WO2010150520A1

WO2010150520A1 - Indoor unit for air conditioner

Info

Publication number: WO2010150520A1
Application number: PCT/JP2010/004142
Authority: WO
Inventors: 木下顕; 中西淳一; 井上哲二
Original assignee: ダイキン工業株式会社
Priority date: 2009-06-23
Filing date: 2010-06-22
Publication date: 2010-12-29
Also published as: JP4760988B2; CN102803860A; JP2011027397A; CN102803860B

Abstract

An indoor unit for an air conditioner, configured in such a manner that, when the operation of a brush drive mechanism ends, the residual force of the mechanism does not act to exert an influence on a member in the periphery of the brush. An indoor unit (2) for an air conditioner is provided with: a case (5) having a suction opening (3); an air filter (20); a brush (23); and a brush drive mechanism (60). The filter (20) is disposed within the case (5) and filters air which is introduced from the suction opening (3). The brush (23) is configured in such a manner that, in cleaning of the air filter (20), the brush (23) cleans the air filter (20) by making contact with the air filter (20), and in the operation other than the cleaning operation, the brush (23) can be separated from the air filter (20) by moving relative to the case (5). The brush drive mechanism (60) is provided within the case (5) and rotationally drives the brush (23). The brush drive mechanism (60) rotates the brush (23) in the normal direction to clean the air filter (20) and, after that, rotates the brush (23) in the reverse direction.

Description

Air conditioner indoor unit

The present invention relates to an indoor unit of an air conditioner.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various indoor units have been proposed that regularly clean an air filter provided in an intake path with a brush in an air conditioner indoor unit.
Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-40689) proposes a ceiling-embedded indoor unit in which a filter cleaning brush is attached to a panel that can be raised and lowered. In this indoor unit, dust and dirt scraped off with a brush from the air filter are collected in a dust box on the panel.
The dust and dirt collected in the dust box can be easily discarded to the outside by lowering the dust box together with the panel.
Some wall-mounted indoor units are also provided with an air filter provided in the intake path, a brush that scrapes off dust from the air filter, and a dust box that collects the dust that has been scraped off. Generally, an indoor unit of this type is configured such that a dust cover is pulled out by opening a panel that covers the outside of the indoor unit, and dust accumulated in the dust box can be easily discarded to the outside.

However, some ceiling-embedded indoor units have a configuration in which a force that pushes down the panel from the brush drive mechanism to the panel works by driving the brush during filter cleaning. Some wall-mounted indoor units have a configuration in which a brush is attached to a dust box and a force is applied from the brush drive mechanism to the dust box by driving the brush.
In the case of the former configuration, the panel pressing force remains after the filter cleaning (that is, the residual force), and the residual force remains applied to the panel. If such a residual force continues to act, the residual force may affect the operation and durability of members around the brush. For example, even if the panel to which the brush is attached is opened to start the air conditioning operation, it may be difficult to open the panel smoothly because the gear of the mechanism portion that drives the brush is caught. Similarly, in the case of having the latter configuration, the residual force may affect the operation and durability of members around the brush, such as being caught when removing the dust box.

An object of the present invention is to provide an indoor unit of an air conditioner capable of avoiding that the residual force acts to affect members around the brush when the operation of the brush drive mechanism is finished. is there.

An indoor unit of an air conditioner according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a case having an air inlet, an air filter, a brush, and a brush drive mechanism. An air filter is arrange | positioned inside a case and filters the air introduce | transduced from the suction inlet. The brush has bristles around the rotation axis, and the air filter is cleaned by bringing the bristles into contact with the air filter. The brush drive mechanism is provided inside the case and rotationally drives the brush. This brush drive mechanism rotates the brush in the forward direction when cleaning the air filter, and rotates the brush by an angle set in the reverse direction after cleaning.
According to the indoor unit of the first aspect, when the brush is rotated in the forward direction during cleaning of the air filter, for example, the brush hair remains in contact with the air filter or its surrounding members, or the brush hair is used for brush cleaning. In some cases, the brush bristles remain in contact with the comb, and the state where the brush bristles resist the force of rotating the brush in the forward direction from the brush drive mechanism is maintained. Therefore, a force that causes the brush drive mechanism to rotate the brush in the forward direction may remain. In such a case, when the brush is rotated in the opposite direction, there exists an angle at which the residual force can be reduced or an angle at which the residual force can be removed. If such an angle is examined in advance, such an angle is set, and the brush is rotated in the opposite direction after cleaning by the set angle, the residual force of the brush is reduced after cleaning when the brush is no longer used. Can do.

The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to a second aspect of the present invention is the indoor unit according to the first aspect, wherein the brush cleans the air filter by bringing the brush hair into contact with the air filter when the air filter is cleaned. And the brush is comprised so that it can move with respect to a case at the time other than the time of cleaning, and can take the state separated from the air filter.
According to the indoor unit of the second aspect, since the brush moves away from the air filter, there is no residual force on the brush when moving with respect to the case, so that the behavior of the movement of the brush or a member moving together with the brush is reduced. It can avoid becoming unstable.

An indoor unit of an air conditioner according to a third aspect of the present invention is the indoor unit according to the second aspect, further comprising a moving panel that opens and closes the suction port and a panel moving mechanism. The panel moving mechanism reciprocates the moving panel between a predetermined open position and a closed position. The brush is rotatably attached to the moving panel. The brush drive mechanism rotates the brush in the forward direction to clean the air filter, and after cleaning, rotates the brush by the set angle in the reverse direction.
According to the indoor unit of the third aspect, the residual force on the brush can be removed by rotating the brush by an angle set in the opposite direction after cleaning, and the residual force is transmitted to the movable panel via the brush. It is possible to avoid the behavior of the moving panel becoming unstable during the reciprocating movement of the moving panel.

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, in which the brush drive mechanism has a drive gear. The brush has a brush gear that rotates with the brush. The teeth of the drive gear of the brush drive mechanism are arranged to give a force in the direction of opening the moving panel to the teeth of the brush gear when the brush rotates in the forward direction.
According to the indoor unit of the fourth aspect, when the drive gear rotates the brush gear in order to rotate the brush, the direction of the force that the drive gear applies to the brush gear is the direction in which the movable panel is opened. For this reason, if there is a residual force, when the force for closing the movable panel is released, a situation occurs in which the movable panel is forcibly opened by the residual force of the brush. In such a case, if the brush is rotated in the reverse direction by a preset angle, such an excessive force applied to the moving panel is removed, and the occurrence of abnormalities such as rattling occurs at the start of moving the moving panel. Can be avoided.

The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the indoor unit according to the fourth aspect, wherein the brush drive mechanism has a moving panel corresponding to 0.1 to 3 teeth of each of the drive gear and the brush gear. By rotating in the closing direction, the brush is rotated in the opposite direction by the set angle.
According to the indoor unit of the fifth aspect, the moving panel is rotated in the closing direction by 0.1 to 3 teeth of each of the drive gear and the brush gear, thereby reliably removing the force in the opening direction of the moving panel. It is possible to avoid anxiety of the behavior at the start of movement of the moving panel. On the other hand, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of problems due to excessive rotation in the reverse direction.

An indoor unit of an air conditioner according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the indoor unit according to any one of the third to fifth aspects, wherein the panel moving mechanism moves to generate a driving force for moving the movable panel. Has a motor. The panel moving mechanism is a direction in which the moving motor of the panel moving mechanism is excited during the operation of the brush driving mechanism so that the moving motor does not rotate so that the moving panel does not move or the moving panel is closed. The power is generated by the moving motor.
According to the indoor unit of the sixth aspect, since a driving force for rotating the brush is required during the operation of the brush driving mechanism, a force is applied from the brush to the moving panel due to the driving force. At this time, if the force for closing the moving panel is weak, there is a problem that the moving panel moves without resisting the force applied to the moving panel, or that the brush is not driven sufficiently by moving the moving panel. Exciting the moving motor of the panel moving mechanism to prevent the moving motor from rotating so that the moving panel does not move, or to cause the moving motor to generate power in the direction to close the moving panel Thus, even if a force due to the driving force generated by the brush driving mechanism is applied to the moving panel, the occurrence of a malfunction due to the movement of the moving panel is prevented.

An indoor unit of an air conditioner according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is the indoor unit according to any one of the third to sixth aspects, in which the case is embedded in the ceiling of the air-conditioned space. The movable panel is attached to the lower opening of the case so that it can be opened and closed. The panel moving mechanism raises and lowers the moving panel.
Here, the case is embedded in the ceiling of the air-conditioned space, the moving panel is attached to the lower opening of the case so as to be opened and closed, and the panel moving mechanism moves the moving panel up and down. As a result, even if the moving panel that can be moved up and down during the filter cleaning with the brush receives a force in the downward direction, the force acting on the moving panel is removed from the brush drive mechanism by rotating the brush in the reverse direction after the filter cleaning is completed. It is possible to avoid the instability of the starting behavior of the moving panel descent.

An indoor unit for an air conditioner according to an eighth aspect of the present invention is the indoor unit according to the first aspect, further comprising a dust box and a filter cleaning mechanism. The dust box is configured to be attachable to and detachable from the case, and is disposed below the air filter. The filter cleaning mechanism relatively moves the air filter in a direction intersecting with the rotating shaft of the brush during cleaning, and stops the air filter after cleaning. The brush is attached to the dust box. The brush drive mechanism rotates the brush by an angle set in the reverse direction after the filter cleaning mechanism stops the air filter after cleaning.
According to the indoor unit of the eighth aspect, the residual force acts on the dust box to which the brush is attached by rotating the brush by an angle set in the opposite direction to remove the residual force, and the dust box case Generation | occurrence | production of malfunctions, such as a catch occurring at the time of attachment or detachment with respect to, can be prevented.

An indoor unit of an air conditioner according to a ninth aspect of the present invention is the indoor unit according to the eighth aspect, in which the brush drive mechanism has a drive gear. The brush further has a brush gear fitted to the rotating shaft of the brush. The filter cleaning mechanism has a roller disposed on the opposite side of the side where the brush is disposed with an air filter interposed therebetween. The brush is disposed below the roller. The drive gear is disposed so as to have a center of rotation at a position deviating from a plane including the center axis of the roller and the rotation axis of the brush, and meshed with the brush gear.
According to the indoor unit of the ninth aspect, the drive gear is disposed so as to have a center of rotation at a position deviating from a plane including the center axis of the roller and the rotation axis of the brush. The force applied from the gear to the brush gear has a component in the direction of the roller or the direction of the brush. Therefore, if there is a residual force from the drive gear to the brush gear, the gap between the roller and the brush is narrowed or widened, and the dust box is easily caught when attached to or detached from the case. Accordingly, if the residual force is removed when the arrangement relationship between the drive gear and the brush gear is such, it is effective in preventing the occurrence of problems such as the occurrence of catching at the time of attachment / detachment.

An indoor unit of an air conditioner according to a tenth aspect of the present invention is the indoor unit according to the ninth aspect, in which the filter cleaning mechanism moves while deforming the air filter around the roller into a U shape during cleaning.
According to the indoor unit of the tenth aspect, since the brush bristles of the brush are deformed by the roller, the force for rotating the brush tends to increase, and the residual force is easily generated. Therefore, the residual force that is removed by rotating the brush in the opposite direction by the set angle is large, and the number of scenes in which the occurrence of defects can be prevented increases.

