Patent Publication Number: US-2022235963-A1

Title: Sealing mechanism, ventilation assembly and air-conditioning apparatus

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202120200832.3, 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 air-conditioning systems, and more particularly to a sealing mechanism, a ventilation assembly and an air-conditioning apparatus. 
     BACKGROUND 
     As living standard improves, requirements for indoor air quality are increasing, so an air-conditioning apparatus that works with fresh air has greater interest and appeal. In the related art, an air-conditioning apparatus has a ventilation assembly configured to provide the fresh air function of exchanging air between indoor and outdoor locations. When the air-conditioning apparatus with this type of ventilation assembly operates in an environment with a large temperature difference between indoor and outdoor, due to the poor sealing performance of the ventilation assembly, condensation often appears on the ventilation assembly, and drips to the floor and wall, thus damaging the indoor home environment and affecting the user experience. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a sealing mechanism is provided and includes: a fixed portion having an opening and a limiting rail; and a moving portion connected with the limiting rail and movable along the limiting rail to close or open the opening. At least one of the fixed portion and the moving portion is provided with a first sealing protrusion, and the first sealing protrusion is arranged between the fixed portion and the moving portion. 
     According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a ventilation assembly is provided and includes: a volute having a first vent formed in a surface thereof; and a sealing mechanism arranged to the first vent and configured to seal the first vent. The sealing mechanism includes: a fixed portion having an opening and a limiting rail; and a moving portion connected with the limiting rail and movable along the limiting rail to close or open the opening. At least one of the fixed portion and the moving portion is provided with a first sealing protrusion, and the first sealing protrusion is arranged between the fixed portion and the moving portion. 
     According to a third aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, an air-conditioning apparatus is provided and includes: a ventilation assembly; and a shell having a second vent, the ventilation assembly being arranged in the shell, and the first vent and the second vent being arranged corresponding to each other. At least one of the ventilation assembly and the shell is provided with a second sealing protrusion, and the second sealing protrusion is arranged between the ventilation assembly and the shell. The ventilation assembly includes: a volute having a first vent formed in a surface thereof; and a sealing mechanism arranged to the first vent and configured to seal the first vent. The sealing mechanism includes: a fixed portion having an opening and a limiting rail; and a moving portion connected with the limiting rail and movable along the limiting rail to close or open the opening. At least one of the fixed portion and the moving portion is provided with a first sealing protrusion, and the first sealing protrusion is arranged between the fixed portion and the moving portion. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a sealing mechanism mounted to a ventilation assembly according to an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of a sealing mechanism mounted to a ventilation assembly in a direction according to an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded view of a sealing mechanism mounted to a ventilation assembly in another direction according to an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a partial enlarged view of part A in  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic view of an air-conditioning apparatus in a direction according to an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic view of an air-conditioning apparatus in another direction according to an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 7  is an exploded view of an air-conditioning apparatus in a direction according to an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 8  is an exploded view of an air-conditioning apparatus in another direction according to an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 9  is a partial enlarged view of part B in  FIG. 8 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to illustrative embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The following description refers to the accompanying drawings in which the same numbers in different drawings represent the same or similar elements, unless otherwise represented. The implementations set forth in the following description of illustrative embodiments do not represent all implementations consistent with the present disclosure. Instead, they are merely examples of apparatuses and methods consistent with aspects related to the present disclosure as recited in the appended claims. 
     The terms used in the present disclosure are merely for the purpose of describing specific embodiments, which are not intended to limit the present disclosure. As used in the descriptions and the appended claims of the present disclosure, “a,” “said” and “the” in singular forms mean including plural forms, unless clearly indicated in the context otherwise. It should also be understood that, as used herein, the term “and/or” represents and contains any and all possible combinations of one or more associated listed items. 
     For an air-conditioning apparatus in a related art, take an air conditioner as an example, a ventilation assembly is arranged in an indoor unit of the air conditioner, and the ventilation assembly is connected to an outdoor air through a ventilation pipe. A fresh air channel in communication with outdoor and indoor is provided in the ventilation assembly, and the fresh air channel is in a closed state when the ventilation assembly is closed. When the temperature difference between the indoor and the outdoor is large (for example, the outdoor temperature is lower than −20° C.), since the ventilation assembly in the related art has poor sealing, the closure property is poor after the fresh air channel of the ventilation assembly is closed, especially at an air outlet. This results in an air leakage, that is, the outdoor air continuously enters the indoor. When a pressure difference between the indoor and the outdoor is not balanced, it is very easy to form condensation water. When the condensation situation gets worse, the condensation water forms droplets, which will drip to the user&#39;s indoor floor, and even flow to the wall to form water stains, thereby affecting the user experience. 
