Refrigeration – With means preventing or handling atmospheric condensate... – Retainer or flow director for atmospheric condensate
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-26
2001-06-05
Buiz, Michael Powell (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
With means preventing or handling atmospheric condensate...
Retainer or flow director for atmospheric condensate
C062S288000, C062S291000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06240740
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement in the assembly operation, a reduction in the cost of and an improvement in the environmental issue of an air conditioner.
2. Discussion of the Background
In
FIG. 24
is shown a part of a conventional air conditioner, which includes a drain pan having a hollow space therein for thermal insulation, and which has been disclosed in JP-A-611148 for instance. The conventional air conditioner decreases the amount of a thermal insulation material to reduce fabrication steps, and the drain pan
24
is prepared so as to include an outer layer
25
made of ABS resin and the hollow space
26
formed therein by known gas injection molding.
The function of the drain pan will be explained as follows. In general, the inner side
28
of the drain pan
24
has the tendency to have a lower surface temperature than the outer side
27
since the inner side is close to a heat exchanger and contacts cooled droplets. However, the gas in the hollow space
26
inside the outer layer
25
has a superior thermal insulation property. Even if there is a temperature difference between the inner side
28
and the outer side
27
, the gas in the hollow space
26
shuts off the heat transfer therebetween. By this arrangement, the air close to the outer side
27
is not noticeably cooled and vapor condensation is not provided on the outer side
27
.
In
FIG. 25
is shown a conventional plug arrangement for an air conditioner drain pipe, which has been disclosed in JP-A-58-33980 for instance, which is shown in exploded fashion. In this Figure, reference numeral
101
designates a drain pan, reference numeral
102
designates a drain pipe, which is connected to the drain pan so as to pass therethrough, and reference numeral
103
designates a blind plug to be mounted to the drain pipe for clogging the drain pipe.
The function of the blind plug will be explained as follows. Referring to
FIG. 25
, the drain pipe
102
is inserted in the drain pan
101
to be engaged therewith, and the blind plug
103
is forcibly capped on the drain pipe
102
to be engaged therewith.
In
FIG. 26
is shown an exploded perspective view of essential portions of another conventional plug arrangement for a drain pipe, in
FIG. 27
is shown a cross-sectional view to explain how a drain pipe joint is mounted, in
FIG. 28
is shown a perspective view of the rain pipe joint, and in
FIG. 29
is shown cross-sectional view to explain how a blind plug is mounted. In
FIG. 30
is shown a perspective view of the blind plug. In these Figures, reference numeral
101
designates a drain pan, reference numeral
102
designates a drain pipe joint, which passes through and is engaged with a hole
101
a
formed in the drain pan
101
, reference numeral
102
a
designates a flange of the drain pipe joint
102
, reference numeral
102
b
designates the tubular body of the drain pipe joint
101
, reference numeral
102
c
designates a stopper, which is provided on an end of the tubular body of the joint and has a leading edge provided with a conical portion, and reference numeral
102
d
designates a through hole in the drain pipe joint.
If the drain pipe joint
102
is not needed, the blind plug
103
is inserted into the hole
101
a
in the drain pan
101
to be engaged therewith as shown in FIG.
29
. If the joint is needed, the joint
102
is inserted into the hole
101
a
in the drain pan
101
to be engaged therewith as shown in
FIG. 27. A
hose
104
for leading drain water to outside is engaged with the joint
102
as shown in
FIG. 31
to drain the water from the drain pan to outside through the through hole in the joint
102
and the hose.
The drainage for a drain pan thus prepared is used in an air conditioner as in the fashion shown in FIG.
32
.
Since the conventional drainage is thus constructed, the blind plug and the joint must be exchanged as required, which takes some time to exchange the parts, or which means that the plural parts are required to be ready all the time, that is wasteful.
Since the conventional air conditioner is configured to be provided with the hollow space by gas injection, the air layer can not be provided so as to have a certain thickness or a greater thickness which means that a great deal of thermal insulation cannot be provided. Costs, such as a molding cost, are required.
From the viewpoint that the environmental issue has been presently discussed, it is recommended that used parts can be easily separated according to type. When an insulation material or a similar member is provided on a lower side of a heat exchanger to prevent secondary air from being sucked, there has been created a problem in that separation of the insulating material for disposal is troublesome.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to eliminate these problems, and to improve the thermal insulation property of a drain pan.
It is another object of the present invention to provide required parts at a low cost.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide drainage treatment with more reliable fashion.
It is a still further reject of the preset invention to facilitate separation of parts for disposal from the viewpoint of product assessment.
The present invention provides an air conditioner indoor unit comprising a heat exchanger; a fan; a drain pan provided under the heat exchanger, the drain pan retrieving drain water condensed on the heat exchanger; an outlet nozzle member provided under the drain pan, the outlet nozzle member providing an air path for blowing off air supplied by the fan and a hollow space between the drain pan and the outlet nozzle member; a drain pan drainage formed in the drain pan, the drain pan drainage draining drain water stored in the drain pan; a hollow space drainage formed in the outlet nozzle member at a location close to the drain pan drainage, the hollow space drainage draining drain water stored in the hollow space; and a drain hose connected to the drain pan drainage and the hollow space drainage. In accordance with the present invention, the hollow space can work for thermal insulation between the drain pan and the outlet nozzle member to dispense with a thermal insulation material and to eliminate the problem of dew drops due to peeling of a thermal insulation material, carrying out drainage in more reliable fashion.
The drain pan drainage and the hollow space drainage may be provided in concentric fashion so that the drain pan drainage is located inside the hollow space drainage.
The drain pan drainage may have a leading edge provided with a trough-shaped guide. This arrangement can direct the drain water from the drain pan drainage to the drain hose in more reliable fashion.
The drain pan drainage and the hollow space drainage may be combined so as to provide a pair of drainages, and a rubber plug with dual concentric flanges may be provided on the pair of drainages when the drainages are not in use. By this arrangement, both drainages can be closed by the single rubber plug.
The outlet nozzle member and the drain pan may be made of different materials, and the drain pan may be made of polypropylene resin. By this arrangement, the occurrence of a creak between parts due to thermal shrinkage can be restrained.
The heat exchange may have a lower end provided with an insulation member to separate a space under the heat exchanger into a primary side and a secondary side, the drain pan may be provided with a rib, and the insulation member is engaged with the rib. By this arrangement, it is possible to remove the insulation member easily for disposal, facilitating the separation of parts.
The insulation member may have angular holes and slots formed therein, the rib may have projections in a triangular shape alternately provided on both lateral sides thereof, and the angular holes may receive the projections in alternate fashion.
The drain pan may be provided with two ribs, one of ribs may have a lateral side facing the other rib provided with projections in a tri
Endo Teruyoshi
Kawakami Tamaki
Matsushita Kunio
Tanikawa Yoshinori
Buiz Michael Powell
Jones Melvin
Mitsubishi Denki & Kabushiki Kaisha
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
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