An indoor unit of an air conditioner according to an eleventh aspect of the present invention is the indoor unit according to any of the eighth to tenth aspects, wherein the dust box includes brush hairs arranged so as to always contact the brush hairs. It has a comb part for cleaning.
According to the indoor unit of the eleventh aspect, since the brush hair is deformed by the comb portion, the force for rotating the brush tends to be large, and the residual force is easily generated. Therefore, the residual force that is removed by rotating the brush in the opposite direction by the set angle is large, and the number of scenes in which the occurrence of defects can be prevented increases.

In the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to the first aspect of the present invention, the residual force applied to the brush from the brush drive mechanism after cleaning can be reduced, and the adverse effect of the residual force on the members around the brush is prevented. can do.
In the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the behavior of the movement of the brush or the member moving together with the brush from becoming unstable. An unpleasant feeling can be prevented.
In the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the movement behavior of the moving panel from becoming unstable, and the user may make a mistake with the failure or cause discomfort to the user. Can be prevented.
In the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to any of the fourth aspect and the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the movement behavior of the moving panel from becoming unstable, and the user makes a mistake as a failure, It is possible to prevent the user from feeling uncomfortable.

In the indoor unit of an air conditioner according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to avoid problems such as a moving panel that is stopped by the movement of the brush during cleaning of the filter and defective cleaning caused thereby.
In the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the behavior at the start of the descent of the moving panel from becoming unstable, and the user is mistaken for failure or uncomfortable for the user. Can be prevented.
In the indoor unit for an air conditioner according to the eighth aspect to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent problems during attachment / detachment of the dust box such as hooking during attachment / detachment of the dust box, and the attachment / detachment of the dust box becomes easy.

The perspective view which shows the external appearance of the indoor unit which concerns on embodiment of this invention. (A) is a side view of the indoor unit of FIG. 1 when operation is stopped, (b) is a side view of the indoor unit of FIG. 1 during operation, and (c) is a side view of the air conditioner during maintenance. Sectional drawing of the indoor unit cut | disconnected by the II line | wire of FIG. The expanded sectional view of the raising / lowering panel vicinity which shows the state which the raising / lowering panel closed at the time of the operation stop of the indoor unit of FIG. The expanded sectional view of the raising / lowering panel vicinity which shows the state in the middle of the raising / lowering panel of the indoor unit of FIG. 1 opening. The disassembled perspective view of the main body case of the indoor unit of FIG. The wiring diagram which shows the wiring with the control apparatus and its peripheral device in the indoor unit of FIG. The disassembled perspective view of the filter storage frame of the filter cleaning mechanism inside the indoor unit of FIG. Sectional drawing inside the filter storage frame inside the indoor unit of FIG. 9A is a cross-sectional view of the filter storage portion when the filter of FIG. 9 is in the front storage portion, FIG. 9B is a cross-sectional view of the filter storage portion when the filter is in the rear storage portion, and FIG. Sectional drawing of the filter storage part. The disassembled perspective view of the movement panel of FIG. The perspective view of the decorative panel of FIG. The disassembled perspective view of the hinge coupling device of FIG. The disassembled perspective view of the raising / lowering apparatus of FIG. The figure which shows arrangement | positioning of the components inside the raising / lowering apparatus of FIG. The perspective view of the state which the movement panel of FIG. 12 opened the suction inlet. FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a state where the movable panel in FIG. 12 is lowered. The perspective view of the raising / lowering panel after the dust box and the dust box were taken out. The figure for demonstrating operation | movement of a movement panel and its peripheral member when the movement panel of FIG. 3 is closed. Explanatory drawing which shows a mode that force is transmitted to the movement panel from the drive gear during filter cleaning. Explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the drive gear after filter cleaning is reversely rotated. The flowchart about control of the motor for a brush drive and a raising / lowering motor in filter cleaning operation | movement. Sectional drawing of the indoor unit which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The perspective view of a filter cleaning mechanism. The disassembled perspective view of a filter cleaning mechanism. The cross-sectional perspective view of the support frame with which the filter was mounted | worn. The side view of the cross-sectional part of the support frame shown in FIG. Sectional drawing of the indoor unit by 3rd Embodiment of this invention. The front view of a filter cleaning mechanism. The side view of a filter cleaning mechanism. The bottom view of a filter cleaning mechanism. Schematic which shows the outline of the relationship between an air filter and the cleaning mechanism drive part. The disassembled perspective view of a filter cleaning member. (A) The front view of a filter cleaning member.

(B) The top view of a filter cleaning member.
(A) II-II sectional view of a filter cleaning member. (B) III-III sectional view of a filter cleaning member. (C) IV-IV sectional view of the filter cleaning member. (D) The VV sectional view of a filter cleaning member. (E) VI-VI sectional view taken on the line of the filter cleaning member.

Next, an embodiment of an indoor unit (hereinafter simply referred to as an indoor unit) of an air conditioner of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
<Configuration of indoor unit>
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an indoor unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the indoor unit 2 includes a main body case 5 having a suction port 3 and a blower outlet 4 on a lower surface, a moving panel 6 that opens and closes the suction port 3, and a first wind direction adjusting blade 7 that opens and closes the blower port 4. I have. The suction inlet 3 and the blower outlet 4 are adjacent to each other with a certain distance. The lower surface of the main body case 5 is covered with a decorative panel 8, and what is actually exposed to the ceiling surface is the decorative panel 8, and the outlines of the suction port 3 and the outlet 4 are formed by the decorative panel 8. . The main body case 5 corresponds to a case having the suction port of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a side view when the operation of the indoor unit is stopped, FIG. 2B is a side view when the indoor unit is operated, and FIG. 2C is a side view during maintenance. It is.
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 4, when the indoor unit 2 is stopped, the movable panel 6 is apparently integrated with the decorative panel 8. 4 is a lifting wire S tube provided in the middle of the wire 14.
As shown in FIGS. 2B and 5, when the indoor unit 2 is in operation, the movable panel 6 opens the suction port 3, and the first wind direction adjusting blade 7 opens the air outlet 4. One end of the movable panel 6 is supported on the main body case 5 by a hinge, and the movable panel 6 rotates to open the suction port 3.
At the time of the maintenance shown in FIG. 2C, the moving panel 6 can be lowered by the elevating device 13 to a maintenance position where the user's hand can reach while being hung on the wire 14 extending from the main body case 5 side. The reason why the movable panel 6 performs such a lifting operation is to perform maintenance such as removing dust accumulated in the filter cleaning mechanism 15. However, the movable panel 6 cannot be lowered to the maintenance position when one end is supported on the main body case 5 with a hinge. To the maintenance position. Release of support by the main body case 5 will be described later.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the indoor unit cut along line II in FIG. In FIG. 3, the indoor unit 2 includes an air filter 20, a filter cleaning mechanism 15, an indoor heat exchanger 16, an indoor fan 17, a drain pan 18, and an outlet module 19. During the operation of the indoor unit 2, the inlet 3 and the outlet 4 are opened, the indoor fan 17 rotates, and air is sucked from the inlet 3. The indoor heat exchanger 16 includes a plurality of fins and a heat transfer tube through which a refrigerant flows, and the two heat exchangers 16a and 16b are adjacent to each other with different inclination postures. The sucked air passes through the air filter 20 and the indoor heat exchanger 16 and enters the indoor fan 17. The indoor fan 17 is a cross-flow fan, has a width dimension longer than the diameter, and sucks air from a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis. Therefore, the indoor fan 17 sucks air from the single suction port 3 to the single blower outlet 4. Can be blown out.
FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the main body. In FIG. 6, a hinge coupling device 21, an elevating device 13, a filter storage frame 22, an outlet module 19 and an outlet module case 19 a are attached to the upper surface of the decorative panel 8. A movable panel 6 is attached to the lower surface of the decorative panel 8.
A brush 23 and a dust box 24 are installed on the upper surface of the movable panel 6. When the indoor unit 2 in which the movable panel 6 is integrated with the decorative panel 8 is stopped, cleaning is performed by the filter cleaning mechanism 15, and power for rotating the brush 23 is transmitted from a motor attached to the decorative panel 8. . The reason why the motor or the like is not provided on the moving panel is to prevent an increase in the weight of the moving panel 6 due to the driving device provided on the moving panel 6.

(Control device)
FIG. 7 is a wiring diagram showing the connection between the control device and each switch and each motor. As shown in FIG. 7, the control device 25 detects whether or not the switch 26 disposed in the lifting device 13, the position detection switch 27 disposed in the filter storage frame 22, and the movable panel 6 are in the storage position. A storage limit switch 30 is connected. The control device 25 is connected to a motor 28 of the hinge coupling device 21, a lifting motor 29 of the lifting device 13, a filter driving motor 31 of the filter cleaning mechanism 15, and a brush driving motor 32.
The control device 25 is mounted with a CPU, a memory, and a motor drive circuit, and is disposed in an electrical component box (not shown) separated from the hinge coupling device 21 and the lifting device 13. Each motor or each switch and the control device 25 are electrically connected by a wire harness.

<Filter cleaning mechanism>
FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the filter storage frame of the filter cleaning mechanism. In FIG. 8, a filter stabilizing plate 35 that prevents the air filter 20, the roller 34, and the air filter 20 from being lifted is attached to the filter housing frame 22.

(Air filter 20)
The air filter 20 has a mesh portion 20a and an edge portion 20b that holds the periphery of the mesh portion 20a, and is disposed on the front side (upstream side) of the indoor heat exchanger 16 as shown in FIG. Remove dust from the trapped air. Thereby, the air filter 20 prevents dust floating in the air from contaminating the surface of the indoor heat exchanger 16. A rack 37 that meshes with the pinion gear 36 is formed at the edge 20 b of the air filter 20.

(Roller 34)
The roller 34 includes a plurality of pinion gears 36 and a connecting shaft 38 that coaxially connects the plurality of pinion gears 36. The pinion gear 36 meshes with the rack 37 of the air filter 20 and moves the air filter 20 horizontally by rotating.

(Filter storage frame 22)
As shown in FIG. 8, the filter storage frame 22 has an upper frame 39 and a lower frame 40, and the upper frame 39 and the lower frame 40 overlap each other at a certain interval. Further, the upper frame 39 is formed with a motor housing 41, and a transmission gear 42 that meshes with the pinion gear 36, a drive gear 43 that drives the transmission gear 42, and a filter drive motor 31 that rotates the drive gear 43. Stored.
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the inside of the filter storage frame. The filter storage frame 22 includes a front storage portion 44 and a rear storage portion 45. The lengths of the front storage portion 44 and the rear storage portion 45 correspond to the length of the air filter 20 in the longitudinal direction. The front storage part 44 has a straight front storage path 46 that is a path when the air filter 20 moves to the rear storage part 45, and the rear storage part 45 moves from the front storage part 44. The rear storage path 47 that guides 20 is provided. The rear storage path 47 includes a first curved region 48 and a second curved region 49, and the first curved region 48 curves the air filter 20 fed by the roller 34 in a direction approaching the pinion gear 36. The second curved region 49 curves the air filter 20 in the direction opposite to the first curved region 48. The rear storage part 45 is located between the suction port 3 and the blower outlet 4 and below the drain pan 18.

