Patent Description:
In general, an air conditioner is a device removing dust, and the like in the air while controlling a distribution of temperature, humidity, an air current, and the like, appropriate for human activities using a freezing cycle. Main components configuring the freezing cycle include a compressor, a condenser, an evaporator, a blower fan, and the like.

An air conditioner is referred to as a split type air conditioner when an indoor unit and an outdoor unit are installed separately and is referred to as an integrated air conditioner when the indoor unit and the outdoor unit are installed together in a single cabinet. The split type air conditioner is composed of the indoor unit having the evaporator and the fan and the outdoor unit having the compressor, the condenser, and the fan.

The outdoor unit of the split type air conditioner has a motor for rotating the fan and a motor bracket for supporting the motor. Considering a position where the motor and the motor bracket are installed in the outdoor unit, it is common that the motor and the motor bracket are installed between the condenser and the fan. Describing the flow of air in the installation structure, air introduced into an inlet sequentially passes through the condenser, the motor bracket, and the fan, and then is discharged through an outlet.

However, in a structure in which the motor and the motor bracket are provided at a suction side of the fan, a channel resistance of the suction side of the fan increases, and thus the fan performance may deteriorate. In addition, since the rigidity of the motor bracket needs to be secured due to characteristics of the motor bracket, the motor bracket should be formed as large as possible. As a result, the motor bracket cannot but increase the channel resistance. As such, the decrease in the fan performance due to the increase in the channel resistance is a direct cause of an increase in power consumption of the motor and an increase in noise.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention overcome the above disadvantages and other disadvantages not described above. Also, the present invention is not required to overcome the disadvantages described above, and an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may not overcome any of the problems described above.

<CIT> discloses a fan guard made of wire for a condenser unit of an air conditioner which supports the fan motor.

<CIT> relates to a fan housing for an air-flow heat exchanger having a fan blower comprising an axial-flow fan and a drive motor, the blower being connected to the fan housing by struts.

The present invention provides an outdoor unit capable of decreasing a flow resistance of air flowing from a blower fan.

The present invention also provides a fan guard assembly capable of securing rigidity for stably supporting a blower fan and a motor.

According to as aspect of the invention, there is provided an outdoor unit according to claim <NUM> and a fan guard assembly according to claim <NUM>.

The above and/or other aspects of the present invention will be more apparent by describing certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to <FIG>.

To help understand the following exemplary embodiments, in signs described in the accompanying drawing, relevant components among components performing the same operations in each exemplary embodiment are denoted by reference numerals on the same or extending line.

<FIG> is a perspective view schematically illustrating an air conditioner according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to <FIG>, an air conditioner according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure includes an indoor unit <NUM> and an outdoor unit <NUM>. The indoor unit <NUM> and the outdoor unit <NUM> may be connected to each other by a refrigerant pipe <NUM>.

The refrigerant pipe <NUM> may include a first refrigerant pipe 13a and a second refrigerant pipe 13b. A refrigerant condensed in the outdoor unit <NUM> may move to the indoor unit <NUM> through a first refrigerant pipe 13a. The refrigerant exchanging heat with indoor air in the indoor unit <NUM> may move to the outdoor unit <NUM> through the second refrigerant pipe 13b. The refrigerant may circulate through a refrigerant pipe (not illustrated) installed in the indoor unit <NUM> and a refrigerant pipe (not illustrated) installed in the outdoor unit <NUM> through the refrigerant pipe <NUM>.

The indoor unit <NUM> may discharge the air, which is heat exchanged with the refrigerant compressed and condensed in the outdoor unit <NUM>, to the interior of a room to maintain the room temperature at an appropriate temperature. The indoor unit <NUM> may include an expansion valve and an evaporator. The air cooled by the refrigerant evaporated in the evaporator is discharged to the interior of a room, and thus the room air may be cooled. The indoor unit <NUM> may be provided with a fan assembly (not illustrated) and a diffuser assembly (not illustrated) so that the air cooled by the refrigerant may be smoothly discharged into the interior of a room.

