This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2013-0138582, filed on Nov. 14, 2013 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field
Embodiments disclosed herein relate to a front panel of an indoor unit of an air-conditioner and a manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an air-conditioner refers to a device which keeps indoor air pleasant and suitable for human activity by using a cooling cycle. The air-conditioner serves to air-condition a room by repeatedly sucking in warm indoor air, heat-exchanging the sucked-in air with a low temperature refrigerant and then discharging the heat-exchanged cold air into the room, or to heat the room through a reverse operation.
The air-conditioner may air-condition or heat the room using the cooling cycle in which the refrigerant is circulated in a forward or in a reverse direction through a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve and an evaporator. The compressor provides a gaseous refrigerant which is a high temperature and has a high pressure, and the condenser provides a liquid refrigerant which is room temperature and has a high pressure. The expansion valve depressurizes the liquid refrigerant which is room temperature and has a high pressure, and the evaporator evaporates the depressurized refrigerant into the gaseous refrigerant having a low temperature.
A ceiling type air-conditioner may include an indoor unit and an outdoor unit which are separated from each other. The indoor unit may be a device which is installed at a ceiling of an indoor space so as to air-condition or heat the room. Also, the ceiling type air-conditioner may include a main body which is disposed in an inner side of the ceiling of the indoor space, and a front panel which is attached to a front surface of the main body so as to be exposed from the ceiling. An air inlet port for sucking air into the main body may be formed at one side of the front panel, and an outlet port for discharging the air air-conditioned through a heat exchanger installed in the main body to the room may be formed at the other side thereof.
Therefore, it is an aspect of the disclosure to provide a front panel of an indoor unit of an air-conditioner, which is manufactured by dual injection so that the indoor unit has a beautiful design suitable for various interiors of an indoor space.
Additional aspects of the disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure.
In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, a front panel of an indoor unit may include a suction grill in which a plurality of ribs are inclinedly arranged and which are formed integrally with the front panel by dual injection molding. The plurality of ribs may include a sticking section to which a primary injection-molded part is fixed, a sealing section preventing an injection solution from flowing toward the primary injection-molded part during a secondary injection, and a scraping section formed between the adjacent ribs.
The sticking section may be provided at one side surface of the primary injection-molded part, and the sticking section may be a section fixed by a fixing device when a mold is moved to a position for the secondary injection after a primary injection.
The sticking section may have a width of at least about 1 mm.
The sticking section may have a grade of about 5°.
A plurality of sealing sections may be provided at the primary injection-molded part so as to prevent a secondary injection solution from flowing to the primary injection-molded part. A first sealing section may be provided at a first side surface of the primary injection-molded part so as to prevent a secondary injection solution from flowing to the primary injection-molded part. A second sealing section may be provided at a second side surface of the primary injection-molded part to prevent a secondary injection solution from flowing to the primary injection-molded part. A secondary injection-molded part may be formed between the first sealing section and the second sealing section.
A width of the sealing section may correspond to (be equal to) about 0.5 times a thickness of the primary injection-molded part.
The suction grill may include a first suction rib and a second suction rib adjacent to the first suction rib, and the scraping section between one end of the first suction rib and the other end of the second suction rib may be at least about 5 mm.
The front panel of the indoor unit which is integrally formed with the suction grill may be formed of materials having different colors or textures by dual injection molding.
The first injection-molded part may be formed of a transparent resin.
The secondary injection-molded part may be formed of a colored resin.
In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, a method of manufacturing a front panel of an indoor unit, which is formed of materials having different colors or textures by dual injection molding and covers a front surface of a main body of the indoor unit, and in which a suction grill having a plurality of ribs is integrally formed may include injecting a primary injection solution into a mold to form a primary injection-molded part, primarily cooling, moving the mold in order to inject a secondary injection solution into the mold, injecting the secondary injection solution to form a secondary injection-molded part, secondarily cooling, and taking a molded part (e.g., the suction grill, including the primary injection-molded part and the secondary injection-molded part) out of the mold.
In the moving of the mold in order to inject the secondary injection solution into the mold, the mold may be moved in a state in which a sticking section of a primary injection-molded part is fixed by a fixing device.
The method may further include air-tightly sealing a sealing section provided at one side of the primary injection-molded part.
In the injecting of the primary injection solution, a transparent resin solution may be injected.
In the injecting of the secondary injection solution, a colored resin solution may be injected.
