Patent Publication Number: US-2022233984-A1

Title: Filter assembly, ventilation assembly and air-conditioning apparatus

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present disclosure is based upon and claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202120200828.7, filed on Jan. 25, 2021, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to a field of electrical appliances, and more particularly to a filter assembly, a ventilation assembly and an air-conditioning apparatus. 
     BACKGROUND 
     As living standards improve, people are paying more attention to indoor air health and household air quality devices such as fresh air ventilators, air purifiers, and air conditioners with a fresh air function are becoming more and more popular. These air quality devices often need to be assembled and disassembled to replace a filter by a user on an infrequent basis and thus, require learning curve with each replacement and a greater likelihood of mistakes. Therefore, a reliable detachable ventilation assembly between the filter assembly and the device would help users successfully replace filters and maintain the device. 
     SUMMARY 
     Embodiments of a first aspect of the present disclosure provide a filter assembly, including: a filter screen configured to filter air; a supporting portion configured to support the filter screen; a mounting portion configured to mount the filter assembly to a mounting port of an apparatus to be provided with the filter assembly or to a portion of the apparatus adjacent to the mounting port, wherein a shape and a size of the mounting portion matching with those of the mounting port to cover the mounting port. The mounting portion includes a sealing part having a shape approximately the same as a shape of a gap between the mounting portion and the mounting port and has an interference fit with the gap, to seal the gap between the mounting portion and the mounting port. 
     Embodiments of a second aspect of the present disclosure provide a ventilation assembly. The ventilation assembly includes: a volute having a mounting port arranged to a surface thereof; and a filter assembly. The filter assembly includes: a filter screen configured to filter air; a supporting portion configured to support the filter screen; a mounting portion configured to mount the filter assembly to the mounting port or to a portion of the volute adjacent to the mounting port, wherein a shape and a size of the mounting portion matching with those of the mounting port to cover the mounting port. The mounting portion includes a sealing part having a shape approximately the same as a shape of a gap between the mounting portion and the mounting port and has an interference fit with the gap, to seal the gap between the mounting portion and the mounting port. 
     Embodiments of a third aspect of the present disclosure provide an air-conditioning apparatus, and the air-conditioning apparatus includes a ventilation assembly. The ventilation assembly includes: a volute having a mounting port arranged to a surface thereof; and a filter assembly. The filter assembly includes: a filter screen configured to filter air; a supporting portion configured to support the filter screen; a mounting portion configured to mount the filter assembly to the mounting port or to a portion of the apparatus adjacent to the mounting port, wherein a shape and a size of the mounting portion matching with those of the mounting port to cover the mounting port. The mounting portion includes a sealing part having a shape approximately the same as a shape of a gap between the mounting portion and the mounting port and has an interference fit with the gap, to seal the gap between the mounting portion and the mounting port. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In order to more clearly explain technical solutions in embodiments of the present disclosure or in the related art, the drawings needed to be used in descriptions of the embodiments or the related art will be introduced briefly. Obviously, the drawings in the following descriptions are merely some embodiments of the present disclosure. For those ordinary skilled in the related art, other drawings may be obtained according to theses drawings without creative labors. 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view of an air-conditioning apparatus in a related art. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the air-conditioning apparatus in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic view of a filter assembly according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded view of a filter assembly according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded view of a filter assembly according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic view of a sealing part according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic view of a ventilation assembly of a volute according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic view of separate structures of a volute according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 9  is a partial enlarged view of portion B in  FIG. 8 . 
         FIG. 10  is a schematic view of a ventilation assembly having a filter assembly and a volute in an air-conditioning apparatus according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 11  is an exploded view of a filter assembly and a volute in an air-conditioning apparatus according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Technical solutions of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely in combination with the accompanying drawings. It is obvious that the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, instead of all embodiments of the present disclosure. Based on the embodiments of the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the related art without making inventive work belong to the protection scope of the present disclosure. In addition, the technical features involved in the different embodiments of the present disclosure described below may be combined with each other as long as there is no conflict between them. 
