JP2002206769A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To expedite a radiating action by moistening all a plurality of fins of a radiating plate contained in an outdoor unit of an air conditioner with drain generated from an indoor unit. SOLUTION: The drain output from the indoor unit 7 is introduced into a drain reservoir 9 of the outdoor unit 1 and used for cooling the radiating plate 5. A water can be supplied via a water supply passage 13 having an opening/closing valve 22 in the reservoir 9. Flowing gradients for allowing the drain supplied from the reservoir 9 to flow down toward the plurality of the fins 11 of a lower stage side are imparted to the fins 11 of vertical multi- stages of the plate 5. A drain receiver and a drain passage are formed at the fin 11. A drain dropping port is opened at the fin 11. The drain discharged from the indoor unit is switched to be introduced to the reservoir 9 or to be discharged outdoor.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an air conditioner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a separate type air conditioner, which is divided into an outdoor unit and an indoor unit, an evaporator of the indoor unit is cooled during a cooling operation, so that water vapor in the atmosphere condenses to form water droplets. . This water is drain, and in the conventional air conditioner, the drain is discharged from the indoor unit via the drain hose to the outside of the room.

On the other hand, JP-A-3-6238, JP-A-8-94129 and JP-A-2000-55411 disclose that the drain generated in the indoor unit is replaced by an electrical component mounted on the outdoor unit. There is a description of a technique used for cooling a heat sink for dissipating heat.

Among them, the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-55411 discloses a technique in which a drain reservoir is provided in an outdoor unit, a drain generated in the indoor unit is introduced into the drain reservoir, and the drain is collected. The drain of the reservoir is supplied onto the fins of the heat radiating plate to promote the heat radiating action of the fins. Also,
This publication also describes that the fins of the heat radiating plate are covered with a water absorbing body such as polyurethane and the water absorbing body absorbs the drain of the drain reservoir, thereby promoting the heat radiating action of the fins.

[0005]

However, in the case where the drain generated in the indoor unit is used for promoting heat radiation by the fins of the radiator plate of the outdoor unit, the drain is simply supplied onto the fins of the radiator plate. Simply wetting the drain causes the following problems.

That is, when the heat sink has a plurality of fins in multiple stages in the vertical direction, these fins are generally arranged horizontally, so that only the fins to which the drain is supplied are provided in the drain. Because it is difficult to drain on the other fins that are wet and located on the lower side,
These lower fins are less likely to be affected by the heat dissipation promoting action of the drain. Further, a situation may occur in which the fin to which the drain is supplied only locally wets the drain, and the entire fin is not affected by the heat dissipation promoting action by the drain. As a result, there is a problem in that simply supplying the drain onto the fins of the heat radiating plate and wetting the drain exerts only a low level of the heat radiation promoting action of the drain.

[0007] Further, in the technique using the above-described water absorbing body as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-55411, not only is an extra water absorbing body necessary, so that the price is increased, but also the water absorbing body is always finned. Therefore, when the water absorbing body is dry, there is a risk that the radiating action of the fins due to air cooling is rather hindered, or the fins become hot and the water absorbing body may come off. In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to keep the water absorbent moistened with water, but the amount of drain generated in the indoor unit is not always sufficient to moisten the water absorbent. In such a case, there is an inconvenience that water must be separately supplied to the water absorber.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems and situations. By taking measures to ensure that the drain spreads over all of the plurality of fins provided on the heat radiating plate, the effect of promoting the heat radiation by the drain is improved. It is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner that is exerted at a high level on the entire fins of the heat sink.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner capable of efficiently suppressing heat generation of electrical components attached to a heat radiating plate by enhancing the heat radiating plate to enhance heat radiation. .

A further object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner that can maintain a high level of heat radiation by the heat radiation plate even when the amount of drain is small.

[0011]

In the air conditioner according to the present invention, the drain discharged from the indoor unit is introduced into a drain reservoir provided in the outdoor unit, and the drain of the drain reservoir is connected to an electrical component. It is used for cooling a heat radiating plate for radiating the heat.

