Patent Publication Number: US-2020284455-A1

Title: Air conditioner

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) 
     This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2019-0024988, filed on Mar. 5, 2019, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field 
     The disclosure relates to an air conditioner including a speech recognizer. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     In general, an air conditioner is an apparatus that controls temperature, humidity, airflow, and distribution suitable for human activity using a refrigeration cycle. The refrigeration cycle is composed of a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator, a blowing fan, and the like as main components. 
     The air conditioner may be classified into a separate type air conditioner in which an indoor unit and an outdoor unit are separately installed, and an integrated air conditioner in which an indoor unit and an outdoor unit are installed together in one cabinet. The indoor unit of the separate type air conditioner includes a heat exchanger for heat-exchanging air sucked into a panel, and a blowing fan for sucking air in a room into the panel and blowing the sucked air back into the room. 
     The integrated air conditioner may be installed such that one side thereof directs to the inside of a room and the other side thereof directs to the outside. For example, the integrated air conditioner may be installed on a window. The separate type air conditioner may be classified into a stand type air conditioner in which the indoor unit is installed on a floor, and a wall-mounted air conditioner in which the indoor unit is attached to a wall. 
     The air conditioner may be operated by an operation panel provided in a main body or by a remote controller. Because the wall-mounted air conditioner is often installed on an upper portion of a wall which is out of reach of a user, the remote controller needs to be used to easily manipulate the wall-mounted air conditioner. 
     SUMMARY 
     It is an aspect of the disclosure to provide an air conditioner including a speech recognizer for manipulation of the air conditioner. 
     Additional aspects of the disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure. 
     In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, an air conditioner includes a housing having an inlet and an outlet, a heat exchanger disposed inside the housing to exchange heat with air introduced into the inlet, a fan configured to blow air heat-exchanged in the heat exchanger to the outlet, and a speech recognizer including a microphone, a speaker, and a case accommodating the microphone and the speaker, and to operate the air conditioner using the microphone and the speaker. 
     The housing may include a piping space formed therein and in which a refrigerant pipe configured to supply a refrigerant to the heat exchanger or a drain pipe configured to discharge condensed water generated in the heat exchanger is disposed. The speech recognizer may be disposed in the piping space. 
     The piping space may be disposed at a lower part of the housing. The microphone and the speaker may be disposed to direct to the lower part of the housing. 
     The air conditioner may further include a holder configured to allow the speech recognizer to be mounted. 
     At least one of the holder and the case of the speech recognizer may include a protrusion part to allow an air layer to be formed between the holder and the speech recognizer. 
     The speech recognizer may further include a controller configured to control the microphone and the speaker. 
     The speech recognizer may further include a wireless communication module. The controller may control the wireless communication module to communicate with external wireless devices. 
     The case may include a first member and a second member. The first member may include a first opening for the speaker and a second opening for the microphone. 
     At least one of the first member and the second member may include a partition wall configured to isolate the speaker and the microphone. 
     The second member may include a protrusion part protruding in an outward direction of the case to allow an air layer to be formed at an outer side of the case. 
     The speech recognizer may further include a vibration reducing member disposed between the case and the speaker such that vibration of the speaker is not transmitted to the case. 
     The microphone may be disposed to be tilted toward a front of the housing. 
     The outlet may be provided in a front of the housing, and the microphone may be disposed in the rear of a lower part of the housing. 
     The housing may include an upper panel, a front panel, side panels, and a lower panel. The speech recognizer may be disposed at an inner side of one of the upper panel, the front panel, the side panels, and the lower panel. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, an air conditioner includes a housing including an upper panel, a front panel, and a lower panel, an inlet formed on the upper panel, an outlet formed on the front panel, a speech recognizer disposed at an inner side of the lower panel and including a speaker and a microphone, and to operate the air conditioner using the microphone and the speaker, and a speaker opening and a microphone opening, corresponding to the speaker and the microphone, respectively, formed on the lower panel. 
