, for example, Patent Document 1).

[Patent Document 1]

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-99457

However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, when performing maintenance such as cleaning or replacing the filter which prevents the incorporation of dust into the oxygen incubator, it has to be done outdoors. In addition, a pipe for supplying oxygen-enriched air was required separately from the pipe of the air conditioner. In addition, since the oxygen supply pipe is long, there is a problem that condensation or mold occurs in the pipe.

In addition, when there are a large number of people in the room and the oxygen incubator does not supply oxygen or the air in the room is contaminated, there is only a method of opening a window, and a large amount of outside air at a time when the temperature difference from the room is large. As it was introduced into, it was accompanied by a significant change in room temperature. In addition, when the outside air is contaminated with dust, odors, etc., there is a problem that this air flows into the room as it is and contaminates the room.

The problem of this invention is to solve the problem of the air conditioner provided with the oxygen enrichment apparatus, and to provide the air conditioner which can maintain the oxygen concentration of indoor air appropriately, and can supply fresh air, without opening a window as needed. will be.

1 is a basic explanatory diagram of one embodiment of the present invention;

2 is an explanatory diagram of an oxygen enrichment mechanism of an indoor unit.

3 is a structural explanatory diagram of an oxygen enrichment apparatus.

4 is an explanatory diagram of a mechanism of an oxygen enrichment membrane.

5 is an explanatory diagram of a filter takeout mechanism;

6 is an explanatory view of the mechanism of the drain of an indoor unit.

7 is a structural diagram of an air conditioner piping.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

1: indoor unit

2: outdoor unit

3: sleeve

4: indoor heat exchanger

5, 8, 13, 20: fan

6: oxygen incubator

7: outdoor heat exchanger

9: compressor

10: intake and exhaust pipe

11: refrigerant tube

12: drain pipe

14, 21: filter

15: outlet

16: sensor

17: discharge pipe

18: oxygen enrichment film

19: pump

22: damper

23: oxygen molecule

24: nitrogen molecule

25: Front cover

26 handle

27: dew tray

28: electric cable

29: conduit

The above problem is solved by an air conditioner comprising an outdoor unit and an indoor unit for cooling and heating indoor air, and the indoor unit is equipped with an oxygen incubator that makes outdoor air oxygen enriched air. According to the present invention, the oxygen enrichment apparatus can be repaired from the inside of the room, and sound maintenance of the indoor environment is possible as follows.

Specifically, the oxygen enrichment apparatus uses an oxygen enrichment membrane having a faster permeation rate of oxygen molecules compared to the permeation rate of nitrogen molecules. The oxygen enrichment membrane, a filter provided at an outside air inlet of the oxygen enrichment membrane, and the oxygen A pressure reducing pump for sucking outside air through the hatching membrane and a fan for discharging outside air that has not permeated the oxygen enrichment membrane are provided. As a result, fresh air that has passed through the filter is supplied to the room as oxygen-rich air, and unwanted outdoor air having reduced oxygen is discharged to the outside.

In addition, by making the filter detachable, the filter can be easily exchanged from the room. In addition, the oxygen enrichment apparatus can discharge unnecessary air via the drain tube by combining the discharge tube of the air that does not penetrate the oxygen enrichment membrane with the drain tube of the indoor unit, so that it is not necessary to add a new discharge tube.

In addition, the indoor unit includes an intake pipe for introducing outside air, and the intake pipe includes an outside air introduction path for introducing outside air into the oxygen enrichment membrane, and a branch path for introducing outside air into the room without passing through the oxygen enrichment membrane. And a flow path switching damper at a branch between the outside air introduction passage and the branch passage. In addition, the intake pipe has a fan that can be reversely rotated to allow exhaust of indoor air via the intake pipe. This enables not only the supply of oxygen-enriched air to the room, but also the direct supply of outside air or the direct exhaust of room air.

In addition, by providing a filter having at least one function of insect screen or dust removal, deodorization, and antibacterial to the outside air inlet of the intake pipe, it is possible to prevent the inflow of outside air having these problems.

The indoor unit is characterized by supplying oxygen-enriched air, supplying outside air, or exhausting indoor air, depending on the oxygen concentration and the pollution level of the indoor air detected by a sensor arranged indoors. The sensor may be disposed in the indoor unit. A healthy indoor environment can be arbitrarily maintained by supplying oxygen-enriched air, supplying outside air, or exhausting indoor air according to indoor conditions.

