WO2018079481A1

WO2018079481A1 - Humidifying device

Info

Publication number: WO2018079481A1
Application number: PCT/JP2017/038175
Authority: WO
Inventors: 晶子白井; 康弘大石; 陽介駒井
Original assignee: ダイキン工業株式会社
Priority date: 2016-10-28
Filing date: 2017-10-23
Publication date: 2018-05-03
Also published as: JP6281725B1; JP2018071879A

Abstract

The humidifying device according to the present invention can prevent a humidifying rotor from locking up. A humidifying unit (60) is provided with a humidifying rotor (63), a shaft (66), and a rotor frame wall (65). The humidifying rotor (63) rotates about a rotation axis (63c) extending in the horizontal direction. The shaft (66) supports the humidifying rotor (63) in a rotatable manner. The rotor frame wall (65) has an annular surrounding surface (65b) surrounding the humidifying rotor (63). The lower surrounding surface dimension (L1) is longer than the upper surrounding surface dimension (L2). The lower surrounding surface dimension (L1) is a distance between a support center (66d) which is the center position of the shaft (66) and the lower end (65b1) of the surrounding surface. The upper surrounding surface dimension (L2) is a distance between the support center (66d) and the upper end (65b2) of the surrounding surface. The lower surrounding surface dimension (L1) is guaranteed to be long enough that the humidifying rotor (63) does not come into contact with the surrounding surface (65b) even when, during attachment of the humidifying rotor (63) to the rotor frame wall (65), the humidifying rotor (63) moves downward by an amount equal to a gap around the shaft (66).

Description

Humidifier

The present invention relates to a humidifier equipped with a humidification rotor capable of repeatedly performing moisture absorption for adsorbing moisture in the air and moisture release for releasing moisture in the air.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a humidifier equipped with a humidification rotor capable of repeating the adsorption and release of water is known as a humidifier used in an air cleaner with a humidification function. For example, a humidifier disclosed in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-99453) includes a humidification rotor having a moisture absorption region that adsorbs moisture in the air and a moisture release region that releases the adsorbed moisture. . The humidification rotor emits moisture adsorbed in the moisture absorption region from the moisture release region while rotating around the rotation axis, and generates humidified air. The humidification rotor has a disk shape, and is arranged so that the circular main surface is along the vertical direction.

Such a vertically placed and disk-shaped humidification rotor is supported by a shaft and has a sliding surface that slides on the outer peripheral surface of the shaft. Moreover, the outer peripheral surface of the humidification rotor is surrounded by a frame member to which a shaft is attached. The conventional frame member has a circular inner peripheral surface that faces the outer peripheral surface of the humidification rotor when viewed along the rotation axis direction of the humidification rotor. However, the diameter of the hole formed in the humidifying rotor and into which the shaft is fitted is usually longer than the diameter of the shaft. Therefore, when the shaft is fitted into the hole of the humidification rotor, the humidification rotor moves downward in the vertical direction by the gravity applied to itself by the dimension of the gap between the sliding surface of the humidification rotor and the outer peripheral surface of the shaft. Thereby, when a humidification rotor is attached to a frame member, the lower end part of a humidification rotor may contact the lower end part of a frame member. If the humidification rotor is locked by this contact and the rotation of the humidification rotor stops, humidification may not be performed properly.

An object of the present invention is to provide a humidifier capable of preventing the humidification rotor from being locked.

The humidification device according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a humidification rotor, a support portion, and a frame member. The humidification rotor is a disk-shaped member that adsorbs and discharges water while rotating around a rotating shaft extending in the horizontal direction. A support part is a member which supports a humidification rotor rotatably. The frame member is a member having an annular surrounding surface that surrounds the humidification rotor on the radially outer side of the humidification rotor. In this humidifier, the lower enclosure surface dimension is longer than the upper enclosure surface dimension. The lower enclosing surface dimension is a distance between the support center that is the center position of the support portion and the lower end of the enclosing surface that is the lower end of the enclosing surface when viewed along the rotation axis. The upper enclosing surface dimension is a distance between the support center and the upper end of the enclosing surface that is the upper end of the enclosing surface when viewed along the rotation axis.

In the humidifier according to the first aspect, the disc-shaped humidification rotor is arranged so that the circular main surface is along the vertical direction. The humidification rotor is rotatably supported by the support portion. The outer peripheral surface of the humidification rotor is surrounded by the surrounding surface of the frame member. The distance from the support center, which is the center position of the support portion in the vertical direction, to the lower end of the enclosing surface is longer than the distance from the support center to the upper end of the enclosing surface. As a result, when the humidification rotor is attached to the frame member, even if the humidification rotor moves downward in the vertical direction due to gravity applied to the frame member, the humidification rotor does not come into contact with the enclosure surface to the extent that the humidification rotor does not contact the enclosure surface. The distance is secured. Therefore, when the humidifying rotor is rotating, the occurrence of lock, which is a problem that the lower end of the humidifying rotor collides with the surrounding surface and stops the rotation of the humidifying rotor, is prevented. Therefore, the humidifier according to the first aspect can prevent the humidification rotor from being locked.

The humidifier according to the second aspect of the present invention is the humidifier according to the first aspect, and the support portion has a shaft. The humidification rotor has a sliding surface that slides with the outer peripheral surface of the shaft.

In the humidifier according to the second aspect, the humidification rotor is rotatably supported by the slide bearing structure. In this case, when the humidification rotor is attached to the frame member, the humidification rotor moves downward in the vertical direction by gravity applied to itself by the dimension of the gap between the sliding surface of the humidification rotor and the outer peripheral surface of the shaft. However, since the distance from the support center of the shaft to the lower end of the surrounding surface is secured to the extent that the humidifying rotor does not contact the surrounding surface, the humidifying rotor is prevented from being locked. The slide bearing structure is simple, and the size of the gap between the slide surface of the humidifying rotor and the outer peripheral surface of the shaft can be designed with high accuracy. Therefore, the enclosing surface of the frame member can be reduced to the limit that can prevent the humidifying rotor from being locked. Therefore, the humidifier according to the second aspect can achieve downsizing while suppressing the size of the frame member of the humidification rotor.

The humidifying device according to the third aspect of the present invention is the humidifying device according to the second aspect, wherein the support portion has a shaft that is a tapered protrusion. The humidification rotor has a tapered shaft through-hole through which the shaft passes. When viewed along the rotation axis, the bearing clearance dimension gradually decreases from the root of the shaft toward the tip. The bearing clearance dimension is the difference between the diameter of the sliding surface, which is the inner peripheral surface of the shaft through hole, and the diameter of the outer peripheral surface of the shaft.

