JP2001280664A - Air conditioner control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable an air conditioner control system to significantly suppress the useless power consumption of an air conditioner which occurs when the returning home of a user is delayed, and so on. SOLUTION: This control system is constituted in a program timer control system having a timer function which starts the operation of the air conditioner 10 having an outdoor machine 11 and an indoor machine 12 at a prescribed set temperature at preset time. This system has a temperature moderating and forcibly stopping function which gradually moderates the temperature in a room with time after the temperature reaches the set value or its vicinity after the operation of the air conditioner 10 is started and, when a fixed period of time has elapsed after the operation is started, in addition, forcibly stops the operation of the air conditioner 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a program timer control technique for an air conditioner, and more particularly to an air conditioner capable of suppressing wasteful power consumption by continuing unattended indoor cooling and heating after automatic operation is started by an on timer. Related to control system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, when it is desired to warm a room before returning home in winter, an on-timer function controlled by a program timer is often used. Conventionally, the on-timer function generally starts the operation of the air conditioner automatically at a set time, and thereafter continues the operation according to the set temperature.

FIG. 4 shows a driving operation by an on-timer function based on the prior art, in which the horizontal axis represents time and the vertical axis represents room temperature. In FIG. 4, when the operation is started, for example, when the time of “turn on” of heating is set to b1 (for example, 19:00 which is a predetermined time before returning home, etc.), the room temperature accompanying the start of the automatic heating operation is set. 7 illustrates a change.

As shown in the figure, under the conventional control technique, when heating is turned on at time b1, the room temperature gradually rises, and after reaching the set temperature (T0), for example, on / off control is performed. Room temperature is kept constant. Here, time b2 is
This means the time when it is generally considered that the user will return home with respect to the “enter” time b1. If it is possible to return home as usual at time b2, the room may be kept warm as it is, and driving may be stopped at bedtime or the like.

[0005] However, if it becomes impossible to return home on the day due to urgent business or the like, the air conditioner continues to operate for a long time and heats up an unmanned room, resulting in waste of energy due to extra power consumption.

Incidentally, the conventional air conditioner generally has a timer function as well as a timer function in the control device. Therefore, if the turning-off time by the turning-off timer function is set together with the turning-on time by the turning-on timer function, it is possible to automatically stop the operation after a certain period of time. Also, from the viewpoint of ensuring the safety of equipment, there is also known an air conditioner having a forced stop function for forcibly stopping the operation after a lapse of a predetermined time after the start of operation.

[0007]

However, in the above-described air conditioners having the cut-off timer function and the forced stop function, as shown in FIG. 4, the set temperature during operation is constant. The room temperature is maintained at the set temperature until the shutdown. In addition, in the former case, it is troublesome to set the cut-off timer function together with the on-timer function each time when going out.On the other hand, in the case of the latter with a forced stop function, the time to stop is generally long. Is set.

Therefore, conventionally, even if the air conditioner has a cut-off timer function or a forced stop function, if it is urgently required to return home or is unable to return home, the operation continues for a long time at the preset temperature. As a result, electric energy is wasted and wasteful. For example, personal requests to warm a room before going out and social demands to avoid waste of energy to warm an unmanned room should be avoided. Cannot satisfy both of them.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and it is possible to prevent a request to pre-warm a room at a predetermined time before returning home when going out, and to suppress waste of energy for warming an unmanned room. An object of the present invention is to provide a control system of an air conditioner that can satisfy both of the above requirements.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A program timer control system for an air conditioner having an on-timer function for starting operation of an air conditioner having an outdoor unit and an indoor unit at a predetermined time at a predetermined set temperature, wherein the indoor temperature is set to the set temperature or the After the temperature reaches the vicinity of the temperature, the temperature setting is gradually relaxed with the elapse of time, and after a certain period of time from the start of the operation, the operation is forcibly stopped.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the temperature relaxation / forced stop function can be selectively switched to a normal timer function such as an ON timer function and an ON / OFF timer function.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the switching means for selecting a function is incorporated in a control device or a remote controller of the air conditioner.

The inventions according to the first to third aspects have the following effects.

For example, when the heating operation is started at the time set by the on-timer, the room temperature gradually increases, and when the temperature reaches the set temperature, the temperature setting gradually decreases. Unless the family member returns home and switches to the continuous operation mode, the set temperature gradually decreases, and finally the operation is forcibly stopped at a predetermined time. If you return home at the scheduled time, the set temperature will be lower than at the beginning,
You will feel warm enough if you come in from the outside. If the temperature is reset, the desired room temperature is immediately reached. Even if you suddenly return home in the morning, it is cold when you return home,
There is no waste of heating unmanned rooms overnight.

