JP2002243300A - Multi-room air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multi-room air conditioner capable of operating indoor units for two rooms for cooling or heating or stopping the same individually or simultaneously according to operation modes by switching a three-way valve. SOLUTION: An outdoor unit 1 having a compressor 3, a four-way valve 4 and an outdoor heat exchanger 5 is provided with the first indoor unit 2A having the first heat exchanger 7a, and the second indoor unit 2B having the second indoor heat exchanger 7b. A refrigerant circuit is constituted by connecting the discharge side and the suction side of the compressor 3 to the four-way valve 4, connecting one side of the outdoor heat exchanger 5 to the four-way valve 4, connecting the other side of the outdoor heat exchanger 5 to one sides of the first indoor heat exchanger 7a and the second indoor heat exchanger 7b through flow dividing expansion valves 6a and 6b, connecting the other side of the first heat exchanger 7a to the four-way valve 4, and connecting the other side of the second indoor heat exchanger 7b to the discharge side and the suction side of the compressor through a three-way valve 8. By this constitution, the two indoor units 2A and 2B can be operated for cooling and/or heating individually or simultaneously according to operation modes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-room air conditioner, and more particularly, to a refrigerant circuit which can perform a cooling operation, a heating operation or a stop operation of two indoor units individually or simultaneously according to an operation mode. Related to configuration and its control.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional multi-room air conditioner is shown in FIG.
There is something like that shown in In the figure, reference numeral 1 'denotes an outdoor unit, a first indoor unit capable of performing a cooling operation or a heating operation together with 2A' and 2B ', and a second indoor unit. 3 is a compressor that compresses the refrigerant to produce a high-temperature and high-pressure gas. 4 is a four-way valve that changes the direction of flow of the refrigerant to switch between a cooling operation and a heating operation. The outdoor heat exchangers 7a ′ and 7b ′ function as an evaporator during the cooling operation and as a condenser during the heating operation, and are mounted on the first indoor unit 2A ′ and the second indoor unit 2B ′, respectively. In the indoor heat exchanger and the second indoor heat exchanger, a first branch expansion valve 6a is provided between the outdoor heat exchanger 5 and the first indoor heat exchanger 7a ', and the outdoor heat exchanger 5 and the second indoor heat exchanger are connected to each other. The first indoor heat exchanger 7a 'and the second indoor heat exchanger 7 are respectively interposed between the indoor heat exchanger 7b' and the indoor heat exchanger 7b '
b ′ are connected in parallel to form a refrigerant circuit.

In the above configuration, during the cooling operation, the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant discharged from the compressor 3 passes through the four-way valve 4 and flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 5 through the four-way valve 4 as shown by the dashed arrow. The heat is released and condensed and liquefied.Throttle adjustment is performed by the first branch expansion valve 6a and the second branch expansion valve 6b, and the first indoor heat exchanger 7a 'and the second indoor heat exchanger
After flowing into 7b 'to evaporate and absorb indoor heat, it returns to the compressor 3 again through the four-way valve 4. Further, during the heating operation, the four-way valve 4 is switched to allow the refrigerant to flow as shown by the solid line arrow, and the actions of the outdoor heat exchanger 5, the first indoor heat exchanger 7a 'and the second indoor heat exchanger 7b' are performed. It is the same except that it is reversed.

However, in the case of the above configuration, even if the first indoor unit 2A 'and the second indoor unit 2B' are installed at different locations, both the indoor units 2A 'and 2B' must be operated for cooling or heating. Since only one of the operations can be performed, there is a problem that such a requirement cannot be satisfied under the condition that one of the indoor units wants to perform the cooling operation and the other indoor unit wants to perform the heating operation.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and has a simple refrigerant circuit configuration by switching a three-way valve. It is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-room air conditioner that can be operated or stopped individually or simultaneously.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an outdoor unit having a compressor, a four-way valve, and an outdoor heat exchanger with a first indoor heat exchanger. A first indoor unit equipped with an exchanger and a second indoor unit equipped with a second indoor heat exchanger are provided, the discharge side and the suction side of the compressor are connected to the four-way valve, and the four-way valve is connected to the four-way valve. One side of the outdoor heat exchanger is connected, the other side of the outdoor heat exchanger is branched, and the first indoor heat exchanger and the second indoor heat exchanger are respectively connected via a branching expansion valve. While connected to one side by a pipe, the other side of the first indoor heat exchanger is connected to the four-way valve, while the other side of the second indoor heat exchanger is connected to the discharge side of the compressor via a three-way valve. And connected to the suction side to constitute a refrigerant circuit, and by switching the four-way valve and the three-way valve, The cooling operation or heating operation of the serial first indoor unit and the second indoor unit, and has a formed by controlling to perform individually or simultaneously configured.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as examples. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a refrigerant circuit of a multi-room air conditioner according to the present invention, FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing opening / closing and switching operations of each valve in each operation mode. In the figure, 1 is an outdoor unit, 2A and 2B are a first indoor unit and a second indoor unit which can perform cooling or heating operation individually or simultaneously. 3 is a compressor that compresses the refrigerant to produce a high-temperature and high-pressure gas. 4 is a four-way valve that changes the direction of flow of the refrigerant to switch between cooling operation and heating operation. 5 is a condenser during cooling operation and an evaporator during heating operation. The outdoor heat exchanger that functions as an evaporator during the cooling operation and a condenser during the heating operation, and the first indoor heat exchanger mounted on the first indoor unit 2A and the second indoor unit 2B, respectively. And the second indoor heat exchanger.

