JP6945749B2 - Indoor unit of air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an indoor unit of an air conditioner, and more particularly to a technique suitable for changing from an indoor unit of a direct expansion type air conditioner to an indoor unit of a chiller type air conditioner.

Conventionally, a technique has been proposed for renewing a direct expansion type air conditioner that performs air conditioning using a refrigerant to a chiller type air conditioner that performs air conditioning using a heat medium such as water that has exchanged heat with a refrigerant. (See, for example, Patent Document 1). In Patent Document 1, the refrigerant pipe used in the direct expansion type is reused as a chiller type heat medium pipe to simplify the pipe connection work at the time of renewal.

In addition, as an indoor unit of a chiller type air conditioner, the indoor heat exchanger, the flow control valve that adjusts the flow rate of the heat medium flowing through the indoor heat exchanger, and the pressure of the heat medium at the outlet of the indoor heat exchanger are measured. There is an indoor unit provided with a pressure sensor (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-90178 International Publication No. 2017/099555

In Patent Document 1, although the refrigerant piping is reused, the indoor unit used in the direct expansion type is removed and a new indoor unit is installed. As described above, Patent Document 1 is a renewal technique in which the directly inflatable indoor unit is not reused.

On the other hand, it is required to reuse the indoor unit used in the direct expansion type and renew it to a chiller type indoor unit equipped with a flow rate adjusting valve and a pressure sensor as in Patent Document 2. When the flow rate control valve and the pressure sensor are newly installed in the existing indoor unit, if they are installed individually, there is a problem that the work in the field becomes complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and is an indoor unit of an air conditioner that can be renewed from an existing direct expansion type indoor unit to a chiller type without complicating the work in the field. The purpose is to provide.

The indoor unit of the air conditioner according to the present invention includes an indoor unit main body having an indoor heat exchanger that exchanges heat between air and a heat medium, a connection port provided in the indoor unit main body and communicating with the indoor heat exchanger, and the like. flow rate adjusting valve for adjusting the flow rate of the heat medium flowing into the indoor heat exchanger and has a pressure sensor for measuring the pressure of the heat medium, the indoor unit main body and a separate valve kit, valve kit, flow rate It has a pipe to which a control valve is attached, the pipe, the flow control valve, and the pressure sensor are covered with a sound absorbing material, and is connected to the connection port of the indoor unit main body by an external pipe through which a heat medium flows.

According to the present invention, the existing direct expansion type indoor unit can be renewed to a chiller type without complicating the work in the field.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the air conditioner provided with the indoor unit which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the indoor unit of the air conditioner which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the indoor unit of the air conditioner which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is an exploded perspective view of the valve kit in the indoor unit of the air conditioner which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is an exploded perspective view of the state which the valve kit in the indoor unit of the air conditioner which concerns on embodiment of this invention is partially assembled. It is explanatory drawing of installation to the indoor unit main body of the valve kit in the indoor unit of the air conditioner which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In each figure, the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an air conditioner including an indoor unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The air conditioner shown in FIG. 1 is a chiller type air conditioner, and includes an indoor unit 1, an outdoor unit 100, and a heat exchanger 200. The indoor unit 1 shown in FIG. 1 has a configuration in which the renewal from the direct expansion type to the chiller type has been completed. Here, the direct expansion type is a type in which the refrigerant flowing in the refrigeration cycle is directly sent to the indoor heat exchanger 30a to air-condition the room. The chiller type heats or cools the heat medium with the refrigerant flowing through the refrigeration cycle, and sends the heat medium to the indoor heat exchanger 30a to air-condition the room.

The indoor unit 1 includes an indoor unit main body 30 provided with an indoor heat exchanger 30a that exchanges heat between air and a heat medium, and a valve kit 70. The indoor unit main body 30 has an existing configuration used in a direct expansion type air conditioner. The valve kit 70 is newly provided when the indoor unit is renewed from a direct expansion type to a chiller type. The valve kit 70 includes a flow rate adjusting valve 76 and a pressure sensor 77. The valve kit 70 will be described in detail again.

In the air conditioner, the outdoor unit 100 and the heat exchanger 200 are connected by the refrigerant pipe 10 and the refrigerant pipe 11, and the refrigerant circulates in the order of the outdoor unit 100, the refrigerant pipe 10, the heat exchanger 200 and the refrigerant pipe 11.

