Air conditioner

Abstract

An air conditioner includes: a housing including a first portion including an outlet and a second portion disposed on one side of the first portion, a heat exchanger disposed inside the housing and configured to exchange heat with indoor air, a fan disposed inside the housing and configured to cause air that has exchanged heat with the heat exchanger to flow to the outlet, a discharge panel covering the first portion and the second portion of the housing including a plurality of discharge holes through which air flowing from the outlet is discharged, each having a size smaller than that of the outlet, in a first region corresponding to the first portion and a second region corresponding to the second portion, and a guide rib disposed between the first portion and the first region configured to guide a portion of the air discharged through the outlet to the second region.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An air conditioner, comprising:
 a housing including a first portion in which an outlet is formed and a second portion disposed on one side of the first portion in a first direction;   a heat exchanger disposed inside the housing and configured to exchange heat with indoor air;   a fan disposed inside the housing and configured to cause the air that has exchanged heat with the heat exchanger to flow to the outlet;   a discharge panel configured to cover the first portion and the second portion of the housing and in which a plurality of discharge holes through which air flowing from the outlet is discharged, each discharge hole having a size smaller than a size of the outlet, and is formed in a first region corresponding to the first portion and a second region corresponding to the second portion, respectively; and   a guide rib disposed between the first portion and the first region and configured to guide a portion of the air discharged through the outlet to the second region.   
     
     
         2 . The air conditioner of  claim 1 , wherein
 the guide rib extends such that as a distance from one end adjacent to the outlet in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction increases, a distance to the second portion in the first direction decreases.   
     
     
         3 . The air conditioner of  claim 2 , wherein
 the first portion is positioned above the second portion, and   the guide rib is inclined downwardly as the guide rib extends away from the outlet in a horizontal direction of the housing.   
     
     
         4 . The air conditioner of  claim 1 , wherein
 the guide rib comprises a plurality of guide ribs, and   at least a portion of the plurality of guide ribs are spaced apart from each other along the first direction.   
     
     
         5 . The air conditioner of  claim 4 , wherein the plurality of guide ribs comprises:
 a first row of guide ribs arranged along the first direction, and   a second row of guide ribs disposed spaced apart from the first row of guide ribs and arranged along the first direction, and   wherein the outlet is disposed between the first row of guide ribs and the second row of guide ribs.   
     
     
         6 . The air conditioner of  claim 5 , wherein
 the first row of guide ribs is disposed on one side of the outlet in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and   the second row of guide ribs is disposed on another side of the outlet in the second direction.   
     
     
         7 . The air conditioner of  claim 1 , wherein the guide rib protrudes from the first portion of the housing toward the discharge panel. 
     
     
         8 . The air conditioner of  claim 1 , wherein
 the first portion of the housing includes an inclined surface facing the discharge panel and extending in a direction such that the inclined surface becomes closer to the discharge panel as a distance from the outlet increases, and   the guide rib is disposed on the inclined surface.   
     
     
         9 . The air conditioner of  claim 1 , wherein
 the discharge panel further comprises a panel opening having a size larger than a size of each of the plurality of discharge holes,   the air conditioner further comprises a blade configured to be rotatable relative to the housing between a first position covering the panel opening and a second position not completely covering the panel opening, and   the guide rib is configured to guide a portion of the air discharged through the outlet to the second region based on the blade being positioned in the first position.   
     
     
         10 . The air conditioner of  claim 9 , further comprising a guide panel configured to be rotatable relative to the housing, and
 wherein the guide panel is disposed parallel to the blade between the outlet and the blade based on the blade being positioned in the first position, and is configured to guide a portion of the airflow discharged through the outlet to the discharge panel.   
     
     
         11 . The air conditioner of  claim 10 , wherein
 a portion of the guide panel is disposed between the first portion of the housing and the first region of the discharge panel, and   another portion of the guide panel is disposed between the second portion of the housing and the second region of the discharge panel.   
     
     
         12 . The air conditioner of  claim 10 , wherein
 the blade is configured to be rotatable relative to the housing about a first rotary axis,   the guide panel is configured to be rotatable relative to the housing about a second rotary axis aligned with the first rotary axis in conjunction with rotation of the blade, and   the air conditioner further comprises a link connecting the blade and the guide panel and rotatably coupled to each of the blade and the guide panel.   
     
     
         13 . The air conditioner of  claim 9 , further comprising an outlet guide provided at a rim portion of the outlet and configured to guide the airflow discharged through the outlet,
 wherein the outlet guide extends toward a central axis of the panel opening as the outlet guide approaches the discharge panel to suppress the airflow flowing from the outlet toward the panel opening from interfering with a rim portion of the panel opening of the discharge panel based on the blade being positioned in the second position.   
     
     
         14 . The air conditioner of  claim 1 , further comprising insulation attached to the housing along a rim portion of the outlet and configured to include a material having a lower thermal conductivity than a material of the housing. 
     
     
         15 . The air conditioner of  claim 14 , wherein the insulation comprises:
 an opening corresponding to the outlet, and   an outlet guide provided on one side of a rim of the opening, extending in a direction such that the outlet guide becomes closer to a center of the opening as the outlet guide approaches the discharge panel, and configured to guide the airflow discharged through the outlet.   
     
     
         16 . An air conditioner, comprising:
 a housing including a first portion in which an outlet is formed and a second portion located on one side of the first portion in a first direction;   a heat exchanger disposed in the housing and configured to exchange heat with indoor air;   a fan configured to cause air that has exchanged heat with the heat exchanger to flow to the outlet;   a discharge panel configured to cover the first portion and the second portion, fixed to the housing, and including a panel opening and a plurality of discharge holes located outwardly of a perimeter of the panel opening and having a size smaller than that of the panel opening;   a blade rotatably provided relative to the housing between a first position covering the panel opening and a second position not completely covering the panel opening; and   a guide rib located on one side of the outlet in a second direction different from the first direction, and extending in a direction such that the second portion is located in the first direction relative to the first portion as a distance from the outlet in the second direction increases.   
     
     
         17 . The air conditioner of  claim 16 , wherein
 the guide rib includes the plurality of guide ribs arranged along the first direction in the first portion with respect to each other.   
     
     
         18 . The air conditioner of  claim 16 , further comprises the guide panel configured to be rotatable relative to the housing as the blade rotates between the first position and the second position,
 wherein the guide panel is parallel to the blade between the outlet and the blade based on the blade being positioned in the first position, and   wherein the guide panel is configured to guide a portion of the airflow discharged through the outlet to the plurality of discharge holes.   
     
     
         19 . An air conditioner, comprising:
 a housing including an inlet and an outlet;   a heat exchanger disposed in the housing and configured to exchange heat with indoor air;   a fan disposed in the housing and configured to cause the air that has exchanged heat with the heat exchanger to flow to the outlet;   a discharge panel having a plurality of discharge holes, each of the discharge holes having a size smaller than a size of the outlet, and disposed on one side of the outlet, the discharge panel including an outlet-facing region in a position corresponding to the outlet and an extension region in a position where a distance from the outlet is greater than a distance from the outlet to the outlet-facing region; and   a guide rib disposed between the discharge panel and the outlet and configured to guide a portion of the air discharged through the outlet toward the extension region.   
     
     
         20 . The air conditioner of  claim 19 , wherein
 the extension region comprises:   the first extension region extending from the outlet-facing region in the first direction; and   the second extension region extending from the outlet-facing region and the first extension region in the second direction perpendicular to the first direction, and   wherein the guide rib extends such that a distance in the second direction to the second extension region decreases as a distance in the first direction from one end adjacent to the outlet increases.