     A sealing mechanism, a ventilation assembly and an air-conditioning apparatus provided as disclosed herein will be described in detail in combination with  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 9 .  FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a sealing mechanism mounted to a ventilation assembly according to an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure;  FIG. 2  is an exploded view of a sealing mechanism mounted to a ventilation assembly in an direction according to an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure;  FIG. 3  is an exploded view of a sealing mechanism mounted to a ventilation assembly in another direction according to an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure;  FIG. 4  is a partial enlarged view of part A in  FIG. 3 ;  FIG. 5  is a schematic view of an air-conditioning apparatus in a direction according to an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure;  FIG. 6  is a schematic view of an air-conditioning apparatus in another direction according to an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure;  FIG. 7  is an exploded view of an air-conditioning apparatus in a direction according to an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure;  FIG. 8  is an exploded view of an air-conditioning apparatus in another direction according to an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure;  FIG. 9  is a partial enlarged view of part B in  FIG. 8 . 
     At least one embodiment of the present disclosure provides a sealing mechanism, including: a fixed portion  101  having an opening and a limiting rail  1011 ; and a moving portion  102  connected with the limiting rail  1011 , and movable along the limiting rail  1011  to close or open the opening. At least one of the fixed portion  101  and the moving portion  102  is provided with a first sealing protrusion  103 , and the first sealing protrusion  103  is arranged between the fixed portion  101  and the moving portion  102 . 
     The air-conditioning apparatus may be either a fresh air ventilator or an air conditioner with a fresh air function. The air-conditioning apparatus has a fresh air channel in communication with the outdoor and the indoor. An indoor end of the fresh air channel may be a ventilation assembly  201  (such as a volute, etc.) in the air-conditioning apparatus. The sealing mechanism may be applied to an air inlet and an air outlet of the fresh air channel, or a middle portion of the fresh air channel. The opening of the fixed portion  101  is adapted to a portion of the fresh air channel where the sealing mechanism is arranged, that is, the opening of the fixed portion  101  may be configured as an extension or a part of the fresh air channel. 
     The fixed portion  101  and the moving portion  102  may have a plate shape, and an area of the fixed portion  101  is larger than that of the moving portion  102 . Both the fixed portion  101  and the moving portion  102  may have a rectangle or square shape, two long edges of the fixed portion  101  both form a crimping structure, the limiting rail  1011  is formed in the crimping structure, and two edges of the moving portion  102  are arranged in the two limiting rails  1011 , respectively. Thus, the moving portion  102  is limited such that the moving portion  102  is unable to move in a direction of a short edge of the fixed portion  101 , and is able to slide in a direction of the long edge of the moving portion  102 . In addition, one short edge of the fixed portion  101  may also form a crimping structure, such that when the moving portion  102  is in a state of closing the opening, one edge of the moving portion  102  is in this crimping structure, so as to increase the sealing performance between the fixed portion  101  and the moving portion  102 . Moreover, positioning of the moving portion  102  may be completed by limiting the sliding of the moving portion  102 , that is, when the moving portion  102  slides to a point where it cannot slide anymore, the moving portion  102  has closed the opening, and the other short edge of the fixed portion  101  is reserved to be not crimped, so as to facilitate the assembling of the moving portion  102 . Moreover, the moving portion  102  may be connected with a driving mechanism in the air-conditioning apparatus, such that the driving mechanism may drive the moving portion  102  to slide. The driving mechanism may run through the fixed portion  101  to be connected with the moving portion  102 , and the portion which is run through position does not involve the fresh air channel, so the sealing performance of the fresh air channel will not be affected. 
     The first sealing protrusion  103  may have a rib shape, which may not only increase the sealing performance, but also avoid the processing difficulty or cost increase caused by too many protrusions. The first sealing protrusion  103  may be formed by deformation of the fixed portion  101  or the moving portion  102 , or by increasing a thickness of a surface of the fixed portion  101  or the moving portion  102 . 
