CN110873404A

CN110873404A - Air conditioner and self-cleaning control method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN110873404A
Application number: CN201811007059.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 许文明; 罗荣邦
Original assignee: Qingdao Haier Air Conditioner Gen Corp Ltd
Current assignee: Wuhan Haier Electric Appliance Co ltd; Qingdao Haier Air Conditioner Gen Corp Ltd
Priority date: 2018-08-31
Filing date: 2018-08-31
Publication date: 2020-03-10

Abstract

The invention discloses an air conditioner and a self-cleaning control method thereof, and belongs to the technical field of air conditioners. The control method comprises the following steps: responding to the condition that an air conditioning system meets the triggering condition of a self-cleaning mode, and determining the number of users in the indoor environment where each indoor unit in the indoor units to be cleaned is located; and determining the sequence of each indoor unit to be cleaned for executing the self-cleaning mode according to a preset sequence rule and the number of a plurality of users. The control method for self-cleaning of the air conditioner can determine the sequence of the self-cleaning mode executed by the indoor units according to the preset sequence rule and the number of users, thereby avoiding the problem of overlarge load caused by the simultaneous self-cleaning mode of the indoor units, ensuring the self-cleaning effect of the indoor units and playing a role in protecting the networking of household appliances.

Description

Air conditioner and self-cleaning control method thereof

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of air conditioners, in particular to an air conditioner and a self-cleaning control method thereof.

Background

When the air conditioner operates in a cooling or heating mode, air in an external environment enters the inside of the machine body along the air inlet, and is blown into the external environment again through the air outlet after heat exchange of the heat exchange plate, in the process, impurities such as dust, large particles and the like mixed in the air can enter the indoor machine along with air inlet flow, although a dustproof filter screen arranged at the air inlet of the air conditioner can filter most of the dust and the particles, a small amount of tiny dust can not be completely blocked and filtered, and the dust can be gradually deposited and attached to the surface of the heat exchange plate along with long-term use of the air conditioner.

Generally, a cleaning method of an air conditioner in the prior art mainly includes two modes of manual cleaning and self cleaning of the air conditioner, wherein the self cleaning mode of the air conditioner is mainly divided into a frost condensation stage and a defrosting stage, wherein, taking an indoor unit of a split air conditioner as an example, in the frost condensation stage, the air conditioner firstly operates in a refrigeration mode, and increases refrigerant output quantity to an indoor heat exchanger, so that moisture in indoor air can be gradually condensed into a frost or ice layer on the outer surface of the heat exchanger, and in the process, the condensed frost layer can be combined with dust, so that the dust is peeled off from the outer surface of the heat exchanger; then, in the defrosting stage, the air conditioner operates in a heating mode to melt the frost layer condensed on the outer surface of the heat exchanger, and dust can be collected into the water receiving tray along with the melted water flow, so that the aim of self-cleaning the indoor unit of the air conditioner can be fulfilled; similarly, when the outdoor unit of the split air conditioner is cleaned, the self-cleaning operation is performed according to a reverse flow to that of the indoor unit, that is, the air conditioner operates the heating mode (the temperature of the outdoor unit is reduced, and the frost is condensed) and then operates the cooling mode (the temperature of the outdoor unit is increased, and the frost is melted).

The household environment of a user may be provided with a plurality of air conditioners, and the use states of the plurality of air conditioners are similar to the use environment, so that the cleaning occasions of the plurality of air conditioners are also similar, but if the plurality of air conditioners perform self-cleaning operation simultaneously, the load of the household appliance networking of the user in a short time is overlarge, and the use of other electrical equipment is influenced.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention provides an air conditioner and a self-cleaning control method thereof, aiming at solving the problem of time selection of a plurality of air conditioners of the same user for executing a self-cleaning mode. The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosed embodiments. This summary is not an extensive overview and is intended to neither identify key/critical elements nor delineate the scope of such embodiments. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

The technical scheme adopted by the invention for solving the technical problems is as follows:

according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control method for self-cleaning of an air conditioning system, the air conditioning system comprising a plurality of indoor units; the control method comprises the following steps:

responding to the condition that an air conditioning system meets the triggering condition of a self-cleaning mode, and determining the number of users in the indoor environment where each indoor unit in the indoor units to be cleaned is located;

and determining the sequence of each indoor unit to be cleaned for executing the self-cleaning mode according to a preset sequence rule and the number of a plurality of users.

In an alternative embodiment, the sequence rule comprises: the number of users is inversely related to the sequence in which the indoor unit performs the self-cleaning mode.

In an optional embodiment, the control method further comprises:

counting the accumulated running time of the air conditioning system;

and when the accumulated running time of the air conditioning system is greater than a preset time threshold, determining that the air conditioner meets the triggering condition of the self-cleaning mode.

In an optional embodiment, the control method further comprises:

determining a self-cleaning mode executed by each indoor unit when executing the current self-cleaning process based on the number of users in the indoor environment where each indoor unit is located; the self-cleaning mode includes at least a frost-melting cleaning mode, a cold-hot expansion cleaning mode, and a high-temperature steam washing mode.

In an alternative embodiment, the cold thermal expansion cleaning mode includes a cooling contraction flow and a heating expansion flow for the heat exchanger to be cleaned;

wherein, the refrigeration contraction process comprises: controlling the air conditioner to operate a refrigeration mode according to set operation parameters so as to reduce the temperature of the heat exchanger with the cleaning function to be lower than the set frost condensation temperature;

the heating expansion process comprises the following steps: and controlling the air conditioner to operate the heating mode at the set operation parameters so as to increase the temperature of the heat exchanger with the cleaning function to be higher than the set heating temperature.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is also provided an air conditioning system including a plurality of indoor units and a controller, wherein the controller is configured to:

In an alternative embodiment, the sequence rule comprises: the temperature difference value is inversely related to the sequence in which the indoor unit performs the self-cleaning mode.