The outdoor unit includes a cabinet <NUM> forming an appearance and a fan guard provided at an outlet of the cabinet <NUM>. The inside of the cabinet <NUM> may be provided with a compressor, a condenser, and is provided with a blower fan. The cabinet <NUM> is provided with an inlet through which external air is introduced and an outlet through which the introduced air may be discharged to the outside. The outlet is provided with the fan guard <NUM> for protecting the blower fan. The compressor compresses the refrigerant, and the compressed refrigerant is introduced into the condenser to be condensed. At this time, the blower fan is driven and the external air introduced through the inlet may cool heat generated in the condenser. A construction and an operation of the outdoor unit and the indoor unit are well known in the art and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

<FIG> is a perspective view of a fan guard assembly according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention viewed from a front and <FIG> is a perspective view of the fan guard assembly according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention viewed from a rear. <FIG> is a front view of the fan guard assembly according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention and <FIG> is a rear view of the fan guard assembly according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to <FIG>, the fan guard assembly includes a front panel <NUM> of the cabinet and the fan guard <NUM> connected to the front panel <NUM>. The front panel <NUM> may be provided with an outlet <NUM> for discharging air to the outside. The fan guard <NUM> includes a hub <NUM> provided at the outlet <NUM> to directly fix the fan motor assembly and a rib <NUM> connecting between the hub <NUM> and the front panel <NUM>. The front panel <NUM> and the rib <NUM> may be integrally formed by injection molding.

Here, the fan motor assembly includes a motor <NUM> and a blower fan <NUM> driven by the motor <NUM>. Further, the blower fan <NUM> includes a body <NUM> connected to a driving shaft <NUM> of the motor <NUM> and rotating together with the motor <NUM> and a blade <NUM> connected to an outer circumferential surface of the body <NUM>. Here, the blower fan <NUM> may be provided in various shapes and structures for blowing the air introduced into the cabinet <NUM> to the outlet <NUM>.

The rib <NUM> includes a first rib <NUM> according to the invention radially provided from the hub <NUM> and a second rib <NUM> spaced from the hub in a circumferential direction and connected to the first rib <NUM>. Further, the rib <NUM> may further include an auxiliary rib <NUM> connecting between the second rib <NUM> located at the outermost side and the front panel <NUM>. The first rib <NUM> may be shaped to have a height increasing outwardly and the plurality of auxiliary ribs <NUM> may be provided at a predetermined position so that the second rib <NUM> located at the outermost side may be easily supported on the front panel <NUM>.

For example, a transverse section of the first rib <NUM> may have a fan shape or an airfoil, but the shape of the transverse section of the first rib <NUM> is not limited thereto, and therefore the first rib <NUM> may be changed to have cross sectional areas of various shapes. Meanwhile, the number of each rib <NUM> may be adjusted by a user so as to stably support the fan motor assembly. The rib <NUM> will be described in detail with reference to the subsequent drawings The rib shape is limited to the embodiments as covered by appended claims.

In addition, the fan guard assembly includes a bell mouth <NUM> connected to the rear of the front panel <NUM>. For example, the bell mouth <NUM> may be screwed to the front panel <NUM> and thus detached from the front panel <NUM>. The bell mouth <NUM> is located on the outer circumference of the blower fan <NUM> to guide the air discharged from the blower fan <NUM> to the outside.

For example, the rear of the bell mouth <NUM> may be referred to as an inlet through which the air discharged from the blower fan <NUM> is introduced into the bell mouth <NUM> and the front of the bell mouth <NUM> adjacent to the rib <NUM> may be referred to as an outlet through which the introduced air flows toward the rib <NUM> to be discharged to the outside. The air passing through the blower fan <NUM> may be smoothly introduced by preventing an eddy current at the inlet of the bell mouth <NUM> to improve flow noise. The bell mouth <NUM> may be provided in various curvatures or shapes so as to form a flow channel through which air flows.

<FIG> is a cross-sectional view taken along direction A-A of <FIG> and <FIG> is an exploded perspective view of the fan guard assembly according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The operation of the outdoor unit will be described with reference to <FIG> and <FIG>, focusing on differences from the existing outdoor unit.

Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, an insertion groove <NUM> having a predetermined depth is provided on a rear surface of the hub <NUM> to insert the motor <NUM> into the insertion groove <NUM> and fix the motor <NUM> thereto. For example, the hub <NUM> may have a fastening portion <NUM> protruding from the outer circumferential surface, and the motor <NUM> may be screwed to a fastening hole (not illustrated) formed in the fastening portion <NUM>. That is, the motor <NUM> may be firmly fixed to the fastening portion <NUM> in a state where the motor <NUM> is inserted into the insertion groove <NUM> at a predetermined depth to be stably supported.

At least a part of the motor <NUM> is inserted into the insertion groove <NUM> of the hub <NUM>.

