HEAT EXCHANGER AND AIR CONDITIONER

Abstract

Provided are a heat exchanger and an air conditioner each of which can achieve an appropriate positional relationship between headers of the heat exchanger which headers are placed on one end sides of a plurality of heat-exchange units. The heat exchanger includes a plurality of heat-exchange units including a plurality of heat transfer pipes arranged at multiple stages in a column direction and that refrigerant paths formed therein. The plurality of heat-exchange units includes respective first headers to which one ends of the plurality of heat transfer pipes arranged in the column direction are connected. The respective first headers, are placed adjacent to each other in a direction perpendicular to the column direction. The heat exchanger also includes a fitting member configured to be fitted into at least either upper ends or lower ends of the first headers placed adjacent to each other.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a heat exchanger and an air conditioner.

BACKGROUND ART

There has been known an air conditioner for performing air conditioning inside a building. PTL 1 discloses an outdoor unit constituting this type of air conditioner. The outdoor unit of PTL 1 includes a heat exchanger in which two heat-exchange units each including a plurality of heat transfer pipes and radiation fins fixed to the heat transfer pipes are arranged in a direction where air flows. The heat exchanger is bent in an L-shape. One end portion of each of the heat-exchange units is provided with a header connected to the heat transfer pipes. The other end portion of each of the heat-exchange units is provided with a coupling header configured to couple the heat transfer pipes of the each of the heat-exchange units to each other.

Generally, in a case where the heat exchanger bent into an L-shape as disclosed in PTL 1 is formed, two flat heat-exchange units each including the heat transfer pipes and the radiation fins conned to each other by welding or the like are manufactured first. Subsequently, a header is connected to one end portion of each of the two heat-exchange units, and the other end portions of the two heat-exchange units are connected to each other via a coupling header.

Finally, the two heat-exchange units are put on top of each other and are bent.

CITATION LIST

Patent Literature

PTL 1: WO 2016/052299 A1

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Technical Problem

In a case where the heat exchanger bent into an L-shape is formed by bending the two flat heat-exchange units put on top of each other as such, a relative positional relationship between the headers connected to respective one end portions of the two heat-exchange units may become different from a designed positional relationship. Even in a case where two flat heat-exchange units are put on top of each other without bending, the relative positional relationship between the headers may become different from the designed positional relationship due to a dimensional tolerance of each component, an assembly error or the like at the time when a large number of heat transfer pipes are inserted into the headers, or the like. In a case where the heat exchanger is assembled to a frame body of the outdoor unit and each of the headers is welded to pipes of a refrigerant circuit with the relative positional relationship between the headers is different from the designed positional relationship, it is necessary to adjust a connection portion between each of the headers and the refrigerant circuit by adding force to the heat-exchange units so that the distance between the headers is consistent with the designed positional relationship, which makes a welding operation difficult.

In view of the above problem, an object of the present invention is to provide a heat exchanger and an air conditioner each of which can achieve an appropriate positional relationship between headers of the heat exchanger which headers are arranged on one end sides of a plurality of heat-exchange units.

Solution to Problem

One aspect of the present invention is a heat exchanger including: a plurality of heat-exchange units each including a plurality of heat transfer pipes arranged at multiple stages in a column direction and that refrigerant paths formed therein, the plurality of heat-exchange units including respective first headers to which one ends of the plurality of heat transfer pipes arranged in the column direction are connected, the respective first headers being placed adjacent to each other in a direction perpendicular to the column direction; and a fitting member configured to be fitted into at least either upper ends or lower ends of the first headers placed adjacent to each other.

Another aspect of the present invention is an air conditioner including an outdoor unit including a frame body. The outdoor unit includes a fixing member configured to fix the heat exchanger according to the one aspect of the present invention to the frame body, and the heat exchanger is fixed to the frame body via the fitting member.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

With the present invention, it is possible to provide a heat exchanger and an air conditioner each of which can achieve an appropriate positional relationship between headers of the heat exchanger which headers are placed on one end sides of a plurality of heat-exchange unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a refrigerant circuit diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an appearance perspective view of an outdoor unit of the air conditioner according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an appearance perspective view illustrating a state inside the outdoor unit of the air conditioner according to the embodiment of the present invention from its front side;

FIG. 4 is an appearance perspective view illustrating a state inside the outdoor unit of the air conditioner according to the embodiment of the present invention from its rear side;

FIG. 5 is an appearance perspective view of an outdoor heat exchanger according to the embodiment of the present invention before bending;

FIG. 6 is an appearance perspective view of the outdoor heat exchanger according to the embodiment of the present invention after bending;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view illustrating exemplary states of a distortion caused in a first heat-exchange unit and a second heat-exchange unit at the time when bending is performed;

FIG. 8 is an appearance perspective view illustrating a state where a fitting member is attached to the outdoor heat exchanger according to the embodiment of the present invention, (a) is also a general perspective view illustrating the outdoor heat exchanger to which the fitting member is attached, (b) is also a partial enlarged view illustrating, in an enlarged manner, a state where a lower fitting member is attached to respective lower portions of a liquid-side header and a gas-side header;

FIG. 9 is an appearance perspective view of the fitting member of the outdoor heat exchanger according to the embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a first fixation metal fitting and a second fixation metal fitting are attached to the outdoor heat exchanger according to the embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The following will describe a heat exchanger and an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention in detail with reference to the drawing. FIG. 1 is a refrigerant circuit diagram of an air conditioner 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an appearance perspective view of an outdoor unit 11 of the air conditioner 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The air conditioner 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The air conditioner 1 can perform a heating operation and a cooling operation and includes a refrigerant circuit 2 in which an indoor unit 5 placed in a room is connected to an outdoor unit 11 installed outdoors via refrigerant pipes 3. The outdoor unit 11 includes an outdoor heat exchanger 13, an outdoor air-sending blower 16 configured to send external air to the air outdoor heat exchanger 13, a compressor 12, an accumulator 19, a four-way valve 15, and an outdoor-unit-side expansion valve 14. The outdoor air-sending blower 16 is driven by a fan motor. The indoor unit 5 includes an indoor heat exchanger 7, and an air-sending blower 9 configured to send indoor air to the indoor heat exchanger 7.

