AU2018266035B2

AU2018266035B2 - Indoor unit of air conditioner

Info

Publication number: AU2018266035B2
Application number: AU2018266035A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Shingo Ito; Naomichi UNO
Original assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Thermal Systems Ltd
Current assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Thermal Systems Ltd
Priority date: 2017-05-08
Filing date: 2018-04-13
Publication date: 2020-06-04
Anticipated expiration: 2038-04-13
Also published as: EP3527905A1; AU2018266035A1; JP6938208B2; WO2018207554A1; JP2018189310A

Abstract

This indoor unit of an air conditioner is provided with: multiple louvers (9) which are arranged at a prescribed interval in the width direction of a blow port and which change the air flow direction; a connecting member (13) which extends in the width direction and to which the louvers (9) are rotatably attached; a ring member (17) which is rotatably attached to the connecting member (13); a motor which pivots the ring member (17); a motor bracket (15) which fixes the motor to the main body; and a stopper (16) which is provided on the motor bracket (15) and contacts the connecting member (13).

Description

DESCRIPTION

Title of Invention

INDOOR UNIT OF AIR CONDITIONER

Technical Field

[0001]

The present invention relates to an indoor unit of

an air conditioner including a louver that changes a wind

direction.

Background Art

[0002]

A reference herein to a patent document or any

other matter identified as prior art, is not to be taken

as an admission that the document or other matter was

known or that the information it contains was part of the

common general knowledge as at the priority date of any

of the claims.

[0002a]

Louvers for changing a direction of air after air

conditioning are provided in an indoor unit of an air

conditioner. The plurality of louvers are arranged in a

predetermined interval in a lateral direction in an outlet

of the indoor unit (for example, PTL 1).

Citation List

Patent Literature

[00031

[PTL 11 Japanese Unexamined Patent Application

Publication No. 11-118186

Summary of Invention

[0004]

A connecting member to which each louver is

rotatably attached is used in order to rotate the

plurality of louvers in synchronization. The connecting

member has a rod shape, and a link member is attached to

one end thereof. By a motor oscillating the link member,

the connecting member reciprocates in a longitudinal

direction, and each louver is rotated, thereby controlling

a wind direction.

[00051

However, the connecting member is made long in order

to connect each louver, and thereby dimension management

is difficult. In addition, when a reference position of

the connecting member is not accurately determined, each

louver cannot be lined up to face the front, and thus a

problem of the indoor unit looking bad arises.

[00061

In view of such circumstances, it is desirable to

provide an indoor unit of an air conditioner that can

accurately perform positioning of a plurality of louvers.

[00071

According to one form of the invention, there is

provided an indoor unit of an air conditioner comprising:

a plurality of louvers which are arranged at a

predetermined interval in one direction and change a wind

direction; a connecting member which extends in the one

direction, to which each of the louvers is rotatably

attached, and which reciprocates in a longitudinal

direction; a link member which is rotatably attached to

the connecting member; a motor which oscillates the link

member; a motor bracket which fixes the motor to a main

body; and a stopper which is provided in the motor bracket,

wherein, when an abutting surface of a tip of the

connecting member comes into contact with an abutting

surface of the stopper, a movement of the connecting

member is regulated, and positioning of each of the

louvers is performed.

[0008]

When the motor oscillates the link member, the

connecting member to which the link member is attached

moves. When the connecting member moves, each louver

attached to the connecting member rotates, and a wind

direction changes.

The stopper that abuts against the connecting member

is provided in the motor bracket that fixes the motor to the main body. The movement of the connecting member is regulated when the connecting member abuts against the stopper, and thereby positioning of each of the louvers is performed. Since a position is determined by the stopper provided in the motor bracket to which the motor is

- 3a - attached as described above, the positioning of each of the louvers can be accurately performed compared to a case where the stopper is provided in a member different from the motor bracket to which the motor is attached, such as other members including a casing.

[00091

In the indoor unit of an air conditioner according

to the aspect of the present invention, the stopper abuts

against the connecting member at a position where the

stopper faces the connecting member.

[0010]

Since the stopper abuts against the connecting

member at the position where the stopper faces the

connecting member, a shift of the connecting member can be

suppressed after the connecting member has abutted against

the stopper. Accordingly, more accurate positioning of

the louvers can be performed.

[0011]

In the indoor unit of an air conditioner according

to the aspect of the present invention, a control section

which controls the motor is further included. The control

section sets a position where the connecting member has

abutted against the stopper as a reference position.

[0012]

By the control section setting the position where the stopper has abutted against the connecting member as the reference position, a reference position of each of the louvers is accurately determined. Accordingly, a rotation angle of each of the louvers can be controlled as a desired position.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

[0013]

Since a position is determined by the stopper

provided in the motor bracket to which the motor is

attached, the positioning of the plurality of louvers can

be accurately performed.

[0013a]

Where any or all of the terms "comprise",

"comprises", "comprised" or "comprising" are used in this

specification (including the claims) they are to be

interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated

features, integers, steps or components, but not

precluding the presence of one or more other features,

integers, steps or components.

Brief Description of Drawings

[0014]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an indoor

unit of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of

the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an inside

of the indoor unit of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3A is a plan view illustrating a state where a

connecting member is separated away from a stopper.

Fig. 3B is a partially enlarged plan view of Fig. 3A.

Fig. 4A is a plan view illustrating a state where

the connecting member has abutted against the stopper.

Fig. 4B is a partially enlarged plan view of Fig. 4A.

- 5a -

Description of Embodiments

[00151

Hereinafter, an embodiment according to the present

invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 illustrates an appearance of an indoor unit 1

of an air conditioner. The indoor unit 1 is a wall

hanging type, sucks indoor air from above, and blows air

after air conditioning indoors from an outlet below. The

indoor unit 1 is connected to an outdoor unit (not

illustrated), receives supply of a refrigerant compressed

by the outdoor unit, and adjusts indoor air so as to have

a predetermined temperature by means of an indoor heat

exchanger provided inside the indoor unit 1.

[0016]

Fig. 2 illustrates an inside of the indoor unit 1.

As illustrated in Fig. 2, an indoor heat exchanger 5 is

attached to a base plate 3 that is fixed to an indoor wall

surface. An outlet 7 provided in a width direction of the

indoor unit 1 is formed below the indoor heat exchanger 5.

A plurality of louvers 9 that are at predetermined

intervals in the width direction (one direction) are

provided in the outlet 7. Each of the louvers 9 is a

resin plate. Each of the louvers 9 is rotatably attached

to a bearing portion 11 provided on a main body side of

the indoor unit 1. An attaching pin 9a (refer to Fig. 3A) is provided in each of the louvers 9, and the attaching pin 9a is rotatably attached to a connecting member 13.

[0017]

The connecting member 13 is made of a resin, and has

a rod shape extending in the width direction of the indoor

unit 1. A left end, which is one end of the connecting

member, is disposed to be positioned on a motor bracket 15

side.

[0018]

A motor bracket 15 is fixed to a main body of the

indoor unit 1, and accommodates a motor for driving the

louvers 9.

[0019]

Figs. 3A and 3B are enlarged views of surroundings

of the connecting member 13 and the motor bracket 15. One

end of a link member 17 is rotatably attached to the left

end of the connecting member 13. The other end of the

link member 17 is attached to a motor shaft 19. Therefore,

when the motor shaft 19 is rotated by the motor, the link

member 17 oscillates, and accordingly the connecting

member 13 reciprocates in a substantially longitudinal

direction. In response to the reciprocation of the

connecting member 13, a rotation angle of each of the

louvers 9 changes. A rotation angle of the motor shaft 19

is transmitted to a control section (not illustrated).

[00201

A stopper 16 is fixed to the motor bracket 15. As

illustrated in Figs. 4A and 4B, the stopper 16 regulates

the movement of the connecting member 13 by abutting

against a tip 13a of the connecting member 13.

As seen from Figs. 3B and 4B, an abutting surface

13b of the tip 13a of the connecting member 13 comes into

surface-contact with an abutting surface 16a of the

stopper 16. That is, the abutting surface 16a of the

stopper 16 is set to face the abutting surface 13b of the

connecting member 13.

