JP2001099530A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner in which both sides of a cross-fin tube type indoor side heat exchanger for a separate type air conditioner using ignitable refrigerant are provided with covers and gas leaked in the covers is guided out of a room to prevent gas from being leaked into the room and to increase safety characteristic. SOLUTION: There is provided a cover A covering a return pipe 13 welded at an end part of a cross-fin tube type heat exchanger 5. It has a structure having a pipe B for guiding gaseous refrigerant leaked in the cover out of a room, or a structure in which a pipe portion where ignitable refrigerant flows is covered by the tube and the leaked gas at the pipe portion is guided out of the room.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an air conditioner using a flammable refrigerant.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a refrigerant for an air conditioner, H
CFC 22 has been widely used. It has been decided that this refrigerant will be totally abolished by 2030 because it will destroy the ozone layer above when released into the atmosphere.
As an alternative refrigerant to the HCFC22 refrigerant, an HFC-based refrigerant is conceivable, but there are many problems in actually adopting it in an air conditioner, and switching to all types has not yet been completed.

As described above, refrigerants other than HFC refrigerants that can prevent the ozone layer destruction and the global warming include:
Combustible refrigerants such as propane and butane, which are natural refrigerants, have been considered. However, since the natural refrigerant has high flammability, it is absolutely necessary to prevent the flammable refrigerant from flowing out to the indoor side.

Therefore, even if this flammable refrigerant is used, a fire,
An air conditioner is required to prevent explosion accidents. For example, the conventional technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-369370 discloses a technique in which gas leakage occurs.
An air conditioner having a means for detecting gas to notify a danger in advance is described.

[0005]

Generally, an indoor heat exchanger housed in an indoor unit is composed of a combination of a plurality of hairpin pipes and fins, and connects the hairpin pipes as a part of a refrigeration cycle. , Adjacent return pipes are connected via bend pipes. The bend pipe and the return pipe are welded by using a brazing material. As described above, a large number of welding locations that are likely to cause gas leakage are located on the indoor side.

On the other hand, in the above-mentioned conventional example, there is provided a detecting means for informing in advance that the refrigerant has leaked, and a means for informing the detecting means to take a countermeasure when a gas leak occurs is described. However, there is no description of a measure to be taken when gas leakage from a weld is induced, for example, a means for stopping gas leakage or a means for releasing leaked gas to the outside of the room.

[0007] Even if a gas leak occurs and the means for detecting the gas is activated, the gas may continue to leak and flow out into the room unless there is a means for stopping the gas or a means for allowing the gas to escape outside the room. Is enough.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner that can prevent gas from flowing into a room even if gas leakage occurs.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide a heat exchanger installed in an indoor unit, a cover for covering a weld of the heat exchanger, and a tube provided on the cover and communicating with the inside of the cover. This is achieved by the fact that the tube communicates with the outside.

[0010] Further, the tube is achieved by connecting the heat exchanger and outdoor equipment.

A heat exchanger installed in the indoor unit;
A first cover that covers the welded portion of the heat exchanger, a second cover that covers the hairpin portion of the heat exchanger, and a tube that communicates with the inside of the cover, and the tube communicates with the outside. More achieved.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to an embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a refrigeration cycle of a separate type air conditioner according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a compressor, 2 is a four-way valve,
Reference numeral 3 denotes an outdoor heat exchanger, 4 denotes a decompressor, and 5 denotes an indoor heat exchanger, which are sequentially connected by refrigerant pipes to form a series of refrigeration cycles. Reference numeral 6 denotes an outdoor unit, which includes the compressor 1, the four-way valve 2, the outdoor heat exchanger 3, the decompressor 4, the outdoor fan 7, the outdoor fan motor 8, and electric components (not shown).
Is stored. Reference numeral 9 denotes an indoor unit, which includes the indoor heat exchanger 5, the indoor fan 10, and the indoor fan motor 1.
1. Electric appliances (not shown) are stored.

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of a general indoor heat exchanger housed inside the indoor unit.

In FIG. 2, the indoor heat exchanger 5 is a cross fin tube type heat exchanger in which a plurality of fins are inserted into a plurality of return pipes 14. In this heat exchanger 5, a hairpin pipe 13 is inserted so as to be orthogonal to the fins 12. After inserting the fin 12 so that the fin 12 and the hairpin pipe 13 are in close contact,
The hairpin pipe 13 is expanded. Hairpin pipe 1
The other end of 3 is connected to adjacent hairpin pipes 13 via a bend pipe 14. Reference numeral 15 denotes a weld between the bend pipe 14 and the hairpin pipe 13. By providing a large number of the welded portions 15, a refrigerant flow path of a continuous refrigeration cycle is formed.