In an alternative embodiment, the controller is further configured to:

counting the accumulated running time of the air conditioning system;

In an alternative embodiment, the controller is further configured to:

The invention adopts the technical scheme and has the beneficial effects that:

the control method for self-cleaning of the air conditioner can determine the sequence of the self-cleaning mode executed by the indoor units according to the preset sequence rule and the number of users, thereby avoiding the problem of overlarge load caused by the simultaneous self-cleaning mode of the indoor units, ensuring the self-cleaning effect of the indoor units and playing a role in protecting the networking of household appliances.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a first flowchart illustrating a self-cleaning control method of an air conditioner according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a second flowchart illustrating a self-cleaning control method of an air conditioner according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a third flowchart illustrating a control method of self-cleaning of an air conditioner according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a fourth flowchart illustrating a control method of self-cleaning of an air conditioner according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustrate specific embodiments of the invention to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other changes. The examples merely typify possible variations. Individual components and functions are optional unless explicitly required, and the sequence of operations may vary. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in or substituted for those of others. The scope of embodiments of the invention encompasses the full ambit of the claims, as well as all available equivalents of the claims. Embodiments may be referred to herein, individually or collectively, by the term "invention" merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any single invention or inventive concept if more than one is in fact disclosed. Herein, relational terms such as first and second, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Also, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising an … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method or apparatus that comprises the element. The embodiments are described in a progressive manner, each embodiment focuses on differences from other embodiments, and the same and similar parts among the embodiments are referred to each other. As for the methods, products and the like disclosed by the embodiments, the description is simple because the methods correspond to the method parts disclosed by the embodiments, and the related parts can be referred to the method parts for description.

The air conditioner comprises an indoor heat exchanger, an outdoor heat exchanger, a throttling device and a compressor, wherein the indoor heat exchanger, the outdoor heat exchanger, the throttling device and the compressor are connected through refrigerant pipelines to form a refrigerant circulation loop, and refrigerant flows along the set flow directions of different operation modes through the refrigerant circulation loop, so that the functions of heating, refrigerating, self-cleaning and the like are realized.

In an embodiment, the operation modes of the air conditioner comprise a refrigeration mode, a heating mode and a self-cleaning mode, wherein the refrigeration mode is generally applied to a high-temperature working condition in summer and used for reducing the indoor environment temperature; the heating mode is generally applied to the low-temperature working condition in winter and is used for increasing the indoor environment temperature; the self-cleaning mode is generally a user's self-selection function mode or self-starting function, and can automatically clean the heat exchanger under the condition that dust and dirt are accumulated on the heat exchanger.

When the air conditioner operates in a refrigeration mode, the set refrigerant flow direction is that high-temperature refrigerant discharged by the compressor firstly flows through the outdoor heat exchanger to exchange heat with the outdoor environment, then flows into the indoor heat exchanger to exchange heat with the indoor environment, and finally the refrigerant flows back to the compressor to be compressed again; in the process, the refrigerant flowing through the outdoor heat exchanger emits heat to the outdoor environment, the refrigerant flowing through the indoor heat exchanger absorbs heat from the indoor environment, and the indoor heat can be continuously discharged to the outdoor environment through the circulating flow of the refrigerant in the refrigerant circulating loop, so that the refrigeration purpose of reducing the temperature of the indoor environment can be achieved.

The set refrigerant flow direction during the heating mode refers to that the high-temperature refrigerant discharged by the compressor firstly flows through the indoor heat exchanger to exchange heat with the outdoor environment, then flows into the outdoor heat exchanger to exchange heat with the indoor environment, and finally flows back to the compressor to be compressed again; in the process, the refrigerant flowing through the indoor heat exchanger emits heat to the indoor environment, the refrigerant flowing through the outdoor heat exchanger absorbs heat from the outdoor environment, and the outdoor heat can be continuously released to the indoor environment through the circulating flow of the refrigerant in the refrigerant circulating loop, so that the heating purpose of improving the temperature of the indoor environment can be achieved.

Generally, since the indoor heat exchanger is a heat exchanger directly used for changing an indoor temperature environment, the degree of cleanliness of the indoor heat exchanger may directly affect the use experience of a user. Therefore, the main application of the self-cleaning mode of the air conditioner of the present invention is an indoor heat exchanger. Of course, the self-cleaning mode of the air conditioner of the present invention may also be used to clean the outdoor heat exchanger, so in a specific embodiment, when the air conditioner of the present invention performs a cleaning process, only one of the indoor heat exchanger and the outdoor heat exchanger may be cleaned, or both of the indoor heat exchanger and the outdoor heat exchanger may be cleaned. It should be understood that if the existing air conditioner uses the same or similar control method as the present invention to perform the self-cleaning operation of the indoor and outdoor heat exchangers, it should be also included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Taking the self-cleaning process of the indoor heat exchanger as an example, the self-cleaning mode of the air conditioner operation of the invention comprises but is not limited to a cold and hot expansion cleaning mode, a high-temperature steam cleaning mode and a frost condensation-defrosting cleaning mode; correspondingly, the self-cleaning process includes, but is not limited to, a cold-hot expansion process, a high-temperature steam cleaning process and a frost formation process; the cold and hot expansion process can be subdivided into two sub-processes of a refrigeration contraction process and a heating expansion process, and the frost formation and defrosting process can be subdivided into two sub-processes of a frost formation process and a defrosting stage.

Optionally, the air conditioner of the present invention may combine multiple self-cleaning processes to perform a cleaning operation on the heat exchanger in the process of performing the self-cleaning mode once according to the actual cleaning requirement, for example, in the process of performing the self-cleaning mode once, a cold-hot expansion process and a frost condensation and defrosting process are sequentially and respectively performed; alternatively, one of the self-cleaning processes may be combined with one or more sub-processes of one or more other self-cleaning processes to perform a cleaning operation on the heat exchanger, such as combining a cold-hot expansion process with a frost-forming process or a defrosting process in a frost-forming and defrosting process during a single self-cleaning mode; alternatively, one or more sub-processes of one of the self-cleaning processes may be combined with one or more sub-processes of the other one or more self-cleaning processes to perform a cleaning operation on the heat exchanger, such as a cooling contraction process or a heating expansion process of a cooling-heating expansion process and a defrosting process of a defrosting process in a single self-cleaning mode. One or more flow combinations in the self-cleaning flows can be preset in the air conditioner, and then the air conditioner can select the adaptive flow combination according to the actual cleaning requirement so as to utilize the cleaning flow defined by the flow combination to clean the heat exchanger for dust removal.

