MXPA99007972A - Control box mounting for an air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

A control box (28) for an air conditioner (10), which is mounted in an indoor section of the air conditioner. The control box (28) includes a rear wall (44) having two vertical edges and a lower edge, first and second side walls (40, 42) each of which have a rear edge connected to one of the vertical edges of the rear wall and which extend forwardly therefrom. Each of the first and second side walls (40, 42) also has a lower edge. A bottom wall (46) having a rear edge and first and second side edges is connected respectively to the lower edge of the rear wall and the lower edges of the first and second side walls. The air conditioner (10) is provided with a control box receiving structure (34) in the indoor section. This structure includes a rear support, a bottom support, and first and second side supports. The rear, bottom, first and second side supports are configured to cooperate with one another to engage, respectively, the rear wall (44), the bottom wall (46) and the first and second side walls (40, 42) of the control box in a manner to support and affix the control box in the inside section of the air conditioner (10).

Description

ASSEMBLY D? A CONTROL BOX FOR A BLUE CONDITIONER DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to air conditioners and, more particularly, to an electrical control box and the mounting of said control box within an air conditioner. The air conditioner generally comprises an indoor fan or blower, which is activated by a motor to suck the air through an evaporator coil when it is cooled and to direct the cooled air back to the room to be cooled. Said air conditioners also include a cooling coil to dissipate the heat collected by the evaporation coil and a second fan which causes the air flow of the cooling coil to increase the heat dissipation of that coil. A compressor is provided to increase the pressure of the refrigerant which is then supplied to the evaporator coil for evaporation and likewise to cool. Due to the complexity of the part numbers associated with an air conditioner, the assembly of such a device very often includes time-consuming assembly steps that are complicated and require complicated manipulation of tool parts. These processes result in an increase in the cost of the air conditioner due to the increase in manufacturing costs. An important component of an air conditioner is the electrical control box which houses control knobs to control operation, fan speed and temperature. The electrical controls are connected to the fan motors as well as to the compressor and, in addition, are connected to a source of electrical power to the air conditioner. Grounding and other safety requirements must be met. Various arrangements are known for mounting plastic and sheet metal control boxes to the air conditioner units. It is estimated that it is desirable for the assembly of a control box to be as simple as possible. This facilitates not only the installation of the control box at the time of assembly of the air conditioner unit, but also facilitates the removal of the control box for service as necessary during the life of the air conditioner. A control box for an air conditioner, which is mounted in an inner section of the air conditioner - The control box includes a rear wall - having two vertical edges and one lower edge, first and second side walls each which have a trailing edge connected to one of the vertical edges of the rear wall and which extend forward of this. Each of the first and second side walls also have a lower edge. A bottom wall having a trailing edge and first and second side edges are respectively connected to the lower edge of the rear wall and the lower edges of the first and second side walls. The air conditioner is provided with a structure that receives the control box in the interior section. This structure includes a back support, a bottom support, and first and second lateral supports. The rear and bottom supports, and the first and second side supports are configured to cooperate with each other to couple, respectively, the rear wall, the bottom wall and the first and second side walls of the control box in a manner to support and fix the control box in the internal section of the air conditioner. BRIEF DESCRIPTION D? THE DRAWINGS The invention will be better understood and its objectives and advantages will be obvious to those skilled in the art with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of an air conditioner which illustrates the characteristics of this invention; Figure 2 is a top elevation view of the air conditioner of Figure 1 with the upper housing, the front grill and other components removed therefrom; Figure 3 is a perspective view of the air conditioner of Figure 2 illustrating the control box prior to its installation in the air conditioner or after removal thereof; Figure 4 is an enlarged view of the control box and a portion of the air conditioner as indicated in Figure 3; Figure 5 is an elongated side view of the control box and the mounting structure of the inner section; Figure 6 is a view taken along line 6-6 of Figure 5. Initially referring to Figure 1, an air conditioner 10 includes a substantially rectangular housing 12 which includes an imperial housing section 14, an upper housing section 16, and an interior grating section 18. The lower housing section 14 is mounted on a metal base tray 20, and the entire air conditioner is adapted to be placed in a rectangular opening in a wall of outside or in a window frame in a room when it is cooled, with the interior grid section 18 facing towards the inside of the room, as is conventional. Figures 2 and 3 illustrate the air conditioner 10 with the upper housing 16 and the inner grate section 18 removed. One more time as is conventional, the unit comprises an internal coolant towards a heat exchanger or evaporator coil 22 and an evaporator fan 24. The air in the space when being conditioned by the system is sucked by the action of the evaporator fan 24, through air inlet louvers * 26 formed in the inner grid section 18, and directed through the evaporator coil 22 where the air is cooled and then directed back into the space to be cooled through an interior air conditioner discharge assembly forming part of the grid 18. As best seen in Figure 1, the right part of the interior grill 18 is provided with an irregularly shaped region 22 in which the knobs of control 24 for the air conditioner unit 10 is mounted. The control rods 24 are adapted to be fixed to the control axes 26 of a function switch and a thermostat switch for the air conditioner unit, which are mounted inside the control box 28, as best can be done. see in Figure 2.

