The present invention relates to an air conditioner in which most of components are contained in a space in the ceiling, and only a front panel portion is disposed on the ceiling surface. More particularly, it relates to an air conditioner of a so-called ceiling recessed type which can be installed so that the appearance of the front panel portion is good even if the height space in the ceiling is limited.
An air conditioner is equipped with an indoor unit for making heat exchange of indoor air and an outdoor unit for dissipating heat to the outside air or absorbing heat from the outside air. The indoor unit is fixed to the wall or placed on the floor. In particular, in an office building or a store, the indoor unit is preferably installed on the ceiling so that the floor surface or the wall surface can be used effectively.
Even when the indoor unit is installed on the ceiling, importance is given to the appearance thereof. For this reason, the indoor unit is installed in a space in the ceiling as a ceiling recessed type. One example thereof will be explained with reference to a perspective view of FIG. 30 and a sectional view of FIG. 31 showing the installation state. In the description below, an air conditioner means an indoor unit.
An air conditioner (indoor unit) 1 is provided with a box-shaped case body 2 whose lower face on the indoor side is open. At the central portion of the case body 2, there are provided a centrifugal fan 21 and a drive motor 22 therefore with the rotating shafts thereof being substantially vertical. A heat exchanger 23 is arranged around the centrifugal fan 21. Under the heat exchanger 23 is provided a drain pan 24 serving as a drip pan.
At the center on the lower face side of the case body 2, there is provided a bell mouth 25 forming a suction port for the centrifugal fan 21. Also, at the peripheral portion on the lower face side of the case body 2, there are formed air ports 26 for the air heat-exchanged in the heat exchanger 23. On the lower face side of the case body 2, there is installed a front panel (also referred to as a decorative panel) 3 by using not illustrated fixing means such as screws.
The front panel 3 has, at the center thereof, an air suction port 31 communicating with the bell mouth 25, and a suction grille 32 is detachably mounted in the air suction port 31. A filter 33 is disposed on the inside of the suction grille 32. Also, at the peripheral portion of the front panel 3, there are formed air blow ports 34 communicating with the air ports 26 in the case body 2. Although not shown in the figure, an air deflector is provided in the air blow port 34.
In the prior art, the case body 2 is hung from a ceiling slab 5 via hanging bolts 4 in a state in which the front panel 3 is installed to the case body 2 as described above. Then, the height of the case body 2 is adjusted by the hanging bolts 4 so that the front panel 3 is substantially flush with a ceiling plate 6. After the height of the case body 2 has been adjusted, the ceiling plate 6 is installed along a not illustrated support skeleton.
By the way, the height space in the ceiling is not constant for each building. Therefore, the case body 2 is hung by using the hanging bolts 4 that can make height adjustment. However, the adjustment made by the hanging bolts 4 is effective only when the height space in the ceiling is greater than the height of the case body 2.
In order to enhance the room environment, there has been a tendency to make the ceiling higher in recent years, so that the height space in the ceiling has been decreased relatively. On the other hand, for the air conditioner, the heat exchanger etc. have been made larger in size to enhance the air conditioning capability, and accordingly the height of the case body 2 has been increased.
Therefore, even if the height adjustment is made fully by using the hanging bolts 4, the case body 2 cannot be contained in the ceiling completely, so that a part of the lower portion thereof sometimes projects from the ceiling surface. In this case, a gap is developed between the front panel 3 and the ceiling plate 6, by which the appearance is marred, and the product value is decreased remarkably. In some cases, the type of product is inevitably changed, so that a heavy loss may be caused.
According to the present invention, the above problem is solved, and even when the height space in the ceiling in which a case body of an air conditioner is installed is limited and a part of the case body projects from the ceiling surface, the appearance of a front panel portion can be made good.
Specifically, the present invention provides a ceiling recessed type air conditioner comprising a case body which comprises a rectangular parallelepiped shaped box whose lower face on the room side is open and is supported by hanging bolts in the ceiling so that the height thereof is adjustable; and a panel base which is formed into a square frame shape and is attached to the lower face side of the case body, in which the case body contains a centrifugal fan, a motor for driving the centrifugal fan, and a heat exchanger disposed around the centrifugal fan; a bell mouth forming a suction port for the centrifugal fan and air ports for the air heat-exchanged by the heat exchanger are provided on the lower face side of the case body; and the panel base is provided with air deflectors disposed corresponding to the air ports and a suction grille communicating with the suction port of the bell mouth, wherein a decorative frame is selectively installed at different height positions on the side wall of the panel base via installation position changing means.
In the present invention, the front panel is made up of two elements of the suction grille and the decorative frame. The suction grille is fixed to the panel base, but the height of the decorative frame can be adjusted with respect to the panel base. Therefore, when the height space in the ceiling is larger than the size of the case body, the decorative frame is set at a height position substantially located on the extension of surface of the suction grille (normal position). Thereby, the suction grille and the decorative frame are recognized as an integral object in appearance.
Contrarily, when the height space in the ceiling is limited and cannot fully contain the case body so that a difference in level is developed between the suction grille and the ceiling plate, the decorative frame is set at an adjust position higher than the normal position. Thereby, no gap is developed between the decorative frame and the ceiling plate, so that the appearance can be kept good.