The injecting the secondary injection solution may include injecting the secondary injection solution between a first sealing section provided at a first side surface of the primary injection-molded part and a second sealing section provided at a second side surface of the primary injection-molded part.
In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, a ceiling type air-conditioner may include an outdoor unit and an indoor unit, and the indoor unit may include a main body which includes a case, heat exchanger, and a blowing fan, and a front panel disposed in front of the case to form a front exterior of the indoor unit. The front panel may include a suction grill in which a plurality of ribs are inclinedly arranged and formed integrally with the front panel. At least one of the plurality of ribs may include a primary injection-molded part injection-molded with a first resin, and a secondary injection-molded part injection-molded with a second resin. The primary injection-molded part may include a first sealing section disposed at a first side of the primary injection-molded part, the first side being parallel to a ground plane, and a second sealing section disposed at a second side of the primary injection-molded part. The secondary injection-molded part may be disposed adjacent to a portion of the primary injection-molded part between the first sealing section and second sealing section.
These and/or other aspects of the disclosure will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the example embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, the examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments described below are provided to explain the disclosure with reference to the drawings.
Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
The heat exchanger 12 and the blowing fan 13 may be received in the case 10. The case 10 may be buried in the ceiling C or may be installed at the ceiling C. The heat exchanger 12 may be inclinedly installed in the case 10. A supporting part 14 which supports the heat exchanger 12 and also guides sucked air to the heat exchanger 12 may be provided under the heat exchanger 12. The blowing fan 13 may be disposed in front of the heat exchanger 12. The blowing fan 13 may be in the form of a tangential fan, for example. A motor (not shown) driving the blowing fan 13 may be further provided in the case 10.
An inclined guide part 15 which guides the heat exchanger 12 so as to be installed inclinedly when the heat exchanger 12 is installed in the case 10 may be provided above the heat exchanger 12. A coupling member 150 which is coupled with a part of the heat exchanger 12 so as to fix the heat exchanger 12 may be provided at the inclined guide part 15. As shown in
An inlet port 2 and an outlet port 3 may be provided in front of the indoor unit 1. Air sucked in the main body through the inlet port 2 by the blowing fan 13 may be heat-exchanged at the heat exchanger 12 and then discharged to a room through the outlet port 3. Thus, air-conditioning or heating may be performed. As shown in
A suction grill 17 and a discharge blade 18 may be provided at the front panel 11. The suction grill 17 may be provided at a side of the inlet port. The suction grill 17 may be configured by aligning a plurality of ribs which are inclinedly arranged. The suction grill 17 may be provided to cover the inlet port 2 and thus prevent an inner side of the main body from being exposed through the inlet port 2, and also to allow indoor air to be sucked through the inlet port 2.
The discharge blade 18 may be provided at a side of the outlet port 3. The discharge blade 18 may selectively cover the outlet port 3. The discharge blade 18 may be manufactured separately from the front panel 11 and then installed at the front panel 11. When the indoor unit 1 is not operated, the discharge blade 18 may cover the outlet port 3 so as to prevent the inner side of the main body from being exposed through the outlet port 3. When the indoor unit 1 is operated, the outlet port 3 may be opened so that the air sucked through the inlet port 2 is discharged to the room through the outlet port 3. For example, the discharge blade 18 may be hinged. When the indoor unit 1 is operated, the discharge blade 18 may be rotated around a hinge and thus may open the outlet port 3.
The front panel 11 may be manufactured by injection-molding a resin. The front panel 11 may be manufactured by dual injection molding. The suction grill 17 may be manufactured to be formed integrally with the front panel 11. The front panel 11 may be manufactured by dual-injection-molding resins having different colors, textures and so on.
As an example, the front panel 11 may be manufactured by dual-injection-molding a transparent resin and a colored resin. When a primary injection-molded part of the front panel 11 is injection-molded with the transparent resin, and a secondary injection-molded part thereof is injection-molded using the colored resin, the secondary injection-molded part formed of the colored resin may be configured to be seen subtly. Likewise, the front panel 11 may be manufactured by the dual injection molding of a combination of various resins, thereby providing beautiful designs corresponding to indoor interiors.
Referring to
When inclined shapes of the plurality of the ribs are manufactured by the dual injection molding, the ribs may not be easily taken out of a mold upon a secondary injection molding process. Further, if sealing is not properly achieved upon the secondary injection molding process, a secondary injection solution may flow down to a side of the primary injection-molded part.
