JP2000346489A - Air conditioning system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To cool one room and to simultaneously heat another room by one outdoor unit and to cool both the room. SOLUTION: A high-temperature high-pressure refrigerant compressed by a compressor 32 flows from a three-way valve 22 provided in an indoor unit 20 to a heat exchanger 21 through a four-way valve 33. Thus, a normally air conditioning place 24 is heated. The refrigerant condensed by the exchanger 21 flows from a three-way valve 35 provided in an outdoor unit 30 to an expansion valve 39 through a check valve 38, and the refrigerant becoming a low temperature and a low pressure flows to a heat exchanger 11 provided in an indoor unit 10 through a three-way valve 36. Thus, a cooling place 14 in winter is cooled. That is, the place 24 is heated and the place 14 can be simultaneously cooled. The valves 33 and the respective three-way valves are switched to supply the refrigerant from the valve 39 to the respective exchangers 11, 21, thereby cooling both the rooms.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioning system for controlling the air in a plurality of rooms by one outdoor unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, it is known that the operation of a computer is adversely affected when the environmental temperature increases. However, in a computer room or the like, the room temperature may be high even in winter due to heat generated from the computer itself and heat generated from peripheral devices such as a monitor and a printer. Therefore, conventionally, the computer room is cooled even in winter. FIG.
It is explanatory drawing which shows the conventional air conditioning system when the computer room which needs cooling in winter and the office which needs heating in winter are adjacent. The arrow in the figure indicates the direction in which the refrigerant flows in winter operation. The computer room 63 is provided with an indoor unit 60 having a heat exchanger 61 and a fan 62. Outside the room, a heat exchanger 71, a fan 72, and an expansion valve 7 are provided.
An outdoor unit 70 having a compressor 3 and a compressor 74 is provided. In the office room 64, the same indoor unit 60 and outdoor unit 70 as the computer room 63 are provided.

In the winter, cooling is performed in the computer room 63 and heating is performed in the office room 64. The refrigerant compressed to a high temperature and a high pressure by the compressor 74 provided in the outdoor unit 70 of the computer room 63 exchanges heat with the outside air in the heat exchanger 71 and is condensed. That is, in this case, the heat exchanger 71
Functions as a condenser. Subsequently, the refrigerant that has exited the heat exchanger 71 is converted to a low temperature and low pressure by the expansion valve 73, flows into the heat exchanger 61 provided in the indoor unit 60, and
It exchanges heat with the air taken in and evaporates. That is, the heat exchanger 61 in this case functions as an evaporator,
The computer room 63 is cooled. Also, the outdoor unit 7 of the office room 64
The refrigerant compressed to a high temperature and a high pressure by the compressor 74 provided in the indoor unit 60 flows into the heat exchanger 61 provided in the indoor unit 60 and exchanges heat with the air taken in the indoor unit 60 to be condensed. That is, the heat exchanger 71 in this case is
It functions as a condenser, and the office room 64 is heated. Subsequently, the refrigerant that has exited the heat exchanger 61 is converted to a low temperature and low pressure by an expansion valve 73 provided in the outdoor unit 70, and
At which heat exchange is performed with outside air to evaporate. That is, the heat exchanger 71 in this case functions as an evaporator. In addition,
When cooling or heating is performed in both rooms, the outdoor unit 70 can be shared.

[0004]

