EP0692085B1 - Domestic air conditioning and/or heating method and device, particularly for apartment buildings - Google Patents

Abstract

PCT No. PCT/FR94/00363 Sec. 371 Date Mar. 4, 1996 Sec. 102(e) Date Mar. 4, 1996 PCT Filed Mar. 31, 1994 PCT Pub. No. WO94/23249 PCT Pub. Date Oct. 13, 1994A domestic air conditioning and/or heating method, particularly for apartment buildings, using an outside unit (2) and an inside unit (1) connected to one another via fluid and electrical lines (3). The outside unit (2) includes a compressor, a ventilation system and an exchanger while the inside unit (1) includes a ventilation system and an exchanger. A low pressure inside unit (1) supplies pressurized air at a pressure no higher than 8 mm and the air is bulk-fed into a false ceiling (6) forming a decompression chamber and comprises supply grills (15-17) for blowing air into each of the rooms to be served.

Description

The invention relates to a method and a device for air conditioning and / or heating of dwellings, in particular of collective buildings according to the preamble of claims 1 and 7 respectively (see US-A-3,267,995).

The devices able to allow air conditioning and heating of dwellings are of four types differentiating by the source of external energy, air or water, used, and by the fluid, air or water, used to restore this energy in the dwellings.

The first type of device consists of air / water systems generally consisting of a centralized installation composed of an outdoor group installed on the terrace, and fan coil units arranged in the rooms to be heated and cooled and supplied from the outdoor group. by means of insulated hydraulic lines.

In addition to their high price, such installations have several drawbacks. Firstly, they require that the entire building be pre-equipped without prejudging whether or not the occupants want the air conditioning option. In addition, they require the installation of an energy metering system meeting specific standards, the cost price of which is relatively high. Furthermore, such installations present a problem of flexibility when, in mid-season, certain premises, well exposed, need to be refreshed while other rooms need to be heated. It should be noted that this last problem can be resolved by installing two outdoor groups, one for each façade, south and north. However, this solution leads to a significant additional investment cost. Finally, any failure of the external unit has the consequence of depriving all of the accommodation from heating or air conditioning.

The second type of device consists of water / air systems consisting of heat pumps arranged in the housings, and supplied by means of a constant temperature water loop, maintained at the desired temperature by a loop heater and a cooling tower using the evaporation of 15% of the water in the circuit to cool it down.

This system overcomes some of the disadvantages of the air / water systems described above. Indeed, it is possible to heat or air condition at the same time different dwellings of the building. In addition, apart from a failure of one of the elements of the cooling tower, any malfunction concerns only one dwelling and not the entire building. However, this system also has drawbacks. Firstly, the noise level in the dwellings is high because the compressors are arranged inside the heat pumps installed in these dwellings. In addition, although the pre-equipment is less expensive than in the case of an air / water system (cooling tower cheaper than the external group of this air / water system, and non-insulated pipes) the overall cost of the installation is greater than that of air / water systems.

The third type of device consists of water / water systems made up of fan coil units arranged in the housings, and supplied by means of a water loop provided with a cooling tower. Such a system can be compared to air / water systems with the disadvantage of not allowing cycle reversal.

Finally, the fourth type of device consists of air / air systems produced by means of split systems, that is to say devices comprising the condenser part and the evaporator part, and consisting of an outdoor unit and a unit indoor unit connected by a "Freon" pipe, the outdoor unit comprising a fan, a compressor and an exchanger, and the indoor unit comprising a fan and an exchanger.

Such system splits can be designed to treat an entire home. The indoor unit is then connected to a network of ducts allowing the air to be distributed in the different rooms of this accommodation. The advantage of such a system is that it is lower in cost compared to the three aforementioned systems. In addition, the different dwellings are treated completely independently. On the other hand, the cost price of the installation is still relatively high. In addition, the noise level at the intake air of the indoor unit is high. Finally, the temperature regulation in the different rooms is very random.

These system splits can also be used individually, by installing one device per room. This solution offers great flexibility of use but its cost is high.

The present invention aims to overcome the above-mentioned drawbacks of various air conditioning and heating devices for dwellings, and has the main objective of providing an air conditioning and / or heating device consisting of an air / air system of low prices of returns and noise level, and allowing individual treatment of the accommodation.