The refrigerant circuit 2 is configured such that the compressor 12, the four-way valve 15, the outdoor heat exchanger 13, the outdoor-unit-side expansion valve 14, the indoor heat exchanger 7, and the accumulator 19 are connected via the refrigerant pipes 3. A refrigerant pipe 3 connected to the four-way valve 15 and the outdoor heat exchanger 13 is a gas-side refrigerant pipe 18. A refrigerant pipe 3 connecting the outdoor heat exchanger 13 to the outdoor-unit-side expansion valve 14 is a liquid-side refrigerant pipe 17. The outdoor heat exchanger 13 is a heat exchanger in the present invention.

Although details are described later, in the present embodiment, the outdoor heat exchanger 13 includes a liquid-side header 23, a gas-side header 24, and a return header 25. The liquid-side header 23 is provided for one end side of a first heat-exchange unit 21 as a first header. The gas-side header 24 is provided for one end side of a second heat-exchange unit 22 as a first header. The return header 25 is provided for the other end side as a second header. The outdoor heat exchanger 13 in the embodiment of the present invention is formed in an L-shape as viewed from above. A longitudinal portion of the L-shape is placed at a position facing a back surface of a frame body, and a short portion of the L-shape is placed at a position facing a lateral surface of the frame body.

In FIG. 1, a solid-line arrow indicates the flow of refrigerant in the refrigerant pipes 3 during the cooling operation, and a broken-line arrow indicates the flow of the refrigerant in the refrigerant pipe 3 during the heating operation. During the cooling operation, the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 12 into a gas phase state with elevated temperature and elevated pressure flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 13 via the four-way valve 15 and the gas-side refrigerant pipe 18. The refrigerant having the gas phase state with elevated temperature and elevated pressure and flowing into the outdoor heat exchanger 13 exchanges heat with external air sent by the outdoor air-sending blower 16 while the refrigerant is flowing through the outdoor heat exchanger 13, so that the refrigerant condenses and turns into refrigerant in a liquid phase state, and the refrigerant in the liquid phase state flows out of the outdoor heat exchanger 13. The refrigerant in the liquid phase state thus flowing out of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 is reduced in pressure when the refrigerant passes through the outdoor-unit-side expansion valve 14 via the liquid-side refrigerant pipe 17, so that the refrigerant is turned into a gas-liquid two-phase state. The refrigerant thus reduced in pressure and turning into the gas-liquid two-phase state flows into the indoor heat exchanger 7. The refrigerant exchanges heat with indoor air sent air by the air-sending blower 9 while the refrigerant is flowing through the indoor heat exchanger 7, so that the refrigerant evaporates and turns into refrigerant in a gas phase state, and the refrigerant in the gas phase state flows out of the indoor heat exchanger 7. The refrigerant in the gas phase state thus flowing out of the indoor heat exchanger 7 returns to the compressor 12 via the accumulator 19 and is compressed by the compressor 12, so that the refrigerant turns into a gas phase state with elevated temperature and elevated pressure again.

During the heating operation, the refrigerant flows in a reverse manner to the cooling operation by the four-way valve 15. During the heating operation, the refrigerant is compressed by the compressor 12 to turn into a gas phase state with elevated temperature and elevated pressure, and the refrigerant flows into the indoor heat exchanger 7. The refrigerant having the gas phase state with elevated temperature and elevated pressure and flowing into the indoor heat exchanger 7 exchanges heat with indoor air sent air by the air-sending blower 9 while the refrigerant is flowing through the indoor heat exchanger 7, so that the refrigerant dissipates heat and turns into refrigerant in a liquid phase state, and the refrigerant in the liquid phase state flows out of the indoor heat exchanger 7. The indoor air exchanging heat with the refrigerant having elevated temperature and elevated pressure and passing through the indoor heat exchanger 7 is warmed. The refrigerant in the liquid phase state thus passing through the indoor heat exchanger 7 is reduced in pressure to turn into a gas-liquid two-phase state at the time when the refrigerant passes through the outdoor-unit-side expansion valve 14. The refrigerant thus reduced in pressure and turning into the gas-liquid two-phase state flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 13 via the liquid-side refrigerant pipe 17. The refrigerant flowing through the outdoor heat exchanger 13 exchanges heat with external air sent air by the outdoor air-sending blower 16 while the refrigerant is flowing through the outdoor heat exchanger 13, so that the refrigerant evaporates and turns into refrigerant in a gas state. The refrigerant in the gas state flows out of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 and returns to the compressor 12 via the gas-side refrigerant pipe 18 and the accumulator 19 so as to be compressed by the compressor 12, so that the refrigerant turns into a gas phase state with elevated temperature and elevated pressure.

Next will be described the outdoor unit 11 in the embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIG. 2. The outdoor unit 11 includes a box-shaped frame body 6. That is, like the outdoor unit 11 illustrated in FIG. 2, a vertical direction (the up-down direction in the figure) when the outdoor unit 11 is installed on a horizontal surface is defined as height, and a right-left direction of the outdoor unit 11 in FIG. 2 as viewed from a front plate 42 (described later) is defined as width.

The outdoor unit will be described below with reference to the outdoor unit 11 having a shape illustrated in FIG. 2 as an example. However, the outdoor unit 11 is not limited to the shape illustrated in FIG. 2 or the like, and the shape (the aspect ratio) of the outdoor unit 11 can be freely determined depending on dimensions of various devices attached inside the frame body 6 or the number of the various devices.

