JPH06257805A - Air conditioner with humidifying function - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] It is an object to provide an air conditioner having a non-feed water humidifier. A honeycomb shape for adsorbing and accumulating water contained in the outside air in a closed container 4 in which a means for introducing and releasing outside air and a channel and a means for introducing and releasing indoor air and a channel can be switched alternately. Of the moisture absorbing / releasing molded body 2 and the waterless humidifying device 51 using the moisture absorbing / releasing wet humidifying method in which accumulated moisture is separated by the heater 3 for heating and the humidified air is discharged to the indoor side. The configuration is provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention provides a heat pump type air conditioner (hereinafter referred to as an air conditioner) with means for humidifying dry indoor air in winter without supplying water, in addition to cooling, heating and dehumidifying functions. It also relates to an air conditioner with a humidifying function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a heat pump type air conditioner has functions such as cooling, heating, and dehumidifying, but as a means for humidifying dry indoor air in winter, a heat pump type air conditioner is difficult. Yes, the mainstream is to humidify dry indoor air in winter by using a single type humidifier such as ultrasonic humidifier or vaporization humidifier. Also, although there are some models that add a humidifying function to a heat pump type air conditioner, a vaporization type or ultrasonic type humidifying method requires a water tank like a single type humidifier. In addition, as a non-water-supplying type humidifying device, as a practical example
Although there is an independent type dedicated humidifier known from Japanese Patent Publication No. 6 etc., since it is a dedicated humidifier, there is no maintenance-free device having an air conditioning control function such as cooling, heating, dehumidification, and humidification.

[0003]

The above-mentioned single-type humidifying dedicated device and the conventional air conditioner with a humidifying function each need to supply water to a tank provided exclusively for humidifying, and for the user. The water supply operation is a troublesome task, and it is often the case that it is not used even after it is purchased but used several times.

In addition, the stand-alone non-water-supply type humidifier is a dedicated humidifier, requires a relatively large installation space, and requires a dedicated through hole for connecting the inside and the outside of the wall, so that workability is improved. Also in terms of such things, a laborious work was required.

In view of the above problems, the present invention achieves comfortable humidity control by adsorbing and accumulating a small amount of water contained in the outside air with an adsorbent and releasing the accumulated water as humidified air into a dry room in winter. It is intended to be done.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner with a humidifying function, which has not only a cooling / heating / dehumidifying function but also a troublesome water supply operation and which improves the humidity of dry indoor air in winter. is there.

It is another object of the present invention to integrate the waterless humidifier with the indoor unit of the air conditioner to simplify the workability. Another object of the present invention is to integrate a waterless humidifier with an outdoor unit of an air conditioner to achieve high performance and low noise.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a non-water supply type humidifying device in an outdoor unit air blowing circuit device of an air conditioner to improve the efficiency and size of the device.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a hermetically sealed structure in which means for introducing and releasing outside air and a channel and means for introducing and releasing indoor air and a channel can be switched alternately. A moisture absorption / desorption molded body that absorbs and accumulates moisture contained in the outside air in the container and a moisture absorption / release humidification method that releases accumulated moisture to the indoor side by releasing the accumulated moisture with a heater for heating The non-feed water humidifier was installed in the air conditioner.

Further, according to the present invention, the waterless humidifier is provided in an indoor unit of an air conditioner. Further, in the present invention, two non-supply water humidifying units are provided in an outdoor unit of an air conditioner having a large installation space, and the non-supply water humidifying units are alternately operated in a moisture absorption mode and a humidification mode.

Further, according to the present invention, the non-water supply humidifying device is provided in the wind circuit of the outdoor unit of the air conditioner.

[0012]

The operation of the above construction is as follows. According to the present invention, the air conditioner is provided with a moisture absorbing / releasing wet non-supplying water humidifying device that eliminates the troublesome operation of supplying water.
In addition to the conventional cooling, heating, and dehumidifying functions, a maintenance-free humidifying function is added, making it possible to control both temperature and humidity and to realize a comfortable indoor environment space.

Further, according to the present invention, since the non-water supply humidifier is integrated with the indoor unit of the air conditioner, the indoor and outdoor through holes for the air conditioner can be shared, so that the through hole construction dedicated to the humidifier is unnecessary. It is possible to simplify the construction.

Further, the present invention is integrated with an outdoor unit of an air conditioner having a space for installing two water-free humidifying units, and the two water-free humidifying units are alternately operated in a moisture absorption mode and a humidification mode. As described above, continuous humidification is possible, high performance can be achieved, and low noise on the indoor side can be achieved.

