JP2006162132A - Indoor unit of air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an indoor unit of an air conditioner capable of effectively improving an aesthetic appearance, by manufacturing a front panel superior in the aesthetic appearance. <P>SOLUTION: The front panel 23 is arranged in front of a casing body 2 for storing a cross flow fan 16 and a heat exchanger 17. The front panel 23 is formed of PMMA, and painting is applied to a back face. In the front panel 23, the flowing length/thickness ratio L/t when molding the PMMA is set to 40 to 210, and the width and the height viewed from the front are set to 750 mm and 150 mm or more and 1,200 mm and 300 mm or less. Since generation of a weld line and an attack by painting can be prevented on the PMMA, the front panel 23 of a superior aesthetic appearance can be formed, and an aesthetic appearance of the indoor unit of the air conditioner can be improved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an indoor unit of an air conditioner, and more particularly to a front panel provided on a casing of the indoor unit of the air conditioner.

  Conventionally, an indoor unit of an air conditioner has an air blower fan and a heat exchanger accommodated in a casing, and a front panel is provided on the front surface of the casing to improve the aesthetic appearance (for example, JP 2001-41489 A). Gazette: see Patent Document 1).

  Recently, there has been proposed a structure in which the front panel is formed of a transparent resin, and the back surface is painted to improve the texture of the front panel to further improve the aesthetics of the indoor unit of the air conditioner.

  However, when the front panel is formed of a transparent resin such as polycarbonate, for example, such a transparent resin material has a relatively low fluidity in the mold, so that a weld line is easily formed. This weld line is easily noticeable by the coating applied to the back surface, and there is a risk of deteriorating the aesthetics of the indoor unit. In addition, there is a problem in that the vicinity of the weld line is raised more than the other parts, resulting in a dimensional error or a decrease in mechanical strength.

Moreover, the front panel formed with the said transparent resin tends to be conspicuous by the coating applied to the back surface in the take-out process at the time of molding, which may impair the aesthetics of the indoor unit. Further, the transparent resin is easily attacked by a paint, and the attacked transparent resin causes unevenness on the painted surface and lowers the aesthetic appearance. Therefore, it is difficult to produce a front panel having a good aesthetic appearance.
JP 2001-41489 A

  Then, the subject of this invention is providing the indoor unit of the air conditioner which can produce the front panel with favorable aesthetics and can improve aesthetics effectively.

  In order to solve the above problems, an indoor unit of an air conditioner of the present invention is provided on the front surface of a casing body that houses a blower fan and a heat exchanger, is formed of a transparent resin, and is painted on the back surface. And a front panel having a flow-to-thickness ratio of 40 to 210 when molding the transparent resin and having a width and a height as viewed from the front of 750 mm and 150 mm to 1200 mm and 300 mm or less. It is characterized by.

  According to the said structure, the flow length thickness ratio at the time of shaping | molding transparent resin shall be 40 or more and 210 or less about the front panel whose width | variety and height seen from the front are 750 mm and 150 mm or more and 1200 mm and 300 mm or less. Here, the flow length thickness ratio is a flow length L which is a distance between a gate provided in a mold for molding a transparent resin and a position farthest from the gate in the cavity of the mold, The ratio L / t with respect to the thickness t of the transparent resin molded by the mold. By setting the flow length thickness ratio of the transparent resin to 40 or more and 210 or less, it is possible to effectively prevent the weld line from being generated in the transparent resin. Moreover, the attack by coating can be prevented. Therefore, the front panel can prevent the weld line from being conspicuous due to the coating applied to the back surface, and can prevent the surface of the transparent resin from being uneven due to the attack by the coating, so that the aesthetic appearance can be effectively improved. As a result, the beauty of the indoor unit of the air conditioner can be effectively improved.

