Window Air Conditioner

The present application is submitted based on and claims priority to Chinese Patent Application Nos. 202210602515.3 and 202221345214.9, both filed on May 30, 2022, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

The present disclosure relates to the field of air conditioning technologies, and more particularly, to a window air conditioner.

A window air conditioner in the related art is an integrated air conditioner that may be mounted for use at a window opening. In order to meet noise reduction requirements, some window air conditioners are designed in a form of a saddle with an open bottom groove between an outdoor unit and an indoor unit, in order to allow the window air conditioners to be stuck on a window sill using the groove and block noise of an outdoor unit by a physical wall. However, the window air conditioner of this type has a fixed configuration that only meets use requirements.

The present disclosure aims to solve at least one of the technical problems in the related art. To this end, the present disclosure is to provide a window air conditioner, and an outdoor unit body of the window air conditioner is capable of changing its configuration to meet other requirements besides use.

A window air conditioner according to embodiments of the present disclosure includes an outdoor unit body and an indoor unit component. The outdoor unit body is adapted to be arranged at an outdoor side. The indoor unit component includes an indoor unit body and a connection support connected to the indoor unit body. The indoor unit body is adapted to be arranged at an indoor side. The connection support is configured to pass through a window opening. The connection support has an outer end extending to be movably connected to the outdoor unit body. Therefore, the window air conditioner according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can change its configuration to meet other requirements besides use.

In some embodiments, the outdoor unit body is movable relative to the connection support to raise or lower a bottom of the outdoor unit body.

In some embodiments, the outer end of the connection support extends to be pivotally

connected to the outdoor unit body.

In some embodiments, the outdoor unit body is pivotally connected to the indoor unit component by a hinge assembly. The indoor unit component is provided with a first articulation member. The outdoor unit body is provided with a second articulation member. The first articulation member and the second articulation member are hinged to form the hinge assembly.

In some embodiments, the first articulation member and the indoor unit component are separately formed and assembled together; and/or the second articulation member and the outdoor unit body are separately formed and assembled together.

In some embodiments, the hinge assembly is configured to enable the outdoor unit body to rotate between a first state and a second state. The first articulation member is provided with a first stop member. The second articulation member is provided with a second stop member. When the outdoor unit body rotates from the first state into the second state, the first stop member cooperates with the second stop member to prevent the outdoor unit body from further rotating in a current rotation direction.

In some embodiments, the first articulation member is further provided with a third stop member. When the outdoor unit body rotates from the second state into the first state, the second stop member cooperates with the third stop member to prevent the outdoor unit body from further rotating in a current rotation direction.

In some embodiments, the first articulation member is pivotally connected to the second articulation member by a damping rotary shaft.

In some embodiments, the window air conditioner further includes a shielding shell located between the outer end of the connection support and the outdoor unit body and configured to shield a corresponding part of the hinge assembly.

In some embodiments, a pivot axis of the hinge assembly extends in a transverse direction and is located at an upper inner end of the outdoor unit body. The shielding shell includes a top shell and two end shells. The top shell is located above the hinge assembly and extends in the transverse direction. The two end shells are respectively located at two transverse sides of the outer end of the connection support. The two end shells are respectively connected to two transverse ends of the top shell.

In some embodiments, each of the two end shells is pivotally connected to the hinge assembly and is rotatable about the pivot axis relative to the hinge assembly.

In some embodiments, the shielding shell further includes a bottom shell located below the hinge assembly. The bottom shell extends in the transverse direction and has two transverse ends connected to the two end shells respectively.

In some embodiments, the shielding shell further includes an end cover. The end cover is in a snap-fit with or magnetically connected to a transverse outer side surface of each of the two end shells.

Additional aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will be provided at least in part in the following description, or will become apparent in part from the following description, or can be learned from the practice of the present disclosure.

The embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to examples thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, throughout which same or similar elements, or elements having same or similar functions, are denoted by same or similar reference numerals. The embodiments described below with reference to the drawings are illustrative only, and are intended to explain rather than limit the present disclosure.