In the humidifying device according to the third aspect, the bearing clearance dimension, which is the clearance between the sliding surface of the humidifying rotor and the outer peripheral surface of the shaft, gradually decreases from the root of the shaft toward the tip. If the bearing clearance dimension on the shaft tip side is larger than the bearing clearance dimension on the root side, the load of the humidifying rotor is applied to the shaft base side, and the mechanical strength of the shaft decreases due to fatigue on the shaft base side. It becomes easy to do. However, in this humidifier, since the bearing gap dimension on the base side of the shaft is larger than the bearing gap dimension on the tip end side, a reduction in mechanical strength of the shaft is suppressed. Therefore, the humidifier according to the third aspect can suppress the life of the member supporting the humidification rotor from being shortened.

The humidifying device according to the fourth aspect of the present invention is the humidifying device according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the lower humidifying rotor gap dimension is larger than the upper humidifying rotor gap dimension. The lower humidification rotor clearance dimension is a distance between the lower end of the humidification rotor and the lower end of the surrounding surface. The upper humidification rotor clearance dimension is a distance between the upper end of the humidification rotor and the upper end of the surrounding surface.

In the humidifier according to the fourth aspect, the lower humidifying rotor gap dimension is larger than the upper humidifying rotor gap dimension. In order to reduce the size of the humidifier, it is necessary to make the gap between the humidification rotor and the surrounding surface as small as possible. In that case, if the condition that the lower humidifying rotor clearance dimension is larger than the upper humidifying rotor clearance dimension is satisfied, the lower end of the humidifying rotor is not affected even if the shaft wears down and the vertical position of the humidifying rotor further decreases. The state where it does not hit the lower end of the enclosure surface is easily maintained. Therefore, the humidifier according to the fourth aspect can achieve downsizing while suppressing the size of the frame member of the humidification rotor.

A humidifying device according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the humidifying device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the surrounding surface has a high support center when viewed along the rotation axis. The distance from the support center gradually increases from the vertical position toward the height position of the lower end of the enclosing surface.

In the humidifier according to the fifth aspect, the frame member has a shape in which the diameter on the lower side of the surrounding surface is larger than the diameter on the upper side of the surrounding surface. For example, the distance from the center of the shaft to the enclosing surface gradually increases from the height position of the center of the shaft downward. When the frame member has such a shape, the gap between the humidification rotor and the surrounding surface can be made as small as possible. Therefore, the humidifier according to the fifth aspect can achieve downsizing while suppressing the size of the frame member of the humidification rotor.

A humidifying device according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the humidifying device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the humidifying rotor is arranged around the humidifying rotor when viewed along the rotation axis. It has a plurality of teeth arranged along the direction. The humidifier further includes a drive unit. The drive unit rotates the humidification rotor around the rotation shaft while meshing with the plurality of teeth.

In the humidifying device according to the sixth aspect, the humidifying rotor corresponds to a gear having a plurality of teeth arranged on the outer peripheral surface. A drive unit such as a motor rotates the humidification rotor by rotating another gear that meshes with the teeth of the humidification rotor. That is, it is not necessary to rotate the support portion of the humidification rotor in order to rotate the humidification rotor. Therefore, the humidification rotor can be supported by the slide bearing. The slide bearing has a simple structure, and the dimension of the gap between the sliding surface of the humidifying rotor and the outer peripheral surface of the shaft can be designed with high accuracy. Therefore, the enclosing surface of the frame member can be reduced to the limit that can prevent the humidifying rotor from being locked. Therefore, the humidifier according to the sixth aspect can achieve downsizing while suppressing the size of the frame member of the humidification rotor.

The humidifier according to the first aspect of the present invention can prevent the humidification rotor from being locked.

The humidifier according to the second aspect of the present invention can achieve downsizing by suppressing the size of the frame member of the humidification rotor.

The humidifier according to the third aspect of the present invention can suppress the shortening of the life of the member that supports the humidification rotor.

The humidifier according to the fourth aspect of the present invention can achieve downsizing by suppressing the size of the frame member of the humidification rotor.

The humidifier according to the fifth aspect of the present invention can achieve downsizing by suppressing the dimension of the frame member of the humidification rotor.

The humidifying device according to the sixth aspect of the present invention can achieve downsizing while suppressing the size of the frame member of the humidifying rotor.

It is a lineblock diagram of air conditioner 10 provided with humidification unit 60 which is one embodiment of the humidification device concerning the present invention. It is a top view of the outdoor unit 30 in the state where the top plate 48 of the casing 40 is removed. FIG. 3 is a front view of the outdoor unit 30 in a state where a protective grill 56 is removed from the outdoor unit 30 of FIG. 2. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the flow of air passing through a humidification rotor 63. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an adsorption duct 68, a humidifying duct 73, a humidifying fan 75, and a second humidifying duct 180. 7 is a front view of a rotor frame wall 65. FIG. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a rotor frame wall 65 taken along line VII-VII in FIG. 6. It is the side view of the bearing member 65c seen from the same direction as FIG. It is sectional drawing of the humidification rotor 63 when the humidification rotor 63 is cut | disconnected by the plane containing the rotating shaft 63c. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a shaft 66 passing through a shaft through hole 67. FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a state after the humidifying rotor 63 has moved downward in the vertical direction by a bearing gap 69 (second bearing gap dimension G2) from the state shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the positional relationship of the humidification rotor 63, the shaft 66, and the surrounding surface 65b when it sees along the rotating shaft 63c of the humidification rotor 63. FIG. It is a figure similar to FIG. 12, Comprising: It is a figure in which the lower humidification rotor clearance dimension M1 and the upper humidification rotor clearance dimension M2 are shown.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiments described below are specific examples of the present invention and do not limit the technical scope of the present invention.

(1) Configuration of Air Conditioner 10 FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an air conditioner 10 including a humidifying unit 60 that is an embodiment of a humidifier according to the present invention. The air conditioner 10 is a refrigeration apparatus including a refrigeration cycle that uses a refrigerant circulating in a refrigerant circuit. The air conditioner 10 mainly includes an indoor unit 20 and an outdoor unit 30. The indoor unit 20 and the outdoor unit 30 are connected to each other by the

refrigerant communication pipes

14 and 16 and the air supply hose 18. In FIG. 1, the flow of air passing through the indoor unit 20 and the outdoor unit 30 is indicated by white arrows.

The air conditioner 10 has a plurality of operation modes such as a cooling operation, a heating operation, a dehumidifying operation, a humidifying operation, and an air supply operation. In the humidifying operation and the air supply operation, air is sent from the outdoor unit 30 to the indoor unit 20 through the air supply hose 18 in order to supply air into the room. In particular, in the humidifying operation, high humidity air containing a large amount of moisture is sent from the outdoor unit 30 to the indoor unit 20, so that moisture is taken in from the outside air in the outdoor unit 30. The outdoor unit 30 includes a humidification unit 60 having a function of taking moisture from outside air. In FIG. 1, the flow of air passing through the humidification unit 60 is indicated by dotted arrows.