Next, the positional relationship between the filter drive motor 31 and the brush drive motor 32 with respect to the filter storage frame 22 will be described. In FIG. 9, the filter driving motor 31 and the brush driving motor 32 are indicated by a two-dot chain line so that the positions of the filter driving motor 31 and the brush driving motor 32 with respect to the filter storage frame 22 are clear. The filter driving motor 31 and the brush driving motor 32 are positioned above both sides of the filter housing frame 22 in the longitudinal direction, that is, above both sides of the suction port 3 in the longitudinal direction.
In FIG. 9, a drive gear 43 is connected to the rotation shaft of the filter drive motor 31, and a transmission gear 42 is engaged with the drive gear 43. The transmission gear 42 rotates the pinion gear 36 of the roller 34.
10A is a cross-sectional view of the filter storage portion when the filter is in the front storage portion, and FIG. 10B is a cross-sectional view of the filter storage portion when the filter is in the rear storage portion, FIG. 10C is a cross-sectional view of the filter storage portion when the filter is taken out.

10A, 10 </ b> B, and 10 </ b> C, the position detection switch 27 is disposed near the end of the front storage portion 44 and near the end of the rear storage portion 45. A lever is attached to the outside of the position detection switch 27 by a hinge. When an external force is applied, the lever rotates and pushes the button of the position detection switch 27.
During operation of the indoor unit 2, the air filter 20 is stored in the front storage path 46 of the front storage portion 44 as shown in FIG. The fact that the air filter 20 is stored in the front storage path 46 is detected by the position detection switch 27 in the vicinity of the end of the front storage portion 44.
When cleaning the air filter 20, the air filter 20 is moved to the rear storage path 47 of the rear storage portion 45 as shown in FIG. When the air filter 20 is moving from the front storage portion 44 toward the rear storage portion 45, dust is scraped off by the brush 23. When it moves in the filter storage frame 22 and reaches the vicinity of the end of the rear storage part, it is detected by the position detection switch 27 and the air filter 20 stops.
When the air filter 20 is replaced, the air filter 20 is pulled out as shown in FIG. The air filter 20 is supported from below by the filter retainer 50. To take out the air filter 20 from the filter housing frame 22 for maintenance, the user presses the filter retainer 50 downward.

(Brush 23)
As shown in FIG. 9, the brush bristles 23 a of the brush 23 are located on the opposite side of the roller 34 with the air filter 20 in between and are in contact with the air filter 20. That is, the roller 34 is above the air filter 20, and the brush 23 is below the air filter 20. A brush gear 51 is connected to the rotating shaft 55 of the brush 23, and a driving gear 53 is connected to the rotating shaft of the brush driving motor 32. The brush gear 51 is connected to both ends of the rotating shaft 55, and the drive gear 53 and the brush gear 51 are engaged with each other. Thereby, the driving force of the brush driving motor 32 is transmitted to the brush 23 via the brush gear 51. Since the brush 23 is positioned between the straight front storage path 46 and the curved rear storage path 47, the brush 23 is moved when the air filter 20 moves between the front storage path 46 and the rear storage path 47. The entire area of the mesh portion 20a (see FIG. 8) of the air filter 20 can be contacted.

As shown in the exploded perspective view of the movable panel in FIG. 11, the brush bristles 23 a of the brush 23 are fixed to the rotating shaft 55. Since the brush bristles 23a are thin plastic bristles, they can enter the mesh of the air filter 20 and reliably remove dust.
The brush 23 is configured to come into contact with the air filter 20 when cleaning the air filter 20 to clean the air filter 20 and move with respect to the main body case 5 to separate from the air filter 20 at times other than during cleaning. ing. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, the brush drive motor 32 and the drive gear 53 constitute a brush drive mechanism 60. The meshing between the brush gear 51 and the drive gear 53 is disengaged when the moving panel 6 is opened and lowered, and the brush gear 51 moves together with the moving panel 6 and the brush 23. When the moving panel 6 closes the suction port 3, the brush gear 51 and the drive gear 53 are engaged again. The release / fastening of the brush gear 51 and the drive gear 53 will be described in detail later.

(Dust box 24)
In FIG. 11, the dust box 24 has a dust intake port 56 near the upper air outlet 4, and supports the rotary shaft 55 via bearings 57 at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the dust intake port 56. Further, a comb portion 58 is attached to the dust intake port 56 to remove the dust scraped off from the air filter 20 by the brush 23 from the brush 23.
The dust box 24 is attached to the rotating shaft side of the moving panel 6 and the brush 23 is closer to the outlet 4 at the end of the suction port 3, so that the moving panel 6 can be seen from FIG. Rotates to open the suction port 3, the brush 23 is separated from the air filter 20 without disturbing the path of the suction air. Further, in order to smoothly direct the air that is directed to the dust box 24 to the air filter 20, the surface 59 of the dust box 24 that faces the intake air is inclined to reduce the air resistance. When the dust box 24 is fixed to the moving panel 6, the moving panel 6 is structurally reinforced by the dust box 24, so that the usage rate of the sheet metal member conventionally used for reinforcement is reduced.

(Air filter cleaning operation)
In the indoor unit 2, the air filter 20 is automatically cleaned periodically by a remote controller or periodically by the control device 25 when required by the user. The mechanism will be described below.
As shown in FIG. 10A, during operation, the rack 37 of the air filter 20 is housed in the front storage path 46, and one end of the rack 37 (hereinafter referred to as the first end 37a) is connected to the pinion gear 36. I'm engaged. When the roller 34 rotates, the rotation is transmitted from the pinion gear 36 to the rack 37, and the rack 37 of the air filter 20 is conveyed to the rear storage path 47 side by the roller 34. As the roller 34 continues to rotate, the first end portion 37 a of the rack 37 reaches the end of the rear storage path 47.

When the first end 37a of the rack 37 reaches the end of the rear storage path 47, the first end 37a rotates the lever of the position detection switch 27 to turn it on. The control device 25 determines that the first end portion 37 a of the rack 37 has reached the end of the rear storage path 47 from the ON signal output from the position detection switch 27, and stops the rotation of the roller 34. At this time, the entire area of the rack 37 of the air filter 20 is accommodated in the rear storage path 47, and the other end of the rack 37 (hereinafter referred to as the second end portion 37 b) meshes with the pinion gear 36.
As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, when the air filter 20 moves, dust attached to the surface of the air filter 20 is scraped off by the brush 23 and stored in the dust box 24 shown in FIG. 11. The brush 23 rotates at least during a period in which the air filter 20 is moving from the front storage path 46 to the rear storage path 47, and the rotation direction is a direction opposite to the traveling direction of the air filter 20.

When the air filter 20 moves from the front storage path 46 to the rear storage path 47 and the dust removal is completed, the control device 25 rotates the roller 34 in the reverse direction. Since the second end portion 37 b of the rack 37 of the air filter 20 meshes with the pinion gear 36, rotation is transmitted from the pinion gear 36 to the rack 37, and the air filter 20 is conveyed to the front storage path 46 side by the roller 34. Is done. As the roller 34 continues to rotate in the reverse direction, the second end portion 37 b of the rack 37 reaches the end of the front storage path 46.
When the second end 37b of the rack 37 reaches the end of the front storage path 46, the second end 37b rotates the lever of the position detection switch 27 to turn it on. The control device 25 determines that the second end portion 37 b of the rack 37 has reached the end of the front storage path 46 from the ON signal output from the position detection switch 27, and stops the rotation of the roller 34. At this time, the rack 37 of the air filter 20 is housed in the front storage path 46, and the first end portion 37 a of the rack 37 is engaged with the pinion gear 36.

<Apparatus related to operation of moving panel>
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the decorative panel. As shown in FIG. 12, on the ceiling side surface of the decorative panel 8, a hinge connecting device 21 is arranged in addition to the lifting device 13. Hereinafter, the detailed structures of the hinge coupling device 21 and the lifting device 13 will be described in order.

(Hinge coupling device 21)
The hinge coupling device 21 rotatably supports one end of the moving panel 6 when the indoor unit 2 is operated, and releases the support of one end of the moving panel 6 when the moving panel 6 is lowered to the maintenance position. .
FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of the hinge coupling device. In FIG. 13, the hinge coupling device 21 includes a rotating member 61, a sliding member 62, a first pin 63, a pinion gear 64, a motor 28, a fixing member 66, a second pin 67, and a screw 68. The rotating member 61 is a U-shaped solid object, and a rod-shaped support shaft 61a protrudes outward from the end surface. Further, a shaft hole 61 b is formed at one end of the rotating member 61.
The sliding member 62 includes a rack 62 a that meshes with the pinion gear 64 and an arm 62 b that sandwiches both ends of the shaft hole 61 b of the rotating member 61. Further, the arm 62b is formed with a first sliding hole 62c, and a second sliding hole 62d is formed near the base of the rack 62a. The motor 28 is a stepping motor and rotates the pinion gear 64. The motor 28 has a through hole 65a through which the screw 68 passes.
The fixing member 66 is formed with a sliding space 66 a that holds the sliding member 62 so as to be slidable, a gear space 66 b into which the pinion gear 64 is inserted, and a screw hole 66 c that is screwed into the screw 68. Furthermore, a first through hole 66d and a second through hole 66e are formed in the wall forming the sliding space 66a.
The sliding member 62 is disposed in the sliding space 66 a of the fixing member 66, and the shaft hole 61 b of the rotating member 61 is disposed between the arms 62 b of the sliding member 62. The first pin 63 is inserted from one end of the first through hole 66 d of the fixing member 66, passes through the first sliding hole 62 c of the sliding member 62 and the shaft hole 61 b of the rotating member 61, and the other end of the first through hole 66 d. Get out.
The second pin 67 is inserted from one end of the second through hole 66e, passes through the second sliding hole 62d of the sliding member 62, and exits to the other end of the second through hole 66e. As a result, the sliding member 62 can horizontally move in the sliding space along the first pin 63 and the second pin 67, and the rotating member 61 can rotate around the first pin 63.

(Operation of Hinge Connecting Device 21)
12 and 13, when the motor 28 rotates the pinion gear 64, power is transmitted to the rack 62 a that meshes with the pinion gear 64, and the sliding member 62 slides along the first pin 63. Along with the movement, the rotating member 61 moves in the direction of the movable panel 6 or in the opposite direction. Here, for convenience of explanation, the rotation of the motor 28 so as to move the rotating member 61 in the direction to connect the moving panel 6 is called normal rotation, and the direction in which the connection between the rotating member 61 and the moving panel 6 is released. The rotation of the motor 28 so as to move to is called reverse rotation.
At the end of the movable panel 6, a support hole 6c (see FIG. 11) that faces the support shaft 61a is provided in the rotating member 61, the motor 28 rotates forward, and the support shaft 61a supports the movable panel 6. When inserted into the hole 6 c, the rotation member 61 and the movable panel 6 are connected, and the movable panel 6 can rotate around the first pin 63.
On the other hand, when the motor 28 reverses and the support shaft 61a comes out of the support hole 6c of the movable panel 6, the connection between the rotating member 61 and the movable panel 6 is released, and the movable panel 6 moves the first pin 63 to the first position. Cannot rotate to the center. The moving panel 6 can be moved up and down by feeding and winding the wire 14 in a state in which the connection between the rotating member 61 and the moving panel 6 is eliminated.

