JPS583186B2 - Outdoor unit of separate air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improved structure of an outdoor unit that is combined with an indoor unit to form a separate air conditioner.

The outdoor unit of a small separate type air conditioner generally used for home use usually has one heat exchanger mounted on the tower, and performs indoor heating and cooling by exchanging heat with outside air. .

During winter heating, when the outside air temperature drops and frost builds up on the heat exchanger in the outdoor unit, the cycle is switched to the reverse cycle and defrosting operation is performed. Measures were taken to stop the indoor ventilation blades because cold air was blowing out.

However, it is virtually impossible to avoid a drop in indoor temperature during heating, which causes discomfort.

The present invention focuses on this point, and provides an outdoor unit in which at least two or more heat exchangers are installed in the outdoor unit so that heating operation can continue even during defrosting operation. It provides a reasonable structure.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings. In FIGS. 1 to 4, 1 is an outdoor unit installed outdoors, and outside air intake ports 2a, 2b, 2c are provided on three sides.
A rectangular parallelepiped-shaped housing 6 is formed by an outer box 4 with an open bottom surface and a discharge port 3 on the upper surface, and a bottom plate 5 that is covered by the outer box from above.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a partition wall erected on the bottom plate 5, which roughly divides the longitudinal space inside the housing 6 into two sections, one being a machine room 8 and the other a heat exchange room 9. The machine room 8 is further divided into a partition wall 10. The electrical equipment room 11 is formed by dividing the electrical equipment room 11 into sections.

12a and 12b are needle-fin type heat exchangers, each having the same shape, in which heat exchange pipes 14 around which needle-like fins 13 are wound and fixed are stacked and fixed in a drum shape, and there are a plurality of needle-fin type heat exchangers (-two in the example); 15b, 15c are fixtures for fixing both heat exchangers on the bottom plate 5, 16a, 16b are heat exchangers 12a,
When the drum 12b is fixed, the individually controlled blower motors 17a and 17 are installed upright on the bottom plate 5 so as to be housed in the drum.
The support legs 18a and 18b of b are the rotating shaft 19 of this electric motor.
a, 19b and located above the drum-shaped interior of the heat exchanger 12a12b, all of which are housed in the heat exchange chamber 9.

20 is a compressor stored and mounted in the machine room 8, 21a2lb
22a and 22b are electrical components housed in the electrical equipment room 11 and attached to the partition wall 7 and the partition wall 10, and 22a and 22b are connection valves with inter-unit piping 23a and 23b, which will be described later.

Next, the piping circuit configuration of the outdoor unit 1 incorporating the compressor 20 and heat exchangers 12a, 12b, and the indoor unit 24 will be explained based on FIG.

The discharge pipe 25 of the compressor 20 is connected to one connection valve 22a through a four-way valve 26, and to a five-way valve 27 through the four-way valve 26.
, the needle-like fin type heat exchangers 1 and 2a in parallel relationship.
, 1 2b, capillary tubes 28a, 28b, drainer dryer 29, subcooler 30, and side pipe 31 which is connected in sequence to the other connecting valve 22b and branched from the discharge pipe 25.
Five-way valve 2 via a, 3lb on-off valves 32a, 32b
7K1 Also, heat exchangers 1 2a, 1 2b and capillary tube 2
A capillary tube 33 connects the pipes 8a and 28b, and check valves 34a and 34b are connected in parallel to each other, and the pipes are housed in the outdoor unit 1 in this connected state.

The indoor unit 24 incorporates a great fin heat exchanger 35, a parallel circuit of a capillary tube 36, and a check valve 37 in a series-connected piping state, and the inter-unit piping 23a, At 23b, it is connected to the outdoor unit 1 during on-site installation to form a heating and cooling circuit.

In such a circuit configuration, when the four-way valve 26 is set to the solid state and the on-off valves 32a and 32b are closed, the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 20 flows through the discharge pipe 25, the four-way valve 26, the connecting valve 22a, and the inter-unit piping. 23a - heat exchanger 35 in the indoor unit 24 - check valve 37 - inter-unit piping 2
3b - connection valve 22b - subcooler 30 - strainer dryer 29 - capillary tube 28a single needle fin type heat exchanger 12a capillary tube 28
b Single-needle fin type heat exchanger 12b - Five-way valve 27 - Four-way valve 26 - Returns to the compressor 20 and heats the indoor air with the heat exchanger 35 in the indoor unit 24 which acts as a condenser to heat the indoor air. Needle-fin type heat exchangers 12a, 12 act as evaporators for heating, especially when the outside temperature is low in winter.
As frost adheres to b, the heating effect rapidly decreases, making it impossible to continue heating operation.

