WO2008026724A1 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is an air conditioner having an automatic air filter cleaning function. In the air conditioner, a dust box (70) is removably attached to a main body unit. The dust box (70) is composed of a box main body (71) and a cover body (73) arranged on the box main body (71) to be freely opened and closed. A cleaning brush (90) is arranged on the cover body (73) to be freely rotated.

Description

 Specification

 Air conditioner

 Technical field

 [0001] The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly to an air conditioner having an air filter automatic cleaning function.

 Background art

 [0002] In an air conditioner, the indoor air sucked by a blower fan is cooled or heated by passing through a heat exchanger and returned to the room. Dust floating in the room contaminates the heat exchanger. In order to prevent this, an air filter is provided on the front side of the heat exchanger. If dust adheres to this filter and clogging occurs and the ventilation resistance increases, the air conditioning capacity of the air conditioner decreases and the power consumption increases. In order to eliminate such inconvenience, various air conditioners equipped with automatic filter cleaning devices have been proposed! /,

In order to automatically clean the filter, there is a method disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-145019 (JP62-145019 U). In this method, the belt-like filter formed in an annular shape is supported by a pair of rollers, and the roller is rotated by a motor to move the belt-like filter. In the process, the filter is cleaned with a rotating cleaning brush. As a method for moving the filter, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-99479, JP2001-99479A), a belt-like filter wound around one roller is wound around the other roller and cleaned in the process. There is also a method of cleaning with a brush. In this case, after cleaning, the filter is rewound from the other roller to the one roller.

[0004] In the case of JP62-145019U, the dust removed from the filter is stored in a dust box (dust reservoir) located below or in front of the cleaning brush, and when full or periodically Clean by suction with a vacuum cleaner. In JP62-145019U, the dust box is detachably attached to the air conditioner body so that it can be removed from the air conditioner body for cleaning and washing. However, the cleaning brush is connected to the drive motor! /, So it cannot be removed from the air conditioner body! /. [0005] The JP62-145019U air conditioner has a problem that it accumulates when the dust box is removed from the main body side!

 Disclosure of the invention

 Problems to be solved by the invention

 [0006] The present invention was made to solve the problems of the conventional air conditioner described above, and an object thereof is to remove the filter from the filter in an air conditioner having an automatic air filter cleaning function. It is an object to provide an air conditioner that can be easily treated so as not to scatter scattered dust around.

 Means for solving the problem

 [0007] In order to prevent the dust removed from the filter from scattering around, it is conceivable to provide an openable / closable lid that covers the opening of the dust box, for example, in the air conditioner of JP62-145019U. It is difficult to place such a lid and to open and close it while avoiding interference with the cleaning brush.

 [0008] On the other hand, it is also conceivable that a cleaning brush is rotatably provided in the dust box and the dust box can be attached and detached together with the cleaning brush. In this case, the cleaning brush replaces the lid and the dust in the dust box is less likely to scatter. However, the cleaning brush gets in the way when the dust in the dust box is thrown away or sucked with a vacuum cleaner. Even if the cleaning brush is detachably attached to the dust box, the configuration becomes complicated and the attaching / detaching operation is troublesome.

 [0009] Therefore, an air conditioner according to the present invention is an air conditioner including a cleaning brush that removes dust adhered to a filter and a dust box that accommodates the removed dust. The dust box is detachably attached to the main unit of the harmony machine, and the dust box is composed of a box body and a lid body that can be opened and closed with respect to the box body, and the cleaning brush is rotated on the lid body. The feature is that it was set up freely!

[0010] According to the above configuration, the dust box can be detached from the air conditioner body in a state where the lid body covers the box body! As a result, the dust accumulated in the dust box does not scatter. The dust box removed from the air conditioner body can be easily handled by opening the lid and sucking the dust in the box body with a vacuum cleaner. wear. At this time, since the cleaning brush is attached to the lid, the box body can be easily cleaned.

 In one embodiment, the lid is connected to the box body so as to be rotatable by a hinge. Therefore, the opening / closing operation of the lid is easy, and the lid is not lost.

 In one embodiment, a bearing that rotatably supports the cleaning brush is slidably attached to the lid, and is fixed by a claw piece provided on the lid. Simple construction and easy installation of cleaning brush.

 Brief Description of Drawings

 [0013] The present invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the invention. In the drawing,

 FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an air conditioner of the present invention, and is an exploded perspective view of the entire air conditioner.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an assembled state of the air conditioner.

 FIG. 3 is an enlarged view around the dust box in FIG.

 FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which a dust box lid is opened.

 FIG. 5 is an enlarged view showing a mounting portion of the cleaning brush in FIG.

 FIG. 6A is an enlarged view showing a cleaning brush attached state.

 FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view showing an attached state of the cleaning brush.

 FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the dust box with its lid closed.

 FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the box body, the cleaning brush, and the lid, showing an example of changing the structure for supporting the cleaning brush to the lid of the dust box.

 FIG. 9 is a plan view of the modified example.

 FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XX in FIG. 9, showing the support structure in the vicinity of the gear.

 FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XI—XI in FIG. 9, showing the support structure at the center.

 FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XII-XII in FIG. 9, showing the support structure on the non-gear side.

 BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Next, a specific embodiment of the air conditioner of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This will be described in detail. Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the entire air conditioner, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the assembled air conditioner, Fig. 3 is an enlarged view around the dust box in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is an open lid of the dust box. 5 is an enlarged view of the cleaning brush mounting portion in FIG. 4, FIGS. 6A and 6B are an enlarged view and a sectional view showing the cleaning brush mounting state, respectively, and FIG. 7 is a closed dust box lid. FIG. The air conditioner shown in FIG. 1 has a main body unit 10, a finoleta unit 20, a front side liner 50, a front panel panel 60, and a dust box 70. The main unit 10 has a bottom frame 11 that is a strength member suspended from a wall or the like. The bottom frame 11 has an indoor heat exchanger 12, a blower fan (cross fan) (reference numeral 13 in FIG. 2), and electrical components. It is equipped with a box 14, which sucks room air, passes it through the indoor heat exchanger 12, and blows it out from the air outlet 15. Air conditioning operations such as cooling, heating, and humidity control are performed.

[0015] The filter unit 20 includes one air filter 21 on each of the left and right sides, and these filters 21 are arranged on the upper surface of the indoor heat exchanger 12, thereby sucking room air from above. Prevents dust floating in the air from contaminating the indoor heat exchanger 12. In addition, the filter unit 20 has moving means for moving the filter 21 downward in order to perform cleaning for removing dust adhering to the filter 21. The moving means is a mechanism that moves the filter 21 arranged from the upper surface to the front surface of the main unit 10 to the bottom surface and the rear surface, and further moves it upward while curving in a U shape (see Fig. 2). . However, as described in the background art, a known mechanism such as a loop type or a winding type may be used. A specific configuration of the filter 21 will be described later. The dust box 70 has a function of cleaning the filter 21. The specific configuration will be described later.

[0016] A filter unit 20 is attached to the bottom frame 11 of the main body unit 10, and a box-shaped front grill 50 is attached to the filter unit 20 so as to cover the finoleta unit 20. A front panel 60 that covers the suction port 51 so as to be freely opened and closed is attached to the front suction port 51 of the front grill 50. The dust box 70 is attached to the lower part of the front grille 50. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the dust box 70 is located at the lower part of the front panel 60 and above the outlet 15 of the main unit 10. Exposed to the outside at It is attached in a manner. The dust box 70 can be attached and detached without interfering with the front panel 60 while the front panel 60 is closed!

 As shown in FIG. 4, the dust box 70 includes a box-shaped box body 71, a lid body 73 that is connected to the box body 71 by a hinge 72 so as to be opened and closed, and a lid body 73 that is rotatably supported. Cleaning brush 90 to be provided. In this embodiment, other types of hinges such as a force pin joint and a hinge using an arc-shaped hinge 72 may be used. The box body 71 includes a bottom plate 74 that also serves as an exterior panel of the air conditioner, and left and right side walls 75 and front and rear walls 76 that respectively rise from the inner surface of the bottom plate 74. The side wall 75 and the front and rear walls 76 rise from the outer edge of the bottom plate 74 somewhat from the inside. A space surrounded by the bottom plate 74 and the walls 75 and 76 becomes the dust container 77.

 [0018] The lid 73 has a shallow box shape covering the upper ends of the walls 75, 76, closes the upper end openings of the walls 75, 76, and rotatably supports the cleaning brush 90. . Ribs 78 are provided at four locations on the inner surface of the lid 73, and bearings 92 attached to the rotating shaft 91 of the cleaning brush 90 are detachably mounted on the ribs 78, respectively. As shown in detail in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the rib 78 has a substantially U-shaped or rectangular notch 80 formed around the bearing 92 and an inner edge of the notch 80 facing the parallel edge. A fitting groove 93 for fitting is formed. Further, the rib 78 is elastically deformed when the bearing 92 is mounted to accept the mounting, and after mounting, the claw piece 82 that engages with the engaging portion 94 formed on the bearing 92 to prevent the bearing 92 from coming off. It is installed.

 As shown in FIG. 3, the bottom plate 83 of the lid 73 has a chevron-like cross section as a whole, and a part of the bottom plate 83 is concave so that the filter 21 can advance while being curved. As shown in FIG. 7, an opening 84 is formed at the center of the bottom plate 83 so that a part of the cleaning brush 90 is exposed.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 4, the cleaning brush 90 is separated into two short brushes 90a and 90b on the left and right sides. The above-mentioned bearing 92 is rotatably coupled to both ends of the rotary shaft 91, and four rows of flocking rows 95 are arranged radially around the rotary shaft 91 (see FIG. 4). Since the bearing 92 is provided so that it cannot be removed from the rotating shaft 91, the short brushes 90a and 90b are attached to the vehicle bearing 92 and the lid 73. Just attach it to the. As shown in FIG. 7, an end portion of the short brush 90a on the left side that is disposed outside the rotating shaft 91 protrudes from the side wall of the lid 73, and a driving means such as a motor (not shown) The gear 96 that transmits the driving force is attached! Rotating wheels 91, 91 between the left and right shorts, Rashi 90a, 90b are connected to each other, so that it can be transmitted by a joint at the center, and detachable.

As shown in FIG. 7, the dust box 70 configured as described above is attached to the main unit 10 in a state where the dust container 77 is covered with a lid 73 (see FIGS. 2 and 3). In this state, the gear 96 of the cleaning brush 91 meshes with the drive gear provided in the main unit 10. In the cleaning mode of the filter 21, the filter 21 descends and the flocking row 95 of the cleaning brush 90 that rotates in a direction opposite to the moving direction of the filter collects the dust adhering to the filter 21 and collects the dust in the box body 71. Housed in housing 77. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the dust adhering to the cleaning brush 90 can be removed by the scraping ribs 85 provided on the lid 73.

Yes

 [0022] When the dust in the dust container 77 exceeds a certain amount, the user removes the dust box 70 from the main unit 10. At that time, as shown in FIG. 7, the dust container 77 is closed by the lid 73, so that dust does not scatter. Next, the user places the dust box 70 in a horizontal state and opens the lid 73. In this state, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, since the cleaning brush 90 is attached to the lid 73 side, it is easy to suck dust inside the box body 71 with a vacuum cleaner. When the cleaning of the dust box 70 is completed, the user closes the lid 73 and attaches the dust box 70 to the main unit 10 as shown in FIG.

 In the embodiment described above, the lid 73 can be provided so as to be detachable by a force that is hingedly connected to the box body 71. Further, the cleaning brush 90 can be a continuous type with one split force which is divided into two.

