Air conditioner

Abstract

The present invention provides an air conditioner including a heat exchanger (7) formed of aluminum or an aluminum alloy; a gas pipe connected to the heat exchanger for passing a gas refrigerant; and a liquid pipe connected to the heat exchanger for passing a liquid refrigerant or a gas-liquid two-phase refrigerant. The gas pipe and the liquid pipe respectively have a first refrigerant pipe (105) formed of aluminum or an aluminum alloy and a second refrigerant pipe (106) formed of copper or a copper alloy, one end of the second refrigerant pipe being connected to the first refrigerant pipe (105) via a connection portion (107), and a connection screw portion (201) being provided at the other end of the second refrigerant pipe (106). The second refrigerant pipe has, in order from the connection screw portion (201) to the connection portion (107), a horizontal pipe portion (202), a first bent portion (203), a vertical pipe portion (204) which is substantially vertical with respect to the horizontal pipe portion, and a second bent portion (205).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to air conditioners. Background Technology

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses an air conditioner equipped with an aluminum heat transfer tube and using aluminum and copper piping in the extension portion of the aluminum heat transfer tube. The aluminum piping of this air conditioner extends obliquely upward from the aluminum heat transfer tube and then curves downward. Furthermore, a copper piping is connected to the downward-extending portion of the aluminum piping. The copper piping extends downward and has a curved section at its lower end.

[0003] Existing technical documents

[0004] Patent documents

[0005] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-155892 Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present invention provides an air conditioner that prevents stress from being applied to the connection between aluminum and copper piping when installing an air conditioner or similar unit, thereby suppressing the possibility of refrigerant leakage.

[0007] The air conditioner of the present invention includes: a heat exchanger made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy; a gas piping connected to the heat exchanger for supplying gaseous refrigerant; and a liquid piping connected to the heat exchanger for supplying liquid refrigerant or a gas-liquid two-phase refrigerant. The gas piping and the liquid piping each have a first refrigerant piping made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy and a second refrigerant piping made of copper or a copper alloy. One end of the second refrigerant piping is connected to the first refrigerant piping via a connecting portion, and the other end of the second refrigerant piping has a connecting threaded portion. Between the connecting threaded portion and the connecting portion, the second refrigerant piping sequentially has a horizontal piping portion, a first bend, a vertical piping portion, and a second bend.

[0008] According to this structure, when installing air conditioners or similar devices, no stress is applied to the connection portion compared to the case where the connection portion is positioned vertically below the second bend. Therefore, damage to the welded portion (e.g., brazed portion) can be avoided, thus minimizing the possibility of refrigerant leakage.

[0009] In addition, it can prevent corrosion of the heat exchanger of the air conditioner and suppress refrigerant leakage by reducing the bending stress of the piping. Attached Figure Description

[0010] Figure 1 This is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0011] Figure 2 This is a side view of the heat exchanger installed in the air conditioner.

[0012] Figure 3 This is a 3D view of the heat exchanger installed in the air conditioner. Detailed Implementation

[0013] Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, there may be instances where unnecessary details are omitted. For example, detailed descriptions of already known matters or repetitive descriptions of substantially the same structures may be omitted.

[0014] Furthermore, the accompanying drawings and the following description are provided to enable those skilled in the art to fully understand the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the subject matter described herein.

[0015] (Implementation Method)

[0016] Figure 1 This is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of an air conditioner 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The air conditioner 10 includes an indoor unit 1, an outdoor unit 2, and connecting pipes 5 connecting the indoor unit 1 and the outdoor unit 2. A heat exchanger 7 is disposed in the indoor unit 1. As an example of the installation of the air conditioner 10, for example... Figure 1 As shown, indoor unit 1 is suspended on the indoor wall, and outdoor unit 2 is installed outdoors. Indoor unit 1 and outdoor unit 2 are connected by two connecting pipes 5 passing through wall holes 4 provided in wall 3. Indoor air is drawn into indoor unit 1 by the rotation of the fan 6 installed inside indoor unit 1, is exchanged for heat through heat exchanger 7, and is blown out from the outlet 8.

[0017] Figure 2 This is a side view of the heat exchanger 7 installed in the air conditioner 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 In the middle, Figure 1 The heat exchanger 7 of the indoor unit 1 shown is... Figure 1 The posture shown is directly extracted and illustrated.

[0018] The heat exchanger 7 is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy. An auxiliary piping 102 is connected to the heat exchanger 7, through which the refrigerant flowing out of or into the heat exchanger 7 passes.

[0019] One end of the auxiliary piping 102 is connected to the heat exchanger 7. The other end of the auxiliary piping 102 is connected to the connecting piping 5 (see reference 201) via the threaded connection part 201. Figure 1 The heat exchanger 7 inside the indoor unit 1 is connected to the outdoor unit 2 via piping.

[0020] Furthermore, the auxiliary piping 102 includes a gas piping 103 for gaseous refrigerant and a liquid piping 104 for liquid refrigerant or a gas-liquid two-phase refrigerant. The gas piping 103 and liquid piping 104 each have a first refrigerant piping 105 made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy and a second refrigerant piping 106 made of copper or a copper alloy. One end of the first refrigerant piping 105 and the second refrigerant piping 106 are connected via a connecting portion 107. A threaded portion 201 is provided at the other end of the second refrigerant piping 106, allowing the second refrigerant piping 106 to be fixedly connected to the connecting piping 5 using a threaded component (e.g., a screw).

