Patent Publication Number: US-7210305-B2

Title: Outdoor unit for air conditioner

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2003-56358, filed Aug. 14, 2003 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly, to an outdoor unit for an air conditioner, which is designed to prevent condensed water from forming on a heat exchanger. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   Generally, a separated-type air conditioner includes an indoor unit installed inside a building and an outdoor unit installed outside a building, in which the indoor unit and the outdoor unit are connected to each other via refrigerant piping. The indoor unit usually includes an indoor heat exchanger to generate coldness by heat exchange, and a circulating fan to circulate air in a room. The outdoor unit includes a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, and a blower fan to cool the outdoor heat exchanger by blowing outdoor air. 
   When the air conditioner is operated in a heating mode, the outdoor heat exchanger included in the outdoor unit is maintained in a cooled condition. Accordingly, condensed water is formed on a surface of the outdoor heat exchanger, and the condensed water flows downward. To discharge the condensed water, a bottom plate of the outdoor unit of the air conditioner is provided with a drain hole. 
   In the outdoor unit of the conventional air conditioner, since a lower end of the outdoor heat exchanger is supported on a bottom plate of a cabinet of the outdoor unit, it is difficult to discharge the condensed water present between the lower end of the outdoor heat exchanger and the bottom plate of the cabinet, thus freezing of the condensed water occurs. Accordingly, ice expands upward from the lower end of the heat exchanger and becomes progressively larger, thus lowering heat-exchange efficiency. 
   Furthermore, since the conventional outdoor unit for an air conditioner is constructed such that a bottom plate of a cabinet thereof is usually made of metal, coldness from an outdoor heat exchanger is transmitted to the bottom plate of a cabinet in a heating operation, thus promoting freezing of the condensed water. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide an outdoor unit for an air conditioner, which allows condensed water generated from an outdoor heat exchanger to be easily discharged, thereby preventing the condensed water from freezing. 
   It is another aspect of the present invention to provide an outdoor unit for an air conditioner, which prevents coldness from an outdoor heat exchanger from being transmitted to a bottom plate of the outdoor unit, thus preventing freezing of the condensed water. 
   Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. 
   The above and/or other aspects are achieved by providing an outdoor unit for an air conditioner, including a cabinet having a bottom panel, an outdoor heat exchanger installed in the cabinet, and a support member supporting the outdoor heat exchanger with a space between a lower end of the outdoor heat exchanger and the bottom panel of the cabinet, to prevent condensed water generated from the outdoor heat exchanger from freezing. 
   The support member may include heat insulating material. 
   The bottom panel of the cabinet may include a flange extending upward at an edge of the cabinet, and the support member may be attached to the flange. 
   The support member may include a fixing portion attached to the flange, and a support portion extended from the fixing portion to support a lower end of the heat exchanger. 
   The support member may further include a lower reinforcing portion connected between a lower surface of the support portion and an inner surface of the fixing portion to prevent the support portion from sagging. 
   The support member may further include an upper reinforcing portion connected between an upper surface of the support portion and an inner surface of the fixing portion to separate the lower end of the outdoor heat exchanger from the fixing portion. 
   The fixing portion may include a fitting groove into which the flange is inserted to hold the support member. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which: 
       FIG. 1  is a cross-sectional view of an outdoor unit for an air conditioner, according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the outdoor unit of  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of an outdoor heat exchanger mounted on the outdoor unit of  FIG. 1 ; and 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of section IV of  FIG. 1 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The description below explains the present invention by referring to the figures. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , an outdoor unit for an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a box-shaped cabinet  10  having a front panel  11 , a rear panel  12 , both side panels  13  and  14 , a top panel  15 , and a bottom panel  16 , which are coupled to one another. The rear panel  12  and a side panel  13  of the cabinet  10  are manufactured by bending an integral plate, and include suction holes  17 . The other side panel  14  includes an opening  14   a  to permit electric wires for transferring power and a refrigerant piping to pass therethrough. The opening  14   a  is covered with a cover member  18 . The front panel  11  includes a discharge port  19  to allow air, which is introduced into the cabinet  10  through the suction holes  17  to be discharged to the outside. 
   An outdoor heat exchanger  20  may be closely installed inside the rear panel  12  and the side panel  13 , which have the suction holes  17 . Accordingly, outside air, which is introduced into the cabinet  10  through the suction holes  17 , may be subjected to heat exchange while passing through the outdoor heat exchanger  20 . 
   A blower fan  21  may be installed in the cabinet  10  adjacent to the front panel  11  to forcibly draw and discharge outside air, thus enabling the heat exchanger  20  to perform heat exchange. A support member  23 , which is intended to support the blower fan  21 , is coupled to the top panel  15  and the bottom panel  16  of the cabinet  10  at upper and lower ends thereof, respectively. 