     The speech recognizer may include a case configured to accommodate the speaker and the microphone. 
     The case may include a partition wall configured to isolate the speaker and the microphone. 
     The air conditioner may further include a holder configured to allow the speech recognizer to be mounted to the inner side of the lower panel of the housing. 
     At least one of the holder and the case of the speech recognizer may include a protrusion part to allow an air layer to be formed between the holder and the speech recognizer. 
     The microphone may be disposed in a rear of the inner side of the lower panel to be positioned far from the outlet formed in the front panel and may be disposed to be tilted toward a front of the housing. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and/or other aspects of the disclosure 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 perspective view of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a front view of the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the disclosure; 
         FIG. 3  is a bottom view of the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the disclosure; 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the disclosure; 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded perspective view illustrating a state in which a lower panel, a speech recognizer, and a holder are disassembled in the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the disclosure; 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the speech recognizer of the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the disclosure; 
         FIG. 7  is an exploded perspective view of a case of the speech recognizer of the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the disclosure; 
         FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional view of the speech recognizer taken along line D-D in  FIG. 6 ; and 
         FIG. 9  is an enlarged view of a portion A in  FIG. 4 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Configurations shown in the embodiments and the drawings described in the present specification are only the preferred embodiments of the disclosure, and thus it is to be understood that various modified examples, which may replace the embodiments and the drawings described in the present specification, are possible when filing the present application. 
     Like reference numbers or signs in the various figures of the application represent parts or components that perform substantially the same functions. The shape and size of the elements in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity. 
     The terms used in the present specification are used to describe the embodiments of the disclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of exemplary embodiments of the disclosure is provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It will be understood that when the terms “includes,” “comprises,” “including,” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, figures, steps, components, or combination thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, figures, steps, components, members, or combinations thereof. 
     It will be understood that although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various components, these components should not be limited by these terms, and the terms are only used to distinguish one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the disclosure, the first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as a first component. The term “and/or” includes any combination of a plurality of related items or any one of a plurality of related items. 
     Hereinafter, embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     A refrigeration cycle of an air conditioner is composed of a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator. A refrigerant undergoes a series of processes consisting of compression, condensation, expansion, and evaporation, and a high temperature air is heat exchanged with a low temperature refrigerant to become a low temperature air and supplied to a room. 
     The compressor compresses a refrigerant gas to a high temperature and high pressure and then discharges the high temperature and high pressure gas, and the discharged refrigerant gas is introduced into the condenser. The condenser condenses the compressed refrigerant into a liquid phase and radiates heat to surroundings through the condensation process. The expansion valve expands a high temperature and high pressure liquid refrigerant condensed in the condenser into a low pressure liquid refrigerant. The evaporator evaporates the refrigerant expanded in the expansion valve. The evaporator uses the latent heat of evaporation of a refrigerant to achieve a cooling effect by heat exchange with an object to be cooled, and returns a low temperature and low pressure refrigerant gas to the compressor. Through this cycle, an air temperature of an indoor space may be controlled. 
     An outdoor unit of an air conditioner refers to a device consisting of a compressor and an outdoor heat exchanger in a refrigeration cycle. An expansion valve may be disposed in either an indoor unit or the outdoor unit of the air conditioner, and an indoor heat exchanger is disposed in the indoor unit. 
     The disclosure relates to an air conditioner cooling an indoor space, and the outdoor heat exchanger functions as a condenser and the indoor heat exchanger functions as an evaporator. Hereinafter, for convenience, an indoor unit including an indoor heat exchanger is referred to as an air conditioner, and the indoor heat exchanger is referred to as a heat exchanger, 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the disclosure,  FIG. 2  is a front view of the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the disclosure,  FIG. 3  is a bottom view of the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the disclosure, and  FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     An air conditioner  1  may include a housing  10  having an inlet  51  and an outlet  21 , a heat exchanger  41  to exchange heat with air introduced into the housing  10 , and a fan  42  to circulate air into or out of the housing  10 . The air conditioner  1  may include a frame  11  to support the heat exchanger  41 , the fan  42 , and the like inside the housing  10 . 