[0021] Figure 3 This is a perspective view of the heat exchanger 7 installed in the air conditioner 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 The auxiliary piping 102 shown includes Figure 3 The diagram shows a first refrigerant piping 105 and a second refrigerant piping 106. The first refrigerant piping 105 has two pipes: a gas-side first refrigerant piping 105 and a liquid-side first refrigerant piping 105. Similarly, the second refrigerant piping 106 has two pipes: a gas-side second refrigerant piping 106 and a liquid-side second refrigerant piping 106.

[0022] One end of the first refrigerant pipe 105 is connected to the heat exchanger 7, and the other end is connected to the second refrigerant pipe 106 via the connecting part 107. The second refrigerant pipe 106 has a horizontal pipe part 202, a first bend part 203, a vertical pipe part 204 and a second bend part 205 in sequence between the connecting thread part 201 and the connecting part 107.

[0023] Here, the configuration of the aforementioned constituent elements is explained. Here, we will use... Figure 1 The description is based on the state in which the indoor unit 1 is installed on the wall of the room, that is, the back of the indoor unit 1 is roughly vertical relative to the ground.

[0024] The first refrigerant pipe 105, which extends from the heat exchanger 7, is connected via a connection 107 to a second bend 205, which is part of the second refrigerant pipe 106.

[0025] The second bend 205 connects to the vertical piping section 204, which is part of the second refrigerant piping 106. The vertical piping section 204 connects to the first refrigerant piping 105 at a predetermined angle via the second bend 205. This predetermined angle is less than 90 degrees relative to the vertical piping section 204. That is, when viewed from the second bend 205, the first refrigerant piping 105 extends toward the heat exchanger 7 at a downward angle relative to the horizontal. Furthermore, the vertical piping section 204 is arranged in a state that is approximately vertical relative to the ground. Here, "approximately vertical" includes both vertical and about vertical cases.

[0026] The vertical piping section 204 is connected to a first bend 203, which is part of the second refrigerant piping section 106. Furthermore, the first bend 203 is connected to a horizontal piping section 202. The horizontal piping section 202 is connected to the vertical piping section 204 at approximately a 90-degree angle relative to the vertical piping section 204 via the first bend 203. Here, approximately 90 degrees includes both 90 degrees and about 90 degrees.

[0027] The piping of the indoor unit 1 of the air conditioner 10 remains in the bundled state described above before installation. Furthermore, when installing the indoor unit 1 on the wall of the room, the installation worker bends the horizontal piping section 202 in the appropriate direction and connects it to the connecting piping 5. At this time, because the installation worker holds the horizontal piping section 202 and bends it in the aforementioned appropriate direction, bending stress is applied to the horizontal piping section 202. In addition, torsional stress is applied to the first bend 203, the vertical piping section 204, and the second bend 205.

[0028] However, by configuring the piping as shown in this embodiment, the connection 107 is located between the heat exchanger 7 and the second bend. This avoids applying stress to the connection 107 when installing the air conditioner 10. This is because the stress applied to the piping during the bending operation performed by the installation personnel is sufficiently mitigated by the elastic deformation of each pipe from the horizontal piping section 202 to the connection 107. Therefore, the stress applied to the connection 107 becomes quite small. Consequently, the stress on the brazing filler metal applied to the weld of the connection 107 is reduced, preventing damage to the weld. This minimizes the possibility of refrigerant leakage.

[0029] Furthermore, since a second bend 205 is provided above and near the connection 107, even if condensation containing copper ions is generated, the amount of copper ions flowing from the copper part to the aluminum part is extremely small, which can inhibit the development of corrosion of aluminum piping.

[0030] Industrial availability

[0031] As described above, the air conditioner of the present invention, in an air conditioner equipped with a heat exchanger with heat transfer tubes made of aluminum or aluminum alloy and refrigerant connection piping made of copper tubes, can suppress the occurrence of refrigerant leakage at the connection, and therefore can be applied to various refrigeration cycle devices.

[0032] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures

[0033] 1 Indoor unit

[0034] 2 Outdoor unit

[0035] 3 walls

[0036] 4. Wall holes

[0037] 5. Connect the piping

[0038] 6. Blower

[0039] 7. Heat Exchanger

[0040] 8. Blowout

[0041] 10 Air conditioners

[0042] 102 Auxiliary piping

[0043] 103 Gas piping

[0044] 104 Liquid piping

[0045] 105 First refrigerant piping

[0046] 106 Second refrigerant piping

[0047] 107 Connecting Part

[0048] 201 Connecting Threaded Part

[0049] 202 Horizontal Piping Department

[0050] 203 First Bend

[0051] 204 Vertical Piping Section

[0052] 205 Second bend.

Claims

1. An air conditioner, characterized in that, include: Heat exchangers made of aluminum or aluminum alloys; Gas piping, which is connected to the heat exchanger, allows gaseous refrigerant to flow; and Liquid piping, connected to the heat exchanger, supplies flow of liquid refrigerant or a gas-liquid two-phase refrigerant. The gas piping and the liquid piping each have a first refrigerant piping made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy and a second refrigerant piping made of copper or a copper alloy, respectively. One end of the second refrigerant piping is connected to the first refrigerant piping via a connector. A threaded connection part is provided at the other end of the second refrigerant pipe. The second refrigerant piping, between the threaded connection portion and the connection portion, sequentially includes a horizontal piping portion, a first bend, a vertical piping portion that is substantially perpendicular to the horizontal piping portion, and a second bend. The first refrigerant pipe extends from the second bend toward the heat exchanger in a relatively horizontal, downward-sloping manner. The connection portion is located on the inclined portion of the first refrigerant pipe.

2. The air conditioner as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The vertical piping section is connected to the first refrigerant piping section at a predetermined angle via the second bend. The specified angle is less than 90 degrees when the vertical piping section is used as a reference.

3. The air conditioner as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The second curved portion is configured close to the connecting portion.

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