TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to an airflow control method and airflow controller
for an air conditioner indoor unit to execute indoor air conditioning.
BACKGROUND ART
[0002] There has conventionally been an air conditioner indoor unit that includes a cross-fin
heat exchanger and a cross-flow fan provided inside a roughly rectangle-shaped casing
mounted on a wall surface and blows conditioning air from an outlet port provided
in the lower portion of the casing.
[0003] However, in the above air conditioner indoor unit, as shown in Fig. 8A, the blowoff
wind direction of the conditioning air of an indoor unit 80 mounted on the wall surface
is almost limited to one direction. Therefore, the human being tends to feel a sense
of airflow in a living space S1 during heating operation or particularly at the time
of starting the heating operation. Furthermore, a uniform temperature distribution
cannot be obtained unless a flap for controlling the blowoff wind direction is operated
to swing, and this leads to a problem of comfort.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
[0004] Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide an airflow control
method and airflow controller for an air conditioner indoor unit capable of executing
air conditioning so that the indoor temperature distribution becomes uniform with
no flap swing function without causing a sense of airflow during heating operation.
[0005] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an airflow control
method for an air conditioner indoor unit including a casing, a turbofan that has
an axis extending in an anteroposterior direction and blows air taken in from a front
surface side radially outwardly with respect to an axis inside the casing, a heat
exchanger disposed on the front surface side of the turbofan inside the casing, outlet
ports that are provided for the casing and blow air from the turbofan in a vertical
direction and a horizontal direction and flaps for controlling wind directions of
the blowoff air from the respective outlet ports, wherein, openings of upper, right-hand
and left-hand flaps are narrowed and opening of a lower flap is made wider than the
openings of the upper, right-hand and left-hand flaps during heating operation.
[0006] According to the airflow control method for the air conditioner indoor unit of the
present invention, the blowoff air flows and circulates so as to cover the indoor
living space along the wall surface, ceiling surface and floor surface by virtue of
the four-direction blowoff. Then, by narrowing the openings of the upper flap, right-hand
flap and left-hand flap and making the opening of lower flap wider than the openings
of the above flaps during heating operation, the blowoff air volume from the outlet
ports located on the upper side, right-hand side and left-hand side is reduced to
consequently increase the air volume from the outlet port located on the lower side.
This allows the indoor air to circulate and further allows warm air to reach the level
of feet. Therefore, air conditioning can be achieved so that the indoor temperature
distribution becomes uniform with no flap swing function without causing a sense of
airflow during the heating operation. The total volume of blowoff air from the upper,
lower, right-hand and left-hand outlet ports at the time of starting the heating operation
at a low temperature in the living space scarcely changes, and therefore, the indoor
heating can be immediately achieved without reducing the heating capacity.
[0007] The present invention also provides an airflow controller for an air conditioner
indoor unit including a casing, a turbofan that has an axis extending in an anteroposterior
direction and blows air taken in from a front surface side radially outwardly with
respect to an axis inside the casing, a heat exchanger disposed on the front surface
side of the turbofan inside the casing, outlet ports that are provided for the casing
and blow air from the turbofan in a vertical direction and a horizontal direction
and flaps for controlling wind directions of the blowoff air from the respective outlet
ports, the controller comprising:
drive sections for driving the flaps, respectively; and
a flap control section for outputting control signals to the drive sections in a manner
that openings of upper, right-hand and left-hand flaps are narrowed and opening of
a lower flap is made wider than the openings of the upper, right-hand and left-hand
flaps during heating operation.