     The housing  10  may form an overall appearance of the air conditioner  1 . The housing  10  may include a front panel  20  having the outlet  21 , a rear panel  60  disposed in the rear of the front panel  20 , a pair of side panels  40  disposed between the front panel  20  and the rear panel  60 , an upper panel  50  having the inlet  51  and disposed above the pair of side panels  40 , and a lower panel  30  disposed below the pair of side panels  40 . The disclosure exemplifies that the outlet  21  and the inlet  51  are provided in the front panel  20  and the upper panel  50 , respectively, but are not limited thereto. The upper panel  50  may be provided with an inlet guide  52  to guide air to the inlet  51 . A plurality of the inlet guides  52  may be formed side by side along a longitudinal direction of the housing  10 . 
     The air conditioner  1  may include a discharge blade  22  to open and close the outlet  21 . The discharge blade  22  is rotatably provided in the housing  10 . The discharge blade  22  may be provided to be rotatable about a blade shaft  23  with respect to the front panel  20 . The blade shaft  23  may be positioned on an inner surface of the front panel  20 . 
     The air conditioner  1  may include an auxiliary blade  24  to control a direction of air blown from the fan  42  at an inner side of the discharge blade  22 . The discharge blade  22  may control the blown air in the up-down direction, and the auxiliary blade  24  may control the blown air in the left-right direction. The one or more auxiliary blades  24  may be provided, and the plurality of auxiliary blades  24  may be arranged along a length direction of the outlet  21 . The auxiliary blade  24  is positioned at the inner side of the discharge blade  22  so as not to be exposed to the outside when the discharge blade  22  closes the outlet  21 . 
     The heat exchanger  41  is disposed inside the housing  10  and may be disposed on an air movement path from the inlet  51  to the outlet  21 . The heat exchanger  41  is configured to absorb heat from air introduced into the inlet  21  or to transfer heat to the air. The heat exchanger  41  may be supplied with a refrigerant for heat exchange with air. The refrigerant may be supplied through a refrigerant pipe  43  connected to the heat exchanger  41  from the outside of the housing  10 . A drain panel may be provided below the heat exchanger  41  such that dew condensed on the heat exchanger  41  may be collected. The drain panel may be connected to a drain pipe  44  connected to the outside of the housing  10  to discharge the condensed dew to the outside of the housing  10 . 
     The fan  42  is disposed inside the housing  10 . The fan  42  is configured to blow air from the inlet  51  to the outlet  21 , The fan  42  may be a crossflow fan having the same length as the housing  10 . 
     The discharge blade  22  may rotationally move a guide position and a close position. When in the close position, the discharge blade  22  may close the outlet  21 . In the close position, the discharge blade  22  may prevent the components in the housing  10  from being exposed to the outside. The discharge blade  22  may be configured to correspond to the outlet  21 . The discharge blade  22  may be formed to have a substantially plate shape. The discharge blade  22  may further include a plurality of holes to discharge air to the outside of the housing  10  even when the discharge blade  22  is in the close position. 
     The discharge blade  22  may be formed to be rotatable about the blade shaft  23 . The discharge blade  22  is provided to control a direction of air blown from the fan  42  and discharged to the outlet  21  when in the guide position. The discharge blade  22  may change a direction of air discharged to the outside of the housing  10  according to a rotational angle about the blade shaft  23 . 
     The lower panel  30  may form a lower surface together with a portion of side surfaces of the housing  10 . A piping space  13  in which the refrigerant pipe  43  and the drain pipe  44  may be disposed may be formed at an inner side of the lower panel  30 . The piping space  13  may be disposed at a lower portion of the housing  10 . In addition to the refrigerant pipe  43  and the drain pipe  44 , a power line  46 , a communication line  47 , and the like may be further disposed in the piping space  13 . The refrigerant pipe  43  may be surrounded by an insulator  45  to insulate from the outside. 