  Since the front panel of the indoor unit of the air conditioner has a width and height as viewed from the front of about 750 mm and 150 mm and is relatively large, there is a problem that a weld line is likely to occur during molding of the transparent resin. As a result of research on the generation of weld lines under conditions specific to the front panel of an air conditioner, in addition to having a correlation with the flow distance in the mold, there is also a correlation with the thickness of the transparent resin to be molded. It was found to have. Moreover, it was found that the attack of the transparent resin resulting from the coating also has a correlation with the flow length / thickness ratio. Based on these, the present invention was made.

  In an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to an embodiment, the transparent resin forming the front panel is a transparent resin formed by a mold having one gate.

  According to the embodiment, since the transparent resin is a transparent resin formed of a mold having one gate, it is possible to effectively prevent the generation of weld lines.

  As for the indoor unit of the air conditioner of one Embodiment, the said front panel does not have the protrusion trace at the time of shaping | molding of the said transparent resin at least in the center part.

  According to the above embodiment, there is no protruding trace at the time of molding the transparent resin at least in the central portion, and thus the front panel does not stand out even if the back surface is painted. Therefore, it can prevent effectively that the beauty | look of the indoor unit of an air conditioner is impaired.

  In addition, it is preferable that the protrusion trace at the time of formation of the said transparent resin does not exist in the center part of the said front panel, but exists in the bending part of the edge of the said front panel.

  In the indoor unit of an air conditioner of one embodiment, the front panel is formed of a resin containing PC (polycarbonate), ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) or PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate).

  According to the embodiment, the front panel is formed of a resin including at least one of PC, ABS, and PMMA, so that the occurrence of weld lines is effectively reduced by applying the present invention. Thus, an air conditioner indoor unit having a good appearance can be obtained.

  As for the indoor unit of the air conditioner of one Embodiment, the back surface of the said front panel is painted with the coating material containing an acrylic resin coating material.

  According to the above embodiment, the transparent resin forming the front panel is not easily affected by the application of the present invention even when a paint including an acrylic resin paint is used. A machine is obtained.

  As described above, the indoor unit of the air conditioner of the present invention is provided on the front surface of the casing body that houses the blower fan and the heat exchanger, is formed of a transparent resin, and is painted on the back surface. And, since the flow length thickness ratio at the time of molding of the transparent resin is 40 or more and 210 or less, the width and height viewed from the front are 750 mm and 150 mm or more and 1200 mm and 300 mm or less, so It is possible to effectively prevent the weld line from being generated in the transparent resin, and therefore it is possible to prevent the weld line from being noticeable by the coating applied to the back surface of the front panel. Can be improved effectively.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to the present invention.

  The indoor unit of the air conditioner includes a casing body 2 attached to a wall surface in the room, and a front panel 23 attached to the front surface of the casing body 2. The casing body 2 includes a rear casing 12 and a front casing 22 attached to the front surface of the rear casing 12. The rear casing 12 is fixed to the wall surface by the bottom frame 11. The front panel 23 is attached at a position that is easily visible from the front surface of the front casing 22.

  An upper surface suction port 13 having a grid-like grill is provided in the upper part of the back side casing 12 of the casing body 2. In addition, a front suction port 28 having a grill disposed in a substantially horizontal direction is provided in an upper portion of the front casing 22 of the casing body 2. Further, an air blowing port 15 is formed between the lower portion of the rear casing 12 and the lower end of the front casing 22, and a wind direction adjusting mechanism such as a horizontal flap and a vertical flap is arranged.

  A cross flow fan 16 as a blower fan is provided inside the casing body 2. The cross flow fan 16 has a substantially cylindrical shape in which a plurality of blades parallel to the longitudinal direction are sequentially provided in the circumferential direction, and can generate an air flow in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis. It has become. The cross flow fan 16 is rotationally driven by a fan motor (not shown), and generates an air flow toward the blower port 15.

