OUTDOOR UNIT FOR AN AIR-CONDITIONING APPARATUS

• US 20190331352A1
• Filed: 06/07/2016
• Published: 10/31/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Inventors: KATO, Yohei, TANDA, Tsubasa, NAKAMURA, Shin, ISHIBASHI, Akira
• Granted Patent: US 10,712,023 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 1/18 characterised by their shape
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 1/38 Fan details of outdoor units, e.g. bell-mouth shaped inlets or fan mountings
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 1/48 characterised by air airflow, e.g. inlet or outlet airflow
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 13/22 Means for preventing condensation or evacuating condensate
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2013/221 to avoid the formation of condensate, e.g. dew
• CPC Class Codes: F28D 1/0476 the conduits having a non-circular cross-section
• CPC Class Codes: F28D 2021/0068 for refrigerant cycles
• CPC Class Codes: F28F 19/006 Preventing deposits of ice
• CPC Class Codes: F28F 2265/02 in the form of screens or covers

Abstract

An outdoor unit for an air-conditioning apparatus is configured to suppress damage on hairpin portions at an end portion of an outdoor heat exchanger due to freezing. The outdoor unit includes: an air passage defined inside a casing; an outdoor heat exchanger, which is installed in the air passage, and includes a plurality of heat exchange portions; an outdoor unit fan configured to introduce air into the outdoor heat exchanger; and an air passage blocking object installed in the air passage, and configured to block air flow. The outdoor heat exchanger includes: a heat transfer tube configured to allow refrigerant to pass therein; and a fin connected to the heat transfer tube. The heat transfer tube includes a hairpin portion, which is bent and folded back and to which no fin is connected. The air passage blocking object is configured to cover the hairpin portion.

Claims

1. An outdoor unit for an air-conditioning apparatus, comprising:

an air passage defined inside a casing;

an outdoor heat exchanger installed in the air passage;

an outdoor unit fan configured to introduce air into the outdoor heat exchanger; and

an air passage blocking object configured to block a flow of part of the air in the air passage,

wherein the outdoor heat exchanger includes

a heat transfer tube configured to allow refrigerant to pass therein, and

a fin connected to the heat transfer tube,

wherein the heat transfer tube includes a hairpin portion, which is a portion of the heat transfer tube bent and folded back and to which no fin is connected,

wherein the heat transfer tube has an elongate sectional shape, and is arranged so that a longitudinal axis of the elongate shape is horizontally oriented, and

wherein the air passage blocking object is configured to cover the hairpin portion.

3. The outdoor unit for an air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1,

wherein the air passage blocking object is provided upright on a wall surface defining the air passage on a side on which the hairpin portion is arranged, and

wherein a height of the air passage blocking object from the wall surface is set equal to or larger than a distance from a fin end portion of the outdoor heat exchanger, which is closest from the wall surface, to the wall surface.

4. The outdoor unit for an air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1,

wherein the heat transfer tube is inserted into a cutout portion formed in the fin,

wherein the cutout portion is opened at one end of the fin in a direction orthogonal to a longitudinal direction of the fin, and extends from the one end toward an other end of the fin, and

wherein, in the outdoor heat exchanger, the other end of the fin is arranged so as to be oriented toward the air passage blocking object side.

5. The outdoor unit for an air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the air passage blocking object has a distal end portion held in abutment against the fin.

6. The outdoor unit for an air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the air passage blocking object is arranged on a downstream side in a flow of the air with respect to the outdoor heat exchanger.

7. The outdoor unit for an air-conditioning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the air passage blocking object is arranged on an upstream side in a flow of the air with respect to the outdoor heat exchanger.

2. An outdoor unit for an air-conditioning apparatus, comprising:

an air passage defined inside a casing;

an outdoor heat exchanger installed in the air passage;

an outdoor unit fan configured to introduce air into the outdoor heat exchanger; and

an air passage blocking object configured to block a flow of part of the air in the air passage,

wherein the outdoor heat exchanger includes

a heat transfer tube configured to allow refrigerant to pass therein, and

a fin connected to the heat transfer tube,

wherein the heat transfer tube includes a hairpin portion, which is a portion of the heat transfer tube bent and folded back and to which no fin is connected,

wherein the heat transfer tube has an elongate sectional shape, and is arranged so that a longitudinal axis of the elongate shape is horizontally oriented, and

wherein the air passage blocking object is configured to block airflow in a space in the air passage which is defined between a wall surface forming the air passage on a side on which the hairpin portion is arranged, and an end surface of the fin on a side on which the hairpin portion is arranged.

8. (canceled)