(Elevating device 13)
FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view of the lifting device. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the arrangement of components inside the lifting device. 14 and 15, the lifting device 13 includes a wire 14, a pulley 72, a bobbin 73, a winding gear 74, a driving gear 75, a lifting motor 29, a switch 26, and a case 78.
The pulley 72 has a pulley portion 72 a and a cam portion 72 b that are integrally formed. The pulley portion 72 a supports the wire 14 and rotates as the wire 14 moves. The cam portion 72b includes a small-diameter curved surface, a large-diameter curved surface, and a plane connecting both the curved surfaces.
The bobbin 73 winds up the wire 14. The winding gear 74 is connected coaxially with the bobbin 73 and rotates integrally. The driving gear 75 meshes with the winding gear 74 and rotates the bobbin 73. The elevating motor 29 is a stepping motor and rotates the drive gear 75. The number of rotations of the lifting motor 29 is controlled by the number of pulses supplied from the control device 25.
The switch 26 is a micro switch having a lever 26a and is turned on when the lever 26a is pressed. The lever 26a is always in contact with the cam portion 72b of the pulley 72 and is pushed when facing the large-diameter curved surface of the cam portion 72b. The switch 26 is also electrically connected to the control device 25 by a wire harness.
The case 78 is divided into a support case 78a and a cover 78b. The support case 78a is formed with a first shaft 79a that supports the pulley 72, a second shaft 79b that supports the bobbin 73 and the winding gear 74, and a third shaft 79c that supports the switch 26. The cover 78b covers and protects each component supported by the support case 78a.

(Operation of lifting device 13)
In FIG. 15, when the lifting device 13 feeds the wire 14, the lifting motor 29 rotates the drive gear 75 in the CCW direction and rotates the winding gear 74 in the CW direction. As a result, the bobbin 73 rotates in the direction of feeding the wire 14.
On the other hand, when the lifting device 13 winds the wire 14, the lifting motor 29 rotates the drive gear 75 in the CW direction and rotates the winding gear 74 in the CCW direction. As a result, the bobbin 73 rotates in the direction of winding the wire 14. The feeding amount and winding amount of the wire 14 are proportional to the rotation amount of the lifting motor 29, and the feeding amount and winding amount of the wire 14 are controlled by controlling the number of pulses that the control device 25 supplies to the lifting motor 29. Is controlled.
Since the movable panel 6 is connected to the tip of the wire 14, tension is always generated in the wire 14, and when the wire 14 is drawn out or wound up, the pulley portion 72 a is connected to the wire 14. It is rotated by the frictional force. At this time, since the cam portion 72b also rotates, the switch 26 issues an ON signal when the lever 26a faces the large-diameter curved surface of the cam portion 72b, and issues an OFF signal when the lever 26a faces the small-diameter curved surface. While the pulley 72 is rotating, an on signal and an off signal are alternately generated, and these signals are all input to the control device 25.
However, when the wire 14 is loosened due to some reason, for example, when the wire 14 is drawn out for maintenance and the moving panel 6 is lowered, the moving panel 6 is moved before reaching a predetermined feeding amount. When landing on a table or the like and stopping, the frictional force between the wire 14 and the pulley portion 72a decreases, and the pulley 72 stops. For this reason, either the on signal or the off signal is continuously output from the switch 26. At this time, since the signal from the switch 26 is constant when the lifting motor 29 is rotating, the control device 25 estimates that the movable panel 6 has stopped due to some obstacle, and immediately the lifting motor 29 Stop.

(Moving panel open / close operation)
FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a state in which the moving panel opens the suction port. In FIG. 16, when the lifting device 13 feeds the wire 14 in a state where the hinge connecting device 21 is connected to the moving panel 6, the moving panel 6 is lowered by its own weight. However, since the end portion of the moving panel 6 is connected to the hinge connecting device 21, the moving panel 6 rotates in the direction to open the suction port 3 with the end portion as an axis (see states D1 and D2 in FIG. 19).
On the other hand, when the lifting / lowering device 13 winds the wire 14, the movable panel 6 is lifted, but since the end of the movable panel 6 is connected to the hinge connecting device 21, the movable panel 6 has the suction port with the end as an axis. 3 is rotated in the closing direction, and the movement panel 6 stops the rotation at the position where the suction port 3 is completely closed.

(Moving panel up and down operation)
FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a state where the movable panel is lowered. In FIG. 17, when the hinge connecting device 21 releases the connection with the end of the moving panel 6 and the elevating device 13 feeds the wire 14, the moving panel 6 descends by its own weight (see states D2 and D3 in FIG. 19). ). On the other hand, when the elevating device 13 winds the wire 14, the moving panel 6 rises and stops at a position where the moving panel 6 completely closes the suction port 3.
Since the movable panel 6 is suspended by two wires and descends together with the dust box 24, the total weight of the movable panel 6 including the dust box 24 is increased, and the posture is not unstable due to the airflow in the room. .
When the dust stored in the dust box 24 is discarded, the dust box 24 is removed from the moving panel 6 of the indoor unit 2. However, since the dust box 24 is attached to the movable panel 6 that cannot be reached by the user, the user lowers the movable panel 6 to a maintenance position where the user can reach, and then moves the dust box 24 to the movable panel. Remove from 6.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the dust box and the lifting panel after the dust box is taken out. In FIG. 18, the moving panel 6 is formed with a storage portion 6 a in which the dust box 24 is stored. When FIG. 18 is viewed from the front, the first pushing portion 90 of the take-out mechanism is arranged at the left end, and the second push-out portion 91 of the take-out mechanism is arranged at the right end. The take-out mechanism has a first pusher 90 and a second pusher 91. The first push-out unit 90 has a button 92, and when the user presses the button 92, the first push-out unit 90 pushes the vicinity of one end of the dust box 24 to the upper side of the moving panel 6, and at the same time, the second push-out unit 90 The part 91 pushes the vicinity of the other end of the dust box 24 to the upper side of the moving panel 6. When the dust box 24 is attached to the storage portion 6a, hooks (not shown) are fitted into the recesses 94 provided at both ends of the dust box 24 to prevent the dust box 24 from protruding upward.

<Release and fastening of gears for opening and closing and lifting>
As shown in FIGS. 3 to 4, the dust box 24 rotates together with the movable panel 6 from the closed position and moves up and down. When the movable panel 6 is closed when the operation is stopped as shown in FIG. 3, the drive gear 53 is engaged with the brush gear 51 from obliquely above the brush gear 51 (see D1 in FIG. 19). When the air filter 20 is cleaned, a driving force can be transmitted from the driving gear 53 to the brush gear 51 from the brush driving motor 32 shown in FIG.
As described above, since the drive gear 53 is engaged with the brush gear 51 obliquely from above, the drive gear 53 is not positioned on the movement locus of the brush gear 51 when the movable panel 6 is rotated or moved up and down. The drive gear 53 does not hinder.

<Reverse rotation of drive gear>
Here, as shown in FIG. 20, during cleaning of the air filter 20 using the brush 23, when the brush 23 is rotationally driven, the brush driving mechanism 60 moves to the moving panel 6 via the brush 23. The force to push down may work. Specifically, when the drive gear 53 of the brush drive mechanism 60 rotates in the clockwise CW direction, the brush gear 51 meshing with the right half of the drive gear 53 is pushed downward. At this time, even after the filter is cleaned, the driving force 53 of the mechanism portion that drives the brush 23 may be caught by the brush gear 51 due to the pressing force remaining.

Therefore, in the indoor unit 2 of the present embodiment, even after the filter is cleaned, the pressing force that remains down prevents the drive gear 53 of the mechanism portion that drives the brush 23 from being caught by the brush gear 51 by starting the air conditioning operation. Sometimes, the brush driving mechanism rotates the brush 23 in the forward direction to clean the air filter 20 so that the movable panel 6 can be smoothly opened, and then the brush 23 is moved in the reverse direction (CCW direction in FIG. 21). Rotate to
Thereby, when the operation of the brush drive mechanism 60 is finished, it is possible to avoid the residual force from acting on the brush 23 and affecting the members such as the moving panel 6 around the brush 23. The moving panel 6 can be smoothly opened at the start of operation.
The reverse rotation operation and the procedure of the drive gear 53 will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The indoor unit 2 of the present embodiment further includes the moving panel 6 that opens and closes the suction port 3 as described above, and the lifting device 13 that reciprocates the moving panel 6 between a predetermined open position and a closed position. The brush 23 is rotatably attached to the movable panel 6.
In this structure, the brush drive mechanism 60 rotates the brush 23 in the forward direction (for example, the CCW direction in FIG. 20) to clean the air filter 20, and then moves the brush 23 in the reverse direction (for example, the CW in FIG. 21). The force acting on the movable panel 6 from the brush drive mechanism 60 is unloaded. Thereby, even when the operation of the brush drive mechanism 60 is finished, even in the structure in which the residual force acts on the movable panel 6, it is possible to avoid the behavior at the start of the movement of the movable panel 6 from becoming unstable. Is possible.
Furthermore, in the indoor unit 2 of the present embodiment, the brush drive mechanism 60 has a drive gear 53, and the brush 23 has a brush gear 51 that rotates together with the brush 23.

In this structure, when the brush drive mechanism 60 rotates the brush 23 in the forward direction, the teeth 53a of the drive gear 53 give a force in the direction in which the moving panel 6 opens to the teeth 51a of the brush gear 51, while the brush drive mechanism 60 When rotating the brush 23 in the reverse direction, the force in the direction in which the moving panel 6 opens from the teeth 53a of the drive gear 53 to the teeth 51a of the brush gear 51 is unloaded. As a result, when the operation of the brush drive mechanism 60 is completed, the residual force can act on the brush gear 51 from the drive gear 53 to reliably prevent the two gears from being caught, and the movement caused thereby. It is possible to avoid the unstable behavior at the start of the panel 6 movement.
Furthermore, in the indoor unit 2 of the present embodiment, when the brush drive mechanism 60 rotates the brush 23 in the reverse direction, the drive gear 53 and the brush gear 51 are moved by the movable panel 6 by 0.1 to 3 of their teeth. Rotate in the closing direction. Thereby, unloading of the force in the direction in which the movable panel 6 opens can be reliably performed, and the movable panel 6 can be reliably stored in the storage position.
The drive gear 53 and the brush gear 51 cannot absorb backlash between the two gears when the rotation amount is smaller than 0.1 of each tooth, while the rotation amount is larger than three. Since the two gears rotate unnecessarily after the unloading of the force in the direction in which the moving panel 6 opens, energy is wasted. Therefore, it is preferable that the driving gear 53 and the brush gear 51 rotate in the direction in which the moving panel 6 is closed by 0.1 to 3 of the respective teeth. Further, it is particularly preferable that the moving panel 6 is rotated in the closing direction by one of each tooth.

<Excitation lock operation of moving panel>
Here, as shown in FIG. 20, during cleaning of the air filter 20 using the brush 23, when the brush 23 is rotationally driven, the brush driving mechanism 60 moves to the moving panel 6 via the brush 23. The force to push down may work. Specifically, when the drive gear 53 of the brush drive mechanism 60 rotates in the clockwise CW direction, the brush gear 51 meshing with the right half of the drive gear 53 is pushed downward. As a result, the movable panel 6 is pushed down, which may cause a problem that the wire 14 is fed out during cleaning of the air filter 20 and the movable panel 6 is lowered from the predetermined closed position.

Therefore, in the indoor unit of this embodiment, in order to eliminate such a problem, the lifting motor 29 of the lifting device 13 is excited and locked as in step S13 of the flowchart of FIG. That is, during the operation of the brush drive mechanism 60, the lifting motor 29 of the lifting device 13 is excited to prevent the rotating shaft of the lifting motor 29 from rotating and the movable panel 6 from moving.
Note that it is only necessary that the movable panel 6 can be locked by the excitation lock so that the movable panel 6 does not move. Therefore, the lifting motor 29 may generate a force in the direction in which the movable panel 6 is closed.
In this way, by exciting and locking during filter cleaning, there is no problem that the movable panel 6 that is stopped is moved by the movement of the brush 23 during filter cleaning, and it is possible to avoid poor cleaning due to this.
The lifting motor 29 is preferably a stepping motor that can accurately control the rotation angle. In this case, the lifting motor 29 may generate a torque required for the excitation lock, for example, a weaker torque than when a normal panel is lifted by performing one-phase or two-phase excitation.
In addition, the indoor unit 2 of the present embodiment further includes a storage limit switch 30 (see FIG. 7) that is a panel position detection unit that detects whether or not the movable panel 6 is in a predetermined storage position. In the storage limit switch 30, the movable panel 6 inside the main body case 5 is disposed in the vicinity of the storage position.
When the movable panel 6 is in the predetermined storage position, the storage limit switch 30 is turned on.

<Flow chart of reverse rotation operation and excitation lock operation of drive gear>
Therefore, in the indoor unit of the present embodiment, specifically, the excitation lock during the filter cleaning and the reverse rotation operation of the drive gear are performed after the filter cleaning in the procedure shown in FIG.
First, during operation standby in step S11, that is, in the panel storage state, in step S12, a signal for instructing filter cleaning is input to the control device 25 of the indoor unit 2 by operating the remote controller. If no signal is input, the process returns to step S11 and the operation standby state is maintained.

Next, in step S13, the lifting motor 29 is excited by one phase to be excited.
Next, while maintaining the excitation lock state, in step S14, the brush drive mechanism 60 is operated, and the brush 23 is rotationally driven to perform filter cleaning. At this time, dust is removed by the brush 23 while moving the air filter 20 as shown in FIG.
Next, the brush 23 is cleaned in step S15 while maintaining the excitation lock state. Specifically, after the air filter 20 is returned to the predetermined position in FIG. 10A, the brush 23 is rotated without touching the air filter 20, and the brush bristles of the brush 23 are moved to the comb portion 58 (see FIG. 11). And drop dust into the dust box 24.
Next, in step S16, as shown in FIG. 21, the drive gear 53 is rotated in a direction to close the moving panel 6 by 0.1 to 3 teeth of the drive gear 53, and the brush 23 is set at a set angle. Only rotate in the reverse direction.

The force acting on the movable panel 6 from the brush drive mechanism 60 is unloaded by rotating the brush 23 in the reverse direction (CCW direction in FIG. 21). Thereby, the movement panel 6 is normally accommodated in a predetermined accommodation position.
Thereafter, in step S17, the energization of the lifting motor 29 is stopped and the excitation lock is released.
Next, in step S18, it is detected by the storage limit switch 30 (corresponding to the storage LS in FIG. 22) whether or not the movable panel 6 is in the predetermined storage position. If it is detected that it is in the storage position, the process proceeds to step S19, and if it is detected that it is not in the storage position, the process proceeds to step S20.
In the case of proceeding to step S19, the lifting motor 29 is operated to slightly rewind the wire 14 around the bobbin 73, so that a force is applied in the direction of ascending the moving panel 6 to perform the lifting tightening. Return to step S11).

On the other hand, when progressing to step S20, the raising / lowering motor 29 is operated and the movement panel 6 is raised.
Specifically, when the storage limit switch 30 detects that the movable panel 6 is not at the predetermined storage position, the control device 25 closes the movable panel 6 after the operation of the brush drive mechanism 60 is finished. The storage limit switch 30 is controlled to move in the direction until it is detected that the movable panel 6 is in the storage position.
Thereafter, in step S21, when the lifting device 13 moves toward the closing direction of the moving panel 6 after the operation of the brush drive mechanism 60 is finished, the storage limit switch 30 is in the predetermined storage position within the predetermined time. Detect that. If it is not detected that it is in the storage position, the process proceeds to step S23, the drive of the lifting device 13 is stopped, an abnormal output is output, and then control is performed to enter an operation standby state (return to step S11). Here, the abnormal output operation is specifically performed by transmitting a signal notifying the abnormality to the remote controller or displaying a symbol or character indicating the occurrence of abnormality on the main body display unit of the indoor unit 2.
On the other hand, if it is detected that it is in the storage position, the process proceeds to step S22. In this case, the elevating motor 29 is operated to slightly rewind the wire 14 around the bobbin 73, thereby applying a force in the direction of ascending the movable panel 6 to perform the tightening, and then waiting for operation (step S11). Return to.

Second Embodiment
<Indoor unit>
FIG. 23 is a cross-sectional view of an indoor unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 23, the outer case of the main body case 110 includes a grill 110a, a front panel 110b, and a back plate 110c. A frame 111, an indoor heat exchanger 112, a cross flow fan 113, and an air filter 121 are disposed inside the main body case 110.

The indoor heat exchanger 112 performs heat exchange with the passing air. The cross flow fan 113 blows the air taken in from the room against the indoor heat exchanger 112 and then blows it into the room. The indoor heat exchanger 112 and the cross flow fan 113 are attached to the frame 111.
A blower outlet 115 is provided at a lower portion of the front surface of the frame 111, and a horizontal flap 117 for guiding the air blown from the blower outlet 115 is provided at the blower outlet 115. The horizontal flap 117 can change the blowing direction of air, and can open and close the outlet 115.
An air filter 121 is disposed between the grill 110a and the indoor heat exchanger 112 to remove dust contained in the air flowing toward the indoor heat exchanger 112. The indoor unit 102 also includes a filter cleaning mechanism 170 that automatically cleans the air filter 121 to which dust has adhered. Hereinafter, members related to the filter cleaning mechanism 170 will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Filter cleaning mechanism>
FIG. 24 is a perspective view of the filter cleaning mechanism. FIG. 25 is an exploded perspective view of the filter cleaning mechanism of FIG. 23, 24, and 25, the filter cleaning mechanism 170 includes a support frame 140 that supports the air filter 121 and a second support frame 150 that supports the support frame 140.

(Air filter 121)
The air filter 121 is, for example, a net woven with a resin thread and is formed in a ring shape. Note that the weaving method of the air filter 121 is not limited to the plain weaving but may be other weaving methods such as twill weaving. As shown in FIG. 25, the air filter 121 is not provided with reinforcing edges or ribs as found in a general filter. For this reason, since the air filter 121 cannot maintain a stable shape by itself, the support frame 140 supports the air filter 121 and causes the air filter 121 to form a predetermined ring shape. For convenience of explanation, the portion of the air filter 121 that is located on the leeward side of the air filter 121 excluding the folded portion is called the front filter portion 1211 and the portion that is located on the leeward side of the air filter 121 is the rear side. This is called a filter portion 1212.

(Support frame 140)
In FIG. 25, the support frame 140 includes a first support plate 143, a second support plate 144, a plurality of horizontal bars 145a, and vertical bars 145b. The first support plate 143 and the second support plate 144 are connected in parallel and separated by a cross rail 145a so that their end faces face each other. The 1st support plate 143 has the 1st bearing 143a which supports the rotating shaft of the roller 141 at the end of a longitudinal direction.
Similar to the first support plate 143, the second support plate 144 also has a second bearing 144a that supports the rotating shaft of the roller 141 at one end in the longitudinal direction.
The other end of the first support plate 143, that is, the end 143b on the opposite side of the first bearing 143a, supports one end of the reversing roller 142 in which the ring-shaped air filter 121 reverses the traveling direction. Similarly, the other end of the second support plate 144, that is, the end 144b on the opposite side of the second bearing 144a also supports the other end of the reversing roller 142.
Of the first support plate 143, the portion of the first filter plate 143c that is placed near the end face of the air filter 121 is the first filter receiving portion 143c, and the first guide portion 143d is outside the first filter receiving portion 143c. Similarly, the portion of the second support plate 144 that is placed near the end face of the air filter 121 is the second filter receiving portion 144c, and the second guide portion 144d is outside the second filter receiving portion 144c.

(Roller 141)
A pile-woven fabric base fabric is affixed to the peripheral surface of the roller 141. Pile weaving is a method of weaving so that short fibers (pile yarn 1411a) stand on the surface, and specifically, a cloth portion of a clothes brush that removes lint, cotton dust, etc. adhering to clothing or the like corresponds to it. .
Since the pile yarn 1411 a standing on the outer peripheral surface of the roller 141 enters the mesh of the air filter 121, it is difficult for slippage to occur between the roller 141 and the air filter 121. As a result, the air filter 121 can circulate along the support frame 140 by rotating the roller 141.

(Reversing roller 142)
The reversing roller 142 is rotatably supported by a terminal end 143b of the first support plate 143 and a terminal end 144b of the second support plate 144. Moreover, since the air filter 121 contacts the reversing roller 142, the surface is finished smoothly.
26 is a cross-sectional perspective view of the support frame on which the air filter is mounted, and FIG. 27 is a side view of the cross-sectional portion of the support frame shown in FIG. 26 and 27, the air filter 121 is supported by a support frame 140, a roller 141, and a reverse roller 142.

The air filter 121 is pressed by the tension bar 147 so that the back-side filter portion 1212 comes into contact with the front-side filter portion 1211 immediately after being reversed via the roller 141. The air filter 121 is pressed by the tension roller 149 so that the back-side filter portion 1212 overlaps the front-side filter portion 1211 immediately after being reversed via the reversing roller 142. The air filter 121 repeats the rotating operation between the roller 141 and the tension bar 147 while being deformed into a U shape by the roller 141.
The front-side filter portion 1211 and the back-side filter portion 1212 are placed on the first filter receiving portion 143c, the second filter receiving portion 144c, the horizontal beam 145a, and the vertical beam 145b of the support frame 140 in an overlapping state. When 140 is warped, it is pressed against the convex side portions of the warped first filter receiving portion 143c, second filter receiving portion 144c, horizontal beam 145a and vertical beam 415b.

In the ring-shaped air filter 121, there are a side that is pulled during circulation and a side that is extended, and slack is likely to occur on the extended side. Even if it becomes, generation | occurrence | production of slack is suppressed by the curvature by the support frame 140. FIG.
Further, since the back side filter portion 1212 is pressed so as to overlap the front side filter portion 1211, the back side filter portion 1212 and the front side filter portion 1211 are at least partially in contact with each other. Since the seam of the ring-shaped air filter 121 is closely adhered and thermally formed by heat welding, even if the seam of the air filter 121 comes into contact with other parts of the air filter 121, it is not caught.
As shown in FIG. 27, in the air filter 121, there is almost no space sandwiched between the back-side filter portion 1212 and the front-side filter portion 1211, or much smaller than Example 3 of Patent Document 1, Dust that has passed through the front filter portion 1211 is less likely to be scattered.

(Outer crosspiece 146)
In FIG. 23, the outer crosspiece 146 is opposed to the curved surface of the air filter 121 from the side opposite to the roller 141 with the air filter 121 interposed therebetween. The portion of the air filter 121 that is in contact with the roller 141 is adjacent to the region pulled in the traveling direction and the region that is fed out in the traveling direction, and the tension acting on the air filter 121 decreases in the fed region. The possibility that the filter 121 will wave is high.
However, since the outer rail 146 is provided, the undulated air filter 121 comes into contact with the outer rail 146 before coming into contact with other members, so that another movable member (for example, FIG. Even when the brush 161) shown is present, the air filter 121 is not bitten.

(Handle 148)
The handle 148 includes a handle 148a, a fixing portion 148b, and a holding portion 148c. The fixing portion 148b forms the base portion of the handle 148a. The holding portion 148c holds a tension bar 147 that pushes the air filter 121 to prevent loosening.
The handle 148 holds both ends of the tension bar 147, and the tension bar 147 stops at a position where the air filter 121 is pushed toward the support frame 140. As a result, the air filter 121 is in a state in which the slack is eliminated by the tension bar 147 and is supported by the support frame 140 so as to be able to go around. The tension bar 147 may be a rotating roller such as a tension roller 149.
Since the side surface of the handle 148a is close to and opposed to both end surfaces of the air filter 121, when the air filter 121 goes around the support frame 140, both ends of the air filter 121 are the first filter receiving portion 143c and the second filter receiving portion 144c. , And a handle 148a of the handle 148.

(Second support frame 150)
24 and 25, the second support frame 150 includes a first side plate 151, a second side plate 152, a third side plate 153, a reinforcing frame 154, and an end attachment plate 155. The first side plate 151, the second side plate 152, and the third side plate 153 are arranged in parallel at substantially equal intervals. The reinforcing frame 154 is attached between the first side plate 151 and the second side plate 152 and between the second side plate 152 and the third side plate 153. The end attaching plate 155 is attached to the terminal ends of the first side plate 151, the second side plate 152, and the third side plate 153 so as to cover each terminal.
The first side plate 151 is provided with a guide groove 151 a that supports the first guide portion 143 d of the support frame 140. Further, three motors are attached to the side of the first side plate 151 where the guide groove 151a is not provided, and a gear train is attached to the side where the guide groove 151a is provided. Concatenated to a column.

The second side plate 152 is provided with a guide groove 152a for supporting the second guide portion 144d of the support frame 140 and a guide groove 152b for supporting the first guide portion 143d of the support frame 140. The guide groove 152a is provided on the side facing the first side plate 151, and the guide groove 152b is provided on the opposite side of the guide groove 152a. The third side plate 153 is provided with a guide groove 153 a that supports the second guide portion 144 d of the support frame 140. The guide groove 153a faces the guide groove 152b of the second side plate.
The

guide grooves

151a, 152a, 152b, and 153a are curved in a quadratic curve, and the depth is such that the first guide portion 143d and the second guide portion 144d can be completely accommodated, and the length is supported. The length of the first support plate 143 and the second support plate 144 of the frame 140 is shorter.
As shown in FIG. 25, of the three motors fixed to the first side plate 151, two motors are roller driving motors 131 that rotate the rollers 141, and the other motor is a brush 161 (see FIG. 23). Is a brush driving motor 163a for rotating the motor. The brush drive motor 163a is disposed below the two roller drive motors 131.

For convenience of explanation, the roller 141 supported by the first side plate 151 and the second side plate 152 is called a right roller 141a, and the roller 141 supported by the second side plate 152 and the third side plate 153 is called a left roller 141b. The lower roller driving motor 131 rotates the roller gear 132 of the right roller 141a via the gear train 131a in order to rotate the right roller 141a. The upper roller driving motor 131 rotates the roller gear 132 of the left roller 141b via the gear train 131b including the driving gear and the extension shaft 131c in order to rotate the left roller 141b. Thus, the roller 141, the roller gear 132, and the roller driving motor 131 constitute the roller driving mechanism 130.
The brush drive motor 163a rotates the brush 161 (see FIG. 23) via the extension shaft 163b and the drive gear of the gear train 163c. Thus, the brush drive mechanism 163 for driving the brush 161 includes a brush drive motor 163a, an extension shaft 163b, and a gear train 163c. The brush driving motor 163a is a stepping motor, and is configured such that the rotation angle can be determined by the number of pulses of a signal given from the control unit.
The reinforcing frame 154 has a lattice formed by a plurality of connecting rods 154a along the traveling direction of the air filter 121 and a plurality of reinforcing rods 154b orthogonal to the traveling direction of the air filter 121, and a certain strength is ensured. Yes. And the part with which the air filter 121 may contact is finished in the smooth curved surface.

(Removal of support frame 140)
24 and 25, since the support frame 140 is curved so as to be convex toward the windward side, the air filter 121 is also curved following the support frame 140. Since the curvature of the support frame 140 over which the air filter 121 is stretched is still smaller than that of the second support frame 150, the operator can guide the first guide portion 143 d to the

guide grooves

151 a and 152 b while bending the support frame 140. The second guide portion 144d is received in the

guide grooves

152a and 153a.
The support frame 140 is easily curved and is easily attached to the second support frame 150. When taking out the support frame 140 from the second support frame 150, the user pulls the support frame 140 by pulling it forward with the handle 148 a of the handle 148. Therefore, maintainability is good. Further, when the support frame 140 is completely attached to the second support frame 150, the warp of the support frame 140 is maximized, and the front-side filter portion 1211 and the back-side filter portion 1212 of the air filter 121 are warped to the maximum. The first filter receiving portion 143c, the second filter receiving portion 144c, the horizontal beam 145a, and the vertical beam 145b are pressed against the convex side portions to change to a state without slack.
At this time, as shown in FIG. 23, most of the air filter 121 is in contact with only the support frame 140, but the end on the reverse roller 142 side of the front-side filter portion 1211 is connected to the support frame 140 and the second frame. It is sandwiched between end mounting plates 155 of the support frame 150. The end mounting plate 155 faces the curved surface of the air filter 121 and faces the end mounting plate 155 before coming into contact with other members even if the air filter 121 undulates. Even if another movable member exists, the air filter 121 is not bitten.

(Filter cleaning operation)
The indoor unit 102 includes a control unit (not shown) that controls the filter cleaning mechanism 170 in the main body case 110. The control unit counts the operation time of the indoor unit 102. When the accumulated operation time from the previous filter cleaning operation reaches a predetermined time (for example, 18 hours), the air filter 121 is rotated while rotating the brush 161. Is circulated a predetermined number of times (for example, once).
Meanwhile, the bristle of the brush 161 enters the mesh of the air filter 121 and scrapes off the dust stuck in the mesh. The dust accumulates in a dust box 160 located below the brush 161. A comb portion 164 is provided for spreading dust on the brush 161 to the dust box 160. Dust can be efficiently dropped from the brush 161 by the teeth of the comb portion 164 combing the brush hair of the brush 161. Note that the indoor unit 102 according to the present embodiment can forcibly execute the filter cleaning operation using a remote controller (not shown).

The indoor unit 102 performs the reverse rotation of the drive gear 163d (see FIG. 27) after the filter cleaning, similarly to the indoor unit 2 of the first embodiment. The control unit stops the roller driving motor 131 and the brush driving motor 163a when the air filter 121 rotates a predetermined number of times while rotating the driving gear 163d in the forward direction (CW direction). Next, the control unit outputs a signal to the brush drive motor 163a so as to rotate the drive gear 163d in the reverse direction by a preset angle (0.1 to 3 teeth). The drive gear 163d shown in FIG. 27 rotates in the reverse direction (CCW direction), and the brush gear 161a rotates reversely by 0.1 to 3 teeth accordingly, and the brush 161 rotates in the reverse direction by a preset angle. Let
As shown in FIG. 27, the drive gear 163d is located at a position deviating from the plane PL1 including the central axis of the roller 141 and the central axis of the brush gear 161a. Therefore, immediately after the cleaning when the roller driving motor 131 and the brush driving motor 163a are stopped, the force Fo1 that the teeth of the driving gear 163d push the teeth of the brush gear 161a downward remains. By rotating the drive gear 163d and the brush gear 161a backward by 0.1 to 3 teeth, the residual force between the teeth of the drive gear 163d and the brush gear 161a can be reduced or the residual force can be reduced to zero. it can.

<Third Embodiment>
FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a cross section of the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 28, in the indoor unit 202, the main suction port 206a and the sub suction port 206b on the downstream side of the main suction port 206a and the sub suction port 206b on the top surface 205a of the main body case 205 face the entire surface of the main suction port 206a and the sub suction port 206b. Two air filters are arranged. The air filter 235a shown in FIG. 28 shares the left half of the main body case 205 in the width direction, and the other air filter described later shares the right half of the main body case 205 in the width direction. An indoor heat exchanger 236 is disposed further downstream of the air filter 235a. All the indoor air that passes through the suction port 206 and reaches the indoor heat exchanger 236 passes through the air filter 235a and is subjected to dust removal.
On the downstream side of the indoor heat exchanger 236, a substantially cylindrical cross flow fan 240 extends long along the width direction of the main body case 205, and is provided in parallel with the width direction of the main body case 205 together with the indoor heat exchanger 236. It has been. The cross flow fan 240 is surrounded by an inverted V-shaped indoor heat exchanger 236. The cross flow fan 240 rotates clockwise in FIG. 28 to generate an air flow.

The blowout passage 207a downstream of the cross flow fan 240 is configured with a scroll member 241 on the back surface 205d side. The guide surface 241 a of the scroll member 241 has a smooth curved shape having a center of curvature on the cross flow fan 240 side in a cross-sectional view, and the upper portion of the guide surface 241 a is disposed in the vicinity closest to the cross flow fan 240. It is arranged so as to gradually move away from the cross flow fan 240 as it goes down. At the upper end of the upper wall 207aa of the blowout passage 207a, a tongue portion 242 having a square-shaped surface is provided. Of the surface of the tongue portion 242, the surface 242 a provided in the vicinity of the cross flow fan 240 faces the guide surface 241 a of the scroll member 241 with the cross flow fan 240 interposed therebetween. The room air blown out from the crossflow fan 240 passes through the blowout passage 207a and is blown out from the blowout port 207 in the bottom face 205c, but the direction of the blowout is adjusted by the wind direction adjusting blade 209 or the like. The right and left blowing directions viewed from the front of the indoor unit 202 are adjusted by the wind direction adjusting blades close to the cross flow fan 240, and the upper and lower blowing directions are adjusted by the wind direction adjusting blades 209 at the outlet 207.

