A SUPPORTING STRUCTURE FOR FRONT PANEL OF INDOOR UNIT OF AIR CONDITIONER

Abstract

 A supporting structure for front panel of indoor unit of air conditioner comprises an upper supporting rod and a lower supporting rod. The front panel is rotatably connected with the front panel body by a hinge, one end of said upper supporting rod is rotatably connected with one end of said lower supporting rod by a hinge structure. A restricting and locking mechanism is disposed at the joint between said upper supporting rod and said lower supporting rod. The restricting and locking mechanism comprises baffles and an elastic plate disposed on the upper supporting rod, and comprises flanks and a bulge disposed on the lower supporting rod. When the front panel is closed, the upper and lower supporting rods are in a folded state and hidden inside the indoor unit; when the front panel is opened, the upper and lower supporting rods are extended in a straight line which can be automatically locked by the restricting and locking mechanism so that the front panel can be held at the opening location, which is convenient for the repair and maintenance of air conditioner; at the same time, the opening angle of the front panel is restricted, thereby the damages to the front panel, the front panel body and other parts caused by exceeded opening of the front panel can be avoided.

Description

Field of the Invention

[0001] The present invention relates to an air conditioner, more particularly, to a supporting structure for front panel of indoor unit of air conditioner.

Background of the Invention

[0002] It is well known that when the indoor unit of a split air conditioner is being installed, repaired or maintained, the front panel of the indoor unit of air conditioner should be opened. In majority of split air conditioners, when the front panel of the indoor unit is opened, the front panel is held at an opening location by the supporting mechanism at the loose leaf or at the hinge connected between the front panel and the front panel body. The Chinese patent application No. CN200510066138.2, titled "a supporting structure for upper air-inlet grille of indoor unit of air conditioner", disclosed a supporting structure for upper air-inlet grille of indoor unit of air conditioner, comprising: an enclosure for indoor unit, a front panel, an upper air-inlet grille, a supporting arm for supporting the upper air-inlet grille and the front panel, wherein one end of the supporting arm is connected with the upper air-inlet grille and the other end of the supporting arm is inserted to the side of the enclosure, a supporting and positioning device is disposed at the joint between the end of the upper air-inlet grille and the enclosure, by employing the supporting and positioning device, the upper air-inlet grill and the front panel can be opened outward from 1°to 90° so as to be positioned and fastened. By employing the supporting structure of the above-mentioned Chinese patent application, the front panel and the upper air-inlet grille can be made integrally so that the user just needs to open the upper air-inlet grille upward at a certain angle when cleansing, then the upper air-inlet grille and the front panel can be positioned and fastened at this location, thereby the user is able to clean the interior of the indoor unit of air conditioner, the upper air-inlet grille and the front panel can be opened up to an angle of 90° so that the upper air-inlet grille is substantially perpendicular to the base of the indoor unit, the upper air-inlet grille with an opening angle can be positioned and fastened reliably.

[0003] Along with the improvement of people's living standard, people not only request air conditioners to perform simple functions of cooling and heating, but also request air conditioners to create an aesthetic feeling as if the air conditioners look like decorations hanging over at home. This expectation has been realized by air conditioner manufactures along with their improvements in industrial design. For example, some manufactures have produced a series of air conditioners with glass front panel instead of plastic front panel used before. Because the glass front panel is much heavier than the plastic front panel, the supporting mechanism at the loose leaf or at the hinge is not able to effectively hold the front panel at one location. In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, air conditioner manufactures have done a great deal of work and gained some achievements; however, there are some disadvantages, for example, in air conditioners manufactured by some manufactures, the supporting rod should be taken out of the front panel body by hand when opening the front panel and then be held at the corresponding location on the front panel, moreover, the opening angle of the front panel can not be restricted, which is very inconvenient.

Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present invention is aimed at providing a supporting structure for front panel of indoor unit of air conditioner, when the front panel is opened, the front panel can be automatically held at the opening location and the opening angle of the front panel is restricted.

[0005] The object of the present invention is achieved by the following technical scheme:

[0006] A supporting structure for front panel of indoor unit of air conditioner, the front panel is rotatably connected with the front panel body by a hinge, characterized in that, said supporting structure comprises an upper supporting rod and a lower supporting rod; one end of said upper supporting rod is rotatably connected with one end of said lower supporting rod by a hinge structure; a restricting and locking mechanism is disposed at the joint between said upper supporting rod and said lower supporting rod; the other end of said upper supporting rod is rotatably connected with said front panel, and the other end of said lower supporting rod is rotatably connected with said front panel body.