(2) Configuration of Indoor Unit 20 The indoor unit 20 mainly includes an indoor heat exchanger 21 and an indoor fan 22. As shown in FIG. 1, the indoor fan 22 is disposed on the downstream side of the indoor heat exchanger 21, and is driven by an indoor fan motor 22a. When the indoor fan 22 is driven, the indoor air sucked from the indoor suction port 23 at the upper part of the indoor unit 20 passes through the indoor heat exchanger 21 and is blown out from the indoor outlet 24 at the lower part of the indoor unit 20. The indoor fan 22 is, for example, a cross flow fan.

In the indoor unit 20, an indoor air inlet 25 is provided in the upstream space of the indoor heat exchanger 21. One end of the air supply hose 18 is connected to the indoor air supply port 25, and the other end of the air supply hose 18 is connected to the humidification unit 60 of the outdoor unit 30. The high-humidity air sent from the humidification unit 60 is supplied to the upstream space of the indoor heat exchanger 21 through the indoor air supply port 25. When the indoor fan 22 is driven in a state where high-humidity air is supplied to the upstream space of the indoor heat exchanger 21, the humidity of the conditioned air blown from the indoor outlet 24 of the indoor unit 20 is increased. be able to.

(3) Configuration of Outdoor Unit 30 The outdoor unit 30 mainly includes a casing 40, a compressor 31, an outdoor heat exchanger 33, an outdoor fan 39, and a humidification unit 60. A four-way switching valve 32, an electric expansion valve 34, an accumulator 36, a liquid side closing valve 37, and a gas side closing valve 38 are attached to the refrigerant circuit inside the outdoor unit 30.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the outdoor unit 30 with the top plate 48 of the casing 40 removed. FIG. 3 is a front view of the outdoor unit 30 with the protective grill 56 removed from the outdoor unit 30 of FIG. In FIG. 2, the flow of air passing through the outdoor unit 30 is indicated by dotted arrows.

(3-1) Casing 40
The casing 40 mainly includes a left side plate 45, a front plate 46, a right side plate 47, a top plate 48 (see FIG. 3), a bottom plate 49 (see FIG. 3), and a back surface portion 44. The internal space of the casing 40 is partitioned into a blower chamber 41 and a machine chamber 42 by a partition member 43. The blower chamber 41 is a space in which the outdoor heat exchanger 33, the outdoor fan 39, and a part of the humidification unit 60 are arranged. The machine room 42 is a space in which the compressor 31 and a part of the humidification unit 60 are arranged.

The partition member 43 is a plate-like member extending substantially in parallel with the right side plate 47 from the top plate 48 side toward the bottom plate 49 side. The partition member 43 extends in an arc shape from the inner side of the front plate 46 toward the end of the outdoor heat exchanger 33 on the right side plate 47 side. As a result, the partition member 43 has a function of shielding the air flow so that the air flow does not flow from the blower chamber 41 toward the machine chamber 42.

As shown in FIG. 3, an electrical component unit 50 is installed in the blower chamber 41. The electrical component unit 50 is equipped with a control board on which electronic components for driving the compressor 31 and the outdoor fan 39 are integrated.

As shown in FIG. 3, the front plate 46 is formed with a circular outdoor air outlet 46a. A ring-shaped bell mouth 52 is attached to the outdoor air outlet 46a along the peripheral edge thereof. As shown in FIG. 2, a protective grill 56 is attached to the front plate 46 of the casing 40. The protective grill 56 covers the outdoor outlet 46a. The protective grill 56 is formed with a plurality of openings for blowing air from the internal space of the casing 40 to the external space.

(3-2) Compressor 31
As shown in FIG. 1, the compressor 31 is disposed in the machine room 42. The compressor 31 is fixed to the bottom plate 49. Since the compressor 31 is at a high temperature during operation, the temperature of the machine room 42 is higher than that of the blower room 41.

(3-3) Outdoor heat exchanger 33
As shown in FIG. 2, the outdoor heat exchanger 33 is formed in an L shape so as to face the back surface portion 44 and the left side plate 45 of the casing 40. The vertical dimension of the outdoor heat exchanger 33 is substantially equal to the distance between the top plate 48 and the bottom plate 49.

(3-4) Outdoor fan 39
The outdoor fan 39 is disposed on the downstream side of the outdoor heat exchanger 33. The outdoor fan 39 includes an outdoor fan motor 39a and a propeller 39b. The propeller 39b is driven by the outdoor fan motor 39a. A part of the propeller 39b is arranged in a space surrounded by the bell mouth 52.

When the propeller 39b is driven by the outdoor fan motor 39a, the outside air is sucked from the back surface 44 side of the outdoor heat exchanger 33. The sucked outside air passes through the outdoor heat exchanger 33 and is blown out from the outdoor outlet 46a (see FIG. 3). Since the front surface of the outdoor outlet 46a is covered with a protective grill 56 (see FIG. 2), the propeller 39b cannot be touched from the outside of the outdoor unit 30.

(3-5) Humidification unit 60
As shown in FIG. 2, the humidification unit 60 is disposed between the front plate 46 and the back surface portion 44 so as to straddle the blower chamber 41 and the machine chamber 42. Specifically, a part of the humidifying unit 60 is disposed in the blower chamber 41, and the other part is disposed in the machine chamber 42. The humidification unit 60 is disposed above the blower chamber 41 and the machine chamber 42 and has a function as a part of the partition member 43.

The humidification unit 60 mainly includes a humidification rotor 63, a humidification heater 71, an adsorption duct 68, a humidification duct 73, a humidification fan 75 (see FIG. 1), and a second humidification duct 180.

(3-5-1) Humidification rotor 63
The humidification rotor 63 is a disk-shaped member. The humidification rotor 63 adsorbs and releases moisture contained in the air while rotating around the rotation axis. The rotating shaft of the humidifying rotor 63 passes through the center of the circular main surface of the humidifying rotor 63 and extends along the horizontal direction. That is, the humidification rotor 63 is arranged so that its main surface is along the vertical direction.

The humidification rotor 63 is disposed so as to face the front plate 46. As shown in FIG. 3, a portion of the humidification rotor 63 faces the outdoor suction port 46 b that is an opening formed in the front plate 46. The outdoor suction port 46b has a fan shape with a central angle of about 240 °. The fan-shaped center of the outdoor suction port 46 b is located on the rotation axis of the humidification rotor 63. The humidification rotor 63 is surrounded by the rotor frame wall 65. The rotor frame wall 65 will be described later.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the flow of air passing through the humidification rotor 63. In FIG. 4, the flow of air passing through the humidification rotor 63 is indicated by white arrows, and the rotation direction of the humidification rotor 63 is indicated by dotted arrows. As shown in FIG. 4, the humidification rotor 63 includes a moisture adsorption region 63a and a moisture release region 63b. The moisture adsorption region 63a is a part of the main surface of the humidification rotor 63 and is a region facing the outdoor suction port 46b. The moisture release area 63b is a part of the main surface of the humidification rotor 63 and is not an area facing the outdoor suction port 46b. Similar to the outdoor suction port 46b, the moisture adsorption region 63a has a fan shape with a central angle of about 240 °. The moisture release region 63b is adjacent to the moisture adsorption region 63a and has a sector shape with a central angle of about 120 °. The moisture adsorption region 63a is a region where moisture contained in the air is adsorbed. The moisture release region 63b is a region where the adsorbed moisture is released into the air. The moisture adsorption region 63a is disposed closer to the bell mouth 52 than the moisture release region 63b.

When the humidification rotor 63 rotates around the rotation axis, the moisture adsorption region 63a becomes the moisture release region 63b, and the moisture release region 63b becomes the moisture adsorption region 63a. Thereby, the humidification rotor 63 can repeat adsorption | suction and discharge | release of the water | moisture content contained in the air by rotating around the rotating shaft.

The moisture adsorption region 63a and the moisture release region 63b have a honeycomb structure formed by firing of zeolite or the like. Adsorbents such as zeolite adsorb moisture in the air at room temperature and release the adsorbed moisture when exposed to high-temperature air and heated.

4, a plurality of teeth 63t are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the humidification rotor 63 along the circumferential direction. Thereby, the humidification rotor 63 functions as a gear having a plurality of teeth 63t. As shown in FIG. 3, the teeth 63t of the humidification rotor 63 mesh with the pinion gear 64a. The pinion gear 64 a is rotated by the power of the rotor driving motor 64. The humidification rotor 63 can rotate around its rotation axis by the rotational movement of the pinion gear 64a.

(3-5-2) Humidification heater 71
The humidifying heater 71 is disposed between the moisture release region 63b of the humidification rotor 63 and the front plate 46 so as to face the moisture release region 63b. As shown in FIG. 4, the humidifying heater 71 heats the air sent to the moisture releasing region 63 b in order to release moisture from the moisture releasing region 63 b of the humidifying rotor 63. The air heated by the humidifying heater 71 releases moisture from the humidifying rotor 63 when passing through the moisture release region 63b, and becomes high-humidity air.

As shown in FIG. 4, the air heated by the humidifying heater 71 is air that has passed through the moisture release region 63 b of the humidifying rotor 63. This air is outside air taken in from a humidifying opening 40a (see FIG. 1) formed in the casing 40.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the moisture discharge region 63b, the region through which the outside air taken in from the humidifying opening 40a passes is more rotated than the region through which the air heated by the humidifying heater 71 passes. It is located downstream in the direction. The outside air taken in from the humidifying opening 40a passes through the moisture releasing region 63b before being heated by the humidifying heater 71, whereby heat is recovered from the moisture releasing region 63b.

(3-5-3) Adsorption duct 68
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the suction duct 68, the humidification duct 73, the humidification fan 75, and the second humidification duct 180.

The adsorption duct 68 is a member for guiding outside air, which is air containing moisture, to the moisture adsorption region 63 a of the humidification rotor 63. The suction duct 68 has an air inlet 681 that opens toward the outdoor suction port 46 b of the front plate 46. The shape of the air inlet 681 is a sector shape with a central angle of about 240 °, like the outdoor suction port 46b. The air inlet 681 is connected to the outdoor suction port 46b.

As shown in FIG. 4, the outside air sucked from the outdoor suction port 46b flows through the adsorption duct 68, reaches the moisture adsorption area 63a of the humidification rotor 63, and passes through the moisture adsorption area 63a. At this time, the moisture contained in the outside air is adsorbed by the moisture adsorption region 63a. The air that has passed through the moisture adsorption region 63a is discharged from the air outlet 683 of the adsorption duct 68 (see FIG. 2). The air outlet 683 is in contact with a space (a space on the upstream side of the bell mouth 52) that becomes negative pressure when the outdoor fan 39 rotates. Therefore, since the atmospheric pressure on the air outlet 683 side becomes lower than the air pressure on the air inlet 681 side due to the rotation of the outdoor fan 39, the outside air is sucked from the air inlet 681.

As shown in FIG. 3, the outdoor suction port 46b is open to the front plate 46 in the same manner as the outdoor outlet 46a. As shown in FIG. 4, the air that has passed through the outdoor heat exchanger 33 by the outdoor fan 39 is pushed out and blown out of the casing 40 from the outdoor outlet 46 a. Therefore, the air blown out from the outdoor air outlet 46a is not sucked into the outdoor air inlet 46b. Thereby, it is avoided that the low-temperature air that has passed through the outdoor heat exchanger 33 and is blown out from the outdoor outlet 46a during the heating operation is sucked into the air inlet 681 via the outdoor inlet 46b. When low-temperature air is sucked into the air inlet 681, the amount of moisture that can be adsorbed by the humidification rotor 63 decreases. Therefore, the fall of the moisture content which the humidification rotor 63 can adsorb | suck is suppressed by avoiding that the air which blown off from the outdoor blower outlet 46a is suck | inhaled by the outdoor suction inlet 46b.

(3-5-4) Humidification duct 73
The humidification duct 73 guides the air that has been heated by the humidification heater 71 and passed through the moisture release region 63 b to the humidification fan 75. The air flow guided to the humidification duct 73 is generated by the humidification fan 75.

The air guided to the humidification duct 73 is heated by the humidification heater 71 to become high-temperature air, and further releases moisture from the moisture release region 63b when passing through the moisture release region 63b. As shown in FIG. 4, the air that has passed through the moisture release region 63 b and has become hot and humid flows in the humidifying duct 73 and is guided to the humidifying fan 75.

(3-5-5) Humidification fan 75
The humidifying fan 75 is disposed in the machine room 42. As shown in FIG. 1, the humidifying fan 75 includes an impeller 75a and a fan motor 75b. The impeller 75a sends the air humidified through the moisture release region 63b of the humidification rotor 63 in a predetermined direction. The fan motor 75b drives the impeller 75a. The humidifying fan 75 is arranged so that the rotation shaft of the impeller 75a is along the horizontal direction. The rotating shaft of the impeller 75a is connected to the rotating shaft of the fan motor 75b.

The impeller 75 a is surrounded by a fan casing 81. The outlet of the fan casing 81 is connected to the inlet of the second humidifying duct 180. The fan motor 75 b is covered with a motor cover 82.

(3-5-6) Second humidification duct 180
The second humidifying duct 180 is a duct that guides the high-temperature and high-humidity air sent by the humidifying fan 75 to the connection port of the air supply hose 18 (see FIG. 1). Almost all of the second humidifying duct 180 is disposed in the machine room 42. However, a part of the second humidifying duct 180 that is connected to the connection port of the air supply hose 18 is located on the opposite side of the machine room 42 with the right side plate 47 interposed therebetween (see FIG. 2). ).