     In an example, the first sealing protrusion  103  is provided on the fixed portion  101  and not provided on the moving portion  103 , that is, the fixed portion  101  is provided with the first sealing protrusion  103  on at least one side of the opening. 
     In some embodiment, the fixed portion  101  is provided with the first sealing protrusion  103  on either side of the opening in a first direction, and the first sealing protrusion  103  extends along a second direction. The first direction is perpendicular to the second direction, and the limiting rail  1011  extends along the second direction. That is, two first sealing protrusions  103  parallel to the limiting rail  1011  are provided on the fixed portion  101 , such that the first sealing protrusions  103  are closer to the opening than the limiting rail  1011 , thereby preventing the sliding of the moving portion  102  in a limiting rail from affecting the closure property of the opening. For example, for the fixed portion  101  of the plate shape and the moving portion  102  of the plate shape, the two long edges of the fixed portion  101  are provided with the limiting rails, and one first sealing protrusion  103  parallel to the limiting rail is arranged between each limiting rail and the opening. The first sealing protrusion  103  parallel to the limiting rail  1011  is arranged to prevent the moving of the moving portion  102  from affecting the closure property of the sealing mechanism. 
     In some embodiment, the fixed portion  101  is provided with at least one annular first sealing protrusion  103  around the opening. The annular first sealing protrusion  103  may achieve the sealing between the fixed portion  101  and the moving portion  102  when the opening is in a closed state, thereby further improving the sealing performance of the sealing mechanism. Moreover, a plurality of annular first sealing protrusions  103  may realize a multi-layer sealing and hence further improve the sealing performance of the sealing mechanism. 
     In another example, the moving portion  102  is provided with at least one annular first sealing protrusion  103 , and when the moving portion  102  is in the state of closing the opening, the at least one annular first sealing protrusion  103  surrounds the opening. The annular first sealing protrusion  103  may achieve the sealing between the fixed portion  101  and the moving portion  102  when the opening is in the closed state, thereby further improving the sealing performance of the sealing mechanism. Moreover, a plurality of annular first sealing protrusions  103  may realize a multi-layer sealing and hence further improve the sealing performance of the sealing mechanism. 
     In yet another example, the moving portion  102  is provided with at least one first sealing protrusion  103 , and the fixed portion  101  is provided with at least one first sealing protrusion  103 . When the moving portion  102  is in the state of closing the opening, the first sealing protrusion  103  of the moving portion  102  and the first sealing protrusion  103  of the fixed portion  101  form at least one annular protrusion. An annular sealing is realized by the cooperation of the moving portion  102  and the fixed portion  101 , which may further improve the sealing effect. Moreover, the first annular protrusions are arranged to the moving portion  102  and the fixed portion  101 , respectively, which may reduce the processing difficulty of the moving portion  102  and the fixed portion  101 . 
     In the sealing mechanism provided by the present disclosure, the fixed portion  101  and the moving portion  102  are connected with each other by the limiting rail  1011 , the moving portion  102  can move along the limiting rail  1011  relative to the fixed portion  101 , and the opening of the fixed portion  101  can be opened and closed during the movement of the moving portion  102 . Moreover, the first sealing protrusion  103  is arranged between the fixed portion  101  and the moving portion  102 , so as to further improve the tightness between the fixed portion  101  and the moving portion  102 , and also improve the closure property of the opening when the opening is closed. Therefore, after the sealing mechanism is applied to the air-conditioning apparatus, the closure property of the fresh air channel can be improved after the opening is closed, so as to prevent the problems of air leakage and condensation of the air-conditioning apparatus caused by the poor closure property of the fresh air channel. 
     In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a top end of the first sealing protrusion  103  is provided with a first elastic sealing piece. The top end of the first sealing protrusion  103  includes an end away from the fixed portion  101  or the moving portion  102  to which the first sealing protrusion  103  belongs. 
     The first elastic sealing piece may be made of sponge, rubber or flannel. Through the first elastic sealing piece arranged to the top end of the first seal protrusion  103 , the sealing performance between the moving portion  102  and the fixed portion  101  may be further improved, thus further avoiding the problems of air leakage or condensation of the air-conditioning apparatus using the sealing mechanism. 
     At least one embodiment of the present disclosure also provides an air-conditioning apparatus, including a ventilation assembly  201  and the sealing mechanism  100  according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. The sealing mechanism  100  is arranged to a first vent  2011  of the ventilation assembly  201 . 
