Indoor unit for air conditioners
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing indoor units for air-conditioning apparatuses have a complex configuration that increases the number of components and assembly steps, making them difficult to assemble and potentially leading to non-rotatable airflow direction plates.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a turnable up-and-down airflow direction plate and an assist plate with a curved ridge line and protruding portion, allowing independent rotation and preventing the airflow direction plate from being caught, thus reducing the number of components and simplifying assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a complex configuration with multiple components is used to prevent inadvertent rotation of airflow direction plates, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases and ease of manufacture deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the function of preventing inadvertent rotation into the airflow direction plate structure itself by designing the distal end with a rounded curved surface. This eliminates the need for separate restraining components while maintaining the reliability function, directly resolving the contradiction between reliability and device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The airflow direction plate's distal end is designed with a rounded curved surface that automatically prevents it from being caught by the assist plate during rotation. This self-restraining mechanism eliminates the need for external components to prevent inadvertent rotation, improving ease of manufacture while maintaining reliability
2Ease of operation
If the distal end of the airflow direction plate is designed with a rounded curved surface, then ease of operation is improved by preventing the plate from being caught, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent specifies a radial dimension R for the rounded curved surface at the distal end of the airflow direction plate. By defining this geometric parameter, the design balances ease of operation (preventing catching) with manufacturability, as the curved surface can be produced with standard machining tolerances rather than requiring ultra-precise manufacturing
Data Source
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AI summary
Provided is an indoor unit for an air-conditioning apparatus, which is easily assembled without increasing the number of components, and includes two up-and-down airflow direction plates that do not become non-rotatable. The indoor unit for an air-conditioning apparatus according to the present invention, includes: a casing, which is to be attached to a wall in a room at a back surface side of the casing; an air inlet and an air outlet, which are formed in the casing; an indoor heat exchanger and an indoor fan, which are arranged in an air passage continuous from the air inlet to the air outlet; an up-and-down airflow direction plate, which is provided in the air outlet so as to be turnable, forms an air outlet passage for blowing air to be blown out through the air outlet in a region located below the air outlet, and is configured to change a direction of the blowing air between up and down directions; and an up-and-down airflow direction assist plate, which is turned and located on a front surface side of the casing with respect to the up-and-down airflow direction plate, forms the air outlet passage at a position located below a lower end of the air outlet, and is configured to change the direction of the blowing air between the up and down directions. A rotation locus of a distal end of the up-and-down airflow direction plate crosses a locus of the up-and-down airflow direction assist plate. The distal end of the up-and-down airflow direction plate includes a ridge line portion having a curved surface having a radial dimension R. The up-and-down airflow direction assist plate includes a protruding portion projected by a protruding dimension P on a surface with which the distal end of the up-and-down airflow direction plate may be brought in contact. The protruding dimension P of the protruding portion is smaller than the radial dimension R.