INDOOR UNIT OF AIR-CONDITIONING APPARATUS

Abstract

An object of the invention is to provide an indoor unit of an air-conditioning apparatus, which facilitates a change of the position from which a pipe is taken out. A heat exchanger unit is inverted back to front in a state in which the relationship between the bottom surface and the upper surface of the heat exchanger unit is maintained, so that a pair of opening portions can be selectively connected to an air outlet of an air-sending unit. The air-sending unit is inverted upside down so that an air outlet can be connected to a selected opening portion from among the pair of opening portions of the heat exchanger unit.

Description

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to an indoor unit of an air-conditioning apparatus.

2. Related Art

As a conventional ceiling concealed type indoor unit, a configuration in which an air-sending unit that is provided such that a direction to which it is mounted is fixed in one direction, and a heat exchanger unit are connected to each other is proposed (for example, refer to Patent Literature 1).

In the technology described in Patent Literature 1, a direction to which the heat exchanger is mounted is fixed in one direction and a pullout portion of a refrigerant pipe which is connected to a heat exchanger provided in an Indoor unit is also provided on any one of side surfaces of the indoor unit.

• Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2009-41836 (refer to, for example, FIGS. 1 and 2)

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

According to the technology described in Patent Literature 1, in a case in which indoor units are installed in guest rooms having configurations symmetrical to each other as in a hotel or the like, it is necessary that at the time when respective refrigerant pipes of neighboring guest rooms are placed, pipe arrangement should be applied so that at least one pipe makes the circuit of the corresponding unit. One example of this technology is described below.

When the structures of a right side guest room and a left side guest room are symmetrical to each other, there are cases that the indoor unit for the right side guest room and the indoor unit for the left side guest room are disposed side by side, and a main pipe related to refrigerant pipes is disposed between these indoor units. In this case, if the refrigerant pipes which are each connected to a heat exchanger provided in the indoor unit are provided on the right side surface of the indoor units, the indoor unit for the left side guest room can be linearly connected to the main pipe related to the refrigerant pipe, while the indoor unit for the right side guest room cannot be connected to the main pipe related to the refrigerant pipe unless the refrigerant pipe have been placed around the indoor unit located at the right side guest room up to the left side.

In other words, in the technology described in Patent Literature 1, the heat exchanger cannot be connected to the main pipe related to the refrigerant pipes unless the pipe have been placed around the indoor unit, and therefore, a new pipe in the shape of being placed around the indoor unit is added.

Further, even in a case in which the indoor unit is replaced due to aging thereof, there are many cases that the refrigerant pipe or a drain pipe, which are already provided within the ceiling of a room, are used as they are kept unchanged, and it is necessary that a direction in which the pipe of an indoor unit to be replaced is taken out may change in accordance with the situation of the existing pipe.

In this case as well, in the technology described in Patent Literature 1, the direction in which the pipe of an indoor unit to be replaced is taken out changes in accordance with the situation of the existing pipe. Therefore, it is necessary to add a new pipe.

However, when the new pipe is added, there exist problems that there are possibilities of an increase of the time, work and pipe length (pipe material) required for a pipe arrangement operation in an execution work site, an increase of a risk causing leakage of a refrigerant from a connecting portion due to an increase of pipe connecting portion, an increase of noise caused by vibration of the pipe, a damage by fatigue, and the like.

In order to solve the above-described problem, a method is considered in which a pipe arrangement direction is inverted by reversing the mounting position of the unit, so that the direction in which the pipe is mounted is changed to a direction suitable for the mounting location. However, in use of the above-described method, it becomes necessary to change a mounting position of a drain pan for receiving dew condensation water from a heat exchanger or mount the drain pans at both upper and lower sides thereof, in order to make the entire indoor unit have an up-and-down dual shape.

However, when the mounting position of the drain pan is changed or the drain pans are mounted at both upper and lower sides, an increase in the costs therefrom would be caused. Further, it becomes necessary to make a response to invert the mounting position of the heat exchanger in the longitudinal direction, whereby new problem may arise, for example, an increase of the weight or an increase in the number of parts.