     The lower panel  30  may include cutoff portions  33  and  34  by which a portion of the lower panel  30  may be cut. The cutoff portions  33  and  34  may be removed from the lower panel  30  such that the refrigerant pipe  43  disposed at the inner side of the lower panel  30  may be connected to the outside of the housing  10 . The lower panel  30  may include the cutoff portion  33  formed on the lower surface of the housing  10  and the cutoff portion  34  formed on the side surface of the housing  10 . 
     The air conditioner  1  may include a speech recognizer  100  configured to allow a user to manipulate the air conditioner  1  by speech. The speech recognizer  100  may be disposed in the piping space  13  formed at the inner side of the lower panel  30 . The lower panel  30  may include a speaker opening  31  formed at a position corresponding to a speaker of the speech recognizer  100 . The lower panel  30  may include a microphone opening  32  formed at a position corresponding to a microphone of the speech recognizer  100 . 
     Although not shown in the drawings, the speech recognizer  100  may be disposed at an inner side of one of the upper panel  50 , the front panel  20 , and the side panels  40 . Depending on the position of the speech recognizer  100 , the speaker opening and the microphone opening may be provided on one of the upper panel  50 , the front panel  20 , and the side panels  40 . 
       FIG. 5  is an exploded perspective view illustrating a state in which a lower panel, a speech recognizer, and a holder are disassembled in the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the disclosure.  FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the speech recognizer of the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the disclosure, and  FIG. 7  is an exploded perspective view of a case of the speech recognizer of the air conditioner according to an embodiment of the disclosure.  FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional view of the speech recognizer taken along line D-D in  FIG. 6 , and  FIG. 9  is an enlarged view of a portion A in  FIG. 4 . 
     The speech recognizer  100  may include a microphone  142  capable of receiving speech of the user. The speech recognizer  100  may include a speaker  141  capable of responding to manipulation by the speech of the user. The speech recognizer  100  may include a case  110  to accommodate the speaker  141  and the microphone  142 . The case  110  may include a first member  120  and a second member  130  coupled to each other to form an inner space. For example, the first member  120  may be disposed at a lower side and the second member  130  may be disposed at an upper side. 
     The speech recognizer  100  may further include a controller  143  to control the speaker  141  and the microphone  142 . The controller  143  may be configured of a circuit board and electronic components mounted on the circuit board. The speech recognizer  100  may include a wireless communication module for wireless communication such as WIFI, Bluetooth, and the like. The air conditioner  1  may be manipulated through wireless communication. The controller  143  may be configured to control the wireless communication module  144 . 
     The speech recognizer  100  may be disposed at the lower portion of the housing  10 . The piping space  13  may be disposed at the lower portion of the housing  10 , and the speech recognizer  100  may be disposed in the piping space  13 . When the air conditioner is installed, the lower panel  30  covering the piping space  13  is required to be separated from the air conditioner  1  for the piping of the refrigerant pipe  43  and the like. Because the speech recognizer  100  includes the case  110 , even when the lower panel  30  is separated, components disposed inside the case  110  may not be exposed to the outside. In addition, when the speech recognizer  100  is out of order, only the speech recognizer  100  may be easily separated and repaired. 
     The air conditioner  1  may include a holder  12  on which the speech recognizer  100  may be mounted. The holder  13  may be coupled to the frame  11  of the air conditioner  1 . The holder  13  may be disposed at a lower portion of the piping space  13 . The speech recognizer  100  may include a coupling portion  114  that may be coupled to the holder  13  by screws or the like. The coupling portion  114  may be provided on the case  110 . The coupling portion  114  may be provided on the first member  120  of the case  110 . 