[0015]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing a specific configuration of an air conditioner to which the present invention is applied.

As shown in FIG. 1, the air conditioner 10
An outdoor unit 11 and an indoor unit 12, a control device 13 for controlling the operation of the air conditioner 10, and a control device 1
And a remote controller 26 as an operation device for giving an operation control command to the control unit 3.

The outdoor refrigerant pipe 14 of the outdoor unit 11 and the indoor unit 1
The second indoor refrigerant pipe 15 is connected via connection pipes 24 and 25. The outdoor unit 11 is installed outdoors, and a compressor 16 is disposed in an outdoor refrigerant pipe 14.
An accumulator 17 is provided on the suction side, and a four-way valve 18 is provided on the discharge side.
Are connected via an outdoor refrigerant pipe 14, and an outdoor heat exchanger 19 is connected to the four-way valve 18 via the outdoor refrigerant pipe 14. An outdoor fan 20 that blows air toward the outdoor heat exchanger 19 is disposed adjacent to the outdoor heat exchanger 19.

On the other hand, the indoor unit 12 is installed indoors, and the indoor heat exchanger 21 is disposed in the indoor refrigerant pipe 15.
An electric expansion valve 22 is provided near the indoor heat exchanger 21 in the indoor refrigerant pipe 15. An indoor fan 23 for blowing air to the indoor heat exchanger 21 is disposed adjacent to the indoor heat exchanger 21. The control device 1
3 controls the operation of the outdoor unit 11 and the indoor unit 12, specifically, the compressor 16, the four-way valve 18 and the outdoor fan 20 in the outdoor unit 11, the electric expansion valve 22 in the indoor unit 12, and the indoor fan 23 are respectively controlled.

When the four-way valve 18 is switched by the control device 13, the air conditioner 10 is set to the cooling operation or the heating operation. That is, the control device 13 controls the four-way valve 1
8 is switched to the cooling side, the refrigerant flows as shown by the solid line arrow, and the outdoor heat exchanger 19 is connected to the condenser and the indoor heat exchanger 2
1 becomes an evaporator and enters a cooling operation state, and the indoor heat exchanger 21 of the indoor unit 12 cools the room. Also, the control device 1
When 3 switches the four-way valve 18 to the heating side, the refrigerant flows as indicated by the dashed arrow, the indoor heat exchanger 21 becomes a condenser, and the outdoor heat exchanger 19 becomes an evaporator, and enters a heating operation state.
The indoor heat exchanger 21 of the indoor unit 12 heats the room.

The controller 13 adjusts the opening of the electric expansion valve 22 in the indoor unit 12 according to the air conditioning load of the indoor unit 12, and controls the fan drive system of the indoor fan 23 in the indoor unit 12. The control operation of the indoor temperature by the control device 13 includes the compressor 16 and the indoor fan 2.
3 is turned on until the set temperature is reached, and “thermo-off” is set so that the compressor 16 is turned off and only the indoor fan 23 is turned on after the set temperature is reached.
"Thermo operation" which alternates between and is adopted.

By the way, the control device 13 performs various timer operations such as an on-timer operation for starting operation after a lapse of a predetermined time in response to an input signal from the remote controller 26, a continuous operation after the on-timer operation, and an on / off timer operation. A program timer control means 13a for controlling is provided. The program timer control means 13a is provided with an on-timer function, and gradually loosens the temperature setting with the lapse of time after the room reaches the set temperature or near the set temperature by the start of operation.
In addition, a temperature relaxation / forced stop function is provided for forcibly stopping the operation after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of the operation.

That is, as the temperature mitigation function, after the operation is started by the on-timer function and the inside of the room reaches the set temperature, the set temperature is gradually reduced (that is, lowered).
For example, when the set temperature is reached during the heating operation, the temperature setting is gradually lowered and the thermo-operation is performed thereafter. The forcible stop function is a function for determining the elapse of time from the time when the on-timer is turned on, issuing a stop signal after a relatively short predetermined time has elapsed, and forcibly stopping the operation. With these two functions, the operation is started from the time set by the operation of the remote controller 26, and after reaching the set temperature, the temperature setting gradually decreases, and after a predetermined time has elapsed, the heating operation is stopped.

The temperature relaxation / forced stop function can be selectively switched to a normal timer function such as an on-timer function and an on-off timer function. In the present embodiment, the function selecting switching means 27 is incorporated in, for example, the remote controller 26.

Next, referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the operation of the on-timer function with the temperature relaxation / forced stop function will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a control procedure, and FIG. 3 is a time chart showing the passage of time of the room temperature as an example of a heating operation based on the control. In the following description, the heating operation is exemplified, but the same applies to the cooling operation.

First, the room temperature and the operation start time are set by operating the remote controller 26, and the signals are transmitted to the control device 13. As a result, the operation start time and the set temperature signal are input to the control device 13, and the ON timer is turned on (S1). Immediately after the input of the signal, the control unit of the control device 13 continuously determines the elapse of the set time (S2). Then, when the set time elapses and the operation start time comes (Yes), an operation start signal is output to the outdoor unit 11 and the indoor unit 12, and a thermo operation, for example, a heating thermo operation is started from this time (S3).

Immediately after the start of the heating thermo-operation, the thermo-on state continues, and the room temperature gradually rises as shown in FIG. The increase in the room temperature is continuously determined by the control device 13 up to the set temperature (T0) (S10).
4) When the temperature reaches the set temperature (T0) (Yes), the process is switched to the temperature relaxation step (S5).

From the temperature mitigation step (S5), the thermo-on and thermo-off are repeated, and the set temperature gradually changes to a lower value with the lapse of time based on the initial setting. Gradually declines. With the progress of the temperature relaxation (lowering of the indoor temperature), it is determined that a certain time set before the forced stop has elapsed (S6), and when the certain time has elapsed (Yes), the outdoor unit 11 and the indoor unit 12 are operated. The stop signal is output, and the operation is forcibly stopped (S7).

The operation of the on-timer function with the above-mentioned temperature alleviation / forced stop function will be specifically described.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the heating operation is started at time a1 set by the on-timer, for example, 19:00, the room temperature gradually rises and the set temperature (note that
When the temperature reaches about + 2 ° C higher than the set temperature),
Gradually lower the temperature setting. For example, to give an example of heating, the set temperature is decreased by 1 ° C. every 30 minutes.

As long as the family member does not return home and switches to the continuous operation mode, the set temperature gradually decreases, and finally (for example, three hours later), the operation is forcibly stopped at a predetermined time a3. . If the user returns home at the scheduled time a2, the set temperature will be lower than at the beginning, but if he enters from outside, he will feel warm enough. In that case, if the temperature is reset, the desired room temperature is immediately reached. Even if you suddenly return home in the morning, it is cold at that time, but there is no waste of heating unmanned rooms overnight. If there is a reason that the user wants to keep heating overnight, the switching means 27 provided in the remote controller 26 may be operated to previously switch to the continuous operation using the conventional on-timer function.

Although the switching means 27 is provided in the remote controller 26 in this embodiment, for example, in the case of an air conditioner having a plurality of indoor units, the switching means 27 is provided.
May be provided on the central control device side. Also, when it is desirable to use differently according to the user's convenience, as in a tenant building, it would be convenient to equip it with a remote controller.

[0033]

According to the control system for an air conditioner of the present invention, the temperature is gradually reduced after the air conditioner is started by the on-timer, and the operation is forcibly stopped after a certain period of time. Therefore, there is an effect that wasteful power consumption caused by a delay in returning home or the like can be largely suppressed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a control system for an air conditioner according to the present invention, and is a system configuration diagram of the air conditioner.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a control procedure according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a time chart showing the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a time chart for explaining a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Air conditioner 11 Outdoor unit 12 Indoor unit 13 Control device 13a Program timer control means 26 Remote controller 27 Switching means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A program timer control system for an air conditioner having an on-timer function for starting operation of an air conditioner having an outdoor unit and an indoor unit at a predetermined time at a preset time, and Has a temperature relaxation / forced stop function that gradually loosens the temperature setting as time elapses after reaching the set temperature or near the temperature, and forcibly stops the operation after a certain period of time from the start of operation A control system for an air conditioner, comprising: 2. The temperature mitigation / forcible stop function can be selectively switched to a normal timer function such as an ON timer function and an ON / OFF timer function.
3. The control system for an air conditioner according to claim 1. 3. The control system for an air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein the switching means for function selection is incorporated in a control device or a remote controller of the air conditioner.