outdoor unit

Abstract

The present invention provides an outdoor unit that can improve the sealing performance between the upper edge of the air outlet and the grille, thereby suppressing the intrusion of rainwater into the bell mouth. [Solution] An outdoor unit according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing, a heat exchanger, a fan, a grille member, and a sealing member. The housing includes a front panel having a bell mouth formed to protrude inward toward the air outlet. The fan is disposed inside the bell mouth and forms an airflow that passes through the heat exchanger. The grille member has a grille portion that covers the air outlet and an annular frame portion provided around the grille portion and having an opposing surface that faces the peripheral edge of the air outlet, and is attached to the front panel. The sealing member is deformable and is disposed between the upper peripheral portion, which is a region including at least the highest point of the peripheral edge of the air outlet, and the opposing surface, and seals the space between the upper peripheral portion and the opposing surface.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to, for example, an outdoor unit of an air conditioning apparatus.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002] In an outdoor unit of an air conditioning apparatus, a bell mouth protruding inward toward the air outlet of a fan provided on a front panel is formed, and the fan is accommodated inside the bell mouth. A grill is mounted so as to cover the air outlet, but rainwater adhering to the front panel may enter the bell mouth through the gap between the air outlet and the grill. When the outside air temperature or the air blowing temperature of the fan drops below the freezing point, water droplets that have entered the bell mouth freeze and grow toward the inside of the air outlet. As a result, when the fan is rotating, the fan may come into contact with the ice, generating abnormal noise or damaging the fan. In addition, when the fan is stopped, water droplets may freeze and connect between the bell mouth and the fan, which may hinder the rotation of the fan when starting from the stopped state.

[0003] To solve such a problem, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses an outdoor unit in which a canopy member having a canopy portion protruding forward from a front panel is sandwiched between the upper peripheral edge of the air outlet and the grill, and the canopy portion prevents rainwater from entering the bell mouth.

PRIOR ART DOCUMENTS

PATENT DOCUMENTS

[0004]

PATENT DOCUMENT 1

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION

[0005] However, since the canopy member described in Patent Document 1 is made of relatively hard plastic, it is difficult to deform the canopy member to the extent that it can provide sufficient sealing between the upper edge of the outlet and the grill when sandwiched between the periphery of the outlet and the grill. As a result, rainwater may seep into the bell mouth through the gap created between the upper edge of the outlet and the canopy member, and when it freezes, it may cause problems such as contact with the fan or interference with the fan's rotation as described above.

[0006] In view of the above circumstances, the object of the present invention is to provide an outdoor unit that can improve the sealing performance between the upper peripheral edge of the air outlet and the grille, thereby suppressing the intrusion of rainwater into the bell mouth. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] An outdoor unit according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises a housing, a heat exchanger, a fan, a grille member, and a sealing member. The housing includes a front panel having a bell mouth that protrudes inward from the air outlet. The heat exchanger is located inside the housing. The fan is positioned inside the bell mouth and forms an airflow that passes through the heat exchanger. The grill member comprises a grill portion that covers the air outlet and an annular frame portion provided around the grill portion and having an opposing surface that faces the peripheral edge of the air outlet, and is attached to the front panel. The sealing member is deformable and is positioned between the upper part of the peripheral edge, which is a region including at least the highest point of the peripheral edge of the outlet, and the opposing surface, and seals the space between the upper part of the peripheral edge and the opposing surface.

[0008] The above-mentioned outdoor unit is equipped with a deformable sealing member that seals the space between the opposing surfaces of the annular frame portion of the grille and the upper part of the peripheral edge of the air outlet. This improves the sealing performance between the upper part of the peripheral edge of the air outlet and the grille, thereby suppressing the intrusion of rainwater into the bell mouth.

[0009] The opposing surface may have a housing portion provided along the circumferential direction of the annular frame portion for housing the sealing member.

[0010] The sealing member may be a strip-shaped member having a long side and a short side, and may be arranged in the housing such that one side of the long side protrudes toward the upper part of the peripheral edge.

[0011] The housing portion may have two side portions facing each other in the thickness direction of the sealing member. At least one of the two side portions may have a plurality of first protrusions that project radially from the annular frame portion and press the sealing member in its thickness direction.

[0012] The housing portion may further have a plurality of second protrusions that press the other side of the long side of the sealing member in the direction of the short side.

