Outdoor Unit Heat Exchanger Assembly with Selective Deviation Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional outdoor units for air-conditioning apparatuses require adjustment of bending angles for heat exchanger units during assembly, leading to inefficiencies and uneven surfaces due to deviations in the air flow direction, which can pose safety risks and increase production complexity.
Innovation Solution
The outdoor unit design allows for the deviation in the air flow direction to be larger at the short side portions than at the long side portions, eliminating the need for bending angle adjustments and using regulating parts to align heat exchanger units, thereby preventing uneven surfaces and improving assembly efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the holding part regulates a large range of linear portions and corner portions of the heat exchanger units, then the heat exchanger units are stably supported, but adjustment of bending angles is required at assembly time, increasing assembly steps and time
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the regulatory approach from controlling both linear and corner portions (multiple parameters) to only controlling linear portions (fewer parameters). The holding part is designed to regulate only the linear portions of the heat exchanger units, while allowing corner portions to have natural deviation, thereby eliminating the need for bending angle adjustments during assembly.
2Productivity
If the support portion dimensions are increased to improve assembly efficiency, then heat exchanger units with various bending angles can be stacked, but an uneven surface is caused at the back surface where users can touch
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by making different parts of the heat exchanger unit have different regulatory characteristics. The linear portions are regulated by the holding part to ensure proper alignment, while the corner portions are allowed to have natural deviation. This localized approach maintains surface uniformity at the back surface while still enabling efficient assembly.
3Shape
If bending angles are adjusted during assembly to achieve uniform surface, then surface uniformity is improved, but assembly time and complexity are increased
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies self-service by designing the holding part to automatically compensate for bending angle variations without requiring manual adjustment. The holding part's structure inherently accommodates variations in corner portion positions while maintaining proper alignment of linear portions, allowing the system to self-correct assembly variations without additional time-consuming steps.
Data Source
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AI summary
An outdoor unit for an air-conditioning apparatus includes a heat exchanger including a plurality of heat exchanger units. The plurality of heat exchanger units are vertically stacked and each include a long side portion, a short side portion, and a corner portion bent and connecting the long side portion and the short side portion to each other. In the heat exchanger, deviation in an air flow direction that lies between ones of the plurality of heat exchanger units that are vertically adjacent to each other is larger at the short side portions than at the long side portions.