     In an enclosed indoor space such as an office, a bedroom, etc., an air quality gradually declines, and staying in the enclosed space for a long period of time tends to cause discomfort of the human body. Therefore, the indoor air needs to be replaced, and hence an air-conditioning apparatus with a fresh air function may be used to exchange outdoor fresh air with the indoor dirty air. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , for the air-conditioning apparatus with a fresh air function, taking an air conditioner as an example, a ventilation assembly is arranged in an indoor unit  10  of the air conditioner, and an end of an air input pipe of the indoor unit  10  is connected with the ventilation assembly  11 , so as to guide an air flow from an outdoor environment into the ventilation assembly  11 . 
     When the temperature difference between indoor and outdoor is large (for example, the outdoor temperature is lower than −20° C.), cold air flow entering ventilation assembly  11  will leak from a gap due to a poor sealing of the ventilation assembly  11 . This may cause warm air in the air-conditioning apparatus to liquefy when meeting the cold air flow, thus resulting in condensation. When the condensation is serious, the condensation will form droplets, which will drip to a user&#39;s indoor floor, and even flow to a wall to form water stains, thus affecting the user experience. 
     In order to overcome the above defects, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a filter assembly and an air-conditioning apparatus to solve the problem of condensation. 
     According to a first aspect, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide a filter assembly. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , in some embodiments, the filter assembly  100  includes a filter screen  120  and a bracket, and the filter screen  120  is configured for filtering air. The bracket includes a supporting portion  1102  and a mounting portion  1101 , the supporting portion  1102  is configured for supporting the filter screen  120  arranged to the supporting portion  1102 , the mounting portion  1101  is configured for mounting the filter assembly to a mounting port of an apparatus to be provided with the filter assembly or to a portion of the apparatus adjacent to the mounting port, and a shape and a size of the mounting portion match with those of the mounting port to cover the mounting port. 
     The mounting portion  1101  includes a sealing part  300 , and the sealing part  300  has a shape approximately the same with a shape of a gap between the mounting portion  1101  and the mounting port and has an interference fit with the gap, so as to seal the gap between the mounting portion  1101  and the mounting port. 
     The apparatus to be provided with the filter assembly refers to any structure suitable to equipped with the filter assembly  100 , such as an air-conditioner volute, a ventilation assembly of a fresh air ventilator, etc., which is not limited in the present disclosure. The bracket is configured to mount and support the filter screen. The function of the filter assembly is to purify air. The filter screen  120  is a multi-layer filter screen structure. For example, the filter screen  120  may adopt a multi-layer composite filter screen of activated carbon and HEPA. 
     Significant effects of the embodiments of the present disclosure lie in: the filter assembly  100  includes the sealing part arranged to the mounting portion, to seal the gap between the filter assembly and the mounting port of the ventilation assembly, realize the sealing assembling between the filter assembly and the mounting port, and improve the sealing performance of the ventilation assembly, so as to prevent the air flow entering the volute from outside through the mounting port from leaking out from the gap between the filter assembly and the volute when the ventilation assembly operates, thus greatly reducing the condensation when the temperature difference between indoor and outdoor is large, and improving the user experience. 
     In another embodiment of the present disclosure, after the filter assembly is mounted to the mounting port, the sealing part  300  abuts against and is in the interference fit with an edge of the mounting port. 
     In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the sealing part  300  is made of an elastic material, and the rest of the mounting portion  1101  except the sealing part  300  is made of a rigid material. The mounting portion  1101  and the sealing part  300  are bonded, welded or integrally molded. 