The present invention provides some characteristic installation position changing means to set the decorative frame at different height positions. As one of them, there is first installation position changing means which comprises hooks provided on predetermined two opposing sides of the decorative frame, shallow first grooves formed on two opposing sides of the panel base so as to be engaged with the hooks, and deep second grooves formed on the other two opposing sides of the panel base so as to be engaged with the hooks. According to this means, by engaging the hooks with the first grooves or the second grooves, the decorative frame can be held at a different height position with respect to the panel base.
In this first installation position changing means, a mode in which the hook is formed into an inverse U shape engaging with the groove from the upside is recommended as a preferable mode. Also, by providing ribs, which come into contact with both sides of the hook, under the first groove or the second groove, the transverse movement of the hook can be restrained.
In this case, it is preferable that the rib has an inclined face whose height increases gradually toward the lower side. According to this configuration, the hook can be engaged smoothly with the groove.
According to second installation position changing means, which is a feature of the present invention, a corner cut portion is formed at each corner of the panel base, and the installation position changing means compensates the shape of the corner cut portion and is provided with corner members fixed to the corner cut portions. According to this configuration, the decorative frame is held on the panel base via the corner members so that the height is adjustable.
In the second installation changing means, the corner member has right and left side plates bent through 90 degrees, an attachment portion which is screwed to the corner of the panel base is provided on the inside of the corner member, and screw insertion holes are formed at different height positions in at least one of the side plates, so that the decorative frame is fixed to the position of either screw insertion hole.
When the aforementioned corner members are used, an L-shaped step portion for engaging with the inside face of the corner cut portion is preferably formed at the end of each side plate of the corner member to make the side face of the corner member and the side face of the panel base flush with each other.
Third installation position changing means, which is a feature of the present invention, is provided with first engagement means engaging at a lower height position when the decorative frame is fitted onto the panel base from downside to the upside on the room side, and second engagement means engaging at a higher height position.
According to a preferable mode of the third installation position changing means, when the decorative frame is fitted onto the panel base, by turning the decorative frame through 90 degrees in the horizontal plane, either one of the engagement means can be selected.
In the third installation position changing means, it is preferable that the engagement means comprise a combination of a protrusion provided on the side wall of the panel base and an elastically deformable engagement member which has a fit hole fitting onto the protrusion, and are formed on the inside wall of the decorative frame.
Also, in the third installation position changing means, it is preferable that between the panel base and the decorative frame, the first engagement means and the second engagement means be provided adjacently at two places at the right and left ends of each side so as to be asymmetrical with respect to the centerline of the side, and the positions of the first engagement means and the second engagement means be changed on the two opposing sides and on the other two opposing sides. According to this configuration, by turning the decorative frame through 90 degrees in the horizontal plane, either one of the engagement means can be selected.
In the third installation position changing means, it is preferable that the protrusion of the first engagement means be provided directly on the side wall of the base panel, while the protrusion of the second engagement means be provided on the inside face of a portal frame formed on the side wall of the panel base, and the engagement member of the first engagement means be provided so as to come into contact with the side wall of the panel base, while the engagement member of the second engagement means be provided so as to come into contact with the inside face of the portal frame.
According to the present invention, the third installation position changing means is further provided, in addition to the first and second engagement means, with third engagement means for holding the central portion of the decorative frame. The third engagement means has two engagement claws provided in parallel at the same height position at the central portion of each wall of the decorative frame and two engagement holes formed in parallel at different height positions at the central portion of each inside wall of the decorative frame so that one engagement claw is fitted into one engagement hole at the higher position when the first engagement means is selected and the other engagement claw is fitted into the other engagement hole at the lower position when the second engagement means is selected. According to this configuration, the central portion of each inside wall of the decorative frame can be held surely, and the decorative frame can be fixed to the panel base without looseness.
Besides, the present invention includes some preferable modes described below. First, the panel base is provided with a driving portion for driving the air deflector, and the driving portion is preferably covered by a protective cover. According to this configuration, when the suction grille is removed for maintenance, the worker can be prevented from touching the driving portion inadvertently. Also, the panel base is preferably provided with bearings for rotatably supporting the central portion on the back face side of the air deflector to prevent the intermediate portion of the air deflector from being deflected.
The air port is formed of a heat insulating material, and the panel base is formed with an air blow opening communicating with the air port. In this case, the lower end of the heat insulating material forming the air port is tightly inserted between the side wall of the panel base and the side wall of the air blow opening opposing thereto. Thereby, the heat insulating property of the air blow portion is improved, by which dew condensation caused by the leakage of cool air is prevented. Also, the side wall of the air blow opening is formed into a curved shape so as to be curved toward the side wall lower end side of the panel base. Thereby, the air blow resistance can be reduced.
The panel base and the suction grille (front panel) are made of a synthetic resin. In case of ceiling recessed type, the suction grille is considerably large, so that a warp or deflection is prone to occur. In the present invention, therefore, the panel base is molded integrally with a front panel having first openings corresponding to the air ports and a second opening corresponding to the suction port of the bell mouth, by which a front panel with high rigidity is obtained. In this case, the suction grille has a size corresponding to the second opening, and is molded separately from the front panel.