The present invention has been achieved so as to solve at least one of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an indoor unit of an air-conditioning apparatus, which realizes a configuration in which the position from which the pipe is taken out is easily changed.

An indoor unit of an air-conditioning apparatus according to the present invention comprising: an air-sending unit having an air inlet and an air outlet and having an air-sending device accommodated therein; and a heat exchanger unit having a pair of opening portions formed at opposite positions and having an indoor side heat exchanger accommodated therein, wherein the heat exchanger unit is inverted back to front in such a manner that a relationship between a bottom surface and an upper surface of the heat exchanger unit is maintained, with the result that the pair of opening portions can be selectively connected to the air outlet of the air-sending unit, and the air-sending unit is inverted upside down in such a manner that the air outlet can be connected to an opening portion selected from the pair of opening portions of the heat exchanger unit.

An indoor unit of an air-conditioning apparatus according to the present invention allows an air-sending unit to be inverted vertically and also allows a heat exchanger unit to be inverted in the longitudinal direction, and therefore, the position from which the pipe is taken out is also easily changed to such a degree that a change of the position from which the pipe is pulled out is facilitated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an indoor unit of an air-conditioning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view showing a state in which connection of an air-sending unit and a heat exchanger unit shown in FIG. 1 is changed.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a drain pan of the indoor unit shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the indoor unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an air-sending unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an electrical component box of the present invention.

FIG. 7(a), 7(b) and 7(c) are explanatory diagrams showing a region of the indoor unit of the air-conditioning apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention in the vicinities of an air outlet portion.

FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b) are explanatory diagrams showing a direction in which the pipe is taken out in the indoor unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the amount of air supplied to a heat exchanger when the air-sending unit is turned upside down from the state thereof in the indoor unit shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the amount of air supplied to the heat exchanger of the indoor unit shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for illustrating the results when graph lines (1) to (3) which are shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, respectively, correspond to which positions in the heat exchanger.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the present invention is described below on the basis of the attached drawings.

Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an indoor unit 100 of an air-conditioning apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view showing a state in which connection of an air-sending unit 50 and a heat exchanger unit 10, which unit are shown in FIG. 1, is changed. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a drain pan 3 of the indoor unit 100 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the indoor unit 100 according to the embodiment. With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, the configuration of the indoor unit 100 of the air-conditioning apparatus is described below.

Incidentally, FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view in a state in which the air-sending unit 50 shown in FIG. 1 is turned upside down, and the heat exchanger unit 10 shown in FIG. 1 is inverted only back to front, without being inverted upside down. In the following description, the state in which the air-sending unit 50 and the heat exchanger unit 10 shown in FIG. 1 is referred to as a connection state A. The connection state shown in FIG. 2 is referred to as a connection state B. Further, in the other drawings than the above-mentioned figures, there are cases that the size or shape of each structure may be partially different.

The indoor unit 100 according to the present embodiment is obtained by adding improvements of facilitating the change of a mounting position of the pipe connected to the indoor unit 100 while realizing suppression of cost increase, inhibition of an increase in the number of parts, inhibition of an increase in the weight of the main body, reduction of a risk of causing leakage of a refrigerant, suppression of deterioration of air condition performance, and the like.

[Description of Configuration]

The indoor unit 100 includes a heat exchanger unit 10 provided with an indoor side heat exchanger 2 that serves as an evaporator or a condenser, and an air-sending unit 50 having an air-sending device 4 that discharges air outside of the indoor unit 100 after air is taken into the indoor unit 100. Incidentally, the connecting states shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 each show a state in which the heat exchanger unit 10 and the air-sending unit 50 of the Indoor unit 100 are connected to each other, but the heat exchanger unit 10 and the air-sending unit 50 can be separated from each other. The indoor unit 100 is, as shown in FIG. 2, used as, for example, a ceiling concealed type unit that is disposed under the roof (that is, disposed on an upper surface of a ceiling 6).