Many different embodiments or examples according to the present disclosure are used to realize different structures of the present disclosure. To simplify the present disclosure, components and settings in specific examples are described below. Of course, they are merely exemplary and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Moreover, the present disclosure may repeat reference numbers and/or reference letters in different examples. Such repetition is for purposes of simplicity and clarity and is not in itself indicative of a relationship among the various embodiments and/or settings discussed. In addition, the present disclosure provides examples of various specific processes and materials, but those skilled in the art may recognize application of other processes and/or use of other materials.

A window air conditioneraccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure is described below with reference to the drawings.

As illustrated in, a window air conditionerincludes an outdoor unit bodyand an indoor unit component. The outdoor unit bodyis adapted to be arranged at an outdoor side. The indoor unit componentincludes an indoor unit bodyand a connection supportconnected to the indoor unit body. The indoor unit bodyis adapted to be arranged at the indoor side. The connection supportis configured to pass through a window opening. The connection supporthas an out end extending to be movably connected to the outdoor unit body. Thus, the outdoor unit bodyis movable relative to the indoor unit componentto meet other requirements, such as requirements of easy mounting, easy adjustment, and easy maintenance of the outdoor unit body, rather than just a single use requirement.

In some embodiments, the outdoor unit bodyis movable relative to the connection supportto raise or lower a bottom of the outdoor unit body. It should be noted that a movement trajectory herein is not limited, for example, it may be a reciprocal translational movement in a straight line, or a reciprocal rotation in an arc, or an upward-downward movement along an irregular trajectory.

Therefore, when mounting the window air conditioner, with reference to, the bottom of the outdoor unit bodymay be raised first, and therefore the outdoor unit bodycan be easily pushed from the indoor side through the window openingto the outdoor side. After the outdoor unit bodyis pushed to the outdoor side, with reference to, the bottom of the outdoor unit bodyis lowered to a normal position to meet normal use requirements.

It should be noted that, in the window air conditioneraccording to the embodiments of the present disclosure, when mounted at the window opening, an operation of pushing the outdoor unit bodyfrom the inside out by raising the window air conditioneras a whole to enable the bottom wall of the outdoor unit bodyto be located at higher level than a windowsill is avoided. Instead, only the bottom of the outdoor unit bodyneeds to be raised. As a result, the operation is more labor-saving. Moreover, since there is no need to raise the window air conditioneras a whole and then push out the outdoor unit body, a risk of the whole machine tipping over and falling off towards the outdoor side, which is caused by a relatively high height of a center of gravity of the whole machine and a difficulty in controlling the whole machine when pushing the whole machine from the inside out, is avoided. Thus, safety of the mounting is improved. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, only the bottom of the outdoor unit bodyneeds to be raised, while the indoor unit componentmay be maintained at an original lower level. An installer can easily press the indoor unit componentfrom top to bottom to avoid the risk of the whole machine tipping over and falling off outwards.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the outdoor unit bodyand the indoor unit bodyof the window air conditionerare spaced apart from each other in a longitudinal direction, to enable the window air conditionerto have a use configuration in which the indoor unit bodyis located on the indoor side and the outdoor unit bodyis located on the outdoor side. It should be noted that the window air conditionerdescribed herein is adapted to be arranged for use at the window opening. An inward-outward direction of the window opening(i.e., a direction passing through the window opening) refers to a “longitudinal direction”; a width direction of the window openingrefers to a “transverse direction”; and a height direction of the window openingrefers to a “vertical direction”. In short, the indoor unit bodyand the outdoor unit bodyare spaced apart from each other in an inward-outward direction when the window air conditioneris in the use configuration (such as a configuration illustrated in). In this case, the indoor unit bodyis arranged at the indoor side for adjusting an indoor environment temperature and the like, and the outdoor unit bodyis arranged at the outdoor side for heat exchange with an outdoor environment.

In some optional examples, the indoor unit bodymay include an indoor side heat exchanger, an indoor side fan, etc., and the outdoor unit bodymay include a compressor, an outdoor side heat exchanger, an outdoor side fan, etc. The indoor unit bodyis connected to the outdoor unit bodyvia a refrigerant pipeline, and therefore the indoor side heat exchanger, the outdoor side heat exchanger, the compressor, etc. constitute a refrigerant circulation system to realize a refrigeration cycle or a heating cycle. Of course, the present disclosure is not limited to thereto. For example, in some other embodiments of the present disclosure, the indoor side fan, the outdoor side fan, etc. may also be omitted, and no more examples are given herein.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, as illustrated in, the outer end of the connection supportextends to be pivotally connected to the outdoor unit body. As a result, the motion of the outdoor unit bodyis simple and the outdoor unit bodyis easy to design and control, and a support at a rotary shaft is reliable.

When the outdoor unit bodyis movable relative to the connection supportto raise or lower the bottom of the outdoor unit body, and if the outer end of the connection supportextends to be pivotally connected to the outdoor unit body, the outdoor unit bodyis rotatable about an only pivot axis L extending in a transverse direction.

It should be noted that “the outer end of the connection supportextends to be pivotally connected to the outdoor unit body” is intended to illustrate the connection position between the indoor unit componentand the outdoor unit body, and does not limit how to achieve the connection, for example, which may be a direct connection or an indirect connection. Moreover, a setting position of a linkage for the indirect connection is not limited, for example, which may be arranged at the connection support, or may be arranged at the indoor unit body.

That is, when one of the outdoor unit bodyand the indoor unit componentserves as a rotating component and another one of the outdoor unit bodyand the indoor unit componentserves as a stationary component, and a force is applied to enable the rotating component to rotate relative to the stationary component, there is only one unique pivot axis L for the rotating component to rotate relative to the stationary component instead of having a plurality of pivot axes L. As a result, a rotation trajectory of the rotating component relative to the stationary component can be guaranteed to be determined.

Therefore, when the configuration of the window air conditionerneeds to be changed, the rotating component may be allowed to rotate relative to the stationary component about the unique pivot axis L. Thus, the bottom of the outdoor unit bodycan be easily raised or lowered. In addition, since the pivot connection between the indoor unit componentand the outdoor unit bodyhas the unique pivot axis L, the rotating component may be pulled smoothly and reliably to rotate relative to the stationary component about the unique pivot axis L based on the determined trajectory. Thus, the configuration of the window air conditionercan be ensured to be changed reliably and effectively. In addition, since the rotation trajectory of the rotating component is determined and the rotating component is supported at the pivot connection (such as a position R illustrated in), an action of driving the rotating component to rotate can be simple, smooth, and labor-saving, and stability and reliability of the rotation support are good. In some optional examples, the pivot axis L extending in the transverse direction may

be located at an upper inner end of the outdoor unit body. Therefore, the reliable rotation support can be provided at the pivot axis L. Thus, the reliability of the rotation support of the outdoor unit bodycan be improved. In this way, the structure of the outdoor unit bodycan be simplified to reduce cost. As a result, assembly is simplified. Moreover, this arrangement can reduce a space swept by the rotation of the outdoor unit bodyas a whole as well as drive torque required to drive the outdoor unit bodyto rotate. As a result, the operation is more labor-saving, and a height of the window openingis required to be relatively low.

In addition, in some embodiments, the outdoor unit bodyis designed to be pivotally connected to the indoor unit componentto enable the outdoor unit bodyto rotate relative to the indoor unit componentabout the unique pivot axis L extending in the transverse direction and located at the upper inner end of the outdoor unit body, and therefore it can be easily realized that the outdoor unit bodymay rotate until a bottom surface of the outdoor unit bodyis flush with a bottom surface of the connection support(for example, as illustrated in). It should be noted that the term “flush” herein may refer to completely flush or substantially flush. Thus, when the outdoor unit bodyis pushed from the indoor side to the outdoor side, the window air conditioneras a whole hardly moves in the vertical direction in a process of the outdoor unit bodypassing through the window opening, and the connection supportcan immediately follow the outdoor unit bodyand also pass through the window opening, thereby simplifying the operation. As a result, the operation is more labor-saving and convenient, and assembly efficiency is higher.