Further, the heat exchanger 200 and the indoor unit main body 30 are connected by a heat medium pipe 20, the indoor unit main body 30 and the valve kit 70 are connected by a heat medium pipe 21, and the valve kit 70 and the heat exchanger 200 are heated. It is connected by a medium pipe 22. As a result, the heat medium circulates in the order of the heat exchanger 200, the heat medium pipe 20, the indoor unit main body 30, the heat medium pipe, the valve kit 70, and the heat medium pipe 22. Water, antifreeze, or the like is used as the heat medium.

Heat exchange between the refrigerant and the heat medium is performed in the heat exchanger 200 by the respective flows of the refrigerant and the heat medium. Then, the heat medium heated or cooled by heat exchange with the refrigerant is sent from the heat exchanger 200 to the indoor unit main body 30, and the heat between the heat medium and the indoor air is sent by the indoor heat exchanger 30a of the indoor unit main body 30. The room will be air-conditioned after replacement.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to the embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 2, the indoor unit main body 30 has a ceiling-embedded configuration here, and includes a box body 31 having an open lower surface and a substantially square decorative panel 32 covering the opening on the lower surface of the box body 31. To be equipped. An indoor heat exchanger 30a (see FIG. 1) is arranged inside the box 31. The indoor unit main body 30 is installed behind the ceiling in the room in the direction shown in the drawing by using the fixture 12. The box body 31 is arranged behind the ceiling surface, and the decorative panel 32 is arranged in the indoor space. A suction port 33 for sucking air into the indoor unit main body 30 is provided near the center of the decorative panel 32, and an outlet for blowing adjusted air into the room along the four sides of the decorative panel 32 around the suction port 33. 34 is provided. Further, an air bleeding valve cover 60 is attached to the side surface of the box body 31.

A connection port 40 and a connection port 41 to which an external pipe is connected are provided on the side surface of the box body 31. Further, the valve kit 70 is attached to the attachment surface 31a of the box body 31. The connection port 40 and the connection port 41 have an existing configuration in the indoor unit main body 30 used as a direct expansion type, and are portions to which a refrigerant pipe is connected as an external pipe before the renewal.

In the indoor unit 1 after the renewal, the heat medium pipe is connected to the connection port 40 and the connection port 41 as an external pipe. Specifically, the heat medium pipe 20 and the heat medium pipe 21 shown in FIG. 1 are connected to the connection port 40 and the connection port 41. FIG. 2 shows a state in which the inlet side connection port 50 and the connection port 41 of the inlet side connection port 50 and the outlet side connection port 51 described later of the valve kit 70 are connected by the heat medium pipe 21. The outlet side connection port 51 is connected to the heat exchanger 200 by a heat medium pipe 20. In this example, the connection port 40 is on the inlet side of the heat medium and the connection port 41 is on the outlet side of the heat medium. Therefore, in the following, the connection port 40 is referred to as an inlet side connection port 40, and the connection port 41 is connected on the outlet side. It is called mouth 41.

Here, this embodiment is intended to change the indoor unit of the air conditioner used as the direct expansion type to a chiller type provided with a flow rate adjusting valve and a pressure sensor. Then, in this embodiment, the valve kit 70 is used in order to carry out this renewal without complicating the work in the field.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a valve kit in an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a valve kit in the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to the embodiment of the present invention in a partially assembled state. In FIGS. 4 to 5, the front side is the front side and the back side is the rear side.

The valve kit 70 has a valve kit housing 70a composed of a main body case 71 having an open front surface and a main body cover 72 covering the front opening of the main body case 71. A valve kit mounting bracket 73 is fixed to the back surface 71a of the main body case 71 at one position on each of the left and right sides of the back surface 71a.

A U-shaped pipe 78 is provided in the valve kit housing 70a. Both ends of the pipe 78 project outward from the main body case 71 to form an inlet side connection port 50 and an outlet side connection port 51.

A flow rate adjusting valve 76 for adjusting the flow rate of the heat medium flowing through the indoor unit main body 30 is attached to the pipe 78. The flow rate adjusting valve 76 has a valve body (not shown) and a valve motor 76a for driving the valve body. The flow rate regulating valve 76 is composed of, for example, a regulating valve, a throttle valve, a solenoid valve, or the like. The valve motor 76a is arranged above the pipe 78.

A pressure sensor 77 is attached to each of the upstream and downstream of the flow rate adjusting valve 76 in the pipe 78. The pressure sensor 77 measures the pressure of the heat medium upstream and downstream of the flow control valve 76, respectively. Although two pressure sensors 77 are provided here, one may be used. The valve kit 70 is further arranged below the pipe 78 and includes a drain pan 75 that receives the drain generated in the valve kit 70.

Each component such as the flow rate adjusting valve 76, the pipe 78, the pressure sensor 77, and the drain pan 75 is housed in the valve kit housing 70a in a state of being covered with two sound absorbing materials 74 from the front-rear direction. On the contact surface of the two sound absorbing materials 74 that come into contact with each component, a concave-convex shape that matches the outer shape of each component is formed, and each component is closely held. The sound absorbing material 74 is formed of, for example, a natural material containing pulp fibers as a main component as a sound absorbing material. By covering the flow rate adjusting valve 76 and the pipe 78 with the sound absorbing material 74 in this way, noise and driving noise due to vibration of each of these parts can be minimized. Further, the sound absorbing material 74 is made of a heat absorbing material, and is configured to prevent the heat of the heat medium from being dissipated to the outside.

Further, a groove 79 is formed on the outer surface of the sound absorbing material 74 on the front side. The groove 79 is a groove for routing the wiring 80 of the flow rate adjusting valve 76 and the wiring 81 of the pressure sensor 77, which are electrical components arranged in the valve kit 70. By accommodating the wiring 80 and the wiring 81 in the groove 79 as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 5, the wiring 80 and the wiring 81 extending from each electric component can be collectively pulled out from the valve kit 70. The wiring 80 and the wiring 81 pulled out together are connected to the indoor unit main body 30.

Here, a procedure for changing an existing indoor unit used as a direct expansion type to a chiller type indoor unit equipped with a flow rate adjusting valve and a pressure sensor will be described.
First, the refrigerant sealed in the indoor unit main body 30 is recovered by a pump-down operation in the outdoor unit (not shown) of the refrigeration cycle. Then, the refrigerant piping (not shown) of the refrigeration cycle connected to each of the inlet side connection port 40 and the outlet side connection port 41 of the indoor unit main body 30 is removed.

Next, the valve kit 70 is connected to the indoor unit main body 30. Specifically, first, the valve kit 70 is attached to the attachment surface 31a of the box body 31 of the indoor unit main body 30 as shown in FIG. The attachment of the box body 31 to the attachment surface 31a is shown in FIG. 6 below.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of mounting the valve kit on the indoor unit main body of the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to the embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 6, the valve kit 70 is attached by passing a screw 90 through the valve kit mounting bracket 73 and fixing the valve kit 70 to the mounting surface 31a. Although only the main body case 71 is shown in FIG. 6 for easy understanding of the mounting method, the valve kit 70 as a finished product will be mounted on the mounting surface 31a at the site. Further, although the configuration in which the valve kit 70 is attached to the indoor unit main body 30 is shown here, the valve kit 70 may be placed separately from the indoor unit main body 30 and attached to, for example, a ceiling wall.

After fixing the position of the valve kit 70 in this way, as shown in FIG. 2, the outlet side connection port 41 of the indoor unit main body 30 and the inlet side connection port 50 of the valve kit 70 are connected by the heat medium piping 21. .. As described above, the indoor unit 1 renewed from the direct expansion type to the chiller type is configured. That is, the chiller type indoor unit 1 having the flow rate adjusting valve 76 and the pressure sensor 77 can be renewed only by connecting the valve kit 70 to the existing indoor unit main body 30.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the indoor unit 1 includes an indoor unit main body 30 and a valve kit 70 that is separate from the indoor unit main body 30. The indoor unit main body 30 has an indoor heat exchanger 30a, and a connection port 40 and a connection port 41 communicating with the indoor heat exchanger 30a. The valve kit 70 includes a flow control valve 76 and a pressure sensor 77. The indoor unit 1 has a configuration in which one of the connection port 40 and the connection port 41 of the indoor unit main body 30 and the valve kit 70 are connected by a heat medium pipe. That is, at the site of renewal work, a chiller type having a flow rate adjusting valve 76 and a pressure sensor 77 simply by connecting the valve kit 70 to the connection port provided in the existing indoor unit main body 30 using a heat medium pipe. Can be renewed to an indoor unit. Therefore, the work in the field can be simplified as compared with the case where the flow rate adjusting valve 76 and the pressure sensor 77 are individually installed.

