JP7486332B2 - Heat transfer enhancement fin - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a heat transfer promotion fin, and in particular to a heat transfer promotion fin that can improve the efficiency of heat radiation from the floor in an underfloor air conditioning system.

Underfloor air conditioning systems have been known as one type of air conditioning for offices and the like. In an underfloor air conditioning system, multiple support legs are placed on the foundation of a building, and a floor structure is formed by laying flooring material above the foundation using these support legs. The underfloor space formed between the flooring material and the foundation is used as a flow path for the supply air from the air conditioning unit, and air is supplied to the room from an outlet provided in part of the flooring. With this type of underfloor air conditioning, it is known that in addition to the air supplied from the outlet, the heat in the underfloor space affects the environment of the room through the floor.

JP 2018-159514 A

However, the flooring materials that divide the living space have temperature variations depending on where they are laid, which creates a problem of not being able to effectively utilize the heat in the space under the floor. In general, there are often gaps between the flooring materials that are laid down to allow for ease of construction, and each flooring material is independent. This causes the temperature difference between the flooring materials that are exposed to the supply air blown out from the air outlet and those that are not, resulting in temperature variations in the floors that divide the living space, which creates a problem of not being able to effectively utilize the effect of heat (thermal radiation) from the floor to the living space.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a heat transfer promotion fin that can effectively utilize heat radiation from the floor in under-floor air conditioning.

The heat transfer promotion fin has a configuration for solving the above problems. The heat transfer promotion fin is used in a floor structure in which an underfloor space partitioned by multiple flooring materials can be used as underfloor air conditioning, and comprises an insertion piece that is inserted into the gap between adjacent flooring materials and protrudes below the underside of the flooring material, and a mounting piece that spans the gap and is formed so as to be able to contact the upper surface of the flooring material that forms the gap, the insertion piece and the mounting piece being formed from a material that has a thermal conductivity equal to or higher than the surface of the flooring materials, and the insertion piece is configured to fold when inserted into the gap between the flooring materials and to have a protruding piece that expands within the underfloor space.
According to this configuration, it is possible to promote the transfer of heat from the underfloor space to the living room, thereby improving the efficiency of heat radiation to the living room. In addition , by having the insert protrude below the underside of the flooring, it is possible to further promote the transfer of heat from the underfloor space to the living room.
As another configuration of the heat transfer promotion fin, the insert piece has one side that is insulating, making it possible to select areas of the flooring that actively utilize radiant air conditioning and areas that do not.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating one embodiment of a floor structure. FIG. 11A and 11B are diagrams showing other forms of heat transfer promotion fins. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of heat transfer enhancing fins. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of heat transfer enhancing fins. 11A and 11B are diagrams showing other forms of heat transfer promotion fins.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Fig. 1 is a diagram showing one embodiment of a floor structure used for underfloor air conditioning. As shown in Fig. 1(a), the floor structure used for underfloor air conditioning is configured, for example, by erecting a plurality of support members 16 on a concrete slab 15 provided on a girder 14, and supporting a floor underlayment base plate (hereinafter simply referred to as floor material) 17, which is a structural member of the floor in a living room, so as to be located a predetermined distance above the concrete slab 15, to form an underfloor space between the concrete slab 15 and the floor material 17. A duct 3 extending from an air conditioning device 2 opens into the underfloor space, and air adjusted to a predetermined temperature is supplied.

As shown in Fig. 1(b), the flooring 17 is supported at its four corners by four support members 16 and laid throughout the living room. When the flooring 17 is laid, a gap G is formed between adjacent flooring materials 17. This gap G is provided so that the flooring materials 17 do not come into close contact with each other, for example, in consideration of the workability of laying the flooring materials 17. Then, the heat transfer promotion fins 20 according to this embodiment are inserted into the gap G, and the floor finishing material 18 is laid over the flooring materials 17 after the heat transfer promotion fins 20 are inserted, thereby forming the floor surface of the living room.
In the following explanation, it is assumed that the living room side surface 17a of each floor material 17 is formed in a flat plane, and when multiple floor materials 17 are laid out to form a single floor, it is assumed that the living room side surface 17a of each floor material 17 forms a single flat plane.