As shown in FIG. 5, the second humidifying duct 180 has a horizontal duct portion 181 and a vertical duct portion 182. The horizontal duct portion 181 guides high-temperature and high-humidity air in the horizontal direction. The vertical duct part 182 is connected to the horizontal duct part 181 and guides the hot and humid air passing through the horizontal duct part 181 downward. The horizontal duct portion 181 extends from the inside of the machine room 42 toward the right side plate 47. The vertical duct part 182 extends downward from the connection part with the horizontal duct part 181. The end of the vertical duct portion 182 is connected to the connection port of the air supply hose 18.

(4) Detailed Configuration of Humidification Rotor 63 and Rotor Frame Wall 65 The rotor frame wall 65 is a member for rotatably supporting the humidification rotor 63 at a predetermined position. FIG. 6 is a front view of the rotor frame wall 65. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the rotor frame wall 65 taken along line VII-VII in FIG. In FIGS. 6 and 7, the disk-shaped outline of the humidification rotor 63 supported by the rotor frame wall 65 is indicated by a dotted line. In FIG. 7, the rotating shaft 63c of the humidification rotor 63 is indicated by a chain line. FIG. 6 is a view of the humidifying rotor 63 as viewed along the rotating shaft 63c.

The rotor frame wall 65 has an annular portion 65 a surrounding the humidifying rotor 63. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the surrounding surface 65 b that is the inner peripheral surface of the annular portion 65 a is a surface that faces the outer peripheral surface of the humidifying rotor 63 on the radially outer side of the humidifying rotor 63. The radial direction of the humidification rotor 63 is the radial direction of the circular main surface of the humidification rotor 63.

As shown in FIG. 7, a resin bearing member 65 c is attached to the rotor frame wall 65. FIG. 8 is a side view of the bearing member 65c viewed from the same direction as FIG. The bearing member 65 c has a shaft 66. The shaft 66 is a tapered protrusion for rotatably supporting the humidification rotor 63. When viewed along the rotation shaft 63 c of the humidification rotor 63, the bearing member 65 c is located at the center of the annular portion 65 a of the rotor frame wall 65.

As shown in FIG. 8, the shaft 66 has a root portion 66a and a tip portion 66b. The root portion 66a and the tip portion 66b are end portions of the shaft 66, respectively. The outer diameter of the shaft 66 gradually decreases from the root portion 66a toward the tip portion 66b. FIG. 8 shows the outer diameter R1 of the root portion 66a and the outer diameter R2 of the tip portion 66b.

As shown in FIGS. 4, 6, and 7, the humidification rotor 63 has a shaft through hole 67 through which the shaft 66 passes. The shaft through hole 67 is formed in the central portion of the main surface of the humidification rotor 63. As with the shaft 66, the shaft through hole 67 has a tapered shape. The humidifying rotor 63 is attached to the rotor frame wall 65 by passing the shaft 66 of the bearing member 65c attached to the rotor frame wall 65 through the shaft through hole 67 of the humidifying rotor 63. The center position of the shaft through hole 67 in the vertical direction is the same as the position of the rotating shaft 63 c of the humidifying rotor 63.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the humidification rotor 63 when the humidification rotor 63 is cut along a plane including the rotation shaft 63c. The shaft through hole 67 of the humidifying rotor 63 has a first opening 67a and a second opening 67b. The 1st opening 67a and the 2nd opening 67b are the edge parts of the shaft through-hole 67 in the direction along the rotating shaft 63c, respectively. The inner diameter of the shaft through hole 67 gradually decreases from the first opening 67a toward the second opening 67b. FIG. 9 shows the inner diameter S1 of the first opening 67a and the inner diameter S2 of the second opening 67b. The inner diameter S1 of the first opening 67a is larger than the outer diameter R1 of the root portion 66a of the shaft 66, and the inner diameter S2 of the second opening 67b is larger than the outer diameter R2 of the tip portion 66b of the shaft 66.

When the shaft 66 is passed through the shaft through hole 67 in order to attach the humidifying rotor 63 to the rotor frame wall 65, the tip end portion 66b of the shaft 66 is inserted from the first opening 67a side of the shaft through hole 67. Thereby, after passing the shaft 66 through the shaft through hole 67, the root portion 66 a of the shaft 66 is located on the first opening 67 a side of the shaft through hole 67, and the second opening 67 b of the shaft through hole 67 is formed. The tip portion 66b of the shaft 66 is located on the side.

Here, while the humidifying rotor 63 is rotated around the rotation shaft 63 c by the power of the rotor driving motor 64, the inner peripheral surface 67 c of the shaft through hole 67 of the humidifying rotor 63 slides on the outer peripheral surface 66 c of the shaft 66. Move. That is, the inner peripheral surface 67c of the shaft through hole 67 corresponds to the sliding surface of the sliding bearing. In addition, the outer diameter of the shaft 66 is smaller than the inner diameter of the shaft through hole 67 at an arbitrary position in the direction of the rotating shaft 63 c of the humidifying rotor 63.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the shaft 66 passing through the shaft through hole 67. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state immediately after the shaft 66 is passed through the shaft through hole 67 of the humidification rotor 63 and the humidification rotor 63 is not yet supported by the shaft 66. In FIG. 10, the vertical center position of the shaft through hole 67 (the position of the rotating shaft 63 c of the humidifying rotor 63) coincides with the vertical center position of the shaft 66. At this time, a gap is formed between the inner peripheral surface 67 c of the shaft through hole 67 and the outer peripheral surface 66 c of the shaft 66. Hereinafter, this gap is referred to as a bearing gap 69. In FIG. 10, the first bearing gap dimension G1, which is the dimension of the bearing gap 69 at the root 66a of the shaft 66, is obtained by (S1-R1) / 2, and is the dimension of the bearing gap 69 at the tip 66b of the shaft 66. A certain second bearing gap dimension G2 is obtained by (S2-R2) / 2. The size of the bearing gap 69 gradually decreases from the root 66a of the shaft 66 toward the tip 66b. That is, G1> G2 holds. For example, the first bearing gap dimension G1 is 0.5 mm, and the second bearing gap dimension G2 is 0.15 mm.

In the state shown in FIG. 10, a bearing gap 69 exists between the inner peripheral surface 67 c of the shaft through hole 67 and the outer peripheral surface 66 c of the shaft 66 on the entire circumference of the shaft 66. Therefore, the humidification rotor 63 shown in FIG. 10 moves downward in the vertical direction by the amount of the bearing gap 69 due to gravity applied to itself. The distance traveled by the humidifying rotor 63 shown in FIG. 10 is equal to the second bearing gap dimension G2, which is the minimum dimension of the bearing gap 69. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a state after the humidifying rotor 63 has moved downward in the vertical direction by the amount corresponding to the bearing gap 69 (second bearing gap dimension G2) from the state shown in FIG. In FIG. 11, there is no bearing gap 69 between the upper end of the tip 66 b of the shaft 66 and the inner peripheral surface 67 c of the shaft through hole 67.

