JP2000240999A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner in which a comfortable and efficient air conditioning operation can be realized by preventing occurrence of air short phenomenon. SOLUTION: If the difference of temperatures detected by an indoor sensor 30 when operation is started and when a specified time has elapsed thereafter exceeds a specified value, and the difference of temperatures detected by an indoor sensor of main controller 33 when operation is started and when a specified time has elapsed thereafter is short a decision is made that air short has occurred and the flap angle is altered.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner in which a main body is mounted in a room to be conditioned.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional air conditioner of this type is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-122592 as an air conditioner embedded in a ceiling. That is, in this case, the unit body (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 the body.

[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 outlet, so that the blowing direction of the warm air or the cool air (conditioned air) can be adjusted by the user's arbitrary setting. . In this case, the flap is adjusted in a plurality of steps from a horizontal direction (an angle close to the horizontal) to a vertical direction (an angle close to the vertical), or is automatically reciprocated.

[0005]

In the case where the unit main body (indoor unit) of the air conditioner is installed on the ceiling of the room to be conditioned and close to the wall, the angle of the flap is particularly large. When is near horizontal, the conditioned air blown out from the outlet collides with the upper part of the wall surface, rebounds and is sucked into the main body as it is, so-called an air short phenomenon may occur.

In such a situation, since the conditioned air does not reach the vicinity of the floor where the user is located, comfortable air conditioning cannot be performed, and there is a problem that wasteful energy is consumed.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional technical problem, and provides an air conditioner capable of preventing a short circuit phenomenon from occurring and realizing a comfortable and efficient air conditioning operation. Things.

[0008]

An air conditioner according to the present invention comprises:
The air conditioner has a main body that is attached to the conditioned room and that blows out the air that has exchanged heat with the heat exchanger from the blowout port into the conditioned room by a blower, and controls a blowing direction of the air blown out from the blowout port. A flap, a main body side room temperature sensor attached to the main body, and detecting a temperature in the conditioned room;
A remote controller for remote operation, a remote controller-side room temperature sensor provided in the remote controller for detecting the temperature in the conditioned room, and a control device for controlling the angle of the flap; The difference between the temperature detected by the main body side room temperature sensor and the temperature detected by the main body side room temperature sensor after a lapse of a predetermined time is equal to or more than a predetermined value, and the temperature detected by the remote controller side room temperature sensor at the start of operation and the predetermined time lapse If the difference from the temperature detected by the room temperature sensor on the remote controller side is small later, it is determined that an air short has occurred, and the angle of the flap is changed.

In this type of air conditioner, when an air short occurs, the temperature of the air sucked into the main body changes as time elapses from the start of operation.
Since conditioned air does not reach around the user, the temperature change around the user is small.

According to the present invention, in an air conditioner provided with a main body which is attached to a conditioned room and blows out air exchanged with a heat exchanger into the conditioned room from a blower by a blower, the air blown from the blower is provided. A flap for controlling the direction of the blown air, a main body side room temperature sensor attached to the main body and detecting the temperature in the conditioned room, a remote controller for remote control, and A remote controller-side room temperature sensor for detecting the temperature, and a control device for controlling the angle of the flap, wherein the control device detects the temperature detected by the body-side room temperature sensor at the start of operation and the body-side room temperature sensor after a lapse of a predetermined time. The difference from the detected temperature is equal to or more than a predetermined value, and
When the difference between the temperature detected by the room temperature sensor on the remote controller side at the start of operation and the temperature detected by the room temperature sensor on the remote controller side after the lapse of the predetermined time is small,
Since it is determined that an air short has occurred, the angle of the flap is changed. For example, when the main body is attached to the ceiling, the angle of the flap is lowered as described in claim 2 to reduce the conditioned air. Can be spread around the user.

Thus, it is possible to eliminate air shorts and realize a comfortable and efficient air-conditioning operation.

[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 FIGS. 1 and 7, a use side unit A as a main body is composed of two use side heat exchangers (indoor heat exchangers) 3 and 4 and a cross flow fan in a main body 2 made of sheet metal. The air conditioner includes two blowers 6 and 7 and is fitted inside the ceiling so as to cover the ceiling surface 8 of the conditioned room 1. 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 blowout ports 11 and 12 are formed on both sides thereof. 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 for remote operation, which will be described later, is attached to the lower surface of the use side unit A.