     When the speech recognizer  100  is disposed in the piping space  13 , dew condensation may occur on an outer surface of the case  110  by the refrigerant pipe  43  installed in the piping space  13 . The air conditioner  1  may include an air layer  115  provided on an outer side of the speech recognizer  100  to insulate the speech recognizer  100 . The case  110  may include a protrusion portion  113  protruding outward to allow the air layer  115  to be formed. The air layer  115  may be formed between the case  110  of the speech recognizer  100  and the holder  12 . The protrusion portion  113  may be formed to protrude toward the holder  12  on an outer surface of the second member  130  of the case  110 . 
     Although not shown in the drawings, a protrusion portion for forming the air layer  115  may be provided on the holder  12 . The holder  12  may include a protrusion portion protruding toward the speech recognizer  100  to allow the air layer  115  to be formed. At least one of the holder  12  and the case  110  of the speech recognizer  100  may include a protrusion portion to allow the air layer  115  to be formed. 
     The speech recognizer  100  may be arranged such that the speaker  141  and the microphone  142  directs to the lower portion of the housing  10 . Components disposed inside the case  110  such as the speaker  141  and the microphone  142  may be mounted to the first member  120 . The speech recognizer  100  may include a vibration reducing member  145  disposed between the speaker  141  and the case  110  such that vibration generated in the speaker  141  may not be transmitted to the microphone  142  through the case  110 . When the speaker  141  is mounted on the first member  120 , the vibration reducing member  145  may be disposed between the speaker  141  and the first member  120 . The vibration reducing member  145  may be a vibration reducing pad formed of polyurethane. 
     The case  110  of the speech recognizer  100  may include a partition wall to prevent sound from the speaker  141  from entering the microphone  142  through the inside of the case  110 . At least one of the first member  120  and the second member  130  of the case  110  may include a partition wall to isolate the speaker  141  and the microphone  142 . The speaker  141  may be disposed in an isolation space formed by a partition wall  121  provided on the first member  120  and a partition wall  131  provided on the second member  130 . The microphone  142  may be disposed in an isolation space formed by a partition wall  122  provided on the first member  120  and a partition wall  132  provided on the second member  130 . 
     The partition walls  121  and  122  provided on the first member  120  may be formed as a double wall, and the partition walls  131  and  132  provided in the second member  130  may be formed as a single wall. When the first member  120  and the second member  130  are coupled, the partition walls  131  and  132  of the second member  130  may be inserted between the partition walls  121  and  122  of the first member  120 . Through this, a speech transmission distance between the speaker  141  and the microphone  142  may increase. 
     A first opening  111  for the speaker  141  and a second opening  112  for the microphone  142  may be provided on the case  110  of the speech recognizer  100 . The first opening  111  and the second opening  112  may be provided on a lower surface of the case  110 . The first opening  111  and the second opening  112  may be provided on the first member  120 . It is appropriate that the first opening  111  and the second opening  112  are disposed as far apart from each other as possible. The first opening  111  and the second opening  112  may be disposed at opposite end portions of the first member  120 . 
     It is appropriate that the microphone  142  of the speech recognizer  100  is disposed as far away from the outlet  21  as possible such that a recognition rate of the user&#39;s speech is not lowered by noise of wind discharged from the outlet  21 , The outlet  21  may be provided in the front of the housing  10 , and the microphone  142  may be disposed in the rear of the lower portion of the housing  10 . The outlet  21  may be provided on the front panel  20 , and the microphone opening  32  may be disposed in the rear of the lower panel  30 . 
     The microphone  142  may be disposed to be tilted toward the front to increase the recognition rate of the user&#39;s speech. The lower panel  30  of the housing  10  may be formed to be inclined upward in the front. An angle B between a wall on which the housing  10  is installed and the lower panel  30  may be 90 degrees or more. A range of speech reception of the microphone  142  is an angle B between the lower panel  30  and the wall. The air conditioner  1  mounted on the wall is mainly installed in a bedroom, and in this case, it is appropriate that the microphone  142  is installed such that an angle C between the microphone and the wall is 45 degrees. The microphone  142  may be installed at various angles according to the installation environment and the frequency of use of the air conditioner  1 . 
     Although a few embodiments of the disclosure have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the disclosure in the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.