JPS6337295B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly to an improvement in an air conditioner in which drain water is forced to be drained intermittently using a pump.

BACKGROUND ART An air conditioner, for example, an indoor unit of a separate indoor/outdoor air conditioner, usually employs a so-called wall-mounting method in which an indoor unit X is fixed to the inner surface of a wall Y, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the indoor unit 3, indoor air is sucked in through the filter 8 from the suction port 7 provided on the front wall of the casing 1, and after bringing this air into contact with the heat exchanger 2, It is configured to blow out obliquely downward through the air outlet 9 that is provided with the air. When this indoor unit
Water is naturally drained outside through the water.

By the way, regarding such an air conditioner,
To further improve efficiency during cooling,
All you have to do is actively sprinkle coolant on the condenser inside the outdoor unit. That is, if a separate water supply system is provided and the condenser is cooled by this water supply system, efficiency can be improved. However, providing a special water supply system inevitably increases the cost and troublesome maintenance of the entire device.

Therefore, as a means to resolve this problem and actively cool the condenser, we have developed an indoor unit
One possibility is to use the drain water generated inside the outdoor unit to cool the condenser inside the outdoor unit. however,
The conventional indoor unit X discharges drain water to the outside using natural falling. Therefore, if you try to use drain water for cooling the outdoor unit,
It is necessary to position the outdoor unit below the indoor unit X, and there is a problem that the position where the outdoor unit is installed is specified. Therefore, in order to solve this problem, a drain water storage container is installed inside the indoor unit It is conceivable to route the water to the condenser of the outdoor unit. In this way, the drain water can be used effectively, and the degree of freedom in installing the outdoor unit can be expanded.

However, with this configuration, while it is possible to use drain water effectively, there is a risk that drain water will overflow into the room if the pump does not operate for some reason, and some effective countermeasure against this is desired.

Furthermore, an electric motor is required to drive the pump, and there is a desire for some effective countermeasure against the increase in power consumption and noise caused by this electric motor.

The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and its purpose is to ensure that when drain water overflows from a drain water storage container, an alarm system is activated before the drain water overflows to the outside. Moreover, it can effectively suppress the increase in power consumption and noise caused by installing a pump, and eliminates the problems that tend to occur when using an intermittent forced drainage method using a pump. Our goal is to provide air conditioners that can.

Hereinafter, details of the present invention will be explained with reference to illustrated embodiments.

The figure shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a ceiling-mounted indoor unit, which is an indoor/outdoor separation type air conditioner.

In FIG. 4, R indicates the ceiling, and S indicates the indoor unit attached to the lower surface of the ceiling R.

The indoor unit S is roughly divided into a casing 11 which is thin and flat in the vertical direction and whose outer shape is, for example, a disk shape, and an air suction port 12 formed in the center of the lower wall of the casing 11. , a plurality of air outlets 13 are formed at equal intervals on the side wall of the housing 11, and indoor air is sucked in through the air outlet 12, which is provided in the housing 11 to face the suction opening 12. A centrifugal electric fan 14, for example, which blows air out in all directions through the air outlet 13, and a heat exchanger 15 arranged annularly between the electric fan 14 and the air outlet 13 as shown in FIG. It is made up of.

The housing 11 is fixed to the lower surface of the ceiling R via a mounting bracket, and a dust filter 16 is attached to the inside of the suction port 12 so as to cover the suction port 12.

A drain pan 17 is disposed below the heat exchanger 15 in the housing 11 to catch water droplets that condense on the surface and fall when the heat exchanger 15 is used as an evaporator. A bell mouth 18 is integrally formed inside the drain pan 17 to separate the suction passage and the discharge passage of the electric fan 14 .