The filter cleaning member 214 on the front 205b side is configured by combining a brush side member that holds the brush 247 and a dust box 249 that holds dust scraped off by the brush 247. The brush 247 is formed so that the bristle (plastic straight hair) extends radially, and the brush 247 rotates counterclockwise in the cross-sectional view of FIG. The teeth of the comb portion 250 are inserted obliquely forward from the bottom of the brush 247. In addition, a plastic cylindrical rod-shaped member 251 for pushing dust into the dust box 249 is provided immediately below the teeth of the comb portion 250. Spiral protrusions are attached to the surface of the columnar rod-shaped member 251, and the columnar rod-shaped member 251 rotates together with the brush 247, so that dust dusted off by the teeth of the comb portion 250 can be pushed into the dust box 249. Thereby, the dust accumulated in the dust box 249 can be compressed, and the number of times the dust accumulated in the dust box 249 can be discarded can be reduced.

On the filter cleaning member 214, the filter cleaning mechanism 215 is attached so that the brush 247 of the filter cleaning member 214 is in contact with the

air filters

235a and 235b (see FIG. 32). The two

filter driving rollers

252a and 252b of the filter cleaning mechanism 215 are attached at positions facing the brush 247 with the

air filters

235a and 235b interposed therebetween. FIG. 28 shows one filter driving roller 252a, and the other filter driving roller 252b (see FIG. 29) is located closer to the paper surface than the filter driving roller 252a. The

filter driving rollers

252a and 252b have pinion gears formed at both ends thereof, and the pinion gears mesh with the rack gears formed at both ends of the

air filters

235a and 235b, so that the

air filters

235a and 235b Move.

The

air filters

235a and 235b are guided by the arm 217 and the blade 253 of the filter cleaning mechanism 215. The arm 217 has an upper guide groove 217a that draws a curved line that gently curves along the vicinity of the upper portion of the front panel 208, the decorative portion 225 provided slightly backward from the front panel 208 toward the back surface 205d, and the top surface 205a. And another lower guide groove 217b provided below the upper guide groove 217a. The distance between the upper guide groove 217a and the lower guide groove 217b is slightly wider than the outer diameter of the tip circle of the pinion gear of the

filter driving rollers

252a and 252b. When removing dust from indoor air, the filter cleaning mechanism 215 holds the

air filters

235a and 235b so as to be positioned in the upper guide groove 217a. When cleaning the

air filters

235a and 235b, the filter cleaning mechanism 215 makes a U-turn while transforming the

air filters

235a and 235b into a U shape so as to be wound around the outer periphery of the

filter driving rollers

252a and 252b. By making the U-turn, the filter driving roller 252a changes the moving direction of the

air filters

235a and 235b from downward to upward, and guides the

air filters

235a and 235b to the lower guide groove 217b. Since the dust is scraped off by the brush 247 while making the

air filters

235a and 235b U-turn, the length of the filter cleaning mechanism 215 can be shortened. Increase.

(Filter cleaning mechanism)
Here, the filter cleaning mechanism 215 shown in FIG. 28 will be described in more detail. 29 is a front view of the filter cleaning mechanism, FIG. 30 is a left side view of the filter cleaning mechanism, and FIG. 31 is a bottom view of the filter cleaning mechanism. Further, FIG. 32 shows the relationship between the cleaning mechanism driving unit of the filter cleaning mechanism and the air filter.
The filter cleaning mechanism 215 includes two left and right holding

portions

215a and 215b in order to hold the two

air filters

235a and 235b shown in FIG. The

air filters

235a and 235b support a filter portion 235ab that allows room air to pass for filtering by a thin support frame 235aa. As already described with reference to FIG. 28, the

filter driving motors

256a and 256b and the

filter driving rollers

252a and 252b for driving the

air filters

235a and 235b shown in FIG. 32 constitute the cleaning mechanism driving unit 215c. ing. Factors that increase the thickness of the filter cleaning mechanism 215 because the

filter driving rollers

252a and 252b are relatively difficult to downsize due to the relationship with the material of the

plastic air filters

235a and 235b. It has become.

The holding

portions

215a and 215b are composed of an arm 217 and a frame 216 configured by a blade 253, a beam 259, and the like passed between the arms 217. Since the frame 216 is configured by combining thin members such as the blade 253 and the beam 259 in order to improve ventilation, a space is formed inside, and the space can be effectively used by using this space effectively. Effective use is planned. That is, the holding

units

215a and 215b are provided with

filter driving motors

256a and 256b for driving the

filter driving rollers

252a and 252b, respectively, at positions overlapping the

air filters

235a and 235b when viewed from the front. Is attached. The filter driving motor 256a is disposed between the upper guide groove 217a and the lower guide groove 217b shown in FIG. In other words, the filter driving motor between the position of the air filter 235a before changing the moving direction by the filter driving roller 252a and the position of the air filter 235a after changing the moving direction by the filter driving roller 252a. 256a is arranged. The frame 216 is fixed by screwing the fixing portion 216c to the main body case 205. The central fixing portion 216c is fixed to the screw hole 229 of the front grill 212 shown in FIG. Further, the claws 216d are inserted into the main body case 205 to fix the frame 216 behind.

Since the indoor air passes through the air filter 235a, the filter driving motor 256a generates ventilation resistance at the portion where it overlaps the air filter 235a. Therefore, the filter driving motor 256a is arranged at the left end of the filter cleaning mechanism 215 so that air is as much as possible. The filter 235 is attached so that the area overlapping the filter 235 is reduced. For the same reason, a filter driving motor 256b is attached to the left end of the holding portion 215b of the filter cleaning mechanism 215. The

filter driving motors

256a and 256b are arranged so as to overlap in a side view. Further, as shown in FIG. 28, the suction port 206 is at the upper part, and the indoor air flowing from the suction port 206 to the cross flow fan 240 is directed to the lower back side, so that the

filter driving motors

256a and 256b By arranging it close to 252b, ventilation resistance is reduced.

The driving force generated by the

filter driving motors

256a and 256b is transmitted to the

filter driving rollers

252a and 252b by a plurality of gears. A gear connecting the filter driving roller 252a and the filter driving motor 256b is housed in a gear box 257 shown in FIG.
In addition to driving the

air filters

235a and 235b, the filter cleaning mechanism 215 is provided with a brush driving motor 258a for driving the brush 247 shown in FIG. The brush driving motor 258a is also disposed at a position overlapping the air filter 235a in the front view. In addition, the brush driving motor 258a is disposed at a position overlapping the

filter driving motors

256a and 256b in a side view. The brush drive motor 258a is a stepping motor that generates power for rotating the drive gear 258b. The filter cleaning mechanism 215 is also controlled by the control unit similarly to the filter cleaning mechanism 15 of the first embodiment, and the rotation angle of the brush driving motor 258a is controlled in accordance with a signal from the control unit. Between the brush drive motor 258a and the drive gear 258b, a gear for transmitting power is provided. The driving force for the brush driving mechanism 258 to rotate the brush 247 is given through the driving gear 258b. Thus, the brush drive mechanism 258 includes the brush drive motor 258a and the drive gear 258b.
A latching protrusion 216 b for fixing to the filter cleaning member 214 is provided at the lower part of the frame 216 of the filter cleaning mechanism 215.

(Filter cleaning member)
33 is an exploded view of the filter cleaning member, FIG. 34 (a) is a front view of the filter cleaning member, FIG. 34 (b) is a plan view of the filter cleaning member, and FIGS. 35 (a), 35 (b), and FIG. 35 (c), FIG. 35 (d), and FIG. 35 (e) are cut along lines II-II, III-III, IV-IV, VV, and VI-VI in FIG. 34 (b), respectively. FIG. The filter cleaning member 214 includes a brush 247, a brush side member 260 that holds the brush 247, and a lid member 261 that covers the brush side member 260. The lid member 261 is rotatably attached to the brush side member 260 by a hinge 265, and is fixed to the brush side member 260 with the lid closed by a central locking member 266 (FIG. 34B). FIG. 35 (c) and FIG. 35 (e)). The brush side member 260 and the lid member 261 are combined to form a space for putting dust inside, and constitute a dust box 249 (FIGS. 18B and 35D). The teeth of the comb portion 250 are arranged on one side of the brush side member 260 corresponding to the length of the brush 247 (FIG. 33).

The shaft 263 of the brush 247 is rotatably fitted to the bearing 262 of the brush side member 260 (FIG. 35A). Cap members 263 a having an outer diameter substantially equal to the inner diameter of the bearing 262 are fitted into both ends of the shaft 263 of the brush 247 so that there is no play between the shaft 263 and the bearing 262. The shaft 263 of the brush 247 is formed of a cylindrical plastic or metal that is difficult to bend and has high rigidity. A brush gear 264 is attached to the shaft 263 of the brush 247 (FIGS. 34B and 35B). The brush gear 264 meshes with the drive gear 258b by fixing the filter cleaning member 214 to the filter cleaning mechanism 215. A columnar rod-shaped member 251 is attached to the lid member 261, and a gear 267 is fixed to the rod-shaped member 251 (FIGS. 33 and 34B). The gear 267 of the rod-shaped member 251 is connected to the brush gear 264 of the brush 247 and rotates as the brush 247 rotates.
The lid member 261 to the brush side member 260 is fixed by the lock member 266. Further, as shown in FIG. 28, the filter cleaning member 214 is directly fixed to the frame 216 by the locking member 218c being hooked on the hooking protrusion 216b. Similarly to the lock member 218c, the

lock members

218a, 218b, and 218d are configured to be able to latch the latch protrusion 216b.

(Brush operation during and after filter cleaning)
The operation at the time of air filter cleaning will be described with reference to FIG. Before filter cleaning, the air filter 235a is disposed at the upper guide groove 217a. During filter cleaning, the filter driving roller 252a rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 28, and the air filter 235a moves from the upper guide groove 217a to the lower guide groove 217b. At this time, in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 28, the brush 247 rotates counterclockwise.
The entire surface of the air filter 235a moved to the lower guide groove 217b is cleaned by the brush 247. However, if there is an air filter 235a in the lower guide groove 217b, sufficient filtering cannot be performed. Therefore, the filter driving roller 252a rotates clockwise, and the air filter 235a moves from the lower guide groove 217b to the upper guide groove 217a. Moving. Also at this time, the brush 247 rotates counterclockwise. When moving from the lower guide groove 217b to the upper guide groove 217a, the relative speed between the brush bristles of the brush 247 and the air filter 235a is reduced, so that the cleaning effect is reduced, but the cleaning is performed.
After cleaning, only the brush 247 rotates in the reverse direction, that is, clockwise, by a preset angle. Therefore, a signal is output from the control unit so as to rotate in the reverse direction to the brush drive motor 258a, that is, in the reverse direction by 0.1 to 3 teeth of the drive gear 258b.

As shown in FIG. 35 (b), the drive gear 258b is located at a position deviating from the plane PL2 including the central axis of the filter driving roller 252a and the central axis of the brush gear 264. Therefore, immediately after the cleaning when the filter driving motor 256b and the brush driving motor 258a are stopped, the force that the teeth of the driving gear 258b push the teeth of the brush gear 264 downward remains. By rotating the drive gear 258b and the brush gear 264 backward by 0.1 to 3 teeth, the residual force between the teeth of the drive gear 258b and the brush gear 264 can be reduced or the residual force can be reduced to zero. it can.