Specifically, for the cold and hot expansion process, taking an indoor heat exchanger as an example, the working process mainly includes two stages which are sequentially performed: a cooling contraction stage defined by a cold-hot expansion process and a heating expansion stage defined by a heating expansion process. The invention utilizes the characteristic that the volume expansion rates of the heat exchanger and the oil stain attached to the heat exchanger are different when the heat exchanger is heated or cooled, and the heat-cold expansion process is executed for one time or multiple times, so that the volume change of the heat exchanger and the oil stain under different cold and hot states can generate a gap between the heat exchanger and the oil stain, the adhesive force of the oil stain on the heat exchanger is reduced, and the effective separation of the heat exchanger and the oil stain is realized.

The invention reduces the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger by adjusting the operation parameters of the compressor, the fan, the throttling device and other components under the condition of controlling the flow direction of the refrigerant limited by the air conditioner in the refrigeration mode in the refrigeration contraction stage, because the oil stain is attached to the indoor heat exchanger and can transfer heat between the two, the temperature of the oil stain per se is also reduced along with the indoor heat exchanger, and because the volume expansion rates of the heat exchanger and the oil stain attached to the heat exchanger are different when the temperature is reduced, the contraction volumes of the heat exchanger and the oil stain are different under the condition of the same temperature variation, so that the oil stain is peeled off from the attachment position of the heat exchanger; after the stage of switching to the heating expansion, the air conditioner is controlled to convey the refrigerant to the indoor heat exchanger in the refrigerant flow direction limited by the heating mode, the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger is raised through adjusting the operation parameters of components such as a compressor, a fan, a throttling device and the like, the temperature of the oil stain per se is also raised along with the indoor heat exchanger, and meanwhile, due to the fact that the volume expansion rates of the indoor heat exchanger and the throttling device are different, under the condition of the same temperature variation amount in the temperature raising process, the volumes of the heat expansion of the indoor heat exchanger and the oil stain are different, the oil stain begins to expand from the contraction attachment position of the heat exchanger in the previous refrigeration contraction stage to increase the volume, the attachment viscosity between the indoor heat exchanger and the oil stain is reduced again, and the oil.

Before the air conditioner leaves a factory, different pollutant samples (such as different types of pollutant samples divided by regions or using areas of the air conditioner) on a heat exchanger used by a user can be collected, the volume expansion rates of the different pollutant samples are measured and calculated in an experiment mode and the like, and parameters and the like corresponding to the optimal stripping effect of the pollutants and the indoor heat exchanger in the switching change process of different refrigerating temperatures and heating temperatures between the two are further measured and calculated according to one or more materials of the indoor heat exchanger; the parameters are prestored in components such as an electric control board, an MCU and the like of the air conditioner, so that when the air conditioner needs to clean the indoor heat exchanger in a self-cleaning mode defined by a cold and hot expansion process, the parameters can be called, and thus data such as running parameters and the like needed to be set when the self-cleaning mode is executed are determined.

For the high-temperature steam cleaning process, in an alternative embodiment, the indoor heat exchanger is a heat exchanger to be cleaned, wherein the indoor unit is provided with a high-temperature steam device, the high-temperature steam device comprises a steam generator and a water storage device, the steam generator is used for generating high-temperature steam, and a steam injection opening of the steam generator faces the indoor heat exchanger, so that the high-temperature steam generated by the steam generator can be injected to the heat exchanger; the water storage device is used for storing water required by the steam generator for generating high-temperature steam; here, after the high-temperature steam is sprayed to the indoor heat exchanger, contaminants such as dust and oil stains adhered to the outer surface of the indoor heat exchanger may be washed away, and the contaminants may be separated from the outer surface of the indoor heat exchanger.

Or, in a further alternative embodiment, the body of the air conditioner comprises a water pan arranged below the indoor heat exchanger; the bottom of the water pan is provided with a heating device which is used for heating the water accumulated in the water pan to a state of generating high-temperature steam. After the heating device is started, the temperature of the water accumulated in the water receiving tray is gradually increased and finally becomes a boiling state, and the accumulated water part becomes gaseous steam; the water pan is positioned below the indoor heat exchanger, and the density of high-temperature steam is low, so that the high-temperature steam can rise and diffuse into gaps of heat exchange fins of the indoor heat exchanger, and oil stains are heated and expanded and separated from the indoor heat exchanger; thus, the air conditioning structure design of the embodiment can also play a role in high-temperature steam cleaning.

For the flow of frost formation and defrosting, the indoor heat exchanger is taken as an example, and the working flow mainly comprises two stages which are sequentially carried out: the defrosting process comprises an indoor heat exchanger defrosting stage defined by a defrosting process and an indoor heat exchanger defrosting stage modern by a defrosting process. In the defrosting stage of the indoor heat exchanger, ice can be condensed and frosted on the indoor heat exchanger of the indoor unit; in the defrosting stage of the indoor heat exchanger, the condensed frost of the indoor heat exchanger in the previous defrosting stage is melted, impurities such as dust and the like can be separated from the indoor heat exchanger along with the melted condensed water, and the cleaning treatment of the indoor heat exchanger is completed.

Specifically, in the operation process of the air conditioner in the refrigeration mode, if the power of the compressor is improved and the output quantity of the refrigerant is increased, the low-temperature refrigerant quantity input into the indoor unit can be increased, the redundant refrigerant cold quantity can reduce the internal temperature of the indoor unit, and when the internal temperature of the indoor unit is lower than the frost condensation critical temperature value (such as 0 ℃), water vapor in air flowing through the indoor unit can be gradually condensed into frost in the indoor unit.

In the heating mode operation process of the air conditioner, the high-temperature refrigerant firstly flows through the indoor heat exchanger, so that the cold energy of the high-temperature refrigerant can increase the internal temperature of the indoor unit, and when the internal temperature of the indoor unit is higher than the frost condensation critical temperature value (such as 0 ℃), the frost condensed in the indoor unit can be gradually melted and dripped, so that the frost can be separated from the indoor heat exchanger. The control method of the invention is that under the condition that the flow direction of the refrigerant limited by the heating mode of the air conditioner is controlled at the defrosting stage of the indoor heat exchanger, the defrosting operation of the indoor heat exchanger is realized by adjusting the operation parameters of components such as a compressor, a fan, a throttling device and the like.