As shown in FIG. 6, a container 20 is provided below the drain pan 17 and communicates with the drain pan 17 via a pipe 19. container 2
0, as shown in FIG.
A space 22 is formed between the container 21 and the inner surface of the bottom wall of the container 21 and the inner surface of the one side wall, respectively, and the container 21 is housed in a relationship such that the container 21 is submerged in the container 21 . A pipe 23 is provided on the bottom wall of the container 20 and penetrates the bottom wall of the container 21 in a liquid-tight manner.
One end of the pipe 23 is connected, and the other end of the pipe 23 penetrates the lower wall of the housing 11 and projects to the outside. A sealing cap 24 is attached to the projecting end of the pipe 23. Similarly, one end side of the pipe 25 is connected to the bottom wall of the container 21,
The other end of the pipe 25 penetrates the lower wall of the housing 11 and projects to the outside, and a sealing cap 26 is attached to the projecting portion. And the space 22
Detectors for detecting the intrusion of water, such as electrodes 27a and 27b, are arranged horizontally at a predetermined interval inside the auxiliary container 21. The housing 11 is connected to the housing 11 via the provided lead wire and a switch circuit (not shown).
It is connected to an alarm 28 fixed to the inner surface of the lower wall. Further, a pump 30 driven by an electric motor 29 fixed to the upper surface of the bell mouth 18 is installed on the inner surface of the bottom wall of the container 20. The electric motor 29 is driven according to the level of water 32 in the container 20 by three electrode devices 31 of different lengths inserted into the container 20 from the bell mouth 18 side. That is, it is driven when the shortest electrode and the intermediate length electrode are electrically connected by the water 32, and when the electrical continuity between the intermediate length electrode and the longest electrode is broken, the drive is activated. will be stopped. The discharge port of the pump 30 is connected to a pipe 33 that passes through the bell mouth 18 and is connected to the working fluid supply pipe 3 to the heat exchanger 15.
4. Power supply line to electric fan 14, alarm 28
The power line to the electric motor 29 and the power line (including the control line) to the electric motor 29 are protected by a protection tube 35 that protects them, and are led through the ceiling to an outdoor unit (not shown).

If such a configuration is used as an air conditioner, its operation will be as follows.

That is, the refrigerant liquefied by the outdoor unit is made to flow through the heat exchanger 15 through the pipe 34, and at the same time, the electric fan 14 is driven. electric fan 1
4 rotates, indoor air is sucked into the housing 11 from the suction port 12 as shown by the solid line arrow in FIG. Thereafter, the air is blown out radially from each outlet 13. As mentioned above, the heat exchanger 15
Since the refrigerant is flowing through the
Cold air will be blown out from 3. Furthermore, when the cooling operation is performed as described above, condensed water adheres to the surface of the heat exchanger 15, and this water falls into the drain pan 17 and then flows through the pipe 19 to the container 2.
Guided into 0. Therefore, water 3 in container 20
The level of 2 will gradually rise. Then, when the level of water 32 rises until it contacts both the shortest electrode and the intermediate length electrode of electrode arrangement 31, motor 29 begins to rotate, thereby activating pump 30. Water 32 is forcibly drained. In addition,
Water 32 is led to the outdoor unit through a pipe 33.
Then, when the level of water 32 decreases to a position where the intermediate length electrode and the longest electrode are no longer electrically connected by water 32, operation of electric motor 29 is stopped, and operation of pump 30 is also stopped. Therefore, every time the level of the water 32 reaches a predetermined level, it is forcibly pumped out of the room by the pump 30, and the function as an air conditioner is exhibited.

By the way, even if the level of the water 32 in the container 20 reaches a predetermined level, if the pump 30 does not operate for some reason, it operates as follows. That is, when the pump 30 is not activated, the level of the water 32 gradually increases until it overflows from the container 20, and this overflow water enters the space 22 formed between the container 20 and the auxiliary container 21. When water enters the space 22 in this way, the intruding water brings the electrodes 27a and 27b into conduction, and as a result, the alarm 28 is activated. Therefore, by the operation of the alarm 28, it can be known that the pump 30 is not operating normally, and by immediately turning off the power, it is possible to prevent drain water from overflowing into the room. can. In addition, after turning off the power,
It is sufficient to remove the caps 24 and 26 to drain the water in the container 20 and the space 22, and then perform inspection.