However, as described above, in the conventional air conditioning system, when there is a room requiring cooling and a room requiring heating, an outdoor unit is provided for each room. Since it must be installed, there is a problem that equipment costs are higher and maintenance costs such as electricity bills are higher than in a case where the outdoor unit can be shared.
In addition, an air conditioning system in which a plurality of rooms can be cooled or heated by one outdoor unit is known, but a system in which one room can be cooled and the other room can be heated has been demanded.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has as its object the following.
An object of the present invention is to realize an air conditioning system that can cool one room and heat the other room simultaneously with one outdoor unit, and can also cool both rooms.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems, Functions and Effects of the Invention
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, the first heat exchanger provided in the first room and the second heat exchanger provided in the second room are provided. Heat exchanger, a circulation path through which the refrigerant circulates between the first and second heat exchangers, connected to the circulation path, compression means for compressing the refrigerant, and connected to the circulation path Expansion means for expanding the refrigerant, a third heat exchanger connected between the compression means and the expansion means, and a refrigerant flowing out of the compression means is provided in the first and second heat exchangers. A first circulation path in which the refrigerant flowing into one heat exchanger and flowing out of the expansion means without passing through the third heat exchanger flows into the other heat exchanger; The refrigerant flowing out of the expansion means through the vessel is the first and second refrigerants. A second circulation path and switchable said circulation path circulating path switching means flowing into both exchangers, the technical means that are provided using.

[0007] The circulation path switching means is configured to supply the refrigerant flowing out of the compression means to one of a first heat exchanger provided in the first chamber and a second heat exchanger provided in the second chamber. A first circulation path through which the refrigerant flowing out of the expansion means without flowing through the third heat exchanger connected between the compression means and the expansion means flows into the other heat exchanger. The circulation path can be switched to the second circulation path in which the refrigerant flowing out of the expansion unit via the heat exchanger flows into both the first and second heat exchangers. That is,
When one of the first and second rooms is cooled and the other is heated, the circulation path is switched to the first circulation path by the circulation path switching means, so that the first and second rooms can be cooled through the third heat exchanger. The refrigerant flowing out of the expansion means can be sent to a heat exchanger provided in a room for cooling, and the refrigerant flowing out of the expansion means can be sent to a heat exchanger in a room for heating without passing through a third heat exchanger. . Therefore, it is possible to cool one room and heat the other room only by using one outdoor unit having one compression unit, one expansion unit, and one third heat exchanger. Moreover, when cooling both the rooms, the circulation path is switched by the circulation path switching means to the second circulation path, so that the refrigerant flowing out of the expansion means via the third heat exchanger is provided in both the rooms. Each can be sent to a designated heat exchanger. Therefore, both rooms can be cooled by the same one outdoor unit.

According to the invention described in claim 2, in the air conditioning system described in claim 1, the circulation path switching means includes only one of the first and second heat exchangers. When used, the refrigerant flowing out of the expansion means via the third heat exchanger is configured to switch the circulation path to a third circulation path flowing only into the heat exchanger to be used. Use technical means that

That is, when one of the first and second heat exchangers is not used, the unused heat exchanger is provided with the refrigerant flowing out of the expansion means via the third heat exchanger. , The heat exchange of the heat exchanger used can be performed efficiently. Therefore,
When only one of the first and second rooms is used, the cooling efficiency of the room to be used can be higher than when both rooms are cooled.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the air conditioning system according to the first or second aspect, the air conditioning system further comprises a temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature, and the circulation path switching means comprises Technical means is used in which the circulation path is switched in accordance with the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means.

In other words, since the circulation route can be automatically switched according to the temperature, it is not necessary for a person to judge the temperature and manually switch the circulation route.

According to the invention described in claim 4, the first heat exchanger provided in the first room which needs cooling in winter and the second heat exchanger which needs heating in winter. A second heat exchanger, a compression unit for compressing the refrigerant, an expansion unit for expanding the refrigerant, and the refrigerant is supplied by the compression unit, the second heat exchanger, the expansion unit, and the first heat source. Exchanger,
And a circulating path that circulates in the order of the compression means.