     The air-conditioning apparatus includes a main body, such as an inner unit of the air conditioner or the fresh air ventilator, etc. The ventilation assembly  201  (such as a volute, etc.) is arranged in the air-conditioning apparatus. An air inlet of the ventilation assembly  201  is connected with one end of an air input pipe  204  through a connecting pipe  203 , the other end of the air input pipe  204  extends from the indoor to the outdoor, and the other end of the air input pipe  204  may also be provided with a windshield cap  205 . Thus, the windshield cap  205 , the air input pipe  204 , the connecting pipe  203  and the ventilation assembly  201  may form the fresh air channel. The fresh air channel may be further provided with an airflow driving device therein, such as a circulating pump, to drive the air to flow. 
     The fixed portion  101  of the sealing mechanism may be fixedly connected with the first vent  2011  of the ventilation assembly  201 , or the fixed portion  101  of the sealing mechanism may also be integrally formed with the first vent  2011  of the ventilation assembly  201 , so as to further enhance the sealing performance between the first vent  2011  and the sealing mechanism. 
     In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the air-conditioning apparatus further includes a shell  202  having a second vent  2022 , the ventilation assembly  201  is arranged in the shell  202 , and the first vent  2011  and the second vent  2022  are arranged corresponding to each other. At least one of the ventilation assembly  201  and the shell  202  is provided with a second sealing protrusion  206 , and the second sealing protrusion  206  is arranged between the ventilation assembly  201  and the shell  202 . 
     The shell  202  is provided with a face frame  2021 , and the second vent  2022  may be formed in the face frame  2021 . The first vent  2011  and the second vent  2022  may be completely identical and aligned with each other. The first vent  2011  may also be smaller than the second vent  2022 , and the first vent  2011  is arranged in the second vent  2022 . The second vent  2022  extends the fresh air channel of the ventilation assembly  201 . Through the second sealing protrusion  206  arranged between the ventilation assembly  201  and the shell  202 , the tightness of the fresh air channel may be ensured while the fresh air channel is extended, so as to improve the closure property when the fresh air channel of the ventilation assembly  201  is closed, thus preventing the problems of air leakage and condensation. 
     In an example, the second sealing protrusion  206  is arranged to surround the first vent  2011  and the second vent  2022 . The second sealing protrusion  206  arranged to surround the first vent  2011  and the second vent  2022  may improve the sealing performance between the first vent  2011  and the second vent  2022 , so as to prevent the outdoor air from entering an interior of the air-conditioning apparatus through the first vent  2011 , which otherwise will pollute and damage the apparatus, or affect the operation of the apparatus. 
     In some embodiment, the ventilation assembly  201  is provided with at least one annular second sealing protrusion  206  around the first vent  2011  and the second vent  2022 . In some embodiment, an inner surface of the face frame  2021  of the shell  202  is provided with at least one annular second sealing protrusion  206  around the first vent  2011  and the second vent  2022 . In some embodiment, the ventilation assembly  201  is provided with at least one second sealing protrusion  206 , and the inner surface of the face frame  2021  of the shell  202  is provided with at least one second sealing protrusion  206 , such that the second sealing protrusion  206  of the ventilation assembly  201  and the second sealing protrusion  206  of the shell  202  form at least one annular protrusion surrounding the first vent  2011  and the second vent  2022 . 
     In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a top end of the second sealing protrusion  206  is provided with a second elastic sealing piece. The top end of the second sealing protrusion  206  includes an end away from the shell  202  or the ventilation assembly  201  to which the second sealing protrusion  206  belongs. 
     The second elastic sealing piece may be made of sponge, rubber or flannel. Through the second elastic sealing piece arranged to the top end of the second sealing protrusion  206 , the sealing performance between the ventilation assembly  201  and the shell  202  may be further enhanced, thus further avoiding the problems of air leakage or condensation of the air-conditioning apparatus. 
     Other embodiments of the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the present disclosure disclosed here. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the present disclosure following the general principles thereof and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as illustrative only, with a true scope and spirit of the present disclosure being indicated by the following claims. 
     It will be appreciated that the present disclosure is not limited to the exact construction that has been described above and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. It is intended that the scope of the present disclosure only be limited by the appended claims.