The present invention relates to the structure of a fan guard arranged in an air delivery unit of an outdoor unit of an air conditioner or the like.
Typically, an air delivery unit, such as an outdoor unit of an air conditioner, has a fan guard having a grill structure, which covers an air outlet in order to ensure safety and protect blades of an air delivery device (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3). However, the fan guard resists the stream of the air blown from the air outlet. In other words, the fan guard is one of the factors that raises the static pressure of the air delivery device. Also, interference between the air blown by the blades and the grill bars of the fan guard produces loud noise, which raises the level of the noise generated by the outdoor unit.
This problem is substantially negligible in, for example, a fan guard 9 having a grill structure formed only by steel wires a, b, c, d, which fan guard 9 employs a grill structure not only in an air blowing surface but also in side surfaces, as shown in
An outdoor unit illustrated in
When the air delivery device of the outdoor unit is activated and the fan (the impeller) of the air delivery device is rotated, air is drawn from an air inlet formed in the backside of the casing 1. The air introduced from the air inlet is then blown forward from the opening 2a of the casing 1. As illustrated in
Since the fan guard 9 is configured in the above-described manner, the fan guard 9 resists the stream of air when the air is blown from the air blowing grill 91 of the fan guard 9 after having been introduced through the opening 2a of the casing 1, as illustrated in
A bottom plate 29 is attached to the lower surface of the casing 1. A cylindrical fan guard 28 is arranged on top of the casing 1. The casing 1 receives a heat exchanger and an air delivery device (neither is shown), which is located above the heat exchanger. A base cap 26a shaped like a flat rectangular frame is arranged at the upper end of the casing 1. A non-illustrated circular opening is formed in the base cap 26a. A fan guard 28, which has been formed into a cylindrical shape through drawing, is attached to the opening of the base cap 26a. The fan guard 28 extends upward and the diameter of the fan guard 28 is decreased with respect to the diameter of the opening of the base cap 26a. An air blowing grill 27 having a grid-like structure is arranged at the upper surface of the fan guard 28.
As in the configurations shown in
To solve these problems, the structures described below have been proposed. For example, in a structure disclosed in Patent Document 4, a heat exchanger is arranged at the suction side of a propeller fan and an air blowing grill is mounted at the air blowing side of the propeller fan in the outdoor unit having a trunk-like shape. The outdoor unit has a first blowing passage extending from the propeller fan to the air blowing grill and a second blowing passage extending to the exterior without passing through the air blowing grill. The air flowing in the second air blowing passage moves between a fan guide and the propeller fan, and is blown to the exterior through the opening between the air blowing grill and the fan guide. In this manner, the stream of the air blown by the propeller fan is divided into a stream of air flowing in the first blowing passage and a stream of air moving in the second blowing passage. This reduces the amount of air flowing in the first blowing passage by the amount corresponding to the amount of air traveling in the second blowing passage. Correspondingly, the amount of air blown from the first blowing passage to the air blowing grill is decreased.
To solve similar problems, the structure described below has also been proposed. As disclosed in Patent Document 5, the outdoor unit also has a trunk-like shape and an outermost peripheral portion of a fan guard is extended along the axial direction of a fan motor by a predetermined dimension. A cutout is formed in the extended portion of the fan guard to form a narrow air passage between the fan guard and the casing. This air passage allows some of the air blown by the propeller fan to escape in a circumferential direction.
However, in the structure disclosed in Patent Document 4, it is necessary to form the second blowing passage in addition to the first blowing passage extending from the propeller fan to the air blowing grill. In this case, to provide the second blowing passage, a blowing side end of the fan guide (the bellmouth) must be subjected to special machining to form a round surface. This complicates the structure of the second blowing passage. Also, since a great amount of air flows in the second blowing passage, the noise caused in the second blowing passage must be regulated. Further, a large-sized opening, which is formed between the air blowing grill and the casing, degrades the outer appearance and makes it necessary to improve the attachment structure of the air blowing grill.