That is, the refrigerant compressed by the compression means flows into the second heat exchanger provided in the second room which needs to be heated in winter, so that the second room can be heated. The refrigerant that has exited the second heat exchanger is expanded by the expansion means and flows into the first heat exchanger provided in the first room that needs cooling in winter. Can be cooled. Therefore, by using only one outdoor unit having one compression unit, one expansion unit, and one third heat exchanger, it is possible to cool a room that needs cooling in winter and simultaneously heat the other room.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of an air conditioning system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1, 3 and 5 are explanatory diagrams showing a main configuration and a refrigeration cycle of the air conditioning system according to this embodiment. FIG. 1 shows a refrigeration cycle in winter operation, and FIG. 3 shows a refrigeration cycle in summer operation. FIG. 5 shows the refrigeration cycle in the intermediate period. FIGS. 2, 4 and 6 are explanatory diagrams showing the operation states of the four-way valve and the three-way valve constituting the air conditioning system. FIG. 2 shows the operation state in winter operation, and FIG. 4 shows the operation state in summer operation. FIG. 6 shows an operation state in the intermediate period.

First, the main configuration of the air conditioning system according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. An indoor unit 10 having a heat exchanger 11, a three-way valve 12, and a fan 13 is provided in a place where cooling is required throughout the year, that is, in a winter cooling place 14 where cooling is required even in winter.
A winter cooling location means that the room temperature rises due to the heat generated by computers and peripheral devices, such as a computer room.
This is a place where cooling is required even in winter. In addition, a normal air-conditioning place 24 that cools in summer and heats in winter is adjacent to the cooling place 14 in winter.
4 includes an indoor unit 20 having a heat exchanger 21, a three-way valve 22, and a fan 23, and a controller 50 for controlling the air conditioning system. An outdoor unit 30 having a heat exchanger 31, a compressor 32, a four-way valve 33, and an expansion valve 39 is installed outside the room. A three-way valve 34 is connected to the four-way valve 33 and the expansion valve 3
A three-way valve 35 is connected to the inflow side of 9 via a check valve 38, and a three-way valve 36 is connected to the outflow side of the expansion valve 39. A check valve 37 is connected between the heat exchanger 31 and the expansion valve 39.

The compressor 32 includes a four-way valve 33.
Is connected to the three-way valve 22 of the indoor unit 20 and the three-way valve 34 of the outdoor unit 30 through the heat exchanger 2.
1 and the three-way valve 12 of the indoor unit 10. In addition, the heat exchanger 21 is connected to the three-way valve 35 of the outdoor unit 30, and the three-way valve 36 of the outdoor unit 30 is connected to the heat exchanger 11 of the indoor unit 10. The heat exchanger 11 is connected to the three-way valve 12. In this embodiment, the four-way valve 33 and the three-way valves 34, 35, 36, 22, and 12 are driven by an actuator (not shown) such as a solenoid or a stepping motor. The compressor 32 is so-called inverter driven by a method of controlling the frequency of the drive current, and the degree of opening and closing of the expansion valve 39 is controlled by an actuator (not shown) such as a stepping motor.

Next, the electrical configuration of the controller 50 will be described with reference to FIG.
The controller 50 includes a CPU 51 for controlling the air conditioning system shown in FIG.
, A RAM 52 and a ROM 53 are connected.
The ROM 53 stores a control program executed by the CPU 51 and the like. The RAM 52 temporarily stores a control program read from the ROM 53 when the CPU 51 executes the control program. In addition, the CPU 51
The temperature sensor 55, the indoor unit 10, the indoor unit 20, and the outdoor unit 30 via the input / output interface (I / O) 54
And various operation buttons 56 are connected. The temperature sensor 55 detects the room temperature of the normal air conditioning place 24. Various operation buttons 56 are buttons for turning ON / OFF this control,
It comprises a button for changing the threshold value for switching the control to one of the winter, summer and intermediate periods, a button for switching between automatic and manual, and the like.

Next, the flow of control executed by the CPU 51 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 8 showing the flow, and the refrigeration cycle and valve operation will be described with reference to FIGS. When the CPU 51 detects that the button for turning on the control has been pressed (step (hereinafter abbreviated as S) 10: Yes), the temperature sensor 55
Based on the detection signal sent from the
The room temperature T1 is detected (S12). Subsequently, the CPU 51
Means that the detected room temperature T1 is T1 ≦ 15 ° C., 15 ° C. <T
It is determined whether 1 <25 ° C. or 25 ° C. ≦ T1. Then, if T1 ≦ 15 ° C., the CPU 51 sets winter operation control (S20), and sets 15 ° C. <T
If 1 <25 ° C., the interim operation control is set (S2
6) If 25 ° C. ≦ T1, summer operation control is set (S32). Hereinafter, the winter operation, the summer operation, and the intermediate operation will be described in this order.