The rib <NUM> is connected to the hub <NUM> and the front panel <NUM>, respectively, and thus the hub <NUM> located at the outlet <NUM> is stably supported on the front panel <NUM>. In particular, the rib <NUM> may have enough rigidity to withstand a weight of the motor <NUM> and the blower fan <NUM>.

For example, in the operation process of the air conditioner, if the compressor is driven, the refrigerant is compressed under a high temperature and a high pressure while passing through the compressor and is transferred to a heat exchanger serving as the condenser. At the same time, the blower fan <NUM> rotates by driving the motor <NUM>, and outdoor air is introduced into the cabinet <NUM> through the inlet formed on the side surface or the rear surface of the cabinet <NUM>.

The air introduced into the cabinet <NUM> is compressed under a high temperature and a high pressure while passing through the heat exchanger to cool the refrigerant flowing into the heat exchanger.

The air passing through the heat exchanger is transferred to the bell mouth <NUM> through the blower fan <NUM> and the blower fan <NUM> is located inside the bell mouth <NUM>. The air inside the cabinet <NUM> is introduced through the bell mouth <NUM> and is discharged to the outside.

Conventionally, a separate motor bracket is provided to fix the motor and blower fan to the outdoor unit. The motor bracket is provided between the condenser and the fan in the outdoor unit. In the installation structure, the air introduced into the inlet sequentially passes through the condenser, the motor bracket, and the blower fan and then is discharged through the outlet.

That is, since the motor and the motor bracket are provided at a suction side of the fan, a channel resistance of the suction side of the fan increases, and thus the fan performance may deteriorate. In addition, since the motor bracket needs to have predetermined rigidity to support the motor due to the characteristics of the motor, the motor bracket should be formed as large as possible.

As a result, the motor bracket has a structure to increase the channel resistance, but the fan guard assembly according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention directly fixes the motor <NUM> to the hub <NUM> to prevent the blower fan performance from decreasing due to the increase in the channel resistance, thereby effectively decreasing the power consumption of the motor <NUM> and minimizing the noise.

<FIG> is an enlarged perspective view for explaining an accommodating portion illustrated in <FIG>. Referring to <FIG>, the accommodating portion <NUM> may be provided on the rear surface of at least one first rib <NUM> radially located from the hub <NUM>. An electric wire <NUM> supplying electric power is connected to the motor <NUM>. Here, the electric wire <NUM> connected to the motor <NUM> is accommodated in the accommodating portion <NUM>.

For example, protruding portions <NUM> may be provided on the rear surface of at least one first rib <NUM> to be spaced apart from each other toward the rear. The protruding portion <NUM> may have a predetermined height along a longitudinal direction of the first rib <NUM> and the accommodating portion <NUM> may be formed between the respective protrusions <NUM>. Further, the bell mouth <NUM> has a through hole <NUM> to allow the electric wire <NUM> to pass through.

Further, at least a part of the protruding portion <NUM> may be formed with a fixing protrusion <NUM> protruding along the circumferential direction. The fixing protrusions <NUM> may be provided to be spaced apart from the opposite protrusion <NUM> by a predetermined distance. Therefore, the electric wire <NUM> is stably accommodated in the accommodating portion <NUM> without being exposed to the blower fan <NUM> by the fixing protrusion <NUM>, and may be prevented from being damaged due to the contact with the blower fan <NUM>.

<FIG> and <FIG> are views for explaining a cross section structure of the fan guard assembly according to the invention. Referring to <FIG> and <FIG>, the first rib <NUM> may be provided to have greater rigidity outwardly so as to easily support the motor <NUM> and the blower fan <NUM>. A tip of the first rib <NUM> may be located on the same plane and a rear end of the first rib <NUM> may be shaped to have a height increasing toward the blower fan <NUM>.

According to the invention, the height of the first rib <NUM> is set to have a greater height outwardly with respect to the hub <NUM>. The first rib <NUM> has a first end surface S<NUM> corresponding to a position where it is connected to the hub <NUM>, a second end surface S<NUM> corresponding to a tip of a blade <NUM>, and a third end surface S<NUM> located between the first end surface S<NUM> and the second end surface S<NUM>, at the same distance from the first end surface S<NUM> and the second end surface S<NUM>, respectively.

Here, the first end surface S<NUM> has a height of <NUM> to <NUM> times the distance L from a center of the hub <NUM> to the tip of the blade <NUM>. The second end surface S<NUM> has a height of <NUM> to <NUM> times the distance L from the center of the hub <NUM> to the tip of the blade <NUM>. The third end surface S<NUM> has a height of <NUM> to <NUM> times the distance L from the center of the hub <NUM> to the tip of the blade <NUM>.