According to the present invention as described above, by incorporating the oxygen incubator in the indoor unit of the air conditioner, it is possible to perform regular maintenance of the filter without leaving the room. Moreover, since the discharge pipe which discharge | emits unnecessary air from an oxygen incubator is combined with a drain pipe as one pipe | tube, the dual piping for an air conditioner and an oxygen incubator is unnecessary, and installation becomes easy. In addition, since the piping for supplying oxygen from the oxygen incubator to the room is short only in the indoor unit, it can be easily dried to suppress the occurrence of mold and the like. In addition, by adding a function of intake and exhaust, fresh air can be supplied without opening a window as necessary. The sensor makes it possible to maintain an appropriate oxygen concentration in accordance with the oxygen concentration in the room and to keep the air clean.

As shown in FIG. 1, an outline of the embodiment of the present invention is provided with an oxygen incubator 6 attached to the indoor unit 1, and the fresh air required for the oxygen incubator can be used for indoor ventilation as well. 10). The nitrogen-enriched air after introducing oxygen into the oxygen-enriching device is discharged using the drain pipe 12.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiment of this invention is described based on drawing. As shown in FIG. 1, the air conditioner is composed of an indoor unit 1, an outdoor unit 2, and a sleeve 3. In addition to the heat exchanger 4, the indoor unit 1 is equipped with the oxygen enrichment apparatus 6 and the fan 5 for supplying oxygen enrichment air in this invention. In addition, the outdoor unit 2 includes a heat exchanger 7, a fan 8, and a compressor 9, and a sleeve 3 is disposed between the indoor unit 1 and the outdoor unit 2, and the sleeve ( 3) the intake and exhaust pipe 10, the refrigerant pipe 11, the drain pipe 12, and the like.

In the case of normal cooling, the liquid refrigerant of the heat exchanger 4 of the indoor unit 1 recovers the heat of the indoor air and gasifies it, and then passes through the compressor 9 of the outdoor unit 2 in the heat exchanger 7. It condenses, dissipates heat, liquefies, and is transferred to the indoor unit 1 again. In the case of heating, on the contrary, in the heat exchanger 4 of the indoor unit 1, the refrigerant radiates and liquefies to the indoor air as a gaseous heat medium, and expands and gasifies the gas in the heat exchanger 7 of the outdoor unit 2. Then, it is compressed by the compressor 9 and transferred to the indoor unit 1 as a gas heat medium. The drain pipe 12 discharges condensation water.

In this embodiment, when the oxygen concentration in the room is provided and the oxygen concentration in the room is lowered, air is introduced into the oxygen incubator 6 by introducing outside air from the intake and exhaust pipe 10, thereby increasing the oxygen concentration. It supplies from the blowout outlet 15 to a room.

As shown in Fig. 2, the indoor unit 1 has a built-in oxygen enrichment device 6. The outside air introduced from the intake and exhaust pipe 10 increases the oxygen concentration via the oxygen incubator 6, is fed to the outlet 15 via the conduit 29, and supplied from the fan 5 to the room.

When the oxygen concentration in the room is lowered and oxygen supply is not carried out by the oxygen incubator 6 alone, such as when there are many people in the room, the amount of outside air sucked by rotating the fan 13 of the intake and exhaust pipe 10 forward Increase, allowing direct supply to the room. When there is a smoker in the room or when there is a lot of dust and odor, such as grilling meat, the indoor air is exhausted by reversely rotating the fan 13 of the intake and exhaust pipe 10. Then, by rotating the fan 13 forward, it is possible to supply outdoor fresh air to the room.

The filter 14 is attached to the outside air inlet of the supply / exhaust pipe 10 so that there is no clearance with the piping inner diameter surface. The filter 14 may be charged to improve dust removal performance, to remove odor by incorporating a deodorant such as zeolite, or to use an antibacterial agent or the like.

Thereby, it is possible to supply indoor air as clean air. However, the filter 14 to be attached is not limited to these specifications. As another effect, by providing the filter 14, it is possible to prevent intrusion of insects and the like from the outside. If the purpose is only to prevent invasion of insects or the like, a screen may be used instead of a filter.

As shown in FIG. 3, the oxygen enrichment apparatus 6 is comprised from the oxygen enrichment film 18, the decompression pump 19, the exhaust fan 20, the filter 21, etc. As shown in FIG. The oxygen enrichment film 18 is a film made of a polymer such as silicon or fluorine.

As shown in Fig. 4, the separation of gas molecules in air is performed by using a difference in dissolution rate depending on the type of gas molecules in the oxygen enrichment film 18. As shown in the enlarged view of C in the figure, the dissolution rate of the oxygen molecules 23 into the oxygen enrichment film 18 is about 2.5 times that of the nitrogen molecules 24, and the oxygen molecules in the air are preferentially passed over the nitrogen molecules. Therefore, by forcibly sucking by the depressurizing pump 19 and passing the membrane, a gas having an increased oxygen content can be obtained from the outlet. On the other hand, the nitrogen molecules 24 stay outside the membrane because of their slow dissolution rate in the membrane.

As shown in FIG. 3, the high nitrogen content air which stayed outside the oxygen enrichment film 18 is attracted by the fan 20, and is discharged | emitted to the discharge pipe 17. As shown in FIG. Since the discharge pipe 17 is engaged with the drain pipe 12, this unnecessary air is then discharged to the outside through the drain pipe 12.

In the oxygen enrichment device 6, air having an oxygen concentration of about 25 to 40% can be obtained. The oxygen concentration of the air thus obtained can be adjusted by the vacuum degree of the pump 19. The discharge flow rate of the oxygen enriched air can be set in accordance with the vacuum degree of the pump 19 and the number of sheets of the oxygen enriched membrane 18.

When the pressure reducing pump 19 is operated, outside air is introduced into the oxygen incubator 6 from the intake and exhaust pipe 10. When passing through the oxygen enrichment membrane 18, the oxygen molecules 23 preferentially pass over the nitrogen molecules 24 due to the difference in the dissolution rate of the gas molecules into the oxygen enrichment membrane 18, and the oxygen concentration from the outlet of the membrane. Air is exhausted. This air is guided by the conduit 29 to the outlet 15 of the indoor unit shown in FIG. 2 and supplied to the room by the fan 5. The decompression pump 19 is connected to the outlet of the oxygen enrichment membrane 18 and sucks air to pass the oxygen enrichment membrane 18. It is preferable that the decompression pump 19 has a vacuum degree of -50 Pa or more.

As shown in B enlarged view of FIG. 3, a damper 22 is provided in the pipe (intake and exhaust pipe 10) which introduces the outside air, and the damper 22 is the oxygen incubator at the position of "a". It is supplied to (6), and the air which raised the oxygen concentration is supplied to room, and in the position of "b", outdoor air is supplied to a room as it is, without passing an oxygen incubator. At the position of "b", there is no ventilation resistance caused by the oxygen enrichment membrane, so that the outdoor air having a higher flow rate is supplied to the room than at the time of oxygen enrichment.

The supply of oxygen-enriched air, the blowing of outside air into the room, and the exhaust of the room air to the outside can be performed manually, but the sensor 16 provided in the indoor unit allows the concentration of oxygen in the room, dust, odor and the like. Can be detected and automatically performed according to the situation of indoor air.

When the sensor 16 detects a decrease in the oxygen concentration, first, the damper 22 is positioned at "a", and the outside air is supplied to the oxygen incubator 6 to supply air having an increased oxygen concentration to the room. In addition, the damper 22 is switched to the position of "b" as needed, and the fan 13 of the intake and exhaust pipe 10 is rotated forward, without passing through the oxygen incubator 6, directly to the outside air. Supply. As described above, in this case, the oxygen concentration is not higher than that of the outside air, but a large amount of outside air is supplied to the room.

When the sensor 16 detects the recovery of the oxygen concentration in the room, the supply of oxygen-enriched air or outside air is stopped at that time. The supply of oxygen-enriched air and the supply of outside air may be controlled to be repeatedly performed alternately for a short time.

When the sensor 16 detects an increase in dust or odor in the room, the damper 22 is switched to the position "b", and the fan 13 of the intake and exhaust pipe 10 starts to rotate in reverse. The polluted air is exhausted to the outside. When the sensor 16 detects the recovery of the cleanliness of the indoor air, the rotation of the fan 13 of the intake and exhaust pipe 10 is switched to the forward rotation to supply the exhaust amount and the equivalent amount of outside air to the room. The exhaust and the outside air may be repeatedly supplied in small portions alternately.

The filter 21 is provided in the outside air inlet of the oxygen enrichment device 6 to prevent dust from adhering to the oxygen enrichment film 18. The filter 21 collects dust in the air and adheres to contamination. Contamination of the filter becomes a resistance when the pump 19 sucks air, and the discharge flow rate to the conduit 29 is reduced, which requires regular cleaning or replacement.

As shown in Fig. 5, the filter 21 is insertable and can be removed simply by opening the front cover 25 of the indoor unit 1 and pulling it down while grasping the handle 26 of the filter frame. Can be. Thereby, the cleaning and replacement of the filter 21 can be easily performed without leaving the room.

As shown in Fig. 6, the drain pipe 12 is a pipe for discharging the water dropped from the heat exchanger 4 to the dew support plate 27 to the outside. On the other hand, the discharge pipe 17 is a pipe for discharging the nitrogen-enriched air remaining in the outer side of the oxygen-enriched film 18 to the outside. In this example, space is saved by one pipe connecting the discharge pipe 17 to the drain pipe 12 to perform a function that two should perform.

As shown in Fig. 7, the air intake and exhaust pipe 10 may use the remaining space occupied by the refrigerant pipe 11, the drain pipe 12 for exclusive use of nitrogen-enriched air, the electric cable 28, and the like. It is possible to use the piping sleeve 3 of the roughener as it is, without changing the shape and size.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, by incorporating an oxygen incubator in an indoor unit of an air conditioner, oxygen consumed by breathing or the like is supplied to maintain a constant oxygen concentration, and at the same time, the cleaning or replacement of necessary filters is performed regularly. It was possible without leaving.

Moreover, by the function of intake and exhaust, fresh air can be supplied as needed without opening a window, and the drastic change of room temperature and contamination of the room from outside air can be prevented. In addition, the sensor made it possible to maintain an appropriate oxygen concentration and fresh air according to the oxygen concentration and the pollution degree in the room.

In addition, since the discharge pipe for discharging unnecessary air from the oxygen incubator is combined with the drain pipe to form a single pipe, dual piping for the air conditioner and the oxygen incubator is unnecessary and can be installed like a conventional air conditioner. Do.

According to the present invention, by mounting the oxygen incubator in the indoor unit, oxygen-enriched air that is not contaminated with mold or the like can be supplied, maintenance is easy, and the intake and exhaust of the room can be prevented by using an external air supply pipe of the oxygen incubator. Since it can implement as needed, there exists an excellent effect which can maintain a healthy indoor environment.

Claims (10)

An air conditioner, comprising: an outdoor unit and an indoor unit for cooling and heating indoor air, wherein the indoor unit is equipped with an oxygen incubator for making outdoor air oxygen enriched air. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the oxygen enrichment apparatus uses an oxygen enrichment membrane having a faster permeation rate of oxygen molecules compared to the permeation rate of nitrogen molecules. The oxygen enrichment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the oxygen enrichment device includes an oxygen enrichment membrane having a faster permeation rate of oxygen molecules than a nitrogen molecule, a filter provided at an outside air inlet of the oxygen enrichment membrane, and a pressure reducing pump for sucking outside air through the oxygen enrichment membrane. And a fan for discharging outside air that has not permeated the oxygen enrichment membrane. The air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein the filter is detachable. The air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein the oxygen enrichment apparatus combines a discharge pipe for discharging air that has not passed through the oxygen enrichment membrane with a drain pipe of the indoor unit. 4. The indoor unit according to claim 3, wherein the indoor unit includes an intake pipe for introducing outside air, and the intake pipe introduces an outside air into the outside air passage through which the outside air is introduced into the oxygen enrichment film, and introduces the outside air into the room without passing through the oxygen enrichment film. And a flow path switching damper at a branch portion between the outside air introduction passage and the branch passage. The air conditioner according to claim 6, wherein the intake pipe includes a fan that is capable of reverse rotation, and enables exhaust of indoor air via the intake pipe. The air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein a filter having at least one function of insect screen or dust removal, deodorization, and antibacterial is provided at an outside air inlet of the intake pipe. 4. The indoor unit according to claim 3, wherein the indoor unit supplies oxygen-enriched air, supply of outside air, or exhaust of indoor air in accordance with the oxygen concentration and the pollution level of the indoor air detected by a sensor arranged indoors. Air conditioner. The air conditioner according to claim 9, wherein the sensor is disposed in the indoor unit.