NL2002265A

NL2002265A - Ceiling type air conditioner.

Info

Publication number: NL2002265A
Application number: NL2002265A
Authority: NL
Inventors: Tae Hun Kim; Gyoung Tae Seo; Seung Hun Yu
Original assignee: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
Priority date: 2008-09-19
Filing date: 2008-12-01
Publication date: 2010-03-22
Also published as: KR101517346B1; NL2002265C2; KR20100033310A; CN101676638A; CN101676638B

Description

TITLE OF THE INVENTION CEILING TYPE AIR CONDITIONER

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2008-0092429 filed on September 19, 2008, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incoiporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a ceiling type air conditioner. More particularly, the present invention relates to a ceiling type air conditioner capable of preventing dew formation at an exhaust port thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

In general, a ceiling type air conditioner includes a body installed at an interior of a ceiling and a ceiling panel attached to a front surface of the body and exposed to the outside at the ceiling. According to the ceiling type air conditioner, air is introduced from an indoor room into the body through the ceiling panel and then exhausted to the indoor room after the air has been heat-exchanged, thereby cooling or heating the indoor room.

The ceiling panel has a rectangular shape and an air suction port is formed at the center of the ceiling panel to suck the air. In addition, an exhaust port is formed at a peripheral portion of the ceiling panel to exhaust the air into the indoor room after the air has been heat-exchanged through a heat exchanger. A blade is installed in the exhaust port in order to control the direction of the air exhausted to the indoor room. Such a ceiling type air conditioner is classified into a four-way exhaust type air conditioner and a one-way exhaust type air conditioner according to the number of exhaust ports.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a ceiling type air conditioner capable of preventing dew formation occurring at an exhaust port due to cold air exhausted from the exhaust port.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention are achieved by providing a ceiling type air conditioner comprising at least one exhaust port having an inner surface, a blade provided in the exhaust port to control a direction of cold air, and at least one flow guide installed on the inner surface to convert the direction of the cold air such that the cold air is exhausted lengthwise along the exhaust port.

The exhaust port includes a central section that serves as a path for most of cold air, which has been heat-exchanged, and a peripheral section formed around the central section, and wherein a part of the cold air passing through the central section is directed toward the peripheral section by the flow guide.

The flow guide extends in a thickness direction of the exhaust port, which is a flowing direction of the cold air, and has a streamlined shape inclined from the central section to the peripheral section.

The flow guide indudes a first end section protruding from an upper portion of the exhaust port in a width direction of the exhaust port, a second end section provided at a lower portion of the exhaust port, and a connection section for interconnecting the first and second end sections.

The first end section has a predetermined size sufficient for converting a direction of the cold air passing through the central section toward the peripheral section, and the second end has a size smaller than the size of the first end section.

The inner surface of the exhaust port, on which the flow guide is provided, is configured to gradually reduce a width of the exhaust port in the air flowing direction, and the connection section includes a first connection section for interconnecting upper portions of the first and second end sections such that a protruding degree of the flow guide matches with the width of the exhaust port.

The inner surface of the exhaust port, on which the flow guide is provided, has a predetermined curvature to gradually reduce the width of the exhaust port.

The connection section includes a second connection section for interconnecting side portions of the first and second end sections.

The second connection section has a predetermined curvature.

Four exhaust ports having same shapes are formed in four sides of the ceiling type air conditioner.

According to another aspect, the present invention provides a ceiling type air conditioner comprising a ceiling panel including an exhaust port having first and second inner surfaces, a blade installed in the exhaust port to control a direction of cold air, a cold air path communicated with the exhaust port at a center of the exhaust port, a first branch port formed between the first inner surface and the blade, a second branch port formed between the second inner surface and the blade, and at least one flow guide provided on the first inner surface and communicated with the cold air path to allow a part of the cold air passing through a central region of the first branch port to be directed toward peripheral regions of the first and second branch ports.

The flow guide extends in a thickness direction of the first branch port, which is an air flowing direction, and has a streamlined shape.

The flow guide is inclined lengthwise along the first branch port such that the flow guide is directed toward the blade located around the first branch port.