It should be noted that the outdoor unit bodymay not be pivotally connected to the indoor unit component. For example, in other embodiments, the outdoor unit bodymay be rotatably connected to the indoor unit componentas usual, for example, by a connection rod. Thus, there are at least two rotation axes. In this case, a movement of the outdoor unit bodyflipping relative to the connection supportto raise or lower the bottom of the outdoor unit bodycan be realized. However, the movement trajectory of the rotating component is indetermined, and the support formed by the connection rod for the rotating component needs attention.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, as illustrated in, the outdoor unit bodymay be pivotally connected to the indoor unit componentby a hinge assembly. The indoor unit componentis provided with a first articulation member. The outdoor unit bodyis provided with a second articulation member. The first articulation memberand the second articulation memberare hinged to form a hinge assembly. Thus, providing the hinge assemblycan realize the pivotal connection between the indoor unit componentand the outdoor unit body, to enable the one of the outdoor unit bodyand the indoor unit componentto rotate relative to the other of the outdoor unit bodyand the indoor unit componentabout the only pivot axis L extending in the transverse direction. In this way, the configuration of the window air conditioneris changed. Of course, the present disclosure is not limited to this. In other embodiments of the present disclosure, the indoor unit componentmay also be pivotally connected to the outdoor unit bodyin other manners, such as by a bearing or a rotary shaft, which will not be repeated herein.

It should be noted that the first articulation memberand the indoor unit componentmay be integrally formed or may be separately formed, and the second articulation memberand the outdoor unit bodymay be integrally formed or may be separately formed.

When the first articulation memberand the indoor unit componentare separately formed and assembled together, and the second articulation memberand the outdoor unit bodyare also separately formed and assembled together, there is no need for special structural design and processing of the indoor unit componentand the outdoor unit body, which reduces the cost. Moreover, the first articulation memberand the second articulation memberthat have been hinged are easily fixed at the indoor unit componentand the outdoor unit body, respectively, and reliability of the articulation can be well guaranteed. In addition, the first articulation memberand the second articulation membermay be made of suitable materials independently without being affected by materials selected for the indoor unit componentand the outdoor unit body, which can not only ensure reliability of the hinge assembly, but also enable the indoor unit componentand the outdoor unit bodynot to be selected with special materials for the articulation. In this way, the cost is reduced to meet requirements of mass production.

When the first articulation memberand the indoor unit componentare integrally formed, and the second articulation memberand the outdoor unit bodyare also integrally formed, reliability of the connection between the first articulation memberand the indoor unit componentas well as reliability of the connection between the second articulation memberand the outdoor unit bodycan be guaranteed. Of course, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The first articulation memberand the indoor unit componentmay also be integrally formed, while the second articulation memberand the outdoor unit bodyare separately formed. Alternatively, the first articulation memberand the indoor unit componentmay be separately formed, while the second articulation memberand the outdoor unit bodymay be integrally formed. The effects of these embodiments can be known by referring to the above description, and will not be repeated herein.

In some embodiments, when the second articulation memberand the outdoor unit bodyare separately formed, an extension length of the second articulation memberin an inward-outward direction is not limited and may be smaller than ½ of an extension length of the outdoor unit bodyin the inward-outward direction for ease of connection, or may be greater than ½ of the extension length of the outdoor unit bodyin the inward-outward direction to improve the support effect on the outdoor unit body. In some embodiments, as illustrated in, the hinge assemblyis configured to enable the outdoor unit bodyto rotate between a first state (e.g., the state illustrated in) and a second state (e.g., a state illustrated in). The first articulation memberis provided with a first stop member. The second articulation memberis provided with a second stop member. When the outdoor unit bodyrotates from the first state into the second state (e.g., a state illustrated in), the first stop membercooperates with the second stop memberto prevent the outdoor unit bodyfrom further rotating in a current rotation direction (e.g., a counterclockwise direction illustrated in). Therefore, a limit rotation angle of the outdoor unit bodycan be better controlled to enable the outdoor unit bodyto reach and stay in the second state. Thus, the structure and a control strategy can be simplified.

Further, as illustrated in, the first articulation memberis further provided with a third stop member. When the outdoor unit bodyrotates from the second state into the first state (e.g., a state illustrated in), the second stop membercooperates with the third stop memberto prevent the outdoor unit bodyfrom further rotating in a current rotation direction (e.g., a counterclockwise direction illustrated in). Therefore, another extreme rotation angle of the outdoor unit bodycan be better controlled to enable the outdoor unit bodyto reach and stay in the first state. Thus, the structure and the control strategy can be simplified.

For example, in some embodiments, with reference to, when the outdoor unit bodyis in the first state, a back plate of the outdoor unit body(that is, a first back plate) is vertically arranged, and the window air conditioneris in a use configuration. With reference to, when the outdoor unit bodyis in the second state, the back plate of the outdoor unit body(that is, the first back plate) is transversely arranged, and the window air conditioneris in a mounting configuration. Therefore, if the first stop memberand the second stop memberare arranged to cooperate with each other, the window air conditionercan be effectively stopped in the mounting configuration when switching from the use configuration to the mounting configuration. In this way, the operation and control is simplified to improve the assembly efficiency. If the third stop memberand the second stop memberare arranged to cooperate with each other, the window air conditionercan be effectively stopped in the use configuration when restoring from the mounting configuration to the use configuration. In this way, the operation and control is simplified to improve the assembly efficiency.

In addition, it should be noted that the back plate (i.e., the first back plate) of the outdoor unit bodyrefers to a structure of the outdoor unit bodyat a side of the outdoor unit bodyfacing towards a wall at a window opening when the window air conditioneris in the use configuration. For example, when the outdoor unit bodyhas a closed structure, the first back platemay be a side wall surface of a housing of the outdoor unit body. For another example, when the outdoor unit bodyhas a semi-open structure, the first back platemay also be a side wall surface of a condenser.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, as illustrated in, the first articulation memberis pivotally connected to the second articulation memberby a damping rotary shaft. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a spring spacer may be applied to the damping rotary shaft, and rotation torque may be adjusted as desired, thereby solving a problem of the outdoor unit bodyfalling off rapidly during the rotation. Moreover, the structure of the damping rotary shaftis strong enough to effectively support the outdoor unit bodyto rotate.

In some embodiments, as illustrated in, the hinge assemblymay be an exposed hinge a. At this time, the first articulation membermay be mounted outside a top wall of the connection support(for example, as illustrated in), or the first articulation membermay also be mounted outside a bottom wall of the connection support(for example, as illustrated in). Thus, the mounting and inspection of the exposed hinge a can be simplified.

Of course, the present disclosure is not limited to this. In other embodiments of the present disclosure, as illustrated in, the hinge assemblymay also be a built-in hinge b. At this time, as illustrated in, the window air conditionermay further include a shielding shell. The shielding shellis located between the outer end of the connection supportand the outdoor unit bodyand configured to shield a corresponding part of the hinge assembly. That is, a part of the built-in hinge b corresponding to the shielding shellcan be shielded by the shielding shell. Thus, the built-in hinge b can be effectively protected to prevent the built-in hinge b from being damaged by collision, eroded by liquid, etc., and ensure a service life and operation reliability of the built-in hinge b.

In some embodiments, as illustrated in, the shielding shellmay include a top shelland two end shells. The top shellis located above the hinge assemblyand extends in the transverse direction. The two end shellsare respectively located at two transverse sides of the outer end of the connection support. The two end shellsare respectively connected to two transverse ends of the top shell. Thus, the hinge assemblycan be protected from a top and two transverse sides of the hinge assembly. Thus, a protection effect for the hinge assemblyis improved.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, as illustrated in, the end shellis pivotally connected to the hinge assemblyand rotatable about the pivot axis L relative to the hinge assembly. Therefore, stable mounting of the shielding shellcan be realized. Moreover, the shielding shelldoes not need to rotate synchronously with the second articulation memberand the outdoor unit body. Thus, when an internal pipe routing of the shielding shellis used, interference on the pipe routing due to a synchronous movement of the shielding shelland the outdoor unit bodyis avoided.

In another embodiment of the present disclosure, the hinge assemblymay be arranged at a position close to each end shell. That is, the hinge assemblymay be arranged at each of two transverse end portions of the connection support. Thus, the hinge assemblycan be pivotally connected to the end shellby a shorter rotary shaft. Of course, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and at least one hinge assemblymay be arranged between the two hinge assemblies, to improve the stability and the reliability of the pivotal connection between the outdoor unit bodyand the indoor unit component, and thus to improve the support effect for the rotation of the outdoor unit body.