In addition, water can be supplied through a water supply passage provided with an open / close valve in the drain reservoir, and a plurality of radiating plates on which electric components are mounted are provided in multiple stages in the vertical direction. Has fins.
For this reason, when the amount of drain discharged from the indoor unit is small, or when the drain is not discharged, the open / close valve of the water supply passage is opened to supply water to the drain reservoir, and the water is used for cooling the heat sink. It becomes possible. for that reason,
Water is supplied from the water supply channel to the radiator plate even when drain is discharged from the indoor unit as well as when it is not discharged, thereby suppressing the heat generation of the electrical components attached to the radiator plate and maintaining stable operation. It becomes possible to do. In addition, the "water supply channel with the open / close valve" includes a pipe of tap water, and the "open / close valve" includes a valve in the tap water pipe.

In the present invention, it is desirable that a plurality of fins arranged in multiple stages in the vertical direction have a flow gradient that causes the drain supplied from the drain reservoir to flow down toward the lower fin. According to this, only the fins to which drain was supplied from the drain reservoir were wet with drain,
Since the situation in which the drain is less likely to be applied to the other fins disposed below the lower fin does not occur, the heat dissipation promoting action by the drain is exerted at a high level by all the fins.

A receiving portion for the drain flowing down from the upper fin and a groove-shaped drain passage extending from the receiving portion as a starting point so as to substantially cover the entire upper surface of the fin are provided. It is preferable that a drain drop port for dropping toward the fin is provided, and the drain passage is connected to the drain drop port. According to this, the drain that has flowed down to the receiving portion of the fin flows through the drain passage extending so as to substantially cover at least the entire upper surface of the fin. Become. In addition, since the drain that has flowed through the drain passage falls from the drain drop port toward the lower fin, the heat radiation promoting action of the drain is reliably exerted on all the fins.
It is useful to remarkably enhance the heat radiation effect of the heat radiation plate.

Further, it is desirable that the drain discharged from the indoor unit can be switched between introduction into the drain reservoir of the outdoor unit and discharge outside. In such a case, in addition to the heating operation, the operation stop due to the power off,
The drain discharged from the indoor unit can be discharged to the outdoor when the drain flows into the drain reservoir beyond a certain water level, so that the electric box of the outdoor unit can be drained. This eliminates the risk of electric leakage. In addition, by draining all drains discharged from the indoor unit to the outside, water does not remain in the drain reservoir of the outdoor unit, and freezing of water and generation of pests in the drain reservoir are not caused. It becomes possible to do so.

[0016]

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of an air conditioner according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an outdoor unit, which includes a fan 2, a wiring board 3 on which electric components (not shown) such as a microcomputer and a transistor are mounted, and an electric box 4 incorporating the wiring board 3. A heat sink 5 is provided in the box 4. An electrical component 6 as a heat-generating component is also attached to the inner side of the heat sink 5. On the other hand, the indoor unit 7 is provided with a drain hose 8 for guiding drain generated in the indoor unit 7.
The tip of the drain hose 8 faces the drain reservoir 9 built in the outdoor unit 1. In this case, the distal end of the drain hose 8 can be attached to, for example, the housing of the outdoor unit 1 so that the distal end faces the drain reservoir 9.

The drain reservoir 9 is a wide tray-shaped container provided at the upper part of the outdoor unit 1. The drain port 10 provided at the bottom of the drain reservoir 9 is provided on the heat sink 5 in multiple stages in the vertical direction. The uppermost one of the plurality of fins 11 is facing from above. Further, the tip of a water supply channel 13 having an open / close valve 12 faces the drain reservoir 9. When the open / close valve 12 is opened, water is supplied from the water supply channel 13 to the drain reservoir 9, and the open / close valve 12 is closed. Then, the water absorption from the water supply passage 13 to the drain reservoir 9 is stopped. The water supply path 13 includes a pipe of tap water, and the open / close valve 12 includes a valve in the tap water pipe.

FIG. 2 shows the heat sink 5 shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a plan view of the uppermost fin 11 as viewed from the front. As shown in FIG. 2, each of the plurality of fins 11 of the heat sink 5 is inclined rightward or leftward in the left-right direction A, and each fin 11a, 11
The inclination directions of b and 11c are opposite to each other between the adjacent fins 11 and 11. Each fin 11a, 11
The inclination of b, 11c is such that the drain supplied from the drain port 10 of the drain reservoir 9 (see FIG.
Since it is a slope as a flow gradient flowing down toward
The inclination angle may be a very small angle. In particular,
After the drain supplied from the drain port 10 of the drain reservoir 9 (see FIG. 1) slowly spreads over the upper surface of the fin 11, it flows down from the end toward the lower fin 11. It is desirable that the angle be small. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a drain receiving portion 14 is provided on each of the fins 11 and a groove-like drain extending from the receiving portion 14 as a starting point so as to substantially cover the entire upper surface of the fin 11. A passage 15 is provided. The receiving portion 14 is a shallow recess formed on the upper surface of the fin 11.

