Indoor unit of an air conditioner

Abstract

An indoor unit of an air conditioner of the type that consists of a hollow casing with vents for the inlet and outlet of air, respectively, being housed therein at least one heat exchanger and a centrifugal fan that inhales air, through the inlet vent, from the comfort area of a room to the surfaces of the heat exchanger and returns it, through the outlet vent, to said comfort area, the indoor unit comprising a separator that divides the casing into two transversal cavities, one inlet cavity and one outlet cavity, with an opening for the air to pass from one cavity to the other, the fan being positioned in said opening with its axis of rotation essentially perpendicular to the largest faces of the casing, the opening constituting the entrance to the fan's air intake.

1 . An indoor unit ( 1 ) of an air conditioner of the type that consist of an essentially parallelepipedic straight rectangular hollow casing ( 2 ) with vents for the inlet ( 18 ) and outlet ( 19 ) of air, respectively, being housed therein at least one filter element ( 3 ), at least one heat exchanger ( 4 ) and a centrifugal fan ( 5 ) that inhales air, through the inlet vent, from the comfort area of a room to the surfaces of the heat exchanger and returns the air, through the outlet vent, to said comfort area, wherein said indoor unit comprises a separator ( 6 ) that divides the casing into two transversal cavities, one inlet cavity ( 1   a ) and one outlet cavity ( 1   b ), with an opening ( 11 ) for the air to pass from one cavity to the other, the fan being positioned in said opening of the separator, in such a way that its axis of rotation is essentially perpendicular to the largest faces of the casing, said opening constituting the air intake ( 7 ) of the fan, and in that the heat exchanger is situated on one side or other of the fan, always outside the projection, in an axial direction, of the air intake thereof.  
     
     
         2 . The indoor unit ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , wherein the relationship between the diameter (D) of the fan wheel ( 8 ) and the outlet height (h) of the fan blades ( 9 ) follows the ratio:  
           D/h= 5.5  
     
     
         3 . The indoor unit ( 1 ) according to  claim 1 , wherein the drive motor ( 12 ) of the fan ( 5 ) is housed therein, and wherein the stator ( 10 ) of said motor is housed inside a casing ( 13 ) situated in the air intake ( 7 ) of the fan and is fastened to one of the largest faces of the hollow casing ( 2 ) of the indoor unit.  
     
     
         4 . The indoor unit ( 1 ) according to  claim 2 , wherein the drive motor ( 12 ) of the fan ( 5 ) is housed therein, and wherein the stator ( 10 ) of said motor is housed inside a casing ( 13 ) situated in the air intake ( 7 ) of the fan and is fastened to one of the largest faces of the hollow casing ( 2 ) of the indoor unit.  
     
     
         5 . The indoor unit ( 1 ) according to  claim 3 , wherein the fan wheel ( 8 ) comprises a flat annulus ( 15 ) that joins the blades ( 9 ) of said wheel, which project from the air intake towards the ends of the fan ( 7 ), the annulus being joined to the rotor ( 14 ) of the drive motor ( 12 ) of the fan ( 5 ), which is an external rotor motor, and in that the stator ( 10 ) of said motor is fastened to the face ( 17 ) of the casing ( 2 ) adjacent to the annulus of the fan wheel by supports ( 16 ).