In the structure disclosed in Patent Document 5, the width of the circular frame forming the fan guard is increased, and the elongated cutout, which extends in a circumferential direction of the frame, is formed in the frame. However, rise of the static pressure of the air delivery device cannot be sufficiently reduced simply by forming the cutout in the frame. Also, since the cutout decreases the rigidity of the frame, the fan guard cannot be supported sufficiently and thus becomes easily deformed. Further, if the outdoor unit has an air outlet in a side wall of the casing and a cutout is formed in the entire outer peripheral portion of the frame, a short circuit may occur and decrease the heat exchange efficiency of the heat exchanger. The short circuit refers to the phenomenon in which, for example, when air conditioning is performed and heated air is blown from the outdoor unit, the blown air is blocked by an object and re-drawn to the outdoor unit. If the short circuit continues, heat cannot sufficiently escape from the outdoor unit, which disadvantageously lowers the air conditioning efficiency.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide an outdoor unit of an air conditioner that reduces the amount and the speed of air blown from an air blowing surface of a fan guard having a grill structure, suppresses rise of the static pressure of an air delivery device, and reduces noise caused by interference between bars of the fan guard grill and the air.
To achieve the foregoing objective and in accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, an air delivery unit including a casing having an air inlet and an air outlet, an air delivery device arranged in a fan passage extending from the air inlet to the air outlet in the casing, an air blowing surface having a grill structure arranged at a position corresponding to the air outlet of the casing, and a fan guard that has a predetermined length along an air blowing direction and is formed by a hollow frame wall portion attached to a portion of the casing around the air outlet is provided. The air blowing surface and the frame wall portion of the fan guard are integrally formed of a synthetic resin. An air blowing opening is formed in the frame wall portion. A heat exchanger is arranged in the fan passage at a position upstream from the air delivery device. The heat exchanger is arranged in correspondence with the air inlet of the casing. The air blowing opening is arranged in the frame wall portion at a position spaced from the air inlet of the casing.
In the above-described structure, the frame wall portion of the fan guard is separate from the bars of the grill forming the air blowing surface. The frame wall portion functions as an air blowing frame and an attachment frame with respect to the casing.
Accordingly, an opening is easily formed in the frame wall portion of the fan guard. Further, unlike conventional configurations, it is unnecessary to form a special passage configuration in the casing. It is also unnecessary to shape a bellmouth in such a manner as to guide a flow of air or machine a partition board into a predetermined shape. Further, since the fan guard is configured as the attachment frame with respect to the casing, the fan guard has high rigidity and is not easily deformed. Also, in order to prevent a short circuit, the air blowing opening is arranged in the frame wall portion of the fan guard only at the position spaced from the air outlet of the casing. The air is thus blown from an opening of the frame wall portion of the fan guard. This correspondingly decreases the amount and the speed of the air blown from the air blowing surface having the grill structure. As a result, rise of the static pressure of the air delivery device is suppressed, and noise caused by interference between the bars of the air blowing grill and the air is reduced.
The short circuit, which is the phenomenon in which the blown air is drawn to the air inlet located close to the heat exchanger, is avoided. The heat exchange efficiency is thus maximally prevented from being lowered. This decreases excessive drive load acting on the fan motor and reduces the power consumption. Further, the heat exchange efficiency of the heat exchanger is prevented from decreasing.
In the above-described air delivery unit, it is preferable to form a plurality of openings in the frame wall portion of the fan guard. In this case, it is preferable that the size of each opening formed in the frame wall portion of the fan guard be not excessively large, from a viewpoint of safety and strength. It is also preferable that the multiple openings be formed in predetermined shapes and at predetermined positions so as to ensure an appropriate amount of air blow.
In the above-described air delivery unit, it is preferable to form a rib reinforcing the frame wall portion in the vicinity of the openings in the fan guard. This increases the rigidity of the frame wall portion having the openings, and allows sufficient reinforcement of the frame wall portion. Also, the amount of deformation of the frame wall portion with respect to pressing force is reduced to a low level.