Further, according to the present invention, by providing the non-feed water humidifier in the wind circuit of the air conditioner outdoor unit, the moisture of frosting / defrosting of the outdoor heat exchanger can be utilized and the efficiency of securing the humidifying water can be improved. In addition, since the blower fan is shared, the blower dedicated to the non-water supply humidifier can be omitted, and the device can be downsized.

[0016]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. (Embodiment 1) First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 (a), 1 (b) and 1 (c).

1 (a) and 1 (b) are a sectional view and a plan view of one component showing the operating principle of a waterless humidifier according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIGS. 1A and 1B, 1 is a non-water-supplying type humidifying unit, and a closed container 4 thereof.
A honeycomb-shaped moisture absorptive and desorptive molded body 2 is provided inside, and a heater is provided on the downstream side. Two-way solenoid valves 5a and 5b are provided on the inflow side and the outflow side of the closed container 4, and the two-way solenoid valves 5a and 5b are provided with a pump 6a.
The pump 6b is connected. The honeycomb moisture-absorbing and desorbing molded article is formed by processing and shaping a moisture-absorbing and desorbing material that has a function of adsorbing moisture such as silica gel and a function of releasing and regenerating adsorbed moisture so that the cross section has a honeycomb shape. Therefore, the heater 3 serves as a heating source for accelerating the separation of the moisture adsorbed by the honeycomb moisture absorptive and desorptive molded body 2 to obtain humid air and regenerate it. The two-way solenoid valves 5a and 5b are for switching between a flow path for introducing and discharging outside air into the closed container 4 and a flow path for introducing room air and sending humidified air to the indoor side.

The principle of operation of the waterless humidifier having the above-described structure will be described below. In the winter, the air is dry both indoors and outdoors, but the operation of adsorbing and accumulating a small amount of moisture contained in the outside air and regenerating the accumulated moisture to release it as humidified air indoors is repeated in the non-feed water humidifying unit. This is to humidify the room.

First, FIG. 1 (a) shows a state in an adsorption mode in which moisture in the outside air is adsorbed to the honeycomb moisture absorptive and desorptive molded body 2. The two-way solenoid valves 5a and 5b are for introducing the outside air to the outdoor release. In the flow path state, by driving the pump 6a, the outside air containing water is introduced into the honeycomb moisture absorptive and desorptive molded body 2, and the honeycomb shaped moisture absorptive and desorptive molded body 2 adsorbs and accumulates the moisture of the outside air, The outside air that has become almost dry is released to the outside. When the honeycomb-shaped moisture absorptive and desorptive adsorbent 2 is saturated with water at a certain level or higher, the two-way solenoid valves 5a and 5b are next introduced into the humidifying mode to introduce the indoor air into the humidifying mode and release the air into the room. The chamber is switched to the mode, the pump 6a is stopped, the heater 3 is energized, the inside of the closed container 4 is heated, the water accumulated in the honeycomb moisture absorptive and desorptive molded body 2 is desorbed, and the chamber is introduced by driving the pump 6b. The air is humidified in the closed container 4 and sent into the room to humidify the room. By installing two waterless humidifying units 1 having such an operation principle as one set and repeating moisture adsorption and moisture desorption alternately, humidification in winter is possible without water supply.

Incidentally, FIG. 1 (c) is a plan view of the honeycomb moisture absorptive and desorptive molded body 2 seen from the upper surface, and the outside air is introduced into the numerous honeycomb-shaped openings and the outside air is introduced in the process of passing therethrough. Moisture contained therein is adsorbed and accumulated on the honeycomb moisture absorptive and desorptive molded body 2 to obtain moisture for humidification.

(Embodiment 2) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 shows an external view and an apparatus state of an air conditioner 100 including the unsupplied water humidifying unit 1.

A side of the air conditioner body 100 is a heat exchanger,
An air conditioner indoor unit 101 having a cooling / heating / dehumidifying function, which is composed of a blower fan or the like (not shown), and the B side is a non-water supply humidifying device in which the non-supply water humidifying unit 1 is provided inside. 51.

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the unsupplied water humidifier 51 integrated with the air conditioner indoor unit 101. In the non-water-supplying humidifying device 51, the non-water-supplying humidifying unit 1 is housed in an empty room constituted by an underframe 10 and an outer casing 11 of an air conditioner,
The indoor air is introduced into the closed container 4 of the unsupplied water humidifier 51 by the blower fan 7 corresponding to the suction port 8 on the front surface of the outer casing 11, and is discharged from the blowout port 9 below the front part of the pipe body 11. Further, the outside air is introduced by the pump 6 and discharged to the outside. It should be noted that the wall has a through hole 12 through which a ventilation pipe is inserted.
Is formed.