[Winter Operation] In the winter operation, heating of the normal air-conditioning place 24 and cooling of the winter cooling place 14 are performed at the same time. The CPU 51 includes a four-way valve 33 provided in the outdoor unit 30.
The operation command is output to the port 33a and the port 33b among the four ports constituting the four-way valve 33, as shown in FIG.
The communication between c is performed (S22). Subsequently, the CPU 51
An operation command is output to the three three-way valves 34, 35, 36, 22, 12. Thereby, as shown in FIG.
Among the three ports constituting the three-way valve 34 provided in the three-way valve 34, the port 34c communicates with the port 34b, the three-way valve 35 communicates with the port 35b and the port 35a,
The port 36a and the port 36c of the three-way valve 36 communicate with each other. The port 22a and the port 22b of the three-way valve 22 provided in the indoor unit 20 communicate with each other, and the port 12b and the port 12b of the three-way valve 12 provided in the indoor unit 10 are connected.
Communication between c is performed. (S24)

Then, the CPU 51 drives the compressor 32 provided in the outdoor unit 30 (S38), and the expansion valve 3
9 is driven (S40). Then, as shown in FIG.
The high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant compressed by the compressor 32 is:
Three-way valve 22 provided in indoor unit 20 through four-way valve 33
From the heat exchanger 21. Thereby, the air in the normal air-conditioning place 24 exchanges heat with the heat exchanger 21 and the fan 2
3 and is sent into the room as warm air.
4 is heated. That is, in this case, the heat exchanger 21 functions as a condenser. The refrigerant condensed by the heat exchanger 21 flows from the three-way valve 35 provided in the outdoor unit 30 to the expansion valve 39 via the check valve 38, and the low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant passes through the three-way valve 36. It flows into the heat exchanger 11 provided in the indoor unit 10 through the. As a result, the air in the winter cooling place 14 exchanges heat with the heat exchanger 21 and the fan 13
The cold air is sent out indoors by the
Is cooled. That is, in this case, the heat exchanger 11 functions as an evaporator.

Subsequently, the refrigerant evaporated by the heat exchanger 11 passes through a three-way valve 12 provided in the indoor unit 10 to a compressor 32 through a four-way valve 33 from a three-way valve 34 provided in the outdoor unit 30. Be reduced. Thereafter, the same refrigeration cycle is repeated, and the normal air-conditioning place 24 is heated and the winter cooling place 14 is cooled. As described above, if the air conditioning system according to this embodiment is used, only the outdoor unit 30 provided with one compressor 32 and one expansion valve 39 is used to cool the winter cooling place and simultaneously perform the normal air conditioning place. Can be heated.

[Summer Operation] In the summer operation, both the normal air-conditioning place 24 and the winter cooling place 14 are cooled simultaneously.
According to an operation command from the CPU 51, as shown in FIG.
The port 33a and the port 33d of the four-way valve 33 communicate with each other, and the port 33b and the port 33c communicate with each other (S
34). The port 34b and the port 34a of the three-way valve 34 communicate with each other, the port 35c and the port 35b of the three-way valve 35 communicate with each other, and the port 36a, the port 36b, and the port 36c of the three-way valve 36 communicate with each other. The ports 22b and 22c of the three-way valve 22 communicate with the port 22a, and the ports 12b and 12
Communication between a is established (S36).