Further, in the valve kit 70, the flow rate adjusting valve 76, the pressure sensor 77, and the pipe 78 are covered with the sound absorbing material 74. As a result, the driving sound of the valve motor 76a built in the flow rate adjusting valve 76 can be absorbed. Further, the vibration of the flow rate adjusting valve 76 and the pipe 78 can be absorbed. As described above, by using the sound absorbing material 74, it is possible to absorb the driving sound and the vibration, and it is possible to obtain the indoor unit 1 of the quiet air conditioner.

Further, since the sound absorbing material 74 has a concavo-convex shape that matches each component, it is possible to prevent an error in the mounting position of the component. Specifically, the valve motor 76a of the flow rate adjusting valve 76 has a regular arrangement position with respect to the pipe to be adjusted as a product specification, and operates accurately by being arranged at the regular arrangement position. In this example, the upper part of the pipe to be adjusted for flow rate is the regular arrangement position of the valve motor 76a. Therefore, since the sound absorbing material 74 is provided with an uneven shape corresponding to the regular arrangement position, the valve motor 76a can be attached to the regular attachment position without making a mistake in the position. In this example, the valve motor 76a whose regular arrangement position is above the pipe to be adjusted for flow rate is used, but the valve motor whose regular arrangement position is below the pipe to be adjusted for flow rate is used. May be good.

Further, since the sound absorbing material 74 is provided with the groove 79 for routing the wiring 80 of the flow rate adjusting valve 76 and the wiring 81 of the pressure sensor 77, the wiring 80 and the wiring 81 are put together and taken out from the valve kit 70. It can be connected to the indoor unit main body 30. By integrating the plurality of wirings taken out from the valve kit 70 in this way, it is possible to minimize the labor of wiring work when the valve kit 70 is attached.

1 indoor unit, 10 refrigerant piping, 11 refrigerant piping, 12 fixtures, 20 heat medium piping, 21 heat medium piping, 22 heat medium piping, 30 indoor unit body, 30a indoor heat exchanger, 31 box body, 31a mounting surface, 32 decorative panel, 33 suction port, 34 air outlet, 40 connection port (inlet side connection port), 41 connection port (outlet side connection port), 50 inlet side connection port, 51 outlet side connection port, 60 air bleeding valve cover, 70 valve kit, 70a valve kit housing, 71 body case, 71a back, 72 body cover, 73 valve kit mounting bracket, 74 sound absorbing material, 75 drain pan, 76 flow control valve, 76a valve motor, 77 pressure sensor, 78 piping, 79 grooves, 80 pipes, 81 pipes, 90 screws, 100 outdoor units, 200 heat exchangers.

Claims (6)

An indoor unit body having an indoor heat exchanger that exchanges heat between air and a heat medium,
A connection port provided in the indoor unit main body and communicating with the indoor heat exchanger,
It has a flow rate adjusting valve for adjusting the flow rate of the heat medium flowing into the indoor heat exchanger and a pressure sensor for measuring the pressure of the heat medium, and includes a valve kit separate from the indoor unit main body.
The valve kit has a pipe to which the flow rate adjusting valve is attached, the pipe, the flow rate adjusting valve, and the pressure sensor are covered with a sound absorbing material, and the indoor unit is an external pipe through which the heat medium flows. An indoor unit of an air conditioner connected to the connection port of the main body. Wherein the sound absorbing material, the pipe, the flow rate on the surface in contact with the respective control valve and the pressure sensor, the indoor unit of an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the uneven shape is formed to match the respective contour. The valve kit includes a drain pan that receives drain from the inside of the valve kit.
The indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 2 , wherein the drain pan is covered with the sound absorbing material in which an uneven shape matching the outer shape of the drain pan is formed on a contact surface with the drain pan. The indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 2 or 3 , wherein a groove for accommodating and routing the wiring of the flow rate adjusting valve and the wiring of the pressure sensor is formed on the outer surface of the sound absorbing material. The indoor unit of the air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the valve kit is attached to the main body of the indoor unit. The indoor unit of the air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the valve kit is placed separately from the indoor unit main body.

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