The shape of the surrounding surface 65b of the rotor frame wall 65 is designed in consideration of the fact that the humidifying rotor 63 moves downward by the bearing gap 69 when the humidifying rotor 63 is attached to the rotor frame wall 65. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a positional relationship among the humidifying rotor 63, the shaft 66, and the surrounding surface 65b when viewed along the rotation shaft 63c of the humidifying rotor 63. FIG. 12 is a view of the shaft 66 viewed from the tip 66b toward the root 66a. In FIG. 12, only the contours of the shapes of the humidification rotor 63, the shaft 66, and the surrounding surface 65b are shown, and some dimensions are exaggerated so that the features of the present embodiment can be clearly understood. Yes. In FIG. 12, the humidification rotor 63 is indicated by a dotted line. FIG. 12 corresponds to the state shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 shows the support center 66d, the lower enclosure surface dimension L1, and the upper enclosure surface dimension L2. The support center 66d is the center of the shaft 66 in the vertical direction. The lower enclosure surface dimension L1 is a distance between the support center 66d and the enclosure surface lower end 65b1 which is the lower end of the enclosure surface 65b. The upper enclosure surface dimension L2 is the distance between the support center 66d and the enclosure surface upper end 65b2 that is the upper end of the enclosure surface 65b.

In FIG. 12, the lower enclosure surface dimension L1 is longer than the upper enclosure surface dimension L2. This means that when the surrounding surface 65b is viewed along the rotation axis 63c of the humidification rotor 63, the diameter, which is the distance from the support center 66d to the surrounding surface 65b, is not uniform in the circumferential direction of the surrounding surface 65b. . That is, in FIG. 12, the entire shape of the surrounding surface 65b is not a perfect circle. Specifically, the shape of the surrounding surface 65b is designed so that the diameter of the surrounding surface 65b below the support center 66d is larger than the diameter of the surrounding surface 65b above the support center 66d.

When the humidifying rotor 63 is attached to the rotor frame wall 65, the humidifying rotor 63 moves downward in the vertical direction by the amount of the bearing gap 69 due to gravity applied to itself. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, the rotating shaft 63 c of the humidifying rotor 63 attached to the rotor frame wall 65 is positioned below the support center 66 d of the shaft 66. The lower enclosure surface dimension L1 and the upper enclosure surface dimension L2 are set so that the outer peripheral surface of the humidification rotor 63 attached to the rotor frame wall 65 does not contact the enclosure surface 65b. Specifically, the lower enclosure surface dimension L1 is set longer than the upper enclosure surface dimension L2 so that the lower end of the humidification rotor 63 does not come into contact with the enclosure surface lower end 65b1.

(5) Operation of Air Conditioner 10 The operation of the air conditioner 10 in each of the cooling operation mode, the heating operation mode, and the humidification operation mode will be described.

(5-1) Cooling Operation During the cooling operation, the four-way switching valve 32 connects the discharge side of the compressor 31 and the gas side of the outdoor heat exchanger 33, and the suction side of the compressor 31 and the indoor heat. The gas side of the exchanger 21 is connected. In FIG. 1, the state of the four-way switching valve 32 during the cooling operation is indicated by a solid line.

The liquid side closing valve 37 and the gas side closing valve 38 are open. The opening degree of the electric expansion valve 34 is adjusted so that the degree of superheat of the refrigerant at the refrigerant outlet of the indoor heat exchanger 21 becomes constant at a predetermined target value.

In the refrigerant circuit in such a state, when the operation of the compressor 31, the outdoor fan 39 and the indoor fan 22 is started, the low-pressure gas refrigerant is sucked into the compressor 31 and compressed to become a high-pressure gas refrigerant. The high-pressure gas refrigerant is sent to the outdoor heat exchanger 33 via the four-way switching valve 32 and condensed by heat exchange with the outdoor air supplied by the outdoor fan 39 to become a high-pressure liquid refrigerant. The high-pressure liquid refrigerant is reduced in pressure by the electric expansion valve 34 to become a gas-liquid two-phase refrigerant, and then sent to the indoor unit 20 via the liquid-side closing valve 37 and the liquid refrigerant communication pipe 14.

The refrigerant in the gas-liquid two-phase state sent to the indoor unit 20 enters the indoor heat exchanger 15, and in the indoor heat exchanger 15, the liquid refrigerant evaporates due to heat exchange with the indoor air to become a low-pressure gas refrigerant. The low-pressure gas refrigerant is sent to the outdoor unit 30 via the gas refrigerant communication pipe 16 and the gas-side closing valve 38, and flows into the accumulator 36 via the four-way switching valve 32. The low-pressure gas refrigerant that has flowed into the accumulator 36 is again sucked into the compressor 31.

Thus, the air conditioner 10 performs a cooling operation in which the outdoor heat exchanger 33 functions as a refrigerant condenser and the indoor heat exchanger 21 functions as a refrigerant evaporator.

(5-2) Heating Operation During the heating operation, the four-way switching valve 32 connects the discharge side of the compressor 31 and the gas side of the indoor heat exchanger 21, and the suction side and outdoor heat of the compressor 31. The gas side of the exchanger 33 is connected. In FIG. 1, the state of the four-way switching valve 32 during the heating operation is indicated by a dotted line.

The liquid side closing valve 37 and the gas side closing valve 38 are open. The opening degree of the electric expansion valve 34 is adjusted so that the pressure of the refrigerant flowing into the outdoor heat exchanger 33 is reduced to a pressure at which the liquid refrigerant can be completely evaporated in the outdoor heat exchanger 33.

In the refrigerant circuit in such a state, when the operation of the compressor 31, the outdoor fan 39 and the indoor fan 22 is started, the low-pressure gas refrigerant is sucked into the compressor 31 and compressed to become a high-pressure gas refrigerant. The high-pressure gas refrigerant is sent to the indoor unit 20 via the four-way switching valve 32, the gas side closing valve 38 and the gas refrigerant communication pipe 16.

The high-pressure gas refrigerant sent to the indoor unit 20 is condensed by heat exchange with indoor air in the indoor heat exchanger 21 to become a high-pressure liquid refrigerant. The high-pressure liquid refrigerant is sent to the outdoor unit 30 via the liquid refrigerant communication pipe 14 and the liquid side shut-off valve 37.

The high-pressure liquid refrigerant sent to the outdoor unit 30 is decompressed by the electric expansion valve 34 to become a gas-liquid two-phase refrigerant, and then flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 33. The low-pressure gas-liquid two-phase refrigerant that has flowed into the outdoor heat exchanger 33 evaporates as a low-pressure gas refrigerant by heat exchange with the outdoor air supplied by the outdoor fan 39. The low-pressure gas refrigerant flows into the accumulator 36 via the four-way switching valve 32. The low-pressure gas refrigerant that has flowed into the accumulator 36 is again sucked into the compressor 31.

Thus, the air conditioner 10 performs a heating operation in which the indoor heat exchanger 21 functions as a refrigerant condenser and the outdoor heat exchanger 33 functions as a refrigerant evaporator.