In the air delivery unit described above, it is preferable that the fan guard have a rectangular shape, a recess having a threaded hole being formed in each of four corners of the fan guard, and that the fan guard be fixed to the casing by passing thread means through the threaded holes of the fan guard and fastening the thread means to the portion of the casing around the air outlet. In this case, when the thread means is passed through the threaded holes of the fan guard and fastened to the portion of the casing around the air outlet, the fan guard is fixed to the casing. The fan guard is thus stably attached to the casing.
a), 10(b), and 10(c) are diagrams schematically illustrating an operation of the modification;
As shown in
The heat exchanger 11 is arranged in correspondence with both of the air inlet 3a, which is formed in the rear plate 3 of the casing 1, and the air inlet 5a, which is formed in the side plate 5. The heat exchanger 11 is supported in the casing 1 by means of a pair of channel-like plates 6.
The fan chamber F, in which the air delivery device 12 and the heat exchanger 11 are arranged, and the machine chamber M, in which the compressor 13 is accommodated, are provided in the casing 1. The interior of the casing 1 is divided into the fan chamber F and the machine chamber M by a partition plate 7.
When the fan motor 12a of the air delivery device 12 is activated and the fan (the impeller) 12b is rotated, air (the ambient air) is drawn through the air inlets 3a, 5a, sent through the bellmouth B, and blown forward from the opening 2a of the casing 1.
The fan guard 9 is attached to the front plate 2 of the casing 1 and extends along the outer periphery of the opening 2a. As illustrated in
A grid-like air blowing grill 91 is formed in the front surface of the fan guard 9 as an air blowing surface. The fan guard 9 has four frame wall portions 92a, 92b, 92c, 92d. Out of the frame wall portions, the frame wall portion 92b located close to the side plate 5 of the casing 1, which is the left side frame wall portion 92b as viewed in
With reference to
Further, in the above-described configuration, the L-shaped heat exchanger 11 is arranged in an upstream portion of an air blowing passage in the fan chamber F of the casing 1. The openings 93 are arranged at the positions spaced from the left frame wall portion 92b, at which the short circuit easily occurs due to the shape of the heat exchanger 11. Accordingly, the short circuit in which the blown air is drawn to the air inlet 5a located close to the heat exchanger 11 is avoided. The heat exchange efficiency of the heat exchanger 11 is thus prevented from decreasing. If it is unnecessary to take the short circuit into consideration, the openings 93 may be formed in all of the frame wall portions 91a to 92d.
A triangular corner rib 95 is formed in each of the four corner portions of the fan guard 9. The corner ribs 95 reinforce the frame wall portions as a whole. Each of the corner ribs 95 has a screw securing recess 96 having a screw hole (a threaded hole). By passing screws 97 through the screw holes of the fan guard 9 and fastening the screws 97 to the portion of the casing 1 around the opening 2a, the fan guard 9 is fixed to the casing 1.
Accordingly, the frame wall portions 92a to 92d of the fan guard 9 have sufficient strength and rigidity as attachment frames. This allows stable attachment of the fan guard 9 to the front surface of the casing 1.
The fan guard 9 is a rectangular hollow frame structure extended by the predetermined width (length) W along the air blowing direction. Two rows of the openings 93 are formed in the frame wall portions of the fan guard 9 and arranged in the circumferential direction. This facilitates installation of the outdoor unit and improves the outer appearance of the outdoor unit. In addition, the air is smoothly blown from inside the casing 1 and the level of the noise produced by the air blowing is lowered.
Unlike conventional outdoor units, the outdoor unit of the present invention does not need a special passage configuration. Specifically, it is unnecessary to shape the bellmouth in such a manner as to guide an airstream or machine the partition plate into a predetermined shape. Also, since the frame wall portions of the fan guard 9 are formed as the attachment frame attached to the casing 1 and have enhanced rigidity, the frame wall portions cannot be deformed easily.