In the non-feed water humidifying unit 1, first, the two-way solenoid valves 5a and 5b are used as a flow path form for introducing and discharging outside air, and the pump 6 is driven to introduce the outside air into the closed container 4 to remove the moisture in the outside air. When the honeycomb moisture absorptive and desorptive molded body 2 is operated in an adsorption mode for adsorbing and accumulating on the honeycomb moisture absorptive and desorptive molded article 2 and reaches a moisture saturation state above a certain level, the pump 6
Is stopped, the two-way solenoid valves 5a and 5b are switched to the indoor air introduction / indoor discharge flow path form, the heater 3 is energized, and the blower fan 7 is driven, so that the indoor air that is dry from the intake port 8 is removed. The heater 3 is introduced into the closed container 4.
The air that has been humidified by the moisture that has separated from the honeycomb moisture absorptive and desorptive molded body 2 by the heating is discharged into the room through the outlet 9, and the room can be humidified without water supply. At this time, in order to pull out the outside air introduction / outdoor discharge pipe from the room to the outside of the room, by integrating it with the air conditioner indoor unit 101, the refrigerant pipe of the air conditioner main body 100 and the drain water (not shown) Since it is possible to use the through hole provided as a common, it is not necessary to newly provide a through hole dedicated to the non-feed water humidifying unit 1, and piping work can be performed, and the work can be simplified.

As described above, by integrating the air conditioner indoor unit 101 and the unsupplied water humidifying device 51, the construction can be simplified, and the cooling, heating and dehumidifying functions are combined with the humidifying function to improve the temperature. Both humidity and humidity can be controlled by one unit, and a comfortable indoor environment can be realized.

(Third Embodiment) Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, the same components as those in the previous embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the outdoor unit 102 of the air conditioner equipped with the outdoor non-supplying water humidifying device 52 including the first and second non-supplying water humidifying units 1a and 1b. In the figure, 13 is an outdoor blower fan, 14 is a compressor, and 15 is an outdoor heat exchanger.

The outdoor non-supplying water humidifying device 52 has a first non-supplying water humidifying unit 1a and a second non-supplying water humidifying unit 1b, and includes a four-way solenoid valve 20, two-way solenoid valves 5a and 5b, and pumps 6a and 6b. The first non-supplying water humidifying unit 1a and the second non-supplying water humidifying unit 1b are alternately switched between an adsorption mode for adsorbing moisture in the outside air and a humidification mode for sending humidified air into the room. ing. For example, when the first unsupplied water humidifying unit 1a is in the adsorption mode for adsorbing and accumulating the moisture in the outside air introduced into the closed container 4 from the pump 6a, the two-way solenoid valve 5a removes the introduced outside air. It becomes a flow path that releases moisture to the outside air after adsorption. At this time, the indoor air is introduced into the closed container 4 by the pump 6b in the second unsupplied water humidifying unit 1b, and the air humidified by the moisture heated and released from the honeycomb moisture absorptive and desorptive molded body 2 is It is a flow path that is fed into the room via the directional solenoid valve 5b. As described above, when the first unsupplied water humidifying unit 1a is in the adsorption mode, the second unsupplied water humidifying unit 1b is in the humidifying mode, and when the first unsupplied water humidifying unit 1a is switched to the humidifying mode, the second unsupplied water is supplied. The humidifying unit 1b has a structure that performs batch processing so that the humidifying unit 1b is switched to the adsorption mode, so that humidified air is constantly sent into the room and constant humidity control is possible. In addition, since the air-conveying pumps 6a and 6b are installed outdoors, it is difficult for the operation sounds of the pumps 6a and 6b to be transmitted to the room, and noise can be reduced. The switching between the first and second unsupplied water humidifying units 1a and 1b is carried out when the honeycomb moisture absorptive and desorptive molded body 2 is in a moisture saturated state above a certain level in the adsorption mode or below a certain level in the humidification mode. The four-way solenoid valve 20, the two-way solenoid valves 5a and 5b, and the pumps 6a and 6b are automatically switched depending on whether the water is in a dry state.
The heater 3 is controlled to turn on / off.

FIG. 5 shows the non-water supply humidifier 5 shown in FIG.
2 shows an attached state of the air conditioner in which No. 2 is attached to the outdoor unit 102. A non-supplying water humidifying device is provided on the upper part (D side) of the outdoor unit 102, and the inside of the room and the non-supplying water humidifying device 52 are utilized by using the piping of the air conditioner and the through hole 12 for drain water (not shown). Can be connected.