(5-3) Humidification operation The humidification operation of the air conditioner 10 is performed in combination with the heating operation. As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 5, the air inlet 681 (see FIG. 5) of the adsorption duct 68 of the humidifying unit 60 faces the outdoor suction port 46 b (see FIG. 3) of the front plate 46. The air outlet port 683 (see FIG. 2) opens to the upstream side of the bell mouth 52, which becomes negative pressure when the outdoor fan 39 rotates. When the outdoor fan 39 is operated, the air pressure on the air outlet 683 side becomes lower than the air inlet 681 side, and the outside air that has not passed through the outdoor heat exchanger 33 is sucked in from the air inlet 681. Moisture contained in the outside air sucked from the air inlet 681 is adsorbed by the moisture adsorption region 63 a of the humidification rotor 63.

The humidification rotor 63 is located between the air inlet 681 and the air outlet 683 and in the vicinity of the air outlet 683. During the humidifying operation, the humidifying rotor 63 is rotated at a predetermined rotational speed around the rotation shaft 63c by the power of the rotor driving motor 64. By the rotation of the humidification rotor 63, the moisture adsorbed in the moisture adsorption region 63a is carried to the moisture release region 63b.

At the same time, by driving the humidifying fan 75, the outside air taken in from the humidifying opening 40a is guided to the surroundings of the humidifying heater 71 and heated. The air heated by the humidifying heater 71 passes through the moisture release region 63 b of the humidifying rotor 63. At this time, moisture is released from the portion exposed to the heated air in the moisture release region 63b. Thereafter, the high-humidity air containing moisture released from the moisture release region 63 b is guided to the humidification duct 73 and supplied into the second humidification duct 180 by the humidification fan 75. The high-humidity air supplied to the second humidification duct 180 is guided to the indoor unit 20 via the air supply hose 18.

(6) Features In the humidification unit 60 of the present embodiment, the disc-shaped humidification rotor 63 is attached to the rotor frame wall 65 so that the main surface thereof is along the vertical direction. The humidification rotor 63 is rotatably supported by a shaft 66 of a bearing member 65c attached to the rotor frame wall 65. The outer peripheral surface of the humidification rotor 63 is surrounded by the surrounding surface 65 b of the rotor frame wall 65.

As shown in FIG. 12, the distance from the support center 66d of the shaft 66 to the surrounding surface 65b is not constant in the circumferential direction of the surrounding surface 65b. Specifically, the shape of the surrounding surface 65b is designed so that the lower surrounding surface dimension L1 is longer than the upper surrounding surface dimension L2. When the humidifying rotor 63 is attached to the rotor frame wall 65, even if the humidifying rotor 63 moves downward by gravity applied to itself around the shaft 66 by the bearing gap 69 (see FIG. 10), the outer periphery of the humidifying rotor 63 The lower enclosure surface dimension L1 is ensured to the extent that the surface does not contact the enclosure surface 65b. The distance that the humidification rotor 63 moves is equal to the second bearing gap dimension G2 shown in FIG. Therefore, if the difference between the lower enclosure surface dimension L1 and the radius of the main surface of the humidification rotor 63 is larger than the second bearing gap dimension G2, when the humidification rotor 63 is attached to the rotor frame wall 65, the humidification rotor 63 It is avoided that the outer peripheral surface collides with the surrounding surface 65b. When the humidifying rotor 63 is rotating, if the outer peripheral surface of the humidifying rotor 63 collides with the surrounding surface 65b, a phenomenon called a lock that stops the rotation of the humidifying rotor 63 may occur. Therefore, by making the lower enclosure surface dimension L1 longer than the upper enclosure surface dimension L2, it is avoided that the outer peripheral surface of the humidification rotor 63 contacts the enclosure surface 65b. Therefore, the humidification unit 60 can prevent the humidification rotor 63 from being locked.

Further, in the humidification unit 60 of the present embodiment, the humidification rotor 63 has a shaft through hole 67 through which the shaft 66 is passed. While the humidification rotor 63 is rotating, the inner peripheral surface 67 c of the shaft through hole 67 slides with the outer peripheral surface 66 c of the shaft 66 passing through the shaft through hole 67. That is, the humidification rotor 63 is rotatably supported by a sliding bearing structure in which the inner peripheral surface 67c of the shaft through hole 67 is a sliding surface. In this case, when the humidification rotor 63 is attached to the rotor frame wall 65, the humidification rotor 63 is applied to itself by the size of the bearing gap 69 between the inner peripheral surface 67c of the shaft through hole 67 and the outer peripheral surface 66c of the shaft 66. Moves vertically downward due to gravity. Such a plain bearing has a simple structure, and the size of the bearing gap 69 can be designed with high accuracy. Therefore, the surrounding surface 65b of the rotor frame wall 65 can be reduced to the limit that can prevent the humidifying rotor 63 from being locked. Therefore, the humidification unit 60 can achieve downsizing while suppressing the size of the rotor frame wall 65.

Further, in the humidification unit 60 of the present embodiment, the dimension of the bearing gap 69 gradually decreases from the root portion 66a of the shaft 66 toward the tip portion 66b. That is, as shown in FIG. 10, the second bearing gap dimension G2 at the tip 66b is smaller than the first bearing gap dimension G1 at the root 66a. Here, when the second bearing gap dimension G2 at the distal end portion 66b is larger than the first bearing gap dimension G1 at the root portion 66a, when the humidifying rotor 63 is attached to the rotor frame wall 65, the humidifying rotor 63 is gravity applied to itself. Therefore, the distance of moving downward in the vertical direction is equal to the first bearing gap dimension G1. In this case, since the inner peripheral surface 67c of the shaft through-hole 67 of the humidification rotor 63 is in contact with the root portion 66a of the shaft 66, the load of the humidification rotor 63 is applied more heavily to the root portion 66a than to the tip portion 66b. Therefore, the root portion 66a of the shaft 66 is fatigued by the long-term use of the humidifying unit 60, and the mechanical strength of the shaft 66 is likely to be lowered. As a result, the shaft 66 may be broken at the root portion 66a. However, in the humidification unit 60, since the second bearing gap dimension G2 is smaller than the first bearing gap dimension G1, a decrease in the mechanical strength of the shaft 66 is suppressed. Therefore, the humidification unit 60 can suppress the lifetime of the member that supports the humidification rotor 63 from being shortened.

Further, in the humidification unit 60 of this embodiment, the humidification rotor 63 is driven by the rotor drive motor 64. As shown in FIG. 3, the rotor driving motor 64 rotates the humidification rotor 63 around the rotation shaft 63c by rotating the pinion gear 64a that meshes with the teeth 63t on the outer peripheral surface of the humidification rotor 63. That is, since it is not necessary to rotate the shaft 66 itself that supports the humidification rotor 63, the humidification rotor 63 can be supported by the slide bearing. The plain bearing has a simple structure, and the size of the bearing gap 69 can be designed with high accuracy. Therefore, the surrounding surface 65b of the rotor frame wall 65 can be reduced to the limit that can prevent the humidifying rotor 63 from being locked. Therefore, the humidification unit 60 can achieve downsizing while suppressing the size of the rotor frame wall 65.