  Inside the casing main body 2, a heat exchanger 17 is disposed on a passage of air flow generated by the cross flow fan 16. The heat exchanger 17 includes fins arranged at predetermined intervals, and heat transfer tubes that are inserted through the fins and bent at both ends in the arrangement direction of the fins to form a refrigerant path. Indoor air is guided to the heat exchanger 17 from the top suction port 13 and the front suction port 28 by the cross flow fan 16, and heat exchange is performed between the air and the refrigerant flowing in the heat exchanger 17. Do. The air cooled or heated by this heat exchange is blown out from the blower opening 15 into the room. The heat exchanger 17 is formed by combining a front side heat exchanger 17A and a back side heat exchanger 17B in an inverted V shape, and the front side heat exchanger 17A and the back side heat exchanger 17B A cross flow fan 16 is disposed between the two.

  A drain pan 18 for receiving condensed water generated in the front heat exchanger 17A is provided in the casing body 2 below the lower end of the front heat exchanger 17A. Further, a drain pan 19 for receiving condensed water generated in the back side heat exchanger 17B is provided below the lower end portion of the back side heat exchanger 17B.

  The rear casing 12 of the casing body 2 is provided with a filter mounting frame, and the air filter 21 can be mounted from the upper surface portion to the front surface portion of the indoor unit. A front casing 22 to which the front panel 23 is attached is attached in front of the rear casing 12.

  A support member having a support pin extending in the width direction is fixed to the upper end portion of the front side casing 22, and the front side casing 22 is rotatably supported by the back side casing 12 by this support member. Yes. Further, a hook portion that engages with a part of the rear side casing 12 is provided at the lower portion of the front side casing 22. Thus, the front casing 22 can expose the front surface of the air filter 21 by rotating to the front side of the indoor unit around the support member, and the hook portion engages with the rear casing 12. It is possible to make it a closed state by combining.

  The front casing 22 is formed with a planar portion facing substantially vertical direction and a curved surface portion for guiding indoor air connected to the lower side of the planar portion on the upper portion viewed from the front, At the lower end of the curved surface portion, a front suction port 28 having a grill attached in a substantially horizontal direction is formed. An upper end portion of the front panel 23 is located in front of the front suction port 28. The front panel 23 is attached to the front casing 22 so that the lower end thereof coincides with the lower end of the front casing 22.

  In the indoor unit of the air conditioner having the above configuration, the front panel 23 is made of PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) as a transparent resin, and the back side is painted. The front panel 23 has dimensions of 790 mm × 160 mm in width and height when viewed from the front. The front panel 23 is formed using a mold having one gate, and is a value obtained by dividing the flow length of the PC material in the mold by the thickness of the PC after molding. The flow length thickness ratio L / t is 156. Specifically, as shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. 2, the distance L between the gate corresponding position G corresponding to the gate of the front panel 23 and the corner farthest from the gate corresponding position G is 390 mm. The thickness is 2.5 mm.

  Further, the front panel 23 does not have a projecting trace due to the ejector generated in the take-out process at the time of molding of the PC in the corner portion which is the bent portion of the edge. That is, the mold for forming the PC of the front panel 23 is provided with an ejector at a position corresponding to the corner.

  The back side of the front panel 23 is painted with an acrylic resin paint as a paint.

  The front panel 23 has a flow length / thickness ratio L / t of 156 when molding the PMMA and is 40 or more and 210 or less. Therefore, generation of a weld line of PMMA and attack of PMMA by the paint Can be prevented.

  The correlation between the flow length / thickness ratio L / t of the transparent resin, the generation of the weld line of the transparent resin and the attack by the paint will be described below.

  The present inventor changed the flow length thickness ratio L / t and welded PC (polycarbonate), ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), and PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) as transparent resin materials. Experiments were conducted by observing the presence or absence of lines. The experimental results are as shown in Table 1 below.

  In Table 1, PMMA + GPPS is a transparent resin obtained by mixing PPS with GPPS (General Purpose Polystyrene), and PMMA + HIPS is PMMA with HIPS (High-Impact Polystyrene). ) Is a transparent resin obtained by mixing. PMMA + GPPS preferably has a ratio of PMMA to GPPS between 6: 4 and 2: 8 from the viewpoint of strength and transparency, and a 6: 4 ratio was used in the experiment. PMMA + HIPS preferably has a ratio of PMMA to HIPS of 6: 4 to 2: 8 from the viewpoint of strength and transparency, and in the experiment, a PMMA + HIPS ratio of 3: 7 was used.