Note that, in the following description, in terms of the right, left, up, and down, the height direction is along a direction indicated by arrows of UP and DOWN in FIG. 2, and the width direction is along a direction indicated by arrows of RIGHT and LEFT in FIG. 2. As a direction perpendicular to the up-down direction and the right-left direction, the front surface side of the plane of paper of FIG. 2 is referred to as a front side, and its back side is referred to as a rear side. This also applies to the drawings following FIG. 2.

The frame body 6 includes six surfaces including a top plate 40 located on the upper side, a baseplate 41 on which the compressor 12, the outdoor heat exchanger 13, and the like are placed, the front plate 42 located on the front side, a back plate 43 located on the rear side opposite to the front plate 42, a left surface plate 44 located on the left side of the front plate 42, and a right surface plate 45 located on the right side of the front plate 42. The back plate 43 and the left surface plate 44 include respective intake ports (not illustrated) The outdoor heat exchanger 13 in an L-shape is placed to face the intake ports formed on the back plate 43 and the left surface plate 44.

External air taken via the intake ports by rotation of the outdoor air-sending blower 16 flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 13 as indicated by an arrow on the rear side or the left side of the frame body 6. The front plate 42 of the frame body 6 includes a blowoff port 46, and a fan guard 47 is attached to the blowoff port 46. Air exchanging heat with the refrigerant in the outdoor heat exchanger 13 blows out forward of the frame body 6 as indicated by an arrow in FIG. 2 from the blowoff port 46 by the rotation of the outdoor air-sending blower 16.

Next will be described the inside of the outdoor unit 11 with reference to FIGS. 3, 4. FIG. 3 is an appearance perspective view of a state inside the outdoor unit 11 of the air conditioner 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the front side. FIG. 4 is an appearance perspective view of a state inside the outdoor unit 11 of the air conditioner 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the rear side.

A partition plate 50 partitioning the inside of the frame body 6 in the right-left direction is placed inside the frame body 6 of the outdoor unit 11. A front end portion of the partition plate 50 in the front-rear direction is connected to an inner surface of the front plate 42. In the meantime, a rear end portion of the partition plate 50 in the front-rear direction is placed such that a gap is formed between the rear end portion and the inner surface of the back plate 43 such that a longitudinal portion of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 (described later) can be placed in the gap. The inside of the frame body 6 is partitioned by the partition plate 50 into a blower room 51 on the left side and a machine room 52 on the right side.

The outdoor heat exchanger 13 and the outdoor air-sending blower 16 are placed in the blower room 51. As mentioned earlier, in the present embodiment, the longitudinal portion of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 formed in an L-shape as viewed from above is placed to face the back plate 43 of the frame body 6. Accordingly, the longitudinal portion of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 is placed in the gap formed between the rear end portion of the partition plate 50 and the inner surface of the back plate 43. Accordingly, the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 provided for an end portion of the longitudinal portion of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 are placed to face the machine room 52.

A short portion of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 is placed to face the left surface plate 44 of the frame body 6. Accordingly, the return header 25 provided for an end portion on the short side of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 is placed to face the front plate 42.

The outdoor air-sending blower 16 is placed between the longitudinal portion of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 and the front plate 42 in the blower room 51 and forward of the outdoor heat exchanger 13. Accordingly, as described above, the external air taken from the intake ports provided on the rear side and the left side of the frame body 6 by the rotation of the outdoor air-sending blower 16 exchanges heat with the refrigerant in the outdoor heat exchanger 13 and is blown out from the blowoff port 46 on the front side.

The outdoor-unit-side expansion valve 14, the accumulator 19, the compressor 12, and the four-way valve 15 are placed in the machine room 52. As illustrated in FIG. 4, a plurality of heat-exchange liquid pipes 53 is connected to the liquid-side header 23 of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 placed to face the machine room 52. The liquid-side refrigerant pipe 17 is connected to the heat-exchange liquid pipes 53 via a liquid-side junction 57. That is, one end of the liquid-side refrigerant pipe 17 is connected to each of the heat-exchange liquid pipes 53 via the liquid-side junction 57, and the other end of the liquid-side refrigerant pipe 17 is connected to the outdoor-unit-side expansion valve 14.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the liquid-side junction 57 is constituted by liquid branch pipes 57a, a flow divider 57b, and a liquid main pipe 57c. The liquid branch pipes 57a are connected to respective heat-exchange liquid pipes 53. Such a plurality of liquid branch pipes 57a is gathered in the flow divider 57b. One end of the liquid main pipe 57c is connected to the flow divider 57b, and the other end thereof is connected to the liquid-side refrigerant pipe 17. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the liquid main pipe 57c extends from the flow divider 57b to avoid the accumulator 19 and is led toward the front side to be connected to the liquid-side refrigerant pipe 17 via a liquid-side connector 55 as illustrated in FIG. 3.

A heat-exchange gas pipe 54 is connected to the gas-side header 24. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the gas-side refrigerant pipe 18 is connected to the heat-exchange gas pipe 54 via a gas-side junction 58. The gas-side junction 58 is connected to the gas-side refrigerant pipe 18 via a gas-side connector 56. That is, one end of the gas-side refrigerant pipe 18 is connected to the heat-exchange gas pipe 54 via the gas-side junction 58, and the four-way valve 15 is connected to the other end of the gas-side refrigerant pipe 18.

As will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. 8, a fitting member 30 to correct the positions of the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 is attached to the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 in the embodiment of the present invention. An upper fitting member 31 to be fitted into respective upper ends of the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 is placed on the upper ends of the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24. In addition, a lower fitting member 32 to be fitted into respective lower ends of the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 is placed on the lower ends of the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, a first fixation metal fitting 60 is provided over the outdoor heat exchanger 13 in the up-down direction. An upper end of the first fixation metal fitting 60 is placed to cover the top surface of the upper fitting member 31. In the meantime, a lower end of the first fixation metal fitting 60 is placed below the lower fitting member 32 and fixed to the baseplate 41 of the machine room 52. Accordingly, the fitting member 30 (the upper fitting member 31, the lower fitting member 32) is not observable in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4.