The flooring material 17 according to this embodiment is made of a metal material capable of conducting heat from the air supply from the air conditioner to the underfloor space from the underfloor space side to the living room side. The metal material referred to here may be any material capable of efficiently conducting heat in the underfloor space to the living room side, and may be in the form of a sheet panel such as particle board used as a conventional flooring material, a wood material such as a mortar (plywood, etc.) wrapped in a metal plate such as steel or aluminum or other light metal, or the flooring material 17 itself may be made of a metal material such as steel or aluminum or other light metal. In other words, the surface of the flooring material 17 may be made of a metal material with good thermal conductivity.
In this embodiment, the floor material 17 is shown as a square as shown in Figure 1 (b), but is not limited to this and may be other rectangular shapes, or polygonal shapes other than a rectangle, or any other shape that can be laid out on the floor.
This makes it possible to effectively utilize the heat contained in the supply air blown out from the air conditioner 2 to under the floor.

2 shows an external perspective view and an installation form of the heat transfer promotion fin 20. As shown in FIG. 2(b), the heat transfer promotion fin 20 is formed so that it can be inserted along the extension direction of the gap G formed by adjacent floor materials 17;17. The extension direction of the gap G here refers to the direction in which the sides of the floor material 17 extend. The extension direction of this gap G is called the longitudinal direction of the heat transfer promotion fin 20. The heat transfer promotion fin 20 has a T-shaped cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and includes an insertion piece 22 that is inserted into the gap G, and an installation piece 24 that straddles the adjacent floor materials 17;17 and is installed on the surface on the living room side (hereinafter referred to as the living room side surface) 17a;17a.

The insertion piece 22 is formed in a long, flat rectangular shape so that it can be inserted vertically into the floor material 17.
The erection piece 24 is formed integrally with the insertion piece 22 so as to be able to contact the living room side surfaces 17a, 17a of the set of floor materials 17, 17 that form the gap G when the insertion piece 22 is inserted into the gap G. The insertion piece 22 and the erection piece 24 may be formed separately and then integrated together. The longitudinal direction of the insertion piece 22 and the erection piece 24 is the same, and the length will be described as L20.

The installation piece 24 is formed in a plate shape having a contact surface 24a that contacts the living room side surface 17a of the floor material 17 and a support surface 24b on which the floor finishing material 18 is placed. Note that in FIG. 2, the contact surface 24a and the support surface 24b of the installation piece 24 are each shown as flat surfaces, but are not limited to this.

The contact surface 24a may have a shape corresponding to the occupant-room-side surface 17a of the floor material 17, i.e., may be capable of surface contact with the occupant-room-side surface 17a. In this embodiment, since the occupant-room-side surface 17a of the floor material 17 is planar, the shape of the contact surface 24a is also shown as planar. Note that, although the occupant-room-side surface 17a of the floor material 17 has been described as planar, the floor material 17 may be formed such that the periphery of the occupant-room-side surface 17a of the floor material 17 is recessed more than other portions so that the placement surface 24b is flush with the occupant-room-side surface 17a when the heat transfer promotion fin 20 is inserted into the gap G and the contact surface 24a is brought into contact with the occupant-room-side surface 17a of the floor material 17.
In addition, in this embodiment, the support surface 24b is flat and parallel to the contact surface 24a, but this is not limited to this. Taking into consideration that the floor finishing material 18 will be placed on it, it may be curved, such as spherical, so as to smoothly connect with the living room side surface 17a, as shown in Figure 3.
Also, although not shown, for example, when the heat transfer promotion fin 20 is formed as shown in Figure 2, the area on the floor material 17 on which the mounting piece 24 is placed may be recessed more than other parts so that the floor material 17 and the heat transfer promotion fin 20 are flush with each other.