[0013] The front panel may further have a plurality of mounting holes provided on the periphery of the air outlet. The annular frame may further have a plurality of claw members provided on the opposing surface, which are inserted into the plurality of mounting holes and enable the grille member to be attached to the front panel.

[0014] Some of the aforementioned claw members may be attached to multiple locations on the upper part of the peripheral edge.

[0015] Each of the plurality of claw members may have a section that faces the opposing surface with the front panel in between. The annular frame portion may further have a protrusion that is provided in the region of the opposing surface where the sealing member is placed and that locally abuts the upper part of the peripheral edge when the plurality of claw members are inserted into the plurality of mounting holes.

[0016] The length of the housing portion along the circumferential direction may be longer than the length of the long side portion of the sealing member. [Effects of the Invention]

[0017] According to the present invention, it is possible to enhance the sealing performance between the upper portion of the peripheral edge of the blowout port and the grill, and suppress rainwater from entering the bell mouth. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0018] [Figure 1] It is an exploded perspective view of the main part of the outdoor unit according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] It is a side cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the above outdoor unit. [Figure 3] It is a front view of the front panel in the above outdoor unit. [Figure 4] It is a rear view of the grill member in the above outdoor unit. [Figure 5] It is an overall perspective view of the above grill member viewed from its rear surface side. [Figure 6] It is an enlarged view of the main part in Figure 5. [Figure 7] It is an enlarged perspective view of the main part of the above grill member to which the seal member is attached. [Figure 8] It is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A in Figure 7. [Figure 9] It is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in Figure 7. [Figure 10] It is a perspective view showing the claw member in the above grill member. [Figure 11] It is a rear surface perspective view of the main part of the above front panel showing the mounting state of the above claw part. [Figure 12] It is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the front panel showing the above mounting state. [Figure 13] It is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part of the outdoor unit in the above mounting state. [Figure 14] It is a side cross-sectional view of the main part showing a modified example of the configuration of the above outdoor unit. [Figure 15] It is a top view showing a modified example of the seal member. Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0019] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0020] Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of the main part of an outdoor unit 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a side cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the outdoor unit 1. The outdoor unit 1 of this embodiment is an outdoor unit of a refrigeration cycle device such as an air conditioner or a hot water supply device.

[0021] In each diagram, the front-to-back direction refers to the depth direction of the outdoor unit 1 when the front panel 11F of the outdoor unit 1 is facing forward, and the left-to-right direction and up-and-down direction refer to the width direction and height direction as viewed from the outdoor unit 1 when the outdoor unit 1 is facing forward, respectively.

[0022] [Overall structure] As shown in Figure 1, the outdoor unit 100 includes an outdoor unit body 10. The outdoor unit body 10 has a housing 11, an outdoor heat exchanger 12 (see Figure 2), and a fan 13.

[0023] The housing 11 is made of a metal plate and is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape having a top plate portion 11T, a bottom plate portion 11B, a front panel 11F, and a pair of side panels 11S1 and 10S2. In this embodiment, the front panel 11F and one side panel 11S1 are formed integrally, and the other side panel 11S2 is formed integrally with a rear panel (not shown) that covers a part of the back of the housing 11.

[0024] Inside the enclosure 11 are the outdoor heat exchanger 12, the fan 13, and other components such as a compressor, accumulator, and four-way valve (not shown).

[0025] On the rear side of the housing 11, there is an intake port 16 (see Figure 2) for drawing air from outside the outdoor unit 1 into the housing 11 by the rotation of the fan 13. On the front panel 11F, there is an outlet port 17 for blowing air from inside the housing 11 to outside the outdoor unit 1 by the rotation of the fan 13. The outlet port 17 is a circular through-hole (see Figure 3), and the opening of the outlet port 17 corresponds to a bell mouth 18 with a circular cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the front-to-back direction, which protrudes inward from the housing 11.

[0026] As shown in Figure 2, the outdoor heat exchanger 12 is an L-shaped heat exchanger with a main body portion 12a positioned facing the intake port 16 of the housing 11 and a side portion 12b positioned along the side panel 11S1. Although not shown in the figure, an intake port is also provided on the side panel 11S1. The outdoor heat exchanger 12 is configured as a so-called cross-fin tube type, in which multiple heat transfer tubes and multiple heat radiating plates perpendicular to these multiple heat transfer tubes (parallel to the vertical direction of the housing 11) intersect at right angles to each other.

