Air outlet cover component

Abstract

To provide an outlet cover component that can suppress pollution of the blown-out air. [Solution] A cover member 10 for the air outlet 6 of an air conditioner 1, comprising a flange 20 parallel to the ventilation surface 7 of the air outlet 6 and having an inner peripheral edge 21 and an outer peripheral edge 22, and outlet surfaces 30, 40 having a plurality of holes for diffusing the air blown out from the air outlet 6 and connected to the inner peripheral edge 21 of the flange 20. The flange 20 and outlet surfaces 30, 40 are formed from a single sheet of metal.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a cover member for an air outlet of an air conditioner.

Background Art

[0002] In a clean room or the like, air conditioning equipment is arranged to allow clean air to flow into the room. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a structure for covering an air outlet of air conditioning equipment.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The air blown out from the air outlet is clean air that has passed through a filter. Therefore, it is required that the air blown out from the air outlet is not contaminated by dust or the like. However, if there are joints between members in the structure covering the air outlet, dust may accidentally accumulate and be blown out together with the clean air, resulting in an instantaneous increase in the dust amount.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a cover member for an air outlet that can suppress contamination of the blown-out air.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The outlet cover member according to the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems and is an outlet cover member that covers the outlet of an air conditioner, comprising a flange that is parallel to the ventilation surface of the outlet and has an inner peripheral edge and an outer peripheral edge, and an outlet surface that has a plurality of holes for diffusing the air blown out from the outlet and is connected to the inner peripheral edge of the flange, wherein the flange and the outlet surface are formed from a single sheet of metal. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] The outlet cover member according to the present invention can suppress contamination of the blown-out air. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] A vertical cross-sectional view of an air purifier to which a cover component is applied. [Figure 2] External view diagram of the cover component. [Figure 3] A perspective view of the cover component seen from below. [Figure 4] Unfolded view of the cover component. [Figure 5] A cross-sectional view of an air purifier as a comparative example. [Figure 6] Developed view of the cover component as an example of modification [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] Embodiments of the outlet cover member according to the present invention will be described based on the attached drawings. The outlet cover member according to the present invention (hereinafter simply referred to as "cover member") is applicable to the outlets of various air conditioners, for example, air purifiers that are placed on the ceiling and have a ventilation surface that is substantially horizontal, air purifiers that are placed on the floor and have a ventilation surface that is substantially vertical, and other air conditioners, blowers, ventilation devices, etc. In this embodiment, an example in which the cover member according to the present invention is applied to the outlet of an air purifier that is placed on the ceiling and has a ventilation surface that is substantially horizontal will be used for the description.

[0010] In the following explanation, "front," "back," "up," "down," "right," and "left" follow the definitions "Fr.", "Re.", "To.", "Bo.", "R," and "L" in Figures 1 through 6.

[0011] The air purifier 1 to which the cover member 10 is applied is placed on the ceiling 9 of a room that supplies clean air, such as a clean room, as shown in Figure 1. The air purifier 1 has a housing 2, a filter 3, a filter support member 4, and a cover member 10.

[0012] The housing 2 has a box shape with an internal storage space and is positioned inside an opening in the ceiling 9. The housing 2 is sealed at the boundary with the ceiling 9 by a sealing member 5 that seals the space inside and outside the ceiling 9. The housing 2 has an intake port (not shown) at a predetermined position inside the ceiling for drawing in outside and inside air. The housing 2 also has an outlet 6 that opens substantially parallel to the ceiling surface and blows out air purified by the filter 3. The opening of this outlet 6 becomes the ventilation surface 7 for the clean air.

[0013] Filter 3 is a filter that corresponds to the required level of cleanliness for the clean air, for example, a HEPA filter. The filter support member 4 supports the filter 3 inside the housing 2.

[0014] The cover member 10 covers the air outlet 6 of the air purifier 1. The cover member 10 is formed by bending and welding a single sheet of metal as shown in Figure 4. The cover member 10 has a flange 20, a bottom surface 30, and side surfaces 40.

