Air conditioner

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11835274-B2
Application number	US-202017036283-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2020
Priority date	Oct 4, 2019
Publication date	Dec 5, 2023
Grant date	Dec 5, 2023

Abstract

An air conditioner includes a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an expansion device, an indoor heat exchanger, and a noise reduction device configured to reduce flow noise of a refrigerant. The noise reduction device includes a housing including a refrigerant inlet and a refrigerant outlet, and a plurality of baffles disposed inside the housing. The baffles include a first baffle and a second baffle that partition an inside of the housing into a plurality of spaces in a flow direction of the refrigerant. Each of the first baffle and the second baffle includes a hole through which the refrigerant passes. The holes of the first and second baffles are respectively disposed at centers of the first and second baffles at positions corresponding to each other in the flow direction of the refrigerant.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An air conditioner configured to be coupled to a refrigerant flow path, comprising:
a compressor configured to compress a refrigerant flowing in the refrigerant flow path;
an outdoor heat exchanger configured to exchange heat between the refrigerant and outdoor air;
an expansion device configured to expand the refrigerant;
an indoor heat exchanger configured to exchange heat between the refrigerant and indoor air; and
a noise reduction device provided between the expansion device and the indoor heat exchanger, configured to be coupled to the refrigerant flow path and configured to reduce flow noise of the refrigerant which is moved as a two-phase refrigerant having a gas phase and a liquid phase, the noise reduction device including:
a housing including a refrigerant inlet and a refrigerant outlet; and
a plurality of baffles disposed inside the housing and including a first baffle, a second baffle and a third baffle that partition an inside of the housing into a plurality of spaces in a flow direction of the refrigerant,
each of the first baffle, the second baffle and the third baffle including a hole through which the refrigerant passes,

the holes of the first, second and third baffles being disposed at centers of the first, second and third baffles.

2. The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the holes of the first, second and third baffles are configured to be collinear with each other in the flow direction of the refrigerant.

3. The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein
each of the first, and third baffles includes a first surface opposite to the flow direction, and
each of the first surfaces includes a first inclined portion formed to be inclined from the hole in the corresponding one of the first and second baffles, toward a periphery of the corresponding one of first, second and third baffles in the flow direction of the refrigerant.

4. The air conditioner of claim 3 , wherein
each of the first, second and third baffles includes a second surface disposed on a side opposite to the first surface, and
each of the second surfaces includes a second inclined portion symmetrical to the first inclined portion with respect to a direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the refrigerant.

5. The air conditioner of claim 1 , further comprising
an outdoor unit including the compressor and the outdoor heat exchanger, and
an indoor unit including the expansion device and the indoor heat exchanger,
wherein the noise reduction device is disposed in the indoor unit.

6. The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein:
the noise reduction device includes a frame coupled to the plurality of baffles,
the frame includes a first frame and a second frame coupled to the plurality of baffles inside the housing, extending in the flow direction of the refrigerant, and individually separable in a direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the refrigerant,
each of the plurality of baffles includes a first portion and a second portion separable in the direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the refrigerant,
the first portions of the plurality of baffles are connected to the first frame, and
the second portions of the plurality of baffles are connected to the second frame.

7. The air conditioner of claim 6 , wherein
the first portions of the plurality of baffles and the first frame form a first assembly of the noise reduction device,
the second portions of the plurality of baffles and the second frame form a second assembly of the noise reduction device, and
the plurality of baffles are formed when the first assembly and the second assembly are coupled to each other.

8. The air conditioner of claim 7 , wherein each of the first assembly and the second assembly has a same shape and is provided as a unitary body.

9. The air conditioner of claim 7 , wherein
the first assembly has a first hook portion configured to be hooked with the second frame in the direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the refrigerant when the first assembly and the second assembly are coupled to each other in the direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the refrigerant, and
the second assembly has a second hook portion configured to be hooked with the first frame in the direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the refrigerant when the first assembly and the second assembly are coupled to each other in the direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the refrigerant.

10. The air conditioner of claim 9 , wherein
the first frame is provided in a pair, and the first hook portion includes a plurality of hooks, and
the plurality of hooks are alternately disposed on one of the pair of first frames and an other one of the pair of first frames in the flow direction of the refrigerant.

11. The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein each of the first baffle and the second baffle includes a plurality of ribs protruding from an outer circumferential surface thereof toward an inner circumferential surface of the housing while being spaced apart from each other in a circumferential direction of the outer circumferential surface thereof.

12. The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein
the third baffle is disposed to be spaced apart from the first and second baffles in the flow direction of the refrigerant,
each of the plurality of baffles further comprises a frame extending in the flow direction of the refrigerant so as to be coupled to one of the plurality of baffles adjacent thereto,
the frame of the first baffle is coupled to the second baffle, and the frame of the second baffle is coupled to the third baffle, and
the frame of the first baffle and the frame of the third baffle are disposed in-phase with each other in a circumferential direction of outer circumferential surfaces of the plurality of baffles, and the frame of the second baffle is disposed out of phase with the frame of the first baffle and the frame of the third baffle.

13. The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the noise reduction device further comprises a filter configured to collect foreign substances in the refrigerant introduced through the refrigerant inlet.

14. The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein a filter is disposed in line with the plurality of baffles in the flow direction of the refrigerant inside the housing.

15. The air condition of claim 1 , wherein
the refrigerant flow path comprises a refrigerant pipe connected to the refrigerant inlet and the refrigerant outlet to connect the expansion device to the indoor heat exchanger, and
the holes of the first and second baffles have a diameter which is less than 1.4 times a diameter of the refrigerant pipe and greater than one third times the diameter of the refrigerant pipe.

16. An air conditioner configured to be coupled to a refrigerant flow path, comprising:
a compressor configured to compress a refrigerant flowing in the refrigerant flow path;
an outdoor heat exchanger configured to exchange heat between the refrigerant and outdoor air;
an expansion device configured to expand the refrigerant;
an indoor heat exchanger configured to exchange heat between the refrigerant and indoor air; and
a noise reduction device configured to be coupled to the refrigerant flow path and disposed between the expansion device and the indoor heat exchanger to reduce flow noise of the refrigerant which is moved as a two-phase refrigerant having a gas phase and a liquid phase and flows in the refrigerant flow path from the expansion device to the indoor heat exchanger, the noise reduction device including:
a plurality of baffles includin

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Munsub
• Choi Jaewoo
• Seo Hyeongjoon
• Jung Duhan

Classifications

• F25B2500/12

  Sound · CPC title

• F16L55/033

  Noise absorbers (F16L55/027 takes precedence) · CPC title

• F25B41/40 Primary

  Fluid line arrangements · CPC title

• F24F1/40

  Vibration or noise prevention at outdoor units (for outdoor units compressors F24F1/12) · CPC title

• F24F1/26

  Refrigerant piping · CPC title