[0027] The fan 13 has a cylindrical hub 13a and three blades 13b, and is an impeller attached to the center of the hub 13a by the rotating shaft 14s of the motor 14. The motor 14 is attached to a support member 15, one end of which is fixed to the bottom plate 11B, and the other end of which is fixed to the upper end surface of the outdoor heat exchanger 12. At this time, the motor 14 is positioned so that the rotating shaft 14s is at the same height as the center of the bell mouth 18 (air outlet 17).

[0028] The fan 13 rotates under the drive of the motor 14, forming an airflow from the rear side of the housing 11 toward the outlet 17. The maximum outer diameter of the fan 13 (the outer edge of each blade 13b) is set to be slightly smaller than the minimum part of the inner diameter of the bell mouth 18, and in this embodiment, as shown in Figure 2, at least the front region of the fan 13 is located inside the bell mouth 18.

[0029] The outdoor unit 1 further includes a grille member 20 attached to the peripheral edge 17a of the air outlet 17, and a sealing member 50 positioned between the peripheral edge 17a and the grille member 20.

[0030] The grille member 20 is formed from a molded synthetic resin material and has a grille portion 21 that covers the air outlet 17 and an annular frame portion 22 provided around the grille portion 21. The grille portion 21 has a mesh-like structure that extends in the left-right and up-down directions of the housing 11. The grille member 20 is attached to the front panel 11F such that the annular frame portion 22 faces the peripheral edge 17a of the air outlet 17.

[0031] The peripheral edge 17a of the air outlet 17 is formed to protrude from the front panel 11F of the housing 11 toward the interior of the housing 10 (see Figures 1 and 2). Figure 3 is a front view of the front panel 11F, and the aforementioned peripheral edge 17a corresponds to the roughly annular shaded area in Figure 3.

[0032] In this embodiment, the peripheral edge 17a of the air outlet 17 has a first peripheral edge 17a1 which is its highest point, and a pair of second peripheral edges 17a2 located on both the left and right sides. The first peripheral edge 17a1, which is its highest point, is a linear region parallel to the left-right direction, but is not limited to this, and the first peripheral edge 17a1 may be arc-shaped, in which case the highest point is the vertex of the arc.

[0033] The peripheral edge 17a is discontinuous at its lowest point, and a fixing portion 17b is provided at the lowest point, which is coplanar with the surface of the front panel 11F (the front surface 110 of the housing 11). The fixing portion 17b has screw holes 11h for screw fixing the grill member 20.

[0034] The sealing member 50 is a strip-shaped member having a long side and a short side, and its length is such that it can be inserted into the housing portion 32 of the grill member 20, which will be described later (see Figure 15A). As will be described later, the sealing member 50 is attached to the annular frame portion 22 of the grill member 20 with its long side curved in the circumferential direction of the outer circumference 17a of the outlet 17 and its short side facing the front-to-back direction. The material used to form the sealing member 50 is not particularly limited as long as it is an elastically deformable material, and typically foamed synthetic resin material or rubber material is used, and in this embodiment it is formed of foamed polyethylene.

[0035] The sealing member 50 is attached to the grill member 20 so as to seal the space between the upper peripheral portion 17c, which is a predetermined angular range region of the peripheral portion 17a of the outlet 17 including the first peripheral portion 17a1 shown in Figure 3, and the grill member 20. The angular range of the upper peripheral portion 17c is not particularly limited, and is, for example, a range of 45 degrees to the left and right (central angle ∠POQ is 90 degrees in Figure 3) with the center in the left-right direction of the first peripheral portion 17a1 (highest point).

[0036] [Details of grill components] The details of the grill component 20, particularly the annular frame portion 22, will be described below.

[0037] Figure 4 is a rear view of the grill member 20, Figure 5 is an overall perspective view of the grill member 20 as seen from its rear side, Figure 6 is an enlarged view of the main part in Figure 5, Figure 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the main part of the grill member 20 with the sealing member 50 attached, Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view along line AA in Figure 7, and Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view along line BB in Figure 7.

[0038] (Opposite surfaces) The annular frame portion 22 has an opposing surface 30 that faces the peripheral edge portion 17a of the air outlet 17 when the grill member 20 is attached to the air outlet 17. The opposing surface 30 is formed in an annular shape corresponding to the peripheral edge portion 17a.