In the case of FIG. 7, the use side unit A is installed substantially at the center of the ceiling surface 8 of the harmonized room 1, and is located on the left side from the center of the harmonized room 1 indicated by a broken line in FIG. The outlet 11 is located in a zone (region; for example, living room) Z1, and the outlet 12 is located in a zone (region; for example, dining) Z2 on the right side.

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 this figure, reference numeral 22 denotes a so-called inverter compressor (variable capacity type compressor, hereinafter referred to as a compressor) whose frequency is controlled by an inverter. As means for varying the capacity of the compressor, there are other methods such as voltage control when a DC motor is used or discharge amount control when a capacity variable valve is used. 23 is a four-way switching valve for switching the flow of the refrigerant during the cooling / heating operation, 24 is a heat source side heat exchanger (outdoor heat exchanger), 25 is an electric expansion valve, 26 and 27 are electric expansion valves for branching, Reference numerals 3 and 4 denote the use side heat exchangers, and reference numeral 28 denotes 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.

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 air attached to the use side unit A and sucked into, for example, the suction port 9. A room temperature sensor (room temperature sensor on the main body side) 30 for detecting the temperature in the conditioned room 1 from the air conditioner, and inlet temperature sensors 34 and 35, heat exchange temperature sensors 36 and 37, and outlet temperature sensors 38 and 39 to be described later are connected. ing.

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. The controller 33 is electrically connected to a control board (controller) (not shown) of the heat source side unit B from the terminal plate 49 via a cable.

Next, the structure of the main remote controller 51 as a remote controller for remote operation used in the embodiment and the sub remote controller 52 will be described with reference to FIGS. The operation of AC will be described. The main remote controller 51 is made of a hard synthetic resin as shown in FIGS.
A liquid crystal display unit 54 as a display unit is provided on the upper front part of the main body 53.

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. The fan motors 43 of the blower 6 and the blower 7 are based on setting data by a switch and the like and outputs of a temperature sensor (room temperature sensor) (not shown) provided inside the main remote controller 51, the room temperature sensor 30 and the temperature sensors 34 to 39. , 44 and the flap motors 41 and 42, and by transmitting a control signal from the terminal plate 49 to the heat source side unit B to control the compressor 22 and the four-way switching valve 23, etc. Is adjusted to the set temperature.

Here, the controller 33 executes the temperature control based on the temperature (room temperature) detected by the room temperature sensor 30 attached to the use side unit A, or the controller 33 executes the temperature control provided in the main remote controller 51. Whether the temperature is controlled based on the temperature around the main remote controller 51 detected and transmitted by infrared rays, that is, the room temperature around the user, is determined by a switch provided in the main remote controller 51 or the use side unit A. Can be switched.

Thereafter, the controller 33 executes the temperature control based on the room temperature detected by the room temperature sensor of the main remote controller 51.

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 on the 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.

The wind direction switches 64 and 66 are used to adjust 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 predetermined angles (initial values) according to the respective operating states.

In the case of "select", the angle can be adjusted to a desired angle (for example, 6 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 a low position on the side wall surface of the zone Z1 of the conditioned room 1 (FIG. 7), and the data of the temperature sensor and the data of each switch incorporated therein are transmitted to the receiver 16 of the use side unit A by infrared rays. Send.

The human 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.

On the other hand, the sub-remote controller 52 is made of a hard synthetic resin as shown in FIG. 6, and the front thereof 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 mounted at a low position on the side wall surface of the zone Z2 of the conditioned room 1 (FIG. 7). Then, the human sensor 71 detects a human body motion in the zone Z2 of the conditioned room 1, and 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, and the remote controller may be identified based on the 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 set in "Zone 1",
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 controls each of 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.

On the other hand, 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 preferentially performed 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.

Next, when the use side unit A is mounted at a position close to the side wall on the ceiling surface 8 of the harmonized room 1 as shown in FIG. 8, the angle of the flap (in this case, the flap 14) on the side wall side is horizontal. In a situation close to, the conditioned air blown out from the outlet 12 immediately hits the wall surface as shown by the dashed arrow in FIG.

In such a case, since the conditioned air does not reach the lower part in the conditioned room 1 where the user is present, for example, during the heating operation, the temperature of the air sucked into the suction port 9 rises relatively quickly, The temperature around the user where the remote controller 51 is located hardly rises.

Accordingly, the controller 33 has a room temperature T11 detected by the room temperature sensor 30 at the start of operation and a room temperature T2 detected by the room temperature sensor of the main remote controller 51.
1 is stored. Then, for example, when 30 minutes have elapsed after the start of the operation, the room temperature T12 detected by the room temperature sensor 30 and the room temperature T22 detected by the room temperature sensor of the main remote controller 51 are also captured.

Then, for example, during the heating operation, the controller 33 sets T22-T21 to, for example, 3 deg despite that T12-T11 is, for example, 10 deg or more.
In the following cases, it is determined that the air short has occurred, and the angles of the flaps 13 and 14 (initial values in the case of “automatic”) are lowered by one step.

As a result, the conditioned air blown out from the air outlet 12 spreads to the periphery of the user below the conditioned room 1 as shown by the solid arrow in FIG. Air conditioning will be performed.

Although the heating operation is described in the above embodiment, the controller 33 similarly performs the operation of lowering the flaps 13 and 14 during the cooling / dry operation.

[0058]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, according to the present invention, air that has been exchanged with a heat exchanger and that has exchanged heat with a heat exchanger is blown out of a blower outlet into a conditioned room. In an air conditioner including a main body, a flap that controls a blowing direction of air blown from a blowing port,
A main body side room temperature sensor attached to the main body and detecting a temperature in the conditioned room, a remote controller for remote control, a remote controller side room temperature sensor provided in the remote controller and detecting a temperature in the conditioned room, and a flap. A control device that controls the angle of the control device, the control device has a difference between the temperature detected by the main body side room temperature sensor at the start of operation and the temperature detected by the main body side room temperature sensor after a lapse of a predetermined time is a predetermined value or more In addition, when the difference between the temperature detected by the room temperature sensor on the remote controller side at the start of operation and the temperature detected by the room temperature sensor on the remote controller side after the lapse of the predetermined time is small, it is determined that an air short circuit has occurred, and the flap is determined. Is changed, for example, when the main body is attached to a ceiling portion, etc. By lowering the angle of as flaps, it is possible to spread around the user conditioned air.

Thus, it is possible to eliminate air shorts and realize a comfortable and efficient air-conditioning operation.

[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 showing a conditioned room when the use side unit of the air conditioner of the present invention is mounted at a position near the side wall.

FIG. 9 is another view showing the conditioned room when the use side unit of the air conditioner of the present invention is mounted at a position near the side wall.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Harmonized room 3, 4 Use side heat exchanger 6, 7 Blower 9 Suction port 11, 12 Blow out port 13, 14 Flap 22 Compressor 24 Heat source side heat exchanger 30 Room temperature sensor 33 Controller 34-39 Temperature sensor 41, 42 Flap motor 43, 44 Fan motor 46 Sensor board 47, 48 Valve motor 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

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yukio Tobi 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3L060 AA06 CC02 DD08 EE01

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioner having a main body, which is attached to a conditioned room and blows out air that has exchanged heat with a heat exchanger into the conditioned room from an outlet by a blower, wherein the air is blown out from the outlet. A flap for controlling a direction of air blowing, a main body side room temperature sensor attached to the main body and detecting a temperature in the conditioned room, a remote controller for remote operation, and a remote controller provided in the remote controller; A room temperature sensor on the remote controller side for detecting the temperature of the flap, and a control device for controlling the angle of the flap. The difference from the temperature detected by the room temperature sensor is equal to or more than a predetermined value, and the room temperature sensor on the remote controller side at the start of the operation. When the difference between the output temperature and the temperature detected by the room temperature sensor on the remote controller side after the lapse of the predetermined time is small, it is determined that an air short has occurred and the angle of the flap is changed. Air conditioner. 2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the control device executes an operation of reducing the angle of the flap when determining that an air short has occurred.