JP2001208401A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner in which dehumidification operation performing cooling, dehumidifying and heating in refrigeration cycle can be carried out to satisfy the purpose of use, e.g. a sufficient dehumidification quantity reaching an indoor humidity for preventing propagation of fungi or tick can be attained. SOLUTION: The air conditioner comprises a compressor 1, an outdoor heat exchanger 3, a first indoor heat exchanger 6a, a second indoor heat exchanger 6b, and a dehumidification throttle 17 coupled between the first and second indoor heat exchangers 6a, 6b and functioning as a throttle at the time of dehumidification operation. The air conditioner has a function for controlling the compression capacity of the compressor 1 such that the indoor humidity falls within a range of 40%-60%.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner and a method of operating the same, and more particularly to an air conditioner capable of performing a dehumidifying operation in a wide temperature range from cooling to heating.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional air conditioner, when performing a dehumidifying operation for lowering humidity, a method in which air cooled mainly by an evaporator is heated again by an electric heater, or a method using condensation heat of a refrigerating cycle. A method of heating again is known. When the two systems are compared particularly from the viewpoint of energy saving, the former system consumes much power, so that the latter system is superior.

As examples of a refrigeration cycle in which air cooled during dehumidification operation is heated again by the refrigeration cycle itself, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 60-181559 and 2-18 are disclosed.
No. 3,776, JP-A-3-31640, and JP-A-51-18059.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-181559 discloses a compressor, a four-way valve, an outdoor heat exchanger, a throttling device, an indoor heat exchanger, and the like, which are sequentially connected by refrigerant pipes. There is disclosed a cycle configuration in which a dehumidifying expansion device for a dehumidifying operation and a two-way valve that bypasses the dehumidifying expansion device are provided in parallel between them. During the dehumidifying operation, by closing the two-way valve and flowing the refrigerant to the dehumidifying expansion device, the indoor heat exchanger divided into two is a condenser on the upstream side and an evaporator on the downstream side. After flowing from the condenser to the condenser, cooling and dehumidifying by the evaporator, it is heated again by the condenser to enable the dehumidifying operation to lower the humidity without lowering the temperature much.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-183776, a two-way valve with a small hole is used as a dehumidifying expansion device, and the indoor heat exchanger is divided into upper and lower parts in a cycle configuration so that the upper indoor heat exchanger is operated during dehumidifying operation. The condenser and lower indoor heat exchanger are used as evaporators, and the indoor air flow is flown in parallel to these indoor heat exchangers, cooling and dehumidifying by the evaporator, and heating by the condenser to prevent overcooling. Dehumidification operation that lowers the humidity is possible.

In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 3-31640, in addition to the cycle configuration of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Sho 60-181559, a flow path switching means comprising four check valves is provided to switch the four-way valve to a heating cycle. Even in this case, the air flow is made to flow from the evaporator to the heater inside the room, so that a powerful heating-like dehumidifying operation is possible. In addition, the amount of heat radiation in the outdoor heat exchanger is controlled by controlling the number of revolutions of the outdoor fan, and the amount of air heating in the indoor heat exchanger is adjusted so that the room temperature becomes the set temperature. Further, in the known example, it is described that the outdoor fan is set to a weak operation when the outside air temperature is 22 ° C. or lower and a weak operation when the outdoor air temperature is 22 ° C. or higher.

FIG. 30 shows a cycle configuration in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 51-18059, and FIG. 31 shows an operation list of each part. The cycle configuration in FIG. 30 is provided with two compressors, but is basically the same as the cycle configuration described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-181559. In the operation method shown in FIG. 31, the outdoor fan and the compressor perform control according to the operation function, but do not perform control according to the outdoor temperature and the like. For example, the outdoor fan is at a low speed in the cooling dehumidifying operation, and is stopped in the heating dehumidifying operation. In addition, one compressor is operated during the dehumidifying operation.

[0008]

Recently, the dehumidifying operation has been used for many purposes. For example, (1) when the temperature is not so high in the rainy season or autumn rainy season, but when it is humid, dehumidification is performed while maintaining the set room temperature, (2) in a humid night or dawn with no airflow and low noise. , Lowering the humidity without lowering the temperature so that you can sleep comfortably
(3) A mold and mite prevention dehumidifying operation that keeps the relative humidity at around 50% to prevent the growth of molds and ticks. (4) Use when drying laundry that has been dried in the house during the rainy season or autumn rainy season. ,
Laundry dehumidifying operation, etc. However, the above four publications do not take into account the driving method for the above-mentioned purposes (1) to (4).

In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 3-31640, the amount of air heating in the indoor heat exchanger in the dehumidifying operation is adjusted by controlling the number of revolutions of the outdoor fan. Not mentioned, especially above (1)
It is not enough to apply to many uses such as (4). In addition, the outdoor fan is controlled in two stages of the weak operation when the outside air temperature is 22 ° C. or less and the weak operation when the outside air temperature is 22 ° C. or more. However, the control for the outdoor temperature is insufficient.

In the air conditioner, a cooling operation and a heating operation are often performed in addition to the dehumidification operation. However, as described in the above four publications, when an indoor heat exchanger divided into two is connected in series. In the cooling operation and the heating operation, the refrigerant flow path of the indoor heat exchanger becomes longer, and particularly in the cooling operation using two indoor heat exchangers as evaporators, the pressure loss of the refrigerant flow in the indoor heat exchanger increases. In addition, if the flow of the air flow and the flow of the refrigerant flow do not become countercurrent, or if a sufficient subcool is not obtained during the heating operation, the performance of the refrigeration cycle is reduced. In this case, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 2-183776 discloses that at least one of the two refrigerant passages of the indoor heat exchanger is divided into two passages so as to reduce the pressure loss, but it is still insufficient. Other known publications do not specifically address this problem.

Further, in a small-sized air conditioner such as a room air conditioner, the size of an indoor unit (also referred to as an indoor unit) is limited. Under such limited conditions, the piping configuration of the indoor heat exchanger and the air flow are limited. It is necessary to improve the heat transfer performance in the indoor heat exchanger as much as possible in each operation of dehumidification, cooling and heating to keep the performance of the refrigeration cycle sufficiently high by devising the relationship of the above.

Further, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 51-18059, the outdoor fan is stopped during the heating dehumidifying operation, so that the temperature of the electric components on the outdoor unit (also referred to as an outdoor unit) becomes high and the life is shortened. Would. Also, since the outdoor fan is not controlled by the outdoor temperature, the amount of heat released from the outdoor heat exchanger (the amount of waste heat) varies depending on the outdoor temperature, and the indoor air temperature and dehumidification amount cannot be sufficiently controlled, or the compressor operates at a constant speed. Since only one unit is used, the dehumidification amount control based on the difference between the set humidity and the room humidity cannot be sufficiently performed.

An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner capable of performing a dehumidifying operation suitable for a purpose of use.

[0014]

To achieve the above object, an air conditioner according to the present invention comprises a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, a first indoor heat exchanger, and a second indoor heat exchanger. And a dehumidifying throttle device connected between the first indoor heat exchanger and the second indoor heat exchanger and functioning as a throttling device during a dehumidifying operation.
The compressor has a function of controlling the compression capacity of the compressor so as to be in the range of% to 60%.

Also, a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, a first indoor heat exchanger, a first indoor heat exchanger, and a connection between the first indoor heat exchanger and the second indoor heat exchanger. And an air conditioner provided with a dehumidifying expansion device functioning as an expansion device during a dehumidifying operation, wherein a compression capacity of the compressor and the outdoor heat exchanger are adjusted so that the indoor humidity is in a range of 40% to 60%. It has a function of controlling the rotation speed of the outdoor fan that ventilates the air.

[0016]

In the above configuration, in the dehumidifying operation for the above various purposes, for example, in the mold / mite dehumidifying operation, it is necessary to keep the indoor humidity at about 40 to 60%.

Such a dehumidifying operation suitable for the purpose of use is realized by controlling the compression capacity of the compressor so as to obtain a dehumidifying amount necessary for the indoor humidity to be in the range of 40% to 60%. it can.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, taking an air conditioner mounted on a building as an example.

An embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a refrigeration cycle and a control system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a flow chart of an operation mode. FIG. It is a flowchart of.

The air conditioner of this embodiment is configured as follows. In FIG. 1, 1 is a compressor, 2 is a four-way valve that is switched when switching operation states such as cooling and heating,
3 is an outdoor heat exchanger, 4 is a main throttle device through which the refrigerant flows during the cooling operation and the heating operation, 5 is a two-way valve provided in parallel with the main throttle device 4 to flow the refrigerant during the dehumidification operation, and 6a and 6b are two-way valves. The divided indoor heat exchangers 7 are indoor heat exchangers 6a and 6
b, a dehumidifying expansion device that is provided in series with them and through which the refrigerant flows during the dehumidifying operation, and 8 is provided between the indoor heat exchangers 6a and 6b in parallel with the dehumidifying expansion device 7, and supplies the refrigerant during the cooling and heating operations. A two-way valve for flowing, an accumulator for preventing liquid return to the compressor, an outdoor fan,
1 is an outdoor fan motor, 12 is an indoor fan, 13 is an indoor fan motor, 14 and 15 are arrows indicating outdoor and indoor wind directions, 16 is a control unit, and 17 is a temperature detecting means such as a temperature sensor for detecting the indoor temperature. , 18 are humidity detecting means such as a humidity sensor for detecting indoor humidity, 21, 22, 23, 2
Reference numerals 4 and 25 indicate wirings, respectively. Also, the compressor 1
Can control the capacity, and the outdoor fan 10 and the indoor fan 12 can perform the capacity control, that is, the blowing amount control.
Particularly recently, the compressor 1 and the fan motors 11 and 13 have
A rotation speed control method in which the rotation speed is continuously changed is used, and the ability can be controlled finely.

In the above-described cycle configuration, during the cooling operation, the two-way valve 5 is closed and the two-way valve 8 is opened, whereby the refrigerant is circulated as indicated by the solid line arrow, and the outdoor heat exchanger 3 is connected to the condenser. The indoor heat exchangers 6a and 6b are used as evaporators to cool the room. During the heating operation, the four-way valve 2 is switched, the two-way valve 5 is closed, and the two-way valve 8 is opened, so that the refrigerant circulates as shown by the dashed arrow, and the indoor heat exchanger 6a
And 6b as a condenser and the outdoor heat exchanger 3 as an evaporator to heat the room.

During the dehumidifying operation, the four-way valve 2 is switched in the same manner as in the cooling operation, and the two-way valve 5 is opened and the two-way valve 8 is closed, so that the refrigerant is supplied to the compressor 1 and the four-way valve as indicated by a dashed line. 2, outdoor heat exchanger 3, two-way valve 5, indoor heat exchanger 6
a, the dehumidifying expansion device 7, the indoor heat exchanger 6b, the four-way valve 2, the accumulator 9, and the compressor 1 are circulated in this order, the outdoor heat exchanger 3 is the upstream condenser, and the indoor heat exchanger 6a is the downstream condensation. And the indoor heat exchanger 6b are set to be evaporators. Then, the indoor air is blown by an indoor fan 12 by an arrow 15.
The air is cooled and dehumidified by the indoor heat exchanger 6b acting as an evaporator when the air flows as shown in FIG.
That is, it is heated again by the indoor heat exchanger 6a serving as a heater and is blown out into the room. In this case, by further controlling the capacity of the compressor 1 and the blowing capacity of the indoor fan 12 and the outdoor fan 10, the capacity of the evaporator 6b and the heater 6a can be adjusted. The air temperature can be controlled according to the purpose of use.

As described above, recently, the dehumidifying operation has been used for many purposes. For example, (1)
The temperature is not so high in the rainy season and autumn rainy season, but the so-called comfortable dehumidifying operation that dehumidifies while keeping the set temperature when it is humid. Good night / wake-up dehumidification operation to lower the humidity without lowering the temperature so that you can sleep comfortably. (3) Prevent the growth of molds and ticks by keeping the relative humidity at around 50%. A so-called laundry dehumidifying operation, which is used for drying laundry that has been dried in a house in the rainy season or autumn rainy season, or the like (4) laundry dehumidifying operation, and the like.

Considering the operation states of the compressor, the indoor fan, and the outdoor fan in the dehumidifying operation for the various uses described above, it is clear that in the good night / wake-up dehumidifying operation,
In particular, a low air flow dehumidifying operation with a low noise level and a large amount of dehumidification without a feeling of air flow is required. In the laundry dehumidifying operation, a high air flow dehumidifying operation in which the air flow reaches a wide range and the drying ability is high is particularly required. In the comfortable dehumidifying operation and the dehumidifying operation for preventing mold and tick, it is necessary to appropriately use the dehumidifying operation at the low air flow and the dehumidifying operation at the high air flow. In addition, it is necessary to perform a cooling, isothermal, or heating operation according to the room temperature in addition to the low air flow dehumidification operation and the high air flow dehumidification operation.

The dehumidifying operation methods for the various uses described above will be described below with reference to FIG. 2 which is a flowchart of the operation mode. As shown in FIG. 2, when an instruction to start the dehumidifying operation (200) is given by a forced operation or an automatic operation that detects the temperature and humidity inside and outside the room, a use mode in the dehumidifying operation is selected (201). Comfortable dehumidification operation based on (210), dehumidification operation to prevent mold and mite (220), good night and waking up dehumidification operation (230),
One of the laundry dehumidifying operation (240) and the like are selected. At this time, if there is no designation of the selection mode, the comfortable dehumidifying operation (210) mode is automatically selected.

First, in the comfortable dehumidifying operation (210), the temperature sensor 17 and the humidity sensor 18 detect the temperature and humidity of room air (211), and the desired room temperature and humidity are set (212).
Is performed. Next, a setting (213) of the air blowing state of the indoor fan 12 for performing the dehumidifying operation at a low air flow or the dehumidifying operation at a high air flow is performed, and based on the setting (213), the low air flow dehumidifying operation (214). Or high air volume dehumidification operation (2
15) is selected. Also, when performing comfortable dehumidifying operation,
It is necessary to set the temperature and humidity in the room so that people can feel comfortable, but PMV (Predicted Mean Vo)
The abbreviation of te means predicted average report), and control is performed based on a thermal environment evaluation index. When controlled based on this thermal environment evaluation index, only room temperature and humidity are used. Instead, it is possible to determine the comfortable condition of the thermal sensation in consideration of the radiation temperature, wind speed, amount of clothes and amount of activity, and to automatically set the temperature and humidity in consideration of the season, the state of clothes, the state of activity, and the like.

In the dehumidifying operation for preventing mold and mite (220),
As in the case of the comfortable dehumidifying operation (210), the temperature sensor 1
7. Detection of temperature and humidity of indoor air by humidity sensor 18 (2
21), the desired indoor temperature and humidity are set (222). Next, the setting of the air blowing state of the indoor fan 12 for performing the dehumidifying operation at a low air volume or performing the dehumidifying operation at a high air volume (2
23) is performed, and the low air volume dehumidifying operation (224) or the high air volume dehumidifying operation (225) is selected based on the setting (223). It is known that the relative humidity should be set to about 40 to 60% in order to prevent the growth of mold and ticks. Therefore, in the dehumidifying operation for preventing mold and ticks, for example, the humidity is automatically set to about 50%. It may be fixed and set. By performing such a dehumidifying operation, the dehumidifying operation can be performed in a state where the sensible temperature can be maintained well.

In the good night / wake-up dehumidifying operation (230), the temperature sensor 17 and the humidity sensor 18 detect the temperature and humidity of room air (231), and the desired room temperature and humidity are set (232). Next, when sleeping, especially at the beginning of sleep or when getting up in the morning, it is difficult to sleep if the sense of airflow or noise is high. In addition, about the comfortable temperature and humidity in the room at the time of sleep, an approximate value is known,
For example, in the rainy season or in the summer when the temperature is hot and humid, it is better to lower the humidity sufficiently without lowering the room temperature for a comfortable and healthy sleep environment. Therefore, in the good night / wake-up dehumidifying operation, the indoor temperature and humidity may be automatically fixed to such values and set. In addition, this driving mode is used for
It can also be used in an automatic driving mode programmed for human sleep patterns, such as when you wake up in the morning.

In the laundry dehumidifying operation (240), the temperature sensor 17 and the humidity sensor 18 detect the temperature and humidity of the room air (241), and the desired room temperature and humidity are set (242).
Is performed. Next, at the time of drying the laundry, since the airflow needs to reach a wide range and the dehumidification capacity needs to be sufficiently high, the high air volume dehumidification operation (24) in which the blowing capacity of the indoor fan 12 is increased.
3) is performed. In addition, the temperature and humidity at the time of drying the laundry can be set to be substantially constant, unlike the human feeling that changes slightly. Therefore, even in the laundry dehumidifying operation, the temperature and humidity in the room can be automatically fixed and set.

In the operation mode for each purpose of use shown in FIG. 2, indoor temperature and humidity detection (211), (221),
(231), (241), indoor temperature / humidity setting (212),
The steps (222), (232), (242), the indoor air blow state setting (213), and (223) are not necessarily performed in this order, and can be set arbitrarily.

In each of the above-mentioned usage purposes, the operation modes are roughly divided into a low air volume dehumidification operation and a high air volume dehumidification operation. The air conditioner itself performs these low air volume dehumidification operations and high air volume dehumidification operations in a comfortable dehumidification operation,
It can be used in accordance with each intended use mode such as dehumidifying operation for mites prevention, good night / awake dehumidifying operation, and laundry dehumidifying operation.

In the low air volume dehumidifying operation and the high air volume dehumidifying operation described above, when the detected value of the room temperature is different from the set value, the temperature difference ΔT (ΔT = detected room temperature−set room temperature) is used. If the detected room temperature is higher and ΔT is positive, the air conditioner is slightly dehumidified. If both are substantially equal and ΔT is near zero, the air temperature is lower. If the detected temperature is lower and ΔT is negative, the air is dehumidified. You need to drive. Hereinafter, these operation methods will be described.

As can be seen from FIG. 3 showing an operation method in the low air volume dehumidifying operation (300), first, the indoor fan is set to the low air volume operation (301). Next, the room temperature detected by the temperature sensor 17 in the room is compared with the set room temperature (302).
If the temperature difference ΔT is positive, a low air flow cooling-type dehumidifying operation (310) is performed. In this case, the compressor 1
Since sufficient dehumidifying capacity can be obtained even if the capacity is reduced, the low capacity operation (311) is set, and in order to further perform the cooling mode operation, the heat radiation capacity of the outdoor heat exchanger 3 is increased and the heater is used as a heater. It is necessary to reduce the heating capacity of the indoor heat exchanger 6a to be used for the airflow 15 and thus increase the blowing capacity of the outdoor fan 10 (312).

When the temperature difference ΔT is substantially zero, a low air volume isothermal dehumidifying operation (320) is performed. In this operation, since the compressor 1 can obtain a sufficient dehumidifying capacity even if the capacity is reduced, the compressor 1 is set to the low capacity operation (321), and further to the isothermal operation, the heat radiation capacity of the outdoor heat exchanger 3 is required. And the heating capacity of the indoor heat exchanger 6a used as a heater for the airflow 15 needs to be medium. Therefore, the blowing capacity of the outdoor fan 10 is set to medium (322). .

If the temperature difference ΔT is negative, a low air volume heating slightly dehumidifying operation (330) is performed. In this operation, it is necessary to increase the heating capacity for the airflow 15 by the indoor heat exchanger 6a used as a heater by reducing the amount of heat radiation in the outdoor heat exchanger 3. For this reason, the outdoor fan 10
The air blowing capacity is reduced as much as possible, and the outdoor fan is stopped if necessary (332). Further, although sufficient dehumidifying capacity can be obtained even if the capacity of the compressor 1 is reduced, the capacity of the heater 6a is increased as the capacity of the compressor 1 is increased, so that the compressor 1 can be more heated. Therefore, the capacity of the compressor 1 increases (331) according to the degree of the heating tendency.

Here, as a specific operation example of the low air volume dehumidifying operation, for example, under the conditions of a room temperature and humidity of 24 ° C. and 60%, and an outdoor temperature and humidity of 24 ° C. and 80%, the standard cooling capacity is 2.8 k.
When using a room air conditioner of W and reducing the outdoor air volume sufficiently and the indoor air volume is about 2 m ³ / min, if the theoretical displacement of the compressor is 0.98 m ³ / h, the air outlet temperature is about 21 ° C. Assuming that the theoretical displacement of the operation and the compressor is 1.5 m ³ / h, it is possible to perform a heating operation in which the blowing temperature is about 27 ° C. That is, the temperature of the air blown from the indoor unit is set to
It is possible to perform a cooling dehumidifying operation at 3 ° C. to a heating dehumidifying operation up to room temperature + 3 ° C.

In the low air volume dehumidifying operation described above, the capacity of the compressor 1 is set low because the dehumidification amount is sufficient. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In this case, the input greatly increases, but the dehumidifying ability gradually increases.

Next, referring to FIG. 4, a high air volume dehumidifying operation (350) is performed.
The driving method will be described. First, the indoor fan 12 is set to the high air volume operation (351). Next, the room temperature detected by the temperature sensor 17 in the room is compared with the set room temperature (35).
2) If the temperature difference ΔT is positive, a high air volume cooling slightly dehumidifying operation (360) is performed. In this operation, since the indoor fan 12 operates at a high air volume, the compressor 1 is operated at a high capacity (361) in order to lower the evaporation temperature of the indoor heat exchanger 6b acting as an evaporator and obtain a sufficient dehumidifying capacity. West,
In order to make the air conditioner cooler, the indoor heat exchanger 6a that functions as a heater by increasing the heat radiation capacity of the outdoor heat exchanger 3 is also provided.
It is necessary to reduce the heating capacity for the air flow 15 due to the heat. For this reason, the blowing capacity of the outdoor fan 10 is increased (3.
62).

When the temperature difference ΔT is almost zero, a high air volume isothermal dehumidifying operation (370) is performed. In this operation, the compressor 1 is set to the high-capacity operation (371) for the same reason as the above-described slightly cooling operation. Further, in order to perform the isothermal operation, the heat radiation capacity of the outdoor heat exchanger 3 is set to a medium level, and the air flow 15 by the indoor heat exchanger 6a acting as a heater is set.
It is necessary to set the heating capacity to medium. For this reason, the blowing capacity of the outdoor fan 10 is set to a medium level (372). If the temperature difference ΔT is negative, a high air volume heating slightly dehumidifying operation (380) is performed. In this operation, the compressor 1
Is changed to the high-capacity operation (381) for the same reason as the above-mentioned cooling-type operation and isothermal-type operation. Further, in order to perform the heating mode of operation, it is necessary to reduce the amount of heat radiation in the outdoor heat exchanger 3 and increase the heating capability of the indoor heat exchanger 6a acting as a heater with respect to the airflow 15. For this reason, the blowing capacity of the outdoor fan 10 is reduced as much as possible, and the outdoor fan 10 is stopped if necessary (382).

Here, as a specific operation example of the high air volume dehumidifying operation, for example, a room air conditioner having a standard cooling capacity of 2.8 kW under the conditions of an indoor temperature and humidity of 24 ° C. and 60%, and an outdoor temperature and humidity of 24 ° C. and 80%. When the outdoor air flow is sufficiently reduced and the indoor air flow is set to about 6 m ³ / min, when the theoretical displacement of the compressor is set to 1.9 m ³ / h, the air-conditioning operation with the blowing temperature of about 26.5 ° C. can do. In other words, it is possible to perform heating up to the temperature of the air blown from the indoor unit up to room temperature + 3 ° C.

In the above-described high air volume dehumidifying operation, the input becomes large because the compressor 1 is set to the high capacity operation. FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing a structure of an indoor unit capable of solving the problem of increasing the input, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a high air volume dehumidifying operation method in this case.

In FIG. 5, reference numerals 6a, 6b, and 12 denote the same components as the cycle configuration shown in FIG. 1, respectively, that is, the leeward indoor heat exchanger, the leeward indoor heat exchanger,
It is an indoor fan. 31 is a suction grill, 32
Is a rear casing forming a ventilation path, 33 is a dew receiving tray for receiving condensed water, 34 is an openable / closable damper, and 35 is a ventilation path provided at an upper portion of the casing 32. With such a configuration, the indoor heat exchanger 6b becomes an evaporator and the indoor heat exchanger 6a becomes a heater during the dehumidifying operation, and the indoor fan 12 is operated to move the indoor air from the airflow 36 as shown by an arrow. By flowing like the air stream 37, the air stream 36 passes through the suction grill 31 and is cooled and
After being dehumidified, the indoor fan 1 is heated by the heater 6a.
2 is blown out in the direction of the arrow. The evaporator 6
The condensed water generated in b is once received in the dew tray 33,
It is discharged outside the room.

Next, a method of the high air volume dehumidifying operation when the indoor unit shown in FIG. 5 is used will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 6 while referring to the cycle configuration shown in FIG.

When the high air flow dehumidifying operation mode is selected (400), first, the suction damper 34 is opened as shown at 34a (401), and the indoor fan 12 is operated with a high air flow (402). Next, the detected room temperature detected by the temperature sensor 17 shown in FIG. 1 is compared with the set room temperature (403), and the temperature difference Δ
When T is positive, a high air flow cooling-type dehumidifying operation (41)
Perform 0). In this operation, the indoor fan 12 is a high air volume operation, and the air volume is the sum of the air volume passing through the ventilation passage 35 and the air volume passing through the indoor heat exchangers 6b and 6a. The amount of air passing therethrough is small, and even when the compressor 1 is operated at a low capacity (411), the evaporating temperature of the evaporator 6b is reduced and sufficient dehumidifying capacity is obtained. In order to further reduce the air-cooling operation, the air flow 3 of the indoor heat exchanger 6a acting as a heater is increased by increasing the heat radiation capacity of the outdoor heat exchanger 3.
It is necessary to reduce the heating capacity for 6. Therefore, the blowing capacity of the outdoor fan 10 is increased (412).