With the above configuration, the drain generated in the indoor unit 7 by the cooling operation of the air conditioner is introduced into the drain reservoir 9 of the outdoor unit 1 by the drain hose 8. Then, the drain of the drain reservoir 9 is supplied from the outlet 10 onto the uppermost fin 11 a of the heat sink 5. The drain supplied on the uppermost fin 11a flows sideways due to the inclination of the fin 11a, and the drain of the lower fin 11a is moved from the end of the fin 11a.
After flowing down on the fin 11b, it flows laterally on the fin 11b and further flows down from its end onto the lower fin 11c. Similarly, in the fin 11c, the drain flows sideways due to the inclination of the fin 11c and drops from the end.
For this reason, the fins 11 at all stages are wet with the drain, and the heat dissipation promoting action of the drain is exerted on all the fins.

Particularly, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the fin 11 has a drain receiving portion 13 and a drain passage 15 extending so as to substantially cover the entire upper surface of the fin 11. After the drain that has flowed down onto the receiving portion 13 temporarily accumulates, it flows through the drain passage 15.
For this reason, the entire fin 11 has a heat radiation promoting action by the drain. Although the drain overflows from the drain passage 15 depending on the drain amount, the entire upper surface of the fin 11 is wetted by the drain in such a case, so that the heat dissipation promoting action by the drain is further improved.

When the amount of drain generated in the indoor unit 7 is small, or when the electrical component 6 generates severe heat even though no drain is generated in the indoor unit 7, the open / close valve 13 of the water supply passage 13 is opened. It is sufficient to supply water to the drain reservoir 9, and by doing so, the heat radiation by the radiator plate is promoted by the water.

As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment,
By providing the drain valve 8 with the switching valve 16, it is possible to switch between introducing the drain discharged from the indoor unit 7 into the drain reservoir 9 of the outdoor unit 1 and discharging the drain outside. It has become. For this reason, in addition to the heating operation or the operation stop due to the power-off, when the drain flows into the drain reservoir 9 beyond a certain water level, the switching valve 16 is switched to drain the drain discharged from the indoor unit 7. It can be discharged outdoors, and by doing so, there is no danger that the electric box 4 of the outdoor unit 1 will be leaked due to drainage. In addition, all the drain discharged from the indoor unit 7 is discharged to the outside so that water does not remain in the drain reservoir 9 of the outdoor unit 1, and the water in the drain reservoir 9 can be frozen and insect pests can be prevented. It is possible to prevent occurrence.

In FIG. 2, a plurality of fins 11 of the heat sink 5 are shown.
.. Have been described in the left-right direction A in the downward or rightward downward direction.
For example, as shown in FIG.
May be alternately tilted in the opposite direction in the forward and backward descending directions to give a drain flow gradient.
According to this, after the drain generated in the indoor unit 7 by the cooling operation of the air conditioner is introduced into the drain reservoir 9 of the outdoor unit 1 by the drain hose 8, the drain plate 10 is discharged from the discharge port 10 to the heat sink 5. It is supplied on the upper fin 11a. The drain supplied on the uppermost fin 11a flows forward due to the inclination of the fin 11a, and flows from the front end of the fin 11a to the lower fin 1a.
After flowing down on the fin 11b, it flows backward on the fin 11b and further flows down from the left and right ends onto the lower fin 11c. Similarly, in the fin 11c, the drain flows forward due to the inclination of the fin 11c and drops from the front end. For this reason, the fins 11 at all stages are wet with the drain, and the heat dissipation promoting action of the drain is exerted on all the fins.

When a plurality of fins 11 are alternately inclined forward and backward or downward and backward as shown in FIG. 4, as shown in FIG. It is desirable to open a drain drop port 17 at the rear end, and if this is done, the drain falls from the drain drop port 17 onto the lower fin 11c. There is an advantage that it does not collect. In the case where a plurality of fins 11 are alternately inclined in the opposite direction in the forward and backward descending directions as shown in FIG. 4, the drain receiving portions 13 are provided on the fins 11 as shown in FIG.
And a drain passage 15 extending so as to substantially cover the entire top surface of the fin 11, so that the drain flowing down on the fin 11 is received by the receiving portion 13.
And then flows through the drain passage 15. For this reason, the entire fin 11 has a heat radiation promoting action by the drain. In addition, depending on the drain amount, the drain
It overflows from 5, but when that happens, fins 11
Is wetted by the drain, so that the heat dissipation promoting action by the drain is further improved.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, drain holes 17 may be opened at a plurality of locations of the fins 11, and the drain falls from the drain holes 17 to the lower fins.

