1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated air conditioner, and more particularly to an air conditioner which decreases a flow rate of a chilled air to improve product quality thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 shows a conventional integrated air conditioner 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional air conditioner 10 is installed such that it is penetrated into a wall or a window of a building, and includes an indoor unit 30 which is located in the building to generate a chilled air, an outdoor unit 50 which is exposed outside the building, and a partitioning plate 13 which separates the indoor unit 30 from the outdoor unit 50.
The indoor unit 30, the outdoor unit 50, and the partitioning plate 13 are located in a main chassis 12. The main chassis 12 includes a front plate 14 which is located in the front of the indoor unit 30, a rear plate 16 which is located in the front of the outdoor unit 50, side plates 18 which connect the front plate 14 to the rear plate 16, an upper plate 20, and a lower plate 22. A first air inlet 15 through which an interior air is introduced is formed in the front plate 14, and an air outlet 17 through which an air inside the outdoor unit 50 is discharged to the outside is formed in the rear plate 16, and a plurality of second air inlets 19 through which an air is introduced into the outdoor unit 50 are formed in the side plates 18.
The indoor unit 30 includes a filter 32 for filtering the air introduced into the first air inlet 15, an evaporator 36 for cooling the introduced air to generate a chilled air, a blowing fan 38 for blowing the chilled air into the building, a chilled air guide duct 40 for guiding the chilled air blown by the blowing fan 38 into the building, and a plurality of blades 42 which are installed in the guide duct 40 to change the direction of the chilled air introduced into the building.
The filter 32 is slidably supported by a support member 34 installed between the front plate 14 and the evaporator 36, and filters the dusts contained in the interior air.
The blowing fan 38 is rotatably mounted within the guide duct 40. As shown in FIG. 2, the guide duct 40 are formed with a chilled air inlet 44 through which the chilled air generated by the evaporator 36 is introduced, and a chilled air outlet 46 which discharges the chilled air blown by the blowing fan 38 into the building and in which the plurality of blades 42 are installed. The guide duct 40 has a snail-like cross section, and protects the impeller-shaped blowing fan 38.
The outdoor unit 50 includes a compressor 52 which is connected through a liquid coolant pipe (not shown) to the evaporator 36 and compresses the coolant, a condenser 54 which is connected through the coolant pipe to the compressor 52 and the evaporator 36 and condenses the coolant, a cooling fan 56 which discharges an warm air generated by the condenser 54 to the outside of the outdoor unit 50, and a motor 60 which includes a driving shaft 58 to which the blowing fan 38 and the cooling fan 56 are mounted. The driving shaft 58 of the motor 60 to which the blowing fan 38 is mounted is penetrated into the partitioning plate 13. When the motor 60 is driven, the exterior air is introduced into the outdoor unit 50 through the second air inlets 19 by the rotation of the cooling fan 56. The air introduced into the outdoor unit 50 is flowed into the condenser 54 by the cooling fan 56 and cools the condenser 54, and the warm air passing through the condenser 54 is discharged to the outside through the air outlet 17.
When a power is applied to the air conditioner 10 using an operating panel (not shown), the compressor 52 and the motor 60 are driven. A gaseous coolant of high temperature and pressure compressed by the compressor 52 is introduced from the evaporator 36 to the condenser 54.
The gaseous coolant in the condenser 54 is phase-changed to a liquid coolant of 60 through 130 degrees (.degree.C.) and of high pressure. Then, the exterior air introduced through the second air inlets 19 is discharged to the outside through the air outlet 17 after it cools the condenser 54.
The liquid coolant which has passed through the condenser 54 is decompressed via a capillary tube (not shown) and is expanded in the evaporator 36. Then, the liquid coolant is phase-changed to the gaseous coolant of low temperature and pressure. The air introduced into the indoor unit 30 through the first air inlet 15 of the front plate 14 is filtered by the filter 32, and is heat-exchanged with the evaporator 36 to a chilled air. The chilled air is blown into the building by the blowing fan 38, and the gaseous coolant is returned to the condenser 54 by the compressor 52.
During the operation of the air conditioner 10, the coolant repeats the cooling cycle through the compressor 52, the condenser 54 and the evaporator 36.
The air flow in the air conditioner 10 affects the heat-exchange capacity and the energy efficiency ration (E.E.R) of the evaporator 36. The flow rate of the air passing through the evaporator 36, and the cross section of the evaporator 36 are proportional to the heat-exchange capacity of the evaporator 36, and the flow rate is inversely proportional to the heat-exchange capacity. In order to improve the heat-exchange capacity of the evaporator 36, the guide duct 40 of the air conditioner 10 is manufactured such that it is formed of snail-like shape. Due to the guide tube 40 of snail-like shape, the air resistance decreases and the flow rate of the air passing through the evaporator 36 increases. Therefore, the heat-exchange capacity of the evaporator 36 is improved.
However, in case that the resistance of the air flowing through the guide duct 40 decreases, the air flow rate increases and the load of the motor 60 increases. As a result, the heat-exchange capacity is hardly improved.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds