JP2002340389A - Air conditioner having function of dehumidifying operation - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner having a function of dehumidifying operation, in which reliability is improved, and attain a cost reduction by detecting a status that a drain tank is full with water by operation, without using any parts for detection of the full-water status, such as a switch, a float, members for an operation mechanism, etc. SOLUTION: The air conditioner comprises an arithmetic and control unit. The unit operates an actual dehumidification volume per operational time, based on indoor-air humidity, temperature and a dehumidification capacity. The control unit further operates the time of a drain-tank becoming full with water by integrating the actual volume of dehumidification, and when it is determined that the tank is full with water, the dehumidification operation of the air conditioner is stopped.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner having a dehumidifying operation function, and more particularly, to an apparatus for detecting the fullness of a drain tank in an air conditioner having a dehumidifying operation function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an air conditioner having a dehumidifying operation function, an apparatus for detecting the fullness of a drain tank for storing dehumidified water is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-129667. That is, this publication describes the prior art for the invention described in this publication and the invention described in this publication.

In the former full-water detecting device, a microswitch and a lever arm that comes into contact with the microswitch are disposed on the dehumidifier main body side, while a protrusion that protrudes to the outside on a float disposed in a drainage tank. And when the water level in the drainage tank rises, the protrusion is moved in conjunction with the movement of the float, and the microswitch is operated via the lever arm in conjunction with the movement of the protrusion. It is. This is conventionally known as a mechanical full water detecting device.

On the other hand, in the case of the latter, a magnetic reed switch is provided on the main body side, while a magnet arranged to face the reed switch is provided on a float provided in the drainage tank, and the water level in the drainage tank rises. Sometimes, the magnetic reed switch is operated by the magnet interlocking with the movement of the float being separated from the reed switch. This is known as a non-contact type full detector because the reed switch operates in a non-contact manner.

[0005]

However, these conventional devices require many parts such as a reed switch, a float, a lever arm, a magnet, and the like. Members and operating mechanism members for these components were required. Therefore, there have been many problems regarding reliability such as uncertainty of operation of the operation mechanism member, breakage of the reed switch and the magnet, disconnection of the lead wire, and short-circuit of the lead wire. Further, in the above-described conventional device, the number of parts is large and the number of mounting steps is also large, which also causes an increase in cost.

The present invention has been made by paying attention to such problems existing in the prior art. The purpose of the dehumidification operation is to improve reliability and reduce costs by enabling full water detection by calculation without using parts for detecting full water such as switches, floats, and operation mechanism members. An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner having a function.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, an air conditioner having a dehumidifying operation function according to the present invention is provided.
A humidity sensor for detecting the humidity of the room air, a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the room air, a humidity of the room air detected by the humidity sensor, a temperature of the room air detected by the temperature sensor, and the air When the actual dehumidification amount per unit operation time is calculated based on the dehumidification capacity characteristics of the harmony machine, and when the actual dehumidification amount is integrated, the drain tank full time is calculated, and it is determined that the drain tank is full. And an arithmetic and control unit for stopping the dehumidifying operation of the air conditioner. With such a configuration, since various components such as a switch, a float, and an operation mechanism member for detecting a full level are not used, a failure related to these components can be completely eliminated, and reliability is improved. Can be. Further, the processing cost and the mounting cost of various parts can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

The arithmetic and control unit detects the humidity of the indoor air and the temperature of the indoor air at regular intervals, and calculates the actual amount of dehumidification per unit time based on the dehumidifying capacity characteristics of the air conditioner. It is also possible to configure so that the full time of the drain tank is calculated again based on the dehumidification amount. With this configuration, the actual amount of dehumidification can be corrected with respect to changes in the indoor environment, and the calculation accuracy of the water-full time can be improved.

Further, the air conditioner having the dehumidifying operation function configured as described above may be configured to include a display unit for displaying the calculated full time. This configuration is convenient because the user can know in advance when the water is full.

In the air conditioner configured as described above, an alarm device for issuing an alarm when it is determined that the drain tank is full may be provided. With this configuration, it is possible to easily inform the user that the drain tank is full.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the present embodiment, the present invention is embodied in a dehumidifier as an air conditioner, and will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, the structure of the dehumidifier will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a dehumidifier as an air conditioner according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a blowout louver portion of the dehumidifier shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the blow-out louver portion of the dehumidifier shown in FIG. 1 in an obliquely blown back state, and FIG. 4 is a front view of the dehumidifier shown in FIG.

In this dehumidifier, the inside of a main body 1 is provided with a partition plate 2.
Are vertically divided into two. The upper space houses the evaporator 3, the condenser 4, the fan 5 having the fan motor 5a, and the like. The partition plate 2 includes an evaporator 3
It also serves as a water receiving tray for receiving the dew condensation water dripping from, and a drain port 2a is provided at the center rear side. Also,
In the lower space, a drain tank 6 for storing dew water flowing out from the drain port 2a of the partition plate 2, a compressor 7, and the like are stored.