The arrows shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and FIGS. 4 to 6 indicate the flow of the drain.

Other preferred embodiments of the present invention are listed below. (1) The drain discharged from the indoor unit is introduced into a drain reservoir provided in the outdoor unit, and the drain in the drain reservoir is used for cooling a heat radiating plate for radiating heat of electrical components. In the air conditioner, the radiator plate includes a plurality of fins arranged in multiple stages in the vertical direction,
These fins are provided with a flow gradient that causes the drain supplied from the drain reservoir to flow down toward the lower fins. (2) The fin includes a receiving portion for the drain flowing down from the upper fin and a groove-shaped drain passage extending from the receiving portion as a starting point so as to substantially cover the entire upper surface of the fin. (3) The fin has a drain drop opening for dropping the drain toward the lower fin. (4) The drain passage is connected to the drain fall port. (5) Electrical components are attached to the heat sink. (6) Water can be supplied through a water supply channel having an open / close valve in the drain reservoir.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Drain spreads over all of the fins provided on the heat sink, and the heat dissipation promotion effect of the drain is exhibited at a high level throughout the fins of the heat sink, and the heat dissipation promotion effect of the heat sink And the heat generation of the electrical components can be efficiently suppressed. In addition, even when the amount of drain is small, it is possible to keep the heat radiation effect of the heat radiation plate at a high level. For this reason, in the air conditioner according to the present invention, heat generation of the microcomputer and the transistor, which are electrical components, is suppressed, and stable cooling operation can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an air conditioner according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of the heat sink shown in FIG. 1 when viewed from the direction of arrow II.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the uppermost fin.

FIG. 4 is a side view of a heat sink according to a modification.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a heat sink according to another modification.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a heat sink according to still another modification.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Outdoor unit 5 Heat sink 7 Indoor unit 9 Drain reservoir 10 Electrical parts 12 Opening / closing valve 13 Water supply path 11 Fin 14 Receiving part 15 Drain passage 17 Drain fall port

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A drain discharged from an indoor unit is introduced into a drain reservoir provided in the outdoor unit, and the drain in the drain reservoir is used for cooling a heat radiating plate for radiating heat of electrical components. In the air conditioner, water can be supplied through a water supply channel having an open / close valve in the drain reservoir, and the radiator plates to which electric components are attached are provided in multiple stages in the vertical direction. The fins are provided with a flow gradient that causes the drain supplied from the drain reservoir to flow toward the lower fin, and the drain of the drain that flows down from the upper fin is provided. A receiving portion and a groove-shaped drain passage extending from the receiving portion as a starting point so as to substantially cover the entire upper surface of the fin are provided, and the drain is connected to the lower fin. The drain passage is connected to the drain outlet, and the drain discharged from the indoor unit is introduced into the drain reservoir of the outdoor unit and discharged outside the room. An air conditioner characterized in that it is possible to switch between doing and doing. 2. A drain discharged from an indoor unit is introduced into a drain reservoir provided in an outdoor unit, and the drain in the drain reservoir is used for cooling a heat radiating plate for radiating heat of electrical components. In the air conditioner, the radiator plate includes a plurality of fins arranged in multiple stages in the vertical direction, and the drain supplied from the drain reservoir to the fins flows down toward the lower fins. An air conditioner, characterized in that a flow gradient is provided. 3. The fin according to claim 1, further comprising: a receiving portion for the drain flowing down from the upper fin, and a groove-shaped drain passage extending from the receiving portion as a starting point so as to substantially cover the entire upper surface of the fin. Item 2. The air conditioner according to Item 2. 4. The air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein the fin is provided with a drain outlet for dropping the drain toward the lower fin. 5. The air conditioner according to claim 4, wherein the drain passage is connected to the drain fall port. 6. The air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein an electrical component is attached to the heat sink. 7. The air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein water can be supplied through a water supply channel having an open / close valve in the drain reservoir.