Control box door/fairing for front grille of an air conditioner

Abstract

A front grille for the indoor section of an air conditioning unit includes a substantially planar front section, which has air inlet louvers and an air outlet opening formed therein. The front section also includes an opening configured to provide access to the air conditioning unit's control box when the grille is mounted on the indoor unit. The control box access opening is substantially rectangular and is surrounded by three outwardly facing fixed wall sections, each of which is substantially coplanar with the front section. A fourth fixed wall section lies in a plane behind the front section of the grille. An insert is provided, which has a back section and a front wall. The front wall is configured to be coplanar with each of the three fixed wall sections when the back section of the insert is placed in confronting relation with the fourth fixed wall section. Structure is provided for removably attaching the insert to the grille to retain the insert to the back section in the aforementioned confronting relation. The insert may be a narrow insert having a width, which is substantially comparable to that of the three wall sections or, alternatively, may be configured to substantially completely overlie the opening. When the insert is configured to substantially completely overlie the opening, the structure for removably attaching the insert is configured to allow the insert to pivot between a position overlying the opening and a second position where it does not overlie the opening.