[0039] The opposing surface 30 includes a linear first opposing surface 301 facing the first peripheral edge 17a1 of the air outlet 17, a pair of arc-shaped second opposing surfaces 302 facing the second peripheral edge 17a2, and a cylindrical screw insertion portion 303 provided at the lowest part of the grill member 20 and corresponding to the screw hole 11h of the fixing portion 17b of the front panel 11F. The first opposing surface 301 corresponds to the region shown in Figure 4, and the second opposing portion 302 corresponds to region A2 shown in Figure 4.

[0040] As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the opposing surface 30 has a contact portion 31, a housing portion 32, and a claw member 33.

[0041] (Contact area) The contact portion 31 is the area that comes into contact with the peripheral edge 17a of the air outlet 17 when the grill member 20 is attached to the housing 11 (front panel 11F). Multiple contact portions 31 are provided on each second opposing surface 302. The contact portion 31 is a convex portion that protrudes locally from the second opposing surface 302 toward the second peripheral edge 17a2 and is formed along the circumference.

[0042] (Detention area) The housing section 32 is an area for housing the sealing member 50 and is formed over an area corresponding to the upper part 17c of the peripheral edge of the outlet 17 (Figure 3), that is, over a portion of the first opposing surface 301 and each of the adjacent second opposing surfaces 302. As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the housing section 32 is provided along the circumferential direction of the annular frame section 22 and houses the sealing member 50 with its short side facing the front-rear direction, as shown in Figures 7 to 9.

[0043] The housing section 32 is positioned such that one long side 51 of the sealing member 50 protrudes toward the upper part of the peripheral edge 17c (see Figures 12 and 13). By having one long side 51 of the sealing member 50 protrude from the housing section 32 in this way, when the grill member 20 is attached to the housing 11, the long side 51 of the sealing member 50 functions as a contact surface that elastically contacts the upper part of the peripheral edge 17c, thereby ensuring a seal between the grill member 20 and the upper part of the peripheral edge 17c.

[0044] As shown in Figures 8 and 9, the housing portion 32 has two side portions, a first side portion 41 and a second side portion 42, which are opposite each other in the thickness direction of the sealing member 50. The first side portion 41 is located on the outer circumference side of the second side portion 42 and forms the outermost periphery of the annular frame portion 22.

[0045] In the housing portion 32 located on the second opposing surface 301, a contact portion 31 is provided that is connected to the first side portion 41 and extends toward the peripheral edge portion 17 (see Figure 12). At least one of the first side portion 41 and the second side portion 42 is provided with a plurality of protruding pieces 44 that project radially from the annular frame portion 22.

[0046] In this embodiment, as shown in Figures 6 to 8, a plurality of protruding pieces 44 are provided on the first side portion 41 located on the outer circumference. Each protruding piece 44 is formed of a plate and has a first piece portion 441 (first protrusion) and a second piece portion 442 (second protrusion), as shown in Figure 8. The first piece portion 441 is a piece that faces the outer circumference surface of the second side portion 42 in the radial direction and contacts the outer circumference surface of the seal member 50 so as to press the seal member 50 in its thickness direction when the seal member 50 is housed in the housing portion 32. The second piece portion 442 is a piece provided on the back side (bottom) of the housing portion 32 so as to be perpendicular to the outer circumference surface of the second side portion 42 and contacts the other long side portion 52 of the seal member 50 so as to press the seal member 50 in its short side direction when the seal member 50 is housed in the housing portion 32.

[0047] The projection portion 44 may be provided on the second side portion 42, or on both the first side portion 41 and the second side portion 42. Furthermore, the shape of the projection portion 44 is not limited to the plate shape described above; for example, any shape such as a hemispherical or triangular cross-section may be used. In addition, in the above example, each projection portion 44 is provided with a first portion 441 and a second portion 442, but the first portion 441 and the second portion 442 may each be provided independently in the housing portion 32.

[0048] The first piece 441 forms a gap between itself and the second side portion 42 that is slightly smaller than the thickness of the sealing member 50, for example, a gap dimension 0.5 mm smaller than the thickness of the sealing member 50. Therefore, when the sealing member 50 is installed in the housing portion 32, the sealing member 50 is housed in the housing portion 32 while the contact points of each projection 44 with the first piece 441 are deformed in the thickness direction. As a result, the sealing member 50 is held between the first piece 441 and the second side portion 42 of each projection 44 in the housing portion 32, so that the sealing member 50 does not fall out of the housing portion 32.

