JP2003287259A - Air-conditioning system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air-conditioning system for easily setting acceptance/ rejection of the automatic switching operation irrespective of the places and the number for installation of indoor units. <P>SOLUTION: In the air-conditioning system comprising an outdoor unit 1, and a plurality of indoor units 2-n connected to the outdoor unit 1, and allowing the indoor units 2-n to perform the automatic switching operation for automatically switching individual operation modes, a first setting means 14 (an automatic operation setting means) to set acceptance/rejection of the automatic switching operation is provided on the outdoor unit 1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioning system in which a plurality of indoor units are connected to one outdoor unit, and more specifically, an operation mode of each indoor unit, for example, a cooling mode and a heating mode. The present invention relates to an air conditioning system capable of performing an automatic switching operation that automatically switches between.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as an air conditioning system in which a plurality of indoor units are connected to a single outdoor unit, for example, one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-12393 is known. That is, this air conditioning system includes one outdoor unit, a plurality of indoor units connected to the outdoor unit, and a plurality of remote controllers that selectively set the operation mode corresponding to each indoor unit. It is configured to have. Each indoor unit is provided with automatic operation setting means for setting whether or not automatic switching operation for automatically switching an individual operation mode to a cooling mode or a heating mode.

In the air conditioning system having the above-mentioned structure, when the automatic operation setting means sets the automatic switching operation possible, the indoor unit is operated according to the operation mode set by the corresponding remote controller. The operation is performed in the cooling mode or the heating mode.

[0004]

By the way, in the case of setting the propriety of the automatic switching operation in the above-mentioned air conditioning system, it is necessary to operate the automatic operation setting means provided in all the indoor units. Therefore, it takes a lot of time to perform the setting. Especially when there are many indoor units,
Alternatively, when the indoor unit is installed behind the ceiling, the above-mentioned problem becomes more remarkable, and the setting work of the automatic switching operation becomes extremely complicated.

In view of the above situation, it is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioning system which can easily set whether or not to perform automatic switching operation regardless of the installation location or the number of indoor units.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an air conditioning system according to the present invention comprises an outdoor unit and a plurality of indoor units connected to the outdoor unit, and each indoor unit is individually In the air conditioning system capable of performing the automatic switching operation for automatically switching the operating modes of the above, the outdoor unit is provided with an automatic operation setting means for setting the propriety of the automatic switching operation. .

According to the present invention, whether or not the automatic switching operation of each indoor unit can be set can be set based on the setting contents of the automatic operation setting means of the outdoor unit.

An air conditioning system according to the next invention is
In the above invention, the outdoor unit is provided with a designation unit for designating a representative indoor unit that serves as a criterion for determining an operation mode of each indoor unit in the automatic switching operation.

According to the present invention, another indoor unit can be operated according to the operation mode of the representative indoor unit designated by the designating means.

An air conditioning system according to the next invention is
In the above invention, the designating unit is configured to change the designation of the representative indoor unit based on a preset condition.

According to the present invention, the designation means changes the designation of the representative indoor unit based on the preset condition.

An air conditioning system according to the next invention is
In the above invention, a central controller that is provided independently of the outdoor unit and the indoor unit and that designates a representative indoor unit that serves as a criterion for determining the operation mode of each indoor unit in the automatic switching operation is further provided. It is characterized by that.

According to the present invention, another indoor unit can be operated according to the operation mode of the representative indoor unit designated by the centralized controller.

An air conditioning system according to the next invention is
In the above invention, the centralized controller changes the designation of the representative indoor unit based on a preset condition.

According to the present invention, the centralized controller changes the designation of the representative indoor unit based on the preset condition.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of an air conditioning system according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Since the air conditioning system according to the present invention is characterized by the control system and the mechanism of each component is the same as the conventional one, the description thereof will be omitted.

Embodiment 1. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an air conditioning system that is Embodiment 1 of the present invention. This air conditioning system includes an outdoor unit 1, a plurality of indoor units 2-i (i = 1 to n), and a remote controller 3 corresponding to each indoor unit 2-i.
-I (i = 1 to n). The outdoor unit 1, the indoor unit 2-i, and the remote controller 3-i are connected to each other via a bus 50.

