EP-4741723-A1 - AIR CONDITIONER

EP4741723A1EP 4741723 A1EP4741723 A1EP 4741723A1EP-4741723-A1

Abstract

An air condition, comprising: a housing (1), a first refrigerant detection area (151) being provided in the housing (1), a second refrigerant detection area (152) being provided outside the housing (1), and the first refrigerant detection area (151) being communicated with the second refrigerant detection area (152); an indoor heat exchanger (2) arranged in the housing (1), the input port and output port of the indoor heat exchanger (2) being located in the first refrigerant detection area (151); a refrigerant input pipe (31) and a refrigerant output pipe (32) respectively connected to the input port and output port of the indoor heat exchanger (2), the ends of the refrigerant input pipe (31) and the refrigerant output pipe (32) distant from the indoor heat exchanger (2) being both provided with a pipe fitting connector (33), the pipe fitting connectors (33) passing through the housing (1) and being configured to be connected to indoor and outdoor unit connecting pipes (34) located outside the housing (1), and connection parts between the pipe fitting connectors (33) and the indoor and outdoor unit connecting pipes (34) being located in the second refrigerant detection area (152); and a refrigerant detection sensor (4), at least one of the first refrigerant detection area (151) and the second refrigerant detection area (152) being provided with the refrigerant detection sensor (4).

Inventors

LIN, CHAO
LING, Jianping
HE, Tian
YANG, Yonggang

Assignees

GD Midea Air-Conditioning Equipment Co., Ltd.
Midea Group Co., Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260513
Application Date: 20240409

Claims (12)

An air conditioner comprising: a housing, a first refrigerant detection area being provided in the housing, a second refrigerant detection area being provided outside the housing, and the first refrigerant detection area being in communication with the second refrigerant detection area; an indoor heat exchanger disposed in the housing, an input port and an output port of the indoor heat exchanger being located in the first refrigerant detection area; a refrigerant input pipe and a refrigerant output pipe, respectively connected with the input port and the output port of the indoor heat exchanger, ends of the refrigerant input pipe and the refrigerant output pipe away from the indoor heat exchanger being provided with pipe-fitting connectors; the pipe-fitting connectors passing through the housing and being configured to be connected to indoor and outdoor unit connecting pipes located outside the housing, and connection parts between the pipe-fitting connectors and the indoor and outdoor unit connecting pipes being located in the second refrigerant detection area; and a refrigerant detection sensor provided in at least one of the first refrigerant detection area and the second refrigerant detection area.
The air conditioner of claim 1, further comprising: a sealing box sleeved over the pipe-fitting connectors and the indoor and outdoor unit connecting pipes to seal the connection parts between the pipe-fitting connectors and the indoor and outdoor unit connecting pipes in the sealing box, an internal space of the sealing box forming the second refrigerant detection area; the sealing box being in communication with the first refrigerant detection area through a refrigerant guide pipe, and the refrigerant guide pipe passing through the housing.
The air conditioner of claim 2, wherein the sealing box is provided with a first through hole, a second through hole and a third through hole, two pipe-fitting connectors respectively pass through the first through hole and the second through hole, the refrigerant guide pipe passes through the third through hole, and the first through hole and the second through hole are located at an end of the sealing box that is closer to the housing; and an end of the sealing box away from the housing is provided with a fourth through hole and a fifth through hole, and two indoor and outdoor unit connecting pipes respectively pass through the fourth through hole and the fifth through hole.
The air conditioner of claim 3, wherein the third through hole is also located at the end of the sealing box that is closer to the housing and is located between the first through hole and the second through hole.
The air conditioner of any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the sealing box comprises a box body and a box lid, and the box body and the box lid are connected and enclose to form the second refrigerant detection area.
The air conditioner of claim 5, wherein an end of the box body is rotatably connected to an end of the box lid, and an other end of the box body is detachably connected to an other end of the box lid.
The air conditioner of claim 6, wherein the end of the box body and the end of the box lid form a rotatable integral structure, and the other end of the box body and the other end of the box lid are detachably connected by a snap-fit member and a first fastener.
The air conditioner of claim 6, wherein a rotational axis of the box lid is parallel to a central axis of the pipe-fitting connectors, and the end of the box lid and the other end of the box lid are disposed opposite to each other along an arrangement direction of two pipe-fitting connectors; and a middle portion of the box lid and a middle portion of the box body are fixedly connected by a second fastener, and the second fastener is located between the two pipe-fitting connectors, and locks the box lid and the box body along a direction perpendicular to the rotational axis of the box lid.
The air conditioner of any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the housing comprises a pipe-fitting pressing plate, the refrigerant guide pipe and the pipe-fitting connectors pass through the pipe-fitting pressing plate, and an inner diameter of the refrigerant guide pipe is greater than or equal to 8 mm.
The air conditioner of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the indoor heat exchanger is disposed along a circumferential direction of the housing, two ends of the indoor heat exchanger along the circumferential direction of the housing are spaced apart, and at least a part of the first refrigerant detection area is located between the two ends of the indoor heat exchanger along the circumferential direction of the housing.
The air conditioner of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the housing comprises: a base plate and a panel disposed opposite to each other, and a side enclosure plate connected to the base plate and the panel; the indoor heat exchanger is fixedly connected with the base plate through a heat exchanger connecting plate, and the refrigerant detection sensor is disposed in the first refrigerant detection area and fixed to the heat exchanger connecting plate; and the air conditioner further comprises a water pump disposed in the first refrigerant detection area, the water pump is fixed to the heat exchanger connecting plate, and the water pump and the refrigerant detection sensor are arranged along a height direction of the side enclosure plate.
The air conditioner of claim 11, wherein the heat exchanger connecting plate comprises: a first end plate fixedly connected to the base plate; a side plate, an end of the side plate in a height direction of the side plate being connected to the first end plate, and the refrigerant detection sensor being fixed to a plate surface of the side plate that faces the second refrigerant detection area; a second end plate connected to an other end of the side plate in the height direction of the side plate and disposed opposite to the first end plate, the water pump being fixed to a plate surface of the second end plate away from the first end plate; and two flanges respectively connected with two ends of the side plate in a width direction and respectively connected with two ends of the indoor heat exchanger along a circumferential direction of the housing.

