Wall-Mounted AC Suction Layout for Stable Cross-Flow Air Intake
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Solution Overview
Problem
Prior wall-mounted air-conditioning apparatuses face issues with reduced suction opening area, increased ventilation resistance, generation of separation vortices, rotation noise, back-flow phenomena, and frequent filter cleaning due to dust accumulation, leading to unstable airflow and noise issues.
Innovation Solution
A wall-mounted air-conditioning apparatus with an upper suction port and inclined air guide wall in the front grill, separating the suction and blow-out regions, stabilizes the circulation vortex and reduces back-flow by directing airflow efficiently to the impeller blow-out region, ensuring a secure suction space and controlled airflow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Shape
If the suction opening area in the front grill is reduced and many wall faces are provided to improve design, then the aesthetic appearance is improved, but the ventilation resistance increases and air amount decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs curved guide walls instead of straight walls to guide airflow. The guide walls have specific curvature radii (R1, R2, R3) that smoothly direct air from the suction opening to the heat exchanger, reducing flow separation and turbulence while maintaining the reduced opening area for aesthetic purposes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent optimizes specific geometric parameters including the curvature radii of guide walls (R1=10-50mm, R2=5-20mm, R3=3-10mm), the angle α (10-30 degrees), and the position of the suction opening relative to the heat exchanger. These parameter optimizations ensure efficient airflow with minimal resistance despite the aesthetically designed reduced opening area.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the suction opening is disposed only on a part of the front grill with upward direction, then the flow traveling straight into the heat exchanger is prevented and uniform air flow is formed, but the ventilation resistance from the front grill to the cross flow fan increases
Solution Approach 1:
Curved guide walls with optimized curvature radii smoothly redirect the upward-directed suction opening airflow horizontally toward the heat exchanger, eliminating flow separation and turbulence that would occur with sharp angles, thereby maintaining low ventilation resistance while achieving uniform airflow distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent specifies precise geometric parameters for the guide walls including curvature radii (R1=10-50mm, R2=5-20mm, R3=3-10mm) and angle α (10-30 degrees) to optimize the airflow path from the upward-directed opening to the heat exchanger, ensuring uniform flow distribution with minimal resistance.
3Reliability
If the circulation vortex behavior becomes unstable due to dust accumulation on the filter, then ventilation resistance increases further, but this causes back-flow phenomenon from the blow-out port to the cross flow fan
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the airflow path and guide walls to create a preliminary counteracting force against potential back-flow. The guide walls are positioned and shaped to maintain positive airflow pressure toward the heat exchanger, preventing reverse flow even when filter resistance increases due to dust accumulation over time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent optimizes geometric parameters including the distance between the suction opening and heat exchanger (50-150mm), the curvature radii of guide walls, and the angle α to ensure stable circulation vortex behavior that maintains reliable airflow direction even as filter resistance increases during operation.
4Device complexity
If the air-flow guide only prevents straight flow into the heat exchanger but does not force and guide flow in the direction of the heat exchanger, then the design is simple, but the suction flow from the upper suction port cannot be controlled
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses smoothly curved guide walls instead of complex mechanical flow control devices. The curvature of the guide walls (with radii R1, R2, R3) passively directs airflow along the desired path from the suction opening through the filter to the heat exchanger, achieving effective flow control without adding mechanical complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent controls airflow direction by optimizing geometric parameters of the guide walls including curvature radii (R1=10-50mm, R2=5-20mm, R3=3-10mm) and angle α (10-30 degrees), rather than using complex adjustable mechanisms, thus achieving flow control with simple structure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution stabilizes the circulation vortex, reduces noise, prevents condensation on the blow-out port, and minimizes air amount drop, resulting in a silent and high-quality air-conditioning performance with reduced filter cleaning frequency.
Implementation Method 1
the behavior of the circulation vortex formed in the vicinity of a tongue part inside the cross flow fan becomes unstable
Implementation Method 2
having a heat exchanger on the front face side and the back face side of a main body
Implementation Method 3
there is a concern that condensation occurs on the blow-out port particularly during a cooling operation
Data Source
AI summary
An upper suction port is formed in a main-body upper part of an air-conditioning apparatus main body, a suction opening part is formed in a front grill disposed on a main-body front face of the air-conditioning apparatus, a suction opening whose opening is directed upward is formed by consecutively providing an air guide wall inclined downward inside the main body on the upper edge of the suction opening, and the suction opening is located between a part, in the main-body height direction, lower than a straight line passing through a rotation center of an impeller and a closest contact point between the impeller and a front-face heat exchanger and a part, in the main-body height direction, higher than a straight line parallel with the straight line and passing through the impeller and a tongue part of a stabilizer.