The outdoor unit 1 includes a microcomputer 11, a transmitter 12, a receiver 13, a first setting means (automatic operation setting means) 14 and a second setting means (designating means).
15 is included. Microcomputer 1
1 is for controlling the operation of the outdoor unit 1, the transmitting unit 12 is for transmitting data, and the receiving unit 13 is
Is for receiving data. In addition, the first setting means 14 sets a state (hereinafter, also referred to as an on state) in which an automatic switching operation in which the operation mode of each indoor unit 2-i is automatically switched to the cooling mode or the heating mode is possible. A possible state (hereinafter, also referred to as an off state) is selectively set. The second setting means 15
The indoor unit (hereinafter, also referred to as a representative indoor unit) that serves as a criterion for determining the operation mode of each indoor unit 2-i is set.

The indoor units 2-i each include a microcomputer 21, a transmitter 22, a receiver 23, and a temperature sensor 24. The microcomputer 21 controls the operation of the indoor unit 2-i, and the transmission unit 22 transmits data.
The receiving unit 23 receives data. The temperature sensor 24 detects the temperature of the place where the indoor unit 2-i is installed.

The remote controller 3-i is for selectively setting the operation mode of the corresponding indoor unit 2-i, and has a microcomputer 31, a transmitter 32, a receiver 33, an input device 34 and a display device 35. ing.
The microcomputer 31 is the remote controller 3
-I controls the operation, the transmitting unit 32 transmits data, and the receiving unit 33 receives data. Further, the input device 34 is for inputting start / stop input, operating mode switching input and set temperature input to the indoor unit 2-i. The display device 35 displays the operating state of the indoor unit 2-i.

Further, the outdoor unit 1 and each indoor unit 2
-I and each remote controller 3-i are provided with address setting means 16, 25 and 36, respectively, and different addresses are set to identify each device. In addition, the size relationship of the addresses of the indoor units 2-i is as follows: indoor unit 2-1 <2-2 <2-
3 <... <2-n.

In the above air conditioning system, the indoor unit 2-i and the remote controller 3
-I is group 1: indoor unit 2-1 and remote controller 3-1, group 2: indoor unit 2-
2 and remote controllers 3-2, ..., Group n: The indoor units 2-n and remote controllers 3-n are grouped.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the air conditioning system according to the first embodiment,
(A) shows the processing content performed by the microcomputer 11 of the outdoor unit 1, and (b) shows the processing content performed by each microcomputer 21 of the plurality of indoor units 2-i.

The operation of the above air conditioning system will be described below with reference to these flow charts. The microcomputer 11 of the outdoor unit 1
And the microcomputer 2 of each indoor unit 2-i
1 repeats the processing shown in FIG. 2 at a predetermined cycle. In the following, for convenience, the indoor unit 2 having the smallest address is set by the second setting unit 15.
The description will be made assuming that -1 is set as the representative indoor unit, but this representative indoor unit is the second setting means 1
It is arbitrarily determined by the initial setting of 5, and is not necessarily limited to the indoor unit 2-1.

First, the microcomputer 11 of the outdoor unit 1 determines whether or not the first setting means 14 is on (step S101). First setting means 1
If 4 is in the off state, the current process is terminated without the subsequent steps.

On the other hand, when the first setting means 14 is on, the microcomputer 11 of the outdoor unit 1
Reads the setting contents of the second setting means 15 (step S102), and the information indicating that the automatic switching operation is possible for the representative indoor unit 2-1 and the corresponding remote controller 3-1 specified by this (hereinafter , Automatic switching operation permission information) is transmitted through the bus 50 (step S103), and then a standby state for reception from the representative indoor unit 2-1 is entered (step S104).

On the other hand, each microcomputer 21 of the indoor unit 2-i determines whether or not the automatic switching operation permission information is received from the outdoor unit 1 (step S111). Here, when the first setting unit 14 is set to the off state in the previous step S101, the procedure is performed in step S11 in all the indoor units 2-i.
In step 9, it is determined whether or not operation mode determination information, which will be described later, has been received. In this case, since the operation mode determination information has not been received, each indoor unit 2 is in accordance with the operation mode input from the remote controller 3-i.
-I performs remote controller operation (step S1
20), the processing of this time is ended.

In the above remote controller operation,
In a state where the operation mode is fixed to the cooling mode or the heating mode, each indoor unit 2-i is set in accordance with the difference between the set temperature set by the remote controller 3-i and the detected temperature of each temperature sensor 24. It will be operated individually.

On the other hand, in the indoor unit that has received the automatic switching operation permission information in step S111, that is, in the representative indoor unit 2-1, the operation mode input from the remote controller 3-1 corresponding to the microcomputer 21 is automatically switched. It is determined whether or not the operation is set (step S112). When the operation mode is not set to the automatic switching operation, the procedure proceeds to step S120, and after the remote controller operation is performed as before,
This processing ends.

On the other hand, the remote controller 3-1
When the input operation mode is set to the automatic switching operation, the microcomputer 21 of the representative indoor unit 2-1 performs the automatic switching operation.

In this automatic switching operation, first, the temperature Ti detected by the self temperature sensor 24 is compared with the set temperature Tr input from the remote controller 3-1 (step S113), and the temperature difference between the two is determined. Determines the operation mode during automatic switching operation. For example, when the detected temperature Ti ≧ the set temperature Tr, the operation mode is determined to be the cooling mode (step S114). On the other hand, when the detected temperature Ti <the set temperature Tr, the operation mode is determined to be the heating mode (step S115). Then, the microcomputer 21 of the representative indoor unit 2-1 transmits the determined operation mode as operation mode determination information to the outdoor unit 1 through the bus 50 (step S116).

After that, the microcomputer 21 of the representative indoor unit 2-1 detects the temperature Ti and the set temperature T of the remote controller 3-1 according to the operation mode determined in step S114 or step S115.
The operation is performed according to the temperature difference from r (step S11
7) Also, the current operation mode is transmitted to the remote controller 3-1 through the bus 50 (step S1).
18) and the current process is ended. The operation mode transmitted to the remote controller 3-1 is displayed on the display device 35.

On the other hand, in step S104, the microcomputer 11 of the outdoor unit 1 which has received the operation mode decision information from the representative indoor unit 2-1 sends the operation mode decision information to the indoor units 2-other than the representative indoor unit 2-1. The data is transferred to j (j = 2 to n) through the bus 50 (step S105), and the current process ends.

During the above operation, the representative indoor unit 2-
In the indoor units 2-j other than 1, when the operation mode determination information from the outdoor unit 1 is received in step S119, the temperature Ti detected by each is input from each remote controller 3-j according to the received operation mode. The operation is performed according to the temperature difference from the set temperature Tr (step S121), and the remote controller 3-j
The current operation mode is transmitted via the bus 50 (step S122), and the current process is terminated. The operation mode transmitted to each remote controller 3-j is displayed on each display device 35.

Further, from the above state, the first setting means 1
4 is set to the off state, the procedure goes through step S119 to step S12 in all the indoor units 2-i again.
Since the operation proceeds to 0, remote controller operation is performed, and each indoor unit 2-i operates individually.

If the representative indoor unit set by the second setting means 15 is changed, step S103
At, the transmission destination of the automatic switching operation permission information from the outdoor unit 1 is changed, and then the above-described operation is performed.

As described above, according to the air conditioning system of the first embodiment, the first setting means 14 is provided only in the outdoor unit 1, and each of the first setting means 14 is set based on the setting of the first setting means 14. It can be set whether or not the indoor unit 2-i is set to the automatic switching operation. Therefore, even if there are many indoor units 2-i, or even if the installation location of the indoor units 2-i is in the ceiling,
The setting work of automatic switching operation can be performed very easily. Further, since the operation modes of the other indoor units 2-j are decided according to the specified operation mode of the representative indoor unit 2-1, all the indoor units 2-i.
Can be operated in the same operation mode.

Although the representative indoor unit 2-1 determines the operation mode in the first embodiment, the outdoor unit 1 determines the operation mode as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3, for example. You may

That is, after transmitting the automatic switching operation permission information to the representative indoor unit 2-1 in step S103, the microcomputer 11 of the outdoor unit 1 inputs from the remote controller 3-1 corresponding to the representative indoor unit 2-1. It is determined whether the selected operation mode is set to the automatic switching operation (step S204). If the operation mode is not set to automatic switching operation,
This processing is ended without going through the subsequent steps.