(Heat Exchanger Unit 10)

The heat exchanger unit 10 is provided so as to be connected to the air-sending unit 50 to thereby allow air to be supplied thereto from the air-sending unit 50. The heat exchanger unit 10 has, as an outer shell, a housing body 11 having the shape of a substantially rectangular parallelepiped and having two open opposed surfaces.

Further, in the heat exchanger unit 10, the housing body 11 includes “an indoor side heat exchanger 2 that exchanges heat between air supplied from the air-sending unit 50, and a refrigerant supplied from an outdoor unit (not shown)”, and also includes “a drain pan 3 which is filled with dew condensation water (drain water) generated in the indoor side heat exchanger 2”.

Moreover, the air-sending unit 50 can be connected to the heat exchanger unit 10 by being inverted back to front, without being inverted upside down. More specifically, when the air-sending unit 50 is inverted back to front from the connection state A shown in FIG. 1, the heat exchanger unit 10 is connected to the air-sending unit 50 side on the side of an air outlet portion 14, described below. Incidentally, the air-sending unit 50 is not inverted upside down so that the position of the drain pan 3 is not located at the upper side of the indoor side heat exchanger 2.

(Housing Body 11)

The housing body 11 is, as shown in FIG. 4, used to constitute the outer shell of the heat exchanger unit 10. The side surface of the housing body 11 at the side of the air-sending unit 50 and the opposite side surface are open. That is to say, the housing body 11 has a configuration in which “an opening portion 13A formed in a connection side surface potion 12 that constitutes the side surface on the air-sending unit 50 side” is formed, “an opening portion 13B formed so as to face the opening portion 13A and used to discharge air out of the housing body 11” is formed, and “an air passage 13C through which air supplied from the air-sending unit 50 passes between the opening portion 13A and the opening portion 13B” is formed.

Further, the housing body 11 is provided with “an air outlet portion 14 which is provided in any one of the opening portion 13A and the opening portion 13B, which is not provided on the side of the air-sending unit 50, which air outlet portion is mounted to the housing body in a removable manner, and is also provided with “a pipe pullout portion 10A by which a refrigerant pipe connected to the indoor side heat exchanger 2 is allowed to communicate with the inside and outside of the housing body 11”.

Here, in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, the housing body 11 is brought into a state of being connected to the air-sending unit 50 on “the opening portion 13A side”, but can also be connected to the air-sending unit 50 on “the air outlet portion 14 side”. In other words, the housing body 11 can be brought into a state of being connected to the air-sending unit 50 in such a manner that the air-sending unit 50 is inverted back to front from the state shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, without being inverted upside down. As a result, the position of the pipe pullout portion 10A is changed from the front side of FIG. 1 and FIG. 4 to the back side of FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, thereby making it possible to change the position at which the pipe is pulled out.

Incidentally, in the connection state A shown in FIG. 1, the opening portion 3A is located on the side of an air inlet of the heat exchanger unit 10, and the opening portion 13B is located on the side of an air outlet of the heat exchanger unit 10.

In a case in which the housing body 11 is inverted back to front without being inverted upside down (the connection state B), the opening portion 13A is located on the side of the air outlet of the heat exchanger unit 10, and the opening portion 13B is located on the side of the air inlet of the heat exchanger unit 10.

The air outlet portion 14 is provided at a position at which the opening portion 13B is formed, so as to be freely removable from the housing body 11. As a result, even when the housing body 11 is inverted back to front, the air outlet portion 14 can be mounted to the opening portion 13B which is connected to the air-sending unit 50.

Incidentally, a case in which the position at which the air outlet portion 14 is mounted on the side of the opening portion 13B that faces the opening portion 13A is explained by way of an example, but the present invention is not limited to the same. For example, in a case in which a configuration in which a bottom side of the indoor unit 100 is open, the air outlet portion 14 may be provided on the bottom side of the housing body 11.