If the temperature difference ΔT is almost zero, a high air volume isothermal dehumidifying operation (420) is performed. In this operation, the compressor 1 is set to the low-capacity operation (421) for the same reason as the above-described slightly cooling operation. Furthermore, in this isothermal operation, it is necessary to set the heat radiation capacity of the outdoor heat exchanger 3 at a medium level and the heating capacity of the indoor heat exchanger 6a acting as a heater for the airflow 36 at a medium level. For this reason, the blowing capacity of the outdoor fan 10 is set to a medium level (422).

If the temperature difference ΔT is negative, a high air volume heating slightly dehumidifying operation (430) is performed. Also in this operation, the compressor 1 is set to the low-capacity operation (431) for the same reason as the cooling mode operation and the isothermal mode operation described above. Further, in order to perform the heating mode operation, it is necessary to reduce the amount of heat radiation in the outdoor heat exchanger 3 and increase the heating capacity of the indoor heat exchanger 6a acting as a heater with respect to the airflow 36.
For this reason, the blowing capacity of the outdoor fan 10 is reduced as much as possible.
The outdoor fan 10 is stopped if necessary (432).

In FIG. 5, the dehumidifying operation at a low air volume is as follows.
By closing the damper 34, the operation can be performed in the same manner as the operation method shown in FIG. Also, in FIG.
The damper 4 is a rotatable openable / closable damper. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In the above description, the detection of the room temperature and the humidity is performed according to the procedure described with reference to FIG. 2, but the present invention is not limited to this. 30
2), (352), and (403) can also be performed.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing an outdoor portion of the cycle of this embodiment, and FIG.

The outdoor part of the cycle shown in FIG.
In FIG. 1, a bypass pipe 42 is provided via a two-way valve 41 so as to bypass the outdoor heat exchanger 3 in the cycle configuration shown in FIG.
Also, in FIG. 7, those with the same numbers as those in FIG.
The same parts are shown.

In the air conditioner of this embodiment having the cycle configuration shown in FIG. 7, the operation method is almost the same as that of the cycle configuration shown in FIG. 1, but the low air volume heating dehumidifying operation shown in FIG. Step 332 in (330), Step 382 in the high air volume heating dehumidifying operation shown in FIG. 4 (380), and in high air volume heating slightly dehumidifying operation (430) shown in FIG. 6 corresponding to the structure of the indoor unit shown in FIG. The method for adjusting the heat radiation capacity of the outdoor heat exchanger 3 in step 432 is different as follows.

In the heating mode dehumidifying operation, the indoor heat exchanger 6a acting as a heater in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is first controlled by the method of adjusting the heat radiation amount of the outdoor heat exchanger 3 shown in FIG.
In order to increase the heating capacity of the outdoor fan 10, the blowing capacity of the outdoor fan 10 is reduced as much as possible, or the outdoor fan 10 is stopped (50).
1) Yes. Next, the room temperature is detected again and compared with the set room temperature (5).
02) If the detected room temperature is lower than the set room temperature, the two-way valve 41
Is opened (503). If the detected room temperature is not lower than the set room temperature, the setting ends (504). As a result, when the two-way valve 41 is opened in step 503, most of the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant flow discharged from the compressor 1 does not pass through the outdoor heat exchanger 3 and acts as a heater.
When the two-way valve 41 is closed and the outdoor fan 10 is stopped, the amount of heat that has been radiated to the outside air by natural convection is also transferred to the indoor heat exchanger 6a that acts as a heater and flows into the indoor heat exchanger 6a. In 6a, the heating amount further increases, and the dehumidifying operation with more heating can be performed.

Although the case of the dehumidifying operation has been described in the cycle configuration of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the cycle performance and the heat exchange in the indoor heat exchangers 6a and 6b are also performed for each of the cooling and heating operations. It is necessary to ensure efficient performance and operate efficiently. Hereinafter, this method will be described.

First, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the indoor heat exchanger is divided into two parts, 6a and 6b, and these are connected in series via the two-way valve 8, so that the cooling operation and the heating operation, in particular, In the cooling operation, both the indoor heat exchangers 6a and 6b have a low pressure, and the evaporator has a large specific volume of the gas refrigerant and a large volume flow rate. Decrease.

One embodiment capable of solving this problem is shown in FIGS. The embodiment shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 is the same as the embodiment shown in FIG.
FIG. 10 is a front view as viewed from the direction of arrow P in FIG. 9 and 10, reference numerals 51a and 51b denote 6a and 6b shown in FIG. 1, respectively.
The indoor heat exchanger 51a is divided into two refrigerant pipes, a refrigerant pipe 52 and a refrigerant pipe 53, at point A, and then merges again into one system at point B. The indoor heat exchanger 51b also has a C
After being divided into two refrigerant pipes, a refrigerant pipe 54 and a refrigerant pipe 55, at a point, the pipe is configured to join again into one system at a point D. Reference numeral 56 denotes a radiation fin. Other Figure 1
Those denoted by the same reference numerals indicate the same parts.

In the air conditioner configured as described above, during the cooling operation and the heating operation, the two-way valve 8 is opened to cause the refrigerant to flow in the indoor heat exchangers 51a and 51b in two separate systems. The flow rate of the refrigerant flowing through each system is halved, and the indoor heat exchangers 51a and 51a
Since the refrigerant flow pressure loss at 1b is reduced, a decrease in performance can be prevented.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 and 10,
Although the case where the refrigerant pipes of the indoor heat exchangers 51a and 51b are divided into two systems is shown, the present invention is not limited to this, and the refrigerant pipes can be divided into more systems. And 51b, the pressure loss of the refrigerant flow can be reduced, and a decrease in performance can be prevented. However, if the refrigerant flow is too many, the pressure loss of the refrigerant flow is reduced, but the heat transfer coefficient is significantly reduced, and the performance of the entire air conditioner such as cooling capacity and operation coefficient is reduced. It is necessary to set the number of systems, and this number is determined by the inner diameter of the refrigerant pipe.

Next, in the heating operation, in order to improve the performance such as the heating capacity and the operation coefficient, in the indoor heat exchanger acting as a condenser, the heat exchanger through which a high-temperature gas refrigerant flow flows at its inlet is used. The part is heat-exchanged with the air flow at a position where there is no heat exchanger part that performs heat exchange on the leeward side, and the heat exchanger part at the outlet of the refrigerant flow is relatively subcooled so that the sub-cooling can be sufficiently taken. Heat exchange with the air flow. An example configured in this way is shown in FIG.
Shown in In FIG. 11, 60a is an indoor heat exchanger including two refrigerant pipes 61 and 62 connected at points E and F,
60b is an indoor heat exchanger composed of two systems of refrigerant pipes 63 and 64 connected at point G, 60c is a refrigerant flow upstream of the indoor heat exchanger 60b during the heating operation, and the air flow 15 is an indoor heat exchanger 60b. An indoor heat exchanger composed of two systems of refrigerant pipes 66 and 67 connected at a point H provided at a position on the leeward side after the passage, 60d has a refrigerant flow downstream of the indoor heat exchanger 60a during the heating operation, and This is an indoor heat exchanger having a refrigerant pipe 65 in which the air flow 15 directly hits and is located at a position above the indoor heat exchanger 60b. However, the indoor heat exchangers 60c and 60d are further provided.

In the structure configured as described above,
During the heating operation, the refrigerant flows through the indoor heat exchanger through the two-way valve 8 in the order of 60c, 60b, 60a, and 60d, and the high-temperature gaseous refrigerant flow flows through the indoor heat exchanger 6 as indicated by the dashed arrow.
Air flow 15 after heat exchange with indoor heat exchanger 60b at 0c
a, heat exchange with the air flow 15 having a relatively low temperature in the indoor heat exchanger 60b, and heat exchange with the air flow 15a after heat exchange with the indoor heat exchanger 60b in the indoor heat exchanger 60a. As a result, the heat is radiated and cooled, and is sufficiently condensed at the outlet of the indoor heat exchanger 60a. Next, the condensed liquid refrigerant flow flows into one system of the indoor heat exchanger 60d and becomes high speed, the heat transfer coefficient in the pipe becomes sufficiently high, and the heat exchange with the relatively low-temperature air flow 15 causes a subcooling. Is in a state where it has been sufficiently removed. In this case, the refrigerant flow from the indoor heat exchangers 60c to 60b is the air flow 15 and the air flow 15
a, and the refrigerant flows from the indoor heat exchanger 60a to the indoor heat exchanger 60d
And a counter flow, and in each case, an efficient heat exchange state is obtained.

During the cooling operation, the refrigerant flows in the indoor heat exchanger 60d and the indoor heat exchanger 60 as indicated by solid arrows.
a, two-way valve 8, indoor heat exchanger 60b, indoor heat exchanger 60
Flowing in the order of c, all these indoor heat exchangers act as evaporators.

During the dehumidifying operation, the refrigerant is supplied to the indoor heat exchanger 60d,
a, the dehumidifying and squeezing device 7, the indoor heat exchanger 60b, and the indoor heat exchanger 60c flow in this order. The indoor heat exchanger 60d and the indoor heat exchanger 60a serve as heaters, and the indoor heat exchanger 60b and the indoor heat exchanger 60c. Acts as a cooling / dehumidifying device. In this case, the indoor heat exchanger 60c acting as a cooling / dehumidifying device
Is located below the indoor heat exchanger 60a acting as a heater, so that the dehumidified water generated in the indoor heat exchanger 60c is
It is not heated again by the indoor heat exchanger 60a. Further, since the indoor heat exchanger 60d acting as a heater is located above the indoor heat exchanger 60b serving as a cooling / dehumidifying device, dehumidified water generated in the indoor heat exchanger 60b is supplied to the indoor heat exchanger 60d. It does not evaporate again when heated.

As can be seen from the above description, in FIG. 11, the indoor heat exchanger 60c does not necessarily have to be below the indoor heat exchanger 60a, and is located at the position indicated by the dashed line 68 in FIG. Below the exchanger 60b or 6
8a at the position indicated by the dashed line and the indoor heat exchanger 60a.
In any position where there is no indoor heat exchanger on the leeward side, including the leeward side of the above, any position can be used as long as the dehumidified water generated in the indoor heat exchanger 60c during the dehumidifying operation does not drop onto the indoor heat exchanger serving as a heater. Position. In addition, the indoor heat exchanger 60
d does not necessarily have to be above the indoor heat exchanger 60b, but is at the position indicated by the two-dot chain line 69 and
A relatively low temperature air flow 15 directly hits, including the position indicated by the two-dot chain line 69a and the front of the indoor heat exchanger 60b, where the dehumidification water is not applied during the dehumidification operation, and is set at an arbitrary position. be able to.

In FIG. 11, both the indoor heat exchanger 60c and the indoor heat exchanger 60d are provided on the inlet high-temperature gas area side and the outlet subcool area side of the refrigerant flow during the heating operation. Or in this case, in this case,
The effects obtained by the respective actions of the indoor heat exchangers 60c and 60d can be obtained.

More specifically, in FIG. 9, the indoor heat exchangers 51a and 51b are replaced by two refrigerant flow paths, or in FIG.
Although b and 60c are two-system refrigerant flow paths and the indoor heat exchanger 60d is a single-system refrigerant flow path, the present invention is not limited to this, and each indoor heat exchanger 51a, 51b or 60a, 60b, 60c,
The 60d refrigerant flow path can be made into one system or multiple systems, judging from the refrigerant flow rate and the simplicity of the configuration. For example, when the flow rate of the refrigerant is relatively large, 51a or 51b in FIG.
The first 60a, 60b, and 60c are preferably a plurality of refrigerant flow paths in order to reduce the pressure loss, and the indoor heat exchanger 60d shown in FIG.
Then, in order to increase the flow velocity in the pipe and improve the heat transfer performance, it is better to use a single refrigerant flow path. When the refrigerant flow rate is relatively small, the indoor heat exchanger having a relatively low refrigerant dryness on the upstream side during the cooling operation is 51a in FIG. 9 or 60a in FIG.
Even if a single refrigerant flow path is used (not shown), the pressure loss here is relatively small, and the performance is hardly degraded, and the piping configuration is simplified. When the refrigerant flow rate is further small, all the indoor heat exchangers (51a in FIG. 9,
51b or 60a, 60b, 60c, 60 in FIG.
Even if d) is a single-system refrigerant pipe (not shown), performance degradation does not become a problem, and the pipe configuration is further simplified.

In the case of a small air conditioner such as a room air conditioner, the structure of the indoor heat exchanger is restricted and almost fixed, and the degree of freedom in piping configuration and the like is small. Hereinafter, a specific example of such a case will be described by taking an example of an indoor heat exchanger in a case where the piping rows are two rows in the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 shows that two rows of pipes are used to reduce the number of pipe stages to nine.
It is a side view of the indoor heat exchanger 70 when comprised in a stage,
2 also shows a configuration example of piping around the indoor heat exchanger 7. In FIG. 12, the circles indicate heat transfer tubes 7 provided so as to penetrate a plurality of heat radiation fins 71.
3, those shown by broken lines and solid lines are connection pipes, and 7 and 8 show a dehumidifying expansion device and a two-way valve, respectively, as in FIG. 1 or FIG. Further, the indoor heat exchanger 70 is separated into two L-shaped heat exchangers 70a and 70b by cutting the radiation fin 71 at a portion indicated by a line 72, and
The heat transfer tubes 3a and 73b are arranged so as to form a single-system refrigerant flow, and the other heat transfer tubes are arranged so as to form a two-system refrigerant flow with a dehumidifying expansion device 7 and a two-way valve 8 interposed therebetween.