[0015] The flange 20 has a flange surface parallel to the ventilation surface 7 of the air outlet 6, and has an inner peripheral edge 21 and an outer peripheral edge 22. The flange 20 has four (predetermined number) flange pieces 24a, 24b. The front and rear flange pieces 24a have a pair of long sides 25 having the same length as one side of the inner peripheral edge 21 of the flange 20, as shown in FIG. 4. The left and right flange pieces 24b have a pair of long sides 25 having the same length as one side of the outer peripheral edge 22 of the flange 20. A part of the long sides 25 on the inner peripheral edge 21 side of each of the flange pieces 24a, 24b, that is, the long sides 25 of the front and rear flange pieces 24a and the long sides 25 of the left and right flange pieces 24b, becomes an inner periphery 27 that forms the inner peripheral edge 21 of the flange 20.

[0016] Each of the flange pieces 24a, 24b has a rising piece 28 along the long side 25 on the outer peripheral edge 22 side. The left and right flange pieces 24b further have a rising piece 28 along the short side 26. The rising piece 28 is bent upward to become a partition wall 29. As shown in FIG. 1, the partition wall 29 partitions the space side and the indoor side formed inside the cover member 10 at the outer peripheral edge 22 of the flange 20.

[0017] The bottom surface 30 and the side surface 40 (blowing surface) are connected to the inner peripheral edge 21 of the flange 20, and diffuse and blow out the clean air blown out from the air outlet 6 into the room. The bottom surface 30 and the side surface 40 have a substantially trapezoidal longitudinal section. The bottom surface 30 and the side surface 40 have a plurality of holes (for example, diameter 2.5 mm, pitch 4 mm) that diffuse air throughout the area. The diameter and pitch of the holes are arbitrary, and may be, for example, diameter 6 mm, pitch 8 mm, etc. Also, the shape of the holes may be other shapes such as long holes, slits, rhombuses, crosses, etc. Also, the holes in the bottom surface 30 and the holes in the side surface 40 may have different hole diameters or pitches according to the air volume blown out from each surface.

[0018] The bottom surface 30 is parallel to the flange surface (flange 20) and is disposed below the flange 20. The bottom surface 30 is substantially square (quadrilateral) and has an outer peripheral edge 32 composed of four sides 38 (predetermined number of sides).

[0019] The side surface 40 is a surface that rises from the outer peripheral edge 32 of the bottom surface 30 while spreading and rises toward the inner peripheral edge 21 of the flange 20. The side surface 40 has four (predetermined number) side surface pieces 45. Each side surface piece 45 has a lower side 46, an upper side 47, and a pair of left and right sides 48.

[0020] The lower side 46 is a side common to a side 38 of one bottom surface 30 and is a folding line of each side surface piece 45 with respect to the bottom surface 30. The upper side 47 is a side parallel to the lower side 46 and is longer than the lower side 46. The upper side 47 is a side common to the inner peripheries 27 of the flange pieces 24a, 24b and is a folding line of each side surface piece 45 with respect to the flange pieces 24a, 24b. That is, each side surface piece 45 is connected to the bottom surface 30 via a folding line along the lower side 46. Also, each side surface piece 45 is connected to the flange pieces 24a, 24b via a folding line along the upper side 47. The pair of left and right sides 48 are sides connecting the upper side 47 and the lower side 46. The adjacent left and right sides 48 of each side surface piece 45 form a common side.

[0021] Such a cover member 10 is manufactured from a single sheet of sheet metal as follows.

[0022] First, for example, by punching a single sheet of sheet metal, a single sheet of sheet metal having a shape composed of flange pieces 24a, 24b, a bottom surface 30, and side surface pieces 45 as shown in FIG. 4 is formed. A plurality of holes are formed in the flange pieces 24a, 24b and the bottom surface 30 by punching. Also, required screw holes (not shown) and the like are formed in the flange 20.

[0023] Next, the lower side 46 of each side surface piece 45 is bent at a predetermined angle along the outer peripheral edge 32 of the bottom surface 30. Also, the upper side 47 of each side surface piece 45 is bent at a predetermined angle along the inner peripheries 27 (inner peripheral edges 21) of the flange pieces 24a, 24b. Further, the rising pieces 28 of each flange piece 24a, 24b are bent at substantially a right angle. The shape formed thereby is a temporary shape as a front stage of the shape of the cover member 10 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

[0024] Next, the left and right sides 48 of each adjacent side piece 45 are connected by welding to form a continuous side surface 40. Also, the adjacent flange pieces 24a and 24b are connected by welding to form a continuous flange 20. Specifically, the short sides 26 of the front and rear flange pieces 24a and the ends of the long sides 25 of the left and right flange pieces 24b, which are extended from the upper side 47 of the side piece 45, are welded together. Furthermore, adjacent rising pieces 28 are welded together to form a continuous partition wall 29.