Similarly, when the outdoor heat exchanger is self-cleaned, when the air conditioner flows in the refrigerant flow direction defined by the heating mode, the refrigerant flowing out of the indoor heat exchanger is a medium-temperature refrigerant and the refrigerant flowing into the outdoor heat exchanger after being throttled by the throttling device is a low-temperature refrigerant, so that the low-temperature refrigerant can reduce the temperature of the outdoor heat exchanger, and when the temperature inside the outdoor unit is lower than the frost condensation critical temperature value (such as 0 ℃), water vapor in the air flowing through the outdoor unit can be gradually condensed into frost inside the outdoor unit. Therefore, the ice and the frost of the outdoor heat exchanger are realized while the ice and the frost of the indoor heat exchanger are melted.

And then, the indoor heat exchanger finishes melting ice and defrosting in the defrosting stage of the indoor heat exchanger, self-cleaning of the indoor heat exchanger is finished, the air conditioner enters the defrosting stage of the outdoor heat exchanger, at the moment, the air conditioner is controlled to flow in the direction of the refrigerant flow defined by the refrigeration mode again, the flow direction of the high-temperature refrigerant discharged by the compressor is changed, and the high-temperature refrigerant flows through the outdoor heat exchanger, so that the ice and defrosting of the outdoor heat exchanger can be realized by utilizing the heat of the high-temperature refrigerant, and the self-cleaning process of the outdoor heat exchanger.

In the self-cleaning process, each stage may be performed according to a preset duration, for example, the indoor heat exchanger frost condensation stage may be preset to 10 min, and the indoor heat exchanger defrosting stage may be preset to 12 min, so that after the air conditioner enters the indoor heat exchanger frost condensation stage of the self-cleaning mode, the air conditioner may start timing, when 10 min is reached, the air conditioner enters the indoor heat exchanger defrosting stage, and continues to 12 min in the indoor heat exchanger defrosting stage, it may be determined that the self-cleaning of the indoor unit is completed, and the air conditioner exits the self-cleaning mode.

In the process that the air conditioner is switched to the flow direction limited by the cooling mode or the heating mode, the opening/closing and the rotating speed of the fans of the indoor unit and the outdoor unit also need to be correspondingly controlled, for example, the indoor fan in the frost condensation stage of the indoor heat exchanger is generally closed or operated at a low speed, and the outdoor fan is opened for operation; and in the defrosting stage of the indoor heat exchanger, the indoor fan is started to operate, and outdoor air is closed or operated at a low speed. Therefore, the indoor unit and the outdoor unit are respectively timed in the self-cleaning process, and when the preset time is reached, the components such as a fan of the air conditioner and the like are controlled to carry out corresponding state switching.

Therefore, the present invention provides one or more air conditioners and a control method for self-cleaning thereof, so as to solve the technical problems.

Fig. 1 is a first flowchart illustrating a control method for self-cleaning of an air conditioner according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 1, the present invention provides a control method for self-cleaning of an air conditioner, which mainly comprises the following steps:

s101, responding to the condition that an air conditioner meets a trigger condition of a self-cleaning mode, and determining a temperature difference value between the current indoor temperature of the indoor environment where each indoor unit in the indoor units to be cleaned is located and the corresponding target indoor temperature;

optionally, the triggering condition of the self-cleaning mode is that the accumulated operation time of the air conditioner reaches a set time threshold, for example, the set time threshold is 1000 hours, and when the accumulated operation time of the air conditioner reaches 1000 hours, the triggering condition of the self-cleaning mode is met; here, the air conditioner is provided with a timing module, which may be used to count the accumulated operation time period of the air conditioner. And after the air conditioner executes the self-cleaning operation according to the sequence determined in the step S102, clearing the accumulated running time counted by the timing module.

Or, the self-cleaning triggering condition is that a control instruction for starting self-cleaning input by a user is received; the present invention is not limited thereto.

Here, the air conditioner includes a plurality of indoor units, such as a "one-to-many" multi-split air conditioner for a commercial central air conditioner, and one outdoor unit simultaneously provides a refrigerant required for heat exchange for cooling/heating of the plurality of indoor units. Or for the same household user, a plurality of groups of air-conditioning products are arranged, and each air-conditioning product comprises an indoor unit and an outdoor unit which respectively form a refrigerant conveying pipeline; the multiple groups of air-conditioning products can communicate with each other through data networks such as household wifi and the like, and transmit various parameters and the like in the flow defined by the execution control method.

Generally, a home environment of a user includes a plurality of rooms, such as a bedroom, a living room, and the like; a plurality of indoor units of the air conditioner are respectively installed in a room selected by a user; since the environments, the number of users, and the like in different rooms are different, the temperature and humidity of each room are also different.

In this embodiment, each indoor unit is configured with a temperature sensor, and the temperature sensor can be used to detect a real-time temperature of an indoor environment where the indoor unit is located, where in step S101, the real-time temperature detected by the temperature sensor is used as a current indoor temperature of the indoor environment where the corresponding indoor unit is located;

the target indoor temperature is a set temperature value input by a user through a remote controller, a control panel and the like.

In this embodiment, for an air conditioner including a plurality of indoor units, step S101 mainly aims at the cleaning operation of the indoor unit in the startup enabled state; for the indoor unit which is not started up, cleaning operation is not carried out, and corresponding self-cleaning judgment operation is carried out after the indoor unit is started up next time;

or, in step S101, cleaning operations are performed on the indoor units in the activated state, and after the cleaning operations on all the indoor units in the activated state are completed, cleaning operations are performed on the indoor units that are not activated, where the cleaning operations on the indoor units that are not activated are performed sequentially, and only one indoor unit is cleaned each time.

In this embodiment, in order to facilitate the comparison of the temperature difference values of the indoor units, the process of step S102 is generally executed by taking the absolute value of the temperature difference value between the current indoor temperature of the indoor environment in which each indoor unit is located and the target indoor temperature corresponding to the current indoor temperature.

S102, determining a sequence of each indoor unit to be cleaned executing a self-cleaning mode according to a preset sequence rule and a plurality of temperature difference values.

Optionally, the sequence rule includes: the temperature difference value is inversely related to the sequence in which the indoor unit performs the self-cleaning mode. Namely, the larger the temperature difference value between the current indoor temperature of the indoor environment in which each indoor unit is located and the target indoor temperature corresponding to the current indoor temperature is, the later the self-cleaning sequence is executed; the smaller the temperature difference value between the current indoor temperature of the indoor environment where each indoor unit is located and the corresponding target indoor temperature is, the more forward the sequence of self-cleaning is executed.

