Outdoor Unit Air Guide Structure for Fan Blowing Efficiency
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Solution Overview
Problem
The blowing efficiency of the fan in outdoor air conditioner units is a concern as the load for air conditioning increases, leading to suboptimal heat exchange and energy consumption.
Innovation Solution
An improved air exhaust structure is introduced, featuring a housing with a fan and a guide system that includes a duct, a bell mouth, and a guide vane. The guide vane is curved and spirally formed to direct air flow efficiently, with a diffuser extending from the duct to enhance airflow and heat exchange, and is integrally injection-molded with the bell mouth and duct for improved durability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a conventional fan structure is used in the outdoor unit, then the structure is simple, but the blowing efficiency is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The guide structure is segmented into multiple functional components: bell mouth for air intake, duct for air channeling, diffuser for flow expansion, and guide vane for flow direction control. Each segment performs a specific function to optimize airflow sequentially, improving blowing efficiency while maintaining manageable structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The bell mouth is designed with a curved, spherical-like inlet shape that smoothly guides air into the duct. This curvature eliminates sharp edges that would cause turbulence, ensuring laminar flow enters the fan system and maximizing the fan's blowing efficiency without requiring complex mechanical modifications.
2Manufacturing precision
If the guide structure components are separately manufactured, then assembly is flexible, but manufacturing precision and durability are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The bell mouth, duct, diffuser, and guide vane are merged into a single integrally injection-molded guide structure. This unified construction eliminates gaps and misalignments between separate components, ensuring precise airflow paths and improving manufacturing precision. The integral structure also enhances durability by removing potential failure points at joints while the injection molding process maintains ease of manufacture through automated production.
3Productivity
If air flow is not properly guided, then the structure is simple, but heat exchange efficiency is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The guide structure performs preliminary airflow conditioning before air reaches the fan and heat exchanger. The bell mouth pre-accelerates air intake, the duct pre-aligns flow direction, and the diffuser pre-expands flow uniformly. This preliminary action ensures optimal airflow conditions are established in advance, maximizing heat exchange efficiency without requiring complex active control mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide structure acts as an intermediary between the external environment and the fan-heat exchanger system. It mediates the airflow by smoothing transitions, eliminating turbulence, and optimizing flow distribution. This intermediary function improves heat exchange efficiency by ensuring uniform, laminar flow reaches the heat exchanger surfaces without requiring complex modifications to the core components.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration enhances airflow rate and heat exchange efficiency, reducing power consumption and noise while improving the overall performance of the outdoor air conditioner unit.
Implementation Method 1
a guide vane formed on the bell mouth and configured to guide air introduced into the fan
Implementation Method 2
a diffuser extending from the inflow portion to guide air passing through the fan to the outlet
Implementation Method 3
an evaporator, a blower, and the like are provided as main components of the refrigeration cycle
Implementation Method 4
a heat exchanger for heat exchanging air sucked into the outdoor unit
Data Source
AI summary
An outdoor unit of an air conditioner includes a housing including an outlet, a fan disposed inside the housing, and a guide guiding air flowing by the fan, wherein the guide includes an inflow portion provided to guide air introduced into the housing to the fan and a diffuser extending from the inflow portion to guide air passing through the fan to the outlet. The inflow portion includes a duct connected to the diffuser, a bell mouth disposed on an upstream side further than the duct and configured such that a width of an inlet end of the bell mouth is wider than a width of an outlet end of the bell mouth, and a guide vane formed on the bell mouth and configured to guide air introduced into the fan.