Steering Grill Protrusion to Cut Airflow Resistance in Indoor Units
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional indoor units of split-type air conditioners face challenges in directing conditioned air to remote target areas effectively due to interference from the cabinet and door assemblies, leading to inefficient air distribution and increased flow resistance.
Innovation Solution
The indoor unit incorporates a steering grill that protrudes beyond the front surface of the door assembly and is tiltable in various directions, minimizing interference with the cabinet and door assemblies, and utilizes a steering assembly with a ball joint mechanism to precisely control the direction of the air discharge, ensuring directed air movement to remote areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the door unit is moved forward to open the opening, then the opening is opened, but the door unit blocks the flow of air discharged through the opening
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the door unit movable not only in the forward/rearward direction for opening/closing but also in the vertical direction. During air discharge operation, the door unit moves downward to create clearance between its front surface and the opening, allowing air to flow freely without blockage. This dynamic positioning resolves the contradiction by adapting the door's position based on operational requirements.
2Reliability
If the blowing fan is disposed inside an exterior panel, then the fan is protected, but the air flowed by the blowing fan generates resistance with structures inside the exterior panel
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the air discharge system into multiple independent paths: a first air discharge opening for general air discharge and a second air discharge opening specifically for long-distance air discharge. The long-distance air discharge assembly with its dedicated opening and grill structure is positioned to minimize interference with cabinet structures, reducing flow resistance while maintaining fan protection through the segmented design.
3Ease of operation
If a door unit moves in a forward and rearward direction to open and close an opening, then the opening can be opened and closed, but the opening opened by the door unit is not suitable for remotely flowing the air
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enhances the static door unit with dynamic capabilities by adding vertical movement functionality. When remote air discharge is required, the door unit moves downward to create a larger effective opening and reduce blockage, enabling air to be discharged to remote areas. This dynamic adjustment allows the same door unit to serve both opening control and remote air flow requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a vertical dimension to the door unit's movement, in addition to its traditional forward/rearward motion. This additional degree of freedom allows the door unit to clear the air discharge path vertically, enabling effective remote air flow while maintaining its opening/closing function in the horizontal dimension.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the steering grill is tilted to direct air movement, then air can be directed to target areas, but interference with the cabinet assembly increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by positioning the long-distance air discharge assembly and steering grill to protrude beyond the cabinet assembly before air discharge begins. This pre-positioning ensures that when the grill tilts to direct air movement, it has sufficient clearance from the cabinet structures, minimizing interference while maintaining directional control capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A front end of a steering grill from which air is discharged protrudes further than the front surface of a door assembly, and the steering grill is steered by a steering assembly, and thus conditioned air may be provided by a directed air movement to a long-distance target region, and since the front end of the steering grill protrudes further than the front surface of the door assembly, the occurrence of flow resistance as a result of a cabinet assembly or the door assembly interfering with the discharged air may be minimized, and the direction of the steering grill may be instantly changed, by means of steering, from any one direction to another among up, down, left, right, upper left, lower left, upper right, or lower right.