With the above configuration, the refrigerant flow flows in the directions indicated by solid-line arrows, broken-line arrows, and dash-dot-line arrows in each of the cooling, heating, and dehumidifying operations. For this reason, during the cooling operation, all the heat transfer tubes become low-pressure evaporators, but since all the heat transfer tubes except 73a and 73b are in the two-system refrigerant flow, the pressure loss is small and there is no problem. During the heating operation, the high-temperature gas refrigerant flow is
On the inlet side of the indoor heat exchanger 70, the heat flows from the heat transfer tubes 73c and 73d to the heat transfer tubes 73e and 73f on the downstream side, respectively, and flows counter to the air flow 15, so that an efficient heat exchange state can be realized, and the outlet side In the heat transfer tubes 73b and 73a, the heat transfer tubes 73b and 73a exchange heat with the airflow 15 having a relatively low temperature on the windward side, and the refrigerant flow is a single system, so that the speed is high and the heat transfer performance in the tubes is improved. You can take enough sub-cools. At the time of the dehumidification operation, the indoor heat exchanger 70b serves as a cooling / dehumidifying device (ie, an evaporator) on the windward side and the indoor heat exchanger 70a serves as a heater (ie, a condenser) on the leeward side with respect to the airflow 15. 15 is cooled, dehumidified and then heated again. In this case, since the high-temperature indoor heat exchanger 70a and the low-temperature indoor heat exchanger 70b are separated from each other at the boundary of the cut 72, there is no heat loss because the heat exchangers do not directly interfere with each other, An efficient dehumidifying operation can be performed. Also, the indoor heat exchanger 70 acting as a heater
a is an indoor heat exchanger 70b acting as a cooling / dehumidifying device
And the dehumidifying water flowing downward is not heated and evaporated again.

FIG. 13 is a modified example of the embodiment of the indoor heat exchanger shown in FIG. 12 in which the heat transfer tubes are arranged in nine rows in two rows, and compared with the embodiment shown in FIG. Sometimes, in order to take a sub-cool at the outlet side of the refrigerant flow, the heat transfer tubes 74a, 74b in which the refrigerant flow is made one system are shifted upward by one step, and the inlet heat transfer tube into which the high-temperature gas refrigerant flow flows flows through the air flow. The pipe 15 has a heat transfer tube 74c on the leeward side and a heat transfer tube 74d on the leeward side, and is divided into two by a cutting line indicated by 96. In this piping configuration, the heat transfer tube 74c in the high-temperature gas region and the heat transfer tubes 74e and 74f in the condensation region on the leeward side during the heating operation do not flow counter to the airflow 15, but after cooling and dehumidification during the dehumidification operation. , the height h ₂ of the heat exchanger section for heating again is longer than the h ₁ shown in FIG. 12, can take a number of dehumidifying amount than the embodiment shown in FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 shows still another modification of the indoor heat exchanger shown in FIG. 12 in which heat transfer tubes are arranged in nine rows in two rows.
During the heating operation, the heat transfer tubes 75a and 75b, in which the refrigerant flow is integrated into one system, are arranged in the uppermost two rows in order to take a subcool at the outlet side of the refrigerant flow. In both cases, the heat transfer tubes 75c, 7 on the windward side
The pipe is configured to be 5d, and the indoor heat exchanger 88 is divided into 88a and 88b at a position indicated by 89. With this piping configuration, the inlet heat transfer tubes 75c and 75d in the high-temperature gas region and the heat transfer tubes 75b, 75e, 75f, and 75g having lower temperatures on the leeward side during the heating operation do not flow counter to the airflow 15, but during the dehumidifying operation. cooling, the height h ₃ of the heat exchanger portion after reheating dehumidified be longer than the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, it is possible to take more dehumidification amount.

FIG. 15 is a side view of one embodiment of the indoor heat exchanger 80 in which the heat transfer tubes are arranged in two rows and arranged in ten stages, and also shows the piping configuration around the indoor heat exchanger 80. .
In the same manner as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 12, those indicated by a circle in FIG. 15 are heat transfer tubes provided so as to penetrate a plurality of radiation fins 81, those indicated by broken lines and solid lines are connection pipes, 7,
Reference numeral 8 denotes a dehumidifying expansion device and a two-way valve, respectively. Further, the indoor heat exchanger 80 is separated into two L-shaped heat exchangers 80a and 80b by cutting the radiation fins 81 at a portion indicated by a separation line 82, and the heat transfer tubes 83a and 8b are separated.
Reference numeral 3b denotes a single-system refrigerant flow, and the other heat transfer tubes are arranged so as to form a two-system refrigerant flow with a dehumidifying expansion device 7 and a two-way valve 8 interposed therebetween. Further, the L-type heat exchanger 80b has a refrigerant pipe configuration of two systems, a system indicated by an arrow 84 and a system indicated by an arrow 85, between the branch points I and J. Since the number of heat transfer tubes (two in this case) is smaller than that of the piping of the system indicated by 85, the heat transfer tubes 83c and J in the piping of the system indicated by 84 are set so that the flow resistance of the refrigerant flow is the same. A resistance tube 86 is provided between the points.

With the above-described structure, the refrigerant flow is indicated by solid arrows in each of the cooling, heating, and dehumidifying operations.
Arrows shown by broken lines, flow in the direction of arrows shown by dashed lines, in the refrigerant flow state of low pressure loss in the cooling operation, in the heat exchange state by the counter flow between the inlet high-temperature gas refrigerant flow and the air flow in the heating operation, and in the outlet part Subcooling sufficient with one system refrigerant flow, cooling of airflow 15 in dehumidifying operation,
The operations of dehumidification and reheating can be performed efficiently and without problems, similarly to the embodiment shown in FIG.

The resistance tube 86 may be provided anywhere between points I and J in the piping of the system indicated by 84. Further, it may be applied that a resistance tube is provided in a refrigerant flow passage having a plurality of systems and has a smaller flow resistance so that the flow resistance of each flow passage is equal. For example, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 or FIG.
The present invention can be applied to a case where a resistance tube is provided in a flow path having a small flow resistance to equalize the flow resistance and flow the refrigerant in a well-balanced manner.

FIG. 16 is a modification of the indoor heat exchanger shown in FIG. 15 in which the heat transfer tubes are arranged in two rows and in ten stages. In the heating operation, the refrigerant flow is set to take a subcool at the outlet of the refrigerant flow. 87a, 87b, 8
7i, and the inlet heat transfer tubes into which the refrigerant flow of the high-temperature gas flows are connected to the air flow 15 by the heat transfer tubes 87 both on the windward side.
The pipes are configured so as to be c and 87d, and similarly cut at 97. In this piping configuration, during the heating operation, the inlet heat transfer tubes 87c and 87d in the high-temperature gas region and the lower-temperature heat transfer tubes 87e, 87f, 87g, and 8 on the leeward side thereof.
7h is, but not a counter flow against the air flow 15, during dehumidifying operation, cooling, the height h ₅ of the heat exchanger portion after reheating dehumidified longer than h ₅ of Figure 15, many more Dehumidification can be taken. Further, the refrigerant flow between the points K and L is a two-system flow, but the lengths of the heat transfer tubes in each system are set to be the same, and the resistance tubes 86 as in the embodiment shown in FIG. Need not be provided.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 12, 13, 14, and 16, the number of heat transfer tubes serving as heaters during the dehumidifying operation is made larger than the number of heat transfer tubes serving as cooling / dehumidifying devices. However, this is because this is effective in performing the dehumidifying operation with a slight heating as described in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3, 4, 6, and 8. That is, in the dehumidifying operation,
Since the capacity of the dehumidifier can be made lower and the capacity of the heater can be made higher, it becomes easier to perform the dehumidifying operation with a little heating.

Here, in the indoor heat exchangers shown in FIGS. 12 to 16, both of the two heat exchangers are divided into two systems of refrigerant flow paths. As described above, the present invention is suitable as a piping configuration of an air conditioner having a relatively large refrigerant flow rate. When the flow rate of the refrigerant is relatively small, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 12 to 16, the evaporator on the upstream side is used during the cooling operation (for example, FIG. 1).
2, the indoor heat exchanger can be formed as a single system refrigerant flow path. Further, when the refrigerant flow rate is small, the indoor heat exchanger can be used as a downstream evaporator during the cooling operation. A working indoor heat exchanger (eg, 70b in FIG. 12, 80b in FIG. 15)
) Can also be a single system refrigerant flow path.

As an example, an embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 17 which corresponds to the embodiment shown in FIG. 12 and has a piping configuration in which the flow rate of the refrigerant is relatively small. Here, FIG. 17 shows a configuration in which the heat exchanger 70a shown in FIG. In FIG. 17, reference numeral 98 denotes a heat exchanger 98a divided into two by a cutting line 72 and having a single refrigerant flow path serving as an upstream evaporator during a cooling operation, and a refrigerant serving as a downstream evaporator during a cooling operation. Heat exchanger 98 with two channels
b (same as 70b shown in FIG. 12). In FIG. 17, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 12 indicate the same parts.

In the above configuration, the refrigerant flows in the directions indicated by solid line arrows, broken line arrows, and alternate long and short dash lines in each of the cooling, heating, and dehumidifying operations. During the cooling operation, both the indoor heat exchangers 98a and 98b become low-pressure evaporators. However, since the flow rate of the refrigerant is relatively small, the upstream evaporator 98a having a low dryness has a pressure loss even with a single refrigerant flow path. Since the flow rate of the refrigerant is relatively small compared to the embodiment shown in FIG. 12, the heat transfer coefficient in the pipe is increased. In the downstream evaporator 73b,
Although the degree of dryness is increased, the flow rate of the refrigerant is sufficiently low and the pressure loss is small due to the two refrigerant flow paths.

During the heating operation, in the indoor heat exchanger 98, the specific volume of the gas refrigerant is reduced due to the high pressure of the refrigerant flow, and the flow velocity is reduced. It enters the indoor heat exchanger 98b of the system and condenses,
Since the refrigerant flow path enters the one-system indoor heat exchanger 98a after the refrigerant dryness has become sufficiently low, a problematic pressure loss does not occur. Therefore, when the refrigerant flow rate is relatively small, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 17, there is no performance problem in both the cooling and heating operations, and the refrigerant flow path of the indoor heat exchanger 98a is integrated into one system. The configuration is simple. The state of heat exchange between the indoor heat exchanger 98 and the airflow 15 during the cooling operation, the heating operation, and the dehumidifying operation is the same as in the embodiment shown in FIG.

Here, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 12 to 16, the indoor heat exchanger is completely divided into two by a cutting line 72 shown in FIG. 12 and a cutting line 89 shown in FIG. The heat transfer between the exchangers is sufficiently blocked to allow sufficient cooling, dehumidification and heating during the dehumidification operation.
However, on the other hand, there is a problem that the assembly of the heat exchanger becomes complicated, and in order to solve this problem, it is preferable that the radiating fins before incorporating the heat transfer tubes be configured as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19.

The radiation fin 91 shown in FIG. 18 has a structure in which an intermittent slit 92 is provided at a position corresponding to the cutting line 72 shown in FIG. As a result of this configuration,
Due to the slit 92, the heat insulation performance is somewhat inferior to the cutting line 72 shown in FIG.
The heat transfer to and from the b-side can be blocked, and
Since the 1a side and the 91b side are connected, this assembly can be facilitated when assembling the heat exchanger.

The radiation fins 93 shown in FIG.
A structure in which an intermittent slit 94 is provided at a position corresponding to the cutting line 89 shown in FIG. Also in this case, FIG.
As in the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the heat transfer between the 93a side and the 93b side of the radiating fin 93 can be blocked by the slit 94, and the fins 93a and 93b are connected to each other, so that the heat exchanger is assembled. Sometimes this assembly can be facilitated.

In the embodiment described above, the case of using a single refrigerant such as HCFC22 (abbreviation for hydrochlorofluorocarbon 22) which is often used in an air conditioner has been described. However, recently, research on alternative refrigerants replacing HCFC22 has been actively conducted in view of ozone layer depletion and global warming. In addition, as a substitute refrigerant, not only a single refrigerant but also a mixed refrigerant is being studied. Among them, the single refrigerant has a difference in pressure level, but the refrigeration cycle and its characteristics are the same as those of the HCFC22. The above-described cycle configuration, indoor unit structure, operation control method, piping configuration of the indoor heat exchanger, and the like can be applied, and similar effects can be obtained.

In the case of using a mixed refrigerant, the indoor heat exchanger is generally provided with the piping configuration shown in FIGS. 11 to 17 to obtain the cooling operation when a single refrigerant is used. The following effects can be obtained.