When the suction grill 17 is integrally formed with the front panel 11 by the dual injection molding, the sealing should be achieved between the primary injection-molded part 170 and the secondary injection-molded part 171 in order to minimize a defect rate, and the injection molding should also be easily taken out of the mold.
A sticking section T1 may be provided at a side surface of the rib forming the suction grill 17. For example, the sticking section T1 may be provided at a side surface of the primary injection-molded part 170. The sticking section T1 may be a section fixed by a fixing device when the mold in which the primary injection-molded part 170 is received after a primary injection of the suction grill 17 is moved to a position for a secondary injection. The primary injection-molded part 170 may be fixed by the fixing device when being moved to the position for the secondary injection and thus prevented from being separated from the mold. As an example, in a cross section of the suction grill 17 as illustrated in
A sealing section T2 may be provided at the other (e.g., lower) side surface of the rib forming the suction grill 17. The sealing section T2 may be provided in a plane section, for example. The sealing section T2 may be provided at the mold corresponding to the other (e.g., upper) side surface of the primary injection-molded part 170, and thus a plurality of sealing sections T2 may be provided. The secondary injection-molded part 171 may be formed by injecting a secondary injection solution between the sealing sections T2. A sealing part of the mold may be located at the sealing section T2. The sealing part serves to air-tightly seal the side of the primary injection-molded part 170. The secondary injection solution may be prevented from flowing toward the primary injection-molded part 170 by the sealing part provided with the sealing section T2. As an example, in the cross section of the suction grill 17, a width of the sealing section T2 may be provided to have about 0.5 times a thickness T of the primary injection-molded part 170.
A scraping section T3 may be provided between the adjacent ribs 17a and 17b of the suction grill. Specifically, when the adjacent ribs 17a and 17b of the suction grill are a first suction rib 17a and a second suction rib 17b, one end of the first suction rib 17a which is primarily injected and the other end of the second suction rib 17b which is primarily injected may be formed to be spaced apart from each other by a distance corresponding to the scraping section T3. As an example, the scraping section T3 may have a width of about 5 mm or more. As the scraping section T3 is provided, the injection-molded ribs 17a and 17b of the suction grill may be easily taken out of the mold.
Shapes corresponding to the sticking section T1, the sealing section T2 and the scraping section T3 may be provided at the mold by which the suction grill 17 is injection-molded. As the sticking section T1 is provided, the primary injection-molded parts 170 and 170′ may be prevented from being separated from the mold while being moved to the position for the second injection. As the sealing section T2 is provided, the secondary injection solution may be prevented from flowing down to the primary injection-molded parts 170 and 170′. As the scraping section T3 is provided between the adjacent injection-molded ribs 17a and 17b, the injection-molded ribs 17a and 17b of the suction grill may be easily taken out of the mold.
As described above, since the front panel 11 is injection-molded by the mold having the sticking section T1, the sealing section T2 and the scraping section T3, the primary injection-molded part 170 and the secondary injection-molded part 171 may be formed to have a clear boundary at the suction grill 17. As shown in
The secondary injection-molded part 171 may be injection-molded of a material having a different color and texture from the primary injection-molded part 170. Since the front panel 11 may be manufactured by using a combination of various colors and textures, the front panel 11 may have various designs. Therefore, since the front panel 11 may be manufactured to correspond to the interiors of the indoor space in which the indoor unit 1 is installed, it is possible to improve customer satisfaction. In an embodiment of the disclosure, the primary injection-molded part of the front panel 11 may be injection-molded with a transparent resin, and the secondary injection-molded part may be injection-molded using a colored resin. Alternatively, the primary injection-molded part of the front panel 11 may be injection-molded with a colored resin, and the secondary injection-molded part may be injection-molded using a transparent resin, both the primary injection-molded part and the secondary injection-molded part of the front panel 11 may be injection-molded with a colored resin, or both the primary injection-molded part and the secondary injection-molded part of the front panel 11 may be injection-molded with a transparent resin.
Referring to
In accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure, the front panel of the indoor unit may be stably manufactured through dual injection molding so as to have the maximum yield. Since the front panel is manufactured by the dual injection molding, the indoor unit may have more various and beautiful designs.
Although example embodiments of the disclosure have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2013-0138582 | Nov 2013 | KR | national |