The advantage of setting the sequence rules is that: the temperature difference value between the current indoor temperature of the indoor environment of the indoor machine and the target indoor temperature corresponding to the current indoor temperature is larger, the larger the scaling degree is, and the longer the operation time and the more the power consumption corresponding to the self-cleaning mode are; meanwhile, different indoor environments where the indoor units are located are generally communicated, for example, a bedroom is communicated with a living room, so that the indoor unit with the larger scale formation degree is cleaned after being delayed, and the indoor unit with the light scale formation degree is cleaned automatically, so that when the indoor unit with the larger scale formation degree is cleaned automatically, the adverse effect of the indoor unit on the indoor environment caused by the self-cleaning mode in the operation process can be reduced by operating other indoor units which are already finished with the self-cleaning process.

Therefore, after the temperature difference values corresponding to the indoor units are determined in the step S101, the indoor units are sequentially ordered from small to large, and the indoor units sequentially execute the self-cleaning mode according to the ordered order; after one indoor unit executes the self-cleaning process, switching to the working mode before the previous self-cleaning mode;

here, during the self-cleaning process performed by a certain indoor unit, the other indoor units after the sequence thereof maintain the current operation mode.

Optionally, the control method of the present application further includes: determining a self-cleaning mode executed by each indoor unit when executing a current self-cleaning process based on the temperature difference value between the current indoor temperature of the indoor environment in which each indoor unit is located and the corresponding target indoor temperature; the self-cleaning mode includes at least a frost-melting cleaning mode, a cold-hot expansion cleaning mode, and a high-temperature steam washing mode.

Here, the cleaning effects of the three cleaning modes are from high to low, i.e., the cleaning effects of the high-temperature steam washing mode, the cold-hot expansion cleaning mode and the frost-defrosting cleaning mode are from high to low, and the degree of fouling of the corresponding heat exchangers is also from high to low; therefore, when the temperature difference value between the current indoor temperature of the indoor environment of a certain indoor unit and the corresponding target indoor temperature is larger, the scaling degree is serious, and therefore the self-cleaning mode with high cleaning effect is started, the heat exchanger is cleaned by utilizing the higher cleaning effect, the self-cleaning operation of the heat exchanger can be matched with the actual dust removal requirement of the heat exchanger, and the cleaning effect is ensured.

In one embodiment of the invention, the cold and hot expansion cleaning mode comprises a refrigeration contraction process and a heating expansion process for the heat exchanger to be cleaned;

specifically, the flow for controlling the air conditioner to execute the refrigeration contraction comprises the following steps: controlling the air conditioner to operate a refrigeration mode according to set operation parameters so as to reduce the temperature of the heat exchanger to be cleaned to be below a set refrigeration contraction temperature; optionally, the refrigeration contraction temperature is a frost condensation temperature set at a frost condensation stage of a frost condensation and defrosting process of the air conditioner, that is, the temperature of the heat exchanger to be cleaned is reduced to be below the frost condensation temperature by controlling the air conditioner to operate a refrigeration mode according to set operation parameters.

Here, if the air conditioner does not preset a frost condensation and defrosting process, the frost condensation temperature may be prestored in the air conditioner as one temperature data and associated with the cooling contraction process; in this way, during the cooling contraction flow of the air conditioner, the temperature data can be used as the target temperature of the indoor heat exchanger, and the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger can be reduced to be lower than or equal to the target temperature by adjusting components such as a compressor, a throttling device and a fan of the air conditioner based on the target temperature.

The process of controlling the air conditioner to execute the heating expansion comprises the following steps: controlling the air conditioner to operate a heating mode according to set operation parameters so as to reduce the temperature of the heat exchanger to be cleaned to be above a set heating expansion temperature; optionally, the heating expansion temperature is a defrosting temperature set in a defrosting stage of a defrosting process of the air conditioner, that is, the temperature of the heat exchanger to be cleaned is reduced to be higher than the defrosting temperature by controlling the air conditioner to operate a heating mode according to set operation parameters.

Here, if the air conditioner does not preset a frost condensation and defrosting process, the defrosting temperature may be prestored in the air conditioner as one temperature data and associated with the heating expansion process; in this way, in the heating and expansion flow performed by the air conditioner, the temperature data can be used as the target temperature of the indoor heat exchanger, and the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger in the heating and expansion flow can be reduced to the target temperature or higher by adjusting components such as a compressor, a throttle device, and a fan of the air conditioner based on the target temperature.

Optionally, the heating expansion temperature set in the heating expansion process is 50 ℃.

Optionally, the controlling the air conditioner to execute the high-temperature steam cleaning process includes: the heating device at the bottom of the water receiving tray is controlled to be started.

Or, the invention controls the air conditioner to execute the high-temperature steam cleaning process, which comprises the following steps: and controlling to start the high-temperature steam device.

Optionally, the device for generating steam, which is started to execute the high-temperature steam cleaning process, may be determined according to a usage scenario of the air conditioner; for example, when the use environment is a kitchen and other scenes with more oil stains, a high-temperature steam device can be selected to perform steam cleaning on the indoor heat exchanger; and when the service environment is the more scene of greasy dirt such as bedroom, then the optional heating device that opens, here, the mode that heating device produced high temperature steam compares in high temperature steam device, and its steam air current is more soft and the noise that produces is less, is applicable to the little scene of demand noise, has reduced the uncomfortable influence that the air conditioner execution high temperature steam washs the flow and causes the user. Here, the usage scenario of the air conditioner may be set by user input.

Optionally, before the heating device of water collector bottom is opened in the control, control air conditioner execution high temperature steam washs the flow, still includes: detecting the water quantity of the water receiving tray; if the water quantity meets the preset water quantity condition, controlling to start a heating device at the bottom of the water receiving tray; if the water quantity does not meet the preset water quantity condition, the heating device at the bottom of the water receiving tray is not controlled to be started; and/or controlling the water supply pipe to replenish water to the water receiving tray.

Here, the source of the water using the heating device to generate the high-temperature steam is the water accumulated in the water receiving tray; when the water in the water receiving tray is insufficient, if the heating device still runs, the problem of dry burning of the water receiving tray can be caused, and the problems of fire and the like can be easily caused; therefore, before the heating device at the bottom of the water pan is controlled to be started, the water quantity of the water pan is detected, and the heating device at the bottom of the water pan is controlled to be started only under the condition that the water quantity meets the preset water quantity condition, so that the safety of the air conditioner for executing a high-temperature steam cleaning process is ensured.

Fig. 2 is a second flowchart illustrating a self-cleaning control method of an air conditioner according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 2, the present invention provides another control method for self-cleaning of an air conditioner, which mainly comprises the following steps:

s201, responding to the condition that an air conditioning system meets a trigger condition of a self-cleaning mode, and determining the number of users in the indoor environment where each indoor unit in the indoor units to be cleaned is located;

Each indoor unit in this embodiment is configured with a sensing device, and the sensing device can be used to sense the number of users in the indoor environment where the indoor unit is located. For example, the sensing device is an infrared scanning device, and the infrared scanning device can scan and collect thermal images in a set area of an indoor environment and determine the number of users in the indoor environment according to a preset thermal image processing rule;

or, the sensing device is an infrared sensing device, and the infrared sensing device is arranged at an inlet and an outlet of the indoor environment, such as the edge of a door frame; when a user enters and exits the indoor environment, the infrared sensor can sense corresponding signals, and therefore the air conditioner infers the number of people in the current indoor environment through the number of times of the signals sensed by the infrared sensor; the infrared sensors are two groups and are respectively arranged along the in-out direction of the user, so that the in-out state of the personnel can be judged according to the sequence of the trigger time points of the two groups of infrared sensors, and when the personnel enter the indoor environment, the number of the users is increased by 1; when it is determined that the person is out of the indoor environment, the number of users is reduced by 1.

S202, determining a sequence of each indoor unit to be cleaned executing a self-cleaning mode according to a preset sequence rule and the number of a plurality of users.

Optionally, the sequence rule includes: the number of users is inversely related to the sequence in which the indoor unit performs the self-cleaning mode. That is, the more users in the indoor environment each indoor unit is located in, the later the self-cleaning sequence is executed; the fewer the number of users in the indoor environment in which each indoor unit is located, the earlier the sequence in which it performs self-cleaning.

The advantage of setting the sequence rules is that: the indoor environment where the indoor unit is located is influenced in the process that the indoor unit runs in the self-cleaning mode, and the more the number of users of the indoor environment where the indoor unit is located is, the more the number of users causing discomfort is likely to be; therefore, the invention delays the cleaning of the indoor units in the indoor environment with more users, and firstly carries out self-cleaning operation on the indoor units in the indoor environment with less users, thereby reducing the adverse effect of the self-cleaning mode of the indoor unit operation on the users in different indoor environments.

Therefore, after the number of users corresponding to the plurality of indoor units is determined in step S201, sequencing the indoor units in a sequence from small to large, and sequentially executing the self-cleaning mode by the plurality of indoor units according to the sequence of sequencing; after one indoor unit executes the self-cleaning process, switching to the working mode before the previous self-cleaning mode;

Optionally, the control method of the present application further includes: determining a self-cleaning mode executed by each indoor unit when executing the current self-cleaning process based on the number of users in the indoor environment where each indoor unit is located; the self-cleaning mode includes at least a frost-melting cleaning mode, a cold-hot expansion cleaning mode, and a high-temperature steam washing mode.

Before the air conditioner leaves a factory, the interference degree of the three cleaning modes to the indoor environment can be measured and calculated through modes such as experiments; therefore, when the number of users in the indoor environment of one indoor unit is large, the self-cleaning mode with low interference degree is started; when the number of users in the indoor environment of an indoor unit is small or no people exist, the self-cleaning mode with a higher interference degree can be started. Here, the self-cleaning mode in which each indoor unit performs the current self-cleaning process is selected by the number of users, so that adverse effects on the users in the self-cleaning process of the air conditioner can be reduced to the greatest extent possible.

Fig. 3 is a third flowchart illustrating a control method for self-cleaning of an air conditioner according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 3, the present invention provides another control method for self-cleaning of an air conditioner, which mainly comprises the following steps:

s301, determining the power load of the electrical equipment belonging to the same power consumption network as the air conditioner in response to the condition that the air conditioner meets the trigger condition of the self-cleaning mode;

Here, a plurality of electrical appliances of the same user family can be divided into the same power grid, and the same power grid is used for all the appliances such as a television, a refrigerator, a washing machine and an air conditioner in the same user family;

the multiple groups of electrical equipment can communicate with each other through data networks such as household wifi and the like, and transmit various parameters and the like in the flow defined by the execution control method. The air conditioner of the invention obtains the electricity utilization data of other electrical equipment by the data network, calculates the electricity utilization loads of the air conditioner and other electrical equipment, and further can add up to obtain the total electricity utilization load of the user family.

Or, the air conditioner may be in communication connection with the total power supply module of the user home, and since power supply sources of the electrical devices in all usage states of the user home are all from the total point module, the air conditioner may calculate the total power load of the user home through the power consumption data of the total power supply module of the user home.

S302, if the total power load of each electric appliance of the same power network is smaller than a preset load threshold value, controlling the air conditioner to execute a self-cleaning mode.

Here, since the air conditioner has a large electrical load when executing the self-cleaning mode, if the total electrical load of each electrical device of the same power grid is smaller than a preset load threshold, the air conditioner is controlled to execute the self-cleaning mode; optionally, the load threshold may be used to represent an upper limit of the total electrical load that can be borne by the current user family, and a value of the threshold is equal to or less than the upper limit; at the moment, the extra power load caused by the self-cleaning mode of the air conditioner operation is within the bearable load range of the user family, and the power utilization safety of the user family is ensured.

Optionally, the control method of the present application further includes: and if the total power load of each electrical equipment of the same power utilization network is greater than or equal to a preset load threshold value, sending a preset instruction for reducing the power load to at least one electrical equipment. For example, if the electrical devices in the same power grid include televisions, when the total power load of the electrical devices in the same power grid is greater than or equal to a preset load threshold, the air conditioner sends a preset instruction for reducing the power load to the televisions, and if the instruction can control the televisions to be turned off or reduce the screen brightness and the like, the power load of the televisions is reduced; here, the air conditioner is preset with an instruction set of one or more electric appliances commonly used by a user, and the instructions in the instruction set are instructions which can be used for identifying and responding the corresponding electric appliances and reducing the electric load of the electric appliances.