[0025] Finally, the overall shape of the cover component 10 is adjusted and painted to complete the finishing process.

[0026] Here, Figure 5 shows a longitudinal cross-section of an air purifier as a comparative example. The cover member 110 applied to the air purifier as a comparative example is formed by combining a separate flange 120 and an outlet surface 150.

[0027] The discharge surface 150 is formed by a single integrated bottom surface 130 and side surface 140. The side surface 140 has a flange portion 141 on its outer edge, which is used to fix it to the flange 120. This flange portion 141 is positioned on the inner circumferential edge 121 of the flange 120 and is fixed by welding or the like.

[0028] In this comparative example, the cover member 110 has a seam 151 at the connection point between the flange 120 and the outlet surface 150 within the cover member 110. This seam 151 may accumulate dust that unintentionally enters the cover member 110 from the room, or dust contained in contaminated air that unintentionally enters the downstream side without passing through the filter 3. If dust accumulates in the seam 151, the amount of dust in the contaminated air containing dust may increase instantaneously along with the clean air that has passed through the filter 3.

[0029] In contrast, the cover member 10 in this embodiment is manufactured by bending and welding a single sheet of metal, so there are no steps formed by seams 151 between members within the cover member 10. Therefore, the cover member 10 can reduce the unintentional accumulation of dust and suppress the pollution of the blown-out air.

[0030] While several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples only and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims. These novel embodiments can be carried out in a variety of other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their variations are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, as well as in the claims and their equivalents.

[0031] For example, although the explanation used a cover member 10 having a shape in which the discharge surface protrudes from the flange surface, the cover member according to the present invention may be made from a single sheet of metal and have a discharge surface on the same plane as the flange surface. In this case, the cover member is substantially the same as the cover member described above, except that it does not require bending or welding.

[0032] Although the example of a cover member 10 applied to an air purifier 1 in which the ventilation surface 7 is aligned substantially horizontally has been used for the explanation, the cover member according to the present invention may also be a cover member applied to an air conditioner, including an air purifier, in which the ventilation surface is aligned substantially vertically.

[0033] The shape of the flange pieces is not limited to the examples described above. For example, as shown in Figure 6, the short sides 26 of adjacent flange pieces 24a and 24b may be cut out at approximately a 45-degree angle. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0034] 1. Air purifier 6 Air outlet 7 Ventilation surface 9 Ceiling 10 Cover component 20 flanges 21 Inner periphery 22 Outer edge 24a, 24b Flange pieces 25 Long side 26 Short side 27 Inner surroundings 28 Standing piece 29 Partition Wall 30 Bottom 32 Outer edge 38 quadrilaterals 40 Side view 45 Side piece 46 Bottom edge 47 Top 48 Left and right sides

Claims

1. An outlet cover member that covers the air outlet of an air conditioner, A flange parallel to the ventilation surface of the aforementioned outlet, having an inner peripheral edge and an outer peripheral edge, The flange comprises a blowing surface having a plurality of holes for diffusing the air blown out from the blowing outlet, and connected to the inner peripheral edge of the flange, The flange and the outlet surface are outlet cover members formed from a single sheet of metal.

2. The aforementioned outlet surface is A bottom surface having the plurality of holes and an outer peripheral edge, which is positioned parallel to the flange and below the flange. The bottom surface extends outward from the outer peripheral edge and rises toward the inner peripheral edge of the flange, and comprises a side surface having a plurality of holes, The cover member for an air outlet according to claim 1, wherein the flange and the side surface are connected by a fold.

3. The outer edge of the bottom surface has a predetermined number of sides, The side surface has the predetermined number of side pieces, and each side piece has a lower edge common to one of the sides of the bottom surface, and an upper edge parallel to the lower edge. The flange has a predetermined number of flange pieces, each of which has an inner periphery that is common to the upper edge of one of the side pieces and forms the inner periphery of the flange. The side piece is connected to the bottom surface via a fold along the lower edge, and connected to the flange piece via a fold along the upper edge. The adjacent side pieces are connected by welding. The outlet cover member according to claim 2, wherein the adjacent flange pieces are connected by welding.

4. The cover member for an air outlet according to claim 3, wherein the bottom surface is square in shape, and the predetermined number is four.

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