  As can be seen from Table 1, by setting the flow length thickness ratio L / t to 40 or more and 210 or less, it is possible to substantially prevent the occurrence of a weld line of transparent resin. Furthermore, according to another experiment, by setting the flow length / thickness ratio L / t to 50 or more and 80 or less, it is possible to effectively generate weld lines in any of the transparent resins of the materials shown in Table 1. Can be prevented.

  Furthermore, the present inventor conducted an experiment on the ease of attack by the paint on the PC, ABS, and PMMA as the transparent resin material. That is, each of the above transparent resins was molded by injection molding under a normal injection pressure while changing L / t, and a paint was applied to the back surface to examine whether or not an attack occurred. For paint, acrylic resin paint is used, and the transparent substrate to which this paint is applied has an attack that can be seen from the front side, and there is no attack that can be seen from the front side. No attack. The experimental results are as shown in Table 2 below.

  As can be seen from Table 2, by setting the flow length thickness ratio L / t to 40 or more and 210 or less, the occurrence of an attack of the transparent resin by the paint can be generally prevented. According to another experiment, by setting the flow length thickness ratio L / t to 50 or more and 80 or less, the occurrence of weld lines is effectively prevented for the transparent resin of any material shown in Table 1. be able to.

  As the paint, other paints such as enamel paint and lacquer paint may be used.

  From the above, by setting the flow length thickness ratio L / t to 40 or more and 210 or less, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of the weld line of the transparent resin and to prevent the attack of the transparent resin by the paint, The front panel 23 having a good aesthetic appearance can be formed.

  Further, since the front panel 23 has no protruding trace generated in the take-out process in the corner portion, which is a bent portion of the edge, even when the back surface is painted, Protruding marks can be made inconspicuous. Therefore, the front panel 23 having a good aesthetic appearance can be formed.

  By using the front panel 23 having such a good appearance, the appearance of the indoor unit of the air conditioner can be effectively improved.

  The front panel 23 may be manufactured by integral molding with a transparent resin together with the front casing 22, or is formed separately from the front casing 22 and fixed to the front casing 22 by welding or adhesion. May be.

  The front panel 23 is not limited to PMMA, and may be formed of other transparent resin materials such as ABS, PC, PMMA + GPPS, PMMA + HIPS, or a combination thereof.

  Further, the width and height of the front panel 23 are not limited to dimensions of 790 mm × 160 mm, and the width and height may be 750 mm × 150 mm or more and 1200 mm × 300 mm or less.

  The flow length thickness ratio L / t is not limited to 156, and can be set as appropriate within a range of 40 to 210.

  The front panel 23 is not limited to the shape shown in the embodiment, and can be formed in any shape as long as it has a predetermined flow length thickness ratio L / t.

It is sectional drawing which shows the indoor unit of the air conditioner of this invention. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the flow length thickness ratio of a front panel.

Explanation of symbols

2 Casing body 16 Blower fan 17 Heat exchanger 23 Front panel

Claims (5)

  It is provided on the front surface of the casing body (2) that accommodates the blower fan (16) and the heat exchanger (17), is formed of a transparent resin, is coated on the back surface, and the transparent resin An air conditioner comprising a front panel (23) having a flow-to-thickness ratio of 40 to 210 at the time of molding, and a width and height as viewed from the front of 750 mm and 150 mm to 1200 mm and 300 mm or less. Indoor unit of the machine. In the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 1,
The indoor unit of an air conditioner, wherein the transparent resin forming the front panel (23) is a transparent resin formed by a mold having one gate. In the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2,
The indoor unit of an air conditioner, wherein the front panel (23) has no protruding trace at the time of molding of the transparent resin at least in the center. In the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The indoor unit of an air conditioner, wherein the front panel (23) is formed of a resin including at least one of PC, ABS, and PMMA. In the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The indoor unit of an air conditioner, wherein the back surface of the front panel (23) is painted with a paint including an acrylic resin paint.

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