According to still another aspect, the present invention provides a ceiling type air conditioner comprising a drain fan having a cold air path for guiding cold air, a ceiling panel including an exhaust port corresponding to the cold air path, a blade for controlling a direction of cold air exhausted from the exhaust port, a first body section of the blade facing the cold air path to communicate with the cold air path, a second body section of the blade located around the first body section, and at least one flow guide for converting the direction of the cold air such that the cold air is exhausted along the second body section.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a structure of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a ceiling panel of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a part of a ceiling panel according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing a flow guide according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a height and a length of an exhaust port according to an embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a height and a width of an exhaust port according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a structure of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a ceiling panel of the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a part of the ceiling panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a casing 100 having an open lower portion, which is installed at an interior of a ceiling 10 and provided therein with a blowing device 200 and a heat exchanger 300, a drain fen 400 coupled to a lower portion of the casing 100 to drain condensing water of the heat exchanger 300, and a ceiling panel 700 coupled to the drain fan 400 to cover an opening 11 of the ceiling 10.

The casing 100 has a box shape having a hollow therein to install the blowing device 200 and the heat exchanger 300, and an insulating member 110 including foam polystyrene is attached to an inner surface of the casing 100 by an adhesive for the purpose of heat insulation.

The blowing device 200 is installed at the center of the casing 100 to generate strong blowing force, and the heat exchanger 300 is installed radially outward of the blowing device 200 to heat-exchange the air introduced into the casing 100 by the blowing device 200.

The blowing device 200 includes a blowing fen 210 that sucks air from a bottom thereof and then exhausts the air in the radial direction thereof, and a driving motor 220 for driving the blowing fen 210. The driving motor 220 is fixed to an inner upper surface of the casing 100.

The heat exchanger 300 is arranged around the blowing fan 210 while surrounding the blowing fen 210 such that the air exhausted from the blowing fen 210 can be heat-exchanged.

The drain fen 400 includes a drain section 500 installed below the heat exchanger 300 to collect and drain condensing water generated during the heat-exchange process, a cold air path 510 formed at an outer portion of the drain section 500 to guide cold air, which is generated through the heat-exchange process, into an exhaust port 720, and a partition member 600 installed in the drain section 500 to divide the cavity in the casing 100 into a blowing fen area and a peripheral area.

The drain section 500 supports a lower portion of the heat exchanger 300 and has a groove shape to collect the condensing water generated from an outer surface of the heat exchanger 300.

The partition member 600 has a flat plate shape formed at the center thereof with an opening 610. The opening 610 of the partition member 600 has a size larger than a size of the blowing fan 210 such that the blowing fen 210 can pass through the opening 610. Thus, a user can easily disassemble the blowing fen 210 through the opening 610 when repair work for the driving motor 220 is required. That is, the blowing fen 210 can be disassembled without disassembling the partition member 600. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the partition member 600 is integrally formed with the drain section 500. However, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the partition member 600 can be prepared separately from the drain section 500. In this case, a rim section of the partition member 600 is coupled with an inner peripheral portion of the drain fen 400.

The cold air path 510 is located corresponding to the exhaust port 720 of the ceiling panel 700 in such a manner that the cold air path 510 can be communicated with the exhaust port 720 of the ceiling panel 700 at an outer portion of the drain section 500. Thus, a width W of the cold air path 510 is identical to or smaller than a width W of the exhaust port 720 of the ceiling panel 700.

However, a length L of the cold air path 510 is shorter than a length L of the exhaust port 720 of the ceiling panel 700. In this case, the drain fen 400 installed in the exhaust port 720 covers a coolant pipe and other components (not shown) installed in the ceiling panel 700, so that the components installed in the casing 100 may not be exposed to the outside through the exhaust port 720. That is, according to the ceiling type air conditioner of the present invention, four exhaust ports 720 having the same shape are provided in the ceiling panel 700 to improve the aesthetic appearance, so that the components may be located corresponding to at least one of the four exhaust ports 720. However, if the cold air path 510 having a small size is installed in the exhaust port 720, the components can be prevented from being exposed to the outside.

