Four-Way Indoor Unit Corner Cover Layout for Balanced Airflow
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Ceiling-suspended indoor units with air outlets in four directions face challenges in maintaining balanced air flow volumes due to varying outlet port sizes, leading to reduced blow distance and increased component count when trying to equalize flow.
Innovation Solution
The design features four corner covers with specific horizontal lengths, where the second and third corner covers have the same length as each other, but smaller than the first, ensuring equal horizontal opening dimensions for all air outlet ports without the need for additional components like shutters or dividing plates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the corner cover covering the piping space is made large to accommodate refrigerant pipes and drain pipes, then the piping space is adequately covered, but the air outlet ports adjacent to the corner cover become smaller, causing variation in air flow volume
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by making the corner covers have different sizes. Specifically, the corner cover at the position adjacent to the air outlet port with larger opening dimension is made smaller than the other corner covers, allowing that air outlet port to have a larger opening dimension. This asymmetric design compensates for the natural variation in air flow volumes caused by the corner cover configurations, achieving balanced air flow from all four air outlet ports without requiring additional components.
2Productivity
If additional components such as shutters or dividing plates are added to balance air flow volumes, then air flow balance is improved, but the number of components increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by varying the sizes of corner covers at different positions. The corner cover adjacent to the air outlet port that naturally has a larger opening is made smaller, creating a localized adjustment that balances the air flow volumes. This approach achieves air flow balance through the basic structure design rather than adding separate balancing components, thereby reducing device complexity.
3Volume of moving object
If the opening dimensions of air outlet ports are reduced to accommodate the corner cover, then the corner cover can cover the piping space, but the blow distance of air flow is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses asymmetry in corner cover sizing to prevent excessive reduction of air outlet port opening dimensions. By making the corner cover adjacent to a specific air outlet port smaller, that port can maintain a larger opening dimension, thereby preserving the blow distance of the air flow while other corner covers remain larger to provide adequate piping space coverage.
Data Source
AI summary
Of four corner covers (40) in an indoor unit(10), a horizontal length of an outer surface in a second corner cover (41) is the same as a horizontal length of an outer surface in a first corner cover(41), a horizontal length of an outer surface in a third corner cover (43) and a horizontal length of an outer surface in a fourth corner cover (44) are the same and are smaller than the horizontal length of the outer surface of the first corner cover(41). Opening dimensions (LA, LB, LC, LD) of four air outlet ports (14) in a horizontal direction are the same.