JPH0894165A - Louver control device for air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] It is an object of the present invention to provide a louver control device for an air conditioner that can automatically adjust the direction of the louver by a simple mechanism according to the temperature of the air blower of the air conditioner. To do. [Structure] Air blower outlet 1 for room air conditioner body 15
In 6, the louvers 18, 18 ...
The parallel link mechanisms 23 are provided so as to be parallel to each other in the vertical direction and are interlocked with each other. Each louver 18 is a rocking body 19, 19 that is arranged in the left-right direction with a space therebetween.
The shaft 17 is inserted into the rocking body 19, and the louver 18 is rotatable around the shaft 17 together with the rocking body 19. The uppermost rocker 19 has a lever 2
9 is fixed, and the weight 3 is provided on the tip side of the lever 29.
0 is attached, and a spring 32 made of a shape memory alloy is attached between the lever 29 and the fixed plate 31.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a louver control device for an air conditioner that adjusts the direction of the air blown according to the temperature of the air blown from an air conditioner such as a room air conditioner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, a room air conditioner is generally used as a cooling machine in summer and as a heating machine in winter due to its heat pump function. In such a room air conditioner, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, a louver 3, 3, ... Is provided at a blower outlet 2 formed in a lower portion of the room air conditioner main body 1, and the wind direction is adjusted to By blowing the cool air upwards during cooling and blowing the warm air downwards during heating, the temperature unevenness in the room, especially in the vertical direction, is eliminated. In the past, such louver direction switching was generally performed manually, but in recent room air conditioners, automatic switching of the louver direction using a motor or the like has also been put into practical use. There is.

[0003]

However, if the direction of the louver is switched by using a motor or the like, the mechanism becomes complicated, and therefore maintenance is required and the cost is increased. It has not been widely adopted.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a louver control device which can automatically adjust the orientation of a louver by a simple mechanism and is suitable for an air conditioner such as a room air conditioner. The purpose is to provide.

[0005]

The present invention has been made to achieve the above object, and a louver control device for an air conditioner according to claim 1 has a plurality of louvers extending in the left-right direction at an outlet. A louver control device that is applied to an air conditioner configured to be rotatable in the vertical direction and that changes the direction of the louvers according to the temperature of the blown air, and the louvers are each in the vertical direction. The oscillating bodies are connected to a rotatable oscillating body, and the oscillating bodies are connected to each other by a link forming a parallel link mechanism, and the oscillating bodies and the louvers are interlocked with each other by the parallel link mechanism to rotate in the vertical direction. A first urging member for constantly urging each louver so as to be upward and one of the oscillating bodies or links that constitute the parallel link mechanism by the blown air. When the temperature of the louver is heated and becomes higher than a predetermined transformation point temperature, the memorized shape is recovered so that each louver is directed downward against the urging force of the first urging member. A second urging member made of a shape memory alloy for urging is connected to each other.

Further, in the louver control device for an air conditioner according to claim 2, in the louver control device according to claim 1, the first biasing member is a weight body for biasing each louver upward by its own weight. It is characterized by being.

A louver control device for an air conditioner according to a third aspect is the louver control device according to the first aspect, wherein the first biasing member is an elastic body that biases each louver upward by elastic force. Is characterized in that.

[0008]

As is well known, the shape memory alloy is plastically free and easily deformable below a predetermined transformation point temperature, but immediately remembers when heated above the transformation point temperature. It recovers to its original state by itself, and since it has a relatively large recovery force at the time of recovery, it has been widely used as a combination of a temperature sensor and an actuator.

The present invention utilizes such a characteristic of the shape memory alloy to automatically change the orientation of the louver.

That is, in the present invention, the first urging member for urging the louver upward so as to blow the cool air upward during cooling, and the louver downward so as to blow the warm air downward during heating. The second urging member for urging the second urging member is formed of a shape memory alloy, and the second urging member is arranged in the passage of the blown air and transformed by warm air during heating. Be prepared to heat above the point temperature. Then, during heating, the second biasing member moves to the first
The shape is restored to the memorized shape against the urging force of the urging member, and at that time, the direction is forcibly changed so that the louver is directed downward, and the hot air is blown downward. Further, during cooling, the second urging member is cooled to below the transformation point temperature by cold air, and at that time, the memorized shape cannot be maintained, and due to the urging force of the first urging member. The louver is forced to change upward.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. 1 to 3 show a first embodiment. FIG. 1 shows a main part of a room air conditioner 15. A blower air outlet 16 is provided at the bottom of the room air conditioner, and four louvers 18, 18 ... Are provided at intervals and parallel to each other.