Further, the first rib <NUM> is provided so that a tilt angle of a cross section thereof increases as being far away from the hub <NUM> with respect to a driving shaft <NUM> of the motor <NUM>. The first end surface S<NUM> has a tilt angle A<NUM> of <NUM>° to <NUM>° and the second end surface has a tilt angle A<NUM> of <NUM>° to <NUM>°. In addition, the third end surface S<NUM> has a tilt angle A<NUM> of <NUM>° to <NUM>°.

In particular, the rigidity for stably supporting the motor <NUM> and the blower fan <NUM> may be ensured by providing the height (and number) and the tilt angle of the first rib <NUM>. Further, it is possible to satisfy the standards on a safety distance h<NUM> (finger safety) between the rib <NUM> and the blower fan <NUM> while preventing potential safety accidents that may occur due to the contact of a part (e.g., a finger, etc.) of a user's body with the blower fan <NUM>.

Conventionally, it takes much working process time to mount the motor <NUM> and the blower fan <NUM> on the motor bracket that is a separate component, but the fan guard assembly according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention is mounted to directly support the motor <NUM> to the insertion groove <NUM> of the hub <NUM> to remove the additional working processes, thereby increasing the assembling productivity.

In addition, the tilt angle of the first rib <NUM> may be optimized to effectively decrease the noise increasing in proportion to an air volume in the outdoor unit <NUM> of the air conditioner. In addition, by eliminating the configuration of the motor bracket which is separately installed in the existing outdoor unit, the flow resistance of the air discharged to the outlet may decrease, and as a result noise and power consumption may decrease. Furthermore, the performance of the blower fan <NUM> may be improved and as a result the miniaturization of the motor <NUM> may be achieved.

Hereinabove, various exemplary embodiments of the present invention are individually described, but each exemplary embodiment need not necessarily be implemented alone and therefore the configurations and operations of each exemplary embodiment may also be implemented in combination with at least one other exemplary embodiment.

Claim 1:
An outdoor unit (<NUM>), comprising:
a cabinet (<NUM>);
a bell mouth (<NUM>) provided in the cabinet (<NUM>);
a fan guard (<NUM>) provided at an outlet (<NUM>) of the bell mouth (<NUM>); and
a fan motor assembly fixed to the fan guard (<NUM>),
wherein the fan guard (<NUM>) includes:
a hub (<NUM>) located at a centre of the outlet (<NUM>) and having the fan motor assembly fixed thereto; and
a rib (<NUM>) connecting the hub (<NUM>) and the cabinet (<NUM>),
wherein a height of the rib (<NUM>) in a direction parallel to a rotation axis of the fan motor assembly increases outwardly from the hub (<NUM>),
wherein the hub (<NUM>) has an insertion groove (<NUM>) having a predetermined depth on a rear surface of the hub (<NUM>), and the fan motor assembly is inserted into the insertion groove (<NUM>),
wherein the fan motor assembly includes:
a motor (<NUM>) fixed to the hub (<NUM>); and
a blower fan (<NUM>) driven by the motor (<NUM>); and
wherein the rib (<NUM>) includes:
a first end surface (S1) corresponding to a position where it is connected to the hub (<NUM>),
a second end surface (S3) corresponding to a position at which the rib (<NUM>) is adjacent to a tip of a blade (<NUM>) of the blower fan (<NUM>), and
a third end surface (S2) located between the first end surface (S1) and
the second end surface (S3), at the same distance from the first end surface (S1) and the second end surface (S3), respectively,
wherein the first end surface (S1) has a height of <NUM> to <NUM> times a distance L from a centre of the hub (<NUM>) to the tip of the blade (<NUM>),
the second end surface (S3) has a height of <NUM> to <NUM> times the distance L, and
the third end surface (S2) has a height of <NUM> to <NUM> times the distance L from the centre of the hub to the tip of the blade, and
wherein the rib (<NUM>) is provided so that a tilt angle of a cross-section thereof increases with distance from the hub (<NUM>) with respect to a driving shaft of the motor (<NUM>), wherein the first end surface (S1) has a tilt angle (A1) of <NUM>° to <NUM>° and the second end surface (S3) has a tilt angle (A3) of <NUM>° to <NUM>°, and the third end surface (S2) has a tilt angle (A2) of <NUM>° to <NUM>°.