[0021]

The control section sets a position where the tip

13a of the connecting member 13 has abutted against the

stopper 16 as a reference position. Then, based on the

reference position, the control section controls the

rotation angle of the motor shaft 19 and controls a

position of each of the louvers 9.

For example, the control section is configured with

a central processing unit (CPU), a random access memory

(RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a computer readable

storage medium, and like. For example, a series of

processes for realizing various types of functions are

stored in a storage medium or the like in the form of a

program, and the program is read by the CPU with the RAM or the like to execute an information processing and computing process, thereby realizing the various types of functions. The program may be applied in a form of being installed in advance in the ROM or other storage media, a form of being provided in a state of being stored in the computer readable storage medium, a form of being distributed via communication means in a wired or wireless manner, and the like. The computer readable storage medium refers to a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a semiconductor memory, and the like.

[0022]

Positioning of a reference position of each of the

louvers 9 is performed as follows.

First, the motor is driven in accordance with a

command from the control section to rotate the motor shaft

19, and thereby the link member 17 oscillates. In

response to the oscillation of the link member 17, the tip

13a of the connecting member 13 moves to a stopper 16 side,

and the abutting surface 13b of the connecting member 13

comes into surface-contact with the abutting surface 16a

of the stopper 16. Accordingly, the movement of the

connecting member 13 is regulated, and the control section

sets this position as a reference position. With the

reference position as reference, the control section

rotates the motor shaft 19 and controls a wind direction angle of each of the louvers 9.

[0023]

In the aforementioned indoor unit 1, the following

operation effects can be achieved.

The stopper 16 that abuts against the connecting

member 13 is provided in the motor bracket 15 that fixes

the motor to the main body of the indoor unit 1. The

movement of the connecting member 13 is regulated when the

connecting member abuts against the stopper 16, and

thereby positioning of each of the louvers 9 is performed.

Since a position is determined by the stopper 16 provided

in the motor bracket 15 to which the motor is attached as

described above, the positioning of each of the louvers 9

can be accurately performed compared to a case where the

stopper 16 is provided in a member different from the

motor bracket 15 to which the motor is attached, such as

other members including a casing.

[0024]

Since the stopper 16 abuts against and comes into

surface-contact with the connecting member 13 at a

position where the stopper faces the connecting member,

strong frictional forces act. Thus, after the connecting

member 13 has abutted against the stopper 16, a shift of

the connecting member 13 can be suppressed. Accordingly,

more accurate positioning of the louvers 9 can be performed.

[0025]

By the control section setting the position where

the stopper 16 has abutted against the connecting member

13 as a reference position, the reference position of each

of the louvers 9 is accurately determined. Accordingly,

the rotation angle of each of the louvers 9 can be

controlled as a desired position.

Reference Signs List

[0026]

1: indoor unit

3: base plate

5: indoor heat exchanger

7: outlet

9: louver

11: bearing portion

13: connecting member

13a: tip

13b: abutting surface

15: motor bracket

16: stopper

16a: abutting surface

17: link member

19: motor shaft

Claims

The claims defining the invention are as follows:

1. An indoor unit of an air conditioner, comprising:

a plurality of louvers which are arranged at a

predetermined interval in one direction and change a wind

direction;

a connecting member which extends in the one

direction, to which each of the louvers is rotatably

attached, and which reciprocates in a longitudinal

direction;

a link member which is rotatably attached to the

connecting member;

a motor which oscillates the link member;

a motor bracket which fixes the motor to a main

body; and

a stopper which is provided in the motor bracket,

wherein, when an abutting surface of a tip of the

connecting member comes into contact with an abutting

surface of the stopper, a movement of the connecting

member is regulated, and positioning of each of the

louvers is performed.

2. The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to

Claim 1,

wherein the stopper abuts against the connecting member at a position where the stopper faces the connecting member.

3. The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to

Claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

a control section which controls the motor,

wherein the control section sets a position where

the connecting member has abutted against the stopper as a

reference position.

4. The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to

any one of Claims 1 to 3,

wherein one end of the link member is rotatably

attached to the connecting member,

wherein the motor has a motor shaft to which the

other end of the link member is attached, and oscillates

the link member by rotating the motor shaft, and

wherein the motor bracket accommodates the motor and

fixes the motor to the main body.