   An internal space of the cabinet  10  may be comparted into a first space to accommodate the compressor  22  and a second space to accommodate the blower fan  21  by a partition plate  24 . An electrical component box  25 , which contains various electrical components and a circuit board, is installed in an upper portion of the first space accommodating the compressor  22 . The electrical component box  25  is constructed into a parallelepiped box form to accommodate various electrical components therein. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the bottom panel  16  of the cabinet  10  includes a flange  16   a  bent upward at four side edges thereof, so as to enable the front and rear panels  11  and  12  and both the side panels  13  and  14  to be coupled to each other and to prevent condensed water flowing from the outdoor heat exchanger  20  from flowing out of the bottom panel  16 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the bottom panel  16  includes a drain hole  16   b  to allow the condensed water collected on the bottom panel  16  to be discharged. 
   As shown in  FIG. 1 , the outdoor heat exchanger  20  may be supported on the bottom panel  16  of the cabinet  10  at a lower end thereof. According to an embodiment of the invention, the lower end of the outdoor heat exchanger  20  is spaced from the bottom panel  16  by the support member  30 , so as to allow condensed water generated from the outdoor heat exchanger  20  to be easily discharged and to prevent freezing of the condensed water. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the bottom panel  16  includes a seat member  16   c  protruding upward from an upper surface thereof, to enable the outdoor heat exchanger  20  to be mounted thereon. The support member  30  is mounted on the seat member  16   c  and the flange  16   a , to support the outdoor heat exchanger  20  while separating the lower end of the outdoor heat exchanger  20  from the bottom panel  16 . 
   The support member  30  includes a fitting portion  31  extending along the flange  16   a  and fitted to the flange  16   a , and a support portion  32  inwardly extending from an inner surface of the fitting portion  31  by a particular length to support the lower end of the outdoor heat exchanger  20 . The fitting portion  31  includes a fitting groove  33  longitudinally formed on a lower surface thereof, so that the flange  16   a  is inserted into the fitting groove  33 , thereby allowing the fitting portion  31  to be held by the flange  16   a . An inner wall  31   a  of the fitting portion  31 , which is formed by the fitting groove  33  and to which the support portion  32  is connected, is supported on the seat member  16   c  of the bottom panel  16 . 
   The support member  30  includes lower reinforcing ribs  34  connected between a lower surface of the support portion  32  and an inner surface of the fitting portion  31 , and upper reinforcing ribs  35  connected between an upper surface of the support portion  32  and the inner surface of the fitting portion  31 , in order to prevent the support portion  32  from sagging. The upper reinforcing ribs  35  are smaller than the lower reinforcing ribs  34  such that the lower end of the outdoor heat exchanger  20  is directly supported on the upper surface of the support portion  32  while being in contact therewith. 
   Each of the upper reinforcing ribs  35  has an inclined upper surface, such that the outdoor heat exchanger  20  is placed on the support portion  32  with a spacing (t) between the fitting portion  31  and the outdoor heat exchanger  20 . Accordingly, condensed water flowing down from the outdoor heat exchanger  20  is easily discharged, thereby preventing condensed water collected between the lower end of the outdoor heat exchanger  20  and the fitting portion  31  from freezing. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the support portion  32  of the support member  30  is constructed such that a width (W 1 ) of an area of the support portion  32  in contact with the lower end of the outdoor heat exchanger  20  is smaller than a width (W 2 ) of the outdoor heat exchanger  20 . This allows condensed water flowing down on the outdoor heat exchanger  20  to drop directly onto the bottom panel  16 , thereby improving discharge efficiency. 
   The support member  30 , which supports the outdoor heat exchanger  20 , may be made of heat insulating material, such as resin and rubber, by an injection molding process. Accordingly, the support member  30  prevents coldness from the outdoor heat exchanger  20  from being transmitted to the bottom panel  16 , thus preventing the condensed water collected on the bottom panel  16  from freezing. 
   More specifically, condensed water flowing on the outdoor heat exchanger  20  falls on the bottom panel  16  via an upper surface of the support portion  32  of the support member  30 . At this point, even if a certain amount of condensed water is collected on the support portion  32 , coldness generated from the outdoor heat exchanger  20  is not transmitted to the support member  30  because the support portion  32  is made of a heat insulating material, thereby preventing condensed water between the lower end of the outdoor heat exchanger  20  and the support portion  32  from freezing. In addition, since the support member  30  is made of heat insulating material, coldness from the outdoor heat exchanger  20  is not transmitted to the bottom panel  16  of the cabinet  10 . Accordingly, even if a certain amount of condensed water is collected on the bottom panel  16 , the condensed water is not frozen. 
   As is apparent from the above description, an outdoor unit for an air conditioner includes an outdoor heat exchanger positioned such that a lower end of the outdoor heat exchanger is spaced from a bottom panel of a cabinet by a support member attached to edges of the bottom panel. Therefore, condensed water generated from the outdoor heat exchanger flows toward the bottom panel with ease, thereby preventing the condensed water remaining under the outdoor heat exchanger from freezing. 
   Furthermore, since the support member supporting the outdoor heat exchanger is made of heat insulating material, coldness from the outdoor heat exchanger is not transmitted to the bottom panel, thus preventing freezing of the condensed water. 
   Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.