[0008] The discharge side 3a and the suction side 3b of the compressor 3 are connected to the four-way valve 4, and the outdoor heat exchanger 5 is connected to the four-way valve 4.
And the other side of the outdoor heat exchanger 5 is connected to a branch pipe 6a1,
6a2, the first indoor heat exchanger 7a via the first branch expansion valve 6a and the second branch expansion valve 6b respectively,
The other side of the first indoor heat exchanger 7a is connected to the four-way valve 4 while the other side of the first indoor heat exchanger 7a is connected to one side of the second indoor heat exchanger 7b by a pipe. Sides of the compressor 3 via a three-way valve 8 on the discharge side 3a and the suction side 3b.
Connected to each other to form a refrigerant circuit.

Next, the operation of the present invention in the above configuration will be described. FIG. 2 collectively shows the contents of each operation state and the operation of each valve. First, as shown in item No. 2 in FIG. 2, the first indoor unit 2A is in cooling operation, and the second indoor unit 2B is in operation.
Is the case of the simultaneous operation of the heating operation. The four-way valve 4 is placed on the cooling side indicated by a solid line arrow in FIG.
Is switched to the side indicated by the double-line arrow, and the first branch expansion valve 6a and the second branch expansion valve 6b are opened, whereby the flow of the refrigerant is as follows.

The high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant gas discharged from the compressor 3 passes through the four-way valve 4 and enters the outdoor heat exchanger 5, where it is condensed by radiating heat to the outdoor in the outdoor heat exchanger 5 to become hot. It becomes a high-pressure refrigerant liquid, and the first branch expansion valve
The refrigerant expands at 6a to become a low-temperature low-pressure refrigerant liquid, enters the first indoor heat exchanger 7a, absorbs indoor heat at the first indoor heat exchanger 7a, and cools the room of the first indoor unit 2A. By doing so, the low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant evaporates to become a low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant gas, and returns to the compressor 3 through the four-way valve 4.

On the other hand, the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant gas discharged from the compressor 3 passes through the three-way valve 8 and enters the second indoor heat exchanger 7b, where it is radiated into the room by the second indoor heat exchanger 7b. By heating the room of the second indoor unit 2B, the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant gas is condensed to become a high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant liquid, and expanded by the second branch expansion valve 6b to become a low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant liquid. Combined with the first indoor heat exchanger 7a in the cooling operation through the first branch expansion valve 6a, absorbs indoor heat, and the low-temperature low-pressure refrigerant evaporates to become a low-temperature low-pressure refrigerant gas, The refrigerant returns to the compressor 3 through the four-way valve 4 to form one refrigeration cycle.

Next, the case where the first indoor unit 2A is in a heating operation and the second indoor unit 2B is in a simultaneous cooling operation in the item 4 in FIG. 2 will be described. The four-way valve 4 is switched to the heating side indicated by the dashed arrow in FIG. 1, and the three-way valve 8 is switched to the side indicated by the double-line arrow, and the first branch expansion valve 6a and the second branch expansion valve 6b are respectively switched By opening, the flow of the refrigerant is as follows.

The high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant gas discharged from the compressor 3 passes through the four-way valve 4 and enters the first indoor heat exchanger 7a, and radiates heat into the room by the first indoor heat exchanger 7a. By heating the room of the first indoor unit 2A, the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant gas is condensed to become a high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant liquid, and expanded by the first branch expansion valve 6a to become a low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant liquid, After entering the outdoor heat exchanger 5, the outdoor heat exchanger 5 absorbs outdoor heat and evaporates the low-temperature low-pressure refrigerant to a low-temperature low-pressure refrigerant gas, and returns to the compressor 3 through the four-way valve 4.