[0008] According to the airflow controller for the air conditioner indoor unit of the present
invention, the blowoff air flows and circulates so as to cover the indoor living space
along the wall surface, ceiling surface and floor surface by virtue of the four-direction
blowoff. Then, by narrowing the openings of the upper flap, right-hand flap and left-hand
flap and making the opening of lower flap wider than the openings of the above flaps
with the control signal outputted to the drive section by the flap control section
during heating operation, the blowoff air volume from the outlet ports located on
the upper side, right-hand side and left-hand side is reduced to consequently increase
the air volume from the outlet port located on the lower side. This allows the indoor
air to circulate and further allows warm air to reach the level of feet. Therefore,
air conditioning can be achieved so that the indoor temperature distribution becomes
uniform with no flap swing function without causing a sense of airflow during the
heating operation. The total volume of blowoff air from the upper, lower, right-hand
and left-hand outlet ports at the time of starting the heating operation at a low
temperature in the living space scarcely changes, and therefore, the indoor heating
can be immediately achieved without reducing the heating capacity.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009]
Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the essential part of an indoor unit using
an airflow control method for an air conditioner indoor unit according to one embodiment
of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a front view of the above indoor unit;
Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 is a schematic view of the above indoor unit;
Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing the essential part of the outlet port structure
on the upper side of the indoor unit;
Fig. 6 is a sectional view showing the essential part of the outlet port structures
on the lower side, right-hand side and left-hand side of the indoor unit;
Fig. 7 is a view showing a state in which the above indoor unit is mounted on an indoor
wall surface;
Fig. 8A is a view showing the wind blowing state of the indoor unit of a prior art
air conditioner; and
Fig. 8B is a view showing the wind blowing state of the indoor unit of the air conditioner
of the embodiment of the present invention.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
[0010] The airflow control method and airflow controller for the air conditioner indoor
unit of the present invention will be described in detail below on the basis of the
embodiments shown in the drawings.
[0011] Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the essential part of an indoor unit that
uses the airflow control method for the air conditioner indoor unit according to one
embodiment of the present invention and includes a roughly square-shaped bottom frame
1 fastened to an indoor wall surface on its rear surface side, a motor 2 fastened
via a motor clamping plate 12 to a mounting section 11 provided roughly at the center
of the bottom frame 1, a turbofan 3 whose axis is arranged in the anteroposterior
direction with respect to the bottom frame 1 and driven by the motor 2 to blow air
taken in from the front surface side radially outwardly with respect to the axis,
a bellmouth 4 fastened to the bottom frame 1 on the front surface side of the turbofan
3, a heat exchanger 5 fastened on the front surface side of the bellmouth 4, a front
panel 6 that is fastened to the bottom frame 1 on the front surface side of the heat
exchanger 5 and has a roughly square-shaped inlet port 6a and an inlet grill 7 that
is fastened to the inlet port 6a of the front panel 6 and is provided with an air
filter 8 attached to its rear surface side. A circular hole 14 is provided roughly
at the center of the bellmouth 4, and a drain pan 13 is provided in the lower portion
of the bellmouth 4. It is to be noted that the bottom frame 1 and the front panel
6 constitute a casing.
[0012] Fig. 2 shows a front view of the air conditioner indoor unit with the inlet grill
7 and the front panel 6 shown in Fig. 1 removed. As shown in Fig. 2, an outlet port
21, an outlet port 22, an outlet port 23 and an outlet port 24 are provided on the
upper side, lower side, right-hand side and left-hand side, respectively, of the bottom
frame 1. The outlet ports 21 through 24 are provided with an upper flap 31, a lower
flap 32, a right-hand flap 33 and a left-hand flap 34, respectively. The upper flap
31, lower flap 32, right-hand flap 33 and left-hand flap 34 are driven by an upper
flap stepping motor 41, a lower flap stepping motor 42, a right-hand flap stepping
motor 43 and a left-hand flap stepping motor 44, respectively, to control the blowoff
wind direction from the outlet ports 21 through 24.
[0013] Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of Fig. 2, where the turbofan
3 and the heat exchanger 5 are reduced in thickness and the motor 2 fastened to the
bottom frame 1 is housed in a recess portion defined by the curved surface 3a of the
turbofan 3. Air taken in from the front surface by the turbofan 3 is blown from the
upper, lower, right-hand and left-hand outlet ports 21 and 22 (only two are shown
in Fig. 3) as indicated by the arrows R1 and R2 via the inlet grill 7, the air filter
8 and the heat exchanger 5. The outlet port 21 located on the upper side blows air
from the turbofan 3 forwardly diagonally upward when the upper flap 31 has a specified
opening, so that the wind direction makes an angle of approximately 60 degrees with
respect to a plane perpendicular to the axis of the turbofan 3. On the other hand,
the outlet port 22 on the lower side blows air from the turbofan 3 forwardly diagonally
downward when the lower flap 32 has a specified opening, so that the wind direction
makes an angle of approximately 30 degrees with respect to the plane perpendicular
to the axis of the turbofan 3. The outlet port 23 on the left-hand side and the outlet
port 24 on the right-hand side (shown in Fig. 2) have the same constructions as that
of the outlet port 22 on the lower side and blows air from the turbofan 3 forwardly
diagonally sideward when the right-hand flap 33 and the left-hand flap 34 (shown in
Fig. 2) have a specified opening, so that the wind direction makes an angle of approximately
30 degrees with respect to the vertical plane including the axis of the turbofan 3.