In addition, a bell mouth member 620 is provided at a lower portion of the partition member 600. The bell mouth member 620 includes an opening 621 formed at the center of the bell mouth member 620 to serve as a path for the air being sucked, and an air guide surface 622 formed around the opening 621 and curved at a predetermined curvature. A peripheral portion of the bell mouth member 620 is detachably coupled to the opening 610 of the partition member 600. The bell mouth member 620 guides the air, which is introduced through a suction port 710 of the ceiling panel 700, toward a suction port of the blowing fen 210.

A control box 630 is installed at one side of a bottom surface of the partition member 600, and various electric parts are accommodated in the control box 630 to control the operation of the air conditioner. The control box 630 is fixed to the bottom surface of the partition member 600 in adjacent to the drain section 500.

A bottom surface of the drain fen 400 is supported by a top surface of the ceiling panel 700. Thus, the ceiling panel 700 is coupled to the drain fen 400 in a state in which the bell mouth member 620 and the control box 630 are coupled to the drain fen 400.

The ceiling panel 700 is formed at the center thereof with the suction port 710 for sucking air from the indoor room, and a plurality of exhaust ports 720 are formed around the suction port 710. The exhaust ports 720 are positioned corresponding to the cold air path 510 of the drain fan 400.

In addition, a filter 711 is installed in the suction port 710 of the ceiling panel 700 to filter air introduced into the suction port 710. Further, a blade 730 is installed in each exhaust port 720 to guide exhaust air while rotating within a predetermined range. The blade 730 is operated by a reversible motor (not shown).

Four exhaust ports 720 having the same shape are formed on four sides of the railing panel 700. Each exhaust port 720 has a rectangular sectional shape and is prepared in the form of a channel having a length L, a width W, and a height H. Thus, the cold air, which has passed through the cold air path in the thickness direction of the exhaust port 720, is exhausted into the indoor room.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view showing a flow guide according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the height and the length of the exhaust port according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the height and the width of an exhaust port according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, each exhaust port 720 has first and second inner surfaces 723 and 724 extending lengthwise along the exhaust port 720. The first inner surface 723 of the exhaust port 720 is adjacent to the suction port 710, the second inner surface 724 of the exhaust port 720 is spaced apart from the first inner surface 723 by an interval of the width W, and the blade 730 is interposed between the first and second inner surfaces 723 and 724.

The first inner surface 723 is configured to gradually reduce the width of the exhaust port 720 in the flowing direction A of the air (that is, in the height direction of the exhaust port 720). If the exhaust port 720 is located closely to the suction port 710, the cold air exhausted through the exhaust port 720 is directly introduced into the suction port 710, so that the indoor room cannot be efficiently cooled by the cold air. Thus, in order to ensure a sufficient distance between the exhaust port 720 and the suction port 710, the first inner surface 723 is configured to gradually reduce the width of the exhaust port 720. The first inner surface 723 may include a curved surface 723a having a predetermined curvature such that the width W of the exhaust port 720 can be gradually reduced in a predetermined rate.

As shown in FIG. 5, the exhaust port 720 is divided into a central section 721 and peripheral section 722 in the length direction L thereof. The central section 721 is formed at the center of the exhaust port 720, through which most of the cold air that is heat-exchanged through the cold air path 510 is exhausted without interference, and the peripheral section 722 refers to end portions 722 of the exhaust port 720 formed around the central section 721.

In addition, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the exhaust port 720 includes a first branch port 720a, which is formed between the first inner surface 723 and the blade 730, and a second branch port 720b, which is formed between the second inner surface 724 and the blade 730 according to rotation of the blade 730.

The blade 730 includes first and second body sections 731 and 732 that control the exhaust direction o f the cold air and form the external appearance of the blade 730. The first body section 731 is located corresponding to the central section 721 of the exhaust port 720, and the second body section 732 is located corresponding to the peripheral, section 722 of the exhaust port 720. In other words, the first body section 731 of tbe blade 730 refers to a predetermined region of the blade 730, which is sufficiently surrounded by the cold air that is exhausted through the first and second branch ports 720a and 720b via the central section 721 of the exhaust port 720, and the second body section 732 of the blade 730 refers a remaining region of the blade 730 except for the first body section 731, that is both end portions of the blade 730, which are insufficiently surrounded by the cold air because they are located corresponding to the peripheral section 722 of the exhaust port 720.