In FIG. 2, the refrigerant flows in from I and flows out from II. Reference numeral 5a denotes a side plate having substantially the same shape as the fin 5. The side plates 5a are fixed to both sides of the heat exchanger 5, and have holes for screwing the heat exchanger into the indoor unit. This side plate serves as a teaching aid for the heat exchanger 5.

The cross fin tube type heat exchanger 5 is mounted in the indoor unit 9 via the side plate 5a.
This is because the bend pipe 1 with a high probability of refrigerant leakage
The welded portion 15 between the hairpin 4 and the hairpin pipe 13 exists on the indoor side.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a cover for covering the bend pipe portion of the indoor heat exchanger 5. FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the heat exchanger showing a state in which the cover is attached to the indoor heat exchanger.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, A is a cover.
The cover A covers the entire welded portion 15 between the hairpin pipe and the bend pipe. Cover A covering welded part 15
Is tightly attached to the side plate 5a via welding or a sealing material to provide airtightness. B is a hose for guiding the refrigerant gas leaked into the cover A to the outdoor side.
The hose A may be extended out of the room through a dedicated hole provided in the wall. However, the hose A may be extended out of the room through a wall hole for guiding a refrigerant pipe connecting the indoor unit and the outdoor unit and a drain hose to the outside. May be.

As described above, the cover A
Accommodates the cover bend 14 in the cover A, so even if gas leaks out of the weld 15 due to poor welding, the gas fills the cover A, and the gas of the III symbol indicated by the dotted line of the hose B Thus, the air is discharged from the hose B to the outside of the room. Therefore, the outflow of the flammable gas into the room is greatly reduced, and an accident such as a flame or an explosion can be prevented.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the heat exchanger showing a state in which covers are attached to both the bend pipe side and the hairpin pipe side.

In FIG. 5, in addition to the cover A attached to the bend pipe side, the return portion side of the hairpin pipe 13 is covered with a cover C. Although gas leakage from the hairpin pipe is extremely small, even if a crack or the like occurs in the pipe and leakage occurs from the hairpin pipe portion, the flammable refrigerant accumulates in the cover C, and the flammable refrigerant flows out of the room with the pipe D. As a result, the probability of the flammable refrigerant flowing out to the indoor side can be further reduced.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a heat exchanger in which a cover for refrigerant piping is attached to the cover A shown in FIG.

In a separate type air conditioner in which an indoor unit and an outdoor unit are separated, a refrigeration cycle is formed by connecting a heat exchanger in the indoor unit, a compressor in the outdoor unit, and a condenser through a refrigerant pipe. Things.

By the way, the refrigerant pipes have different diameters on the low pressure side and the high pressure side, and also have different diameters from the hairpin pipe of the heat exchanger. Therefore, since the connection between the indoor heat exchanger and the refrigerant pipe also has a welded portion, there is a sufficient possibility that gas will leak from this connection portion. Therefore, tubes E are attached to the pipes 16 and 17 for connecting the refrigerant pipes, and the combustible refrigerant leaked from the welded portion and the combustible refrigerant leaked from the connection portion of the bend pipe are removed from the tube E together with the wall hole from the tube E. It is designed to be released outside through the room. Thereby, the effect of preventing the flammable gas from flowing out to the indoor side can be further improved.

[0027]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an air conditioner capable of preventing a combustible gas from flowing into a room.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a refrigeration cycle of a general separate type air conditioner.

FIG. 2 is a cross fin tube type heat exchanger according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an embodiment of a cover according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Compressor, 2 ... 4-way valve, 3 ... Outdoor heat exchanger, 4 ... Decompressor, 5 ... Indoor heat exchanger, 5a ... Side plate, 6
... outdoor unit, 7 ... outdoor fan, 8 ... outdoor fan motor, 9 ... indoor unit, 10 ... indoor side fan, 11 ... indoor side fan motor, 12 ... fan, 13 ... hairpin pipe, 1
4 ... return pipe, 15 ... welded part, 16 and 17 ... refrigerant pipe, A, C ... cover, B, D, E ... pipe, I, II ... refrigerant flow direction, III ... leak gas flow direction.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A heat exchanger installed in an indoor unit, a cover for covering a welded portion of the heat exchanger, and a tube provided on the cover and communicating with the inside of the cover. Air conditioner that communicates with 2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the tube covers a refrigerant pipe connecting the heat exchanger and an outdoor device. 3. A heat exchanger installed in an indoor unit, a first cover covering a welded portion of the heat exchanger, a second cover covering a hairpin portion of the heat exchanger, and a cover for the heat exchanger. An air conditioner comprising a tube communicating with the inside, and the tube communicating with the outdoor.