Besides, a second fixation metal fitting 61 having a plate shape is provided over the outdoor heat exchanger 13 in the up-down direction. One end of the second fixation metal fitting 61 is fixed to the partition plate 50 at a position near the arrangement position of the upper fitting member 31. In the meantime, the other end of the second fixation metal fitting 61 is fixed to the baseplate 41 of the machine room 52.

The upper end and the lower end of the first fixation metal fitting 60 are fixed to the second fixation metal fitting 61, so that the outdoor heat exchanger 13 is fixed to the frame body 6. As described above, the first fixation metal fitting 60 is placed to sandwich the upper fitting member 31 and the lower fitting member 32. This prevents the upper fitting member 31 and the lower fitting member 32 from being removed from the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24, so that the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 do not directly come into contact with a portion of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 which portion is made of an iron material.

Note that the first fixation metal fitting 60 and the second fixation metal fitting 61 are made of an aluminum material (aluminum alloy), for example. Since the first fixation metal fitting 60 and the second fixation metal fitting 61 are made of an aluminum material as such, it is possible to prevent electrical pitting even if these fixation metal fittings make contact with the outdoor heat exchanger 13 due to vibration, falling, or the like, for example.

Note that the first fixation metal fitting 60 and the second fixation metal fitting 61 are fixing members in the present invention. Although details are described later, the upper fitting member 31 and the lower fitting member 32 are made of a material having an insulating property.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3, 4, the outdoor heat exchanger 13 includes the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 as two heat-exchange units in parallel with each other. Each of the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 includes a plurality of heat transfer pipes 26, and a plurality of fins 27 (only partially illustrated in FIG. 3 and its subsequent drawings). The plurality of heat transfer pipes 26 is placed at multiple stages in a column direction along the up-down direction and includes refrigerant paths formed therein. The plurality of fins 27 defines a plurality of ventilation paths through which air flows between the heat transfer pipes 26 adjacent to each other in the column direction.

Each of the heat transfer pipes 26 is a flat pipe including a plurality of refrigerant paths formed therein. The first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 are placed in a row direction along the front-rear direction with the first heat-exchange unit 21 being on the rear side and the second heat-exchange unit 22 being on the front side when they are placed inside the outdoor unit 11.

As illustrated in FIG. 5 described later, one end side of the first heat-exchange unit 21 is provided with the liquid-side header 23 as the first header, and one end of each of the heat transfer pipes 26 of the first heat-exchange unit 21 is connected to the liquid-side header 23. As described above, one end of each of the plurality of heat-exchange liquid pipes 53 is connected to the liquid-side header 23, In the meantime, one end side of the second heat-exchange unit 22 is provided with the gas-side header 24 as the first header, and one end of each of the heat transfer pipes 26 of the second heat-exchange unit 22 is connected to the gas-side header 24. As described above, one end of a plurality of heat-exchange gas pipes 54 is connected to the gas-side header 24. Since the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 are placed in the row direction (the front-rear direction), the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 are placed adjacent to each other in the front-rear direction.

The other end sides of the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 are provided with the return header 25 as the second header. The other end of each of the heat transfer pipes 26 of the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the other end of each of the heat transfer pipes 26 of the second heat-exchange unit 22 are connected to the return header 25. The heat transfer pipes 26, the fins 27, the liquid-side header 23, the gas-side header 24, and the return header 25 constituting the outdoor heat exchanger 13 are made of aluminum or aluminum alloy.

Next will be described the procedure of the manufacture of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 in the embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings, and the fitting member 30 will be also described. FIG. 5 is an appearance perspective view of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 according to the embodiment of the present invention before the outdoor heat exchanger 13 is bent in an L-shape. FIG. 6 is an appearance perspective view of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 according to the embodiment of the present invention after the outdoor heat exchanger 13 is bent.

First, members constituting the outdoor heat exchanger 13 such as the heat transfer pipes 26, the fins 27, the liquid-side header 23, the gas-side header 24, the return header 25, the heat-exchange liquid pipes 53, and the heat-exchange gas pipe 54 are assembled. A wax layer (a clad layer) is provided on the surface of each of the members, and the members are heated after assembling to melt the wax layers, so that the members are joined to each other.

In this state, the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 are not bent and therefore remain linear as illustrated in FIG. 5. The first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 have the same length in the column direction (the same height in the up-down direction) but have different lengths in the right-left direction.

The reason why the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 have different lengths in the right-left direction is because the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 are placed at the same position at the time when bending (described lager) is performed. In the embodiment of the present invention, the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 are bent such that the return header 25 faces the front surface (the front side) of the frame body 6 as illustrated in FIG. 3, and therefore, the length, in the right-left direction, of the second heat-exchange unit 22 placed inward of the first heat-exchange unit 21 after bending is shorter than the length of the first heat-exchange unit 21 in the right-left direction.

The other ends of the heat transfer pipes 26 of each of the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 re connected to the return header 25. That is, the other ends of the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 are fixed to each other by the return header 25. In the meantime, the liquid-side header 23 is connected to the one end of the first heat-exchange unit 21, and the gas-side header 24 is connected to the one end of the second heat-exchange unit 22, but those one ends are not fixed to each other.

Then, the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 in a flat state as illustrated in FIG. 5 are bent between one end side provided with the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 and the other end side provided with the return header 25. As a result, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the outdoor heat exchanger 13 is formed in an L-shape as viewed from above. That is, one end side of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 which one end side is provided with the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 is a longitudinal portion of the L-shape, and the other end side thereof provided with the return header 25 is a short portion of the L-shape.

In a case where bending is performed with two flat heat-exchange units, i.e., the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 being put on top of each other, the other end sides of the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 are connected to each other via the return header 25. Accordingly, the relative position between the other end sides of the flat first heat-exchange unit 21 and the flat second heat-exchange unit 22 is less likely to change before and after the bending.

In the meantime, the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 are separately connected to the one end side of the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the one end side of the second heat-exchange unit 22, and therefore, a distortion due to the bending may occur in the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22. The distortion caused by the bending may be in states illustrated in FIG. 7, for example.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view illustrating exemplary states of the distortion caused in the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 at the time when the bending is performed. In FIG. 7A to FIG. 7D, a heat-exchange unit on the right side is the heat-exchange unit 21, a heat-exchange unit on the left side is the second heat-exchange unit 22, and the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 are viewed from a side (the right side) where the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 are provided.

Note that, originally, in the outdoor heat exchanger 13 subjected to the bending, when the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 are viewed in a direction as illustrated in FIG. 7, the short portion of the bent L-shape is observable. However, the short portion is omitted herein. In addition, the heat-exchange liquid pipe 53 and the heat-exchange gas pipe 54 are also omitted.

First, FIG. 7A illustrates a state where the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 do not have any distortion. If no distortion occurs at the time when the bending is performed on the outdoor heat exchanger 13, the relative positional relationship between the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 achieves a generally designed dimension in terms of the distance between the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 in the front-rear direction, as illustrated in FIG. 7A. Besides, the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 are also placed at generally the same height in the up-down direction. Note that, although not illustrated in FIG. 7, the positional relationship between the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 in the right-left direction also achieves a generally designed positional relationship.

Here, the “distortion” refers to a “distortion” to be caused due to the other end of the first heat-exchange unit 21 being fixed to the other end of the second heat-exchange unit 22 by the return header 25, as described above.

Accordingly, there might be such a possibility that the liquid-side header 23 may be misaligned from the gas-side header 24 in the right-left direction at the time when the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 are bent, for example, but this is not included in the “distortion” as used herein.

In the meantime, FIGS. 7B to 7D illustrate cases where a distortion occurs in the first heat-exchange unit 21 or the second heat-exchange unit 22 at the time when the bending is performed on the outdoor heat exchanger 13. In FIG. 7B, the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 are misaligned from each other in the up-down direction. In the meantime, in FIG. 7C, the distance between the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 is larger on the lower side than on the upper side. In FIG. 7D, the distance between the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 is large in comparison with FIG. 7A illustrating a normal case.

The misalignment between the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 as illustrated in FIGS. 7B to 7D is caused due to the following factors. That is, the other ends of the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 are connected to each other by the return header 25, and the heat transfer pipes 26 are flat pipes wide in the bending direction. Because of this, when the bending is performed with the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 being put on top of each other, a distortion can occur. Accordingly, the relative positional relationship between the liquid-side header 23 of the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the gas-side header 24 of the second heat-exchange unit 22 may become different from a designed positional relationship.

There is also such a possibility that the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 are misaligned due to a low accuracy of the bending. However, even if the bending is performed accurately, the relative positional relationship between the liquid-side header 23 of the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the gas-side header 24 of the second heat-exchange unit 22 may become different from a designed positional relationship due to a dimensional tolerance of each component constituting the outdoor heat exchanger 13, an assembly error caused at the time when multiple heat transfer pipes 26 are inserted into the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24, or the like. Thus, in a case where the outdoor heat exchanger 13 is connected to the liquid-side refrigerant pipe 17 and the gas-side refrigerant pipe 18 and assembled to the frame body 6 of the outdoor unit 11 while the relative positional relationship between the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 remains different from the designed positional relationship, the following problem occurs.

That is, the following deals with a case where the heat-exchange liquid pipes 53 (the liquid-side junction 57) connected to the liquid-side header 23 are connected to the liquid-side refrigerant pipe 17 of the refrigerant circuit 2, or a case where the heat-exchange gas pipe 54 (the gas-side junction unit 58) connected to the gas-side header 24 is connected to the gas-side refrigerant pipe 18 of the refrigerant circuit 2. In these cases, when the distance between the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 is different from the designed positional relationship, it is necessary for an operator to add force to a connection portion between those pipes to adjust their positions.

Particularly, the heat-exchange gas pipe 54 and the gas-side refrigerant pipe 18 are rigid due to their pipe diameters being larger than the heat-exchange liquid pipe 53 and the liquid-side refrigerant pipe 17. Accordingly, it is necessary to apply a large force to adjust the connection portion, and it is not easy to perform a connecting operation such as welding in addition to that.

It is difficult to perform a welding operation in this way, and welding is performed while position alignment is performed with a force. This might cause an excessive stress to be applied to some pipes after the welding. Even after the welding, an excessive force is kept applied, which may cause such a problem that a portion of a pipe to which portion the stress is applied might crack in response to an impact being applied thereto during transportation or the like, for example. That is, an impact to the portion to which an excessive stress is applied or a decrease in strength due to stress to a pipe causes such a problem.

In view of this, it is desired to improve difficulty in the connection operation such as welding or prevent breakage of a pipe due to an excessive stress, the difficulty or the breakage being caused when the relative positional relationship between the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 is different from the designed positional relationship. On this account, the outdoor unit 11 in the embodiment of the present invention employs the following solution.

That is, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the fitting member 30 to correct the positions of the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 is then attached to the outdoor heat exchanger 13 subjected to the bending.

FIG. 8 is an appearance perspective view illustrating a state where the fitting member 30 is attached to the outdoor heat exchanger 13. FIG. 8 includes FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B, and FIG. 8A is a general perspective view of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 and illustrates a state where the fitting member 30 including the upper fitting member 31 and the lower fitting member 32 is attached. FIG. 8B is a partial enlarged view illustrating a state where the lower fitting member 32 is attached to respective lower sides of the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24.

As illustrated in FIG. 8A, the upper fitting member 31 is attached to the upper ends of the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24. The lower fitting member 32 is attached to the lower ends of the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24.

Note that, in the present embodiment, the upper fitting member 31 and the lower fitting member 32 are formed in mirror symmetry. In view of this, in the following description, the upper fitting member 31 and the lower fitting member 32 are referred to as the “fitting member 30” appropriately when a configuration common to both is described. In other cases, the lower fitting member 32 is described as an example, and detailed descriptions of the upper fitting member 31 are omitted.