The housing body 11 is provided with first suspension metal fittings 1A that allow mounting of the air-sending unit 50 even when the air-sending units 50 are inverted upside down. The positions at which the first suspension metal fittings 1A are provided may be set in the vicinity of four apexes located at the lower side, from among eight apexes of the housing body 11. More specifically, the positions at which the first suspension metal fittings 1A are provided are located at the lower side of the housing body 11 and at the end sides of the upstream and downstream sides of the air flowing direction, and it is preferable that the positions of the first suspension metal fittings 1A may be located at both end sides of the housing body in the transverse direction when the air flowing direction is oriented toward the front side.

(Indoor Side Heat Exchanger 2)

The indoor side heat exchanger 2 is used to exchange heat between air taken into the housing body 11 and the refrigerant supplied from the outdoor unit (not shown). For example, the heat exchanger 2 may also be constituted by a fin tube heat exchanger having a plurality of fins disposed in parallel in an upright manner, and tubes connected to the fins and to which the refrigerant is supplied.

The indoor side heat exchanger 2 is provided by being supported on the drain pan 3 in the state of being inclined with respect to the bottom surface of the housing body 11. In other words, the indoor side heat exchanger 2 is, in the state shown in FIG. 2, supported by the drain pan 3 on the end side thereof on the side of the air-sending unit 5.

More specifically, the indoor side heat exchanger 2 is provided in a sloping state with respect to the bottom surface of the housing body 11 in such a manner that, in the connection state A and connection state B shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, respectively, one end side of the indoor side heat exchanger is located on the side of the air-sending unit 50 and the other end side thereof is located on the side of the air outlet portion 14.

Incidentally, in the connection state A, the indoor side heat exchanger 2 is provided in a state of sloping with respect to the bottom surface of the housing body 11 so that the other end side of the indoor side heat exchanger is positioned further at the upper side than the one end side.

Further, in the connection state B, the heat exchanger unit 10 is provided in a state of sloping with respect to the bottom surface of the housing body 11 so that the one end side of the heat exchanger unit 10 is positioned further at the upper side than the other end side.

(Drain Pan 3)

The drain pan 3 supports the indoor side heat exchanger 2 and serves to catch drain water dropping from the indoor side heat exchanger 2. For example, the drain pan 3 is formed into a predetermined shape out from a resin or the like.

As shown in FIG. 3, the drain pan 3 has a first slope portion a which is provided on the side of the one end of the drain pan 3 and is formed so as to extend from the front side to the back side of this drawing, and a second slope portion b which is provided on the side of the other end of the drain pan 3 and is formed so as to extend from the front side to the back side of this drawing.

Incidentally, in the connection state A of the air-sending unit 50 and the heat exchanger unit 10 shown in FIG. 1, the first slope portion a is positioned on the side of the air-sending unit 50 and the second slope portion b is positioned on the side of the air outlet portion 14. Further, in the connection state B of the air-sending unit 50 and the heat exchanger unit 10 shown in FIG. 2, the first slope portion a is positioned on the side of the heat exchanger unit 10 and the second slope portion b is positioned on the side of the air-sending unit 50.

The first slope portion a and the second slope portion b each slope down in a direction opposite to a direction to which the indoor side heat exchanger 2 slopes down. For example, FIG. 1 shows the state in which the indoor side heat exchanger 2 slopes down from the side of the air-sending unit 50 toward the air outlet portion 14, while the first slope portion a and the second slope portion b each slope down from the side of the air outlet portion 14 toward the air-sending unit 50.

The first slope portion a is formed in such a way as described above, and therefore, in the connection state A shown in FIG. 1, the first slope portion a can prevent blocking of the flow of air blown out from the air-sending device 4 diagonally to the upper direction. Further, since the second slope portion b is formed, in the connection state B shown in FIG. 2, the second slope portion b can prevent blocking of the flow of air blown out from the air-sending device 4 diagonally to the lower direction.

The second slope portion b is formed such that the height position of the top portion of the second slope portion b is higher than that of the first slope portion a. For this reason, the drain pan 3 is formed so that the front side and the rear side thereof have different shapes, and when the heat exchanger unit 10 is inverted back to front, pressure damage is generated and a difference in the amount of air is caused. Accordingly, the difference in the amount of air is reduced by providing the air outlet portion 14, and even if the heat exchanger unit 10 is inverted back to front, an air condition performance is made stable. The above-mentioned configuration is further described in “Detailed Description of Air Outlet Portion 14” described below.