FIG. 21 shows a modeled temperature-entropy diagram for a refrigeration cycle when a single refrigerant and a mixed refrigerant are used. In this temperature-entropy diagram, for example, when the cooling operation is performed in the piping configuration shown in FIG. 11, in the indoor heat exchanger acting as an evaporator, in the case of a single refrigerant, due to the pressure loss, the refrigerant flow The evaporation temperature decreases from the inlet to the outlet as shown from the point Ta to the point Pa in FIG.
Since 0a is the evaporator on the high temperature side and 60b is the evaporator on the low temperature side, the refrigerant flow and the air flow 15 do not become countercurrent. On the other hand, in the case of the mixed refrigerant, the composition ratio of the mixed refrigerant in the gas phase and the liquid phase generally changes during the evaporation process, and accordingly, as shown in FIG. The evaporation temperature rises from the inlet to the outlet of the heat exchanger. As a result, in the embodiment shown in FIG.
Since the evaporating temperature of 0a is lower than the evaporating temperature of the indoor heat exchanger 60b, the refrigerant flow and the air flow 15 are in a counterflow state, and a more efficient heat exchange state is achieved as compared with a single refrigerant. .

In the heating operation, on the condensing side,
As shown in FIG. 21 from point Qa to point Ra and point Sa, and from point Q to point R and point S, both the single refrigerant and the mixed refrigerant have a lower refrigerant temperature from the inlet to the outlet of the indoor heat exchanger. The temperature relationship between the refrigerant flow and the air flow in the indoor heat exchanger has the same temperature relationship between the case of a single refrigerant and the case of a mixed refrigerant.

In the above description, as shown in FIG. 1, the description has been made on the assumption that the indoor heat exchangers 6a and 6b divided into two parts are arranged in series (front and rear) with respect to the air flow 15; The same operation and effect can be obtained at the time of the dehumidifying operation even if the indoor heat exchanger divided into two is arranged in parallel (up and down) with respect to the air flow. FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a refrigeration cycle and a control system according to this embodiment. In FIG. 22, reference numerals 110a and 110b denote two-parted indoor heat exchangers, which are arranged in parallel (up and down) with respect to the airflow 15. The other parts are the same as those in FIG. 1, and the parts with the same numbers as those in FIG. 1 represent the same parts, the compressor 1 is capable of controlling the capacity, and the outdoor fan 10 and the indoor fan 12 are controlling the capacity, that is, controlling the air volume. Is possible.

Here, the case where the indoor fan 12 flows air in parallel through the indoor heat exchangers 6a and 6b is illustrated, but the indoor heat exchangers 6a and 6b are bent in a V shape. In this configuration, the indoor fan 12 can be arranged so that air flows first in the indoor heat exchanger 6b, and then air flows in the indoor heat exchanger 6a. With this configuration, air flows in and out. Easy to form passages.

In the cycle configuration of FIG. 22, similarly to the cycle configuration of FIG. 1, during the cooling operation, the two-way valve 5 is closed and the two-way valve 8 is opened to circulate the refrigerant as indicated by the solid arrow. The room is cooled using the outdoor heat exchanger 3 as a condenser and the indoor heat exchangers 6a and 6b as evaporators. During the heating operation, the four-way valve 2 is switched, the two-way valve 5 is closed, and the two-way valve 8 is closed.
, The refrigerant is circulated as indicated by the dashed arrows, and the indoor heat exchangers 6a and 6b are used as condensers, and the outdoor heat exchanger 10 is used as an evaporator to heat the room.

During the dehumidifying operation, the four-way valve 2 is switched in the same manner as in the cooling operation, and the two-way valve 5 is opened and the two-way valve 8 is closed, so that the refrigerant flows through the compressor 1 and the four-way valve as indicated by the one-dot chain line. 2, outdoor heat exchanger 3, two-way valve 5, indoor heat exchanger 11
0a, the dehumidifying expansion device 7, the indoor heat exchanger 110b, the four-way valve 2, the accumulator 9, and the compressor 1 in this order, circulating the outdoor heat exchanger 3 on the upstream side and the indoor heat exchanger 6a on the downstream side. And the indoor heat exchanger 6b is an evaporator. When the indoor air is caused to flow by the indoor fan 12 as shown by the arrow 15, a part of the air flow is
At 0b, the air is cooled and dehumidified, and the remaining airflow is heated by the indoor heat exchanger 110a, which is a heater in the condenser, and is blown into the room. In this case, the capacity of the evaporator 110b and the heater 110a can be adjusted by controlling the capacity of the compressor 1 and the blowing capacity of the indoor fan 12 and the outdoor fan 10, and finally the dehumidification amount and the blown air temperature Can be controlled according to the purpose of use.

Therefore, in the dehumidifying operation, the indoor heat exchanger 110a divided into two parts with respect to the airflow 15 as shown in FIG.
1 and 110b are arranged in parallel (up and down), and various operations similar to the case where the indoor heat exchangers 6a and 6b divided into two with respect to the air flow 15 are arranged in series (front and back) as shown in FIG. Therefore, the same operation method as that shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 can be performed, and a similar effect can be obtained. That is, FIG.
Described in the examples, comfortable dehumidifying operation, good night and awake dehumidification operation, mold and mite prevention dehumidification operation, laundry dehumidification operation, and other dehumidification operation according to various use purposes, further according to these various dehumidification operation In addition, it is possible to selectively use the low air volume dehumidification operation and the high air volume dehumidification operation, and perform the cooling, isothermal, or heating dehumidification operation according to the room temperature.

In the above-described high air volume dehumidifying operation, the input is increased because the compressor is operated at a high capacity. FIG. 23 shows an embodiment capable of solving this problem. FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a side cross section of the indoor unit when the indoor heat exchanger is divided into upper and lower parts in comparison with the embodiment of FIG.
Reference numerals a, 110b, and 12 denote the same indoor heat exchanger, lower indoor heat exchanger, and indoor fan, respectively, as those described with reference to the cycle configuration in FIG. The same reference numerals as in FIG. 5 indicate the same parts.

With the above configuration, during the dehumidifying operation, the indoor heat exchanger 6b functions as an evaporator and the indoor heat exchanger 6a functions as a heater, and the indoor fan 12 is operated to flow indoor air as indicated by arrows 36 to 37. The air flow 36 passes through the suction grill 31, is partially cooled and dehumidified by the evaporator 6 b, is partially heated by the heater 6 a, and is further blown out in the direction of arrow 37 through the indoor fan 12. . The condensed water generated in the evaporator 6b is once received by the dew tray 33 and then discharged outside the room.

Various operation methods using the indoor unit shown in FIG. 23 are the same as those of the indoor unit shown in FIG. 5 described above. Thus, the same effect as in the embodiment of FIG. 5 can be obtained.

Also in the case of FIG. 22, it is apparent that the same effect can be obtained by applying the embodiment of FIG. 7 as in the case of FIG. That is, the portion 40 surrounded by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 22 is configured as shown in FIG. 7, and the heat release amount in the outdoor heat exchanger 3 is adjusted by the heating dehumidifying operation method shown in FIG. It is possible to perform a heating-dehumidifying operation more than in the case.

Note that FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 6, and
The operation method during the dehumidifying operation shown in FIG. 8 has been described assuming the cycle configuration shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 7 or FIG. 22, but the invention is not limited to this. Provided with a throttle device, during the dehumidifying operation, the air conditioner having a cycle configuration in which the upstream side of the refrigerant flow in the indoor heat exchanger divided into two is a heater and the downstream side is a cooling / dehumidifying device, As described above, the method is commonly applied to the case where the indoor heat exchangers are arranged in front and rear to flow the air flow to these indoor heat exchangers sequentially, or the case where the air flows are arranged vertically and the air flows are flown in parallel to these heat exchangers. And the same effect can be obtained.

By the way, the case of the dehumidifying operation has been described with respect to the cycle configuration of the embodiment shown in FIG. 22, but the cycle performance and the cooling operation and the heating operation are also performed similarly to the case of the cycle configuration of FIG. Indoor heat exchangers 110a, 110
It is necessary to ensure the heat exchange performance in b and operate efficiently. Hereinafter, this method will be described. First, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 22, the indoor heat exchanger is divided into two parts 110a and 110b, and these parts are connected in series via the two-way valve 8 in the cooling operation and the heating operation. In this case, both the indoor heat exchangers 110a and 110b are evaporators having a low pressure and a large specific volume of the gas refrigerant and a large volume flow rate, so that the pressure loss in the indoor heat exchanger is increased and the cycle performance is reduced.

FIG. 24 shows an embodiment capable of solving this problem. This embodiment corresponds to the heat exchanger portion of the indoor side portion 111 surrounded by a dashed line in the embodiment shown in FIG. In FIG. 24, 100a and 100b are two-partitioned indoor heat exchangers corresponding to 110a and 110b in FIG. 22, respectively.
After splitting into two systems of refrigerant pipes 101 and 102 at the point, the pipes are joined again to one system at the point Q, and the indoor heat exchanger 100b similarly has two refrigerant pipes 103 and 104 at the point R. After that, the pipe is configured to join again into one system at point S. Those denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 22 indicate the same parts.

In the above configuration, during the cooling operation and the heating operation, the two-way valve 8 is opened to open the indoor heat exchanger 1.
In 00a and 100b, the refrigerant flows separately in two systems, so that the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing through each system is halved, the refrigerant flow pressure loss in the indoor heat exchangers 100a and 100b is reduced, and a decrease in performance can be prevented.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 24, the refrigerant pipes of the indoor heat exchangers 100a and 100b are divided into two systems. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Indoor heat exchangers 100a and 100b
, The pressure loss of the refrigerant flow can be reduced, and a decrease in performance can be prevented. However, if the refrigerant flow is too many, the pressure loss of the refrigerant flow will decrease, but the heat transfer coefficient will decrease too much and the overall performance such as cooling capacity and operating coefficient will decrease. And this value varies depending on the inner diameter of the refrigerant pipe.

Further, in the heating operation, in order to improve the performance such as the heating capacity and the operation coefficient, it is necessary to ensure that the indoor heat exchanger serving as the condenser has a sufficient subcooling at the heat exchanger portion corresponding to the refrigerant outlet. is there. FIG. 25 shows an embodiment capable of realizing this. In FIG. 25, reference numeral 100c denotes an indoor heat exchanger which is composed of two refrigerant pipes 106 and 107 connected at a point T to one refrigerant pipe 105 and located downstream of the refrigerant flow during the heating operation.
Those having the same numbers as 4 indicate the same parts. That is, in the embodiment of FIG. 25, in FIG. 24, the indoor heat exchanger 100a having two refrigerant pipes is replaced with an indoor heat exchanger 100c in which one refrigerant pipe and two refrigerant pipes are combined.

In the above configuration, during the heating operation, the refrigerant flows in the order of the indoor heat exchanger 100b, the two-way valve 8, and the indoor heat exchanger 100c. The stream exchanges heat with the air stream 15,
Two indoor heat exchangers 10 with refrigerant pipes 103 and 104
0b, the refrigerant pipe of the indoor heat exchanger 100c is 106, 1
In the two systems of 07, it condenses enough. Next, the condensed liquid refrigerant flow enters the refrigerant pipe 105 of one system of the indoor heat exchanger 100c and becomes high speed, and the heat transfer coefficient in the pipe becomes sufficiently high, so that a sufficient subcool is obtained. As a result, an efficient heat exchange state is achieved.

During the cooling operation, the refrigerant flows from the refrigerant pipe 105 of one system of the indoor heat exchanger 100c to the refrigerant pipes 106 and 107 of two systems, the two-way valve 8, 100b two-system refrigerant pipe 103,
104, in this case, one system refrigerant pipe 1
In 05, the pressure loss is not so large because the dryness of the refrigerant stream is low. Furthermore, one system refrigerant pipe 1
In the case of 05, since the flow velocity of the refrigerant flow is increased, there is also an effect that the heat transfer coefficient in the pipe is increased and the heat transfer performance is improved.

More specifically, in FIG. 24, the indoor heat exchangers 100a and 100b are replaced by two refrigerant flow paths, or in FIG.
To the two refrigerant passages and the indoor heat exchanger 100c.
Is a flow path configuration in which a single-system refrigerant flow path and a two-system refrigerant flow path are combined. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
The refrigerant flow path of a, 100b, or 100c can be a single system or a multiple system, judging from the refrigerant flow rate and the simplicity of the configuration. For example, when the flow rate of the refrigerant is relatively large, the indoor heat exchanger in which the gas flow is mixed becomes one of FIG.
00a, 100b or 100c, 100b in FIG.
In order to reduce the pressure loss, it is preferable to use a plurality of refrigerant flow paths (the indoor heat exchanger 100c in FIG. 25 may be a combination of one system and a plurality of systems). When the refrigerant flow rate is relatively small, the indoor heat exchanger having a relatively low refrigerant dryness on the upstream side during the cooling operation becomes 100a in FIG. 24 or 100c in FIG.
Even if a single refrigerant flow path is used (not shown), the pressure loss here is relatively small, and the performance is hardly degraded, and the piping configuration is simplified. If the refrigerant flow rate is even smaller, all the indoor heat exchangers (100 in FIG. 24)
Even if a, 100b or 100c, 100b in FIG. 25 is a single system refrigerant pipe (not shown), the performance is not reduced and the piping configuration is further simplified.

