JP2000230741A - Air-conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To supply conditioned air all over regardless of the height of the ceiling of a room to be air-conditioned. SOLUTION: This air-conditioner comprises flaps 13 and 14 to control a supply direction of air supplied through air outlets 11 and 12; and a controller to effect swing-drive of the flaps 13 and 14 in a given angle range. This controller is provided with an ordinary mode switched by a change-over switch and a high ceiling mode, and in the high ceiling mode, swing-drive of the flap is effected in an angular range wider than that of the ordinary mode.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner mounted on a ceiling of a room to be conditioned.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional ceiling type air conditioner of this type is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-122592. That is, in this case, the unit (indoor unit) of the air conditioner is housed inside the ceiling of the room to be conditioned, and a heat exchanger and a blower are mounted in this unit.

[0003] This heat exchanger forms a predetermined refrigerant circuit with a unit (outdoor unit) installed outdoors, and has a cooling / heating unit.
Exhibits a heating effect. Then, the air in the conditioned room is sucked by the blower and exchanged with the heat exchanger, and then blown out from the outlet into the conditioned room to be air-conditioned.

Further, a flap for adjusting the blowing direction of the conditioned air is attached to the air outlet, so that the blowing direction of the warm air or the cool air (conditioned air) can be adjusted by a user's arbitrary setting. . In this case, the air conditioner has a function of automatically controlling the swing of the flap. In this case, the flap is automatically reciprocated from the horizontal direction (angle near horizontal) to the vertical direction (angle near vertical). It was a swing.

[0005]

By the way, the height of the ceiling of the conditioned room to which the unit of the air conditioner is attached varies depending on the installation location. Therefore, in the case of a harmonized room with a relatively low ceiling, the conditioned air spreads throughout the harmonized room even if the swing angle of the flap is relatively small. There was a problem that conditioned air could not reach.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional technical problem, and provides an air conditioner capable of uniformly blowing conditioned air regardless of the height of a ceiling of a room to be conditioned. Things.

[0007]

An air conditioner according to the present invention comprises:
A flap attached to the ceiling of a conditioned room, wherein the air that has exchanged heat with a heat exchanger is blown out from a blower outlet into the conditioned room by a blower, and controls a blowing direction of the air blown out from the blower outlet. And a control device that swing-drives the flap in a predetermined angle range. The control device has a normal mode and a high ceiling mode that are switched by a switch. In the high ceiling mode, an angle larger than the normal mode is set. The swing driving of the flap is performed in the range.

According to the present invention, in an air conditioner mounted on a ceiling of a room to be conditioned and having heat exchanged with a heat exchanger blown out from a blower outlet into the conditioned room by a blower, the air is blown out from the blower outlet. A flap for controlling the air blowing direction of the air, and a control device for swing-driving the flap in a predetermined angle range. The control device has a normal mode and a high ceiling mode switched by a switch. In the ceiling mode, the flap is swing-driven in a larger angle range than in the normal mode, so if the ceiling of the room to be conditioned in which the air conditioner is installed is high, the switch to the high ceiling mode is made by the switch. Is swung by the control device.

Accordingly, even in the case of a harmonized room having a high ceiling, air can be blown out to the entire room to spread the room, and the comfort can be improved.

The air conditioner according to claim 2 is characterized in that the control device increases the air volume of the blower in the high ceiling mode as compared with the normal mode.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above, the control device increases the air volume of the blower in the high ceiling mode as compared with the normal mode. Air that has exchanged heat with the user can be smoothly spread around the user. Thereby, the comfort can be further improved.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an air conditioner A to which the present invention is applied.
2 is a sectional view of the use side unit (indoor unit) A of C, FIG.
Is a refrigerant circuit diagram of the air conditioner AC, FIG. 3 is an electric circuit diagram of the use side unit A, and FIG. 7 shows the conditioned room 1 in which the use side unit A is installed.

In FIG. 1 and FIG.
Has two built-in heat exchangers (indoor heat exchangers) 3 and 4 and two blowers 6 and 7 each composed of a cross flow fan in a main body 2 made of sheet metal. The harmony room 1 is fitted inside the ceiling so as to cover the ceiling surface 8. A suction port 9 is formed in the center of the lower surface of the main body 2 which is substantially flush with the ceiling surface 8, and an air outlet 11 is provided on both sides thereof.
12 are formed. A filter 10 is attached to the suction port 9.

The use side heat exchangers 3 and 4 have lower ends located on both sides of the suction port 9, respectively, and upper ends thereof have the suction port 9.
It is arranged so as to be close to the upper center of the
Blowers 6 and 7 are each use side heat exchangers 3 and 4 and each outlet 1
It is arranged between 1 and 12. When the blowers 6 and 7 are operated, the air in the conditioned room 1 is sucked from the suction port 9 and flows into the use-side heat exchangers 3 and 4.

The conditioned air that has flowed into the use-side heat exchanger 3 and exchanged heat is accelerated by the blower 6 and
Is blown out into the harmonized room 1. The conditioned air that has flowed into the use-side heat exchanger 4 and exchanged heat is accelerated by the blower 7 and blown out of the outlet 12 into the conditioned room 1.

In this case, flaps 13 and 14 as wind direction plates are respectively attached to the air outlets 11 and 12, and the direction of the conditioned air blowing is controlled up and down by the angles of the flaps 13 and 14. An infrared receiver 16 from a remote controller, which will be described later, is attached to the lower surface of the use side unit A.

In the embodiment, the use side unit A is installed substantially at the center of the ceiling surface 8 of the room 1 to be harmonized, and a zone (area) on the left side from the center of the room 1 shown by a broken line in FIG. The outlet 11 is located in the living) Z1, and the outlet 12 is located in the right zone (area; dining, for example) Z2.
Is located.

Next, referring to FIG. 2, the air conditioner A of the embodiment will be described.
C comprises the ceiling-mounted use-side unit A installed indoors as described above, and the heat-source-side unit (outdoor unit) B installed outdoors, and both are connected by the refrigerant pipe 21.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 22 denotes a so-called inverter compressor (variable capacity compressor, hereinafter referred to as a compressor) whose operation capacity is controlled by an inverter. Examples of the means for varying the capacity of the compressor include frequency control using an AC motor, voltage control using a DC motor, and discharge rate control using a variable displacement valve. 23 is cooling /
A four-way switching valve for switching the flow of the refrigerant during the heating operation, 24 is a heat source side heat exchanger (outdoor heat exchanger), 25 is an electric expansion valve, 26 and 27 are electric diversion expansion valves, and 3 and 4 are The use side heat exchanger 28 is an accumulator.

In this case, the use-side heat exchanger 3 is connected in series with the flow-dividing electric expansion valve 26, the use-side heat exchanger 4 is connected in series with the flow-dividing electric expansion valve 27, and each series circuit is connected. The configuration is such that they are connected to each other in parallel.

In this configuration, the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 22 is operated according to three operation modes of a cooling operation, a heating operation and a dry operation in accordance with the switching position of the four-way switching valve 23.
The direction of flow is determined.

That is, during the cooling operation, the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant discharged from the compressor 22 passes through the four-way switching valve 23, the heat-source-side heat exchanger 24, and the electric expansion valve 25, and is divided, and one of them is divided by the electric motor for dividing. The fluid flows through the expansion valve 26 to the use-side heat exchanger 3, and the other flows to the use-side heat exchanger 4 through the flow-dividing electric expansion valve 27. And the refrigerant | coolants which came out of each use side heat exchanger 3 and 4 join and circulate in the order of the four-way switching valve 23 and the accumulator 28. At this time, the heat source side heat exchanger 24 functions as a condenser, and the utilization side heat exchangers 3 and 4 function as evaporators. Even if the flow expansion valves 26 and 27 are omitted, the flow is naturally divided by the pressure difference between the heat exchangers 3 and 4, so there is no problem when intentional flow control is not required.

Next, during the heating operation, the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant discharged from the compressor 22 exits the four-way switching valve 23,
One is flowed to the flow-dividing electric expansion valve 26 via the use-side heat exchanger 3, and the other is flowed to the flow-dividing electric expansion valve 27 via the use-side heat exchanger 4. Then, the electric expansion valve 25, the heat source side heat exchanger 24, the four-way switching valve 23, the accumulator 2
Cycle in the order of 8. At this time, each use side heat exchanger 3,
4 functions as a condenser, and the heat source side heat exchanger 24 functions as an evaporator.

In the dry operation, the flow is the same as that in the cooling operation. However, the electric expansion valve 25 is fully opened, and the inside of each of the use side heat exchangers 3 and 4 is provided with a condenser in the former stage, and then the pressure is reduced in the latter stage. Is configured to function as an evaporator to provide a dehumidifying effect.

Next, in FIG. 3, reference numeral 33 denotes a controller (control board) composed of a general-purpose microcomputer. The controller 33 has a use side unit A for detecting the temperature in the conditioned room 1. Room temperature sensor 30 attached to the
5, heat exchange temperature sensors 36 and 37, and outlet temperature sensor 3
8, 39 are connected.

As shown in FIG. 2, the inlet temperature sensor 34 is attached to a pipe on the refrigerant inlet side of the use side heat exchanger 3 during the cooling operation, and the inlet temperature sensor 35 is also used during the cooling operation. It is attached to a pipe on the refrigerant inlet side of the heat exchanger 4. The heat exchange temperature sensor 36 is attached to the use side heat exchanger 3, and the heat exchange temperature sensor 37 is attached to the use side heat exchanger 4. Further, an outlet temperature sensor 38 is attached to a pipe on the refrigerant outlet side of the use side heat exchanger 3 during the cooling operation, and an outlet temperature sensor 39 is also provided for the use side heat exchanger 4 during the cooling operation.
Is attached to the pipe on the refrigerant outlet side of the refrigerant.

The controller 33 has flap motors 41, 4 comprising stepping motors for driving the flaps 13 and 14 to adjust the angle (wind direction).
2 is connected, and D for driving the blowers 6 and 7 is connected.
Fan motors 43 and 44 composed of C motors are connected,
Further, a sensor board 46 is also connected. This sensor substrate 4
6 is provided with the receiver 16, and also provided with lamps 46A to 46D made of LEDs.

Further, the controller 33 drives the above-mentioned flow-dividing electric expansion valves 26 and 27 to control the use side heat exchangers 3,
The valve motors 47 and 48, which are stepping motors for adjusting the flow rate (opening) of the refrigerant to 4, are also connected. Furthermore,
The controller 33 is also provided with a changeover switch 50 for switching the air conditioner AC between the normal mode and the high ceiling mode. Then, the controller 33 has a terminal plate 49.
Is electrically connected to a control board (controller) (not shown) of the heat source side unit B via a cable.

Next, the operation of the air conditioner AC will be described while describing the structures of the main remote controller 51 and the sub remote controller 52 used in the embodiment with reference to FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and FIG. The main remote controller 51 is made of a hard synthetic resin as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and a liquid crystal display unit 54 as a display unit is provided on an upper front part of a main body 53 thereof.

The main body 53 is covered with a cover 56 which can be freely opened and closed, and a part of the liquid crystal display section 54 is configured to be visible through a window hole 57 of the cover 56.
A temperature setting switch 58 and a run / stop switch 59 are attached below the window hole 57 of the cover 56, and a human sensor 61 composed of a Fresnel lens F and a pyroelectric sensor (not shown) is provided below the temperature setting switch 58 and the run / stop switch 59. Is attached.

A set temperature and the like are displayed on the liquid crystal display section 54, and the set temperature is indicated by the temperature setting switch 58.
Can be set up / down by the operation. Based on the operation of the run / stop switch 59, the controller 33
Starts and stops the air conditioner AC. Incidentally, reference numeral 62 denotes an infrared light emitting section provided at the upper end of the main body 54.

The controller 33 receives an infrared signal from the main remote controller 51 at the receiver 16 of the sensor board 46, and provides data such as a set temperature based on the received signal or the data on the use side unit A itself. Setting data by a switch or the like, a temperature sensor (room temperature sensor) provided inside the main remote controller 51, the room temperature sensor 30, and the temperature sensors 34 to 39.
The fan motor 4 of the blower 6 and the blower 7
Operation (drive) of 3, 44 and flap motors 41, 42
And the control signal is transmitted from the terminal plate 49 to the heat source side unit B to control the compressor 22, the four-way switching valve 23, and the like, thereby adjusting the indoor temperature to the set temperature.

On the other hand, various switches for setting the operating state of the air conditioner AC in detail are provided below the liquid crystal display section 54 in front of the main body 53 of the main remote controller 51. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 63 denotes an operation changeover switch.
Is switched to the cooling operation, the heating operation, and the dry operation. The display of each operation state is performed on the liquid crystal display unit 54.

Reference numerals 64 and 66 denote wind direction switches for adjusting the angles of the flaps 13 and 14 by the flap motors 41 and 42, respectively. The setting is switched at three positions of “swing”. When the controller 33 is set to “automatic”, the flap 1
3 and 14 are controlled to an angle set in advance in accordance with each of the operating states. In “select”, the angle can be adjusted to a desired angle (for example, six levels). Further, in “swing”, the controller 33 automatically causes the flaps 13 and 14 to swing. This display is also displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 54.

Reference numeral 67 denotes a fan motor 4 of the blowers 6 and 7
An air volume switch for setting the air volume blown out of the air outlets 11 and 12 according to the number of rotations of 3, 44. The air volume switch 64 allows the air volume to be “automatic”, “strong”, “medium”,
Can be switched to "weak". The amount of air is also displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 54. Reference numeral 68 denotes a zone switch for executing a zone control operation described later.
Further, reference numeral 69 denotes a switch group for setting a timer reservation operation.

The main remote controller 5 having such a configuration
Numeral 1 is attached to the wall surface of the zone Z1 of the to-be-harmed room 1 (FIG. 7), and transmits data of a temperature sensor incorporated therein and data of each switch to the receiver 16 of the use side unit A by infrared rays.

The motion sensor 61 detects a human body motion in the zone Z1 of the room 1 to be conditioned. The main remote controller 51 similarly transmits the detection data of the motion sensor 61 to the receiver 16 by infrared rays.

When the changeover switch 50 is in the normal mode, the controller 33 operates the flap 1
When the swing operation is performed on the controllers 3 and 14, the swing angle is set to an angle range θ1 of about 80 degrees extending from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction as shown in FIG. The swing angle of the flaps 13 and 14 is set to an angle range θ2 of about 90 degrees from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction as shown in FIG.

That is, in this angle range θ2, the upper part is substantially horizontal,
The lower part is substantially vertical (directly below the use side unit A). Furthermore,
In the normal mode using the changeover switch 50, the controller 33 sets the number of revolutions of the fan motors 43 and 44 to, for example, “high”: 1300 rpm, “medium”: 1200 rpm,
“Weak”: 1100 rpm, but in the high ceiling mode,
The number of rotations of the fan motors 43 and 44 is set to, for example,
00 rpm, "medium": 1300 rpm, "weak": 120
The speed is increased by 0 rpm and 100 rpm, respectively.

Therefore, as shown in FIG.
When the ceiling of the harmonized room 1 to which the flaps 13 and 14 are attached is high, the angle range in which the flaps 13 and 14 are swung is enlarged by switching the changeover switch 50 to the high ceiling mode at the time of installation and thereby setting the ceiling. Even in the case of a high harmony room 1, air can be blown out to the entire room and spread.

In particular, in this high ceiling mode, the blowers 6, 7
As described above, the conditioned air exchanged with the use-side heat exchangers 3 and 4 can be smoothly spread around the user even in the case of the harmonized room 1 having a high ceiling. Will be able to do it. Thereby, comfort is further improved.

On the other hand, the sub-remote controller 52 is made of a hard synthetic resin as shown in FIG. 6, and its front has a human sensor 71 having the same structure as described above and whether or not the sub-remote controller 52 is used. An on / off switch 72 for setting is provided, and an infrared light emitting section 73 is provided at the upper end thereof.

The sub remote controller 52 having such a configuration
Is attached to the wall surface of the zone Z2 of the conditioned room 1 (FIG. 7). The human sensor 71 is located in the zone Z of the harmonized room 1.
2, the sub remote controller 52 transmits the detection data of the human sensor 71 to the receiver 16 by infrared rays.

Here, the receiver 16 has two built-in receiving sections, each of which is directed toward the main remote controller 51 and the sub remote controller 52. Then, the controller 33 determines from which remote controller the data is from the difference in the infrared receiving sensitivity.

The present invention is not limited to this configuration, and one receiving unit may be operated by a stepping motor to identify a remote controller based on a difference in receiving sensitivity.

Next, the zone control operation executed when the zone switch 68 is operated will be described.
By operating the zone switch 68, the zone control operation is executed by the controller 33 in three positions of "zone 1", "zone 2", and "automatic".

Then, when "zone 1" is set,
The controller 33 raises the priority of the air conditioning in the zone Z1, sets the fan motor 43 of the blower 6 to operate at a normal rotation speed, and sets the rotation speed of the fan motor 44 of the blower 7 to low speed (L). As a result, the conditioned air is preferentially blown out mainly from the air outlet 11 toward the zone Z1 of the conditioned room 1, so that when the user is present only in the zone Z1 (living room), it is comfortable. Efficient zone Z1
Air conditioning becomes possible.

When the zone is set to “zone 2”, the controller 33 sets the priority of the air conditioning in the zone Z2 to high,
The fan motor 44 of the blower 7 operates at a normal rotation speed, and the rotation speed of the fan motor 43 of the blower 6 is low (L). As a result, the conditioned air is mainly discharged from the outlet 1
2, the air is blown out toward the zone Z2 of the harmonized room 1, so that when the user exists only in the zone Z2 (kitchen), comfortable and efficient air conditioning can be performed.

Further, when "automatic" is set, the controller 33 operates the zones Z1, Z2 by detecting the motion sensors 61, 71 of the remote controllers 51, 52.
The priority of the second air conditioner is determined. That is, the motion sensor 61 of the main remote controller 51 detects a human body motion, and the motion sensor 71 of the sub remote controller 52
When the human body motion is not detected, the priority of the air conditioning in the zone Z1 is increased.

Conversely, if the motion sensor 61 of the main remote controller 51 does not detect a human body motion and the motion sensor 71 of the sub remote controller 52 detects a human body motion, the air conditioning in the zone Z2 is performed. Higher priority.

Then, both remote controllers 5
When the human motion sensors 61 and 71 of 1 and 52 are detecting a human body motion, no priority is set.

Thus, when one user moves from the zone Z1 to the zone Z2 in the conditioned room 1, air conditioning is automatically performed preferentially toward the zone where the user exists. As a result, the zone where the user is present can be preferentially air-conditioned without setting the zones one by one, and the operability is improved. In addition, when the user exists in both the zone Z1 and the zone Z2 of the harmonized room 1, the priority is automatically canceled, so that the comfort can be further improved.

The numerical values shown in the embodiment are not limited to those described above, and may be changed as appropriate according to the capacity and use form of the air conditioner.

[0054]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, an air conditioner mounted on the ceiling of a room to be conditioned and blown out of the heat exchanger with air from a blower outlet into the room to be conditioned. , A flap for controlling the blowing direction of air blown from the outlet, and a control device for swinging the flap in a predetermined angle range, the control device includes a normal mode and a high ceiling mode switched by a switch. In this high ceiling mode, the flap is configured to swing and drive in a larger angle range than in the normal mode. By setting the mode, the angle range in which the flap is swung is expanded by the control device.

Thus, even in the case of a harmonized room having a high ceiling, air can be blown out to the entire room to spread the room, and the comfort can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above, the control device increases the air volume of the blower in the high ceiling mode as compared with the normal mode. Air that has exchanged heat with the user can be smoothly spread around the user. Thereby, the comfort can be further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a use side unit of an air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a refrigerant circuit diagram of the air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an electric circuit diagram of a use side unit of the air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a main remote controller of the air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the main controller of FIG. 4 with a cover removed.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a sub remote controller of the air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a conditioned room to which a use side unit of the air conditioner of the present invention is attached.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a swing angle of a flap in a normal mode.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a flap swing angle in a high ceiling mode.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Harmonized room 3, 4 Use side heat exchanger 6, 7 Blower 9 Suction port 11, 12 Outlet 13, 14, Flap 22 Compressor 24 Heat source side heat exchanger 33 Controller 34-39 Temperature sensor 41, 42 Flap motor 43 , 44 fan motor 46 sensor board 47, 48 valve motor 50 selector switch 51 main remote controller 52 sub remote controller 61, 71 human sensor A user side unit AC air conditioner B heat source side unit F Fresnel lens Z1, Z2 zone

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Isao Arai 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka F-term in SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. (Reference) 3L060 AA05 EE05 EE26

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioner mounted on a ceiling of a room to be conditioned and configured to blow air, which has exchanged heat with a heat exchanger, from the air outlet into the room to be conditioned by a blower, wherein the air blown out from the air outlet is provided. And a control device for swinging the flap in a predetermined angle range. The control device has a normal mode and a high ceiling mode switched by a switch. In the air conditioner, the flap is swing-driven in an angle range larger than that in the normal mode. 2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the control device increases the air volume of the blower in the high ceiling mode as compared with the normal mode.