Air Conditioner Indoor Unit Frame for Easier Refrigerant Pipe Connection
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing wall-mountable air conditioners face difficulties in easily connecting or separating the refrigerant pipe of the indoor unit from the connection pipe due to the lack of working space, leading to potential damage and operational challenges during installation and maintenance.
Innovation Solution
The indoor unit features a frame structure with a holder plate and hanger plate system, including protrusion ribs, guide portions, and hinges, which allows for easy insertion, rotation, and separation of the holder plate from the frame, creating a working space for connecting or disconnecting the refrigerant and connection pipes without additional separation members.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the holder plate is fixed at the lower end of the indoor unit, then the indoor unit can be stably fixed onto the wall surface, but no working space is secured for connecting or separating the refrigerant pipe and connection pipe
Solution Approach 1:
The holder plate is designed to be movable relative to the indoor unit through a sliding mechanism. During installation, the holder plate can be moved to a lower position to provide working space for connecting the refrigerant pipe and connection pipe. After connection, the holder plate is moved to its normal fixed position to stably support the indoor unit on the wall surface. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction between stability and ease of operation.
2Shape
If the refrigerant pipe is provided at the rear lower end of the indoor unit, then aesthetic appeal is improved, but working space for connection operations is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The movable holder plate creates dynamic working space that allows connection operations at the rear lower end of the indoor unit where the refrigerant pipe is aesthetically positioned. When the holder plate is moved down, it exposes the connection area and provides sufficient working space while maintaining the aesthetic placement of the refrigerant pipe at the rear lower end.
3Ease of operation
If additional separation members are used to create working space, then connection operations become easier, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The holder plate is designed with multi-functionality: it serves both as a mounting structure to fix the indoor unit on the wall surface and as a movable component that creates working space for connection operations. This eliminates the need for additional separation members, maintaining simplicity while providing ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The sliding mechanism allows the holder plate to dynamically adjust its position, creating working space when needed and providing stable support when not needed. This dynamic functionality replaces the need for complex additional separation members, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and device complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
An indoor unit of an air conditioner having an improved frame structure in which a refrigerant pipe that connects an outdoor unit and the indoor unit can be easily connected. The indoor unit of the air conditioner includes: a frame; a heat exchanger mounted on the frame and having a refrigerant pipe in which a refrigerant flows; a hanger plate mounted on a rear surface of the frame and fixing the frame onto a wall surface; and a holder plate mounted on a lower portion of the frame, fixing the frame and the hanger plate, and supported by a fixing member of the wall surface. The holder plate selectively opens/closes the lower portion of the frame so that a pipe connection operation can be easily performed.