[0049] On the other hand, when the sealing member 50 is installed in the housing 32, the second piece 442 contacts the other long side portion 52 of the sealing member 50, thereby defining the insertion depth of the sealing member 50 into the housing 32 such that one long side portion 51 of the sealing member 50 protrudes further rearward than the second side portion 42. This allows the long side portion 51 of the sealing member 50 to be stably and tightly attached to the upper part 17c of the peripheral edge including the first peripheral edge portion 17a1 of the air outlet 17 when the grille member 20 is attached to the housing 11, and the watertightness provided by the sealing member 50 is ensured by compressing the rearward protruding portion of the sealing member 50.

[0050] Furthermore, when the grill member 20 is attached to the housing 11, if one long side portion 51 of the sealing member 50 is pressed against the upper part 17c of the peripheral edge including the first peripheral edge portion 17a1, the sealing member 50 is compressed in its width direction (short side direction) due to the reaction force. At this time, the second portion 442 of each projection portion 44 locally supports the other long side portion 52 of the sealing member 50, while pressing only the support area in the short side direction. As a result, while compressing the sealing member 50 to ensure stable sealing between the sealing member 50 and the upper part 17c of the peripheral edge portion, the repulsive force of the sealing member 50 is weakened compared to when the sealing member 50 is compressed over the entire area of ​​the housing portion 32, thus improving the workability when attaching the grill member 50 to the peripheral edge portion 17a.

[0051] The length of the housing portion 32 along the circumferential direction of the annular frame portion 22 is longer than the length of the long sides 51 and 52 of the sealing member 50 (see Figure 7). This improves the workability when inserting the sealing member 50 into the housing portion 32, and also allows for the increase in the length in the longitudinal direction due to the compression of the sealing member 50 in the short direction when the grille member 50 is attached to the peripheral edge portion 17a.

[0052] (Claw member) The claw members 33 are provided at multiple locations on the contact portion 31 so that they can be fitted into multiple mounting holes 19 (see Figure 3) provided on the peripheral edge portion 17a (see Figure 4). The claw members 33 fix the grill member 50 to the peripheral edge portion 17a of the air outlet 17 and maintain the contact state between the peripheral edge portion 17a and the contact portion 31.

[0053] As shown in Figure 3, the multiple mounting holes 19 are generally rectangular through holes provided at predetermined locations on the peripheral edge 17a. In this embodiment, a total of six mounting holes 19 are provided: three in the upper peripheral edge 17c region and three in the other regions.

[0054] Each claw member 33 has a shape that allows it to be attached to and detached from the corresponding mounting hole 19 of the peripheral edge 17a. In other words, in this embodiment, after the claw member 33 is inserted into the mounting hole 19, the grill member 20 is attached to the peripheral edge 17a by rotating it clockwise by a predetermined angle, and the grill member 20 can be removed from the peripheral edge 17a by performing the reverse operation.

[0055] Figure 10 is a perspective view of the claw member 33 as seen from the outer circumference of the annular frame portion 22, Figure 11 is a perspective view of the back of the main part of the front panel 11F showing the mounting state of the claw portion 33 in the mounting hole 19, Figure 12 is a cross-sectional view of the main part of the front panel 11F showing the mounting state, and Figure 13 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the upper part 17c of the peripheral edge in the mounting state.

[0056] As shown in Figures 10 to 12, the claw member 33 has a section 331 that faces the opposing surface 30 (contact portion 31) with the front panel 11F in between when attached to the mounting hole 19, and a connecting portion 332 that connects the section 331 to the contact portion 31.

[0057] The section 331 is a rectangular plate piece formed to a shape and size that can be fitted into the mounting hole 19, and when viewed from the front of the grill member 20, the counterclockwise end of the section 331 is connected to the surface of the contact portion 31 (the surface opposite to the peripheral edge portion 17a) via the connecting portion 332.

[0058] The connecting portion 332 is formed such that the distance between the surface of the contact portion 31 and the surface of the section 331 facing the surface of the contact portion 31 is slightly larger than the thickness of the front panel 11F. This allows the front panel 11F to be easily inserted between the section 331 and the contact portion 31 when the grill member 20 is rotated clockwise after the claw member 33 has been inserted through the mounting hole 19 until the surface of the contact portion 31 contacts the circumferential portion 17a.