• à utiliser une unité extérieure et une unité intérieure reliées par des liaisons fluidiques et électriques, l'unité extérieure comprenant un compresseur, des moyens de ventilation et un échangeur, l'unité intérieure étant du type basse pression et comprenant des moyens de ventilation et un échangeur,
• à réaliser une circulation d'air à l'intérieur du logement à l'aide des moyens de ventilation de l'unité intérieure,
• à asservir le fonctionnement de l'unité extérieure à un organe de contrôle de la température à l'intérieur du logement déterminant une température de consigne,
• a délivrer l'air basse pression en vrac dans un faux plafond formant un plenum étanche qui sert de chambre de détente, ledit plenum comportant, pour une des pièces du logement, dite pièce maîtresse, une grille de soufflage sans registre de réglage mais possédant des caractéristiques aérauliques aptes à autoriser des fluctuations du débit de ladite grille par rapport à son débit nominal, et pour l'autre ou les autres pièce(s) du logement, dites annexes, des grilles de soufflage munies de registres de réglage qui permettent de faire varier le débit desdites grilles par rapport à leur débit nominal, dans une plage telle que la grille de soufflage de la pièce maîtresse puisse absorber ces variations de débit,
• à réguler la température dans chaque pièce annexe du logement en modifiant, au moyen des registres de réglage, le débit d'air délivré dans chacune desdites pièces annexes,
• et à absorber les fluctuations de débit en les répercutant dans la pièce maîtresse au travers de la grille de soufflage non munie de registre de réglage.

To this end, the invention relates to a method of air conditioning and / or heating of dwellings, in particular of collective buildings, consisting of:

• to use an outdoor unit and an indoor unit connected by fluidic and electrical connections, the outdoor unit comprising a compressor, ventilation means and an exchanger, the indoor unit being of the low pressure type and comprising ventilation means and a exchanger,
• to carry out an air circulation inside the housing using the ventilation means of the indoor unit,
• enslaving the operation of the outdoor unit to a temperature control member inside the housing determining a set temperature,
• to deliver the low pressure air in bulk in a false ceiling forming a sealed plenum which serves as an expansion chamber, said plenum comprising, for one of the rooms of the housing, called the centerpiece, a blowing grille without adjustment register but having air flow characteristics capable of allowing fluctuations in the flow rate of said grid relative to its nominal flow rate, and for the other or other room (s) of the housing, called annexes, supply grilles provided with adjustment registers which make it possible to make varying the flow rate of said grids with respect to their nominal flow rate, in a range such that the blowing grid of the masterpiece can absorb these variations in flow rate,
• to regulate the temperature in each annexed room of the accommodation by modifying, by means of adjustment registers, the air flow delivered in each of said annexed rooms,
• and to absorb the fluctuations in flow rate by passing them on to the centerpiece through the blowing grid not provided with an adjustment register.

According to this method, the air conditioning of a housing comprising several rooms is ensured by means of an indoor unit / outdoor unit assembly originally designed to treat a single room (blowing mouth open due to the low pressure of the device interior).

Consequently, it is in particular possible, according to the method of the invention, to air condition an apartment of relatively small area but comprising several rooms, by using an assembly originally designed to air condition a single room.

This air conditioning is, moreover, ensured by means of an installation comprising no blowing duct, and the noise level of which is very low due, on the one hand, to the low pressure of the indoor unit, and d on the other hand, the relaxation chamber phenomenon given by the plenum.

The originality of the technique put in work according to the invention therefore resides in its extreme simplicity which makes it possible to achieve the air conditioning of a housing by means of an installation whose cost is very much lower than that of current installations.

Furthermore, the temperature regulation in each annex room can be refined very simply by modifying by means of the adjustment register the flow rate of air blown into said room.

Indeed, the variation in flow rate generated by the closing or opening of one or more blowing grilles of one or more ancillary parts, is reflected in the masterpiece through the blowing grate thereof, which on the one hand does not have an adjustment register, and on the other hand is designed so as to be able to absorb these flow fluctuations.

It should be noted that the use of such registers is possible thanks to the fact that one works with low pressure air, which avoids any overpressure at the mouths and any noise nuisance, even when the flow rate of said mouths is minimal.

Preferably, the purpose of this process is to allow air conditioning and heating of the dwellings, and an outdoor unit provided with cycle reversing means is used for this purpose, and an indoor unit equipped with an additional electric battery. controlled by an external thermostat.

Furthermore, the operation of the compressor is advantageously controlled by means of a temperature control member arranged so as to raise the temperature of the air taken up by the ventilation means of the indoor unit.