(Air-Sending Unit 50)

The air-sending unit 50 includes a housing body 51 serving as an outer shell of the air-sending unit 50, and the air-sending device 4 provided in the housing body 51. The air-sending unit 50 is used to supply air taken into the housing body 51 to the heat exchanger unit 10. The air-sending unit 50 is provided by being connected to the air-sending unit 50. Incidentally, the air-sending unit 50 can be connected to the heat exchanger unit 10 by being inverted upside down.

The air-sending unit 50 includes the housing body 51, as an outer shell, which is substantially in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped with opposite two surfaces being open.

(Housing Body 51)

The housing body 51 is used, as shown in FIG. 4, to accommodate the air-sending device 4, and the side face of the housing body 51 on the side of the heat exchanger unit 10 and the opposite side face thereof are open. In other words, the housing body 51 includes “air outlets 55 (see FIG. 5) which are formed in the connection side surface portion 52 constituting the side face of the housing body on the side of the air-sending unit 50”, and “an air inlet 54 which is formed at the side opposite to a side at which the air outlets 55 are formed and used to take air into the housing body 51”.

Further, in the housing body 51, two air-sending devices 4 are provided in parallel to each other in a direction substantially perpendicular to the air flowing direction. The number of the air-sending devices 4 is not limited to two.

Here, the housing body 51 shows, in FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, a state in which the connection side surface portion 52 side of the housing body and the connection side surface portion 12 side of the heat exchanger unit 10′ are connected to each other, but in a case in which the heat exchanger unit 10 is inverted back to front, “the connection side surface portion 52 side of the housing body and the air outlet portion 14 side of the heat exchanger unit 10” are connected to each other.

The housing body 51 can be connected to the air-sending unit 50 by being inverted upside down. In other words, even in a state in which the bottom surface and upper surface of the housing body 51 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are inverted upside down, the housing body 51 can be connected to the heat exchanger unit 10. Incidentally, in a case in which the housing body 51 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 is inverted upside down, the heat exchanger unit 10 is connected to the housing body 51 in such a state that the heat exchanger unit 10 is inverted back to front, not inverted upside down. As a result, it is possible to prevent reduction of the amount of air to be supplied to the Indoor side heat exchanger 2. Incidentally, the configuration in which the reduction of the amount of air is prevented is described with reference to FIG. 8 through FIG. 10 as described below.

Fixed to the housing body 51 is an electrical component box 80 having the shape of a substantially rectangular parallelepiped and provided along a side surface of the air-sending unit 50 that is orthogonal to the connection side surface portion 52.

More specifically, the electrical component box 80 is provided on a side face that is orthogonal to a face surface on which the air inlet 54 is formed, and also to a face surface on which the connection side surface portion 52 is formed. In this way, pull-in of a wiring from the side just beside is performed so that even when the housing body 51 is inverted upside down, the position of the electrical component box 80 is not changed so much (see FIG. 6). As a result, an operating load such as adjustment of the length of a wiring 81 can be alleviated.

The housing body 51 is provided with second suspension metal fittings 1B which allow the housing body 51 to be suspended and fixed even if the air-sending unit 50 is inverted back to front. The positions at which the second suspension metal fittings 1B are provided may be preferably set in the vicinities of the four apexes located on the upstream side from among the eight apexes of the housing body 51. More specifically, the positions at which the second suspension metal fittings 1B are provided are located at the upper side of the housing body 51 and on the upstream side of the air flowing direction, and further, preferably may be located at the end side in the direction of the housing body when the air flowing direction is set to the front face.

(Air-Sending Device 4)

The air-sending device 4 is constituted by, for example, a sirocco fan, and is used to supply air taken in from the air inlet 54 to the heat exchanger unit 10 side. The air-sending device 4 includes a rotating blade (not shown), and a motor 5 that rotates the blade. The motor 5 is connected to a control device or the like, provided in the electrical component box 80. Further, each air-sending device 4 has, as shown in FIG. 2, an air outlet portion 4A.