The details of mounting the thermostat and other components within the control box as well as the wiring associated therewith are not part of the present invention and therefore are not shown in the Figures illustrated. With reference to Figures 2 to 6, the control box 28 comprises a substantially rectangular box having a front section 30 and a rear section 32. As will be appreciated, the rear rear section 32 of the control box is provided with a structure which serves to align and support the control box at the front end of the inner housing 14 of the air conditioner 10 through cooperation with a coupling structure 34. It should be noted that the front and rear sections of the control box are connected to each other through a hinge structure 36 at the lower ends thereof and a pressure latch structure 38 at the upper ends thereof. This structure allows the latch 38 to be released to thereby allow the front section 30 of the control box to pivot about the hinged structure 36 away from the fixed rear section 32 of the control box to allow easy access to the interior of the control box. the control box 28. Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the control box in the position just before coupling, or after decoupling, with the coupling support structure 34. It should be appreciated that Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the control box 28 and the coupling support structure 34 from a rear perspective of the air conditioner unit. Reference will be made to the sides of the control box with respect to the view of the box from the front of the unit and, consequently, the sides of the rear section 32 of the control box have the following reference numbers: wall left 40, right wall 42, rear wall 44, and bottom wall 46. As can be seen by reference to the various figures drawn, the coupling support structure 34 for the control box includes wall sections interconnected and adapted to each other to receive mating wall sections of the control box in an adjoining relationship therewith. The walls of the support structure 34 will be referred to as follows: left wall 48, right wall 50, rear wall 52, and a bottom wall 54. Each of the walls 40, 42, 44, and 46 of the box control 32 is provided with a structure thereon which is adapted to couple the coupling structure on the walls 48, 50, 52 and 54 of the support structure 34. Observing first the left wall 40 to the control box, it will be noted that a rectangular outwardly extending protrusion 56 extends outwardly from the wall to a position a little less than half the way up the wall side. The right side wall 42 is provided with a similar protrusion 58 extending therefrom in a separate location downward from the location of the protrusion 56 on the left wall 40. As best seen in Figure 4, the left wall 48 of the mounting structure 34 and the right wall 50 of the mounting structure 34 are provided with U-shaped grooves 60 and 62, respectively, at their upper ends. The slots 60 and 62 are sized to receive the protuberances 56 and 58 in the corresponding side walls of the control box. It should be noted that the upper ends of each of the slots 60 and 62 are open outwardly at their upper ends thereof to facilitate the reception of the coupling protrusions therein during the installation of the control box. The slots 60 and 62 are dimensioned to receive the protrusions with a tight tolerance fit in order to ensure a rigid connection between the components. The bottom wall 46 of the control box is provided with a downwardly extending protrusion 64, which is adapted to be received in a coupling opening 66 provided in the bottom wall 54 of the support structure 34. rear wall 44 of the control box is provided with an outwardly extending protrusion 68 approximately at this midpoint of its height. The protrusion 68 defines a substantially horizontal upwardly facing surface 70 at the top thereof and an inclined surface 72 extending downward from the horizontal surface towards the surface of the rear wall 44. As best seen in the Figures 4 and 5, the rear wall 52 of the support structure 34 terminates at an upper end 74 which is located below the inclined surface 72 of the protrusion 68 on the rear wall 52 of the control box. Integrally formed on the horizontal surface 74 and extending up therefrom is a latch 76 having a head section defining a surface facing down 78 and an inclined surface 80 on top of the horizontal surface. The inclined surface is at an angle substantially the same as that of the inclined surface 72 of the protuberance 68 of the rear wall 44. The latch 76 has a vertically extended linear section 82 which is adapted to allow the head of the latch to flex towards back when the force is exerted on it either by the protrusion 68 or manually, as you can see. Accordingly, it should be understood that the installation of the control box 28 within the air conditioner unit is achieved by simply sliding the control box down from the position illustrated in Figure 4 to the installed position as illustrated in FIGS. Figures 2, 5 and 6. When in the installed position, each of the alignment structures of the control box described above in the housing 14 will slide easily to engage the coupling structures 34, as described in FIG. detail in the following. As the control box moves down, the inclined surface 72 in the rear wall protrusion 68 will engage the inclined surface 80 on the latch 76 thereby releasing the latch backwards to allow movement of the control box and the protrusion 68 downward to the position illustrated in Figure 5 where the horizontal surface 70 of the protrusion 68 and the horizontally extending surface 78 of the latch is in a latching engagement with one another. In this way installed, the control box is rigidly and fixedly supported inside the air conditioner unit. without any additional bra needed and with a minimum amount of labor required. It should also be appreciated that the alternating location of the protuberances 56 and 58 on the left and right side walls 40 and 42, respectively, further contributes to the stability of the control box installed and supported by the structure described. By locating the protuberances 56 and 58 at the displaced elevations, the box is supported in a manner which resists a pivotal movement from front to back of the control box. The location of the protuberances at the same elevation will create a floating axis which is not desirable. Moreover, with particular reference to Figure 5, it will be appreciated that access to the interior of both the front and rear sections 30 and 32 of the control box can be obtained by releasing the latch 38 that interconnects the control box sections in the upper end and pivoting the front section 30 of the control box forward and away from the rear section fixedly attached around the hinge 36 at the lower end thereof. Finally, it should be appreciated that the removal of the entire assembly from the control box can easily be achieved by flexing the latch 76 backward to uncouple the surfaces 70 and 78 and simply manually pulling the control box vertically upwards out of engagement with the coupling structure 34 and in housing 14.