Optionally, the control method of the present application further includes: determining a self-cleaning mode executed by each indoor unit to execute the current self-cleaning process based on the total power load of each electrical device of the same power utilization network and the power load corresponding to the preset self-cleaning mode; the self-cleaning mode includes at least a frost-melting cleaning mode, a cold-hot expansion cleaning mode, and a high-temperature steam washing mode.

Before the air conditioner leaves a factory, the actual power load and the cleaning effect of the three cleaning modes can be measured and calculated through experiments and the like; therefore, when the total electric load of each electric appliance of the same power grid is larger, the self-cleaning mode with lower electric load is started; and when the total electric load of each electric appliance of the same power network is larger, the self-cleaning mode with high cleaning degree can be started.

As shown in fig. 4, the present invention provides another control method for self-cleaning of an air conditioner, which mainly comprises the following steps:

s401, obtaining air quality parameters of the environment where the air conditioner is located;

optionally, the air quality parameters include at least one or more of the following parameter types: indoor PM2.5 concentration, indoor humidity, and indoor temperature.

Here, the air conditioner is provided with one or more sensors that may be used to detect air quality parameters of the environment in which the air conditioner is located, for example, the sensors include PM2.5 sensors that may be used to detect indoor PM2.5 concentrations; and/or, a temperature sensor, operable to detect indoor temperature; and/or, a humidity sensor, operable to detect indoor humidity; and so on.

S402, acquiring the running time of the ventilation equipment;

ventilation equipment such as a ventilation fan, an exhaust fan and the like can be installed in the family of the air-conditioning user; the air conditioner and the ventilation equipment can communicate through data networks such as household wifi and the like, and the air conditioner is further provided with a timing module, when the ventilation equipment is powered on and operates, the timing module starts timing, and the accumulated operation time of the ventilation equipment is counted.

Or, for the existing air conditioner model with the fresh air function, the air exchange function between the indoor environment and the outdoor environment can be realized, so the operation duration of the ventilation device obtained in step S402 is the operation duration of the fresh air function of the air conditioner.

In this embodiment, the ventilation device obtained in step S402 is an accumulated operation time period from the timing start time to the current time in the set period; here, the set period may be several hours, or 1 day, or 1 week, etc. And after the air conditioner is switched to the next set period, clearing the accumulated running time counted by the timing module.

And S403, controlling the air conditioner to start a self-cleaning mode when the air quality parameter does not meet the preset air quality condition and the running time of the ventilation equipment is greater than a preset time threshold.

According to the control method for self-cleaning of the air conditioner, the starting operation of the self-cleaning mode is intelligently judged and controlled according to the air quality parameter and the ventilation time, when the air quality parameter does not meet the preset air quality condition and the running time of the ventilation equipment is greater than the preset time threshold, the fact that more air pollutants enter from the outside air and are accumulated in the air conditioner can be judged, therefore, the self-cleaning mode is automatically triggered and started by the air conditioner without participation of a user, the starting accuracy of the self-cleaning mode is improved, and the use experience of the user is guaranteed.

Here, the concentration of the pollutants in the air and the operation time period of the ventilation equipment are in positive correlation with the amount of the pollutants accumulated in the air conditioner, so that the condition combination related to the operation time period of the ventilation equipment can also be set according to the specific value of the air quality parameter, for example, when the concentration of PM2.5 is higher, the operation time period of the ventilation equipment related to the condition combination can be set to be a shorter time period, such as 5 hours; when the concentration of PM2.5 is low, the operation time of the ventilation equipment related to the PM2.5 can be set to be longer; the specific condition combination can be calculated by an experiment before the factory shipment, a pollutant threshold value is set, the running time reaching the total amount threshold value under different PM2.5 concentrations is respectively calculated, and the two are related to form a condition combination. The air conditioner is pre-stored with data information of one or more of the above-described condition combinations, so that the relevant data can be called in performing the determination of S403.

Optionally, the control method of the present application further includes: determining a self-cleaning mode executed by each indoor unit to execute the current self-cleaning process based on the air quality parameters; the self-cleaning mode includes at least a frost-melting cleaning mode, a cold-hot expansion cleaning mode, and a high-temperature steam washing mode.

For example, the air quality parameter is selected as the concentration of PM2.5, and the higher the concentration of the PM is, the better the cleaning effect of the three self-cleaning modes is; here, the concentration of PM2.5 may be divided into three concentration sections from low to high, and the three concentration sections correspond to cleaning modes in which the cleaning effect is from low to high, respectively. Here, the cleaning effect is a frost-defrosting cleaning mode, a cold-hot expansion cleaning mode and a high-temperature steam cleaning mode in sequence from high to low, and the scaling degree of the corresponding heat exchanger is also from high to low; therefore, under the condition that the concentration of PM2.5 is higher, the situation shows that the amount of pollutants in the air conditioner is also accumulated more quickly, so that a self-cleaning mode with high cleaning effect is started, the heat exchanger is cleaned by utilizing the higher cleaning effect, the self-cleaning operation of the heat exchanger can be matched with the actual dust removal requirement of the heat exchanger, and the cleaning effect is ensured.

Optionally, the control method of the present application further includes: determining a self-cleaning mode executed by each indoor unit to execute the current self-cleaning process based on the running duration of the ventilation equipment; the self-cleaning mode includes at least a frost-melting cleaning mode, a cold-hot expansion cleaning mode, and a high-temperature steam washing mode.

For example, the longer the operation time of the ventilation equipment is, the higher the amount of pollutants such as dust in the indoor environment is, and the more pollutants are accumulated by the corresponding air conditioner, the better the cleaning effect is in the three self-cleaning modes which can be selected; here, the operation time duration may be divided into three time duration intervals from low to high, and the three time duration intervals respectively correspond to the cleaning modes with the cleaning effect from low to high. Here, the cleaning effect is a frost-defrosting cleaning mode, a cold-hot expansion cleaning mode and a high-temperature steam cleaning mode in sequence from high to low, and the scaling degree of the corresponding heat exchanger is also from high to low; therefore, under the condition that the running time of the ventilation equipment is long, the situation that the amount of pollutants in the air conditioner is accumulated more is shown, so that the self-cleaning mode with high cleaning effect is started, the heat exchanger is cleaned by utilizing the high cleaning effect, the self-cleaning operation of the heat exchanger can be matched with the actual dust removal requirement of the heat exchanger, and the cleaning effect is ensured.