In the connection state A shown in FIG. 1, the air-sending unit 50 and the heat exchanger unit 10 are connected to each other so that the flow of air blown out from the air outlet portion 4A is directed to the upper side, more specifically, diagonally to the upper side.

In the connection state B shown in FIG. 2, the air-sending unit 50 are inverted upside down from the connection state A shown in FIG. 1, and therefore, the air-sending unit 50 and the heat exchanger unit 10 are connected to each other so that the flow of air blown out from the air outlet portion 4A is directed to the lower side, more specifically, diagonally to the lower side.

[Air Outlet 55 and Electrical Component Box 80 of Air-Sending Unit 50]

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the air-sending unit 50 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the electrical component box 80. With reference to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the wiring 81 pulled out from the air outlet 55 and the electrical component box 80 which are formed in the air-sending unit 50 is described below.

As shown in FIG. 5, two air outlets 55 are provided in parallel to each other in the air-sending unit 50. These air outlets 55 are formed so as to communicate with the respective air outlet portions 4A which are each included in the air-sending device 4. The air blown out from the air outlets 55 is supplied to the heat exchanger unit 10 side.

Further, the electrical component box 80 is provided at a lateral face of the air-sending device 4. For this reason, it is possible to prevent respective positions of components connected by the wiring 81 from changing, and it is not necessary to replace an additional wiring.

[Detailed Structure of Air Outlet Portion 14]

FIGS. 7(a), 7(b) and 7(c) are explanatory diagrams showing the vicinities of the air outlet portion 14 of the indoor unit 100. With reference to FIGS. 7(a), 7(b) and 7(c), a detailed structure of the air outlet portion 14 is described below. FIG. 7(a) is a diagram showing a state in which the air outlet portion 14 is mounted to the heat exchanger unit 10, FIG. 7(b) is a diagram of the air outlet portion 14 when seen from the lateral face thereof, and FIG. 7(c) is a perspective view of an open portion 14A.

The air outlet portion 14 can be removed from the housing body 11, and can be mounted to an opening portion located at the front side, from among the opening portion 13A and the opening portion 13B. The air outlet portion 14 is formed from the open portion 14A through which air passes, and a blocking portion 14B which blocks the flow of air.

The open portion 14A is formed such that the height position of the lower end side thereof becomes substantially equal to the height position of the top portion of the second slope portion b of the drain pan 3. Further, the open portion 14A has a substantially rectangular configuration when seen from the top side, and is formed in the air outlet portion 14 so as to protrude substantially in parallel to the air flowing direction.

The blocking portion 14B is a flat plate-shaped member provided substantially perpendicular to the air flowing direction, and is provided so as to face the first slope portion a or second slope portion b of the drain pan 3. The blocking portion 14B is formed such that the dimension thereof in the height direction is larger than that of the first slope portion a and is substantially equal to that of the second slope portion b.

If the air outlet portion 14 is not provided in the indoor unit 100, the air outlet surface becomes larger in the connection state B as compared to the case of the connection state A, whereby it is not possible to secure the same amount of air in cases before and after change of the connection state.

However, the indoor unit 100 is provided with the air outlet portion 14, and therefore, both in the connection state A and in the connection state B, the area of the air outlet surface becomes the open portion 14A. In other words, even when the heat exchanger unit 10 is inverted back to front, it is possible to secure the same amount of air as in the case before the change, and prevent deterioration of air condition performance.

[Connection State A and Connection State B]

FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b) are diagrams for illustrating a direction in which the pipe is pulled out in the indoor unit 100 according to the present embodiment. In the description of FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b) given below, a case of changing form the connection state shown in FIG. 8(a) to the connection state shown in FIG. 8(b) is exemplified.