The temperature control member is thus arranged so as to raise the temperature of the overall return air which corresponds to the average temperature of the housing, and the latter then reacts to the fluctuations in the flow rate of the different blowing grids so readjust the temperatures in the housing.

In addition, we preferentially pilot the registers for adjusting the supply air grilles of the annexed parts by means of thermostatic actuators.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the upper face of the false ceiling is covered by means of a layer of sound and heat insulating material.

The essential function of such a material is to avoid any condensation resulting from a temperature difference between the interior of the plenum and the ambient air. It also has the function of attenuating the acoustic level, on the one hand of the indoor unit, and on the other hand between rooms.

In addition, the indoor unit is advantageously integrated into the false ceiling, and said false ceiling is divided into two parts by forming a recovery plenum, provided with a recovery grid capable of serving as an inspection hatch, and the supply plenum.

This arrangement of the indoor unit in the false ceiling, with the installation of a panel separating this false ceiling into a return plenum and a supply plenum, constitutes a very advantageous embodiment, on the one hand, by with regard to the cost price of the installation and, on the other hand, from the maintenance point of view.

• une unité intérieure du type basse pression et une unité extérieure reliées par des liaisons fluidiques et électriques, l'unité extérieure comprenant un compresseur, des moyens de ventilation et un échangeur, et l'unité intérieure comprenant des moyens de ventilation et un échangeur,
• des moyens de soufflage et de reprise d'air reliés à l'unité intérieure,
• un organe de contrôle de la température à l'intérieur du logement apte à asservir le fonctionnement de l'unité extérieure,
• les moyens de soufflage comprenant un faux plafond formant un plenum étanche qui sert de chambre de détente, ledit plenum comportant des grilles de soufflage pour chacune des pièces du logement.

The invention extends to an air conditioning and / or heating device for dwellings, in particular collective buildings of the type comprising:

• an indoor unit of the low pressure type and an outdoor unit connected by fluidic and electrical connections, the outdoor unit comprising a compressor, ventilation means and an exchanger, and the indoor unit comprising ventilation means and an exchanger,
• supply and return air means connected to the indoor unit,
• a temperature control member inside the housing capable of controlling the operation of the outdoor unit,
• the blowing means comprising a false ceiling forming a sealed plenum which serves as an expansion chamber, said plenum comprising blowing grilles for each of the rooms in the housing.

• . une des grilles de soufflage en communication avec l'une des pièces du logement, dite pièce maîtresse, et démunie de registre de réglage est adaptée pour posséder des caractéristiques aérauliques autorisant des fluctuations du débit de ladite grille par rapport à son débit nominal,
• . les autres grilles de soufflage en communication avec la ou les autre(s) pièce(s) du logement, sont munies de registres de réglage permettant de faire varier le débit desdites grilles par rapport à leur débit nominal, dans une plage telle que la grille de soufflage de la pièce maîtresse puisse absorber les variations de débit.

According to the invention, this device is characterized in that:

• . one of the blowing grilles in communication with one of the rooms of the housing, called the master piece, and devoid of adjustment register is adapted to have aeraulic characteristics allowing fluctuations in the flow rate of said grid compared to its nominal flow rate,
• . the other supply grilles in communication with the other room (s) of the housing, are provided with adjustment registers making it possible to vary the flow rate of said grids compared to their nominal flow rate, in a range such as the grid blowing of the centerpiece can absorb variations in flow.

It should be noted that US Pat. No. 3,267,995 describes a device with a design close to that of the device defined in the preamble of claim 7 of the present application. However, this device does not include any regulation means making it possible to effectively refine the temperature in the various rooms.

• la figure est une vue en plan d'un logement avec terrasse équipé d'un dispositif conforme à l'invention,
• la figure 2 est une vue en élévation schématique par un plan vertical de cet appartement.

Other characteristics, objects and advantages of the invention will emerge from the detailed description which follows, with reference to the appended drawings which represent, by way of non-limiting example, a preferred embodiment. On these drawings which form an integral part of this description:

• the figure is a plan view of a dwelling with a terrace equipped with a device according to the invention,
• Figure 2 is a schematic elevational view through a vertical plane of this apartment.

The installation according to the invention comprises an indoor unit 1 and an outdoor unit 2 with direct expansion connected together by pipes refrigerators and power lines such as 3 protected by an ICT and embedded in the floor screed. The characteristics of these units given below by way of example, correspond to an apartment with a surface area of the order of 50 m ² .

The outdoor unit 2 consists of a direct expansion heat pump with a cooling capacity of 3600 W and a heating capacity of 3800 W.

It typically includes a hermetic compressor fitted with a crankcase heater, a direct expansion heat exchanger in copper with aluminum fins, a refrigeration circuit and a low speed axial fan. The refrigeration circuit also comprises, essentially, a pressure reducer, a four-way cycle reversing valve, an anti-blow liquid bottle, and a dehydrator.

This outdoor unit 2 further comprises a defrosting system capable of controlling the temperature on the exchanger and of periodically controlling cycle reversals when this temperature is below a predetermined threshold.

The indoor unit 1 consists of an unshielded fan coil with a nominal flow rate of 650 m ³ / h with a pressure of less than 6 mm and of the order of 5 mm. It includes a three-speed ventilation unit, a direct expansion copper / aluminum exchanger, and a 2 KW electric battery. This electric heater is slaved to an external thermostat which authorizes its activation below a predetermined set point.

This indoor unit 1 is connected to a pre-wired control unit comprising a thermostat, arranged in the apartment so that said thermostat reads the temperature of the air taken up by said unit. This control unit 4 further comprises an on / off button, a ventilation speed selector, a winter / summer cycle reverser.

The refrigeration connections connecting the two indoor 1 and outdoor 2 units comprise a gas tube and a liquid tube sheathed with a sleeve made of an insulating material.

The electrical connections connecting these two units 1, 2 comprise, for their part, electric cables bringing the power delivered to the circuit breaker to the outdoor unit 2, and making it possible to deliver to this outdoor unit 2 the thermostat control signal.

In the example, the outdoor unit 2 is installed on the terrace of the apartment near the railing of this terrace, and has an outdoor grid 5 integrated in this railing. It should be noted that, given the shallow depth (of the order of 25 cm) of this outdoor unit 2, it is easy to design an architectural solution allowing it to be integrated directly into the railing.

The indoor unit 1 is, for its part, placed above a false ceiling 6 consisting of a plasterboard plate BA 13, extending in the circulation of the apartment, and adapted to form a plenum blowing 7 for distributing air in all rooms to be heated or cooled. With a view to evacuating the condensates, this indoor unit 1 is connected to an evacuation pipe 8 connected by a siphon 9 to a waste water pipe.

The volume delimited by the false ceiling 6 is, moreover, separated into two by a vertical flange 10 arranged in line with the indoor unit 1, so as to form two separate volumes constituting the blowing plenum 7 extending to the front of the indoor unit 1, and a return plenum 11 extending to the rear of this indoor unit 1.

In order to ensure the return of air, this false ceiling 6 is provided with a grid 12 arranged in line with the indoor unit 1 so as to communicate with the return plenum 11. This grid 12, for example fixed by means of screws, advantageously has dimensions (for example 600 mm x 600 mm) which, thanks to its positioning in line with the indoor unit 1, allow the maintenance or troubleshooting of this indoor unit.

In addition, in order to allow air circulation between the rooms to be heated and cooled, and circulation, the access doors to these rooms are detachable so as to provide a light 13 under said doors.

Finally, it should be noted that return air, that the control unit 4 incorporating the thermostat, is arranged in the circulation and therefore reads the temperature of the air taken back by the indoor unit 1.

As regards air distribution, and first of all, the false ceiling 6 is covered, in its part delimiting the blowing plenum 7, with a layer 14 of sound and heat insulating material, such as wool rock.

• la grille de soufflage 15 alimentant la pièce principale, généralement la salle de séjour, étant adaptée pour posséder des caractéristiques aérauliques aptes à autoriser des fluctuations du débit de ladite grille de plus ou moins 40 % par rapport à son débit nominal,
• les grilles de soufflage 16, 17 alimentant les autres pièces étant munies de registres de réglage aptes à permettre de faire varier le débit desdites grilles de plus ou moins 30 % par rapport à leur débit nominal.

This supply plenum 7 is also equipped with supply grilles for air distribution in the different rooms:

• the blowing grille 15 supplying the main room, generally the living room, being adapted to have aeraulic characteristics capable of allowing fluctuations in the flow rate of said grid of more or less 40% relative to its nominal flow rate,
• the blowing grids 16, 17 supplying the other parts being provided with adjustment registers capable of making it possible to vary the flow rate of said grids by more or less 30% relative to their nominal flow rate.

In addition, the registers for adjusting the supply grilles 16, 17 are controlled by a thermostatic control member (not shown) allowing the temperature of these parts to be regulated independently.

Claims (11)

1. A process for the air conditioning and/or heating of apartments, particularly in apartment buildings, which consists:

   - in utilising an external unit (2) and an internal unit (1) linked by means of fluidic and electrical connecting lines (3), whereby said external unit (2) comprises a compressor, ventilating means and a heat exchanger whereas the internal unit (1) is of low-pressure type and comprises ventilating means and a heat exchanger,

   - in producing, with the aid of the ventilating means pertaining to the internal unit (1), air circulation within the apartment,

   - in regulating the operation of the external unit (2) by means of a temperature-controlling device (4) within the apartment, whereby said temperature-controlling device determines a set temperature,

   - in delivering low-pressure air in non-regulated manner into a false ceiling (6) constituting a sealed plenum (7) serving as an expansion chamber, said plenum comprising, in respect of one of the rooms of the apartment, the so-called master room, an air-delivery grating (15) without an adjusting damper but possessing pneumatic characteristics capable of bringing about, in relation to the nominal output of the grating, fluctuations in the output of said grating, and, in respect of the other rooom(s) of the apartment, the so-called subsidiary rooms, air-delivery gratings (16, 17) equipped with adjusting dampers which make it possible to vary the output of said gratings in relation to their nominal output within a range such that the air-delivery grating (15) of the master room can absorb said variations in output,

   - in regulating the temperature in each subsidiary room of the apartment by modifying, with the aid of adjusting dampers, the output of air delivered into each of said subsidiary rooms,

   - and in absorbing the output fluctuations by deflecting them into the master room through the air-delivery grating (15) which is not equipped with an adjusting damper.
2. A process according to Claim 1 for the air conditioning and heating of apartments, in which use is made of an external unit (2) endowed with cycle-inverting means and of an internal unit (1) equipped with a complementary electrical battery controlled by an external thermostat.
3. A process according to one of Claims 1 or 2, in which use is made of an internal unit (1) and an external unit (2) subject to direct expansion.
4. A process according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the adjusting dampers of the air-delivery gratings (16, 17) pertaining to the subsidiary rooms are regulated by means of devices for thermostatic control.
5. A process according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the upper face of the false ceiling (6) is lined with a layer (14) of acoustically and thermally insulating material.
6. A process according to one of the preceding Claims, characterised in that the internal unit (1) is integrated within the false ceiling (6) and in that said false ceiling is separated, by means of a lateral wall (10), into two sections constituting an intake plenum (11) which is endowed with an intake grating (12) capable of serving as an inspection flap and the air-delivery plenum (7).
7. A device for the air conditioning and/or heating of apartments, in particular in apartment buildings, with a view to implementing the process according to one of Claims 1 to 6, comprising:

   - an internal unit (1) of low-pressure type and an external unit (2) linked by means of fluidic and electrical connecting lines (3), whereby the external unit (2) comprises a compressor, ventilating means and a heat exchanger whereas the internal unit (1) comprises ventilating means and a heat exchanger,

   - means associated with the internal unit (1) for the delivery and intake of air,

   - a device (4) for controlling the temperature within the apartment, said device being capable of regulating the operation of the external unit (2),

   - whereby the air-delivery means comprise a false ceiling (6) constituting a sealed plenum (7) serving by way of expansion chamber and said plenum comprises air-delivery gratings (15 - 17) in respect of each of the rooms of the apartment,

   said device being characterised in that:

   . one of the air-delivery gratings (15), which is in communication with one of the rooms of the apartment, the so-called master room, is devoid of an adjusting damper and so designed as to possess pneumatic characteristics enabling the output of said grating to vary from the nominal output of said grating,

   . the other air-delivery gratings (16, 17) which are in communication with the other room(s) of the apartment are equipped with adjusting dampers making it possible to vary the output of said gratings in relation to the nominal output of the latter, within a range such that the air-delivery grating (15) of the master room is capable of absorbing the output variations.
8. A device for air conditioning and heating according to Claim 7, in which the external unit (2) is endowed with cycle-inverting means and the internal unit (1) is equipped with an electrical battery controlled by an external thermostat.
9. A device according to one of Claims 7 or 8, in which the internal unit (1) and the external unit (2) are subject to direct expansion.
10. A device according to one of Claims 7 to 9, characterised in that it comprises, in respect of each air-delivery grating (16, 17) endowed with an adjusting damper, a thermostatic controlling device for regulating said damper.
11. A device according to one of Claims 7 to 10, characterised in that the false ceiling (6) is lined with a layer (14) of acoustically and thermally insulating material.

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