On the other hand, when the operation mode of the remote controller 3-1 is set to the automatic switching operation, the microcomputer 11 of the outdoor unit 1 detects the detected temperature Ti of the representative indoor unit 2-1 and the remote controller 3-.
The set temperature Tr from 1 is compared (step S20
5) Determine the operation mode during automatic switching operation according to the temperature difference between the two. For example, when the detected temperature Ti ≧ the set temperature Tr, the operation mode is determined to be the cooling mode (step S206). On the other hand, when the detected temperature Ti <the set temperature Tr, the operation mode is determined to be the heating mode (step S2).
07). Then, the microcomputer 11 of the outdoor unit 1 transmits the determined operation mode as operation mode determination information to the representative indoor unit 2-1 and other indoor units 2-j via the bus 50 (step S20).
8).

Steps S212 and S119
In the representative indoor unit 2-1 and the other indoor units 2-j that have received the operation mode determination information in the above, according to the received operation mode, the detected temperature Ti
And the operation according to the temperature difference from the set temperature Tr input from each remote controller 3-i (step S12).
1, step S213). Since the other processing steps in FIG. 3 are the same as the processing steps in the flowchart shown in FIG. 2, the same step numbers are assigned and the description thereof is omitted.

Even if such control is performed, the same as above
Since the first setting means 14 is provided only in the outdoor unit 1 and whether or not each indoor unit 2-i is set to the automatic switching operation can be set based on the setting of the first setting means 14. Even when there are a large number of indoor units 2-i, and even if the indoor units 2-i are installed in the ceiling, the setting work of the automatic switching operation can be performed very easily. In addition, according to the operation mode of the designated representative indoor unit 2-1, the other indoor units 2-
Since the operation mode of j is determined, it becomes possible to operate all the indoor units 2-i in the same operation mode.

Embodiment 2. The air conditioning system according to the second embodiment of the present invention automatically designates and changes the representative indoor unit according to the outside air temperature detected by the outdoor unit to perform the automatic switching operation.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the structure of the air conditioning system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the following description, the same reference numerals are given to the same or corresponding configurations as the configurations described in the first embodiment, and duplicate description is omitted.

In FIG. 4, the air conditioning system comprises an outdoor unit 1a, a plurality of indoor units 2-i, and a remote controller 3-i corresponding to each indoor unit 2-i. . The outdoor unit 1a, the indoor unit 2-i, and the remote controller 3-i are connected to each other via a bus 50.

The outdoor unit 1a has a third setting means 17 for setting a change reference temperature as a reference for automatically changing the representative indoor unit, and a temperature sensor 18 for detecting the temperature of the outside air. ing. Also, the outdoor unit 1a
The second setting means 15 'is for setting a candidate for the representative indoor unit. The other configurations are the same as those of the outdoor unit 1 of the air conditioning system according to the first embodiment described above. Further, the indoor unit 2-i and the remote controller 3-i that form the air conditioning system of the second embodiment have the same configuration as that of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the air conditioning system according to the second embodiment,
(A) is a microcomputer 11 of the outdoor unit 1a
Shows the contents of processing performed by the indoor unit 2-.
It shows the contents of processing performed by the microcomputer 21 of i.

The operation of the air conditioning system according to the second embodiment will be described below with reference to these flowcharts. Note that the microcomputer 11 of the outdoor unit 1a and the microcomputer 21 of each indoor unit 2-i repeatedly execute the processing shown in FIG. 5 at a predetermined cycle. Further, in the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, the indoor unit 2-1 having the smallest address is located near the window, and the indoor unit 2-n having the largest address is located near the doorway. , The second setting means 15 'is set as the representative indoor unit candidate. However,
For the representative indoor unit candidate, the second setting means 1
It is determined by the initial setting of 5'and is not necessarily limited to these.

First, the microcomputer 11 of the outdoor unit 1a determines whether or not the first setting means 14 is in the ON state (step S301). When the first setting means 14 is in the off state, the current processing is terminated without the subsequent steps.

On the other hand, when the first setting means 14 is on, the microcomputer 1 of the outdoor unit 1a
1 reads the change reference temperature Tc set by the third setting means 17 (step S302).

Next, the microcomputer 11 of the outdoor unit 1a has the indoor units 2-1 and 2-n set as the representative indoor unit candidates by the second setting means 15 ', and the remote controller 3-1 corresponding thereto. And 3-n are retrieved via the bus 50 (step S303).

Further, the microcomputer 11 of the outdoor unit 1a compares the outside air temperature To detected by the temperature sensor 18 with the change reference temperature Tc of the third setting means 17 (step S304). When the outside air temperature To is equal to or higher than the change reference temperature Tc (when To ≧ Tc), the indoor unit 2-1 is set as the representative indoor unit, and the indoor unit 2-1 and the corresponding remote controller 3- are set.
1 to transmit the automatic switching operation permission information (step S30
5 and step S307).

On the other hand, when the outside air temperature To is lower than the change reference temperature Tc (when To <Tc), the indoor unit 2-n is set as the representative indoor unit and the indoor unit 2-n and the corresponding indoor unit 2-n are set. The automatic switching operation permission information is transmitted to the remote controller 3-n (step S306 and step S307). After that, the microcomputer 11 of the outdoor unit 1a is connected to the representative indoor unit 2-
1 or 2-n is waited for (step S308). In the following, the case of To ≧ Tc will be described as a typical example.

On the other hand, each microcomputer 21 of the indoor unit 2-i determines whether or not the automatic switching operation permission information is received from the outdoor unit 1a (step S311). Here, when the first setting unit 14 is set to the off state in the previous step S301, the procedure is performed in all the indoor units 2-i in step S31.
In step 9, it is determined whether or not operation mode determination information, which will be described later, has been received. In this case, since the operation mode determination information has not been received, each indoor unit 2 is in accordance with the operation mode input from the remote controller 3-i.
-I performs remote controller operation (step S3
20), the processing of this time is ended. As a result, with the operation mode fixed to the cooling mode or the heating mode,
The set temperature set by the remote controller 3-i,
Each indoor unit 2-i operates individually according to the difference with the temperature detected by each temperature sensor 24.

On the other hand, in the indoor unit that has received the automatic switching operation permission information in step S311, that is, in the representative indoor unit 2-1, the operating mode input from the remote controller 3-1 corresponding to the microcomputer 21 is automatically switched. It is determined whether or not the operation is set (step S312). When the operation mode is not set to the automatic switching operation, the procedure proceeds to step S320, the remote controller operation is performed as before, and the processing of this time is ended.

On the other hand, the remote controller 3-1
When the input operation mode is set to the automatic switching operation, the microcomputer 21 of the representative indoor unit 2-1 performs the automatic switching operation. That is, the temperature Ti detected by the temperature sensor 24 of its own is compared with the set temperature Tr input from the remote controller 3-1 (step S313), and the operation mode at the time of automatic switching operation is determined according to the temperature difference between the two. Determine (step S314,
Step S315). Then, the representative indoor unit 2-1
The microcomputer 21 of 1 transmits the determined operation mode to the outdoor unit 1a through the bus 50 as operation mode determination information (step S316).

After that, the microcomputer 21 of the representative indoor unit 2-1 detects the detected temperature Ti and the set temperature T of the remote controller 3-1 according to the operation mode determined in step S314 or step S315.
The operation is performed according to the temperature difference from r (step S31
7) Further, the current operation mode is transmitted to the remote controller 3-1 through the bus 50 (step S3).
18) and the current process is ended. The operation mode transmitted to the remote controller 3-1 is displayed on the display device 35.

On the other hand, in step S308, the microcomputer 11 of the outdoor unit 1a which has received the operation mode decision information from the representative indoor unit 2-1 sends the operation mode decision information to the indoor units 2-other than the representative indoor unit 2-1. j through the bus 50 (step S
309), the processing of this time is ended.

During the above operation, the representative indoor unit 2-
In the indoor units 2-j other than 1, when the operation mode determination information from the outdoor unit 1a is received in step S319, the temperature Ti detected by each is input according to the received operation mode and each remote controller 3-j. The operation is performed according to the temperature difference from the set temperature Tr (step S321), and the remote controller 3
The current operation mode is transmitted to -j through the bus 50 (step S322), and the current process ends. The operation mode transmitted to each remote controller 3-j is displayed on each display device 35.

Further, from the above state, the first setting means 1
4 is set to the off state, the procedure goes through step S319 to step S32 in all the indoor units 2-i again.
Since the process proceeds to 0, each indoor unit 2-i operates individually.

During the above-described processing, the outdoor unit 1
The microcomputer 11 of a always compares the outside air temperature To with the change reference temperature Tc in step S304, and changes the representative indoor unit based on the comparison result. As a result, the transmission destination of the automatic switching operation permission information in step S307 changes, and the above-described processing is performed with the indoor unit that has received the automatic switching operation permission information as the representative indoor unit.