An intake port 11 having a filter 10 is formed at an upper portion of the rear surface of the main body 1. An outlet 17 having an outlet louver 16 including a front louver 13, a center louver 14, and a rear louver 15 is formed from the upper surface to the front surface of the main body 1. Although this blowout louver 16 is shown in a closed state in FIG. 1, the blowout direction can be changed in any direction by a stepping motor (not shown) in a range from the front blowout shown in FIG. 2 to the oblique blowout shown in FIG. 3. It is configured so that it can be changed. An operation unit 20 is provided above the front surface of the main body 1.

As shown in FIG. 4, a power switch 21 is disposed on the right side of the operation unit 20, and a dehumidifying operation time until the drain tank 6 becomes full or a time when the drain tank 6 becomes full is displayed in the center. The operation mode changeover switch 23 and the full water warning lamp 24 are provided on the left side.
Etc. are arranged,

In this dehumidifier, the compressor 7, the condenser 4, an expansion device such as a capillary tube (not shown), and the evaporator 3 are sequentially connected to form a refrigerating cycle.

The dehumidifying operation of the dehumidifier is performed by the power switch 2
1 is input, and the compressor 7 and the fan 5 are driven to perform the operation. When the compressor 7 is driven, the compressor 7
Is condensed and liquefied in the condenser 4 while heating the room air that is sucked in from the air inlet 11 through the evaporator 3 and circulates inside the machine. The condensed and liquefied liquid refrigerant is decompressed by the expansion device, and vaporized in the evaporator 3 while cooling and dehumidifying the indoor air sucked from the intake port 11, and is sucked into the compressor 7 as a low-pressure gas refrigerant. This cycle is repeated during the dehumidifying operation.

On the other hand, the indoor air sucked from the air inlet 11 is cooled and dehumidified by the evaporator 3 as described above, and reheated by the condenser 4 to become dehumidified air. Then, the air is blown out from the air outlet 17. The moisture in the air dehumidified by the evaporator 3 by this dehumidifying action is transferred to the heat exchange surface of the evaporator 3 (the surfaces of the fins and the heat exchange tubes).
And drops on the partition plate 2. The dew water flows down from the drain port 2a into the drain tank 6 below and is stored. Therefore, the amount of dew water stored in the drain tank 6 gradually increases as the dehumidifying operation time elapses.

When the drain tank 6 is full, the drain tank 6 is manually removed from the main body 1, drained, and then returned to the main body. When the dehumidifying operation is performed in a state where the drainage tank 6 is taken out, the dew condensation water drops from the partition plate 2 into the inside of the machine, and the floor surface on which the dehumidifier is placed is flooded.
For this reason, a switch (not shown) for automatically turning off the power when the drainage tank 6 is taken out and preventing the dehumidifying operation from being performed is provided in the main body.

Next, the configuration of the system for detecting the fullness of the drainage tank 6 in the dehumidifier will be described with reference to FIG. A humidity sensor 32 for detecting the humidity of the indoor air, a temperature sensor 33 for detecting the temperature of the indoor air, a power switch 2
1, an operation device 3 including an operation mode changeover switch 23 and the like
4 are connected. The output port of the CPU 31 is connected to the compressor 7, the fan motor 5a, the display unit 22, and an alarm device 36 including a full alarm lamp 24 and a full alarm buzzer (not shown).

Next, the arithmetic control operation of this control system by the CPU 31 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, when the power switch 21 is turned on,
In the dehumidifying operation mode, the compressor 7 and the fan 5 are driven to start the dehumidifying operation (step S1). Next, the indoor air humidity and the indoor air temperature are detected by the humidity sensor 32 and the temperature sensor 33 (Step S2). Then
A dehumidification amount per unit time is calculated from the dehumidifying capacity characteristics of the dehumidifier at the detected indoor air humidity and indoor air temperature (step S3), and after a lapse of a certain time (step S4), the dehumidification amount in the certain time is calculated. Calculation and integration of the dehumidification amount from the start of the dehumidification operation (Step S
5). It should be noted that the time during which the dehumidifying operation is stopped is excluded in this integration. In addition, the dehumidifying capacity characteristics of the dehumidifier are determined by the operation mode during the dehumidifying operation (for example, strong air flow,
Dependent on the operation mode (medium, weak), the dehumidifying capacity characteristics of the dehumidifier in the operation mode at that time are used.

Then, the time when the drain tank 6 is full is calculated from the dew-water storage volume of the drain tank 6, the above-mentioned accumulated dehumidification amount, and the dehumidification amount per unit time at this point, and the time of fullness is displayed. Is displayed on the section 22 (step S
6). The display method at this time may be the remaining time until the drain tank 6 becomes full as shown in FIG.
, Or the both may be displayed simultaneously or alternately.