<Features>
(1)
In the

indoor units

2, 102, and 202, after the filter is cleaned, the driving

force

53, 163 d, 258 b of the mechanism part that drives the

brushes

23, 161, 247 becomes the brush gears 51, 132 a, 264 after the pressing force becomes the residual force. The

brush drive mechanisms

60, 163, and 258 rotate the

brushes

23, 161, and 247 in the forward direction to clean the

air filters

20, 121, and 235. Then, the

brushes

23, 161, and 247 are moved. Rotate in the opposite direction by a preset angle.

When the brushes 23, 161, 247 are rotated in the forward direction during the cleaning of the

air filters

20, 121, 235, the brush bristles of the

brushes

23, 161, 247, for example, the

air filters

20, 121, 235 and the surrounding members, for example, rollers 141, 252 or the like, or the brush bristles remain in contact with the brush cleaning combs 58, 164, 250, and the brush bristles forward the brush from the

brush drive mechanisms

60, 163, 258. In some cases, a state that resists the force of rotating is maintained. Therefore, the force that the

brush driving mechanisms

60, 163, and 258 rotate the

brushes

23, 161, and 247 in the forward direction remains. In such a case, when the

brushes

23, 161, and 247 are rotated in the reverse direction, there exists an angle at which the residual force can be reduced or an angle at which the residual force can be removed. Here, the angle at which such residual force can be removed is relative to the rotation during cleaning of the drive gears 53, 163d, 258b and the brush gears 51, 132a, 264 by 0.1 to 3 of their teeth. The angle obtained by rotating in the opposite direction. If such an angle is examined in advance, such an angle is set, and if the

brush

23, 161, 247 is rotated in the reverse direction after cleaning by the set angle, the

brush

23, 161, 247 is no longer used. The residual force of the

brushes

23, 161, and 247 can be reduced.

(2)
The indoor unit 2 further includes a moving panel 6 that opens and closes the suction port 3, and an elevating device 13 that reciprocates the moving panel 6 between a predetermined open position and a closed position. 6 is rotatably attached. Therefore, the brush 23 can move with respect to the main body case 5 (case) together with the moving panel 6 at a time other than during cleaning, and can take a state separated from the air filter 20.
In this structure, the brush drive mechanism 60 acts on the movable panel 6 from the brush drive mechanism 60 by rotating the brush 23 in the forward direction to clean the air filter 20 and then rotating the brush 23 in the reverse direction. Unload force. Thereby, even when the operation of the brush drive mechanism 60 is finished, even in the structure in which the residual force acts on the movable panel 6, avoid the unstable behavior at the start of the movement of the movable panel 6 due thereto. Is possible.

(3)
When the brush drive mechanism 60 rotates the brush 23 in the forward direction, the teeth of the drive gear 53 apply a force in the direction in which the moving panel 6 opens to the teeth of the brush gear 51, while the brush drive mechanism 60 reverses the brush 23 in the reverse direction. When rotating to the right, the force in the direction in which the moving panel 6 opens from the teeth of the drive gear 53 to the teeth of the brush gear 51 is unloaded. As a result, when the operation of the brush drive mechanism 60 is completed, the residual force can act on the brush gear 51 from the drive gear 53 to reliably prevent the two gears from being caught, and the movement caused thereby. It is possible to prevent the behavior at the start of the movement of the panel 6 from becoming unstable.
(4)
In the indoor unit 2, during the operation of the brush drive mechanism 60, the moving panel 6 moves so that the lifting motor 29 (moving motor) of the lifting device 13 (panel moving mechanism) is excited to prevent the lifting motor 29 from rotating. Do not. Alternatively, during the operation of the brush drive mechanism 60, the lifting motor 29 is caused to generate power in the direction of closing the movable panel 6.
In this way, by exciting and locking during filter cleaning, there is no problem that the movable panel 6 that is stopped is moved by the movement of the brush 23 during filter cleaning, and it is possible to avoid poor cleaning due to this.

(5)
In the indoor unit 2, the main body case 5 is embedded in the ceiling of the air-conditioned space, the moving panel 6 is attached to the suction port 3 that opens to the lower side of the main body case 5, and the lifting device 13 lifts and lowers the moving panel 6. This is a so-called ceiling cassette type indoor unit.
For this reason, even if it receives a force in the direction in which the movable panel 6 that can be raised and lowered during cleaning the filter by the brush, the force in the direction in which the movable panel 6 that can be raised and lowered during the cleaning of the air filter 20 by the brush 23 is lowered. Even after the cleaning of the air filter 20 is completed, the force acting on the movable panel 6 from the brush drive mechanism 60 can be unloaded by rotating the brush 23 in the reverse direction by a preset angle, thereby It is possible to avoid the behavior at the start of movement of the movable panel 6 becoming unstable.

(6)
In the

indoor units

102 and 202, the brush hairs of the

brushes

161 and 247 are deformed by the

rollers

141, 252a, and 252b. Therefore, the force for rotating the

brushes

161 and 247 tends to increase, and residual force is likely to be generated. ing. Therefore, the residual force that is removed by rotating the

brushes

161 and 247 by the preset angle in the reverse direction by a preset angle is large, and the number of scenes where the occurrence of a malfunction can be prevented.

<Modification>
(A)
In each of the above-described embodiments, the case where one

brush gear

51, 132a, 264 is attached to the shaft of the

brush

23, 161, 247 has been described, but the

brush

23, 161, via the plurality of brush gears 51, 132a, 264 is described. Power may be transmitted to 247. A gear which is fixed to a member to which the

brushes

23, 161 and 247 are fixed and transmits power to the

brushes

23, 161 and 247 is a brush gear.

(B)
In each of the above embodiments, the case where the residual force between the

brushes

23, 161, 247 and the

brush drive motors

32, 163a, 258a is removed by the brush gears 51, 132a, 264 and the drive gears 53, 163d, 258b has been described. This is not limited to gears, and can also be applied to removing residual stress between rubber rollers when power is transmitted with a rubber roller, for example.
(C)
In each of the embodiments described above, the movable panel 6 and the

dust boxes

24, 160, and 249 are given as examples of members around the

brushes

23, 161, and 247 in which trouble occurs due to the residual force. It is not limited to.

(D)
In each of the above embodiments, a problem has been described in which a residual force remains that the teeth of the drive gears 53, 163d, and 258b push down the teeth of the brush gears 51, 132a, and 264. However, one gear pushes up the other gear. Even if the residual force remains, if this causes a problem, the present invention can be applied as long as such a residual force to be pushed up can be reduced by rotation of a preset angle in the reverse direction.

The present invention can be variously applied to an indoor unit of an air conditioner having a rotating brush for cleaning a filter.

2, 102, 202 Indoor unit 5, 110.205 Main body case 3 Suction port 4 Air outlet 6 Moving panel 8 Decorative panel 13 Lifting device (panel moving mechanism)
15, 170, 215 Filter cleaning mechanism 17

Indoor fan

20, 121, 235

Air filter

23, 161, 247

Brush

24, 160, 249 Dust box 29 Lifting motor 30 Storage limit switch 32

Brush driving motor

51, 132a, 264

Brush gear

53, 163d, 258b Drive gear

JP 2007-40689 A

Claims

A case (5, 110, 205) having a suction port;
An air filter (20, 121, 235) that is disposed inside the case and filters air introduced from the suction port;
Brushes (23, 161, 247) for cleaning the air filter by having brush bristles around the rotation axis and bringing the bristles into contact with the air filter;
A brush drive mechanism (60, 163, 258) provided inside the case for rotating the brush;
With
The brush drive mechanism rotates the brush in the forward direction when cleaning the air filter, and rotates the brush by an angle set in the reverse direction after cleaning,
Air conditioner indoor unit.
The brush cleans the air filter by bringing the brush hair into contact with the air filter when the air filter is cleaned, and moves away from the air filter when the air filter is not cleaned Configured to be able to take
The indoor unit of the air conditioner of Claim 1.
A moving panel (6) for opening and closing the inlet;
A panel moving mechanism (13) for reciprocating the movable panel between a predetermined open position and a closed position;
Further comprising
The brush (23) is rotatably attached to the moving panel,
The brush drive mechanism (60) rotates the brush in the forward direction to clean the air filter (20), and after cleaning, rotates the brush by an angle set in the reverse direction.
The indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 2.
The brush drive mechanism (60) has a drive gear (53),
The brush (23) has a brush gear (51) that rotates with the brush,
The teeth of the drive gear of the brush drive mechanism are arranged to give a force in the direction of opening the movable panel to the teeth of the brush gear when the brush rotates in the forward direction.
The indoor unit of the air conditioner of Claim 3.
The brush drive mechanism (60) rotates the moving panel (6) in the closing direction by 0.1 to 3 teeth of the drive gear (53) and the brush gear (51), respectively. Rotate the brush in the opposite direction by the set angle,
The indoor unit of the air conditioner of Claim 4.
The panel moving mechanism (13) includes a moving motor that generates a driving force for moving the moving panel (6), and the panel moving mechanism moves during the operation of the brush driving mechanism (60). The moving motor (29) is excited to prevent the moving motor (29) from rotating so that the moving panel does not move, or the moving motor generates power in a direction to close the moving panel. To do,
The indoor unit of the air conditioner of any one of Claim 3 to 5.
The case (5) is embedded in the ceiling of the air-conditioned space,
The movable panel (6) is attached so that it can be opened and closed in the lower opening of the case,
The panel moving mechanism (13) moves the moving panel up and down.
The indoor unit of the air conditioner according to any one of claims 3 to 6.
A dust box (24, 160, 249) configured to be detachable from the case (5, 110, 205) and disposed below the air filter (20, 121, 235);
A filter cleaning mechanism (15, 170, 215) that relatively moves the air filter in a direction intersecting the rotation shaft of the brush during cleaning, and stops the air filter after cleaning;
The brush (23, 161, 247) is attached to the dust box,
The brush drive mechanism (60, 163, 258) rotates the brush by an angle set in the opposite direction after the filter cleaning mechanism stops the air filter after cleaning.
The indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 1.
The brush drive mechanism (60, 163, 258) has a drive gear (53, 163d, 258b),
The brush (23, 161, 247) further includes a brush gear (51, 132a, 264) fitted to the rotating shaft of the brush,
The filter cleaning mechanism (15, 170, 215) includes rollers (34, 141, 252a, 252b) arranged with the air filter (20, 121, 235) on the opposite side of the side where the brush is arranged. )
The brush is disposed below the roller;
The drive gear is disposed so as to have a center of rotation at a position deviating from a plane including the center axis of the roller and the rotation axis of the brush, and meshed with the brush gear.
The indoor unit of the air conditioner of Claim 8.
The air according to claim 9, wherein the filter cleaning mechanism (170, 215) moves the air filter (121, 235) while being deformed into a U shape around the rollers (141, 252a, 252b) during cleaning. The indoor unit of the harmony machine.
11. The dust box (24, 160, 249) has a comb portion (58, 164, 250) for cleaning the bristles arranged so as to always contact the bristles. 11. The indoor unit of the air conditioning apparatus of Claim 1.