Outdoor unit for air conditioner, and air conditioner

Abstract

An outdoor unit includes a heat exchanger, a blower fan, an electronic board on which a heat-generating element is mounted, a housing, and a heatsink. The housing includes a partition plate partitioning the inside of the housing into a heat exchanger chamber in which the heat exchanger and the blower fan are placed and a machine chamber in which the electronic board and a compressor are placed, and a portion of the partition plate has an opening. The heatsink includes a main plate placed to cover the opening from the heat-exchanger-room-side of the partition plate and heat-releasing fins projecting from the main plate to the blower fan side, and a portion of the main plate comes into contact with the heat-generating element via the opening. The greater the amounts of heat transferred from the heat-generating element the heat-releasing fins, the larger the heat-releasing fins.

1 . An outdoor unit for an air conditioner, comprising:
 a heat exchanger to exchange heat between outdoor air and refrigerant;   a blower fan disposed facing the heat exchanger;   an electronic board on which at least one heat-generating element is mounted;   a housing comprising a partition plate partitioning an inside of the housing into a heat-exchanger chamber in which the heat exchanger and the blower fan are placed and a machine chamber in which the electronic board is placed, a portion of the partition plate having an opening; and   a heatsink comprising (i) a main plate disposed covering the opening from a heat-exchanger chamber side of the partition plate and (ii) a plurality of heat-releasing fins projecting from the main plate to a blower fan side, the main plate thermally coupled to the heat-generating element via the opening, wherein the greater an amount of heat transferred from the heat-generating element to each of the plurality of heat-releasing fins, the greater a size of each of the plurality of heat-releasing fins.   
     
     
         2 . The outdoor unit for an air conditioner according to  claim 1 , wherein the greater the amount of heat transferred from the heat-generating element to each of the plurality of heat-releasing fins, the greater a height of each of the plurality of heat-releasing fins from the main plate. 
     
     
         3 . The outdoor unit for an air conditioner according to  claim 2 , wherein, the longer a distance between a connection portion of the main plate connected to a base of each of the plurality of heat-releasing fins and a thermally coupled portion of the main plate thermally connected to the heat-generating element, the less the height of each of the plurality of the heat-releasing fins from the main plate. 
     
     
         4 . The outdoor unit for an air conditioner according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the blower fan comprises a hub and blades fixed to the hub, and   a shortest distance between a leading edge of each of the plurality of heat-releasing fins and a trajectory of leading edges of the blades of the blower fan is larger than a distance that is 0.08 times as large as a diameter of the blower fan.   
     
     
         5 . The outdoor unit for an air conditioner according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the blower fan comprises a hub and blades fixed to the hub,   the heat-generating element mounted on the electronic board is a plurality of heat-generating elements, and   the greater an amount of heat generated by each of the plurality of heat-generating elements, the nearer each of the plurality of heat-generating elements is mounted to the trajectory of the leading edges of the blades of the blower fan on the electronic board.   
     
     
         6 . An outdoor unit for an air conditioner, comprising:
 a heat exchanger to exchange heat between outdoor air and refrigerant;   a blower fan disposed facing the heat exchanger;   an electronic board on which at least one heat-generating element is mounted;   a housing comprising a partition plate partitioning an inside of the housing into a heat-exchanger chamber in which the heat exchanger and the blower fan are placed and a machine chamber in which the electronic board is placed, a portion of the partition plate having an opening; and   a heatsink comprising (i) a main plate disposed covering the opening from a heat-exchanger chamber side of the partition plate and (ii) a plurality of heat-releasing fins projecting from the main plate to the blower fan side, the main plate thermally coupled to the heat-generating element via the opening,   wherein from among the plurality of heat-releasing fins, a first heat-releasing fin including a base that is connected to a contact portion of the main plate, the contact portion coming into contact with the heat-generating element is larger than a second heat-releasing fin including a base that is connected to a portion of the main plate other than the contact portion and is adjacent to the first heat-releasing fin including the base that is connected to the contact portion.   
     
     
         7 . The outdoor unit for an air conditioner according to  claim 6 , wherein the height of each of the plurality of heat-releasing fins from the main plate increases with increasing degree of inclusion of each of the plurality of the heat-releasing fins in a projected area of the contact portion in a thickness direction of the main plate. 
     
     
         8 . The outdoor unit for an air conditioner according to  claim 7 , wherein the longer a distance from each of the plurality of heat-releasing fins to the contact portion, the less the height of each of the plurality of heat-releasing fins from the main plate. 
     
     
         9 . The outdoor unit for an air conditioner according to  claim 6 , wherein
 the blower fan comprises a hub and blades fixed to the hub, and   a shortest distance between a leading edge of each of the plurality of heat-releasing fins and a trajectory of leading edges of the blades of the blower fan is larger than a distance that is  0 . 08  times as large as a diameter of the blower fan.   
     
     
         10 . The outdoor unit for an air conditioner according to  claim 6 , wherein
 the blower fan comprises a hub and blades fixed to the hub,   the heat-generating element mounted on the electronic board is a plurality of heat-generating elements, and   the greater an amount of heat generated by each of the plurality of heat-generating elements, the nearer each of the plurality of heat-generating elements is mounted to the trajectory of the leading edges of the blades of the blower fan on the electronic board.   
     
     
         11 . An air conditioner comprising an outdoor unit and an indoor unit connected to the outdoor unit via a refrigerant pipe, wherein
 the outdoor unit for the air conditioner comprises
 a heat exchanger to exchange heat between outdoor air and refrigerant, 
 a blower fan disposed facing the heat exchanger, 
 an electronic board on which at least one heat-generating element is mounted, 
 a housing comprising a partition plate partitioning an inside of the housing into a heat-exchanger chamber in which the heat exchanger and the blower fan are placed and a machine chamber in which the electronic board is placed, a portion of the partition plate having an opening, and 
 a heatsink comprising (i) a main plate disposed covering the opening from a heat-exchanger chamber side of the partition plate and (ii) a plurality of heat-releasing fins projecting from the main plate to the blower fan side, the main plate thermally coupled to the heat-generating element via the opening, and 
   the greater an amount of heat transferred from the heat-generating element to each of the plurality of heat-releasing fins, the greater a size of each of the plurality of heat-releasing fins.   
     
     
         12 . An air conditioner comprising an outdoor unit and an indoor unit connected to the outdoor unit via a refrigerant pipe, wherein
 the outdoor unit for the air conditioner comprises
 a heat exchanger to exchange heat between outdoor air and refrigerant, 
 a blower fan disposed facing the heat exchanger, 
 an electronic board on which at least one heat-generating element is mounted, 
 a housing comprising a partition plate partitioning an inside of the housing into a heat-exchanger chamber in which the heat exchanger and the blower fan are placed and a machine chamber in which the electronic board is placed, a portion of the partition plate having an opening, and 
 a heatsink comprising (i) a main plate disposed covering the opening from a heat-exchanger chamber side of the partition plate and (ii) a plurality of heat-releasing fins projecting from the main plate to the blower fan side, the main plate thermally coupled to the heat-generating element via the opening, and 
   from among the plurality of heat-releasing fins, a first heat-releasing fin including a base that is connected to a contact portion of the main plate, the contact portion coming into contact with the heat-generating element is larger than a second heat-releasing fin including a base that is connected to a portion of the main plate other than the contact portion and is adjacent to the first heat-releasing fin including the base that is connected to the contact portion.