[0059] On the other hand, when the grill member 20 is attached to the peripheral edge 17a of the air outlet 17 with multiple claw members 33, the gap between the surface of the contact portion 31 and the section 331 is larger than the thickness of the front panel 11F (peripheral edge 17a), so tight contact between the section 331 and the peripheral edge 17a cannot be ensured, and as a result, rattling noise may be generated from the grill member 20 due to vibrations during the operation of the outdoor unit body 10.

[0060] Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in Figure 10, among the multiple contact portions 31 on which the claw member 33 is provided, the surface of the contact portion 31 that forms the first side portion 41 of the housing portion 32 that houses the sealing member 50 is provided with a protrusion 34 that locally abuts with the peripheral portion 17a (upper peripheral portion 17c) when the claw member 33 is attached to the mounting hole 19. The height of the protrusion 34 from the contact portion 31 is, for example, about the same as the difference between the gap dimension between the surface of the contact portion 31 and the section 331 and the thickness dimension of the peripheral portion 17a of the front panel 11.

[0061] By providing a protrusion 34 on the contact portion 31, when the grill member 20 is attached to the peripheral edge 17a of the air outlet 17, the protrusion 34 comes into contact with the peripheral edge 17a (see Figure 12), firmly bonding the section 331 of the claw member 33 to the peripheral edge 17a of the front panel 1F. This suppresses the generation of rattling noise from the grill member 20 due to vibrations during the operation of the outdoor unit body 10.

[0062] In this embodiment, the protrusion 34 is provided in the region opposite to the direction in which the section 331 protrudes from the connecting portion 332, but it is not limited to this, and may be provided on the side in the direction of protrusion of the section 331. The shape of the protrusion 34 is not limited to the fine rectangular parallelepiped shape shown in the figure, but may be other shapes such as cylindrical or dome-shaped.

[0063] [Effect] Conventionally, rainwater adhering to the front panel could seep into the bell mouth through the gap between the air outlet and the grille component. When the outside air temperature or the fan's air outlet temperature dropped below freezing point, the water droplets that had entered the bell mouth would freeze and grow towards the inside of the air outlet. When the fan was rotating, the ice could come into contact with the fan, potentially causing abnormal noise or damaging the fan. Also, when the fan was stopped, water droplets could freeze and connect between the bell mouth and the fan, potentially hindering the fan's rotation when starting from a stopped state.

[0064] Therefore, the outdoor unit 1 according to this embodiment is equipped with a deformable sealing member 50 that seals the space between the upper part 17c of the peripheral edge of the air outlet 17 and the opposing surface 30 of the grill member 20. This improves the sealing performance between the upper part 17c of the peripheral edge of the air outlet 17 and the grill member 20, suppressing the intrusion of rainwater into the bell mouth 18. As a result, even when the outside air temperature or the fan's air outlet temperature drops below freezing point, it is suppressed that water droplets that have entered the bell mouth 18 freeze and grow toward the inside of the air outlet.

[0065] In this embodiment, since the sealing member 50 is positioned only in the area of ​​the upper part 17c of the peripheral edge, rainwater adhering to the front panel 11F is less likely to penetrate into the bell mouth via the upper part of the peripheral edge. Moreover, since the side surface on the longer side of the strip-shaped sealing member 50 is used as the sealing surface, and the sealing member 50 is compressed and deformed in the shorter direction and in close contact with the upper part 17c of the peripheral edge, stable sealing performance can be ensured along the entire length of the sealing member 50.

[0066] Furthermore, since multiple claw members 33 (and mounting holes 19) are provided in the area of ​​the upper part 17c of the peripheral edge, when attaching the grill member 20 to the peripheral edge 17a, the sealing member 50 can be deformed uniformly over its entire area, and stable sealing performance can be ensured over the entire area of ​​the upper part 17c of the peripheral edge.

[0067] Furthermore, since the multiple claw members 33 provided on the opposing surface 30 of the grill member 20 that faces the upper part 17c of the peripheral edge of the air outlet 17 are provided at a higher density (with narrower spacing) than in other areas of the peripheral edge 17a of the air outlet 17, the adhesion of the sealing member 50 to the upper part 17c of the peripheral edge is increased, thereby improving watertightness at the upper part 17c of the peripheral edge.