The type of refrigerant flowing in the refrigeration cycle of FIG. 22 is similar to that of the embodiment of FIG.
For a single refrigerant such as FC22 or various mixed refrigerants, the cycle configuration, the indoor unit structure, the operation control method, the piping configuration of the indoor heat exchanger, and the like described above can be applied, and the same effect is obtained. It is clear that this will be done.

As a method of controlling the capacity of the compressor, the indoor fan, and the outdoor fan in the cycle configurations shown in FIGS. 1 and 22 and the like, a method of controlling the number of revolutions using a typical inverter or DC motor will be described. However, various other methods are conceivable. For example, various methods such as a method of mechanically controlling the capacity of a compressor, a method of switching taps of an AC motor, a method of narrowing a ventilation path, and a method of increasing ventilation resistance can be used for a blower. In addition, the high air volume of the indoor fan in the dehumidifying operation used so far is generally equal to or less than the air volume in the cooling operation or the heating operation.

Also, FIGS. 1, 9, 11, 12, and FIG.
3, FIG. 14, FIG. 15, FIG. 16, FIG. 17, FIG. 22, FIG.
4. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 25, as described above, as the main expansion device 4 or the dehumidification expansion device 7,
Not only a fixed throttle device such as a capillary tube, but also a variable throttle device such as an expansion valve or an electric expansion valve can be used. In this case, finer control can be performed. In particular, when an electric expansion valve that can be fully opened with a small flow resistance is used, the two-way valve 5 or the two-way valve 8 becomes unnecessary. For example, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. The parts 45 and 46 of the expansion device 4 and the two-way valve 5 and the expansion device 7 and the two-way valve 8 provided in parallel can be replaced with only the fully openable electric expansion valve 95 as shown in FIG.

Although the refrigeration cycle in which three operation states of cooling, heating, and dehumidification are possible has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and other refrigeration cycles have been described. The operation method and the configuration of the indoor heat exchanger can be applied. For example, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 22, the four-way valve 2 is removed, and the compressor 1 and the accumulator 9 are connected in series with the indoor heat exchanger 6b or 110b, the accumulator 9, the compressor 1, and the outdoor heat exchanger 3. (Not shown)
A refrigeration cycle capable of performing the cooling operation of the refrigerant flow indicated by the solid arrow and the dehumidifying operation of the refrigerant flow indicated by the dashed line. In the dehumidifying operation of such a refrigeration cycle, FIGS.
A similar effect can be obtained by performing the operation method shown in FIG. 4, the operation method shown in FIG. 6 in the indoor unit structure shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 23, or the operation method shown in FIG. 8 in the embodiment shown in FIG. it can.

Further, in the configuration of the refrigeration cycle shown in FIGS. 1 and 22, an accumulator is not necessarily required, and a refrigeration cycle configuration without an accumulator may be adopted depending on the type of compressor used, the type of main expansion device, and the control method. be able to.

Next, an embodiment of a more specific operation method focusing on the dehumidifying operation according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 26, 27, 28 and 29.

FIG. 26 shows a cycle system diagram and temperature sensors (representatives are thermistors) and humidity detecting means (representatives are representatives of humidity sensors) of respective parts. FIG. During the dehumidifying operation, the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 201 passes through a four-way valve 202, an outdoor heat exchanger 203, a bypass two-way valve (a typical one is an electromagnetic valve) 206, and enters an indoor heat exchanger 208 serving as a heater. Then, the pressure is further reduced by the dehumidifying expansion device 219, and the air returns to the compressor 201 through the indoor heat exchanger 209 serving as an evaporator. The outdoor unit has an outside air temperature sensor 215 for detecting the outside air temperature, the indoor unit has a humidity sensor 216 for detecting humidity, an indoor suction temperature sensor 217 for detecting the intake air temperature, and an indoor room for detecting the outlet air temperature. An outlet temperature sensor 218 is provided. These temperature sensor and humidity sensor are connected to a control unit (not shown).

An embodiment of the control method according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 27 and 28. FIG. 27 shows the outside air temperature sensor 215.
3 shows a method of controlling the outdoor fan 211 with respect to the temperature detected in the step (a). When the outdoor temperature decreases, the outdoor heat exchanger 20
3, the amount of heat dissipated becomes large, the amount of heating during the dehumidifying operation is reduced, and the temperature of the indoor blown air is lowered. Therefore, when the outdoor temperature is lowered, the rotation speed of the outdoor fan 211 is reduced and the indoor blown air is reduced. Prevents the temperature from dropping. Further, in the outdoor unit having the electric unit on the outdoor unit side and operating the outdoor fan 211 to prevent the temperature of the electric unit on the outdoor unit from rising, if the outdoor temperature rises, the outdoor unit side Since the temperature rise of electrical components also increases, as the outdoor temperature rises,
The number of rotations of the outdoor fan 211 is increased to reduce the temperature rise of the electric component.

The control method for controlling the outdoor temperature and the rotation speed of the outdoor fan 211 is stored in the control unit as a pattern or as an arithmetic expression. The outdoor fan 211 is controlled using the set pattern or arithmetic expression.
At this time, the same effect is obtained not only by changing the rotation speed of the outdoor fan 211 according to the outdoor temperature, but also by performing the ON-OFF intermittent operation and changing the ON-OFF time ratio in accordance with the outdoor temperature. can get.

According to this control method, even when the outdoor temperature decreases, the indoor air temperature does not decrease and not only the comfort is improved, but also when the outdoor temperature increases.
By increasing the rotation speed of the outdoor fan 211, it is possible to suppress a rise in the temperature of the electric components provided on the outdoor unit side, and to ensure the reliability of the electric components.

FIG. 28 shows a method of controlling the compressor 1 with respect to the humidity detected by the humidity sensor 216. If the indoor humidity is high, increase the rotation speed of the compressor 201 to increase the refrigerant circulation amount in the refrigeration cycle and perform a large amount of dehumidification operation,
Decrease indoor humidity quickly. When the indoor humidity is low, the compressor 201 is operated at a reduced rotation speed to achieve an efficient operation. The control unit stores the indoor humidity and the control method of the compressor 201 as a pattern or an arithmetic expression, and calculates the indoor humidity detected by the humidity sensor 216 with respect to the indoor humidity.
The rotation speed of the compressor 201 is controlled.

As described above, a comfortable and efficient dehumidifying operation is performed by controlling the operation patterns of the rotational speed of the outdoor fan 211 and the compressor 201 based on the detected outdoor temperature and indoor humidity.

According to this control method, when the indoor humidity is high, for example, at the start of the operation, the rotation speed of the compressor 201 is maximized, the dehumidifying operation with a large dehumidifying capacity is performed, and the room humidity is quickly adjusted to the desired humidity. Down to Further, when the indoor humidity decreases to an arbitrary humidity, the number of rotations of the compressor 201 is reduced, and the operation is performed with a relatively small amount of dehumidification and high efficiency. With these control methods, more comfortable and efficient dehumidification operation can be performed.

Another control method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

One method is to control the rotation speed of the outdoor fan 211 and the compressor 201 based on the difference between the temperatures detected by the indoor blowout temperature sensor 218 and the indoor suction temperature sensor 217. When the temperature decreases, the number of revolutions of the outdoor fan 211 is reduced to reduce the amount of heat radiated on the outdoor unit side, thereby increasing the temperature of the indoor blown air. Further, by changing (increasing or decreasing) the rotation speed of the compressor 201, the temperature of the indoor air blown out can be changed. Regarding the increase or decrease of the rotation speed of the compressor 201, the indoor heat exchanger 209, the heating heat exchanger 208, and the outdoor heat exchanger
It depends on the size ratio of 3. (Compressor 20
(The method of controlling the number of revolutions of 1 becomes like a solid line or a dashed line.)
Further, in the case where the temperature difference between the indoor blown air temperature and the indoor suction air temperature is determined based on the difference between the room temperature and an arbitrarily set temperature (desired temperature of the occupant), for example, the room temperature is arbitrarily set. If the temperature is higher than the set temperature, the control is performed such that indoor air temperature minus indoor air temperature ≦ 0, the outdoor fan 211 is set at a relatively high rotation speed, and the compressor 201 is operated under appropriate control. If the indoor temperature is lower than the arbitrarily set temperature, the indoor air temperature minus the indoor air temperature>
0, the outdoor fan 211 is operated at a low rotation speed, and the compressor 201 is operated under appropriate control.

In these cases, not only the outdoor fan 211 is continuously operated, but also the ON-OFF intermittent operation is performed, and the ON-OFF time ratio is determined from the difference between the indoor blown air temperature and the indoor suction air temperature. This is more effective. The difference between the indoor blow-out air temperature and the indoor suction air temperature and the operation pattern of the outdoor fan 211 and the compressor 201 are previously patterned or calculated and stored in the control unit.

With these control methods, the comfort during the dehumidifying operation can be further improved.

FIG. 32 shows an embodiment of an operation pattern for patterning the outdoor fan 211 and the compressor 201 stored in the control unit in the case of controlling based on the temperature difference between the indoor temperature and the set temperature. Show. In addition, not only the dehumidifying operation mode but also the cooling operation mode and the heating operation mode are described in each block in FIG. 32, and the respective operation modes of the cooling operation, the dehumidifying operation, and the heating operation are also appropriate according to the outdoor temperature and the indoor temperature range. Therefore, comfortable driving can be performed over a wider range of the outdoor temperature and the indoor temperature.

In FIG. 32, the horizontal axis indicates the outdoor temperature, and the vertical axis indicates the indoor temperature (indoor air temperature can be used).
The outdoor temperature range is divided into four parts, and the indoor temperature range is divided into five parts. Certain operating conditions include cooling and
Dehumidification / heating operation mode, outdoor fan operation pattern,
It is an operation pattern of the compressor. Of these, outdoor fan 2
The operation pattern of No. 11 includes continuous operation at a certain rotation speed in the stepwise rotation speed shown in FIGS.
There are various operation patterns such as an intermittent operation in which the N-OFF time ratio is appropriately changed, and a combination of the continuous operation and the intermittent operation. Regarding the operation pattern of the compressor 201, the continuous operation at the rotational speed at the stepwise rotational speed shown in FIG. 28 and FIG. 29, the intermittent operation with the ON-OFF time ratio appropriately changed, and the continuous operation There are various operation patterns, such as a combination of intermittent operation. In particular, even when the rotational speed of an outdoor fan or a compressor can be changed only by a few types, these continuous operation and O
By changing the N-OFF time ratio in various ways, many operation patterns can be set.

The operation patterns of these outdoor fans or compressors and the operation modes of cooling, dehumidification, and heating are set for each block in FIG. 32 in accordance with the outdoor temperature and indoor temperature corresponding to this block. As a result, in the actual operation, when the outside air temperature and the indoor temperature are detected by the temperature sensor, the operation modes (cooling, dehumidification, and heating) corresponding to the blocks in FIG. The operation is performed in accordance with the operation pattern of the fan and the operation pattern of the compressor. As a result, comfortable driving can be performed.

It is not always necessary to divide the outdoor temperature and the indoor temperature as shown in FIG. 32, and it is possible to appropriately divide the outdoor temperature and the indoor temperature as needed.

Also, the temperature difference between the room temperature and the set temperature or the temperature difference between the room blow-out air temperature and the room suction air temperature,
When the relationship between the outdoor fan 211 and the operation pattern of the compressor 201 is formed into an arithmetic expression and stored in the control unit,
Finer control becomes possible, and this control method
This is particularly effective when the capacity of the outdoor fan and the compressor can be continuously controlled.

The set value of the room temperature or the room humidity can be determined based on the above-mentioned thermal environment evaluation method such as PMV. In this case, more comfortable driving is automatically performed. Can do it. By performing such a dehumidifying operation, a dehumidifying operation with a good sensible temperature can be performed.

In the above, the description has been made on the assumption that a humidity sensor is used as the humidity detecting means. However, since the humidity sensor is relatively expensive, it is necessary to simply estimate the humidity using an inexpensive temperature sensor such as a thermistor. Is also performed. In particular, there is a correlation between the indoor temperature, the evaporating temperature of the heat exchanger, and the indoor humidity, and it is possible to obtain this relationship experimentally in advance and determine the humidity from the indoor temperature and the evaporating temperature (although the accuracy is reduced). it can. This relationship can be effectively used when the operation is stopped when the humidity falls to the target value. From the experience so far, for example, between the room temperature T ₁ and the evaporation temperature T ₂ when the room humidity is about 50%, A,
Assuming that B is a constant, there is the following relationship.

T ₂ = A × T ₁ -B Therefore, the room temperature and the evaporating temperature are detected by the temperature sensor, and when the evaporating temperature reaches the temperature T ₂ at the room humidity of 50% corresponding to the room temperature T ₁ , Humidity control such as stopping operation can be performed. In this case, the appropriate humidity is said to be around 50% and is not as sensitive as the temperature, so that such humidity control is sufficiently practical. Moreover, it can be realized at lower cost than when a humidity sensor is used.