In an alternative embodiment, the air conditioning garment generally includes a body and a controller that may be used to control the control flow disclosed in the embodiment of fig. 1 above.

Specifically, the controller is configured to:

responding to the condition that the air conditioner meets the triggering condition of the self-cleaning mode, and determining the temperature difference value between the current indoor temperature of the indoor environment where each indoor unit in the indoor units to be cleaned is located and the target indoor temperature corresponding to the current indoor temperature;

and determining the sequence of each indoor unit to be cleaned for executing the self-cleaning mode according to a preset sequence rule and a plurality of temperature difference values.

In an alternative embodiment, the controller is further configured to:

counting the accumulated running time of the air conditioner;

and when the accumulated running time of the air conditioner is greater than a preset time threshold, determining that the air conditioner meets the triggering condition of the self-cleaning mode.

In an alternative embodiment, the controller is further configured to:

determining a self-cleaning mode executed by each indoor unit when executing a current self-cleaning process based on the temperature difference value between the current indoor temperature of the indoor environment in which each indoor unit is located and the corresponding target indoor temperature; the self-cleaning mode includes at least a frost-melting cleaning mode, a cold-hot expansion cleaning mode, and a high-temperature steam washing mode.

The specific manner in which the controller controls the above process can refer to the foregoing embodiments, and is not described herein again.

In yet another alternative embodiment, the controller of the air conditioning garment may be used to control the control flow disclosed in the embodiment of fig. 2 above.

Specifically, the controller is configured to:

In an alternative embodiment, the controller is further configured to:

counting the accumulated running time of the air conditioning system;

In an alternative embodiment, the controller is further configured to:

In yet another alternative embodiment, the controller of the air conditioning garment may be used to control the control flow disclosed in the embodiment of fig. 3 above.

Specifically, the controller is configured to:

responding to the condition that the air conditioner meets the triggering condition of the self-cleaning mode, and determining the power load of the electrical equipment which belongs to the same power consumption network with the air conditioner;

and if the total power load of each electrical equipment of the same power network is less than a preset load threshold value, controlling the air conditioner to execute a self-cleaning mode.

In an alternative embodiment, the controller is further configured to:

and if the total power load of each electrical equipment of the same power utilization network is greater than or equal to a preset load threshold value, sending a preset instruction for reducing the power load to at least one electrical equipment.

In an alternative embodiment, the controller is further configured to:

counting the accumulated running time of the air conditioner;

In an alternative embodiment, the controller is further configured to:

determining a self-cleaning mode executed by each indoor unit to execute the current self-cleaning process based on the total power load of each electrical device of the same power utilization network and the power load corresponding to the preset self-cleaning mode; the self-cleaning mode includes at least a frost-melting cleaning mode, a cold-hot expansion cleaning mode, and a high-temperature steam washing mode.

In yet another alternative embodiment, the controller of the air conditioning garment may be used to control the control flow disclosed in the embodiment of fig. 4 above.

Specifically, the controller is configured to:

acquiring air quality parameters of the environment where the air conditioner is located;

acquiring the running time of ventilation equipment;

and when the air quality parameter does not meet the preset air quality condition and the running time of the ventilation equipment is longer than a preset time threshold value, controlling the air conditioner to start the self-cleaning mode.

In an alternative embodiment, the air quality parameters include at least one or more of the following parameter types: indoor PM2.5 concentration, indoor humidity, and indoor temperature.

In an alternative embodiment, the controller is further configured to:

determining a self-cleaning mode executed by each indoor unit to execute the current self-cleaning process based on the air quality parameters; the self-cleaning mode includes at least a frost-melting cleaning mode, a cold-hot expansion cleaning mode, and a high-temperature steam washing mode.

In an alternative embodiment, the air conditioner is further configured to:

determining a self-cleaning mode executed by each indoor unit to execute the current self-cleaning process based on the running duration of the ventilation equipment; the self-cleaning mode includes at least a frost-melting cleaning mode, a cold-hot expansion cleaning mode, and a high-temperature steam washing mode.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the procedures and structures described above and shown in the drawings, and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the invention is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A control method for self-cleaning of an air conditioning system is characterized in that the air conditioning system comprises a plurality of indoor units; the control method comprises the following steps:

responding to the condition that the air conditioning system meets the triggering condition of the self-cleaning mode, and determining the number of users in the indoor environment where each indoor unit in the indoor units to be cleaned is located;

and determining the sequence of each indoor unit to be cleaned for executing the self-cleaning mode according to a preset sequence rule and the number of the users.

2. The control method of claim 1, wherein the sequence rule comprises: the number of users is inversely related to the sequence of the indoor unit performing the self-cleaning mode.

3. The control method according to claim 1, characterized by further comprising:

counting the accumulated running time of the air conditioning system;

and when the accumulated running time of the air conditioning system is greater than a preset time threshold, determining that the air conditioner meets the trigger condition of a self-cleaning mode.

4. The control method according to claim 1, characterized by further comprising:

determining a self-cleaning mode executed by each indoor unit to execute the current self-cleaning process based on the number of users in the indoor environment in which each indoor unit is located; the self-cleaning mode at least includes a frost-melting cleaning mode, a cold-hot expansion cleaning mode, and a high-temperature steam washing mode.

5. The control method according to claim 4, wherein the cold thermal expansion cleaning mode includes a cooling contraction flow and a heating expansion flow for a heat exchanger to be cleaned;

wherein, the refrigeration contraction process comprises: controlling the air conditioner to operate a refrigeration mode according to set operation parameters so that the temperature of the heat exchanger with the cleaning function is reduced to be lower than the set frost condensation temperature;

the heating expansion process comprises the following steps: and controlling the air conditioner to operate a heating mode at set operation parameters so as to increase the temperature of the heat exchanger with the cleaning function to be higher than a set heating temperature.

6. An air conditioning system, comprising a plurality of indoor units and a controller, wherein the controller is configured to:

7. The air conditioner of claim 6, wherein the sequence rule comprises: the temperature difference value is inversely related to the sequence in which the indoor unit performs said self-cleaning mode.

8. The air conditioner of claim 6, wherein the controller is further configured to:

counting the accumulated running time of the air conditioning system;

9. The air conditioner of claim 6, wherein the controller is further configured to:

10. The air conditioner according to claim 9, wherein the cool-heat expansion cleaning mode includes a cooling contraction process and a heating expansion process for a heat exchanger to be cleaned;