Claims (7)

1. CLAIMS 1. An air conditioner of the type having an interior section, which comprises a housing, the improvement comprises: a control box for the air conditioner, which includes: a rear wall having two vertical edges and one edge lower, first and second side walls, each of the walls has a rear edge connected to one of the vertical edges of the rear wall and extending forward thereof, each of the first and second side walls have an edge lower; and a bottom wall having a trailing edge and first and second side edges connected to, respectively, the lower edge of the rear wall, and the rear edges of the first and second side walls; a structure for receiving a control box in the interior section comprising: a rear support, a bottom support, and first and second lateral supports, the rear supports, bottom and the first and second side supports are configured to cooperate with each other for coupling, respectively, the rear wall, the bottom wall, and the first and second side walls of the control box in a way to support the control box in the internal section
2. 2. The apparatus in accordance with the claim 1, characterized in that each of the rear supports, the bottom support, and the first and second side supports include a wall section adapted to be in a contiguous relationship with at least a portion of the wall of the control box, that couples each one of the supports.
3. 3. The apparatus in accordance with the claim 2, characterized in that each of the rear wall, the bottom wall, and the first and second side walls are provided with an alignment and retention structure thereon; and wherein each of the wall sections of the rear, bottom and first and second side support is provided with an alignment and retention structure adapted to interact with the alignment and retaining structure of the respective control box wall, the which docks
4. 4. The apparatus in accordance with the claim 3, characterized in that the alignment and retention structure of the first and second side walls comprises a protrusion extending out from each nail of the walls, and the alignment and retention structure that interacts on the first and second lateral supports. they comprise open U-shaped slots at their upper ends, the slots are sized to receive the protuberances therein.
5. 5. The apparatus in accordance with the claim 4, characterized in that the structure of alignment and retention of the first and second side walls and the alignment and retention structure interacting on the first and second supports are located at an elevation in the respective side wall and the lateral support at different elevations. one from the other. The apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the alignment and retaining structure of the rear wall of the control and the rear support of the structure receiving the control box comprises interacting surfaces on the rear wall and the straw rear is adapted to vertically fix the control box with respect to the structure that receives the control box when interacting with each other, the surfaces interact being adapted to be easily uncoupled when applying force to one of the surfaces. The apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the alignment and retaining structure of the bottom wall comprises a protrusion extending from the wall and wherein the alignment and retaining structure of the bottom wall comprises an opening adapted to receive the protuberance therein.