Although all the embodiments described so far have been described assuming an air conditioner used in a general building, the present invention is not limited to this, and other applications requiring a dehumidifying operation are required. It is also applicable to the device of the above. In such a case, in general, the indoor heat exchanger can be called a use side heat exchanger, the outdoor heat exchanger can be called a heat source side heat exchanger, the indoor fan can be called a use side fan, and the outdoor fan can be called a heat source side fan.

The following is a summary description of each of the embodiments described above.

An object of the above embodiment is to provide an air conditioner capable of performing a dehumidifying operation for various uses.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner that can perform a dehumidifying operation and maintain sufficiently high performance in a cooling operation and a heating operation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner in which the indoor air temperature and the dehumidification amount maintain a predetermined temperature and dehumidification amount even when the outdoor temperature changes, and the indoor humidity can be quickly set to the set humidity. It is in.

Another object is to provide an air conditioner in which the temperature of electric components on the outdoor unit side does not become excessively high and can maintain a sufficient life.

In order to achieve the first object, the air conditioner of the above embodiment is an air conditioner having at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger. The exchanger has a cooling / dehumidifying part and a heating part, and controls the capacity of the compressor, the air flow rate of the fan of the indoor heat exchanger, and the air flow rate of the fan of the outdoor heat exchanger during the dehumidifying operation, thereby controlling the heating part. And the amount of heat radiated from the outdoor heat exchanger.

In an air conditioner provided with at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger, the indoor heat exchanger is thermally divided into a cooling / dehumidifying part, a heating part, It has a second expansion device provided between the cooling / dehumidifying portion and the heating portion, and has a control circuit for inputting a temperature detected by an indoor temperature sensor. , The air flow rate of the fan of the indoor heat exchanger, and the air flow rate of the fan of the outdoor heat exchanger to control the dehumidifying operation of cooling, isothermal, and heating.

In an air conditioner provided with at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttling device and an outdoor heat exchanger, a comfortable dehumidifying operation, a good night / wake-up dehumidifying operation, a mold / mite prevention dehumidifying operation, It is provided with each operation mode such as laundry dehumidification operation, and reduces the air volume of the fan of the indoor heat exchanger at the time of good night and awake dehumidification operation, and increases the air volume of the fan of the indoor heat exchanger at the time of landry operation. The operation is performed.

In an air conditioner provided with at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger, the indoor heat exchanger is connected to the indoor humidity detecting means and the humidity detected by the indoor humidity detecting means. And a control circuit for inputting a, a mite and mold prevention dehumidification operation mode during the dehumidification operation, and when the operation mode is set,
The humidity detected by the humidity detecting means is 40% to 6%.
The control circuit controls the capacity of the compressor, the air flow rate of the fan of the indoor heat exchanger, and the air flow rate of the fan of the outdoor heat exchanger by the control circuit so as to fall within the range of 0%.

The control circuit controls the capacity of the compressor, the air flow rate of the fan of the indoor heat exchanger, and the air flow rate of the fan of the outdoor heat exchanger so that the humidity detected by the humidity detecting means becomes about 50%. Is performed.

In an air conditioner provided with at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger, the indoor heat exchanger has a cooling / dehumidifying portion, a heating portion, and an indoor temperature sensor. Having a control circuit for inputting the detected room temperature, when the difference between the detected room temperature and the set temperature is determined to be negative, the control circuit reduces the heat radiation amount of the outdoor heat exchanger, The operation is controlled so as to increase the heating capacity of the heating portion.

In an air conditioner having at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger, an air passage through which an indoor unit having the indoor heat exchanger flows indoor air is provided. And an opening / closing port such as a damper for opening / closing the ventilation path, wherein the airflow passing through the indoor unit is passed through the indoor heat exchanger and the airflow does not pass through the indoor heat exchanger. When the indoor fan is set to a low air volume during the dehumidifying operation, the compressor is controlled from a low capacity to a high capacity and the outdoor fan is controlled from a high air volume to a low air volume during the dehumidifying operation. Thereby, when the indoor fan has a high air volume, the airflow passing through the indoor heat exchanger and the airflow passing through the ventilation passage without passing through the indoor heat exchanger by opening the opening provided in the ventilation passage are opened. High air volume for both In addition, by controlling the capacity from low capacity to high capacity with the compression function reduced, and controlling the outdoor fan from high air volume to low air volume, low air volume dehumidification over a wide temperature range of cooling, isothermal, and heating. Operation or high air volume dehumidification operation is performed.

In an air conditioner having at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger, a ventilation passage through which an indoor unit having the indoor heat exchanger flows indoor air is provided. Provided with an opening and closing port for opening and closing the ventilation path, wherein when the difference between the room temperature detected by the indoor temperature sensor and the set temperature is substantially zero, the opening and closing port is opened and the indoor temperature sensor is opened. When the difference between the room temperature and the set temperature detected by the above is negative, the opening / closing port is controlled to be closed.

Further, in an air conditioner having at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger, the indoor heat exchanger has a cooling / dehumidifying portion and a heating portion,
And the outdoor heat exchanger is provided with a bypass pipe having a two-way valve, and when it is determined that the room temperature detected by the indoor temperature sensor is lower than the set temperature, the two-way valve is operated during the dehumidifying operation. It is controlled to open.

In an air conditioner provided with at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger, the indoor heat exchanger includes a thermally divided cooling / dehumidifying portion and a heating portion. And a control circuit for inputting the temperature detected by the indoor temperature sensor,
When it is determined that the difference between the temperature detected by the indoor temperature sensor and the set temperature is positive, the control circuit controls the airflow of the fan of the outdoor heat exchanger to be increased, and controls the indoor heat exchanger. The number of rotations of the compressor is controlled in accordance with the air volume of the fan.

In an air conditioner provided with at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger, the indoor heat exchanger includes a thermally divided cooling / dehumidifying portion and a heating portion. And a control circuit for inputting the temperature detected by the indoor temperature sensor,
When it is determined that the difference between the temperature detected by the indoor temperature sensor and the set temperature is almost zero, the control circuit controls the air flow of the fan of the outdoor heat exchanger to a medium range, and performs indoor heat exchange. The number of rotations of the compressor is controlled according to the air volume of the fan of the compressor.

In an air conditioner provided with at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger, the indoor heat exchanger includes a thermally divided cooling / dehumidifying portion and a heating portion. And a control circuit for inputting the temperature detected by the indoor temperature sensor,
When it is determined that the difference between the temperature detected by the indoor temperature sensor and the set temperature is negative, the control circuit controls the air flow of the fan of the outdoor heat exchanger to be reduced, and also controls the indoor heat exchanger. The number of rotations of the compressor is controlled in accordance with the air volume of the fan.

In an air conditioner having at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger, the indoor heat exchanger includes a thermally divided cooling / dehumidifying portion and a heating portion. And a control circuit for inputting the temperature detected by the indoor temperature sensor,
When the difference between the temperature detected by the indoor temperature sensor and the set temperature is determined to be negative, the capacity of the heater is controlled so as to be the set temperature, and according to the air volume of the fan of the indoor heat exchanger. It controls the number of revolutions of the compressor.

When the air volume of the fan of the indoor heat exchanger is set to a low air volume, control is performed so as to reduce the capacity of the compressor. Further, when the air volume of the fan of the indoor heat exchanger is set to a high air volume, control is performed so as to increase the capacity of the compressor.

In an air conditioner having at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger, a detecting means for detecting an outdoor temperature, and an outdoor fan motor in accordance with a signal from the detecting means. Means for controlling the number of revolutions of the compressor, and means for controlling the number of revolutions of the compressor in accordance with a signal from the means for detecting the room temperature to control room temperature and dehumidifying capacity.

An air conditioner in which the indoor heat exchanger has a dehumidifying function comprising a cooler and a heater is provided with means for controlling the number of revolutions of the outdoor fan motor and means for controlling the number of revolutions of the compressor. The room temperature and the dehumidifying capacity are controlled by controlling the number of revolutions of the outdoor fan motor and the number of revolutions of the compressor.

In an air conditioner in which the indoor heat exchanger has a dehumidifying function comprising a cooler and a heater, the dehumidifying capacity of the indoor heat exchanger is maintained independently of the indoor temperature control while the sensible temperature is maintained substantially constant. It has means for controlling.

An air conditioner provided with at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger is provided with each of the following operating modes as a dehumidifying operation: a good night operation, a mold and mite prevention operation. The room temperature and the dehumidifying capacity are controlled by controlling the air flow rate of the fan of the outdoor heat exchanger and the rotation speed of the compressor in a stepwise manner.

Further, in an air conditioner provided with at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger, a detecting means for detecting the outdoor temperature, and the compressor of the compressor in response to a signal from the detecting means. A means for controlling the number of rotations and a means for controlling the number of rotations of the compressor in accordance with a signal from the means for detecting the room temperature are provided. The dehumidifying ability is controlled so as to be in the range of 60%.

In any one of the above-mentioned comfortable dehumidifying operation, mold / mite prevention dehumidifying operation, good night / waking dehumidifying operation, and laundry dehumidifying operation, temperature and humidity suitable for the operation mode are stored in advance. , Temperature and humidity sensors to detect temperature and humidity,
The dehumidifying operation is performed by the control device so that the detected temperature and humidity match the stored temperature and humidity.

The cooling / dehumidifying portion of the indoor heat exchanger is provided on the windward side of the heated portion.

The heating part of the indoor heat exchanger is cooled and cooled.
It is provided above the dehumidifying part.

The comfortable dehumidifying operation is controlled based on a thermal environment evaluation method of the PMV.
The dehumidifying operation is performed so that V becomes substantially zero.

The compressor or the blower controls the number of rotations.

Further, the main expansion device or the dehumidification expansion device is a fully open electric expansion valve.

Further, the refrigerant sealed in the air conditioner is a mixed refrigerant.

Further, the temperature detecting means is converted based on the temperatures detected by the two temperature sensors.
Further, the temperature of air blown from the indoor heat exchanger is controlled to be higher than the set temperature by 3 degrees or less.

Further, a cooler and a heater of the indoor heat exchanger are vertically arranged.

In order to achieve the second object, an air conditioner of the present invention comprises an air conditioner having at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger.
The indoor heat exchanger has a cooling / dehumidifying portion and a heating portion that are thermally divided, and a dehumidifying expansion device used during the dehumidifying operation is provided between the cooling / dehumidifying portion and the heating portion, and the cooling / dehumidifying device is provided. The refrigerant flow paths of the dehumidifying part and the heating part are each constituted by two or more systems.

Further, a resistance tube is provided in one of the refrigerant flow paths so that the flow resistance of each of the two or more refrigerant flow paths is equalized.

In the indoor heat exchanger, the refrigerant flow path of the heat exchanger on the upstream side during the cooling operation is integrated.

In the indoor heat exchanger, the refrigerant outlet portion during the heating operation is a single-system refrigerant flow path.

Further, a heat transfer tube is closely attached to the hole formed in the radiating fin of the indoor heat exchanger, and the radiating fin is cut into two by cutting lines. Further, the heat transfer tube is closely attached to the hole formed in the heat radiation fin by the indoor heat exchanger, and the heat radiation fin is provided with a slit to thermally divide the heat radiation tube into two.

In an air conditioner having at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger, the indoor heat exchanger is thermally divided into two parts, and a dehumidifying operation is performed between the two parts. A dehumidifying throttle device used at times is provided, and a refrigerant outlet portion during the heating operation of the indoor heat exchanger is provided at the most upstream side in the air flow.

In an air conditioner having at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger, the indoor heat exchanger is thermally divided into two parts, and dehumidification is performed between the two parts. While providing a dehumidifying throttle device used during operation, the refrigerant outlet portion during the heating operation of the indoor heat exchanger,
The configuration is such that no other portion of the indoor heat exchanger is disposed below the refrigerant outlet portion.

In an air conditioner having at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger, the indoor heat exchanger is thermally divided into two parts, and the dehumidifying operation is performed between the two parts. In addition to providing a dehumidifying squeezing device that is sometimes used,
The refrigerant inlet port during the heating operation of the indoor heat exchanger is configured such that no other part of the indoor heat exchanger is arranged on the leeward side of the inlet port.

In an air conditioner having at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger, the indoor heat exchanger is divided into two parts, which are used during dehumidification operation. A dehumidifying expansion device is provided, and the refrigerant inlet port during the heating operation of the indoor heat exchanger is configured such that no other part of the indoor heat exchanger is arranged below the inlet port.

In an air conditioner having at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger, the indoor heat exchanger is thermally divided into two parts, and between the two parts, dehumidification is performed. A dehumidifying expansion device to be used during operation is provided, and the indoor heat exchanger is built in such a way that the heat transfer tube is closely attached to the hole formed in the radiating fin, and a cutting line is inserted into the radiating fin to divide it into two. It is.

In an air conditioner having at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger, the indoor heat exchanger is thermally divided into two parts, and the dehumidifying operation is performed between the two parts. In addition to providing a dehumidifying expansion device that is sometimes used, the indoor heat exchanger was built in such a way that the heat transfer tube was brought into close contact with the hole formed in the radiating fin, and a slit was formed in the radiating fin to thermally split it into two. Things.