At least one flow guide 740 is installed in the exhaust port 720 such that the first and second body sections 731 and 732 can be surrounded by the cold air exhausted through the exhaust port 720. In detail, the flow guide 740 is formed on the first inner surface 723 located corresponding to the first body section 731. The flow guide 740 has a curved structure, which is bent such that the cold air can be directed toward the second body section 732 along the flowing direction A of the air. That is, the flow guide 740 has a streamlined shape and is formed in the thickness direction of the exhaust port 720. The flow guide 740 is inclined lengthwise along the exhaust port 720. Although the present embodiment shows the flow guide 740 having the streamlined shape, the flow guide 740 may have various shapes. For instance, the flow guide 740 may have a linear shape for guiding a part of the cold air toward the second body section 732.

The flow guide 740 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a first end section 741 provided at an upper portion of the exhaust port 720 to guide the cold air from the cold air path 510, and a second end section 742 provided at a lower portion of the exhaust port 720 such that the cold air can be exhausted into the indoor room through the exhaust port 720.

The first end section 741 refers to one end of the flow guide 740, which protrudes from the first inner surface 723 toward the second inner surface 724 in the width direction of the exhaust port 720. The protrusion degree of the first end section 741 is determined such that the direction of the cold air passing through the central section 721 of the exhaust port 720 can be directed toward the peripheral section 722 of the exhaust port 720. The ordinary skilled in the art can easily determine the protrusion degree of the first end section 741 according to the shape of the exhaust port by taking interference with the blade 730 installed in the exhaust port 720 and noise into consideration.

The second end section 742 refers to the other end of the flow guide 740 provided at a lower portion of the exhaust port 720. When the ceiling type air conditioner is installed on the ceiling 10, the second end section 742 can be exposed to the outside. Thus, the height of the second end section 742 is relatively lower than that of the first end section 741 to improve the aesthetic appearance. Preferably, the first and second end sections 741 and 742 protrude in the width direction of the exhaust port 720 while matching with the curvature of the first inner surface 723 such that the first and second end sections 741 and 742 may not be exposed to the outside. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the second end section 742 is preferably arranged on the same plane with the first inner surface 723 without protruding in the width direction of the exhaust port 720.

As shown in FIG 4, the flow guide 740 includes first and second connection planes 743 and 744 to connect the first end section 741 with the second end section 742. The first connection plane 743 connects an upper portion of the first end section 741 with the second end section 742, and the second connection plane 744 connects a side portion of the first end section 741 with the second end section 742.

The first connection plane 743 interconnects upper portions of the first and second end sections 741 and 742 and determines the protruding degree of the flow guide 740 in the width direction of the exhaust port 720. As mentioned above, it is preferable to prevent the first and second end sections 741 and 742 of the flow guide 740 from being exposed to the outside by configuring the first and second end sections 741 and 742 to protrude in the width direction of the exhaust port 720 while matching with the curvature of the first inner surface 723.

The second connection plane 744 is curved at a predetermined curvature to connect the side portion of the first end section 741 with the second end section 742. The second connection plane 744 allows a part of the cold air, which is guided into the central section 721 of the exhaust port 720 and the first body section 731 of the blade 730, to be directed toward the peripheral section 722 of the exhaust port 720 and the second body section 732 of the blade 730 such that the part of the cold air can be exhausted into the indoor room. The curvature of the second connection plane 744 can be properly determined by taking the amount of cold air and noise into consideration.

Hereinafter, the operation of the ceiling type air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the cold air that has been subject to the heat exchange process is guided in the air flowing direction A through the cold air path 510 of the drain fen 400, and then passes through the central section 721 of the exhaust port 720. At this time, most of the cold air passing through the central section 721 is exhausted into the indoor room in the direction B while making contact with the first body section 731 of the blade 730.

