Ceiling Indoor Unit Flap Control for Low-Airflow Dew Suppression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing air conditioning apparatus indoor units face challenges in reducing air outlet volume while preventing dew condensation, often requiring additional parts or incomplete airflow blockage.
Innovation Solution
The indoor unit employs airflow direction adjusting plates with a dew condensation suppressing surface and a flatter front surface, positioned to face the room side, allowing for rotational adjustment to balance dew suppression and design aesthetics, and restricts air volume reduction to two or fewer sets of air outlets to prevent excessive air volume increase.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If a horizontal flap is used to block the air outlet to reduce air volume, then the air volume blown out is reduced, but dew condensation forms on the flap surface
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies a dew condensation suppressing surface treatment specifically to the air outlet-facing surface of the horizontal flap, while keeping other surfaces unchanged. This localized quality change allows the flap to prevent dew condensation only where it forms, without affecting the overall airflow control function.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the surface properties of the horizontal flap by applying a dew condensation suppressing coating, which modifies the surface energy and prevents water condensation. This parameter change (surface treatment) resolves the contradiction by maintaining the flap's air blocking function while eliminating the harmful dew condensation effect.
2Quantity of substance
If the horizontal flap is positioned to completely block the air outlet, then air volume is reduced, but temperature difference arises between the two surfaces of the flap
Solution Approach 1:
The dew condensation suppressing surface treatment is applied specifically to the air outlet-facing surface of the horizontal flap, creating a localized quality difference. This allows the treated surface to prevent dew condensation while the untreated surfaces maintain normal thermal behavior, thus reducing temperature differential across the flap.
3Adaptability or versatility
If airflow direction adjusting plates are placed away from rotating shafts, then airflow direction can be adjusted, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention positions the airflow direction adjusting plates at a distance from the rotating shafts, creating a lever arm that enables airflow direction adjustment through rotational motion. This spatial arrangement in another dimension allows the system to achieve versatile airflow control while using the existing rotating shaft mechanism, avoiding additional complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
To provide an indoor unit of an air conditioning apparatus that can reduce the volume of air blown out from any air outlet of plural air outlets while suppressing dew condensation without using a new part. An indoor unit (4) of an air conditioning apparatus (1) that is fixed with respect to a ceiling is equipped with an indoor unit casing (31) that has an air inlet (35) and plural long-side air outlets (51 to 54). Plural flap bodies (80) are disposed in the plural long-side air outlets (51 to 54). The flap bodies (80) can, by rotating, adjust the airflow direction of conditioned air blown out from the long-side air outlets (51 to 54). A control unit (7) can independently adjust the rotational states of the plural flap bodies (80). The control unit (7) causes the entire body of at least any one of the plural flap bodies (80) to be positioned inside the corresponding long-side air outlet (51 to 54) to thereby reduce the volume of the conditioned air passing through the long-side air outlet (51 to 54).