[0007] Said hinge structure comprises a first rotating shaft disposed on one end of the body of the upper supporting rod and a second bayonet disposed on one end of the body of the lower supporting rod; said first rotating shaft and said second bayonet are rotatably engaged.

[0008] Said restricting and locking mechanism comprises baffles and an elastic plate disposed on the upper supporting rod, and comprises flanks and a bulge disposed on the lower supporting rod; when the upper supporting rod and the lower supporting rod are extended in a straight line, said baffles contact with the working surface of said flanks; and said elastic plate is pressed against said bulge.

[0009] The distance between the center line of the second bayonet and the working surface of the flanks of the body of the lower supporting rod is equal to the distance between the center line of the first rotating shaft and the working surface of the baffles of the body of the upper supporting rod.

[0010] The supporting structure of the present invention comprises the upper supporting rod and the lower supporting rod, one end of said upper supporting rod is rotatably connected with one end of said lower supporting rod by a hinge structure. Therefore, when the front panel is closed, the upper and lower supporting rods are folded and hidden inside the indoor unit; when the front panel is opened, the upper and lower supporting rods are extended in a straight line and locked automatically by the restricting and locking mechanism when reaching the position, then the front panel is held at the opening position, which is convenient for installation, repair and maintenance of the air conditioner; besides, the opening angle of the front panel is restricted so that the damages to front panel, front panel body and other parts caused by exceeded opening of front panel can be avoided.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011] 

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the supporting structure used in the indoor unit of air conditioner according to the present invention;

FIG. 2A is a schematic view showing the supporting structure in an extended state according to the present invention;

FIG. 2B is a sectional view showing the supporting structure in an extended state according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing the connection between the upper supporting rod of the supporting structure and the front panel body according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the connection between the lower supporting rod of the supporting structure and the front panel according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing the upper supporting rod and the lower supporting rod in a decomposed state according to the supporting structure of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing the structure of the upper supporting rod of the supporting structure according to the present invention;

FIG. 7A is a schematic view showing the structure of the lower supporting rod of the supporting structure according to the present invention;

FIG. 7B is an enlarged view showing the section A of FIG. 7A.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments

[0012] A supporting structure for front panel of indoor unit of air conditioner is illustrated in figures 1 to 5, wherein the front panel 1 is rotatably connected with the front panel body 2 by a hinge, said supporting structure comprises an upper supporting rod 31 and a lower supporting rod 32; one end of said upper supporting rod 31 is rotatably connected with one end of said lower supporting rod 32 by a hinge structure; a restricting and locking mechanism is disposed at the joint between said upper supporting rod 31 and said lower supporting rod 32; the other end of said upper supporting rod 31 is rotatably connected with said front panel 1, and the other end of said lower supporting rod 32 is rotatably connected with said front panel body 2. Said upper and lower supporting rods can be folded or extended in a straight line; the upper and lower supporting rods can be automatically locked by the restricting and locking mechanism when they are extended in a straight line.

[0013] The upper supporting rod 31 is approximately sheet-shaped, a first rotating shaft 312 is disposed on one end of the upper supporting rod 31 and protrudes from the body 311 of the upper supporting rod 31, two parallel baffles 3111 extend from the body 311 of the upper supporting rod at the side of the first rotating shaft 312 away from the intermediate section of the body 311 of the upper supporting rod; the interval groove between the two baffles 3111 extends below the first rotating shaft 312; convex ribs are disposed on the body 311 of the upper supporting rod at the same side of the first rotating rod 312 along the length direction of the body 311 of the upper supporting rod. A first bayonet 313 in shape of "C" is disposed on the other end of the upper supporting rod 31, the center line of the first bayonet 313 lies on the center plane of the body 311 of the upper supporting rod along the length direction of the body 311 of the upper supporting rod; the breach of the first bayonet 313 and the first rotating shaft 312 are respectively disposed on the opposite ends of the body 311 of the upper supporting rod. An elastic plate 314 in shape of arc is disposed in the intermediate section of the body 311 of the upper supporting rod closing to the first rotating shaft 312 and the elastic plate 314 has a free end, the bottom of the elastic plate 314 protrudes from the body 311 of the upper supporting rod and extends away from the first rotating shaft 312.