Meanwhile, a part of the cold air passing through the central section 721 of the exhaust port 720 is directed toward the peripheral section 744 by the flow guide 740. That is, the part of the cold air being moved in the air flowing direction A is directed to the direction C by the flow guide 740.

Thus, the cold air passing through the peripheral section 722 is exhausted into the indoor unit along the direction C while making contact with the second body section 732 of the blade 730.

As a result, the cold air is exhausted into the indoor room through the cold air path 510 while making contact with both the first and second body sections 731 and 732 of the blade 730. Thus, dew formation, which occurs when air having the high temperature and high humidity is introduced into the second body section 732 of the blade 730, can be prevented.

As described above, according to the ceiling type air conditioner of the present invention, the flow guide is provided on the inner surface of the exhaust port of the ceiling panel, so that the cold air can sufficiently make contact with the whole area of the blade, thereby preventing the dew formation.

Although few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

A ceiling model air conditioner comprising: at least one outlet opening which has an inside; a blade provided in the outlet opening to control a direction of cold air; and at least one flow conductor mounted on the inside to change the direction of cold air such that the cold air is blown out longitudinally along the outlet opening.

2. Ceiling model air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the outlet opening comprises a central part that serves as a path for the majority of the cold air, which has exchanged heat, and a peripheral part formed around the central part, and wherein a part of the cold air passing through the central part through the flow guide is directed to the peripheral part.

The ceiling model air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein the flow guide extends in a thickness direction of the outlet opening, which is a flow direction of the cold air, and which has a streamlined shape descending from the central part to the peripheral part.

4. Ceiling model air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein the flow guide comprises a first end part protruding from an upper part of the outlet opening in a width direction of the outlet opening, a second end part provided on a lower part of the outlet opening, and a connecting part for connecting the first and second end parts.

5. Ceiling model air conditioner according to claim 4, wherein the first end part has a predetermined size sufficient to change a direction of the cold air passing through the central part towards the peripheral part, and the second end part has a size smaller than the size of the first end part.

A ceiling model air conditioner according to claim 4, wherein the inside of the outlet opening, where the flow guide is provided, is formed to gradually reduce a width of the outlet opening in the air flow direction, and the connecting part comprises a first connecting part around upper parts of the connecting first and second end portions such that a protruding portion of the flow conductor corresponds to the width of the outlet opening.

A ceiling model air conditioner according to claim 6, wherein the inside of the outlet opening, where the flow guide is provided, has a predetermined curvature to gradually reduce the width of the outlet opening.

A ceiling model air conditioner according to claim 4, wherein the connecting part comprises a second connecting part to connect side portions of the first and second end portions.

The ceiling model air conditioner according to claim 6, wherein the second connecting part has a predetermined curvature.

The ceiling model air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein four outlet openings that have equal shapes are formed in four sides of the ceiling model air conditioner.

A ceiling model air conditioner, comprising: a ceiling panel comprising an outlet opening having first and second inner sides; a blade mounted in the outlet opening to control a direction of cold air; a cold air path communicating with the outlet opening in a center of the outlet opening a first branch opening formed between the first inside and the bald; a second branch opening formed between the second inner side and the blade; and at least one flow conductor provided on the first inner side and communicating with the cold air path to allow a portion of the cold air passing through a central portion of the first branch opening to be guided to peripheral portions of the first and second branch openings.

12. Ceiling model air conditioner according to claim 11, wherein the flow guide extends in a thickness direction of the first branch opening, which is an air flow direction, and which has a streamlined shape.

13. Ceiling model air conditioner according to claim 11, wherein the flow conductor is descending in the longitudinal direction along the first branch opening such that the flow conductor is directed towards the leaf present around the first branch opening.

A ceiling model air conditioner comprising: an exhaust fan which lifts a cold air path to conduct cold air; a ceiling panel comprising an outlet opening corresponding to the cold air path; a blade for controlling a direction of the cold air blown out through the outlet opening; a first trunk part of the blade facing the cold air path to communicate with the cold air path; a second body part of the blade located around the first body part; and at least one flow conductor for changing the direction of the cold air such that the cold air is blown out along the second body part.