     In this embodiment, the elastic material refers to a material having a low hardness and configured to be elastically deformed under an action of an external force, such as rubber, plastic, silica gel, etc. The sealing part adopts the elastic material so as to realize the interference fit by using the elasticity of the material, thus sealing the gap of the mounting port and improving the sealing effect. The rigid material refers to a material which is hard compared with the elastic material and tends not to be deformed under the action of the external force, such as hard plastic, composite material, wood material, metal material, etc. The mounting portion  1101  and the sealing part  300  may be integrally molded by a two-color injection molding process. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4  to  FIG. 6 , in another embodiment of the present disclosure, the mounting portion  1101  further includes a first part  161  and a second part  160 . The first part  161  has a plate shape or an approximate plate shape. A shape and a size of the first part  161  match with those of the mounting port to substantially cover the mounting port. The second part  160  has a tubular shape or an approximately tubular shape. A shape and a size of the second part  160  match with those of the mounting port to be embedded in the mounting port. The sealing part  300  has a ring shape or an approximate ring shape along a periphery of the first part  161 . An inner ring edge of the sealing part  300  is bonded, welded or integrally molded with the first part  161  and an outer ring edge of the sealing part  300  is bonded, welded or integrally molded with the second part  160 . 
     In this embodiment, as illustrated in  FIG. 6 , a lower end of the second part  160  is connected with the sealing part  300  by either bonding, welding or integral molding, and the periphery of the first part  161  is connected with the sealing part  300  by either bonding, welding or integral molding. In the example of  FIG. 6 , the sealing part  300  surrounds an edge of the first part  161  to form a shape of a rectangular ring. 
     In an alternative embodiment, there are differences from the embodiment in  FIG. 6 , which lie in that the first part and the sealing part are molded to a lower end face of the second part  160  in the embodiment in  FIG. 6 , while a side wall surface of the second part  160  serves as the first part in the alternative embodiment, that is, the sealing part may be molded to the side wall surface of the second part. Thus, when the bracket is assembled with the mounting port, the sealing part abuts against the side wall of the mounting port with the interference fit, so as to realize the sealing of the mounting port. On the basis of the above disclosure, those skilled in the related art may understand and implement the alternative solution, which will not be repeated herein. 
     It should be noted that in the embodiment in which the sealing part  300  and the mounting portion  1101  are integrally molded, the sealing part  300  and the mounting portion adopt different injection materials, respectively, and the two-color injection molding process is used. For example, the process is presented as follows: the hard material is first adopted for injection molding to form the relatively hard mounting portion, and then the soft elastic material is adopted for secondary injection molding on the mounting portion to form the elastic sealing part  300 . 
     In another embodiment of the present disclosure, considering that the filter assembly  100  needs to be replaced or cleaned irregularly and needs to be manually detached by the user, the mounting portion of the filter assembly may be connected in a detachable manner so as to facilitate the detachment by the user. For example, in an embodiment, the mounting portion  1101  is provided with a first engaging structure configured to be engaged with a second engaging structure arranged to the apparatus to be provided the filter assembly. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 4  to  FIG. 6 , the first engaging structure is provided to the bracket  110 . In this embodiment, the first engaging structure includes snaps  130  arranged at both ends of the lower end face of the mounting portion  1101 , respectively. Accordingly, the mounting port of a volute  210  is correspondingly provided with the second engaging structure, as illustrated in  FIG. 8  and  FIG. 9 .  FIG. 9  is an enlarged view of a section B of  FIG. 8 . In this embodiment, the second engaging structure includes an engaging slot  221  arranged at the mounting port of the volute  210 . When the bracket  110  is assembled into the volute  210  and the bracket is assembled in place, the snap  130  of the bracket  110  is engaged in the engaging slot  221  of the volute  210 . 
     In an example, the snap  130  may be an elastic snap to facilitate the mounting and detachment of the bracket. Of course, it may also be understood that the function of the first engaging structure and the second engaging structure is to realize a fixed assembling of the filter assembly and the apparatus to be provided with the filter assembly, while their specific structures are not limited to the above examples, and may also be any other detachable connection structures suitable to be implemented, which is not limited herein. 