As illustrated in FIG. 8A, the upper fitting member 31 is attached to the upper end of the liquid-side header 23 of the first heat-exchange unit 21 subjected to the bending and the upper end of the gas-side header 24 of the second heat-exchange unit 22 subjected to the bending. In addition, the lower fitting member 32 is attached to the lower end of the liquid-side header 23 of the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the lower end of the gas-side header 24 of the second heat-exchange unit 22. These fitting members 30 are used to correct misalignment of the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 from the designed positional relationship which misalignment is caused by a distortion due to the bending, more specifically, misalignment between the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24.

The fitting members 30 are fitted into the upper ends and the lower ends of the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24. As a specific example, as illustrated in FIG. 8B, recessed portions (a first fitting portion 35 and a second fitting portion 36 (described later)) formed in the lower fitting member 32 are fitted into the lower ends of the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24. By fitting the fitting members 30 into the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24, the misalignment of the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 can be corrected to place the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 at respective designed positions, so that the relative positional relationship between the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 becomes the designed positional relationship.

Next will be described the fitting member 30 more specifically. Note that the lower fitting member 32 is taken as an example as described above. FIG. 9 is an appearance perspective view illustrating the fitting member 30 (the lower fitting member 32) of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, the lower fitting member 32 is formed in a recessed shape so that the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 can be fitted into the lower fitting member 32. That is, the lower fitting member 32 includes the first fitting portion 35 into which the lower end of the liquid-side header 23 is inserted and the second fitting portion 36 into which the lower end of the gas-side header 24 is inserted. More specifically, the first fitting portion 35 has an inner peripheral shape along the outer peripheral shape of the liquid-side header 23, and the second fitting portion 36 has an inner peripheral shape along the Outer peripheral shape of the gas-side header 24.

In a case where the lower fitting member 32 is attached to the lower ends of the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24, the first fitting portion 35 and the second fitting portion 36 are maintained such that the distance between lower end portions of the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 in the front-rear direction achieves a designed positional relationship. In addition, the lower end portions of the lower end part of liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 are placed at the same position in the up-down direction. Accordingly, the lower fitting member 32 includes the same number of fitting portions as the number of headers to be fitted into the lower fitting member 32. Note that the first fitting portion 35 is formed such that the dimension and the shape thereof are slightly smaller than the dimension and the shape of the outer periphery of the lower end portion of the liquid-side header 23, and the first fitting portion 35 elastically deforms to make close contact with the lower end portion of the liquid-side header 23. The second fitting portion 36 is formed such that the dimension and the shape thereof are slightly smaller than the dimension and the shape of the outer periphery of the lower end portion of the gas-side header 24, and the second fitting portion 36 elastically deforms to make close contact with the lower end portion of the gas-side header 24. Since the first fitting portion 35 and the second fitting portion 36 has such a shape, the lower fitting member 32 can hardly fall off the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24.

The second fitting portion 36 includes a protrusion 37 configured to press the gas-side header 24 toward the liquid-side header 23 when the lower fitting member 32 is attached to the lower ends of the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24. The gas-side header 24 fitted in the second fitting portion 36 is pressed toward the liquid-side header 23 by the protrusion 37. Accordingly, in a case where the lower end portion of the liquid-side header 23 and the lower end portion of the gas-side header 24 are misaligned to be away from each other in the front-rear direction as illustrated in FIG. 7C or FIG. 7D, the protrusion 37 can correct this misalignment.

Besides, a restriction portion 38 is provided between the first fitting portion 35 and the second fitting portion 36. The restriction portion 38 makes contact with the gas-side header 24 to restrict the gas-side header 24 from moving toward the liquid-side header 23 by the function of the protrusion 37 more than required. Hereby, it is possible to maintain the distance between the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 to be a distance originally designed and to restrain the distance therebetween from becoming smaller than the distance originally designed. The restriction portion 38 also prevents the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 from getting too close to each other, thereby preventing the fins 27 of the first heat-exchange unit 21 from making contact with the fins 27 of the second heat-exchange unit 22. Accordingly, the restriction portion 38 allows the first fitting portion 35 and the second fitting portion 36 to maintain the distance between a plurality of first headers (the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24) at a predetermined dimension.

Note that, in the present embodiment, as described above, the first fitting portion 35 and the second fitting portion 36 of the lower fitting member 32 have a recessed shape but may be formed in a through-hole shape instead of the recessed shape. The protrusion 37 may be provided for the first fitting portion 35 instead of the second fitting portion 36.

The fitting member 30 is made of an insulation material, As described above, the outdoor heat exchanger 13 is made of aluminum or aluminum alloy. The first fixation metal fitting 60 and the second fixation metal fitting 61 used to fix the outdoor heat exchanger 13 to the frame body 6 are also made of an aluminum material (aluminum alloy). Note that, in a case where the first fixation metal fitting 60 and the second fixation metal fitting 61 are made of a ferrous material, for example, when the outdoor heat exchanger 13 is fixed to the frame body 6 with the outdoor heat exchanger 13 being sandwiched between the first fixation metal fitting 60 and the second fixation metal fitting 61 directly in contact therewith, electrical pitting is caused in the outdoor heat exchanger 13.

In view of this, in the air conditioner 1 in the embodiment of the present invention, in order that the outdoor heat exchanger 13 is fixed to the frame body 6, the fitting member 30 made of an insulation material is placed between the outdoor heat exchanger 13 and each of the first fixation metal fitting 60 and the second fixation metal fitting 61 used to fix the outdoor heat exchanger 13 to the frame body 6. Hereby, the first fixation metal fitting 60 and the second fixation metal fitting 61 makes contact with the fitting member 30 without making direct contact with the outdoor heat exchanger 13. By employing such a structure, it is possible to avoid electrical pitting regardless of the material of the first fixation metal fitting 60 and the second fixation metal fitting 61.

As such, an insulation material is used for the fitting member 30, but any raw material is selectable appropriately as the insulation material. In consideration of a function to correct misalignment between the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24, it is desirable that the raw material be elastically deformable, and therefore, a rubber material is preferably employed, for example. Besides, the rubber material can prevent damage to the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24.

Note that, in a case where the fitting member 30 is made of an insulation material (for example, thermosetting resin having insulating properties) harder than the rubber material, the protrusion 37 and the restriction portion 38 in the present embodiment may not be provided. In a case where the fitting member 30 is made of a hard material, it is not necessary to place the gas-side header 24 at a regular position by the protrusion 37 and to restrict the gas-side header 24 by the restriction portion 38 to prevent the gas-side header 24 from being too close to the liquid-side header 23. Accordingly, even if the protrusion 37 and the restriction portion 38 are not provided, it is possible to maintain the distance between the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 to be a distance originally designed.

In the description of the present embodiment herein, the fitting members 30 are fitted into the upper ends and the lower ends of the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 subjected to the bending. Subsequently, the first fixation metal fitting 60 and the second fixation metal fitting 61 used to fix the outdoor heat exchanger 13 to the frame body 6 are attached.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating a state where the first fixation metal fitting 60 and the second fixation metal fitting 61 are attached to the outdoor heat exchanger 13 according to the embodiment of the present invention. As described above, the first fixation metal fitting 60 and the second fixation metal fitting 61 are formed to extend in the up-down direction of the outdoor heat exchanger 13 similarly to the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24.

The upper end of the first fixation metal fitting 60 is formed to cover the upper fitting member 31, and the lower end of the first fixation metal fitting 60 is formed to cover the lower fitting member 32. Since the first fixation metal fitting 60 is formed in such a shape, the first fixation metal fitting 60 makes contact with the upper fitting member 31 and the lower fitting member 32. Accordingly, even in a case where the first fixation metal fitting 60 and the second fixation metal fitting 61 are made of a ferrous material, the first fixation metal fitting 60 and the second fixation metal fitting 61 does not make contact with a member made of aluminum or aluminum alloy, such as the liquid-side header 23 or the gas-side header 24 constituting the outdoor heat exchanger 13, so that no electrical pitting is not caused therebetween.

The lower end of the first fixation metal fitting 60 is fixed to the baseplate 41 of the frame body 6. In the meantime, a portion of the upper end of the first fixation metal fitting 60 which portion is on the machine room 52 side is fixed to the upper end of the second fixation metal fitting 61, and a portion of the upper end of the first fixation metal fitting 60 which portion is closer to the outer side of the frame body 6 is fixed to the back plate 43. A portion of the upper end of the second fixation metal fitting 61 other than a portion to which the first fixation metal fitting 60 is fixed is fixed to the partition plate 50, and the lower end of the second fixation metal fitting 61 is fixed to the baseplate 41. Accordingly, the outdoor heat exchanger 13 can be fixed to the frame body 6 by using the first fixation metal fitting 60 and the second fixation metal fitting 61 while electrical pitting is avoided.

As described above, in assembling of the outdoor unit, in a case of a conventional outdoor heat exchanger, when the bending is performed, a relative positional relationship between the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 becomes different from a designed positional relationship originally planned. Accordingly, the position of a connection portion between the liquid-side refrigerant pipe 17 and the heat-exchange liquid pipe 53 and the position of a connection portion between the gas-side refrigerant pipe 18 and the heat-exchange gas pipe 54 may be misaligned from respective designed positions. As a result, it is necessary for an operator to correct the misalignment of each of such connecting positions (to adjust the connection portion by moving either of the pipes) at the time when the outdoor heat exchanger 13 is connected to a refrigerant circuit. At this time, particularly in the connection between the gas-side refrigerant pipe 18 and the heat-exchange gas pipe 54 by the gas-side connector 56, the gas-side refrigerant pipe 18 and the heat-exchange gas pipe 54 are rigid due to a large pipe diameter, and therefore, it is not easy to correct those pipes.

However, in the outdoor heat exchanger 13 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the fitting members 30 are attached to the upper ends and the lower ends of the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24. As a result, even when the relative positional relationship between the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 becomes different from the designed positional relationship originally planned due to the bending, it is possible to correct the relative positional relationship between the headers to the designed positional relationship.

Accordingly, the operator does not perform any operation for adding force to the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22 so that the distance between the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 achieves the designed positional relationship originally planned. The liquid-side refrigerant pipe 17 can be easily connected to the heat-exchange liquid pipe 53, and the gas-side refrigerant pipe 18 can be easily connected to the heat-exchange gas pipe 54. As a result, it is possible to promote efficiency in the welding operation and to prevent the pipes from being damaged due to stress applied during welding or after welding.

Further, as described above, even in a case where a pipe receives some impact during transportation or the like, for example, due to an impact being applied to a portion of the pipe to which portion an excessive stress is applied or the strength of the pipe being decreased due to stress to the pipe, it is possible to prevent such a portion from having cracks or the like.

Further, in the outdoor heat exchanger 13 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 are made of aluminum. Besides, the first fixation metal fitting 60 and the second fixation metal fitting 61 used to fix the outdoor heat exchanger 13 to the frame body 6 are also made of an aluminum material (aluminum alloy). However, for example, in a case where the first fixation metal fitting 60 and the second fixation metal fitting 61 are made of a ferrous material, for example, if they make direct contact with the outdoor heat exchanger 13, electrical pitting is caused in the outdoor heat exchanger 13 made of aluminum.

In view of this, the upper fitting member 31 and the lower fitting member 32 are made of a rubber material having insulating properties, and the first fixation metal fitting 60 and the second fixation metal fitting 61 fix the outdoor heat exchanger 13 to the frame body 6 via the upper fitting member 31 and the lower fitting member 32. Hereby, even if the first fixation metal fitting 60 and the second fixation metal fitting 61 are made of iron, it is possible to restrain electrical pitting caused between different types of metal, i.e., between the first fixation metal fitting 60 and the second fixation metal fitting 61 made of iron and the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 made of aluminum.