[0024] FIGS. 8 to 12 show examples of changing the support structure for rotatably supporting the cleaning brush on the lid of the dust box. FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of the box body 29, the cleaning brush 30 and the lid 31. The cleaning brush 30 has brush hairs 33 (planting ridges IJ) around a hollow rotary shaft 32. In this case, the rotary shaft 32 is formed as one, and the brush hair 33 Is almost the entire length, leaving the central part and both end parts of the rotating shaft 32. Have been planted. A gear 34 is attached to one end of the rotating shaft 32, and an end member 35 is attached to the other end.

 In addition, the lid 31 is illustrated with the box body 29 side facing upward in the drawing. Similar to the above embodiment, the lid 31 has an opening 36 and a rib rib 37 for projecting the brush bristles 33 outward. In this case, a fine uneven shape is formed at the tip of the scraping rib 37.

 [0026] The cleaning brush 30 includes a rotating shaft 32 between the central portion and the vicinity of the gear 34, and an end member.

 35 is rotatably supported by the lid 31. FIG. 9 shows a plan view of the cleaning brush attached to the lid 31 (with the opening facing the box body up). FIG. 10 shows a cross-sectional view (cross-sectional view taken along the line XX in FIG. 9) of the supporting portion in the vicinity of the gear 34. As shown in the figure, the rotating shaft of the cleaning brush 30 is provided between the support rib 38 provided on the side wall opposite to the scraping rib 37 and the elastic claw piece 39 provided at a predetermined interval from the support rib 38. 32 is supported. The support rib 38 and the elastic claw piece 39 extend to the opening side. A retaining protrusion 40 that protrudes toward the support rib 38 is formed at the tip of the elastic claw piece 39. That is, when the rotary shaft 32 is inserted between the support rib 38 and the elastic claw piece 39, the elastic claw piece 39 expands inertially, and the rotary shaft 32 gets over the retaining projection 40, Thereafter, when the elastic claw piece 39 is restored, the retaining projection 40 prevents the rotating shaft from slipping out.

 FIG. 11 shows a cross-sectional view (cross-sectional view taken along the line XI-XI in FIG. 9) of the support portion at the central portion of the cleaning brush 30. As shown in the figure, a pair of gripping claw pieces 41, 41 extending toward the opening is provided. In addition, the gripping claw pieces 41, 41 are formed with holding portions 42, 42 that support the rotary shaft 32 so as to wrap the rotary shaft 32 from both sides, and the rotary shafts 32 are supported in the holding portions 42, 42. ing. When the rotary shaft 32 is inserted, the gripping claw pieces 41 and 41 expand spontaneously and then recover.

FIG. 12 shows a cross-sectional view of the portion of the cleaning brush 30 that supports the end member 35 (XII—XII cross-sectional view in FIG. 9). A mounting pin 43 is formed on the end member 35 in a body-like manner, and the end member 35 is attached to the rotating shaft 32 by inertially fitting the mounting pin 43 into the inner peripheral portion of the end portion of the rotating shaft 32. It has been. Also, the end wall of the lid 31 has a cleaning brush 30 side. An extending support cylinder portion 44 is formed, and four support ribs 45 are erected on the inner peripheral portion of the support cylinder portion 44. The support ribs 45 are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. Then, the end member 35 of the rotary shaft 32 is inserted inside the support rib 45, and the rotary shaft 32 is rotatably supported. In this modified example, the cleaning brush 30 is rotatably supported by the lid 31 by the above-described structures.

 As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, it is clear that this may be changed variously. Such modifications are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications that would be obvious to a person skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims. is there.

Claims

The scope of the claims  [1] An air conditioner having a cleaning brush (90) for removing dust adhering to the filter (21) and a dust box (70) for storing the removed dust! Is removably attached to the main unit (10) of the air conditioner, and the dust box (70) is attached to the box body (71) and the lid (73) provided to be openable and closable with respect to the box body. And an air conditioner characterized in that the cleaning brush (90) is rotatably provided on the lid (73).  [2] The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the lid (73) is rotatably connected to the box body (73) by a hinge (72). [3] A bearing (92) that rotatably supports the cleaning brush (90) is slidably attached to the lid (73), and a claw piece (82) provided on the lid (73). The air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the air conditioner is fixed by the air conditioner.