[0014] The lower supporting rod 32 is also approximately sheet-shaped, a second bayonet 322 in shape of "C" is disposed on one end of the lower supporting rod 32 and protrudes from the body 321 of the lower supporting rod 32; a bulge 3221 is disposed on the outer end of the second bayonet 322. A third bayonet 323 in shape of "C" is disposed on the other end of the lower supporting rod 32 and protrudes from the body 321 of the lower supporting rod 32. The second bayonet 322 and the breach of the third bayonet 323 face to the same direction; convex ribs are disposed on one side of the body 321 of the lower supporting rod for reinforcement. The distance between the center line of the third bayonet 323 and the extending plane of the body 321 of the lower supporting rod is equal to the radius of the third bayonet. Two flanks 3211 extend from the two sides of the body 321 of the lower supporting rod closing to the second bayonet 322 so as to contact with the baffles 3111; the elastic plate 314, the bulge 3221, the baffles 3111 and the flanks 3211 constitute the restricting and locking mechanism. To ensure the upper and lower supporting rods be extended in a straight line, the distance between the center line of the second bayonet 322 and the working surface of the flanks 3211 of the body 321 of the lower supporting rod is equal to the distance between the center line of the first rotating shaft 312 and the working surface of the baffles 3111 of the body 311 of the upper supporting rod.

[0015] When the upper and lower supporting rods are folded, the elastic plate 314 is in a free state and the second bayonet 322 is contained inside the elastic plate 314. When the supporting structure is completely extended, the elastic plate 314 of the upper supporting rod is compressed, the free end of the elastic plate is against the bulge 3221 of the lower supporting rod so that the flanks 3211 of the lower supporting rod tightly contact with the baffles 3111 of the upper supporting rod to enable locking.

[0016] As illustrated in Figure 4, the upper supporting rod 31 is rotatably connected with the front panel 1 by the engagement between the first bayonet 313 and the second rotating shaft 11; as illustrated in Figure 3, the lower supporting rod 32 is rotatable connected with the front panel body 2 by the engagement between the third bayonet 323 and the third rotating shaft 21.

[0017] The above descriptions and illustrations should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention, which is defined by the appended claims. Various modifications, alternate constructions and equivalents, for example, the facing of bayonets can be adjusted; the locations of the first bayonet and the second rotating shaft can be interchanged, that is, the first bayonet can be disposed on the front panel and the second rotating shaft can be disposed on the upper supporting rod; likewise, the locations of the third bayonet and the third rotating shaft can be interchanged, that is, the third bayonet can be disposed on the front panel and the third rotating shaft can be disposed on the lower supporting rod; the upper and lower supporting rods can be made into another shaped structure which is able to perform the above-mentioned functions, made by technicians of the field may be employed without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A supporting structure for front panel of indoor unit of air conditioner, the front panel is rotatably connected with the front panel body by a hinge, characterized in that, said supporting structure comprises an upper supporting rod and a lower supporting rod; one end of said upper supporting rod is rotatably connected with one end of said lower supporting rod by a hinge structure; a restricting and locking mechanism is disposed at the joint between said upper supporting rod and said lower supporting rod; the other end of said upper supporting rod is rotatably connected with said front panel, and the other end of said lower supporting rod is rotatably connected with said front panel body.

2. The supporting structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, said hinge structure comprises a first rotating shaft disposed on one end of the body of the upper supporting rod and protrudes from the body of the upper supporting rod, and a second bayonet disposed on one end of the body of the lower supporting rod and protrudes from the body of the lower supporting rod; said first rotating shaft and said second bayonet are rotatably engaged.

3. The supporting structure according to claim 2, characterized in that, said restricting and locking mechanism comprises baffles and an elastic plate disposed on the upper supporting rod, and comprises flanks and a bulge disposed on the lower supporting rod; when the upper supporting rod and the lower supporting rod are extended in a straight line, said baffles contact with the working surface of said flanks; and said elastic plate is pressed against said bulge.

4. The supporting structure according to claim 3, characterized in that, the distance between the center line of the second bayonet and the working surface of the flanks of the lower supporting rod is equal to the distance between the center line of the first rotating shaft and the working surface of the baffles of the upper supporting rod.

5. The supporting structure according to claim 3, characterized in that, said elastic plate in shape of arc is disposed in the intermediate section of the body of the upper supporting rod closing to said first rotating shaft and said elastic plate has a free end, the bottom of the arc shaped elastic plate protrudes from the body of the upper supporting rod; when the upper supporting rod and the lower supporting rod are folded, said second bayonet is contained inside said elastic plate.

6. The supporting structure according to claim 3, characterized in that, said bulge is disposed on an outer end of said second bayonet.

7. The supporting structure according to claim 3, characterized in that, said baffles extend from the body of the upper supporting rod at the side closing to the first rotating shaft.

8. The supporting structure according to claim 3, characterized in that, said flanks extend from two sides of the body of the lower supporting rod closing to the second bayonet.

Drawing