The present disclosure relates to a flow guide for guiding a flow of air and an air management apparatus having the flow guide.

An air management device is intended to maintain air within a predetermined space in an optimal state according to a purpose. For example, in summer, the air management device may remove indoor heat to the outside to relatively lower an indoor air temperature. In winter, the air management device may relatively increase a temperature of air discharged from the air management device so that an indoor space has a relatively higher temperature than an outdoor space. Alternatively, air within a predetermined space may be purified and then supplied back into the space.

Among such air management devices, in a wall-mounted air conditioner, a cross-flow fan is used to generate an airflow, and air discharged from the cross-flow fan is guided along a curved surface of a flow guide, whereby the airflow develops and is discharged to the outside.

In Prior Document 1, Korean Patent No. 10-0406035, a wall-mounted air conditioner is disclosed in which an airflow formed by a cross-flow fan is discharged from the cross-flow fan and guided by a duct member to flow. Here, the duct member has no configuration for restricting a region in which air flows from a heat exchanger to the cross-flow fan. In addition, there is no configuration for blocking condensate generated in the heat exchanger from being transferred to the cross-flow fan.

In Prior Document 2, Korean Utility Model Application Publication No. 20-1999-0007257, a wall-mounted air conditioner of the same type as that of Prior Document 1 is disclosed. However, even in Prior Document 2, a receiving part corresponding to the duct member of Prior Document 1 has neither a configuration for restricting a region in which air flows from a heat exchanger to a blower fan, nor a configuration for blocking condensate generated in the heat exchanger from being transferred to the blower fan.

That is, as illustrated in FIG. 1, in a conventional air conditioner, air that has passed through a heat exchanger (1) passes through a cross-flow fan (3) and is delivered to and flows along a flow guide (5). Here, there is no configuration for blocking condensate between the heat exchanger (1) and the cross-flow fan (3). Accordingly, as a region in which air that has passed through the heat exchanger (1) enters the cross-flow fan (3) becomes relatively wide, a flow guidance start point (GP), at which air discharged from the cross-flow fan (3) starts to be guided by the flow guide (5), is positioned at a location that has passed an upstream portion of the flow guide (5). As a result, there is also a problem in that an airflow discharged from the cross-flow fan (3) does not sufficiently develop.

In order to solve such problems, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, a nozzle (7) for restricting an airflow region is provided in the flow guide (5), and the nozzle (7) functions to prevent overflow of condensate. In addition, the nozzle (7) has a partition wall shape that is perpendicular to a flow direction in which air flows from the heat exchanger (1) to the cross-flow fan (3), and thus in a process in which airflow that has passed through the heat exchanger (1) flows toward the cross-flow fan (3), flow separation occurs at an end of the nozzle (7), and the airflow collides with blades (4) of the cross-flow fan (3) at a high flow velocity. As illustrated in FIG. 3, this is because a configuration of the nozzle (7) is uniform, such that a distance between the nozzle (7) and each of the heat exchanger (1) and the cross-flow fan (3) is constant over all regions of the nozzle (7).

Accordingly, impact noise generated over an entire region of the nozzle (7) has constant frequency components, and peak noise due to superposition of the frequency components is generated, resulting in a problem in that noise is significantly increased.

An objective of the present disclosure is to solve the conventional problems as described above, and is to configure a surface of a nozzle formed on a flow guide such that a distance between the surface and a heat exchanger varies along an axial direction of a driving fan.

In the present disclosure, an angle of a surface constituting the nozzle of the flow guide may be varied depending on a position along the axial direction of the driving fan.

In the present disclosure, the nozzle of the flow guide may be configured not to be in contact with an arc of an extension portion of the flow guide.

According to features of the present disclosure for achieving the above-described objectives, a distance from a surface of a nozzle at an inlet of a flow guide to a heat exchanger or a driving fan may vary depending on a section.

The flow guide of the present disclosure may have a curved surface disposed on a flow path through which air flows and installed to face a driving fan with a predetermined distance therebetween so as to guide the flow of the air, wherein a nozzle provided at an inlet of the flow guide may have a surface whose distance from the driving fan varies depending on a region along an axial direction of the driving fan.

The surface of the nozzle may include a constant section in which a distance between the surface and the driving fan is constant, and a variable section in which the distance between the surface and the driving fan varies.

The constant section may include a first constant section and a second constant section, wherein a distance between the nozzle and the driving fan in the first constant section may differ from a distance between the nozzle and the driving fan in the second constant section.