Before the change of the connection state shown in FIG. 8(a), the air-sending unit 50 and the heat exchanger unit 10 are connected to each other so that air discharged from the air-sending unit 50 is directed upward. Further, before the change, the air-sending unit 50 and the heat exchanger unit 10 are connected to each other so that the upper end side of the indoor side heat exchanger 2 is disposed on the side of the air-sending unit 50. Incidentally, in the state shown in FIG. 8(a), the pipe pullout portion 10A is positioned on the side face of the heat exchanger unit at the front side of this drawing.

After the change of the connection state shown in FIG. 8(b), the air-sending unit 50 and the heat exchanger unit 10 are connected to each other so that air discharged from the air-sending unit 50 is directed downward. Further, after the change of the connection sate, the air-sending unit 50 and the heat exchanger unit 10 are connected to each other so that the lower end side of the indoor side heat exchanger 2 is disposed on the side of the air-sending unit 50. In the state shown in FIG. 8(b), the pipe pullout portion 10A is positioned on the side face of the heat exchanger unit at the back side of this drawing.

In this way, in the indoor unit 100, the air-sending unit 50 can be inverted upside down, and the heat exchanger unit 10 can be inverted back to front without being inverted upside down, whereby the positions of the pipe pullout portion 100A can be changed. As a result, the position from which the pipe connected to the Indoor unit 100 is pulled out is easily changed while realizing suppression of cost increase, inhibition of an increase in the number of parts, inhibition of an increase in the weight of the main body, reduction of a risk of causing leakage of a refrigerant, suppression of deterioration of air condition performance, and the like.

[Effects of Connection State A]

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the amount of air supplied to the indoor side heat exchanger 2 when the air-sending unit 50 is inverted upside down from the state of the indoor unit 100 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the amount of air supplied to the indoor side heat exchanger 2 of the indoor unit 100 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 11 is a diagram for illustrating the results when graph lines (1) to (3) which are shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, respectively, correspond to which positions in the indoor unit heat exchanger 2.

Incidentally, the vertical axis shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 shows the amount of air (m/s), and the horizontal axis corresponds to positions on the indoor unit heat exchanger 2 from one end portion of the indoor unit heat exchanger 2 on the side of the air-sending unit 50 through another end portion thereof on the side of the air outlet portion 14. Further, FIG. 10 shows the connection state A (corresponding to FIG. 8(a)), but

FIG. 9 shows a connection state which does not correspond to the connection state A or the connection state B.

As shown in FIG. 9, it can be seen that the wind velocity does not satisfy 3 (m/s) in any position on the indoor unit heat exchanger 2, that is, “(1) end”, “(3) center”, and “(2) position between (1) and (3)”. In other words, in the connection state shown in FIG. 9, it can be seen that sufficient air condition performance cannot be secured. This is due to a configuration in which the angle formed by the direction in which air blown out from the air-sending device 4 flows and the indoor unit heat exchanger 2 becomes small.

In the connection state A shown in FIG. 10, the airflow characteristics are improved from the connection state shown in FIG. 9 in any positions on the indoor side heat exchanger 2, that is, “(1) end”, “(3) center”, and “(2) position between (1) and (3)”. In particular, the amount of air in “(2) position between (1) and (3)” can be secured at a value approximate to 5 (m/s), and the amount of air in “(3) center” can be secured at a value approximate to 7 (m/s). Further, the amount of air at the “(1) end” is generally larger than that at the “(1) end” shown in FIG. 9. This is due to a configuration in which an angle formed by a direction in which air blown out from the air-sending device 4 flows, and the indoor side heat exchanger 2 becomes an angle approximate to a vertical angle.

[Effects Achieved by Indoor Unit 100 According to Embodiment]

The indoor unit 100 according to the present embodiment is equipped with the heat exchanger unit 10 and the air-sending device 50, each having the connection state A and the connection state B, and therefore, it is not necessary to place the pipe around the indoor unit or provide an additional pipe. Hence, the position of the pipe pullout portion 10A can be easily changed while realizing suppression of cost increase, inhibition of an increase in the number of parts, inhibition of an increase in the weight of the main body, reduction of a risk of causing leakage of a refrigerant, suppression of deterioration of air condition performance, and the like.

