Indoor unit of an air conditioner

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12331940-B2
Application number	US-202318387338-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 6, 2023
Priority date	Mar 7, 2018
Publication date	Jun 17, 2025
Grant date	Jun 17, 2025

Abstract

A front end of a steering grill from which air is discharged protrudes further than the front surface of a door assembly, and the steering grill is steered by a steering assembly, and thus conditioned air may be provided by a directed air movement to a long-distance target region, and since the front end of the steering grill protrudes further than the front surface of the door assembly, the occurrence of flow resistance as a result of a cabinet assembly or the door assembly interfering with the discharged air may be minimized, and the direction of the steering grill may be instantly changed, by means of steering, from any one direction to another among up, down, left, right, upper left, lower left, upper right, or lower right.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An air conditioner comprising:
a casing having a suction inlet and a discharge outlet defined therein communicating an inner space of the casing with an indoor space;
a grille configured to adjust a discharge direction of air discharged to the discharge outlet;
a fan housing located in rear of the grille;
a steering assembly disposed between the fan housing and the grille and configured to tilt the grille,
wherein the steering assembly includes:
a steering base coupled to the fan housing;
a first steering assembly configured to tilt the grille; and
a joint assembly tiltably coupled to each of the steering base and the grille, wherein the joint assembly provides a tilting center,
wherein the joint assembly includes:
a first joint bracket coupled to the grille;
a second joint bracket coupled to the steering base;
a cross axle rotatably coupled to the first joint bracket via a first rotary shaft thereof and rotatably coupled to the second joint bracket via a second rotary shaft thereof,
wherein the first rotary shaft and the second rotary shaft intersect each other,
wherein the first joint bracket rotates in a first direction about the first rotary shaft, and the second joint bracket rotates in a second direction about the second rotary shaft.

2. The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the cross axle coincides with a central axis passing through the tilting center.

3. The air conditioner of claim 2 , wherein the first joint bracket includes:
a first bracket body coupled to the steering base;
a first-first shaft supporter disposed on the first bracket body and protruding toward the second joint bracket; and
a first-second shaft supporter disposed on the first bracket body, protruding toward the second joint bracket, and disposed to face the first-first shaft supporter.

4. The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the second joint bracket includes:
a second bracket body coupled to the grille;
a second-first shaft supporter disposed on the second bracket body and protruding toward the first joint bracket; and
a second-second shaft supporter disposed on the second bracket body, protruding toward the first joint bracket, and disposed to face the second-first shaft supporter.

5. The air conditioner of claim 4 , wherein the cross axle includes:
a crossbody formed in a cross shape;
a first-first rotary shaft disposed at one side in the second direction of the crossbody and rotatably coupled to the first-first shaft support;
a first-second rotary shaft disposed at the other side opposite to the one side in the second direction of the crossbody, and rotatably coupled to the first-second shaft support;
a second-first rotary shaft disposed at one side in the first direction of the crossbody and rotatably coupled to the second-first shaft support; and
a second-second rotary shaft disposed at the other side opposite to the one side in the first direction of the crossbody, and rotatably coupled to the second-second shaft support.

6. The air conditioner of claim 5 , wherein the joint assembly further includes:
a first-first shaft cap inserted into the first-first shaft supporter and coupled to the first-first rotary shaft;
a first-second shaft cap inserted into the first-second shaft supporter and coupled to the first-second rotary shaft;
a second-first shaft cap inserted into the second-first shaft supporter and coupled to the second-first rotary shaft; and
a second-second shaft cap inserted into the second-second shaft supporter and coupled to the second-second rotary shaft.

7. The air conditioner of claim 6 , wherein a direction in which the first-second shaft cap is coupled to the first-second rotary shaft is opposite to a direction in which the first-first shaft cap is coupled to the first-first rotary shaft,
wherein a direction in which the second-second shaft cap is coupled to the second-second rotary shaft is opposite to a direction in which the second-first shaft cap is coupled to the second-first rotary shaft.

8. The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the steering base includes:
a base body coupled to the fan housing; and
a first coupling boss formed on a front surface of the base body, wherein the first joint bracket is coupled to the first coupling boss,
wherein a coupling boss is formed on a back surface of the grille, wherein the coupling boss is inserted into a coupling groove of the second joint bracket to fix grille and the second joint bracket to each other.

9. The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the casing includes a door having the discharge outlet defined therein, and a cabinet having the suction inlet defined therein,
wherein in a projection state in which a front surface of the grille protrudes in a frontward direction beyond a front surface of the door, the grille is tilted,
wherein in the projection state, the joint assembly is positioned in the discharge outlet in a front-back direction.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Mun Seongkuk
• Bae Junseok
• Lee Eunsun
• Kim Kangyoung
• Kim Hakjae
• Lee Taeyun

Classifications

• F24F2013/146

  with springs · CPC title

• F24F2013/1446

  with gearings · CPC title

• F24F13/1426

  characterised by actuating means · CPC title

• F24F13/082

  Grilles, registers or guards · CPC title

• F24F1/0029

  Axial fans · CPC title