[0014] Fig. 4 schematically shows the construction of the above indoor unit. The above indoor
unit is provided with a drive section constructed of the upper flap stepping motor
41, lower flap stepping motor 42, right-hand flap stepping motor 43 and left-hand
flap stepping motor 44 and the controller 10 for controlling the stepping motors 41
through 44, the turbofan 3 and so on. The controller 10 is constructed of a microcomputer,
an input/output circuit and so on and includes a flap control section 10a for controlling
the openings of the upper flap 31, lower flap 32, right-hand flap 33 and left-hand
flap 34 by outputting a control signal to the stepping motors 41 through 44 according
to the state of operation. The stepping motors 41 through 44 and the flap control
section 10a of the controller 10 constitute an airflow controller.
[0015] Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional views of the essential part of the outlet port located
on the upper side of the air conditioner indoor unit and the essential part of the
outlet ports located on the lower side, right-hand side and left-hand side of the
air conditioner indoor unit. It is to be noted that Figs. 5 and 6 are provided for
explaining the detail of the air conditioner outlet port structure and are different
from the outlet port structure of the indoor unit shown in Fig. 3.
[0016] As shown in Fig. 5, a guide section 51 having a curved surface 51a that is gradually
curved forwardly diagonally from the turbofan 3 side is arranged on the rear surface
side of an outlet port 53 located on the upper side of a casing 50. A guide section
52 having a curved surface 52a that is gradually curved forwardly diagonally from
the turbofan 3 side is arranged on the front surface side of the outlet port 53. These
guide sections 51 and 52 form a blowoff path for blowing the conditioning air forwardly
diagonally upward. An upper flap 54 that is rotatably supported at a pivot pin 55
is attached to the outlet port 53. The upper flap 54 has its front edge side curved
toward the turbofan 3 side so that air smoothly flows along the blowoff path in a
state in which the flap is opened with a specified opening. A plurality of vertical
plates 56 (only one is shown in Fig. 5) extending roughly perpendicularly at regular
intervals are provided on the front surface side of the wing surface of the upper
flap 54. Airflow control of air blown from the turbofan 3 is executed so that the
wind direction comes to have an angle of approximately 60 degrees with respect to
the plane perpendicular to the axis of the turbofan 3 forwardly diagonally upward
by the guide sections 51 and 52 and the upper flap 54 when the upper flap 54 is opened
with a specified opening. In order to narrow the opening of the upper flap 54, the
upper flap 54 is pivoted in the direction of the arrow R3.
[0017] As shown in Fig. 6, a guide section 61 having a curved surface 61a that is gradually
curved forwardly diagonally from the turbofan 3 side is arranged on the rear surface
side of the outlet ports 63 located on the lower side, right-hand side and left-hand
side of the casing 50. A guide section 62 having a curved surface 62a that is gradually
curved forwardly diagonally from the turbofan 3 side is arranged on the front surface
side of the outlet ports 63. There is formed in the lower outlet port 63 a blowoff
path for blowing the conditioning air forwardly diagonally downward from the outlet
port 63 by the guide sections 61 and 62. There are formed in the right-hand and left-hand
outlet ports 63 a blowoff path for blowing the conditioning air forwardly diagonally
sideward from the outlet ports 63 by the guide sections 61 and 62. Lower, right-hand
and left-hand flaps 64 that are pivotally supported at pivot axes 65 are attached
to the outlet ports 63. On the front surface side of the wing surface of the upper
flap 64 is provided a plurality of vertical plates 66 (only one is shown in Fig. 6)
that extend roughly perpendicularly at regular intervals. In the outlet port 63 located
on the lower side, airflow control of air blown from the turbofan 3 is executed so
that the direction of air comes to have an angle of approximately 30 degrees with
respect to the plane perpendicular to the axis of the turbofan 3 forwardly diagonally
downward by the guide sections 61 and 62 and the flap 64 when the lower flap 64 is
set to a specified angle. In the outlet ports 63 located on the right-hand side and
left-hand side, the flow control of air blown from the turbofan 3 is executed so that
the direction of air comes to have an angle of approximately 30 degrees with respect
to the plane perpendicular to the axis of the turbofan 3 forwardly diagonally sideward
by the guide sections 61 and 62 and the flap 64 when the right-hand flap 64 and the
left-hand flap 64 are set to a specified angle. In order to narrow the opening of
the flap 64, the flap 64 is pivoted in the direction of the arrow R4.
[0018] As shown in Fig. 3, the air conditioner indoor unit having the above construction
operates upon driving the motor 2 to rotate the turbofan 3, by which air is taken
in axially from the front side of the turbofan 3 via the heat exchanger 5 and the
air flows along the curved surface of the curved section 3a of the turbofan 3 to blow
the conditioning air that has undergone heat exchange through the heat exchanger 5
radially outwardly from the upper, lower, left-hand and right-hand outlet ports 21
through 24 (shown in Fig. 2). In this stage, by controlling the stepping motors 41
through 44 respectively by the flap control section 10a of the controller 10 shown
in Fig. 4, the openings of the upper flap 31, lower flap 32, right-hand flap 33 and
left-hand flap 34 shown in Fig. 2 are controlled, so that the blowoff wind directions
from the outlet ports 21 through 24 are each controlled. For example, if an indoor
unit 70 of the present invention is mounted on an indoor wall surface and made to
blow air in the four directions of the upper, lower, left-hand and right-hand directions
as shown in Fig. 7, then the air blown in the four directions flows and circulates
so as to cover the indoor living space S2 along the wall surface, ceiling surface
and floor surface as shown in Fig. 8B, thereby preventing the person in the living
space S2 from feeling a sense of airflow and improving the comfort during the cooling
and heating operations.
[0019] Then, at the time of starting the heating operation, a control signal is outputted
to the upper flap stepping motor 41, lower flap stepping motor 42, right-hand flap
stepping motor 43 and left-hand flap stepping motor 44 by the flap control section
10a of the controller 10 so as to narrow the openings of the upper flap 31, right-hand
flap 33 and left-hand flap 34 and making the opening of the lower flap 32 wider than
the upper flap 31, right-hand flap 33 and left-hand flap 34. By the above operation,
the air volumes from the outlet ports 21, 23 and 24 located on the upper side, right-hand
side and left-hand side reduce and the air volume from the outlet port 22 located
on the lower side conversely increases to allow the warm air to easily reach the level
of feet.
[0020] Therefore, air conditioning can be executed so that the indoor temperature distribution
becomes uniform without causing any sense of airflow during the heating operation.
Furthermore, the total volume of air blown from one turbofan 3 via the four outlet
ports 21 through 24 at the time of starting the heating operation at a low temperature
in the living space scarcely changes, and therefore, the indoor heating can be immediately
achieved without reducing the heating capacity.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
[0021] The air conditioner indoor unit airflow control method and airflow controller of
the present invention are used for an air conditioner indoor unit that blows conditioning
air in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction.
1. An airflow control method for an air conditioner indoor unit including a casing (1,
6), a turbofan (3) that has an axis extending in an anteroposterior direction and
blows air taken in from a front surface side radially outwardly with respect to an
axis inside the casing (1, 6), a heat exchanger (5) disposed on the front surface
side of the turbofan (3) inside the casing (1, 6), outlet ports (21-24) that are provided
for the casing (1, 6) and blow air from the turbofan (3) in a vertical direction and
a horizontal direction and flaps (31-34) for controlling wind directions of the blowoff
air from the respective outlet ports (21-24), wherein, openings of upper, right-hand
and left-hand flaps (31, 33, 34) are narrowed and opening of a lower flap (32) is
made wider than the openings of the upper, right-hand and left-hand flaps (31, 33,
34) during heating operation.
2. An airflow controller for an air conditioner indoor unit including a casing (1, 6),
a turbofan (3) that has an axis extending in an anteroposterior direction and blows
air taken in from a front surface side radially outwardly with respect to an axis
inside the casing (1, 6), a heat exchanger (5) disposed on the front surface side
of the turbofan (3) inside the casing (1, 6), outlet ports (21-24) that are provided
for the casing (1, 6) and blow air from the turbofan (3) in a vertical direction and
a horizontal direction and flaps (31-34) for controlling wind directions of the blowoff
air from the respective outlet ports (21-24), the controller comprising:
drive sections (41-44) for driving the flaps (31-34), respectively; and
a flap control section (10a) for outputting control signals to the drive sections
(41-44) in a manner that openings of upper, right-hand and left-hand flaps (31, 33,
34) are narrowed and opening of a lower flap (32) is made wider than the openings
of the upper, right-hand and left-hand flaps (31, 33, 34) during heating operation.