(Fourth Embodiment) Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Here, the same components as those in the previous embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the unsupplied water humidifying unit 1 is installed in the air blowing circuit of the air conditioner outdoor unit 102. The non-supply water humidifying unit 1 has the heat exchanger 15 so that the outside air introduction port comes to the heat exchanger 15 side of the outdoor unit 102.
And a blower fan 13 are provided in the blower circuit.

In the winter season when humidification is required, the air conditioner is operated by heating, so the outdoor heat exchanger 15 of the outdoor unit 102 is operated.
Frost adheres to the. In order to effectively utilize the frost that adheres to the outdoor heat exchanger 15 and the water that compulsorily melts the frost, the outside air inlet of the non-feed water humidifying unit 1 is connected to the heat exchanger 15
It is provided on the side. The blower fan 13 of the outdoor unit 102
By sharing the same as that for introducing the outside air of the unsupplied water humidifying device, the pump 6a for introducing the outside air into the unsupplied water humidifying unit 1 becomes unnecessary, and the unsupplied water humidifying device can be downsized.

[0033]

As is apparent from the above description of the embodiments, the present invention introduces outside air and adsorbs and accumulates a small amount of water contained in the outside air with the moisture absorbing / releasing molded body, and the accumulated water is heated by the heater. The air conditioner is equipped with a non-water supply humidifier that sends it as humidified air into the room by heating it in the air conditioner, which enables humidification in winter without water supply, and it also works in conjunction with the air conditioner to perform cooling, heating, and dehumidification. The humidification can be controlled with a single air conditioner, creating a comfortable maintenance-free indoor environment throughout the year.

Further, according to the present invention, the non-feed water humidifier is integrated with the indoor unit of the air conditioner, so that the pipe through hole required for introducing and releasing outside air can be shared by the through hole of the air conditioner. Construction can be simplified.

Further, according to the present invention, the unsupplied water humidifier is integrated with the outdoor unit of the air conditioner, so that the sound of the air-conveying pump and the blower fan is not transmitted to the room, and the noise on the indoor side can be reduced. It is possible to secure a space for installing two waterless humidifier units in parallel, and to continuously humidify both units by alternately operating the moisture absorption mode and the humidification mode, which enables high-performance temperature and humidity control. it can.

Further, according to the present invention, by providing the non-supplying water humidifier in the air blower circuit of the outdoor unit of the air conditioner, the moisture such as frost and defrost water adhering to the heat exchanger can be easily utilized, and the blower fan. Since it can be shared, high efficiency and miniaturization can be achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a vertical cross-sectional view of a non-water supply humidifying unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1B is a vertical cross-sectional view of the same non-water supply humidifying unit. Top view of body

FIG. 2A is a front view of an air conditioner equipped with a non-feed water humidifier according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2B is a side view of the air conditioner.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the air conditioner indoor unit.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of an air conditioner outdoor unit including a non-feed water humidifying device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an external view of the installation state of the indoor unit and the outdoor unit of the air conditioner.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an air conditioner outdoor unit in which a non-supplying water humidifier according to another embodiment of the present invention is provided in a blower circuit.

[Explanation of reference numerals] 1 non-supplying water humidifying unit 2 honeycomb shaped moisture absorbing / releasing molded body 3 heater 4 hermetically sealed container 5a / 5b two-way solenoid valve 6a / 6b pump 7 blower fan 8 inlet 9 blowout port 10 underframe 11 outer casing 12 Through hole

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioner with a humidifying function, which comprises a heat pump type air conditioner having functions such as cooling, heating, and dehumidifying, and a non-feed water humidifying means for utilizing moisture in the outside air as humidifying water. 2. The air conditioner with a humidifying function according to claim 1, wherein the non-feed water humidifying means is provided in an indoor unit of a heat pump type air conditioner composed of an indoor unit and an outdoor unit. 3. The air conditioner with a humidifying function according to claim 1, wherein the non-feed water humidifying means is provided in an outdoor unit of a heat pump type air conditioner composed of an indoor unit and an outdoor unit. 4. The air conditioner with a humidifying function according to claim 1, wherein the unsupplied water humidifying means is provided in the wind circuit of the outdoor unit of the heat pump type air conditioner having a blowing means. 5. The non-supplying water humidifying unit is composed of two non-supplying water humidifying units, and a moisture absorption mode of the non-supplying water humidifying unit,
The air conditioner with a humidifying function according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the humidifying modes are alternately switched.