As shown in FIG. 2, a pair of triangular swinging members 19, 19 are fixed to both ends of each louver 18,
A shaft 17 is inserted through the rocking bodies 19 and 19, and both ends of the shaft 17 are attached to a casing of the room air conditioner 15, whereby each louver 18 is attached to the shaft 1.
It is supposed that the direction can be changed by rotating up and down with the rocking body 19 around the center 7.

Links are connected between the bases of the rocking bodies 19, 19 ... by pins 20, 20.
A parallel link mechanism 23 is configured by the links 21, 21 ... And the oscillating bodies 19, 19. Therefore, each louver 1
The elements 8, 18 ... Can swing together in the vertical direction while maintaining the parallel state.

A lever 29 extending rearward is attached to the rocking member 19 located at the uppermost stage.
A weight body (first urging member) 30 is attached to the tip of 9, and the louvers 18, 18 ... Are attached by the weight of the weight body 30 so as to always face upward with respect to the respective shafts 17, 17. Are urged (a state in which the louvers 18, 18 ... Are turned upward due to the weight of the weight body 30 is shown in FIG. 3).

Further, a spring 32 (second biasing member) is interposed between the intermediate portion of the lever 29 and the fixed member 31 inside the casing. The spring 32 is formed of a shape memory alloy as a push spring, and its transformation point temperature is set to a temperature slightly lower than the warm air temperature during heating. Then, the spring 32 recovers to a memorized shape when warm air is blown during heating and is heated to a temperature equal to or higher than the transformation point temperature, and expands to a state as shown in FIG. , 18 ... are directed downward. Further, when the spring 32 is cooled to below the transformation point temperature by the cool air during cooling, it becomes impossible to maintain the memorized shape by defeating the weight of the weight body 30.
The louvers 18, 18 ... At this time, the louvers 18 are in a contracted state as shown in FIG.

Since the control device for the air-conditioning louver of this embodiment is constructed as described above, when the temperature of the blown air is above the transformation point during heating, as shown in FIG. A shape recovery force is generated on the shaft 17, and the moment due to the shape recovery force of the spring 32 about the shaft 17 causes the weight 3 to move.
Since the moment due to its own weight of 0 is exceeded, lever 2
A spring 32 extends between 9 and the fixed plate 31.
When the spring 32 extends, the oscillating body 19 located at the uppermost stage is rotated counterclockwise about the shaft 17, and
By the parallel link mechanism 23, the other rocking bodies 19, 19 ... Are also rotated counterclockwise by the same angle. As a result, the louvers 18, 18 ...
Are rotated the same angle downward and are oriented in the same direction.

Next, during cooling, when the temperature of the blown air is below the transformation point, the shape recovery force of the spring 32 disappears as shown in FIG. Lever 2 due to the moment of its own weight
The spring 32 is contracted between 9 and the fixing plate 31. When the spring 32 is contracted, the oscillating body 19 located at the uppermost stage is rotated clockwise about the shaft 17, and the parallel link mechanism 23 causes the other oscillating bodies 19 and 1 to move.
9 ... are also rotated clockwise by the same angle. This allows
Louvers 18, 18 to which the oscillating bodies 19, 19 are fixed ...
Are turned upward by the same angle and oriented in the same direction.

According to the above-described air-conditioning louver control device, the spring 32 expands and contracts in combination with the weight body 30 in accordance with the temperature of the blown air, so the spring 32 is used as a member that also serves as a temperature sensor and an actuator. In the present embodiment, by utilizing the above-described properties of the spring 32, a plurality of louvers 18, 18 are automatically provided by a simple mechanism in which the weight body 30 and the spring 32 are connected to the parallel link mechanism 23.
It is possible to adjust the direction of ... in accordance with the temperature of the blown air, and the parallel link mechanism 23 allows the plurality of louvers 1 to be adjusted.
.. can be oriented in the same direction.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the first embodiment, the weight body 30 is used as the first urging member and its own weight is used as the urging force. However, in the second embodiment, the weight 41 is replaced by the spring 41 (elastic body). The structure is the same as that of the first embodiment except that the elastic force is used as the urging member and the elastic force is used as the urging force.

That is, in the second embodiment, the spring 41 is interposed between the tip of the lever 29 and the fixing member 40 on the upper part of the casing. The spring 41 is a normal push spring, and the elastic force of the spring 41 is used when the spring 32, which is a second biasing member made of a shape memory alloy, recovers its shape when the temperature exceeds the transformation point temperature. The recovery force is set so that it contracts and contracts, and when the spring 32 is below the transformation point temperature, it overcomes it and extends.

In the apparatus of the second embodiment, as in the case of the first embodiment, the spring 32 expands and the spring 41 contracts during heating, so that the louvers 18, 18 ... 41 expands and the spring 32 contracts, so that the louvers 18, 18 ... naturally face upward, and the same effect as in the case of the first embodiment is obtained.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but various design changes can be made as long as the louver is rotated downward by the second biasing member during heating. It is possible. For example, in each of the above embodiments, the spring as the second biasing member is a push spring that extends when the shape is restored, but it may be a pulling spring that contracts when the shape is restored. In that case, the second biasing member is used. The louver is rotated downward due to the contraction of the spring, and the urging direction and the installation position of the first urging member may be changed correspondingly. Although the second biasing member is in the form of a coil spring in each of the above-described embodiments, it may be in the form of a leaf spring or any other form as long as the louver can be rotated. The same applies to the form of the elastic body used as the first urging member in the second embodiment, and an appropriate form can be adopted without being limited to the coil spring. Furthermore, although the present invention is applied to the room air conditioner in the above embodiment, it is of course possible to apply the present invention to a larger air conditioner, and the number of louvers may be appropriately changed.

[0023]

As described above, in the louver control device of the present invention, the plurality of louvers are interlocked by the parallel link mechanism to rotate in the vertical direction, and at the same time the louver is directed upward to the parallel link mechanism. No. 1 urging member and a second urging member for causing the louver to face downward are connected, and a shape memory alloy that spontaneously recovers its shape during heating is used as the second urging member. The louver orientation can be changed automatically with a very simple and inexpensive structure without using a complicated mechanism such as a drive source or a special sensor, and thus without increasing cost and cumbersome maintenance. In particular, it is suitable for application to a simple air conditioner such as a room air conditioner.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a first embodiment of a louver control device for an air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a main part of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of an essential part showing the operation during cooling of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of an essential part showing a second embodiment of the louver control device for an air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an overview of a room air conditioner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 15 room air conditioner main body (air conditioner) 16 outlet 18 louver 19 rocker 21 link 23 parallel link mechanism 30 weight body (first biasing member) 32 spring (second biasing member) 41 spring (elastic body / second) (1 biasing member)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioner having a structure in which a plurality of louvers extend in the left-right direction and are rotatable in the up-down direction at an outlet, and the orientation of the louver is changed according to the temperature of blown air. In the louver control device, each louver is connected to an oscillating body that is rotatable in the vertical direction, and each oscillating body is connected to each other by a link that constitutes a parallel link mechanism, Each oscillating body and each louver are interlocked to rotate in the vertical direction by the parallel link mechanism, and each louver is directed upward to any one of the oscillating bodies or links constituting the parallel link mechanism. The first urging member for constantly urging the louver and the memorized shape when the temperature of the louver becomes higher than a predetermined transformation point temperature by being heated by the blown air. The above Louver control device for an air conditioner, wherein a second biasing member made of a shape memory alloy urges the facing downward are connected respectively against the urging force of the urging member. 2. The louver control device for an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the first biasing member is a weight body that biases each louver upward by its own weight. 3. The louver control device for an air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the first biasing member is an elastic body that biases each louver upward by an elastic force.