[0068] Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and can be modified in various ways.

[0069] For example, in the above embodiment, one long side 51 of the sealing member 50 protrudes toward the peripheral edge 17a of the outlet 17 beyond the housing 32. Alternatively, as shown in Figure 14, for example, a protruding portion 17p may be provided that contacts the long side 51 of the sealing member 50 and compresses the sealing member 50. In this case as well, sufficient water-stopping effect can be obtained by compressing the sealing member 50 in the short-side direction and bringing the sealing member 50 into close contact with the peripheral edge 17a (protruding portion 17p).

[0070] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a strip-shaped sealing member 50 shown in Figure 15A was used, but instead, for example, as shown in Figure 15B, a sealing member 50A may be used in which a plurality of groove-shaped notches 52s are formed at equal intervals on the long side 52 opposite to the long side 51 that is in close contact with the peripheral edge 17a of the air outlet 17 (the bottom side of the housing 32). In this case, the repulsive force due to compression in the short side direction of the sealing member 50A can be reduced, so the second piece 442 (see Figure 8) of the projection 44 provided on the first side surface 41 of the housing 32 described in this embodiment can be omitted. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0071] 10…Outdoor unit 11…Cabinet 11F…Front panel 12...Outdoor heat exchanger 13…fan 14…motor 16... Inlet 17…Air outlet 17a... Peripheral area 17a1...First peripheral area 17a2...Second peripheral area 17c... Upper part of the periphery 18... Bellmouth 19…Mounting holes 20… Grill components 21... Grill section 22... Ring frame section 30… Opposite side 31... Contact area 32...Detention Unit 33...Claw member 34...Protruding part 41...First side part 42…Second side part 44...Protruding piece 50...Sealing material 100...Outdoor unit 331...Intercept 441...First section (first convex section) 442...Second piece (second convex part)

Claims

1. A housing including a front panel having a bell mouth formed to protrude inward from the air outlet, A heat exchanger arranged inside the aforementioned housing, A fan is positioned inside the bell mouth and forms an airflow that passes through the heat exchanger, A grille member attached to the front panel, comprising a grille portion covering the air outlet, and an annular frame portion provided around the grille portion and having an opposing surface facing the peripheral edge of the air outlet, A deformable sealing member is disposed between the upper part of the peripheral edge, which is a region including at least the highest point of the peripheral edge of the outlet, and the opposing surface, and seals the space between the upper part of the peripheral edge and the opposing surface. An outdoor unit equipped with an air conditioner.

2. An outdoor unit according to claim 1, The opposing surface is provided along the circumferential direction of the annular frame and has a housing portion for housing the sealing member. outdoor unit.

3. An outdoor unit according to claim 2, The sealing member is a strip-shaped member having a long side and a short side, and is arranged in the housing such that one side of the long side protrudes toward the upper part of the peripheral edge. outdoor unit.

4. An outdoor unit according to claim 3, The housing portion has two side portions facing each other in the thickness direction of the sealing member, At least one of the two side portions has a plurality of first protrusions that project radially in the annular frame portion and press the sealing member in its thickness direction. outdoor unit.

5. An outdoor unit according to claim 4, The housing portion further comprises a plurality of second protrusions that press against the other side of the long side of the sealing member in the direction of the short side. outdoor unit.

6. An outdoor unit according to any one of claims 1 to 5, The front panel further has a plurality of mounting holes provided on the periphery of the air outlet, The annular frame portion further includes a plurality of claw members provided on the opposing surface, which are inserted into the plurality of mounting holes, respectively, to enable the grille member to be attached to the front panel. outdoor unit.

7. An outdoor unit according to claim 6, Some of the aforementioned claw members are attached to multiple locations on the upper part of the peripheral edge. outdoor unit.

8. An outdoor unit according to claim 6, Each of the aforementioned claw members has a section that faces the opposing surface with the front panel in between, The annular frame portion further has a projection that is provided in the region where the sealing member is arranged on the opposing surface and that locally abuts with the upper part of the peripheral edge when the plurality of claw members are attached to the plurality of mounting holes. outdoor unit.

9. An outdoor unit according to claim 3, The length of the housing portion along the circumferential direction is longer than the length of the long side of the sealing member. outdoor unit.

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