In this way, there is a container 20 that accommodates the condensed water collected in the drain pan 17, a pump 30 that is disposed within the container 20 and has a suction port that communicates with the container 20 and a drain port that communicates with the drain pipe 33; The electric motor 29 is placed outside the container 20 and drives the pump 30, and the first electrode is inserted into the container 20 from above and is set to have the shortest distance to the inner surface of the bottom wall of the container 20. an electrode group for water level detection consisting of a second electrode set long and a third electrode set the distance to an intermediate value;
The electric motor 29 is started to be driven when the second electrode and the third electrode are electrically connected by the water in the container 20, and as the water level in the container 20 decreases, the third electrode and the first electrode are connected to each other. A means is provided for stopping the drive of the electric motor 29 when the electrical connection between the two ends is broken. Therefore, the pump 30, that is, the electric motor 29 can be operated in an operating mode having hysteresis characteristics in response to changes in the water level in the container 20. Therefore, the electric motor is not frequently controlled to stop every time the water level in the container 20 slightly fluctuates.
The power consumption and noise of an electric motor are greatest during startup. However, if the operating state of the electric motor 29 is given a hysteresis characteristic in response to changes in the water level in the container 20 as described above, the electric motor 29 will not respond to changes in the water level.
Since the drive does not stop frequently, it is possible to suppress power consumption and noise as a result. Further, an auxiliary container 21 is provided which is connected to the container 20 for collecting drain water and into which overflow water from the container 20 enters, and an alarm 28 is activated when water enters the auxiliary container 21. Therefore, if the pump 30 does not operate normally,
This can be notified by the alarm 28, and it is possible to prevent the occurrence of water leakage into the room, which is likely to occur when a method of intermittent drainage using the pump 30 is adopted. The features of the forced drainage system can be maximized.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the container 20 is provided so as to be submerged in the auxiliary container 21, but this is not necessarily the case. For example, as shown in FIG. A pipe 41 may be connected in a communicating relationship, and this pipe 41 may be extended downward parallel to the side wall of the container 20, and this pipe 41 may be used as an auxiliary container.
Further, the present invention is not limited to a ceiling-mounted type, but can of course be applied to a wall-mounted type. It can also be applied to items that are not separated into indoor and outdoor areas.

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an air conditioner that can maximize the characteristics of a system in which drain water is intermittently discharged using a pump.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is an external view of a conventional air conditioner when the indoor unit is mounted on a wall, Figures 2 and 3 are
The figures are diagrams for explaining the internal configurations of different indoor units, FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the indoor unit in an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. Figure 6 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the main parts of the indoor unit, and Figure 7 is an external view of the drain water storage container of the indoor unit. 8 are longitudinal sectional views showing another example of the drain water storage container. R...Ceiling, S...Indoor unit, 11...Casing, 1
2... Suction port, 13... Outlet, 14... Electric fan, 15... Heat exchanger, 20... Container, 21...
...Auxiliary container, 22...Space, 27a, 27b...
Electrode, 28... Alarm, 30... Pump.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A drain pan provided near the evaporator to catch condensed water generated on the surface of the evaporator and falling; a container provided near the drain pan to contain the condensed water collected by the drain pan; and this container. a pump disposed inside the container and having a suction port communicating with the inside of the container and a drain port communicating with a drainage pipe; an electric motor disposed outside the container driving the pump; and a motor inserted into the container from above. The first electrode has the shortest distance to the inner surface of the bottom wall of the container, the second electrode has the longest distance, and the third electrode has the longest distance. When the water level detection electrode group, the second electrode, and the third electrode are electrically connected by the water in the container, the electric motor is started to be driven, and as the water level in the container decreases, the electric motor is started to be driven. means for stopping the driving of the electric motor when electrical continuity between the third electrode and the first electrode becomes non-conductive; An air conditioner comprising a container, a detector that sends an output signal when water enters the auxiliary container, and an alarm that performs an alarm operation based on the output signal of the detector. Device.