Dehumidifier housing

Details Dehumidifier housing Dehumidifier housing

2000-12-04

2002-10-29

Simmons, David A. (Department: 1724)

Gas separation

With gas flow effecting means

Impeller within or proximate to space encompassed by...

C055S472000, C055S473000, C096S119000, C096S120000, C096S144000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06471739

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dehumidifier for removal of humidity in a room, and more particularly, to a dehumidifier housing which supports a heat exchanger and a fan.
2. Background of the Related Art
FIG. 1
illustrates a perspective disassembled view of a dehumidifier having a related art housing structure, referring to which the related art dehumidifier will be explained.
There is a filter
54
behind a case
51
in a body of the dehumidifier
50
, a heat exchanger
60
in front of the filter
54
for carrying out a dehumidifying action, and a fan
70
in front of the heat exchanger
60
. That is, the room air flows from the rear of the dehumidifier, is dehumidified at the heat exchanger
60
, and is discharged into a room through a discharge grill
9
in front of the dehumidifier. The heat exchanger
60
is provided with an evaporator and a condenser, refrigerant is circulated by a compressor
53
, and water dehumidified at the condenser (hereafter called as “condensate”) is collected at a water tank
80
under the heat exchanger
60
.
Configuration of the compressor
53
, the heat exchanger
60
, and the fan
70
in the related art dehumidifier will be explained in detail.
The compressor
53
is mounted on a lower panel
52
which forms a bottom of the case
51
, and the heat exchanger
60
is fitted over a drain pan
61
having a water discharge groove
62
for guiding downward flow of the condensate. The fan
70
is fixed to a shroud
72
having a central air flow hole
73
by a motor mount
75
. The water tank
80
is placed inside of a barrier
85
bent to a rear direction (in a direction the filter is fitted). The drain pan
61
is formed of a plate for stable mounting of the heat exchanger
60
thereon, with a water groove
62
for making the condensate formed during the dehumidification process to flow to the water tank
80
under the drain pan
61
. The drain pan
61
has projections on both sides thereof for insertion in insertion grooves
81
in both sides of the water base.
In the meantime, the shroud
72
is fixed to an upper side of the drain pan
61
in a vertical direction, has an air flow hole
73
for flow of air by the fan
70
. And, the motor mount
75
is fitted to cross the air flow hole
73
in the shroud
72
, with both ends thereof fastened to a front side of the shroud
72
by using screws through a plurality of screw holes
76
. That is, the motor mount
75
fastens the fan
70
to the shroud
72
. In detail, at first the fan
70
is placed on an inside surface of the shroud
72
, with the screw holes in the flange
71
of the fan
70
matched with the screw holes
76
in the motor mount
75
, and screws are fastened therethrough, to fix the fan
70
to the shroud
72
. In the meantime, the barrier
85
, having both ends bent backward, is fitted to the lower panel
52
, and the shroud
72
and the drain pan
61
are fitted to an upper portion of the barrier
85
. And, the water tank
80
is placed inside of the barrier
85
for collecting the condensate flowing along the water groove
62
in the drain pan
61
.
However, the related art dehumidifier has the following problems.
First, the related art dehumidifier has the drain pan
61
, the shroud
72
, the motor mount
75
and the barrier
85
provided individually for supporting the heat exchanger
60
and the fan
70
. This results poor productivity during assembly of the dehumidifier as many components are required to be assembled.
Second, the mounting of heavy components, such as the heat exchanger
60
and the fan
70
, on an assembly of a plurality of components renders a poor rigidity and deformation of the components. Finally, the transmission of vibration from the heat exchanger
60
and the fan
70
to the components deteriorates fastening forces between the components, and causes noise and trouble as the components come apart.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a dehumidifier housing that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention is to provide a dehumidifier housing which can enhance a productivity in assembly of the dehumidifier.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a dehumidifier housing which can improve dehumidifier performance.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, the dehumidifier housing includes a lower housing having a barrier part fitted vertically between a compressor and a water tank inside of a cabinet, and a drain part formed on an upper portion of the barrier part in a horizontal direction for collecting condensate dropped from a heat exchanger and draining to the water tank, and an upper housing having a shroud part extended from the upper portion of the barrier part a vertical direction with an air flow hole at a central portion for mounting a fan, and a motor fixing part projected from the air flow hole in the shroud part in a radial form for fixing a motor of the fan thereto, wherein the upper housing and the lower housing are formed as one unit.
The barrier part further includes a main wall part fitted vertically between the compressor and the water tank, and sidewalls extended from both sides of the main wall to both sides of the drain part.
In other aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dehumidifier housing including a lower housing having a barrier part fitted vertically between a compressor and a water tank inside of a cabinet, a drain part formed in a horizontal direction above the barrier part for collecting condensate dehumidified at a heat exchanger and draining the water tank, and sidewalls formed at both sides of the barrier part and the drain part in a front and rear direction and supported on an inside of the cabinet, an upper housing having an orifice part with an air flow hole in a central portion, and a rim part around the orifice part in front and rear direction and supported on an inside of the cabinet, and coupling means for coupling the lower housing and the upper housing.
The upper housing further includes guide parts projected from an inside of the rim part toward the heat exchanger for guiding flow of dehumidifying air passed through the heat exchanger.
The coupling means includes a setting part formed recessed at an upper portion of sidewalls of the lower housing, and a barrier assembly part extended from a bottom of he rim part of the upper housing. And, the guide part of the upper housing includes a downward guide extension below the guide part, and the drain part of the lower housing includes a guide insertion part for inserting the guide extension thereto.
There is a turbo fan mounted in the air flow hole in the upper housing. And, there is an annular guide around the air flow hole of the orifice part projected toward the heat exchanger for guiding air flow toward the turbo fan.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3594990 (1971-07-01), Hawley
patent: 3866333 (1975-02-01), Sarukahanian et al.
patent: 4712382 (1987-12-01), LeClear
patent: 4927436 (1990-05-01), Glienke
patent: 5089035 (1992-02-01), Kaneko
patent: 5230719 (1993-07-01), Berner et al.
patent: 5478379 (1995-12-01), Bevins
patent: 5843213 (1998-12-01), Fujimura

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