Description

This application claims priorities of a Chinese patent application filed on August 31, 2023 with application No. 202311121844.7 and entitled "Air Conditioner" and a Chinese patent application filed on August 31, 2023 with application No. 202322370692.6 and entitled "Air Conditioner", the contents of which should be understood to be incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field The present application relates to, but is not limited to, the technology of electrical equipment, and in particular an air conditioner. Background At present, some air conditioners cannot detect whether the refrigerant is leaked. When the refrigerant has been leaked for a period of time, there is a problem of high concentration of the leaked refrigerant, and some refrigerants are flammable, resulting in the risk of flammability and explosiveness. Summary The following is a summary of the subject matter described in detail herein. This summary is not intended to limit the protection scope of the claims. An embodiment of the present disclosure provides an air conditioner, comprising: a housing, a first refrigerant detection area being provided in the housing, a second refrigerant detection area being provided outside the housing, and the first refrigerant detection area being in communication with the second refrigerant detection area; an indoor heat exchanger arranged in the housing, an input port and an output port of the indoor heat exchanger being located in the first refrigerant detection area; a refrigerant input pipe and a refrigerant output pipe respectively connected to the input port and the output port of the indoor heat exchanger, ends of the refrigerant input pipe and the refrigerant output pipe away from the indoor heat exchanger being provided with pipe-fitting connectors, the pipe-fitting connectors passing through the housing and being configured to be connected to indoor and outdoor unit connecting pipes located outside the housing, and connection parts between the pipe-fitting connectors and the indoor and outdoor unit connecting pipes being located in the second refrigerant detection area; and a refrigerant detection sensor, at least one of the first refrigerant detection area and the second refrigerant detection area being provided with the refrigerant detection sensor. Other aspects will become apparent after reading and understanding the drawings and detailed description. Brief Description of Drawings Accompanying drawings are used to provide a further understanding of technical solutions of the present disclosure, and constitute a portion of the description, they are used together with embodiments of the present disclosure to explain the technical solutions of the present disclosure, and do not constitute a restriction on the technical solutions of the present disclosure. FIG. 1 is a schematic exploded view of a structure of an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;FIG. 2 is a partial schematic bottom view of a structure of an indoor unit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an assembly structure of the structure shown in FIG. 2 and indoor and outdoor unit connecting pipes and a sealing box;Fig. 4 is a schematic view of the structure shown in FIG. 3 without the sealing box;FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a partial three-dimensional structure of the indoor unit shown in FIG. 2;FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a structure of a sealing box in an open state provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure; andFIG. 7 is a schematic view of a structure of the sealing box shown in FIG. 6 in a closed state. The reference signs are as follows: 1 housing, 11 side enclosure plate, 111 pipe-fitting pressing plate, 12 panel, 13 base plate, 14 heat exchanger connecting plate, 141 first end plate, 142 second end plate, 143 side plate, 151 first refrigerant detection area, 152 second refrigerant detection area;2 indoor heat exchanger;31 refrigerant input pipe, 32 refrigerant output pipe, 33 pipe-fitting connector, 34 indoor and outdoor unit connecting pipe, 35 refrigerant guide pipe;4 refrigerant detection sensor;5 sealing box, 51 box lid, 511 first connecting hole, 512 lug, 513 snap-fit member, 514 third connecting hole, 515 connecting boss, 516 reinforcing rib, 52 box body, 521 second connecting hole, 522 engagement slot, 523 extending plate, 524 connecting post, 531 first through hole, 532 second through hole, 533 third through hole, 534 fourth through hole, 535 fifth through hole;61 water receiving pan, 62 water pump, 63 drain pipe;71 motor, 72 wind wheel, 73 guide ring;8 electrical control box. Detailed Description A plurality of embodiments are described in the present disclosure, but such description is exemplary and not restrictive, and for those skilled in the art, there may be more embodiments and implementations within the scope of the embodiments described in the present disclosure. Although many possible combin