Further, in a case in which an air-sending unit or a heat exchanger unit having a high performance exists, any one of the air-sending unit and the heat exchanger unit can be easily replaced independently. In other words, the indoor unit 100 allows facilitated specification changes.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

1A: first suspension metal fitting, 1B: second suspension metal fitting, 2: indoor side heat exchanger, 3: drain pan, 4: air-sending device, 4A: air outlet portion, 5: motor, 6: ceiling, 10: heat exchanger unit (second unit), 10A: pipe pullout portion, 11: housing body, 12: connection side surface portion, 13A: opening portion, 138: opening portion, 13C: air passage, 14: air outlet portion, 14A: open portion, 14B: blocking portion, 50: air-sending unit (first unit), 51: housing unit, 52: connection side surface portion, 54: air inlet, 55: air outlet, 80: electrical component box, 81: wiring, 100: indoor unit, a: first slope portion, b: second slope portion.

Claims

1. An indoor unit of an air-conditioning apparatus, comprising:

an air-sending unit having an air inlet and an air outlet and having an air-sending device accommodated therein; and

a heat exchanger unit having a pair of opening portions formed at opposite positions and having an indoor side heat exchanger accommodated therein,

wherein the heat exchanger unit is inverted back to front in such a manner that a relationship between a bottom surface and an upper surface of the heat exchanger unit is maintained, with the result that the pair of opening portions can be selectively connected to the air outlet of the air-sending unit, and

the air-sending unit is inverted upside down in such a manner that the air outlet can be connected to an opening portion selected from the pair of opening portions of the heat exchanger unit.

2. The indoor unit of an air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the air-sending unit is provided with first suspension metal fittings on an upper surface side and a lower surface side of the air-sending unit, the first suspension metal fittings being used when the air-sending unit is installed, and

the heat exchanger unit is provided with second suspension metal fittings on the side of end portions at which the pair of opening portions are formed, the second suspension metal fittings being used when the heat exchanger unit is installed.

3. The indoor unit of an air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the indoor side heat exchanger is installed so as to slope down from the side of one of the opening portions of the heat exchanger unit to the side of the other opening portion.

4. The indoor unit of an air-conditioning apparatus of claim 3, wherein the heat exchanger unit includes a drain pan provided at a lower side of the indoor side heat exchanger, so as to support one end side of the indoor side heat exchanger.

5. The indoor unit of an air-conditioning apparatus of claim 4, wherein the drain pan includes a first slope surface and a second slope surface, the first slope surface being formed at a position where the drain pan comes into contact with the indoor unit heat exchanger, the second slope surface being formed on the side opposite to the first slope surface, and

wherein the first slope surface and the second slope surface respectively slope down in a direction in which the indoor side heat exchanger slopes down, and in a direction opposite thereto.

6. The indoor side of an air-conditioning apparatus of claim 5, further comprising:

an air outlet portion being capable of separating and formed in an opening portion serving as an air outlet, from among the pair of opening portions which are formed in the heat exchanger unit,

wherein the air outlet portion is configured such that the side thereof at the upper side of a slope surface having a higher vertical position from among the first slope surface and the second slope surface of the drain pan is open and that the side thereof at the lower side of the slope surface having a higher vertical position from among the first slope surface and the second slope surface of the drain pan is blocked.

7. The indoor unit of an air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the air-sending unit comprise an electrical component box on a side face of the air-sending unit, the electrical component box controlling the air-sending device.

8. An indoor unit of an air-conditioning apparatus, comprising:

a first unit in which an air-sending device is accommodated; and

a second unit in which a heat exchanger is accommodated,

the second unit including

an air passage through air brown from the air-sending device passes,

a heat exchanger comprised of a plurality of fins and a refrigerant passage,

a part of a refrigerant pipe used to circulate a refrigerant between the heat exchanger and an external equipment, and

a drain pan that catches dew condensation water generated in the heat exchanger and dropping therefrom,

wherein the heat exchanger is disposed so as to slope down with respect to the flow of air, and connects the first unit and the second unit to each other in such a manner that the second unit can be inverted back to front and the first unit can be inverted upside down.