In order to achieve the third or fourth object, the air conditioner of the present invention provides a dehumidifier in an air conditioner having at least a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttle device, and an outdoor heat exchanger. During operation, the indoor heat exchanger has a cooling / dehumidifying portion and a heating portion that are thermally divided, and the indoor unit includes a humidity detecting unit that detects indoor humidity and a temperature sensor that detects outdoor temperature, The control pattern of the outdoor temperature and the outdoor fan motor, the control pattern of the indoor blow-out air temperature and the control of the outdoor fan motor, and the difference between the indoor humidity and the set humidity, and the control pattern of the compressor rotation speed are previously entered in the main microcomputer. This is a control for performing an optimum operation corresponding to the indoor humidity and the outdoor temperature.

In the above configuration, in the dehumidifying operation for various uses described above, for example, in the case of a good night / wake-up dehumidifying operation, a low air volume dehumidifying operation which has no airflow feeling, has low noise, and has a large dehumidifying amount is required. In the laundry dehumidifying operation, a high air volume dehumidifying operation having a high airflow reaching a wide range and a high drying capacity is particularly required. In the comfortable dehumidification operation and the mold / mite dehumidification operation, it is necessary to appropriately use the low air volume dehumidification operation and the high air volume dehumidification operation. In addition, it is necessary to perform a cooling, isothermal, or heating operation depending on the room temperature in addition to the low air volume dehumidification operation and the high air volume dehumidification operation.

The low air volume dehumidifying operation can be realized by reducing the air volume of the indoor fan. Further, by controlling the compressor from low capacity to high capacity, or by controlling the outdoor fan from high air volume to low air volume, the air conditioner is slightly cooled. Therefore, the low air volume dehumidifying operation can be performed over a wide temperature range from the temperature of the air to the temperature of the air, and from the temperature of the air to the air from the air to the air.

In order to perform the high air volume dehumidifying operation, the air volume of the indoor fan is increased and the operation of the compressor is made equal to or more than that of the low air volume dehumidifying operation. On the other hand, when the indoor unit is provided with the opening / closing opening to provide a ventilation path that does not pass through the indoor heat exchanger, the compressor is set to a low capacity state as in the case of the low air volume dehumidifying operation, and the opening / closing opening is further set By opening and adding an airflow that does not pass through the airflow passing through the indoor heat exchanger to increase the airflow, the high airflow dehumidification operation can be performed in a more energy-saving state. Furthermore, in these high air volume dehumidifying operations, by controlling the compression function to a high capacity, or by controlling the outdoor fan from a high air volume to a low air volume, the air conditioner changes from a cooling mode to an isothermal mode, and further from an isothermal mode to a heating mode. High air volume dehumidification operation can be performed over the temperature range.

[0177] Further, by using a plurality of refrigerant passages for each of the indoor heat exchangers divided into two, the refrigerant flow rate in each passage is reduced in each operation of dehumidification, cooling, and heating, and the two divided use side heat exchangers are used. It is possible to prevent an increase in pressure loss due to connecting the heat exchangers in series, thereby preventing a decrease in performance. This effect is particularly large in a cooling operation in which both indoor heat exchangers are evaporators. In addition, by making the outlet flow path part in the heating operation in the indoor heat exchanger one system, during the heating operation,
Appropriate subcooling of the refrigerant can be obtained to ensure the performance. Further, in the indoor heat exchanger, the heat transfer performance is maintained by ensuring that the refrigerant flow and the air flow are as opposed to each other as possible.

The control unit uses the outside air temperature detected by the temperature sensor, and operates the outdoor fan at the outdoor temperature corresponding to the outdoor temperature according to a data table or an arithmetic expression in which the operation pattern and the rotation speed of the outdoor fan motor are stored in advance. I do. Further, using the indoor humidity detected by the humidity detecting means, a rotational speed of the compressor corresponding to the humidity is determined by a data table stored in advance or an arithmetic expression based on a difference from the set humidity.

The operating pattern and the number of revolutions are determined by a data table storing operation patterns of the number of revolutions of the outdoor fan motor and the compressor in advance, or by using an arithmetic expression, using the indoor air temperature detected by the temperature sensor.

According to the air conditioner of the embodiment described above, the utilization-side heat exchanger such as an indoor heat exchanger is divided into two parts, and a dehumidifying expansion device used for the dehumidification operation is provided between them. In a refrigeration cycle that cools, dehumidifies and heats air using one of the use side heat exchangers as an evaporator and the other as a condenser, a use side fan such as an indoor fan, a heat source side fan such as an outdoor fan, and a compressor. By controlling the capabilities of these devices as appropriate, the low air flow dehumidification operation and the high air flow dehumidification operation can be performed in a state where sufficient dehumidification can be obtained. On the other hand, it is possible to perform a heating, isothermal, and cooling operation.

As a result, the operating range of the dehumidifying operation is greatly expanded, and the operation modes for various use purposes, for example, a comfortable dehumidifying operation, a good night / awake dehumidifying operation, a mold / mite prevention dehumidifying operation, and a laundry dehumidifying operation. It is possible to provide an air conditioner that can be used for driving and the like, can satisfy needs for comfort and health that have been increasing recently, and can be used for purposes other than air conditioning.

Also, in the summertime when it is not so hot, instead of the cooling operation, the humidity can be reduced without lowering the room temperature and the dehumidification operation having the same perceived temperature can be performed, or the high air volume dehumidification operation can be performed with a low input. Therefore, energy can be saved.

Further, the refrigerant flow path of each of the two use-side heat exchangers is divided into two or more systems to prevent an increase in the refrigerant flow resistance in the use-side heat exchanger, and to prevent the increase of the refrigerant flow resistance in the use-side heat exchanger. The outlet section during heating operation in (1) is made into a single system so that sufficient refrigerant subcooling can be obtained during heating operation, and furthermore, the refrigerant flow and the air flow in the use side heat exchanger are made as opposed to each other as possible. Thereby, a decrease in performance can be prevented.

Also, the refrigerant flow path of each of the two divided use side heat exchangers is changed from one system to a plurality of systems according to the flow rate of the refrigerant to prevent an increase in the refrigerant flow resistance in the use side heat exchanger, The outlet section of the heat exchanger during heating operation is made a single system so that sufficient refrigerant subcooling can be obtained during heating operation, and furthermore, the refrigerant flow and the air flow in the use side heat exchanger are made as opposed to each other as possible. For this reason, a decrease in performance can be prevented.

Further, by providing the blow-out temperature sensor and the humidity detecting means on the indoor unit side and the outside air temperature sensor on the outdoor unit side, it is possible to perform a comfortable dehumidifying operation suitable for the conditions of the dehumidifying operation. For example, as the outdoor temperature decreases, the number of rotations of the outdoor fan is controlled to increase the amount of air heating in the room, or when the humidity is high, the number of rotations of the indoor fan or the compressor is increased. The room can be quickly brought to a predetermined humidity by performing an operation with a large amount of dehumidification, or when the room temperature is low, a dehumidification operation in which the temperature of the air blown from the indoor unit is higher than the temperature of the suction air can be performed.

Further, the above-described dehumidifying operation method and the piping configuration of the use side heat exchanger can be applied to a single refrigerant or a mixed refrigerant, and the same effects can be obtained.

[0187]

As described above, according to the air conditioner of the present invention, the use-side heat exchanger such as the indoor heat exchanger is divided into two parts, and the dehumidification expansion device used during the dehumidification operation is provided between the two parts. During the dehumidification operation, in a refrigeration cycle in which one of the use-side heat exchangers is used as an evaporator and the other is used as a condenser to cool, dehumidify and heat air, the indoor humidity is 40% to 60%
% By controlling the compression capacity of the compressor so as to be in the range of%, for example, a dehumidification operation capable of obtaining a sufficient amount of dehumidification to reach a room humidity that can prevent the growth of mold and mites. It can be carried out.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation method of a dehumidification operation for various use purposes.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a method of operating a compressor and a fan in a low air volume dehumidifying operation.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation method of a compressor and a fan in a high air volume dehumidification operation.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing an indoor unit structure of the air conditioner.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a method of operating a compressor and a fan in a high air volume dehumidifying operation.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a heat source side portion of an air conditioner according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation method of a heat source side portion corresponding to a heating-friendly dehumidifying operation.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a piping system of a use side heat exchanger.

FIG. 10 is a front view of a use side heat exchanger.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a piping system of a use side heat exchanger.

FIG. 12 is a side view showing a piping configuration of a use side heat exchanger.

FIG. 13 is a side view showing a piping configuration of a use side heat exchanger.

FIG. 14 is a side view showing a piping configuration of a use side heat exchanger.

FIG. 15 is a side view showing a piping configuration of a use side heat exchanger.

FIG. 16 is a side view showing a piping configuration of a use side heat exchanger.

FIG. 17 is a side view showing a piping configuration of a use side heat exchanger.

FIG. 18 is a side view of a radiation fin of the use side heat exchanger.

FIG. 19 is a side view of a radiation fin of the use side heat exchanger.

FIG. 20 is a configuration diagram of a diaphragm device portion.

FIG. 21 is a temperature entropy diagram of a refrigeration cycle.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a configuration of an air conditioner according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a side sectional view showing another indoor unit structure of the air conditioner.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a piping system of a use-side heat exchanger.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a piping system of a use side heat exchanger.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a configuration of an air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing a method of controlling an outdoor fan.

FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating a control method of the compressor.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a control method of the outdoor fan-compressor.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing a configuration of an air conditioner according to the related art.

FIG. 31 is a diagram illustrating a control method according to the related art.

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing one embodiment of an operation pattern according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 201: compressor, 2, 202: four-way valve, 3, 203
... outdoor heat exchanger, 4 ... main throttle device, 5, 8, 41 ... two-way valve, 6a, 6b, 51a, 51b, 60a, 60b, 6
0c, 60d, 68, 68 ', 69, 69', 70, 7
0a, 70b, 80, 80a, 80b, 88, 88a,
88b98, 98a, 98b, 100a, 100b, 1
00c, 110a, 110b, 208, 209 indoor heat exchanger, 7, 210 dehumidifying expansion device, 10, 211 outdoor fan, 11, 212 outdoor fan motor, 12, 2
13 ... indoor fan, 13, 214 ... indoor fan motor,
16: control unit, 17, 216: temperature sensor, 18, 21
6 ... humidity detecting means, 34 ... opening / closing damper, 35 ... ventilation path,
52, 53, 54, 55, 61, 62, 63, 64, 6
5, 66, 67, 101, 102, 103, 104, 1
05, 106, 10 ... refrigerant piping, 56, 71, 81, 9
1, 91a, 91b, 93, 93a, 93b ... radiation fins, 72, 82, 89, 96, 97 ... cutting lines, 73a,
73b, 73c, 73d, 73e, 73f, 74a, 7
4b, 74c, 74d, 74e, 74f, 75a, 75
b, 75c, 75d, 75e, 75f, 75g, 83
a, 83b, 83c, 87a, 87b, 87c, 87
d, 87e, 87f, 87g, 87h ... heat transfer tube, 86 ...
Resistance tube, 92, 94 ... slit, 95 ... electric expansion valve, 2
04 ... throttle device for heating, 205 ... throttle device for cooling and heating, 2
06: solenoid valve for bypass, 207: check valve, 210: throttle device for dehumidification, 215: outside air temperature sensor, 217 ... indoor suction temperature sensor, 218 ... indoor discharge temperature sensor.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Motoo Morimoto, Inventor 800, Tomita, Odaimachi, Ohira-cho, Shimotsuga-gun, Tochigi Prefecture Living Equipment Division, Hitachi, Ltd. Hitachi Machinery Research Laboratories (72) Inventor Kazuya Matsuo 502 Tsuchiura-cho, Tsuchiura-shi, Ibaraki Pref.Hitachi Machinery Research Laboratories Co., Ltd. Inside the Living Equipment Division of the Works (72) Inventor Tetsunobu Okamura 800, Tomita, Ohira-cho, Shimotsuga-gun, Tochigi Prefecture Inside the Living Equipment Division of Hitachi, Ltd. Living Equipment Division, Hitachi, Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, a first indoor heat exchanger, a second indoor heat exchanger, and a connection between the first indoor heat exchanger and the second indoor heat exchanger. And an air conditioner including a dehumidifying expansion device that functions as an expansion device during a dehumidifying operation, the air conditioner having a function of controlling the compression capacity of the compressor so that the indoor humidity is in a range of 40% to 60%. Air conditioner. 2. A compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, a first indoor heat exchanger, a first indoor heat exchanger, and a connection between the first indoor heat exchanger and the second indoor heat exchanger. And an air conditioner provided with a dehumidifying expansion device that functions as an expansion device during a dehumidifying operation, wherein a compression capacity of the compressor and the outdoor heat exchanger are adjusted so that the indoor humidity is in a range of 40% to 60%. An air conditioner with a function to control the number of rotations of an outdoor fan that ventilates the air.