Note that the invention described herein is not limited to the embodiment and is just an example of the present invention. The invention can be embodied by modifying an element without departing from the gist of the invention when the invention is carried out, and the above embodiment can be variously modified or altered. Further, various inventions can be achieved by combining a plurality of elements disclosed in the above embodiment appropriately.

For example, some elements may be deleted from all elements described in the embodiment, for example. Furthermore, elements described in different embodiments may be combined appropriately, and embodiments with the changes or improvements can be also included in the present invention. The embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and the gist of the invention and are also included in the invention described in the claims and in its equivalent range.

That is, for example, the outdoor heat exchanger 13 in the embodiment of the present invention is formed in an L-shape as described above, but various shapes can be employed as the shape of the outdoor heat exchanger 13. For example, an M-shape, a shape in which two flat heat-exchange units are put on top of each other without bending, or the like can be employed.

The outdoor heat exchanger 13 according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described on the premise that the outdoor heat exchanger 13 is constituted by the first heat-exchange unit 21 and the second heat-exchange unit 22. However, the number of heat-exchange units constituting the outdoor heat exchanger 13 is not limited to two and may be three or more. In this case, the number of one ends of the heat-exchange units is also three or more, so that the shape of the fitting member 30 is also formed in a shape that can correct these positions.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, the fitting members 30 are attached to the upper ends and the lower ends of the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 provided on one end side of the outdoor heat exchanger 13, but it is not necessarily necessary to attach the fitting members 30 to both the upper ends and the lower ends. That is, as described with reference to FIG. 7, depending on the misalignment state between the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24, both of the upper fitting member 31 and the lower fitting member 32 or either one of them should be used appropriately. For example, in a case where the lower end of the gas-side header 24 is misaligned forward as illustrated in FIG. 7C, its position should be corrected only by use of the lower fitting member 32.

The above description is made on the premise that the upper fitting member 31 and the lower fitting member 32 have the same shape. However, for example, the upper sides and the lower sides of the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24 may have different shapes, and the upper fitting member 31 and the lower fitting member 32 may have different shapes to correspond to the upper sides and the lower sides of the liquid-side header 23 and the gas-side header 24.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

• • 1: air conditioner
  • 2: refrigerant pipe
  • 3: refrigerant pipe
  • 5: indoor unit
  • 6: frame body
  • 7: indoor heat exchanger
  • 9: air-sending blower
  • 11: outdoor unit
  • 12: compressor
  • 13: outdoor heat exchanger
  • 14: outdoor-unit-side expansion valve
  • 15: four-way valve
  • 16: outdoor air-sending blower
  • 17: liquid-side refrigerant pipe
  • 18: gas-side refrigerant pipe
  • 19: accumulator
  • 20: heat-exchange unit
  • 21: first heat-exchange unit
  • 22: second heat-exchange unit
  • 23: liquid-side header
  • 24: gas-side header
  • 25: return header
  • 26: heat transfer pipe
  • 27: fin
  • 30: fitting member
  • 31: upper fitting member
  • 32: lower fitting member
  • 35: first fitting portion
  • 36: second fitting portion
  • 37: protrusion
  • 38: restriction portion
  • 40: top plate
  • 41: baseplate
  • 42: front plate
  • 43: back plate
  • 44: left surface plate
  • 45: right surface plate
  • 46: blowoff port
  • 47: fan guard
  • 50: partition plate
  • 51: blower room
  • 52: machine room
  • 53: heat-exchange liquid pipe
  • 54: heat-exchange gas pipe
  • 55: liquid-side connector
  • 56: gas-side connector
  • 57: liquid-side junction
  • 57a: liquid branch pipe
  • 57b: flow divider
  • 57c: liquid main pipe
  • 58: gas-side junction
  • 60: first fixation metal fitting
  • 61: second fixation metal fitting

Claims

1. A heat exchanger comprising:

a plurality of heat-exchange units each including a plurality of heat transfer pipes arranged at multiple stages in a column direction and that refrigerant paths formed therein, the plurality of heat-exchange units including respective first headers to which one ends of the plurality of heat transfer pipes arranged in the column direction are connected, the respective first headers being placed adjacent to each other in a direction perpendicular to the column direction; and

a fitting member configured to be fitted into at least either upper ends or lower ends of the first headers placed adjacent to each other.

2. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein

the plurality of heat-exchange units is arranged in a row direction.

3. The heat exchanger according to claim 2, wherein

the plurality of heat transfer pipes is flat pipes including a plurality of refrigerant paths.

4. The heat exchanger according to claim 2, further comprising

a second header configured to connect the other ends of the plurality of heat transfer pipes of the plurality of heat-exchange units, the plurality of heat transfer pipes being adjacent to each other in the row direction.

5. The heat exchanger according to claim 4, wherein

the plurality of heat-exchange units is bent between the first headers and the second header.

6. The heat exchanger according to claim 1, wherein

the fitting member includes the same number of fitting portions as the number of the first headers to be fitted into the fitting member, and

the fitting portions maintain a distance between the first headers to a predetermined dimension.

7. The heat exchanger according to claim 6, wherein

the fitting member is made of an elastically deformable material.

8. The heat exchanger according to claim 7, wherein

at least one of the fitting portions includes a protrusion making contact with a corresponding one of the first headers to be fitted into the at least one of the fitting portions.

9. The heat exchanger according to claim 8, wherein

the fitting member includes a restriction portion configured to restrict movement of the first headers.

10. An air conditioner comprising

an outdoor unit including a frame body, wherein

the outdoor unit includes a fixing member configured to fix the heat exchanger according to claim 1 to the frame body, and

the heat exchanger is fixed to the frame body by the fixing member via the fitting member.

11. The air conditioner according to claim 10, wherein

the fitting member is made of an insulation material.