The openings 93, which are formed in the frame wall portions 92b to 92d of the fan guard 9, are shaped like elongated slits so that the fingers cannot enter the openings 93. Also, the openings 93 are aligned along the direction of the width of each frame wall portion and spaced apart at the predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction of the frame wall portion. However, by increasing the length of each of the openings 93, the number of the openings 93 may be decreased correspondingly. For example, as illustrated in
However, as the length of each opening 93 becomes greater, the rigidity of the wall portions of the air blowing grill 91 becomes lower. Specifically, as illustrated in
To solve this problem, as shown in
The outdoor unit has a frame-like casing 1 with a rectangular cross section extending in the vertical direction. An air inlet 23a having a grill structure is formed in the entire portion of a front surface 23 of the casing 1. Air inlets 24a, 25a are each formed in the front surface of the corresponding one of two side surfaces 24, 25. A backside 22 of the casing 1 as a whole and rear portions of the side surfaces 24, 25 are formed by blind patches. A heat exchanger, which has a U shape as viewed from above, is received in the casing 1 in correspondence with the air inlet 23a of the front surface 23 and the air inlets 24a, 25a of the side surfaces.
A bottom plate 29 is arranged at the lower surface of the casing 1. A cylindrical fan guard 28 is provided on top of the casing 1. An air delivery device (not shown) is received in the casing 1 and arranged below the fan guard 28. A flat rectangular frame-like base cap 26a is engaged with the upper end of the casing 1. A fan guard 28, which has been formed into a cylindrical shape through drawing, is attached to an opening of the base cap 26a. The fan guard 28 projects upward and the diameter of the fan guard 28 is decreased with respect to the diameter of the base cap 26a. A circular air blowing grill 27 having a grid-like structure is arranged at the upper surface of the fan guard 28.
In a frame wall portion 26b of the fan guard 28, which has a cylindrical shape, elongated openings 93 are arranged in two parallel rows along the direction of the width of the frame wall portion. Pairs of the openings 93, which are aligned in the width direction, are arranged with a predetermined interval in a circumferential direction of the fan guard 28. Accordingly, a predetermined amount of air is blown from inside the casing 1 through the openings 93 of the frame wall portion 26b of the fan guard 28, in addition to the air blowing grill 27 at the upper surface of the fan guard 28.
As a result, this fan guard 28 allows the air blown upward by the air delivery device arranged in the casing 1 to be blown through the air blowing grill 27 at the top surface of the fan guard 28 and through the multiple openings 93 of the frame wall portion 26b. This decreases the amount and the speed of the air blown from the air blowing grill 27, thus suppressing rise of the static pressure of the air delivery device and decreasing the noise caused by interference between the bars of the air blowing grill 27 and the air. As a result, excessive drive load acting on the fan motor is decreased and the power consumption is lowered. Accordingly, a low-noise and energy-saving air delivery unit is provided.
Additionally, in the above-described configuration, the openings 93 are arranged at the positions spaced from the front surface and the front portions of both side surfaces, at which a short circuit easily occurs due to the shape of the heat exchanger 11. Accordingly, the short circuit in which the blown air is drawn to air inlets 23a, 24a, 25a located close to the heat exchanger 11 is avoided. The heat exchange efficiency of the heat exchanger 11 is thus prevented from decreasing.
Also, in the above-described structure, the frame wall portion of the fan guard 28 functions as an air blowing frame and an attachment frame attached to the casing 1. This facilitates formation of the openings 93 in the frame wall portion of the fan guard 28. Accordingly, it is unnecessary to employ a special passage configuration. Specifically, it is unnecessary to shape the bellmouth in such a manner as to guide an airstream or machine a partition plate into a predetermined shape. Also, since the frame wall portion of the fan guard 28 is configured as an attachment frame attached to the base cap 26a and has enhanced rigidity, the frame wall portion of the fan guard 28 cannot be deformed easily.
The present embodiment may be modified by forming reinforcement ribs L as illustrated in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2007-182874 | Jul 2007 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/JP2008/062414 | 7/9/2008 | WO | 00 | 12/31/2009 |