Then, the CPU 51 controls the compressor 32
Then, the expansion valve 39 is driven (S38, S40). Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant compressed by the compressor 32 flows into the heat exchanger 31 provided in the outdoor unit 30 from the four-way valve 33 via the three-way valve 34, and the temperature decreases. . Subsequently, the refrigerant flows into the expansion valve 39 via the check valve 37, and the low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant is supplied to the three-way valve 3.
6, and flows into the heat exchanger 11 provided in the indoor unit 20 via the three-way valve 35 from the three-way valve 36. Thereby, the inside of the winter cooling place 14 and the normal air-conditioning place 24 are simultaneously cooled. That is, in this case, both the heat exchanger 11 and the heat exchanger 21 function as evaporators. And
The refrigerant evaporated by the heat exchanger 11 flows out of the three-way valve 12, and flows out of the three-way valve 22 provided in the indoor unit 20 together with the refrigerant evaporated by the heat exchanger 21.
3 to the compressor 32. Thereafter, the same refrigeration cycle is repeated, and the normal air-conditioning place 24 and the winter cooling place 14 are simultaneously cooled. As described above, if the air-conditioning system according to this embodiment is used, the heat exchanger 31, the compressor 32, and the expansion valve 39
It is possible to cool the normal air-conditioning place 24 and the winter cooling place at the same time only by using one outdoor unit 30 provided one by one.

[Intermediate Period Operation] In the intermediate period operation such as spring or summer, the air conditioning place 24 is not cooled or heated, and only the winter cooling place 14 is cooled. In response to an operation command from the CPU 51, as shown in FIG. 6, the port 33a and the port 33d of the four-way valve 33 communicate with each other, and the port 33b and the port 33c communicate with each other (S28). The port 34b and the port 34a of the three-way valve 34 communicate with each other, and the three-way valve 35
, All three ports are in a non-communication state, and the ports 36a and 36c of the three-way valve 36 communicate with each other. Also,
The port 22c and the port 22a of the three-way valve 22 communicate with each other, and the port 12b and the port 12a of the three-way valve 12 communicate with each other (S30).

Then, the CPU 51 controls the compressor 32
Then, the expansion valve 39 is driven (S38, S40). Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant compressed by the compressor 32 flows from the four-way valve 33 to the heat exchanger 31 provided in the outdoor unit 30 via the three-way valve 34, and the temperature decreases. . Subsequently, the refrigerant flows into the expansion valve 39 via the check valve 37, and the low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant is supplied to the three-way valve 3.
6 flows into the heat exchanger 11 provided in the indoor unit 10. Thereby, the inside of the winter cooling place 14 is cooled.
That is, in this case, the heat exchanger 11 functions as an evaporator. Further, since the three-way valve 35 is in a non-communication state, the refrigerant flowing out of the expansion valve 39 does not flow into the heat exchanger 21 provided in the indoor unit 20. Then, the refrigerant evaporated by the heat exchanger 11 flows out of the three-way valve 12,
The air is returned to the compressor 32 from the three-way valve 22 provided in the indoor unit 20 via the four-way valve 33. Thereafter, the same refrigeration cycle as described above is repeated, and only the winter cooling place 14 is cooled. As described above, if the air conditioning system according to this embodiment is used, the heat exchanger 31, the compressor 32
And only one outdoor unit 30 having one expansion valve 39 can be used to cool only the winter cooling place.
The cooling efficiency can be increased as compared with the case where both the normal air-conditioning place 24 and the winter cooling place 14 are cooled.

As described above, if the air conditioning system according to the above-described embodiment is used, one room can be used to cool one room and simultaneously heat the other room, and both rooms can be heated. Can be realized. Therefore, as compared with the air conditioning system in which an outdoor unit is installed in each room as in the related art, equipment costs for constructing an air conditioning system and maintenance costs such as electricity costs are reduced by one outdoor unit. Can be reduced.

In the above embodiment, the heat exchanger 3
1, the configuration in which the compressor 32 and the expansion valve 39 are provided in the outdoor unit 30 has been described.
One or all of them may be provided in the indoor unit 10 or the indoor unit 20, or may be provided independently of the indoor unit. In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the controller 50 automatically switches the circulation path of the refrigerant has been described.
It can also be configured to switch manually. further,
The threshold value of the room temperature T1 determined by the CPU 51 can be changed by operating a button for changing the threshold value provided on the operation button 56 or the like. Furthermore, the present invention can also be applied to a vehicle cold / hot storage, a hot storage, or the like that partitions a packing box into two rooms, cools one room, and heats the other room.

By the way, one of the winter cooling place 14 and the normal air-conditioning place 24 corresponds to the first room of the present invention,
The other corresponds to the second room. One of the heat exchanger 11 and the heat exchanger 21 corresponds to the first heat exchanger of the present invention, the other corresponds to the second heat exchanger, and the heat exchanger 31
Corresponds to the third heat exchanger. Furthermore, compressor 3
2 corresponds to the compression means, and the expansion valve 39 corresponds to the expansion means. 1 corresponds to the first circulation path, the circulation path shown in FIG. 3 corresponds to the second circulation path, and the circulation path shown in FIG. 5 corresponds to the third circulation path. I do.
Further, the four-way valve 33 and the three-way valves 34, 35, 36, 2
8 correspond to circulation path switching means, and S10 to S40 of FIG. 8 executed by the CPU 51 function as circulation path switching means. Further, the temperature sensor 55 corresponds to a temperature detecting unit.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a main configuration of an air conditioning system according to an embodiment of the present invention and a refrigeration cycle during winter operation.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing operating states of a four-way valve and a three-way valve in winter operation.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a main configuration of the air-conditioning system according to the embodiment of the present invention and a refrigeration cycle during summer operation.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing operating states of a four-way valve and a three-way valve in summer operation.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a main configuration of the air-conditioning system according to the embodiment of the present invention and a refrigeration cycle during an intermediate operation.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing operating states of a four-way valve and a three-way valve in an intermediate operation.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an electrical configuration of a controller 50 by blocks.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of control executed by a CPU 51;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional air conditioning system when a computer room that needs cooling in winter and an office that needs heating in winter are adjacent to each other.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 20 Indoor unit 11, 21 Heat exchanger 12, 22 Three-way valve (circulation path switching means) 14 Winter cooling place 24 Normal air-conditioning place 30 Outdoor unit 31 Heat exchanger (third heat exchanger) 32 Compressor (Compression means) ) 33 Four-way valve (circulation path switching means) 34-36 Three-way valve (circulation path switching means) 39 Expansion valve (expansion means) 50 Controller 51 CPU (circulation path switching means) 55 Temperature sensor (temperature detection means)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A first heat exchanger provided in a first room, a second heat exchanger provided in a second room, and a refrigerant between the first and second heat exchangers. A circulation path connected to the circulation path, and a compression unit that compresses the refrigerant; an expansion unit that is connected to the circulation path and expands the refrigerant; and between the compression unit and the expansion unit. And a refrigerant flowing out of the compression means flows into one of the first and second heat exchangers, and passes through the third heat exchanger. A first circulation path through which the refrigerant flowing out of the expansion means flows into the other heat exchanger, and a refrigerant flowing out of the expansion means through the third heat exchanger flows through the first and second heat exchangers. Second flowing into both heat exchangers
And a circulation path switching means capable of switching the circulation path to the circulation path. 2. When the circulation path switching means uses only one of the first and second heat exchangers, the circulation path switching means flows out of the expansion means via the third heat exchanger. The air-conditioning system according to claim 1, wherein the refrigerant is switched to a third circulation path in which only the used heat exchanger flows into the heat exchanger. 3. A temperature detection means for detecting an air temperature, wherein the circulation path switching means is configured to switch the circulation path in accordance with the temperature detected by the temperature detection means. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein
The air conditioning system according to item 1. 4. A first heat exchanger provided in a first room requiring cooling in winter, a second heat exchanger provided in a second room requiring heating in winter, and a refrigerant. Compression means for compressing the refrigerant; expansion means for expanding the refrigerant; and the refrigerant circulates in the order of the compression means, the second heat exchanger, the expansion means, the first heat exchanger, and the compression means. An air-conditioning system, comprising: