JP3264233B2 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner and, more particularly, to a measure for preventing drain water collected in a drain pan from scattering into a room during a cooling operation or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-75240
In the air conditioner installed on the ceiling surface as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H07-115, an air intake port is provided at the center of the lower surface of the casing, while air outlets are provided at a plurality of locations (for example, four locations) on the outer edge. Have been. A blower such as a turbo fan and a heat exchanger are housed in the casing. The temperature of the indoor air sucked from the air inlet by the drive of the blower is regulated by the heat exchanger and supplied to the room from each air outlet. are doing. Also, during cooling operation, since drain water is generated in the heat exchanger, a drain pan for collecting the drain water is provided below the heat exchanger. The drain water collected in the drain pan is discharged outside the room by a drain pump.

[0003]

The above-described ceiling-installed type air conditioner may be installed at a corner of a ceiling surface or at a ceiling surface in a one-way space such as a corridor. In some cases, any one of the plurality of air outlets is closed with a closing plate or the like. In other words, for example, in the case of a four-way air-conditioning apparatus, when installing in a corner of an air-conditioning room, two air outlets close to a wall surface are closed and installed in a space such as a corridor. The two air outlets that are opened in the width direction of the corridor are closed to efficiently circulate the conditioned air in the conditioned space.

As described above, when the air outlet is closed, the air blown from the blower toward the closed air outlet goes around the open air outlet and is blown into the room. (For example, see the arrow in FIG. 2). For this reason, in the drain pan, the stored drain water is drawn around the open air outlet by the wind pressure of the air. Also,
The flow rate of air at the open air outlets is higher than when all the air outlets are open.

As a result, the drain water drawn around the open air outlet is exposed to the high-speed blow air, and the surface of the drain water undulates, and a part of the water is separated from the drain pan. As a result, a problem such as being scattered into the room from the air outlet may be caused (see FIG. 4A).

[0006] The inventors of the present invention have considered the cause of such scattering of drain water. As a result, in addition to the fact that drain water is drawn around the open air outlet by the wind pressure of the air and that the air speed is high at the open air outlet,
We found that there is a major cause for the drain water storage state in the drain pan. In other words, the drain pan is generally formed by coating a waterproof resin sheet on the surface of a drain pan body made of a foamed resin, but since the hydrophilicity of this resin sheet is poor, drain water is stored in a state of being stored due to its surface tension. It has been found that the height of the upper surface has become higher and is more susceptible to the wind pressure of the air flowing toward the air outlet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to treat the surface of a drain pan so as to improve the storage state of the drain water in the drain pan, and to place the drain water in a room. The purpose is to prevent the scattering of water.

[0008]

To achieve the above object of the Invention The present invention is, by setting Keru <br/> that the water-absorbing material on the surface of the drain pan, higher the height of the upper surface of the drain water by surface tension I tried to avoid that.

Specifically, a first solution is that a heat exchanger (8) is provided in a box-shaped casing (1a) in a side surface of a casing (1a).
Annularly arranged so as to face the air outlets (4,4, ...)
While being set, on the lower side of the heat exchanger (8) is a drain pan for the drain water recovery (9) along the heat exchanger (8) cyclic
The temperature is adjusted by the heat exchanger (8).
It is premised on an air conditioner that blows out the air from the air outlets (4, 4, ...) into the room . The above air outlets (4,4,…)
Can be closed by a closing plate (14), at the corner of the drain water reservoir (11) in the drain pan (9),
A water absorbing material (15) for absorbing drain water is provided so as to prevent the drain water from scattering from the storage section (11) into the room.

[0010] The second solution is the first solution.
In the means, the water-absorbing material is stored in the reservoir (1) of the drain pan (9).
The nonwoven fabric (15) attached to 1) is used.

According to these specific items, some air outlets
When (4,4) is closed by the closing plate (14),
Velocity of conditioned air near the released air outlet (4,4)
Air outlet with high drain and open drain water
(4,4). Exposed to high-speed blowing air
Corner of the drain pan (9)
Since the water absorbing material (15) is provided in the part,
Part of the drain water is absorbed by the water-absorbing material,
The top surface of the water is kept low. As a result,
Surface is less affected by the wind pressure of the conditioned air,
The ripples on the surface are suppressed and the drain water scatters indoors.
Is prevented.

[0012] The third solution is the first or the second embodiment.
In the second solution, the drain pan (9) is a drain pan.
The central portion of the reservoir (11, 12) (9), the heat exchanger air heat exchanger protrudes toward (8) (8) to suppress protrusion to flow bypassing the (9a) Is provided. Further, the storage section (11, 12) is divided into an upstream storage section (12) located on the upstream side of the air flow and a downstream storage section (11) located on the downstream side of the air flow by the protruding section (9a). I do. The water absorbing material (15) is downstream
It is provided in the side storage section (11).