On the other hand, a part of the refrigerant that has condensed in the first indoor heat exchanger 7a to become a high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant liquid and expanded into the low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant liquid by the first branch expansion valve 6a is The second indoor heat exchanger 7b passes through the second branch expansion valve 6b, enters the second indoor heat exchanger 7b, absorbs indoor heat, and cools the room of the second indoor unit 2B. By doing so, the low-temperature low-pressure refrigerant liquid evaporates and becomes a low-temperature low-pressure refrigerant gas,
The refrigerant returns to the compressor 3 through the three-way valve 8 to form a refrigeration cycle.

When both the first indoor unit 2A and the second indoor unit 2B are in a cooling operation, as shown in item 1 of FIG. 2, the four-way valve 4 is moved to the cooling side and the three-way valve 8 is moved to the side. The refrigerant flow passes through the compressor 3, the four-way valve 4, and the outdoor heat exchanger 5 by switching over and opening the first branch expansion valve 6a and the second branch expansion valve 6b, respectively. The refrigerant returns to the compressor 3 via the first branch expansion valve 6a, the first indoor heat exchanger 7a, and the four-way valve 4, and the other refrigerant flows into the second branch expansion valve 6b, the second indoor heat exchanger 7b. , And returns to the compressor 3 via the three-way valve 8 to form one refrigeration cycle.

When both the first indoor unit 2A and the second indoor unit 2B are in a heating operation as shown in item 5 in FIG. 2, the four-way valve 4 is moved to the heating side, and the three-way valve 8 is moved to the side. The flow of the refrigerant is switched by switching each one and opening the first branch expansion valve 6a and the second branch expansion valve 6b, respectively, whereby one of the compressor 3, the four-way valve 4, the first indoor heat exchanger 7a, the first The flow returns to the compressor 3 via the branching expansion valve 6a, the outdoor heat exchanger 5, and the four-way valve 4. The other is the compressor 3, the three-way valve 8, the second indoor heat exchanger 7b, and the second branching expansion valve. 6b, outdoor heat exchanger 5,
The flow returns to the compressor 3 via the four-way valve 4 to form one refrigeration cycle.

In the above description, the discharge side of the compressor 3
3a and the suction side 3b are connected to the four-way valve 4; one side of the outdoor heat exchanger 5 is connected to the four-way valve 4;
The other side is branched by branch pipes 6a1 and 6a2, the first indoor heat exchanger 7a and the second indoor heat exchanger via a first branch expansion valve 6a and a second branch expansion valve 6b, respectively. 7b and connected to one side with a pipe, the first indoor heat exchanger 7a
The other side of the second indoor heat exchanger 7b is connected to the discharge side 3a and the suction side 3b of the compressor 3 via the three-way valve 8 while the other side of the refrigerant circuit is connected to the four-way valve 4. By using a simple refrigerant circuit configuration by switching between the four-way valve 4 and the three-way valve 8, the two indoor units 2
A, 2B is a multi-room air conditioner that can perform cooling operation, heating operation or stop individually or simultaneously according to the operation mode.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, a two-room indoor unit can be operated in a cooling operation or a heating operation in accordance with an operation mode with a simple refrigerant circuit configuration by switching between the four-way valve and the three-way valve. Alternatively, a multi-chamber air conditioner can be stopped individually or simultaneously.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a refrigerant circuit of a multi-room air conditioner showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation state of each valve in each operation mode according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a refrigerant circuit of a conventional multi-room air conditioner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 outdoor unit 2A, 2B indoor unit 3 compressor 4 four-way valve 5 outdoor heat exchanger 6a first branch expansion valve 6b second branch expansion valve 7a first indoor heat exchanger 7b second indoor heat exchanger 8 three-way valve

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An outdoor unit having a compressor, a four-way valve, and an outdoor heat exchanger, a first indoor unit having a first indoor heat exchanger, and a second indoor heat exchanger. A second indoor unit, connecting the discharge side and the suction side of the compressor to the four-way valve, connecting one side of the outdoor heat exchanger to the four-way valve, and the other side of the outdoor heat exchanger And the first indoor heat exchanger is connected to one side of the second indoor heat exchanger via a diversion expansion valve, and the other side of the first indoor heat exchanger is connected to the other side. While connected to the four-way valve, the other side of the second indoor heat exchanger is connected to the discharge side and the suction side of the compressor via a three-way valve, respectively, to constitute a refrigerant circuit. By switching the three-way valve, cooling operation or heating operation of the first indoor unit and the second indoor unit is performed. A multi-room air conditioner characterized in that the rolling is controlled individually or simultaneously.