(7) Modifications The specific configuration of the present invention can be changed without departing from the gist of the present invention. Next, modifications to which the embodiment of the present invention can be applied will be described.

(7-1) Modification A
In the humidifying unit 60 of the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, the shape of the surrounding surface 65b of the rotor frame wall 65 is designed so as to satisfy the condition that the lower surrounding surface dimension L1 is longer than the upper surrounding surface dimension L2. Is done. However, the shape of the surrounding surface 65b of the rotor frame wall 65 may be further designed to satisfy other conditions.

FIG. 13 is a view similar to FIG. 12 and shows the lower humidifying rotor gap dimension M1 and the upper humidifying rotor gap dimension M2. The lower humidification rotor clearance dimension M1 is a distance between the vertical lower end 63d1 of the humidification rotor 63 and the surrounding surface lower end 65b1. The upper humidifying rotor gap dimension M2 is a distance between the vertical upper end 63d2 of the humidifying rotor 63 and the surrounding surface upper end 65b2.

In this modification, as shown in FIG. 13, the shape of the surrounding surface 65b of the rotor frame wall 65 is designed so as to satisfy the condition that the lower humidifying rotor gap dimension M1 is larger than the upper humidifying rotor gap dimension M2. . Here, in order to achieve the miniaturization of the humidification unit 60, it is necessary to make the gap between the humidification rotor 63 and the surrounding surface 65b as small as possible. However, when the shaft 66 is worn and the diameter of the shaft 66 decreases due to the long-term operation of the humidifying unit 60, the vertical position of the humidifying rotor 63 is further lowered, and the humidifying rotor 63 may come into contact with the surrounding surface 65b. is there. Therefore, by designing the shape of the surrounding surface 65b so as to satisfy the condition that the lower humidification rotor gap dimension M1 is longer than the upper humidification rotor gap dimension M2 while suppressing the length of the lower humidification rotor gap dimension M1. Even when the vertical position of the humidifying rotor 63 is further lowered due to wear of the shaft 66, the state in which the lower end of the humidifying rotor 63 does not hit the surrounding surface lower end 65b1 is easily maintained. Therefore, the humidification unit 60 can achieve downsizing while suppressing the size of the rotor frame wall 65.

(7-2) Modification B
In the humidification unit 60 of the embodiment, the entire shape of the surrounding surface 65b shown in FIG. 12 is not a perfect circle. Specifically, the diameter of the surrounding surface 65b below the support center 66d (for example, the lower surrounding surface dimension L1) is the diameter of the surrounding surface 65b above the support center 66d (for example, the upper surrounding surface dimension L2). The shape of the surrounding surface 65b is designed to be larger than that.

In this case, when the enclosure surface 65b is viewed along the rotation shaft 63c of the humidification rotor 63, the enclosure surface 65b is moved from the support center 66d toward the height position of the enclosure surface lower end 65b1 from the height position of the support center 66d. It is preferable to have a shape in which the distance is gradually increased.

Specifically, when the surrounding surface 65b is viewed along the rotation axis 63c of the humidifying rotor 63, the shape of the surrounding surface 65b above the support center 66d is a perfect circle arc, and is more than the support center 66d. The shape of the surrounding surface 65b on the lower side may be an elliptical arc whose major axis is along the vertical direction.

In the humidification unit 60, the gap between the humidification rotor 63 and the surrounding surface 65b can be made as small as possible by using the rotor frame wall 65 whose shape of the surrounding surface 65b is designed in this way. Therefore, the humidification unit 60 can achieve downsizing while suppressing the size of the rotor frame wall 65.

The humidifier according to the present invention can prevent the humidification rotor from being locked.

60 Humidification unit (humidifier)
63 Humidification rotor 63c Rotating shaft of the humidification rotor 63t Humidification rotor teeth 64 Rotor drive motor (drive unit)
65 Rotor frame wall (frame member)
65b Enclosure surface 65b1 Enclosure surface lower end 65b2 Enclosure surface upper end 66 Shaft (support part)
66c Outer peripheral surface of shaft (outer peripheral surface)
66d Shaft support center (support center)
67 Shaft through hole 67c Inner peripheral surface (slip surface) of shaft through hole
G1 First bearing clearance dimension (bearing clearance dimension)
G2 Second bearing clearance dimension (bearing clearance dimension)
L1 Lower enclosure surface dimension L2 Upper enclosure surface dimension M1 Lower humidification rotor clearance dimension M2 Upper humidification rotor clearance dimension

JP 2001-99453 A

Claims

A disc-shaped humidification rotor (63) that adsorbs and discharges water while rotating around a rotating shaft (63c) extending in the horizontal direction;
A support portion for rotatably supporting the humidification rotor;
A frame member (65) having an annular surrounding surface (65b) surrounding the humidifying rotor on the radially outer side of the humidifying rotor;
With
When viewed along the rotation axis, the lower enclosing surface is the distance between the support center (66d), which is the center position of the support portion, and the enclosing surface lower end (65b1), which is the lower end of the enclosing surface. The dimension (L1) is longer than the upper enclosure surface dimension (L2) which is the distance between the support center and the enclosure surface upper end (65b2) which is the upper end of the enclosure surface.
Humidifier (60).
The support has a shaft (66);
The humidifying rotor has a sliding surface (67c) that slides with the outer peripheral surface (66c) of the shaft.
The humidifier according to claim 1.
The support portion includes the shaft that is a tapered protrusion,
The humidification rotor has a tapered shaft through hole (67) through which the shaft passes,
When viewed along the rotation axis, the bearing clearance dimension (G1, G2), which is the difference between the diameter of the sliding surface that is the inner peripheral surface of the shaft through hole and the diameter of the outer peripheral surface of the shaft, is , Gradually decreases from the root of the shaft toward the tip,
The humidifier according to claim 2.
The lower humidifying rotor gap dimension (M1), which is the distance between the lower end of the humidifying rotor and the lower end of the surrounding surface, is the upper humidifying rotor gap dimension, which is the distance between the upper end of the humidifying rotor and the upper end of the surrounding surface. Greater than (M2),
The humidifier according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
The enclosing surface has a shape in which the distance from the support center gradually increases from the height position of the support center toward the height position of the lower end of the enclosing surface when viewed along the rotation axis. ,
The humidifier according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
The humidifying rotor has a plurality of teeth (63t) arranged along the circumferential direction of the humidifying rotor when viewed along the rotation axis,
A drive unit (64) for rotating the humidification rotor around the rotation axis while meshing with the plurality of teeth;
The humidifier according to any one of claims 1 to 5.