According to this specific matter, the scattering prevention processing of the drain water is performed only on the side of the storage section (11, 12) of the drain pan (9) facing the air outlet. In other words, the projection (9a) provided to suppress the air from flowing by bypassing the heat exchanger (8) is effectively used, and the scattering prevention processing portion is minimized to the indoor space while being minimized. It is possible to reliably prevent the drain water from scattering.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

-Description of Configuration of Air Conditioner- FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a ceiling-suspended air conditioner (1) according to the present embodiment. In the present air conditioner (1), a casing (2) that is open downward and sideways is suspended and supported on a ceiling surface. The casing (2) includes a rectangular top plate (2a) and a side plate (2b) extending slightly downward from an outer edge of the top plate (2a). The lower surface of the device (1) is formed of a rectangular decorative panel (3), and the decorative panel (3) is connected to the side plate (2b) of the casing (2) at four corners thereof. An air inlet (3a) is formed at the center. The air suction port (3a) has an air filter (3) for removing dust in the air sucked from the air suction port (3a).
b) is provided. Due to such a configuration, the casing (2) and the decorative panel (3) constitute a box-shaped device case (1a) as a casing according to the present invention, and a lower central portion of the device case (1a). An air inlet (3a) is formed on each side, and air outlets (4, 4,...) Are formed on each side surface. Each of the air outlets (4, 4,...) Is provided with a louver (4a, 4a) for adjusting the direction of the blown air.

Each air conditioner is housed inside the device case (1a). Hereinafter, each air conditioner will be described. A turbo fan (5) is provided in the center of the device case (1a). In this turbofan (5), a blade (5c) is held between a shroud (5a) and a hub (5b), and the center of the hub (5b) is located at the center of the device case (1a). It is directly connected to the lower end of the drive shaft of the arranged motor (6). Accordingly, the air sucked from below is blown radially outward by the rotation of the blade (5c) accompanying the driving of the motor (6). A bell mouth (7) for guiding room air to the turbo fan (5) is provided below the turbo fan (5).

A heat exchanger (8) is provided around the outside of the turbo fan (5). The heat exchanger (8) is annularly disposed so as to face the air outlets (4, 4,...), And is connected to an outdoor unit (not shown) via a refrigerant pipe. During the heating operation, it functions as a condenser. This allows turbo fan (5)
This is a configuration for adjusting the temperature of the air derived from.

The heat exchanger (8) is provided below the heat exchanger.
Drain pan for collecting drain water generated in (8) (9)
Are arranged. Details of the drain pan (9) will be described later.

In this manner, an air flow passage (10) is formed between the air inlet (3a) and the air outlet (4), and the air flow passage (10) extends from upstream to downstream. Air filter
(3b), bellmouth (7), turbofan (5), heat exchanger (8)
Are arranged in order.

The air conditioner (1) is provided with a closing plate (14) which can close a part of air outlets (4, 4,...) Provided at four locations. . The closing plate (14) can arbitrarily set an air outlet (4) to be closed according to the installation mode of the device (1). Specifically, when the device (1) is installed at the corner of the ceiling, two air outlets (4, 4) close to the wall are closed, and the device (1) is long in one direction such as a corridor. When installed on the ceiling surface of a space, two air outlets (4, 4) that open in the width direction of the corridor are closed, so that air-conditioned air can be efficiently circulated through the air-conditioned space. ing.

Next, the drain pan (9) which is a feature of the present embodiment is described.
Will be described. In the drain pan (9), a waterproof resin sheet is coated on a surface of a drain pan body made of a foamed resin. Also, the drain pan (9) is
As shown in FIG. 2, it is formed in an annular shape along the heat exchanger (8), and has a protruding portion (9a) protruding upward at the center in the width direction. The upper end of this protrusion (9a) is a heat exchanger
It is close to the lower end of (8), and suppresses the bypass of air from between the lower end of the heat exchanger (8) and the drain pan (9). For this reason, the drain pan (9) has an outer collecting part (11) as a downstream storage part located outside the protruding part (9a) and an inner collecting part as an upstream storage part located inside the protruding part (9a). It is provided with a collection unit (12). Further, a drain pump (13) is provided at one end of the drain pan (9), and the drain water collected in the drain pan (9) is pumped up and discharged outside the room.

A feature of the drain pan (9) lies in the surface treatment of the outer collecting part (11). In other words, this outer collection part (11)
The non-woven fabric (15) is attached to the four corners (the hatched portions in FIG. 2). In other words, since the resin sheet coating the surface of the drain pan (9) has poor wettability, a non-woven fabric (15) is attached to the portion that stores drain water and also faces the air outlet (4), The configuration is such that the wettability of this portion is improved. Therefore, when the drain water is exposed to the blown air in a state where the drain water is stored in the outer recovery part (11), conventionally, as shown in FIG. Although the storage height was increased and the surface of the drain water was likely to undulate due to the effect of the blown air, the surface treatment for improving the wettability of the outer recovery part (11) was performed as shown in FIG. As shown in (b), the storage height of the drain water is suppressed to be low, whereby the surface of the drain water can be prevented from waving, and the drain water can be prevented from scattering into the room. The nonwoven fabric (15) has been subjected to a fungicide treatment, so that the generation of mold in the drain pan (9) is suppressed.

-Description of Drain Water Recovery Operation- Next, the drain water recovery operation during the cooling operation of the present apparatus (1) will be described. Here, a case where the device (1) is installed on the ceiling surface of a corridor, and a case where a pair of air outlets (4, 4) opposed to each other are closed by a blocking plate (14, 14) is taken as an example. explain.

During the cooling operation, the drain water generated in the heat exchanger (8) is recovered by the outer recovery section (11) and the inner recovery section of the drain pan (9).
Collected in (12) and discharged outside the room by a drain pump (13). In such an operation, as shown by an arrow in FIG. 2, the air blown from the turbo fan (5) toward the closed air outlet is turned around the open air outlet (4, 4). It becomes a situation where it is blown out into the room. For this reason, in the drain pan (9), the stored drain water is drawn around the open air outlets (4, 4) by the wind pressure of the air.
Further, the flow velocity of the air at the open air outlets (4, 4) is higher than when all the air outlets (4, 4,...) Are open. For this reason, the drain water drawn around the open air outlets (4, 4) is exposed to the high-speed blown air. In particular, this situation is conspicuously shown in the area A in FIG.

However, the outer collecting section (1) of the drain pan (9)
Since the nonwoven fabric (15) is attached to 1), the situation in which the top surface of the drain water is increased by the surface tension as in the related art is avoided. That is, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), part of the drain water is absorbed by the nonwoven fabric (15), so that the position of the upper surface due to the surface tension becomes high as shown in FIG. 4 (a). , And the upper surface of the drain water is hardly affected by the wind pressure of the blown air. For this reason, the top surface of the drain water is wavy and a part of it is the air outlet.
The situation of scattering from (4, 4) into the room is avoided. In particular, in this embodiment, a drain pan in which the drain water drawn around the open air outlet (4, 4) is exposed to the high-speed blow air is conspicuous.
By pasting non-woven fabric (15) on the corner of (9),
The above-described effect can be achieved while minimizing the area where the nonwoven fabric (15) is to be attached.

In this embodiment, the non-woven fabric (15) is used as the water-absorbing material.
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to employ other water-absorbing materials such as foamed resin .

Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the ceiling-suspended type air conditioner (1) has been described. Applicable.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, a part of
The high speed of supply air when closed air outlet of the (4,4)
Install absorbent material in the corners of the exposed drain pan (9).
So that the top surface of the drain water
Situation that the air pressure swells and scatters indoors due to wind pressure
Can be reliably avoided. As a result, air conditioning equipment
Improve the versatility of the installation and prevent the drain water from scattering
Can be

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the central portion of the storage portion (11, 12) of the drain pan (9) is provided with a protrusion (9a) for preventing air bypass, and the protrusion (9a) is provided. Drain water scattering prevention processing was performed on the downstream storage section (11) on the downstream side of the air flow. This makes effective use of the protrusion (9a),
It is possible to surely prevent the drain water from scattering into the room while minimizing the scattering prevention processing portion to a necessary minimum, and it is possible to improve the practicality of the present invention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a ceiling-suspended air conditioner according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a drain pan.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a drain pan and a peripheral portion thereof;

FIG. 4 (a) is a view showing a conventional state of storing drain water, and FIG. 4 (b) is a view showing a state of storing drain water in the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 (1) Air conditioner (1a) Equipment case (casing) (4) Air outlet (8) Heat exchanger (9) Drain pan (9a) Projection (11) Outside recovery part (12) Inside recovery part (14) Closure plate (15) Non-woven fabric (water-absorbing material)

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yoshikazu Sato 1304 Kanaokacho, Sakai-shi, Osaka Daikin Industries, Ltd. Sakai Works Kanaoka Plant (56) References JP-A-3-45834 (JP, A) JP Hei 8-61691 (JP, A) JP-A-62-87738 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model Application Sho-62-122224 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F24F 1 / 00 361 F24F 13/32

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A heat exchanger (8) in a box-shaped casing (1a).
Are the multiple air outlets (4,4, ...) on the side of the casing (1a)
And the heat exchanger
The lower (8), a drain pan for the drain water recovery (9)
An air outlet (4, 4) which is arranged and arranged in a ring shape along the heat exchanger (8) and whose temperature is adjusted by the heat exchanger (8) is provided.
In the air conditioner that blows air into the room from (4, ...), the air outlets (4,4, ...) can be closed by the closing plate (14).
Function of the drain pan (9) in the drain water storage section (11) .
The water absorbing material (15) that absorbs drain water so as to prevent scattering of the drain water from the storage part (11) into the room in the toner part.
An air conditioner, comprising: 2. A air conditioner according to claim 1, the water absorbent material, an air conditioner which is a reservoir of de Renpan (9) (11) affixed nonwoven fabric (15) . 3. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the drain pan (9) is provided at a central portion of the storage section (11, 12) with a heat exchanger.
E Bei suppress protrusion of (9a) to the air and protruding toward the (8) flows, bypassing the heat exchanger (8), the container portion
(11, 12) is partitioned into the upstream reservoir positioned in the air flow upstream side by the projecting portion (9a) and (12) downstream reservoir positioned in the air flow downstream side (11), water The air conditioner, wherein the conductive material (15) is provided in the downstream storage part (11) .