Indoor unit of air conditioner

Abstract

An indoor unit of an air conditioner includes an indoor heat exchanger, a body, a centrifugal fan, and a shutter. A plurality of discharge passages for discharging air that has passed through the indoor heat exchanger is formed in the body. The centrifugal fan generates a flow of air that passes through the indoor heat exchanger and is blown out of the discharge passages. The shutter is provided to at least one discharge passage of the plurality of discharge passages. The shutter is kept in a closed state by the pressure of the air flow.

1 . An indoor unit of an air conditioner, comprising:
 an indoor heat exchanger;   a body having a plurality of discharge passages formed therein, the plurality of discharge passages being configured to discharge air that has passed through the indoor heat exchanger;   a centrifugal fan being configured to generate a flow of air to pass through the indoor heat exchanger and to be blown out of the discharge passages; and   a shutter being provided to at least one discharge passage of the plurality of discharge passages, and being kept in a closed state by the pressure of the air flow.   
   
   
       2 . The indoor unit as recited in  claim 1 , wherein
 the shutter moves from an open state to the closed state by rotating away from the centrifugal fan in the discharge passage.   
   
   
       3 . The indoor unit as recited in  claim 1 , wherein
 the shutter, while in an open state, is positioned at a first position where pressure is not applied to the shutter in a direction in which the shutter closes.   
   
   
       4 . The indoor unit as recited in  claim 3 , wherein
 the first position is inside a concavity formed in an inner wall of the discharge passage.   
   
   
       5 . The indoor unit as recited in  claim 1 , wherein
 the centrifugal fan is a turbofan.   
   
   
       6 . The indoor unit as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising
 a rotational drive unit that rotatably drives the shutter, wherein   the rotational drive unit stops rotational driving in the closed state.   
   
   
       7 . The indoor unit as recited in  claim 6 , wherein
 when the centrifugal fan has stopped while the shutter is in a closed state, the rotational drive unit begins driving again.   
   
   
       8 . The indoor unit as recited in  claim 7 , wherein the rotational drive unit is a stepper motor. 
   
   
       9 . The indoor unit as recited in  claim 1 , further comprising
 a stopper that is formed inside the discharge passage and that is in contact with the shutter in the closed state, wherein   the shutter, while closed, is positioned at a second position where the shutter is vertically aligned or laying against the stopper.   
   
   
       10 . The indoor unit as recited in  claim 1 , wherein
 the indoor unit is a floor installation type configured to have air be blown upwards and downwards, and downward air discharge is configured to be stopped by the shutter during cooling.   
   
   
       11 . The indoor unit as recited in  claim 6 , wherein
 the rotational drive unit is a stepper motor.