KR100595269B1 - Multi-type air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a multi-type air conditioner that can improve the reliability of the compressor by improving the refueling method of the compressor.

To this end, the present invention is at least one outdoor unit including a plurality of compressors for compressing the refrigerant; At least one indoor unit connected to the outdoor unit and a refrigerant pipe; A fungal oil pipe provided in communication with the plurality of compressors; A plurality of oil separators separating oil from refrigerant discharged from each of the plurality of compressors; The plurality of oil separators are provided so as to communicate with the fungal oil pipe, respectively, and comprises a plurality of oil return pipes for supplying the oil contained in the plurality of oil separators to the fungal milk pipe, respectively to provide.

Air Conditioner, Compressor, Oil Separator, Oil Oil Pipe, Oil Recovery Pipe

Description

Multi-type air conditioner

1 is a perspective view showing a multi-type air conditioner according to the prior art

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing a cycle during the cooling operation of the multi-type air conditioner according to the prior art

FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating main parts of an operation process of the compressor and the oil separator of FIG. 2.

Figure 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an embodiment of a multi-type air conditioner according to the present invention

5 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a cycle during the cooling operation of the multi-type air conditioner of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view illustrating a main part of a process of recovering oil to a compressor in the multi-type air conditioner of FIG. 5; FIG.

Explanation of symbols on main parts of the drawings

51, 52, 53, 54: Indoor 80: Outdoor

83: capacity variable compressor 84: constant speed compressor

85,86: Oil separator 100: Refrigerant piping

150: bacteria oil pipe 163,164: oil recovery pipe

163a and 164a: strainer 173a and 174a: oil sensor

173b, 174b: Solenoid valve

The present invention relates to a multi-type air conditioner, by allowing the oil separated from the oil separator to be smoothly recovered and received by the compressor, to prevent the oil shortage of the compressor and to prevent the oil non-uniform distribution between the compressors A compressor oil recovery apparatus for a multi-type air conditioner to be recovered by a compressor compressor.

1 is a perspective view showing a multi-type air conditioner according to the prior art, Figure 2 is a schematic view showing a cycle during the cooling operation of the multi-type air conditioner according to the prior art, Figure 3 is a compressor and oil of Figure 2 This is a main configuration diagram schematically showing the operation of the separator.

As shown in FIG. 1, in general, a multi-type air conditioner connects each of the plurality of indoor units 1, 2, 3, and 4 to a single outdoor unit 20 by a refrigerant pipe 36. While using a common use each of the plurality of indoor units (1, 2, 3, 4) as a cooler or heater.

The structures of the outdoor unit 20 and the indoor units 1, 2, 3, and 4 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 2 as follows.

The outdoor unit 20 is connected to a plurality of compressors 22a and 22b for compressing a refrigerant and a refrigerant discharge pipe 28 of the compressors 22a and 22b and discharged together with the refrigerant from the compressors 22a and 22b. An oil separator 30 for separating oil, an outdoor blower 32 that sucks outdoor air into the outdoor unit, and then discharges the outdoor air back to the outside, and an outdoor heat exchanger for allowing the air sucked by the blower 32 to exchange heat with the refrigerant Group 34.

The indoor units 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively heat and cool the indoor blower 6 which sucks indoor and outdoor air into the indoor unit, and discharges the indoor air again, and heat-exchanges the air sucked into the room with the refrigerant. Is equipped with an indoor heat exchanger (8).

In addition, an expansion mechanism for expanding the refrigerant passing through the outdoor heat exchanger 34 or the indoor heat exchanger 8 to low temperature and low pressure in the refrigerant pipe 36 between the outdoor heat exchanger 34 and the indoor heat exchanger 8. 40 is installed.

On the other hand, the compressor (22a, 22b) is to discharge the gas refrigerant of the high temperature and high pressure when the internal oil is discharged together with the refrigerant, the majority of the discharged oil is separated from the oil separator 30 and the compressor (22a, 22b) is circulated to the refrigerant suction pipe 24 and is re-introduced into the compressor 22, and a part is circulated with the refrigerant and then re-introduced into the compressors 22a and 22b.

The multi-type air conditioner is connected to each of the oil separator 30, the outdoor heat exchanger 34, the accumulator 26, the indoor heat exchanger 8, and the refrigerant pipes 36a, 36b, 36c, and 36d. When the refrigerant passing through the oil separator 30 includes a four-way valve 38 for switching the flow path to send to any one of the indoor heat exchanger 8 and the outdoor heat exchanger 34, the plurality of indoor units ( 1,2,3,4) can be used as a cooler or a heater.

Reference numeral 42 is an electronic expansion valve for controlling the flow rate of the refrigerant circulating the refrigeration cycle.

On the other hand, as shown in Figure 3, the oil contained in the refrigerant discharged from the compressor (22a, 22b) is separated in the oil separator 30, the separated oil is the oil separator 30 and the compressor 22a Through the communication pipe 29 and the refrigerant suction pipe 24 for connecting the refrigerant suction pipe 24 of 22b are respectively re-introduced into the compressors 22a and 22b.

In addition, when only some of the compressors 22a and 22b are driven between the compressors 22a and 22b in response to loads of the plurality of indoor units 1, 2, 3 and 4, oil may be concentrated only in part. In order to prevent this, the oil supply pipe 150 for supplying oil from the compressor with excessive oil to the compressor lacking oil to perform the oil between the compressors 22a and 22b is installed.

However, the conventional multi-type air conditioner has the following problems.

First, when the oil separated from the oil separator 30 is recovered to the compressors 22a and 22b through the refrigerant suction pipe 24, the pressure difference due to the flow rate of the refrigerant discharged from the compressors 22a and 22b. The furnace oil was immediately re-discharged to cause oil shortage in the compressors 22a and 22b.

That is, when oil is re-introduced into the compressors 22a and 22b through the refrigerant suction pipe 24, the oil is changed by the pressure difference due to the flow rate of the refrigerant discharged from the compressors 22a and 22b. It immediately re-discharged together with the refrigerant discharged before being accommodated in 22b), causing oil shortage in the compressors 22a and 22b.

Second, when the oil shortage phenomenon in the compressor (22a, 22b) as described above, the oil leveling pipe 150 to prevent the oil shortage between the compressor (22a, 22b) is not functioning, so the compressor (22a, 22b) ), There is a problem that the reliability of the.

That is, since the oil re-introduced into the compressors 22a and 22b from the oil separator 30 as described above is not properly accumulated, oil shortages in the compressors 22a and 22b occur and thus, When the oil level of the oil is equal to or less than the installation height of the fungal oil pipe 150, since the oil between the compressors 22a and 22b is impossible, the reliability of the compressors 22a and 22b is reduced.

For this reason, the conventional multi-type air conditioner has a problem in that the overall efficiency of the system is lowered due to a decrease in reliability due to a decrease in performance of the compressors 22a and 22b.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is to provide a multi-type air conditioner that can effectively recover oil with a simple structure.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides at least one outdoor unit including a plurality of compressors for compressing the refrigerant; At least one indoor unit connected to the outdoor unit and a refrigerant pipe; A fungal oil pipe provided in communication with said plurality of compressors; A plurality of oil separators separating oil from refrigerant discharged from each of the plurality of compressors; The plurality of oil separators are provided so as to communicate with the fungal oil pipe, respectively, and comprises a plurality of oil return pipes for supplying the oil contained in the plurality of oil separators to the fungal milk pipe, respectively to provide.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an embodiment of a multi-type air conditioner according to the present invention, Figure 5 is a schematic view showing a cycle during the cooling operation of the multi-type air conditioner of Figure 4, Figure 6 FIG. 5 is a schematic view illustrating a main part of a process of recovering oil to a compressor in the multi-type air conditioner of FIG. 5.

As shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the multi-type air conditioner according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a single outdoor unit 80, a plurality of indoor units 51, 52, 53, 54, and the outdoor unit 80. ) And a refrigerant pipe 100 connected to each of the indoor units 51, 52, 53, and 54.

At this time, the refrigerant pipes 100 connected to the plurality of indoor units 51, 52, 53, and 54 sides are configured in parallel and connected to the outdoor unit 80.

That is, the refrigerant passing through each of the indoor units 51, 52, 53, and 54 through the refrigerant pipe 100 is combined and then flows to the outdoor unit 80, and the refrigerant passing through the outdoor unit 80 is transferred to the outdoor unit 80. It is distributed to each of the indoor units (51, 52, 53, 54) through the refrigerant pipe (100).

In addition, each of the indoor units (51, 52, 53, 54) is an indoor blower (74) and the indoor unit (51) for sucking the indoor air into the indoor units (51, 52, 53, 54) and then discharge it back into the room. An indoor heat exchanger (72) is provided for cooling or heating the air sucked into the (52, 53, 54) to heat exchange with the refrigerant.

On the other hand, the outdoor unit 80 is an outdoor blower (81) for sucking the outdoor air to the inside and then discharged back to the outside, and an outdoor heat exchanger for heat-exchanging the air sucked by the outdoor blower (81) with the refrigerant ( 82, a plurality of compressors 83 and 84 compressing the refrigerant, and refrigerant discharge pipes 83a and 84a of the compressors 83 and 84, respectively, and discharge the refrigerant together with the refrigerant. A plurality of oil separators (85, 86) for separating the separated oil.

Here, each of the compressors 83 and 84 includes a compression unit having a compression chamber in which a refrigerant is compressed, a motor unit for compressing the compression chamber, and an oil pump for pumping oil for lubrication of the motor unit or the compression unit. It is configured to include, the internal oil is discharged together with the refrigerant during the discharge of the high-temperature, high-pressure gas refrigerant, the discharged oil is mostly separated from the oil separator (85,86) refrigerant of the compressor (83,84) It is circulated to the suction pipes 83b and 84b, and a part of it circulates the refrigeration cycle with the refrigerant.

At this time, the compressor (83, 84) is composed of a variable displacement compressor (83) of variable capacity and a constant speed compressor (84) is driven at a constant speed, when the load of the indoor unit (51, 52, 53, 54) is small For example, when one or two of the plurality of indoor units are operated, only the variable capacity compressor 83 is driven in response to the load of the indoor units 51, 52, 53, 54, and the indoor units 51, 52, 53, 54, the load is relatively large, for example, when the three or four of the plurality of indoor units (51, 52, 53, 54) is operated the constant speed compressor (84) together with the variable displacement compressor (83) It is preferred to be driven.

Reference numeral 87a is mounted in the outdoor unit 80 and is connected to the refrigerant intake pipes 83b and 84b of the variable displacement compressor 83 and the constant speed compressor 84 so that the variable displacement compressor 83 and the constant speed compressor 84 are installed. ) Is a common accumulator for accumulating liquid refrigerant so that only gaseous refrigerant can be introduced into each other, and reference numeral 87b is mounted in the outdoor unit 80 to cool the plurality of indoor units 51, 52, 53, 54. Or a four-way valve for switching the flow path so that the refrigerant passing through the oil separator (85,86) to be used as a heater to any one of the indoor heat exchanger (72) and outdoor heat exchanger (82), 87c is a receiver mounted in the outdoor unit 80 to store excess refrigerant and to circulate only the liquid refrigerant to the indoor unit during the cooling operation.

In addition, reference numeral 88a is mounted on the refrigerant pipe 100 between the outdoor heat exchanger 82 and the indoor heat exchanger 72 to cool the refrigerant passing through the outdoor heat exchanger 82 or the indoor heat exchanger 72 at low temperature. And an expansion mechanism such as an orifice or an electronic expansion valve for expanding at a low pressure, and reference numeral 88b is an electronic expansion valve mounted on the outdoor unit 80 and controlling a flow rate of the refrigerant circulating through the refrigeration cycle by adjusting a flow path of the refrigerant. to be.

In addition, description 89 is a check valve installed in the refrigerant outlet pipes 83a and 83b of the variable displacement compressor 83 and the constant speed compressor 84, respectively, to prevent the backflow of the refrigerant or oil.

On the other hand, referring to Figure 6, the multi-type air conditioner is a homogenizing pipe 150 is provided so that the variable displacement compressor 83 and the constant speed compressor 84, and the refrigerant in the oil separator (85,86) It further comprises a plurality of oil recovery pipes (163, 164) to supply the separated oil to the fungal oil pipe 150, respectively.

Here, it is preferable that strainers 163a and 164a are provided on the oil recovery pipes 163 and 164 so as to filter out foreign substances contained in the oil supplied to the fungal oil pipe 150.

In addition, the fungal oil pipe 150 is provided with adjusting means for adjusting the amount of oil flowing from the oil recovery pipes 163 and 164 and supplied to the compressors 83 and 84.

Here, the adjusting means is a plurality of oil sensors (173a, 174a) for detecting the amount of oil stored in the compressor (83, 84), and the control and the amount of oil supplied to the compressor (83,84) Controlling solenoid valves 173b and 174b.

At this time, the oil sensors 173a and 174a are provided in the corresponding compressors 83 and 84, respectively, and the solenoid valves 173b and 174b are adjacent to the fuel oil pipe 150 on the compressors 83 and 84. It is preferably provided at the end of the).

Hereinafter, the compressor oil recovery method in the multi-type air conditioner according to the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 6.

For reference, the multi-type air conditioner circulates the refrigerant from the compressors 83 and 84 to the outdoor heat exchanger 82, the expansion mechanism 88a, and the indoor heat exchanger 72 through the four-way valve 87b. A cooling cycle is configured so that the 51, 52, 53, and 54 cooling operation is performed. When the refrigerant is circulated by the four-way valve 87b, the refrigerant is circulated only in the opposite direction to the cooling. Since the heating cycle is configured such that the heating operation 54 is performed, only the case where the multi-type air conditioner achieves a cooling cycle will be described.

First, when the multi-type air conditioner is operated such that some of the plurality of indoor units 51, 52, 53, 54 are cooled, the one or two of the indoor units 51, 52, 53, 54 are cooled. In this case, the multi-type air conditioner drives only the variable displacement compressor 83 of the outdoor unit 80, and the constant speed compressor 83 of the outdoor unit 80 is stopped.

Thus, the variable-capacity compressor 83 compresses the refrigerant to a high temperature and a high pressure to discharge the refrigerant together with the internal oil into the refrigerant discharge pipe 83a, and the discharged refrigerant and oil pass through the oil separator 85 while being passed through most of the oil separator 85. The oil is separated from the refrigerant and some of the oil is circulated in the refrigeration cycle with the refrigerant.

That is, the refrigerant passing through the oil separator 85 passes through the four-way valve 87b, the outdoor heat exchanger 82, and the expansion mechanism 88a in order, and then flows into the indoor heat exchanger 72 of the indoor unit that is cooled and operated. The air is evaporated while cooling the air around the indoor heat exchanger 72 to allow the indoor unit to act as a cooler, and then circulated to the variable displacement compressor 83.

In addition, the oil separated from the refrigerant in the oil separator 85 flows into the fungal oil pipe 150 through the oil recovery pipe 163, and the oil introduced into the fungal oil pipe 150 is the variable displacement compressor 83. Directly reintroduced into

At this time, the oil flowing into the variable displacement compressor (83) through the oil recovery pipe 163 and the fungal oil pipe 150 is variable by the solenoid valve (173b) provided in the fungal oil pipe 150 The control and the amount thereof are controlled according to the oil storage state in the compressor 83.

