JPH0660748B2 - 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 in which a front panel is attached to the front of a rear plate body to form a case body, and at least the front panel is an injection molded product made of a synthetic resin material. The present invention relates to a structure for blocking a resin flow line (weld line) generated by injection molding.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional air conditioner indoor unit, a front panel is attached to the front surface of a rear plate body to form a case body, and the case body is provided with an air inlet and an air outlet. ing.

The front panel is provided with a suction grill corresponding to the air suction port. The front panel and the suction grill are made of a synthetic resin material and are integrally molded, or separately molded and then integrated. An indoor heat exchanger, a fan, etc. are incorporated in the case body.

The rear plate body is directly attached to the wall surface of the air-conditioned room, and in order to ensure rigidity, a part or the whole of the attachment portion is formed of a metal plate material. On the other hand, the front panel is formed of a synthetic resin material because it is provided for a cover, so to speak, to ensure aesthetic appearance.

That is, in the indoor unit of the air conditioner, at least the front panel is made of synthetic resin material. Most of the forming means is injection molding, which has extremely high productivity. Therefore,
If the material of the synthetic resin material is further limited, it will be a thermoplastic resin material.

[0006]

By the way, in a general injection molding process, a heated and melted synthetic resin material is injected at a predetermined high pressure into a cavity formed between a fixed mold and a movable mold. The molds are separated from each other while the resin material is cooled and solidified, and the molded product is taken out.

In such an injection molding process, when there are a plurality of material injection ports (gates), the resins injected into the cavities from these gates flow separately, and at the portions where the resins of each flow merge, A flow line called a weld line is generated.

This is because the tips of the resin flows start to solidify from the time of injection from the gate, and even if the resins that have flowed separately merge, they cannot be completely mixed, and the tips of the merged resins remain as they are. This is because it will end up. When the product is completed and remains in a place where such a weld line can be seen, the commercial value is impaired.

As long as the injection molding process is adopted, it is unavoidable to avoid the occurrence of the weld line. However, since it is a synthetic resin material, the weld line cannot be cut and removed, and the weld line is left as it is. Must be provided to the user at.

The present invention has been made by paying attention to the above circumstances, and its purpose is to completely shield the weld line generated by the injection molding process to improve the appearance and improve the commercial value. It is to provide an air conditioner with improved performance.

[0011]

To achieve the above object, a first invention is an air conditioner in which a front panel is attached to the front surface of a rear plate body to form a case body, and at least the front panel is composed. It is an injection-molded product that uses a resin material, and this surface side is an air conditioner that is hot stamped to shield the resin flow line (weld line) generated by the injection molding process. is there.

A second aspect of the invention is characterized in that the corner portion of the front panel is a two-dimensional curved surface or a three-dimensional curved surface, and hot stamping is performed by an optimum means for each. The air conditioner according to claim 1.

[0013]

It is unavoidable that weld lines are formed on the surface side of the injection molded product, but by performing hot stamping on this surface side, all the weld lines can be completely shielded.

The corner portion of the front panel has a two-dimensional curved surface or a three-dimensional curved surface, and by performing hot stamping by the most suitable means for each, the weld line shielding particularly at the corner portion is completed. Become.

[0015]

EXAMPLE FIG. 1A shows an indoor unit of an air conditioner. In this indoor unit, a front panel 2 is attached to the front surface of a rear plate body 1 to form a case body 3, and the case body 3 is provided with an air inlet 4 and an air outlet 5.

The front panel 2 is provided with a suction grill 6 corresponding to the air suction port 4. The front panel 2 and the suction grill 6 are integrally formed by injection molding using a thermoplastic resin material.

Then, hot stamping, which will be described later, is performed on these front surfaces. Here, since the corner portions 9 which are the four corners on the front surface side of the front panel 2 are formed into a two-dimensional single curved surface, the hot stamping means most suitable for this curved surface is adopted. Inside the case body 3, an indoor heat exchanger, a fan, etc., which are not shown, are incorporated.

FIG. 1 (B) shows an indoor unit 20 of an air conditioner having another shape and structure.
0 is the front panel 22 mounted on the front of the rear plate body 21,
The case body 23 is configured. The case body 23 is provided with an air suction port 24 and an air outlet port 25. The front panel 22 is provided with a suction grill 26 corresponding to the air suction port 24.

The front panel 22 and the suction grille 26 are molded separately from each other by injection molding using a thermoplastic resin material, as shown in FIG.
Later, they are fixed and integrated with each other.

The suction grill 26 comprises a peripheral frame 27 and a grill portion 28 which are integrally molded. As shown in an enlarged manner in FIG. 3, the corner portions 29 of the peripheral frame 27 have no corners and are all rounded. That is, the corner portion 29 is formed into a three-dimensional curved surface.

Hot stamping, which will be described later, is performed on the surface side of the suction grill 26. However, since the corner portion 29 is formed in a three-dimensional curved surface, the most suitable means is adopted. The case body 2
Needless to say, an indoor heat exchanger, a fan, and the like, which are not shown, are incorporated in the unit 3.

Next, the hot stamping process for the front panel 2 integrally formed with the suction grill 6 shown in FIG. 1A will be described. That is, in this case, the hot stamping is optimal for the case where the corner portion 9 of the front panel 2 is formed into a two-dimensional curved surface.

First, as shown in FIG. 4, the front panel 2
The jig 50 is placed inside and the roller 51 is heated to 200 ° C. or higher. Further, while pressing the hot stamp sheet 53 against the processed surface of the front panel 2, the hot stamp sheet 53 moves in the direction of the arrow in the figure. As a result, the hot stamp foil on the hot stamp sheet 53 can be thermally transferred to the upper surface of the front panel 2. In addition, 54 and 55 are hot stamp sheets 53
Is the feeder.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, another jig 56 is used.
Attach the front panel 2 to the
Heat to above and rotate. While pressing the hot stamping sheet 53 against the processed surface of the front panel 2, the hot stamping sheet 53 is moved in the direction of the arrow in the figure. As a result, the hot stamp foil on the hot stamp sheet 53 can be thermally transferred to the left and right surfaces of the front panel 2 and the front surface.

In this way, the optimum hot stamping for the one in which the corner portion of the front panel 2 is formed into a two-dimensional curved surface is completed. The weld line remaining on the surface side is completely shielded, and its commercial value is improved.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, hot stamping for the suction grille 26 in which each corner portion 29 has no corners and is formed into a three-dimensional curved surface with all rounded corners explain.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, injection molding is performed after passing the hot stamping sheet 63 between the fixed side mold 61 and the moving side mold 62. At the time of mold clamping, the hot stamp foil can be thermally transferred to the front surface side of the suction grill 26 with a seam (parting line) between the fixed mold 61 and the movable mold 62 as a boundary.

The material inlets (gates) 64, 64 are provided in the fixed mold 61. Therefore, the hot stamp foil can be thermally transferred to the front surface side of the suction grill 26 by the high temperature and high pressure of the resin when the material is injected.

When performing hot stamping simultaneously with such injection molding, it is a necessary condition that the depth dimension α of the product is small. That is, the corner portion 29 is set to 3
In order to form a dimensional curved surface, it is necessary to have as large a roundness as possible, and the hot stamp foil thermally transferred here has an extremely large extension. Therefore, it must be planned that there will be no margin in the portion in the depth direction, and the smaller the depth dimension α, the better.

As described above, the front panel 22 is formed separately from the suction grill 26. Therefore, the depth dimension of the front panel 22 is sufficiently small, and even if the corner portion is formed into a three-dimensional curved surface, the hot stamping process simultaneously with the injection molding process as described in FIG. 7 can be applied. The hot stamp foil that is thermally transferred to this surface side is
Completely shield the weld line remaining on the surface side to improve the commercial value.

In particular, the hot stamping process simultaneously with the injection molding process does not require post-processing, which contributes to cost reduction, and the finished product itself does not warp, and the quality is stabilized. .

Since the suction grill 26 and the corners of the front panel 22 are all rounded,
It has a soft appearance and can be freely shaped, making it easy to design.

[0033]

As described above, the present invention is a front panel made of an injection-molded product using at least a synthetic resin material, and is produced by injection molding by hot stamping the surface side. Since the flow line (weld line) of the resin is shielded, the appearance is improved and the product value is enhanced.

Further, even if the corner portion of the front panel is formed into a two-dimensional curved surface or a three-dimensional curved surface, hot stamping is performed by the most suitable means. This has the effect of completely improving reliability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an indoor unit showing an embodiment of the present invention. (B) is a perspective view of the indoor unit of a different form from (A).

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the front panel and the suction grill of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of the suction grill of the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a first step of hot stamping.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a second step of hot stamping.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating hot stamping by another means. 1, 21 ... Rear plate body, 2, 22 ... Front panel, 3, 23
... Case body, 9, 29 ... Corner part.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioner in which a front panel is attached to the front surface of a rear plate body to form a case body, at least the front panel is an injection-molded product using a synthetic resin material, and the front surface side has: An air conditioner characterized by being hot-stamped to shield a resin flow line (weld line) generated by injection molding. 2. The corner portion of the front panel is a two-dimensional curved surface or a three-dimensional curved surface, and hot stamping is performed by an optimum means for each of them. Air conditioner.