Air conditioners are provided on their front panel with an air duct, where is attached an arrangement of air flow deflecting vanes, which allow the air flow to be directed according to predetermined directions.
In a known prior art construction, the arrangement of air flow deflecting vanes to be provided in the air duct of the front panel of an air conditioner comprises a plurality of deflecting vanes, each provided with a pair of pivoting pins, which are oppositely disposed to each other and aligned so as to coincide with a rotating axis of the vane, said pins individually engaging each deflecting vane to the front panel.
In this construction, the holes made in the air outlet of the front panel and which receive the pivoting pins are in the form of cuts made in a wall portion which defines the contour of the air outlet opening of the front panel during the manufacturing process of the latter, usually by injection. This prior art construction has operational disadvantages, such as each vane being individually manually mounted to the front panel and the wear of said holes caused by use, said wear resulting in a diametrical variation of the holes, enlarging the diameter thereof and allowing gaps to arise. These gaps, which may exist since the molding process, cause vibration of said vanes, provoking noise. This vibration problem is particularly intense in this construction, due to the vanes being directly applied to the front panel by means of a pin-hole fitting. in another known solution, each vane of the vane arrangement is produced incorporated to a single driving bar by corresponding weakened hinge portions. The assembly of the vane arrangement and driving bar to the front panel is carried out by fitting a pivoting pin provided from a lateral edge of each corresponding deflecting vane, opposite to the other lateral edge of the latter connected to the bar by the hinge portion, each said pin being fittable in a corresponding hole produced in the front panel and coinciding with a rotating axis of the respective deflecting vane.
This construction has the disadvantage of producing noise during operation and use, caused by vibrations resulting from the gaps which appear in the pin-hole fitting, due to the vanes being directly applied to the front panel by a pin-hole assembly.
In these constructions, it is common to occur variations in the frame of the front panel when the latter is affixed to the structure of the air conditioner, which lead to a disalignment between the upper and lower edges of said front panel. Said disalignment creates gaps which may lead to the disengagement of the vanes fitted in said panel and to the release of said vanes.
Further to these disadvantages, the known prior art constructions have the inconveniences of requiring a large number of perforations in the front panel, corresponding to the amount of hinge pins for each vane to be affixed to said front panel, besides the fact that the vane arrangement is defined by each vane being individually mounted to the front panel, turning the process slow and costly.