That is, the oil sensor 173a provided in the variable displacement compressor 83 detects the amount of stored oil in the variable displacement compressor 83, and the capacity according to the amount of oil detected by the oil sensor 173a. When it is determined that oil is insufficient in the variable compressor 83, the solenoid valve 173b is opened to supply oil into the variable displacement compressor 83.

Therefore, the multi-type air conditioner according to the present invention directly supplies the oil separated from the refrigerant by the oil separator 85 to the variable displacement compressor 83 through the oil recovery pipe 163 and the homogenizing pipe 150. An appropriate amount of oil in the variable displacement compressor 83 can be maintained without a shortage, thereby ensuring reliability even for a long time of operation.

Here, when driving the constant speed compressor 84 together with the variable displacement compressor 83 in response to the load of the indoor unit (51, 52, 53, 54), the oil recovery method of the constant speed compressor (84) is also, Since it is performed in the same manner as the variable displacement compressor 83, it is of course possible to ensure reliability even for a long time operation.

On the other hand, since the variable-capacity compressor 83 and the constant speed compressor 84 are connected to the uniform oil pipe 150, when the oil is unevenly concentrated in either of the compressors (83, 84), the oil is excessive by the uniform oil operation. By moving the oil on the side to the side where the oil is insufficient, oil unevenness between the compressors 83 and 84 can be prevented in advance.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and as can be seen in the appended claims, modifications can be made by those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains, and such modifications are within the scope of the present invention. .

Referring to the effects of the multi-type air conditioner according to the present invention described above are as follows.

First, according to the present invention, by smoothly supplying the oil separated from the refrigerant in the oil separator to the oil storage side of the compressor without interference, to prevent the wear and noise of the compressor and increase the life, as well as the system efficiency of the air conditioner There is an advantage to improve.

Second, according to the present invention, since the oil discharged together with the refrigerant from the compressor is separated from the oil separator and is recovered to the compressor through one oil flow path consisting of an oil recovery pipe and a homogeneous oil pipe, an efficient oil recovery of the compressor is possible. have.

Third, according to the present invention, the oil can be continuously supplied appropriately according to the oil storage state in the compressor, thereby preventing the oil shortage of the compressor and the oil uneven distribution between the compressors in advance, thereby improving the performance of the compressor. There is this.

Claims (6)

At least one outdoor unit including a plurality of compressors for compressing the refrigerant; At least one indoor unit connected to the outdoor unit and a refrigerant pipe; A fungal oil pipe provided in communication with the plurality of compressors; A plurality of oil separators separating oil from refrigerant discharged from each of the plurality of compressors; The plurality of oil separators are provided so as to communicate with the fungal oil pipe, respectively, and comprises a plurality of oil return pipes for supplying the oil contained in the plurality of oil separators to the fungal milk pipe, respectively . The method of claim 1, The plurality of oil recovery pipe, the multi-type air conditioner, characterized in that each provided with a strainer for filtering foreign matter contained in the oil supplied to the fungal oil pipe. The method of claim 1, In the fungus tube, And a regulating means for adjusting an amount of oil introduced from the oil return pipe and supplied to each of the plurality of compressors. The method of claim 3, wherein The adjusting means, And a plurality of oil sensors for sensing the amount of oil stored in the plurality of compressors, and a plurality of solenoid valves controlling the interruption and the amount of oil supplied to the compressor. . The method of claim 3, wherein The plurality of oil sensors are each provided in a corresponding compressor, the solenoid valve is a multi-type air conditioner, characterized in that each provided at the end of the fuel oil pipe adjacent to the corresponding compressor. The method of claim 1, At least one of the plurality of compressors is a multi-type air conditioner, characterized in that the variable displacement compressor.

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