Refrigeration – Structural installation – Window connected or mounted
Reexamination Certificate
2002-03-07
2003-08-12
Tapolcai, William E. (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Structural installation
Window connected or mounted
C062S263000, C062S429000, C403S335000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06604375
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2001-69432 filed Nov. 8, 2001 in the Korean Patent Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to one-unit type air conditioners and, more particularly, to a one-unit type air conditioner having a partition wall used for dividing the interior of a cabinet into an outdoor section and an indoor section, a support extended from said partition wall toward the indoor section, and a reinforcing flange extended from said partition wall toward the outdoor section.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional air conditioners are classified into two types: one-unit type air conditioners wherein an evaporator for cooling room air, a compressor and a condenser for compressing and cooling refrigerant are installed in a single cabinet to form a single unit; and split type air conditioners wherein the evaporator is enclosed in an indoor cabinet and the compressor and condenser are enclosed in an outdoor cabinet to form an indoor unit and an outdoor unit. In such a one-unit type air conditioner, the interior of the single cabinet is partitioned into an indoor section and an outdoor section. An evaporator is installed in the indoor section while a compressor and a condenser are installed in the outdoor section. In order to partition the interior of the single cabinet into the indoor and outdoor sections, a partition wall is set in the cabinet.
FIG. 1
is an exploded perspective view of a one-unit type air conditioner having a conventional partition wall. As shown in the drawing, the parts of the one-unit type air conditioner are enclosed in a box-shaped single cabinet
1
, the interior of which is partitioned into an indoor section and an outdoor section by a partition wall
20
. Installed in the indoor section defined in front of the partition wall
20
inside the cabinet
1
are an evaporator
2
for cooling room air and a sirocco fan
3
for sucking room air into the indoor section to make the room air pass through the evaporator
2
so as be cooled prior to being expelled into a room. The outdoor section seats a compressor
11
for compressing refrigerant flowing in a closed refrigerant circuit, a condenser
12
for cooling the hot refrigerant, and a propeller fan
13
sucking atmospheric air into the outdoor section to make it pass through the condenser
12
. In order to drive both the sirocco fan
3
of the indoor section and the propeller fan
13
of the outdoor section during an operation of the air conditioner, a fan motor
14
is installed in the outdoor section.
In the indoor section, the sirocco fan
3
is installed in a first fan casing
4
disposed in front of the partition wall
20
while the evaporator
2
is mounted to the front surface of an evaporator support frame
5
arranged in front of the first fan casing
4
. In the outdoor section, a motor bracket
15
for holding the fan motor
14
is mounted to the rear surface of the partition wall
20
, and a second fan casing
16
is installed in a rear side of the motor bracket
15
. The propeller fan
13
is mounted in the second fan casing
16
. A front panel
6
having both an air suction grille and an air exhaust grille covers the front end of the cabinet
1
while an air filter
7
is disposed between the front panel
6
and the evaporator
2
for filtering air flowing from the front panel
6
to the evaporator
2
. A rear panel (not shown) having an air exhaust grille for expelling atmospheric air from the cabinet
1
to the atmosphere covers the rear end of the cabinet
1
while a plurality of air suction grilles
17
are formed on the top and side walls of the cabinet
1
.
During an operation of the one-unit type air conditioner, the fan motor
14
and the compressor
11
are operated. Room air is thus sucked into the indoor section of the cabinet
1
through the air suction grille of the front panel
6
by the fan motor
14
, passes through the evaporator
2
so as to be cooled, and then is discharged into the room through the air exhaust grille of the front panel
6
. In the mean time, atmospheric air is sucked into the outdoor section of the cabinet
1
through the air suction grilles
17
formed on the top and side walls of the cabinet
1
, and cools the condenser
12
prior to being discharged to the atmosphere through the air exhaust grille of the rear panel (not shown).
In such a one-unit type air conditioner, the partition wall
20
isolates the outdoor section from the indoor section, thus preventing room air in the indoor section from being undesirably mixed with atmospheric air flowing in the outdoor section. The partition wall
20
also intercepts operational noise generated from both the compressor
11
and the propeller fan
13
disposed inside the outdoor section, and so the partition wall
20
prevents the noise from being transmitted to the room through the indoor section. Another function of the partition wall
20
is for supporting both the evaporator support frame
5
and the first fan casing
4
set in the indoor section of the cabinet
1
.
As shown in
FIG. 2
, the conventional partition wall
20
is produced by bending the opposite side edges of a rectangular panel such that the partition wall
20
has two flanges. That is, this partition wall
20
includes a plate part
21
transversely arranged in the interior of the cabinet
1
to partition the interior into the indoor section and the outdoor section, a left flange
22
, and a right flange
23
. The left flange
22
and the right flange
23
are formed along the opposite sides of the plate part
21
by bending the opposite side edges of the partition wall
20
at an angle of about 90° such that the two flanges
22
and
23
are directed toward the indoor section. The two flanges
22
and
23
hold both the first fan casing
4
and the evaporator support frame
5
. A plurality of screw holes
22
a
are formed along the edge of the left flange
22
.
The evaporator support frame
5
, assembled with the partition wall
20
, is bent along its left edge at an angle of about 90° such that a flange
5
a
directed toward the partition wall
20
is provided at the left side of the frame
5
. A plurality of screw holes
5
b
are formed along the flange
5
a
at positions corresponding to the screw holes
22
a
of the partition wall's left flange
22
, and so the flange
5
a
of the frame
5
is screwed to the left flange
22
of the partition wall
20
.
FIG. 3
shows the evaporator support frame
5
and the conventional partition wall
20
which are completely assembled with each other. As shown in the drawing, the partition wall
20
has the left flange
22
, which is formed by bending the left edge of the partition wall
20
at an angle of 90° such that the flange
22
is formed along the left side of the plate part
21
while being directed toward the indoor section. In addition, the evaporator support frame
5
has the flange
5
a
with a predetermined width. This flange
5
a
is formed along the left side of the frame
5
, and has the screw holes
5
b
corresponding to those of the left flange
22
of the partition wall
20
as shown in FIG.
2
. Therefore, the evaporator support frame
5
is assembled with the partition wall
20
by driving a plurality of screws
10
into the aligned screw holes
5
b
and
22
a
of the two flanges
5
a
and
22
after the frame
5
is arranged relative to the partition wall
20
while the fan casing
4
having the sirocco fan
3
is disposed between the frame
5
and the partition wall
20
.
However, the conventional partition wall
20
is problematic in that its left flange
22
wastes the material of the partition wall
20
since the flange
20
unnecessarily extends along the entire length of the side edge of the plate part
21
even though the flange
22
has a limited function of mounting the evaporator support frame
5
to the partition wall
20
. Such wasteful consumption of the ma
Ali Mohammad M.
Samsung Electronics Co,. Ltd.
Staas & Halsey , LLP
Tapolcai William E.
LandOfFree
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