The heat transfer promotion fin 20 may be formed so that the thickness t22 of the insertion piece 22 is narrower than the gap G that may occur between the floor materials 17; 17, and the width W24 of the mounting piece 24 is wider than the gap G.
Furthermore, the thickness t24 of the bridging piece 24 and the area of the contact surface 24a may be set appropriately, for example, according to the thermal conductivity of the material from which the heat transfer enhancement fin 20 is formed.

In addition, when the heat transfer promotion fins 20 are arranged in the gap G around the floor material 17 so as to surround the four sides of the floor material 17 as shown in Figure 4, for example, it is advisable to set the shape of the installation pieces 24 so that the installation pieces 24; 24 do not interfere with each other. Figure 4 shows only the heat transfer promotion fins 20 of the shape shown in Figure 2 arranged on the four sides of a single floor material 17, and in this case, the length L20 of the heat transfer promotion fins 20 is set shorter than the length L17 of the sides of the floor material 17 so that the installation pieces 24; 24 do not interfere with each other.

The shape of the mounting pieces 24 in the heat transfer enhancing fin 20 is not limited to the rectangular shape in the plan view shown in Fig. 2B. For example, a plurality of shapes of the mounting pieces 24 may be prepared so that the gap G can be blocked by the mounting pieces 24.
Also, instead of inserting one heat transfer promotion fin 20 into each gap G, multiple fins having a length shorter than the side length L17 of the floor material 17 may be inserted.

The heat transfer promotion fin 20 has been described as having the longitudinal length L22 of the insertion piece 22 and the longitudinal length L24 of the mounting piece 24 being the same, but this is not limited to this, and the length L22 of the insertion piece 22 may be longer or shorter than the length L24 of the mounting piece 24.

The insertion length D22 of the insertion piece 22 into the gap G is a length that does not cause the installation piece 24 to shift position, and may be, for example, shorter than the thickness t17 of the floor material 17, and preferably longer than the thickness t17 of the floor material 17.

It is preferable that the material of the heat transfer promotion fins 20 has a thermal conductivity at least equal to or greater than that of the material forming the surface of the flooring 17. In other words, it is preferable that the material has a thermal conductivity higher than that of the material forming the surface of the flooring 17.

The function of the heat transfer enhancement fins 20 will now be described.
The underfloor space is heated or cooled by the heat of the supply air supplied to the underfloor space from the air conditioning unit 2. The air in the underfloor space heated or cooled by the supply air transfers heat to the underfloor surface 17b of the floor material 17 that defines the underfloor space. The heat transferred to the underfloor surface 17b of the floor material 17 is conducted within the floor material 17 from the underfloor surface 17b side to the room-side surface 17a. The heat conducted to the room-side surface 17a side is transferred via the heat transfer promotion fin 20 from one floor material 17 forming the gap G into which the heat transfer promotion fin 20 is inserted to the other floor material 17.

In this way, by conducting heat to adjacent flooring materials 17 via the heat transfer promotion fins 20, the temperature of the flooring materials 17 can be made uniform even if there are temperature variations in the space under the floor, and radiant heat can be applied to the entire room.

Figure 5 shows another arrangement of the heat transfer promotion fins 20. This figure shows a case where, as shown in Figure 1, a sock duct 5 is further connected to the duct 3 that extends from the air conditioner 2 and opens into the underfloor space, and air is supplied to the underfloor space from the sock duct 5. The sock duct 5 is provided so as to be located below a desk 7 in an office or other room. In such a case, by arranging the heat transfer promotion fins 20 so as to surround the sock duct 5 together with the desk 7, heat radiation can be applied only to the required range in the room.