Further, it is determined whether or not the drain tank 6 is full based on the estimated water filling time calculated in step S6 (step S7). When the drain tank 6 is full, the dehumidifying operation is stopped (step S8), the full water warning lamp 24 is turned on, and a full warning alarm (not shown) is sounded (step S9). In addition, as an alarm device,
Either the full alarm lamp 24 or the full alarm buzzer may be used, or another alarm device may be used alone or in combination.

If the drain tank 6 is not full at step S7, the process returns to step S2, and the procedure of steps S2 to S7 is repeated. Therefore, the temperature and humidity of the room air are detected at regular intervals, the dehumidification amount is calculated based on the temperature and the humidity of the room air, and the dehumidification amount from the start of operation is integrated, and thus recalculated. The full time is updated and displayed based on the result.

As described above, according to the dehumidifier as the air conditioner having the dehumidifying operation function according to this embodiment, C
The control by the PU 31 calculates the actual amount of dehumidification per unit operating time based on the humidity and temperature of the indoor air and the dehumidifying capacity characteristics of the dehumidifier, integrates the actual amount of dehumidification during the dehumidifying operation time, and discharges water. When the tank 6 is full, the dehumidifier stops operating when it is determined that the drain tank is full, so many parts are used for full-water detection as in the conventional full-water detector. You don't have to. Further, failures related to these components can be completely eliminated, and reliability can be improved. Further, the processing cost and the mounting cost required for these parts can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

In addition, in the above-described full water detection, the actual dehumidification amount is calculated based on the humidity and temperature of the indoor air detected at regular intervals, and the dehumidification performance characteristics at that time, and the integrated dehumidification amount after the start of the dehumidification operation is calculated. Since the calculation is performed, a calculation result corresponding to a change in the indoor environment is obtained, and the calculation accuracy at the time of full water is good.

Further, since the display section 22 displays the full time, the user can know the full time in advance, which is very convenient. In addition, when it is determined that the drain tank is full, the alarm device 36 such as the full alarm lamp 24 and the full alarm buzzer is activated, so that the user can easily know that the drain tank is full, It is convenient.

It should be noted that the fullness detection control system according to the present embodiment can be used in combination with the above-described conventional fullness detection device as an auxiliary system for obtaining a guarantee in the event of failure.

[0028]

As described above, the present invention has the following advantages. According to the first aspect of the present invention, the operation is performed based on the humidity and temperature of the indoor air and the dehumidifying ability characteristics of the air conditioner without using various components such as a switch, a float, and an operation mechanism member for detecting a full water level. Since the control unit performs the full water detection, the reliability can be improved and the cost can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first aspect, the humidity and temperature of the indoor air are detected at regular intervals, and the dehumidification amount is calculated by the arithmetic and control unit. Therefore, it is possible to perform high-precision full-water detection corresponding to a change in the indoor environment.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the present invention, since the full water time is displayed on the display section, it is very convenient for the user.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the present invention, when it is determined that the drain tank is full, an alarm is issued by the alarm device, so that the user It is very convenient.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a blowout louver portion of the dehumidifier shown in FIG. 1 in a front blowout state.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a blow-out louver portion of the dehumidifier shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the dehumidifier shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a full water detection control system in the dehumidifier shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an arithmetic control operation of a full water detection control system in the dehumidifier shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is an example of a display example of a display unit in the dehumidifier shown in FIG.

8 is another example of the display example of the display unit in the dehumidifier shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 dehumidifier body, 2 partition plate, 3 evaporator, 4 condenser, 5 fan, 5a fan motor, 6 drain tank,
7 compressor, 20 operation unit, 21 power switch, 22
Display unit, 23 operation mode switch, 24 full alarm lamp, 31 arithmetic and control unit (CPU), 32 humidity sensor, 33 temperature sensor, 34 operating device, 36 alarm device.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Hidetoyo Sasao 2-5-2-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3L050 AA10 BD05 BE04 3L060 AA08 CC02 CC07 DD01 EE01

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A humidity sensor for detecting the humidity of room air, a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of room air, a humidity of room air detected by the humidity sensor, and a temperature of room air detected by the temperature sensor. , And, based on the dehumidifying capacity characteristics of the air conditioner, calculate the actual amount of dehumidification per unit operation time, calculate the full time of the drain tank by integrating the actual amount of dehumidification, and the drain tank is full. And an arithmetic and control unit for stopping the dehumidifying operation of the air conditioner when it is determined that the air conditioner is operated. 2. The arithmetic and control unit detects the humidity of the indoor air and the temperature of the indoor air at regular intervals, and calculates the actual amount of dehumidification per unit time based on the dehumidifying capacity characteristics of the air conditioner. The air conditioner having a dehumidifying operation function according to claim 1, wherein the water filling time of the drainage tank is recalculated based on the dehumidifying amount. 3. The air conditioner having a dehumidifying operation function according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit for displaying the calculated full time. 4. The air conditioner having a dehumidifying operation function according to claim 1, further comprising an alarm device for issuing an alarm when it is determined that the drain tank is full.