When such a state occurs, the compressor 20 is opened by opening only the on-off valve 32a while leaving the four-way valve 26 set to the solid line state.
A part of the high temperature and high pressure discharge refrigerant discharged from the discharge pipe 25
The water is diverted to the side pipe 31a, flows into the five-way valve 27 via the on-off valve 32a, flows into the five-way valve and flows into one needle-fin type heat exchanger 12a, and adheres to this heat exchanger. Melt the frost that is present.

At this time, the blower blades 18a of the heat exchanger 12a during defrosting have stopped rotating, stopping heat exchange with the low-temperature outside air and preventing the defrosting time from increasing.

The liquid refrigerant condensed in the heat exchanger 12a is depressurized in the capillary tube 33, and then flows into the other needle-fin type heat exchanger 12b.

During such operation, the remaining discharged refrigerant that has not been diverted to the side pipe 31a is transferred from the four-way valve 26 to the indoor unit 24, subcooler 30, strainer dryer 29, capillary tube 28b, and heat exchanger 12b, as in the heating operation described above. The combined liquid refrigerant is evaporated in the heat exchanger 12b and then passed through the five-way valve 21-
It returns to the compressor 20 through the four-way valve 26 and continues heating operation.

When the frost on the heat exchanger 12a is completely removed, the on-off valve 32a is closed while keeping the four-way valve 26 in the solid line state, and the other on-off valve 32b is opened, and the blower blades 18 of the heat exchanger 12a are closed.
When the rotation of the fan blade 18a is restarted and the rotation of the other blower blade 18b is stopped, the air flows from the discharge pipe 25 through the side pipe 3lb to the on-off valve 32b to the five-way valve 27 to the single-needle fin heat exchanger 12b to the capillary tube 33. Flows to the defrosted heat exchanger 12a.

At the same time, the indoor unit 24 - subcooler 30 - strainer dryer 29 - capillary tube 28a - heat exchanger 12a flows together with the liquid refrigerant, five-way valve 27 - four-way valve 26 - compressor 2
0, the heat exchanger 12a acts as an evaporator, the heat exchangers 12b and 35 act as condensers, and the heating operation continues while defrosting the heat exchanger 12b as described above.

In the cooling operation, when the four-way valve 26 is switched to the broken line state K and the on-off valves 32a and 32b are closed, the cycle is reversed to the heating cycle described above, and the compressor 20 - the four-way valve 26 - the five-way valve 21
- Strainer dryer 29 - Supercooler 30 - Connection valve 22b - Inter-unit piping 23b - Capillary tube 36 - Heat exchange pipe 35 - Inter-unit piping 23a - Connection valve 22a - Four-way valve 26 - Compressor 20 and refrigerant circulation The interior of the room can be cooled by using the heat exchanger 35 as an evaporator.

During such a cooling operation and during the above-mentioned heating operation, the needle-fin type heat exchanger 12 is activated by simultaneously turning on and stopping the blower blades 18a and 18b, or turning on and off one of them depending on the outside air temperature.
Since the amount of heat exchanged between a and 12b can be controlled, it is possible to change the rotation speed of at least the blower as a method of controlling the amount of heat exchanged, unlike the conventional outdoor unit structure that only had one heat exchanger and one blower. This eliminates the need for a speed mechanism that allows

Of course, if the blowing electric motors 17a and 17b are equipped with strong, medium, and weak speed control mechanisms as in the past, and the speeds of these two electric motors are individually controlled, fine control corresponding to fluctuations in outside temperature can be achieved.

Further, a plurality of needle-fin type heat exchangers can be used alternately as a condenser and the other as an evaporator using a switching valve mechanism, and the electric motor of the heat exchanger that acts as a condenser is stopped to act as an evaporator. Since the electric motor of the heat exchanger is operated, heating operation can continue even during defrosting operation.
In addition, by stopping the electric motor, heat exchange with low-temperature outside air in the heat exchanger during defrosting can be prevented, and the defrosting operation can be made as short as possible.