In addition, by setting the insertion length D22 of the insertion piece 22 of each heat transfer promotion fin 20 to a length that sufficiently penetrates the floor material 17, the radiant heat in the area where the desk 7 is placed can be made to act more effectively.
In other words, as shown by x in Figure 2 (c), the insertion piece 22 of the heat transfer promotion fin 20 protrudes downwardly from the under-floor surface 17b, which is the underside of the floor material 17, and the length that penetrates into the under-floor space is increased, so that the contact area with the air supplied from the air conditioning unit 2 to the under-floor space increases, and a large amount of heat from the supply air can be obtained by the heat transfer promotion fin 20, thereby adding and promoting a radiant environment other than the air outlet.
Here, the heat transfer enhancement fins 20 are described as being provided so as to surround the sock duct 5, but the heat transfer enhancement fins 20 may be provided so as to surround the supply air blown out from the duct 3 without providing the sock duct 5.

In the above embodiment, the insertion piece 22 of the heat transfer promotion fin 20 is formed in a flat plate shape, but this is not limited to this and may be changed appropriately to a corrugated plate shape or the like. For example, as shown in FIG. 6(a), the insertion piece 22 of the heat transfer promotion fin 20 may be provided with a protrusion 26. The number of protrusions 26 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 6(a) and may be changed appropriately. As shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 6(a), each protrusion 26 is connected to the insertion piece 22 by a hinge mechanism or the like and is provided rotatably relative to the insertion piece 22. When the protrusion 26 is inserted into the gap G, it extends along the insertion piece 22, and after insertion, it rotates due to the weight of the protrusion 26, and the protrusion 26 comes into contact with the insertion piece 22, thereby expanding the surface area of the insertion piece 22. In this way, by forming the protrusion 26 on the insertion piece 22, the contact area with the supply air in the underfloor space can be increased, so that more heat can be absorbed from the supply air in the underfloor space and the absorbed heat can be transferred to the room side surface 17a of the floor material 17 with which the heat transfer promotion fin 20 comes into contact, thereby further promoting the effect of radiating heat into the room.
Also, as shown in FIG. 6B, the heat transfer promotion fin 20 may have a heat insulating sheet 23 attached to one side of the insert piece 22 to prevent heat transfer (conduction). Note that the heat insulating sheet 23 is not limited to the heat insulating sheet 23 as long as it prevents heat transfer (conduction) on one side of the insert piece 22. Also, instead of forming the insert piece 22 as a separate body like the heat insulating sheet 23, one side of the insert piece 22 may be formed from a material with good heat transfer (conduction) and the other side may be formed integrally with a material that prevents heat transfer (conduction). Needless to say, the material with good heat transfer (conduction) on one side forms the installation piece 24. That is, by having one side of the insert piece 22 have heat insulating properties, it is possible to select an area in which radiant air conditioning is actively used and an area in which it is not used in the laid floor material 17.

In the above explanation, it has been described that gaps G are formed around the floor material 17 when the floor material 17 is laid, but considering the effect obtained by inserting the heat transfer promotion fins 20 into the underfloor space, even if there are no gaps G between the floor materials 17, it is also possible to intentionally provide gaps G between the floor materials 17; 17 and insert the heat transfer promotion fins 20 therein.

14 Beam, 15 Concrete slab, 16 Support member, 17 Floor base substrate; Floor material,
17a: room side surface; 17b: underfloor surface; 18: floor finishing material; 20: heat transfer promotion fin;
22 insertion piece, 24 mounting piece, 24a contact surface, 24b mounting surface, G gap.

Claims (2)

A heat transfer promotion fin used in a floor structure in which an underfloor space partitioned by a plurality of floor materials can be used as an underfloor air conditioning system,
An insertion piece that is inserted into the gap between adjacent floor materials and protrudes below the bottom surface of the floor materials;
A bridging piece formed so as to be able to bridge the gap and come into contact with an upper surface of the floor material forming the gap;
Equipped with
The insert piece and the installation piece are made of a material having a thermal conductivity equal to or higher than that of the surface of the flooring material,
A heat transfer promotion fin for use in a floor structure, characterized in that the insertion piece is folded when inserted into the gap between the floor materials and has a protrusion that expands within the space under the floor. The heat transfer enhancing fin according to claim 1 , wherein one surface of the insert is thermally insulating.