     In another embodiment of the present disclosure, a force-applied structure to which an external force is adapted to be applied is also provided to a surface of the mounting portion  1101  of the bracket  110  away from the supporting portion  1102 , so that it is convenient for the user to take the filter assembly when mounting and detaching the filter assembly. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , in this embodiment, the force-applied structure includes two grasping grooves  170  formed in the surface of the mounting portion  1101 , and an inner wall of the grasping groove  170  may also be provided with a corresponding friction structure to increase the friction between the user&#39;s hand and the bracket  110 , such that it is more convenient for the user to apply the force to the bracket, which is convenient for the user to mount and detach the filter assembly  100 . 
     In another embodiment of the present disclosure, considering that the filter screen needs to be replaced or cleaned irregularly, the filter screen and the supporting portion are connected in a detachable manner. When the user replaces the filter screen, the used filter screen may be removed from the supporting portion for replacement or cleaning. In this embodiment, the mounting portion  1101  and the supporting portion  1102  are connected to form a closed frame. The filter screen  120  is arranged in an inner space  111  of the frame, and the supporting portion  1102  is provided with a limiting structure which is configured for limiting a position of the filter screen  120 . 
     In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the supporting portion  1102  is formed as a semi-closed frame, and the limiting structure includes a supporting rim  151  arranged to an inner side wall of the supporting portion  1102  and located at a side away from a windward surface of the filter screen, and a limiting protrusion  152  arranged to the inner side wall of the supporting portion  1102  and spaced apart from the supporting rim  151 . The supporting rim  151  and the limiting protrusion  152  abut against the filter screen, respectively. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , in this embodiment, the limiting structure includes the supporting rim  151  and the limiting protrusion  152  located at a front side and a rear side of the bracket  110  in a thickness direction, respectively. Thus, when the filter screen  120  is assembled into the bracket  110 , the supporting rim  151  may abut against a rear side surface of the filter screen  120  for limiting, and the limiting protrusion  152  abuts against a front side surface of the filter screen  120  for limiting. In other words, the supporting rim  151  and the limiting protrusion  152  abut against the two opposite surfaces of the filter screen  120 , respectively, so as to prevent the filter screen from falling out of the bracket  110 . 
     In another embodiment of the present disclosure, several rib plates  162  are provided on the first part  161 . On one hand, the rib plates  162  may increase the structural strength of the first part  161 , and on the other hand, the rib plates  162  may abut against the filter screen  120  after the filter screen  120  is assembled, so as to further ensure the stability and firmness of the assembling of the filter screen  120 . 
     According to a second aspect, the embodiment of the present disclosure provides a ventilation assembly. In some embodiments, the ventilation assembly of the present disclosure includes a volute  210  and a filter assembly  100  in any one of the above embodiments. A mounting port is arranged to a surface of the volute  210 , and the filter assembly  100  is mounted to the mounting port or to a portion of the volute  210  adjacent to the mounting port. 
     In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the ventilation assembly further includes a fan arranged in the volute  210  and configured to allow an external air to flow into or out of the volute. 
     In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the supporting portion  1102  of the filter assembly  100  is provided with a first guiding-limiting structure, and an inner wall of the volute  210  is provided with a second guiding-limiting structure fitted with the first guiding-limiting structure. The first guiding-limiting structure and the second guiding-limiting structure are fitted with each other to guide the supporting portion  1102  to move into the volute  210  along a direction defined by the first guiding-limiting structure and the second guiding-limiting structure. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7  to  FIG. 9 , the first guiding-limiting structure is arranged to an outer side wall of the supporting portion  1102  of the bracket  110 . Accordingly, an inner side wall of the volute  210  is correspondingly provided with the second guiding-limiting structure. When the bracket  110  is assembled with the volute  210 , the first guiding-limiting structure is slidingly fitted with the second guiding-limiting structure. 