Angles of the surface of the nozzle in the first constant section and the second constant section may be different from each other.

A relationship among a width l₁ of the first constant section, a width l₂ of the second constant section, and a length B of one section of the driving fan may satisfy 1.4 < 2*(l₁ + l₂)/B < 1.6.

The nozzle may be an offset nozzle that is offset by a predetermined distance from an imaginary line extending from the curved surface of the flow guide.

An air management device of the present disclosure may include: a housing having an intake port and a discharge port; a driving fan configured to generate an airflow flowing through the intake port and the discharge port; a heat exchanger through which air driven by the driving fan passes and in which heat exchange occurs between the air and a working fluid; and a flow guide having a predetermined curved surface that guides air discharged from the driving fan and faces an outer surface of the driving fan, wherein a nozzle may be provided at an inlet of the flow guide, the inlet being located in a region through which air discharged from the heat exchanger passes to enter the driving fan, wherein a surface of the nozzle may be formed such that a distance between the surface and the driving fan or the heat exchanger varies depending on a region along an axial direction of the driving fan.

The surface of the nozzle may include a constant section in which a distance between the surface and the driving fan is constant, and a variable section in which the distance between the surface and the driving fan varies.

The constant section may include multiple constant sections, each of which has a different value of the distance.

The constant section may include a first constant section and a second constant section, wherein a distance between the nozzle and the driving fan or the heat exchanger in the first constant section may differ from a distance between the nozzle and the driving fan or the heat exchanger in the second constant section.

Angles of the surface of the nozzle in the first constant section and the second constant section may be different from each other.

A relationship among a width l₁ of the first constant section, a width l₂ of the second constant section, and a length B of one section of the driving fan may satisfy 1.4 < 2*(l₁ + l₂)/B < 1.6.

The nozzle may be an offset nozzle that is offset by a predetermined distance from an imaginary line extending from the curved surface of the flow guide.

The flow guide and the air management device having the same according to the present disclosure may have at least one of the following effects.

In the present disclosure, a surface of a nozzle formed on the flow guide may be configured such that a distance between the surface and the heat exchanger and/or an outer surface of a cross-flow fan varies along the axial direction of the driving fan. With this configuration, separation points at which the flow of air that has passed through the heat exchanger separates at the end of the nozzle may be dispersed, and thus collision points with blades and magnitudes of collision forces may be varied. Accordingly, frequency components of noise generated by the nozzle may be dispersed, thereby reducing overall noise and airflow loss.

In particular, in the present disclosure, an angle of a surface constituting the nozzle may be varied along the axial direction of the driving fan. In other words, an angle of a surface of the nozzle facing the heat exchanger or the driving fan may be configured to vary regularly or irregularly along the axial direction of the driving fan. Accordingly, separation points at which airflow that has passed through the heat exchanger separates at the end of the nozzle may vary along the axial direction of the driving fan, whereby frequency components of noise generated by the nozzle may be dispersed. Therefore, superposition of the frequency components of the noise may be minimized, and overall noise may be reduced.

In the present disclosure, the variable section in which a distance between the heat exchanger or the driving fan and the nozzle formed on the flow guide varies, and the constant section in which the distance is constant may be provided. In particular, a distance between a surface of the constant section and the driving fan or the heat exchanger may be set to be various. Due to characteristics of such a configuration, noise generated at the nozzle may be minimized.

In addition, in the present disclosure, in designing the nozzle, the nozzle may be configured not to be in contact with an arc of an extension portion of the flow guide. That is, the nozzle formed on the flow guide may be designed as an offset nozzle. Accordingly, effects of improving power consumption and reducing noise may be obtained.

• FIG. 1 is a view illustrating an airflow discharged through a cross-flow fan in a conventional art in which a nozzle is not provided in a flow guide.
• FIG. 2 is a view illustrating an airflow discharged through the cross-flow fan in the conventional art in which the nozzle is provided in the flow guide.
• FIG. 3 is a partial sectional perspective view illustrating the conventional art in which a distance between a surface of the nozzle and each of a heat exchanger and a cross-flow fan is constant.
• FIG. 4 is a sectional perspective view illustrating a configuration of main components of an air management device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
• FIG. 5 is a side sectional view illustrating a configuration of the air management device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.
• FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a chassis provided with a flow guide according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.
• FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of a nozzle according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.
• FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating the nozzle according to the embodiment of the present disclosure when viewed from another direction.
• FIG. 9 is a view illustrating the configuration and angles of the nozzle according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.
• FIG. 10 is a view illustrating one section of a driving fan according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.
• FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating experimental results related to lengths of a constant section and a variable section according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.
• FIG. 12 is a partial perspective view illustrating a relationship among a heat exchanger, the nozzle, and the driving fan according to the embodiment of the present disclosure.
• FIG. 13 is a view illustrating that the nozzle according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is an offset nozzle.
• FIG. 14 is a graph illustrating noise levels at respective frequencies for the nozzle of the present disclosure and the nozzle of the conventional art.
• FIG. 15 is an operational state view illustrating airflows in the embodiment of the present disclosure, with arrows indicating the airflows.

Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with exemplary drawings. When adding reference numerals to components in each drawing, it should be noted that identical components are given the same numerals as much as possible even if they are shown in different drawings. In addition, when describing the embodiments of the present disclosure, if it is determined that a detailed description of the related known configuration or function hinders understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the detailed description will be omitted.

FIG. 4 illustrates a sectional perspective view of an air management device to which a preferred embodiment of a flow guide of the present disclosure is applied, and FIG. 5 illustrates a side sectional view thereof. A flow guide (14) of the embodiment of the present disclosure may be used in various types of air management devices. In the drawings, the flow guide (14) of the embodiment of the present disclosure is shown as being applied to a wall-mounted and split-type air management device. However, the flow guide (14) of the embodiment of the present disclosure may be used in various air management devices.

An exterior of the illustrated air management device may be constituted by a housing (10). The housing (10) may constitute most of a front surface, an upper surface, a rear surface, opposite side surfaces, and a lower surface of the air management device. Of course, although a portion of the exterior of the air management device may be constituted by other components, the housing (10) may constitute most of the exterior of the air management device.

A chassis (12) may be installed inside the housing (10). The chassis (12) may be a part on which various components may be mounted and may constitute a framework of an air conditioner. In this embodiment, referring to FIG. 5, the chassis (12) constitutes a rear exterior thereof. The shape of the chassis (12) is not limited to the shape illustrated in the drawings and may have various shapes.

In this embodiment, the flow guide (14) may be formed on a portion of the chassis (12). The flow guide (14) may be a part that guides conditioned air to be discharged to the outside of the housing (10). A space formed by the flow guide (14) may constitute a portion of a fan installation space (16). The fan installation space (16) may be a portion surrounded by the flow guide (14) and a heat exchanger (30) to be described below.

In the illustrated example, an inner surface of the fan installation space (16), which is a surface of the flow guide (14), may be formed as a curved surface (18) having a predetermined radius of curvature. The curved surface (18) may face an outer surface of a driving fan (32) to be described below and form a flow path between the curved surface (18) and the driving fan (32). The radius of curvature of the curved surface (18) may gradually increase toward a downstream side rather than an upstream side. That is, the radius of curvature at each point of the curved surface (18) of the flow guide (14) in an air flow direction may vary.

The radii of curvature of the curved surface (18) may be larger than a radius of the driving fan (32). Accordingly, a nozzle (20) may be provided in a starting region of the curved surface (18). The nozzle (20) may be formed over an entire width of the flow guide (14) at an upstream inlet of the flow guide (14). The nozzle (20) may also serve to prevent condensate generated in the heat exchanger (30) from overflowing toward the driving fan (32). The nozzle (20) may serve to adjust a region through which air passing through the heat exchanger (30) enters the driving fan (32), thereby expanding an effective discharge outlet so that air discharged from the driving fan (32) is guided to the flow guide (14) more rapidly.

In the illustrated embodiment, the configuration of the nozzle (20) may include a variable section (21) and constant sections (21', 21"). The variable section (21) may be a section in which a distance between the nozzle (20) and each of the heat exchanger (30) and the driving fan (32) varies depending on a position (in an axial direction of the driving fan (32)). The constant sections (21', 21") may be sections in which the distance between the nozzle (20) and each of the heat exchanger (30) and the driving fan (32) remains constant regardless of a position (in the axial direction of the driving fan (32)).

The constant sections (21', 21") may include a first constant section (21') and a second constant section (21"). The first constant section (21') may protrude relatively toward the driving fan (32), and the second constant section (21") may protrude relatively toward the heat exchanger (30). In this case, a width of each of the first constant section (21') and the second constant section (21") may be defined as l₁, and a width of the variable section (21) may be defined as l₂.

An angle of the first constant section (21') with respect to a horizontal plane may be A, and an angle of the second constant section (21") with respect to the horizontal plane may be A + α. This is clearly illustrated in FIG. 9.