Furthermore, a five-way valve 27 and an on-off valve 32a are installed in one of the remaining spaces 38a created by arranging the drum-shaped needle-fin type heat exchangers 12a and 12b in the space inside the rectangular parallelepiped housing 6.
, 32b in the other free space 38.
Capillary tubes 28a, 28b, 33, strainer dryer 29, supercooler 30, and check valves 34a, 34b are installed in b.
The switching valve mechanism 39b including the four-way valve 26 is housed in the machine room 8, so that the machine room 8 can be kept to the minimum volume that can accommodate the compressor 20 and the four-way valve 26, and the outdoor unit 1 can be kept compact. Furthermore, the drum-shaped needle-fin type heat exchangers 12a and 12b do not necessarily need to be installed upright on the bottom plate 5 as in the above-mentioned embodiment.
As shown in the figure, it may be installed horizontally together with the blower blades 18a and 18b.

Of course, in such a structure, the outer box 4 can be changed to have the outside air intake ports 2a, 2b so that the outside air intake direction is the top surface A, the back surface B, and the side surface C as shown by the arrow, and the exhaust direction is the front surface D. ，
2c and the outlet 3 need to be changed.

In addition, the same parts are given the same reference numerals.

As described above, in the outdoor unit of the present invention, the bottom plate and the outer box form a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped casing, and the longitudinal space of this casing is divided by partition walls into a machine room for a built-in compressor and a heat exchange room. In this heat exchange chamber, a plurality of drum-shaped needle-fin type heat exchangers are arranged in parallel in the longitudinal direction, and a blowing motor whose operation is controlled individually is housed in each drum-shaped heat exchanger. A separate air conditioner is constructed by forming an outside air inlet and an outlet on the outer box wall facing the heat exchange room and combining with an indoor unit connected via inter-unit piping. In this way, we have broken the usual concept of the outdoor unit, in which a single heat exchanger has been installed in the tower, from the unit structure perspective. Compared to the conventional unit structure, which had a large shape due to comparable capacity and a long depth to ensure ventilation, the design has a long and slim rectangular shape, making it easier to connect adjacent buildings. It is designed so that it can be installed even in narrow alleys.

In addition, the heat exchange amount can be adjusted according to the outside temperature during cooling/heating operation by individually controlling the operation of multiple air blowing motors. By alternately using one condenser and the other as an evaporator, it is possible to perform heating while defrosting, and since the electric motor of the heat exchanger, which acts as a condenser, is stopped, the defrosting operation time can be shortened. In this way, the reduction in heating capacity can be kept to a minimum.

Furthermore, by housing these switching valve mechanisms in the extra space surrounded by the plurality of needle-fin type heat exchangers and the housing, the entire outdoor unit can be made more compact. Extremely useful.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings all show an embodiment of the outdoor unit of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a perspective view, FIG. 2 is a perspective view with the outer box removed, and FIG.
Figure 3- is an exploded perspective view of Figure 2, and Figure 4 is IV- of Figure 1.
IV' sectional view, FIG. 5 is a piping circuit configuration diagram of an outdoor unit and an indoor unit, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another embodiment in place of the kidney shown in FIG. 2. 1... Outdoor unit, 2a, 2b, 2C1.
...Outside air inlet, 3...Outlet, 4...
... Outer box, 5 ... Bottom plate, 6 ... Housing,
7... Bulkhead, 8... Machine room, 9...
・Heat exchange chamber, l2 a, 12 b...acicular fin type heat exchanger, 17a, 17b...blower electric motor, 20...compressor, 23a, 23b... ...
...Piping between units, 24...Indoor unit, 38a, 38b...Extra space, 3 9a, 3
9 b...Switching valve mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. The bottom plate and the outer box form a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped housing, and the longitudinal space of this housing is divided by a partition wall into a machine room for housing a compressor and a heat exchange room, A plurality of drum-shaped needle-fin type heat exchangers are arranged in parallel in the longitudinal direction K in this heat exchange chamber, and each of the heat exchangers is individually controlled, and is stopped when the heat exchanger acts as a condenser by a switching valve mechanism. A blowing electric motor to be operated when acting as an evaporator is housed in each drum of the heat exchanger, and an outside air intake port and an exhaust port are formed on the wall surface of the outer box facing the heat exchange chamber. The outdoor unit of a separate air conditioner. 2. The outdoor unit of a separate air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the switching valve mechanism is housed in an extra space surrounded by a plurality of needle-fin type heat exchangers and a housing.