     In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the first guiding-limiting structure includes at least one guide bar  140 . The second guiding-limiting structure includes a guide groove  230  formed in the inner side wall of the volute  210 , and a shape and a size of the guide bar  140  match with those of the guide groove  230 , such that the guide bar  140  can be embedded into the guide groove  230  and move along the guide groove  230 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , in this embodiment, the outer side walls at left and right sides of the supporting portion of the bracket  110  are both provided with the guide bar  140 , and the guide bar  140  is a strip structure protruding from the surface of the bracket  110 . As illustrated in  FIG. 8 , the guide groove  230  is correspondingly provided on the inner side wall of the volute and the shape of the guide groove  230  matches with the shape of the guide bar  140 . Therefore, when the bracket  110  is assembled with the volute  210 , the guide bar  140  and the guide groove  230  are slidingly fitted to form a guide rail structure, such that the bracket  110  can be assembled smoothly and successfully. 
     Of course, those skilled in the related art may understand that the first guiding-limiting structure and the second guiding-limiting structure are not limited to the guide bar and the guide groove in the above examples, and the first guiding-limiting structure may also be a guide groove arranged to the bracket, while the second guiding-limiting structure may be a guide bar arranged to the volute, which is not limited herein. 
     It may be known from the above description that the filter assembly  100  of the embodiments of the present disclosure includes the first guiding-limiting structure to be fitted with the second guiding-limiting structure on the volute of the ventilation assembly  11 , so as to provide the guide rail structure for the assembling of the bracket, such that the bracket can be assembled smoothly and successfully, thus preventing shaking and jamming in the assembling process, and improving the user experience. 
     In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the mounting port of the volute  210  is provided with a ring-shaped sealing step  240  formed along an edge of the mounting port, and a shape and a size of the sealing step  240  match with those of the sealing part  300 , such that the sealing part  300  and the sealing step  240  abut against each other to form a sealing surface, after the filter assembly is mounted to the volute  210 . 
     In combination with  FIG. 6 ,  FIG. 8  and  FIG. 9 , after the bracket  110  is assembled into the volute  210 , the sealing part  300  on the first part  161  at a lower end of the second part  160  abuts against an upper end face of the sealing step  240 , and the interference fit is formed between the sealing part  300  and the sealing step  240 . That is, the sealing part  300  is squeezed to produce an elastic deformation, so as to realize the sealing between the two contact surfaces, and prevent the condensation water in the volute  210  from leaking through the mounting port of the volute  210 . 
     In addition, it may be understood that, in this embodiment, the sealing part  300  is integrally molded with the bracket  110  through, for example, the two-color injection molding process. Therefore, when the bracket  110  is assembled with the volute  210 , it is unnecessary to provide additional parts such as sealing rings in the abutting structure between the bracket  110  and the volute  210 , and the assembling of the filter assembly  100  and the sealing of the mounting port of the volute  210  can be realized directly by one-time assembling. 
     According to a third aspect, the embodiment of the present disclosure provides an air-conditioning apparatus, including a ventilation assembly in any one of the above embodiments. The air-conditioning apparatus of the present disclosure may be an air purifier, a fresh air ventilator, an air conditioner, etc., which is not limited herein. 
     In some embodiments, referring to  FIG. 10  and  FIG. 11 , taking a fresh air conditioner as an example, the ventilation assembly  11  is a fresh air system of the air conditioner. 
     The air-conditioning apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure realizes the sealing assembling of the filter assembly and the volute through the sealing part, improves the sealing performance of the fresh air system, and prevents the condensation of the fresh air system due to the too large temperature difference between indoor and outdoor. 
     Obviously, the above embodiments are merely examples for clear explanations, which cannot be construed as a limitation of the embodiments. For those ordinary skilled in the related art, other modifications or changes in different forms may be made on the basis of the above description, and it is unnecessary and impossible to enumerate all the embodiments herein. The obvious modifications or changes arising therefrom are still within the scope of protection created by the present disclosure.