Accordingly, in the illustrated embodiment, the first constant section (21'), the variable section (21), and the second constant section (21") are alternately arranged. However, alternatively, multiple constant sections (21', 21") may be provided. That is, although only the first constant section (21') and the second constant section (21") are provided in the illustrated embodiment, a third constant section, a fourth constant section, and the like may also be provided. Angles of these constant sections with respect to the horizontal plane may also be more diverse than those of the illustrated embodiment.

Although the arrangement of the constant sections (21', 21") is regular in the illustrated embodiment, the arrangement of the constant sections (21', 21") may be irregular.

Various embodiments may exist as examples of arrangements of the constant sections and the variable section. For example, when three constant sections are provided, the arrangement may be in an order of a first constant section, a variable section, a second constant section, a variable section, a third constant section, a variable section, and a first constant section. That is, various arrangements may be employed to avoid overlap of noise frequencies resulting in a peak value.

A configuration for improving performance of the nozzle (20) in the present disclosure will be described. Basically, noise may be reduced by dispersing frequencies of generated noise. By periodically varying an angle of a nozzle, separation points may be dispersed without blocking a flow path. In this case, when one variable period (= 2*(l1 + l2)) is smaller than twice a length B of one section of the driving fan (32), which is defined between cylindrically arranged blades (33), power consumption and noise may be improved compared to a conventional nozzle. Optimal performance may be obtained when the following relationship is satisfied. For reference, a correlation between one variable period and the length (B) of the one section of the driving fan (32) may be more important than a ratio between l₁ and l₂$$1.4<2\ast \left(\mathrm{l}1+\mathrm{l}2\right)/\mathrm{B}<1.6$$.$$2\ast \left(\mathrm{l}1+\mathrm{l}2\right)/\mathrm{B}<2.0$$

These relational expressions may be obtained experimentally and indicate that a flow separation structure dispersed by the nozzle (20) is required to be smaller than the length (B) of the one section of the driving fan (32). For reference, when a cutoff shape of a stabilizer (34) also has a three-dimensional cross section, the stabilizer (34) may be required to be designed such that shapes thereof are opposite to each other shapes (out-of-phase).

Meanwhile, the nozzle (20) may be an offset nozzle. That is, as illustrated in FIG. 13, the nozzle (20) may be offset from the extension line of the curved surface (18) of the flow guide (14). That is, one surface of the nozzle (20) may be positioned radially outward from an arc of the curved surface (18). In this case, a value of the offset may be about 1 mm.

When the offset nozzle is used as the nozzle (20) in this manner, it can be seen that power consumption and noise are relatively reduced compared to a conventional nozzle, as shown in the table below. Rotation speed (PM) Power consumption (W) Noise (dB) Conventional nozzle 1139 21.4 40.7 Offset nozzle L1 1141 21.0 40.5 Offset nozzle L2 1141 21.0 40.5

In the table above, L1 and L2 are offset values, and L1 < L2. It can be seen that, compared to the conventional nozzle, use of the offset nozzle results in reduced power consumption (a reduction of 1.9%) and reduced noise (a reduction of 0.2 dB). However, the offset value cannot be increased indefinitely, and for example, a distance between the nozzle (20) and the heat exchanger (30) may serve as a limiting condition.

Next, an intake port (22) may be provided on one side of the housing (10). The intake port (22) may be provided on the upper surface of the housing (10). The intake port (22) may serve as an inlet through which air in an indoor space outside the housing (10) flows into the housing (10). When the housing (10) is viewed from the front, the intake port (22) may be formed to extend leftward and rightward along the upper surface of the housing (10).

A front discharge port (24) may be provided on a lower portion of the front surface of the housing (10). The front discharge port (24) may be a portion through which conditioned air is discharged. When the housing (10) is viewed from the front, the front discharge port (24) may be formed to extend leftward and rightward on the front surface of the housing (10).

A bottom discharge port (26) may be provided on the lower surface of the housing (10). The bottom discharge port (26) may be positioned adjacent to the front discharge port (24). That is, the bottom discharge port (26) may be positioned at a front portion of the lower surface of the housing (10). Air may be discharged toward a front side and a lower side of the housing (10) through the front discharge port (24) and the bottom discharge port (26).

A vane (28) may be provided to control opening and closing of the bottom discharge port (26) and a flow direction of air discharged from the bottom discharge port (26). A detailed configuration of the vane (28) will be omitted.

The heat exchanger (30) may be provided inside the housing (10). The heat exchanger (30) may be a part in which air drawn through the intake port (22) from the indoor space exchanges heat with a working fluid of a heat exchange cycle. Within the heat exchanger (30), the working fluid circulating in the heat exchange cycle may flow, and the working fluid and the air drawn from the indoor space may exchange heat with each other. The heat exchanger (30) may be arranged to surround approximately half of the outer surface of the driving fan (32). In the illustrated embodiment, the heat exchanger (30) may be arranged to surround an angular region corresponding to approximately half of a cross section of the driving fan (32).

The driving fan (32) may draw air from the indoor space through the intake port (22) and may generate airflow so that air is discharged through the front discharge port (24) or the bottom discharge port (26). The driving fan (32) may be a cross-flow fan. The multiple blades (33) may be arranged cylindrically while partitioning sections in the driving fan (32). The driving fan (32) may have an overall cylindrical shape and draw air through one outer surface thereof. Air drawn into the driving fan (32) may pass through an interior thereof and may be discharged through a region facing the curved surface (18) of the flow guide (14), and may be guided along the curved surface (18).

The one outer surface of the driving fan (32) may be installed adjacent to the curved surface (18) of the flow guide (14) with a predetermined gap therebetween. Since the radius of the driving fan (32) is smaller than the radius of curvature of the curved surface (18), a distance between the outer surface of the driving fan (32) and the curved surface (18) of the flow guide (14) may increase from an upstream side of the flow guide (14) toward a downstream side thereof.

The stabilizer (34) may be provided to have a portion thereof facing the downstream portion of the curved surface (18) of the flow guide (14). The stabilizer (34) may constitute one side of a flow path through which air flows and may be positioned adjacent to the front discharge port (24) and the bottom discharge port (26).

A louver (36) may be provided on a flow path corresponding to a region between the stabilizer (34) and a region adjacent to the downstream portion of the flow guide (14). The louver (36) may adjust an air flow direction in a left-right direction when the front discharge port (24) or the bottom discharge port (26) is viewed from the front.

Hereinafter, operations of the flow guide having the configuration described above and the air management device having the same according to the present disclosure will be described.

The air management device of the embodiment of the present disclosure is a split-type air conditioner, and an indoor unit is disclosed in the drawings. The indoor unit is also a type of unit that is used by being mounted on a wall. In such an air management device, a working fluid from an outdoor unit may pass through the heat exchanger (30), and air in a space to be air-conditioned, which is introduced through the intake port (22) by the driving fan (32), may pass through the heat exchanger (30), whereby heat exchange may be performed.

Air that has undergone heat exchange in the heat exchanger (30), for example, air having a relatively low temperature, may enter the driving fan (32), and the driving fan (32) may discharge the air toward the curved surface (18) of the flow guide (14) facing the driving fan (32). In this process, the air discharged from the heat exchanger (30) may pass through the nozzle (20). The nozzle (20), as described above, may include the variable section (21) and the constant sections (21', 21").

Even in the constant sections (21', 21"), the first constant section (21') and the second constant section (21") may be provided. For example, a distance between the heat exchanger (30) and the first constant section (21') may differ from a distance between the heat exchanger (30) and the second constant section (21"). Accordingly, a time required for air discharged from the heat exchanger (30) to reach the first constant section (21') may differ from a time required for the air to reach the second constant section (21"). Therefore, times at which flow separation occurs in the first constant section (21') and the second constant section (21") are inevitably different.

Accordingly, a collision point and a magnitude of force at which air collides with the blades (33) of the driving fan (32) may inevitably vary. Accordingly, peak values of noise generated as a whole may be dispersed, and thus noise may be reduced. As shown in FIG. 14, in a conventional nozzle, significant noise occurs in an A region indicated by a dotted line, whereas in the nozzle (20) of the present disclosure, it can be seen that collision noise in the corresponding region is relatively reduced.

Meanwhile, FIG. 15 illustrates, by arrows, that air in the indoor space is drawn through the intake port (22), passes through the heat exchanger (30) and the driving fan (32), is guided along the curved surface (18) of the flow guide (14), and is discharged into the indoor space through the front discharge port (24) or the bottom discharge port (26).

Even though all components constituting the embodiments according to the present disclosure have been described as being combined or operating in combination as one, the present disclosure is not necessarily limited to these embodiments. That is, within the scope of the purpose of the present disclosure, all of the components may be selectively combined to operate in one or more combinations.