As described above, according to the air conditioning system of the second embodiment, the first setting means 14 is provided only in the outdoor unit 1a, and each of the first setting means 14 is set based on the setting of the first setting means 14. It can be set whether or not the indoor unit 2-i is set to the automatic switching operation. Therefore, even if there are a large number of indoor units 2-i, or even if the installation location of the indoor units 2-i is on the ceiling, the setting work of the automatic switching operation can be performed extremely easily. In addition, according to the operation mode of the designated representative indoor unit 2-1 or 2-n, another indoor unit 2
Since the operation mode of -j is determined, it becomes possible to operate all the indoor units 2-i in the same operation mode.

Furthermore, since the microcomputer 11 of the outdoor unit 1a can automatically change the designation of the representative indoor unit based on the comparison between the outside air temperature To and the change reference temperature Tc, it can be automatically changed according to the temperature condition. The switching operation can be easily performed. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, in a room where the room temperature at the window is high and the room temperature at the doorway side opposite to the window is low, the outside air temperature To becomes higher than the change reference temperature Tc in the summer (see FIG. a))
Sets the indoor unit 2-1 installed near the window to the representative indoor unit, while the outside air temperature To changes the reference temperature Tc.
In the winter (Fig. 6 (b)) when the temperature becomes lower than that, the indoor unit 2-n installed at the entrance / exit side is set as the representative indoor unit so that the automatic switching operation of each indoor unit 2-i is performed depending on the season. It will be possible.

Third Embodiment The air conditioning system according to the third embodiment of the present invention is provided with a centralized controller independent of the outdoor unit and the indoor unit as a means for designating the representative indoor unit, and after installation of the outdoor unit and the indoor unit, for example, OA (Office Automation) equipment. The representative indoor unit is flexibly and easily changed to perform automatic switching operation even when the indoor temperature changes due to changes in the arrangement of heat source devices such as the above.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the structure of the air conditioning system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the following description, the same reference numerals are given to the same or corresponding configurations as the configurations described in the first embodiment, and duplicate description is omitted.

In FIG. 7, the air conditioning system has an outdoor unit 1b, a plurality of indoor units 2-i, a remote controller 3-i corresponding to each indoor unit 2-i, and a centralized controller 4. Configured. These outdoor unit 1b, indoor unit 2-i, remote controller 3-i and centralized controller 4
Are connected to each other via a bus 50.

The centralized controller 4 is used for each indoor unit 2
-I individually or for each group, for example, temperature setting,
It is used to perform operation mode setting and the like, and includes a microcomputer 41, a transmission unit 42, a reception unit 43, a non-volatile memory 44, an input device 45, and a display device 46.
The microcomputer 41 controls the operation of the centralized controller 4, the transmission unit 42 transmits data, and the reception unit 43 receives data. The non-volatile memory 44 stores the addresses set by the address setting means 16, 25, 36 of the outdoor unit 1b, the indoor unit 2-i and the remote controller 3-i. Input device 45
Performs input / output of the indoor unit 2-i, operation mode switching input and set temperature input, group setting input of the indoor unit 2-i and remote controller 3-i, and further setting input of the representative indoor unit. .
The display device 46 displays the operating state or group setting state of the indoor unit 2-i. Further, the centralized controller 4 is also provided with an address setting means 47 to set a predetermined address.

The outdoor unit 1b is provided with a non-volatile memory 19 for storing the address of the representative indoor unit, and other configurations are the same as those of the outdoor unit 1 of the air conditioning system according to the first embodiment described above.

Further, the indoor unit 2-i and the remote controller 3-i constituting the air conditioning system according to the third embodiment have the same configuration as that of the first embodiment.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are flowcharts for explaining the operation of the air conditioning system according to the third embodiment, and FIG. 8 shows the processing contents executed by the microcomputer 41 of the centralized controller 4, and FIG. 9A shows the processing contents executed by the microcomputer 11 of the outdoor unit 1b, and FIG. 9B shows the processing contents executed by the microcomputer 21 of the indoor unit 2-i.

The operation of the air conditioning system according to the third embodiment will be described below with reference to these flowcharts. The microcomputer 41 of the centralized controller 4, the microcomputer 11 of the outdoor unit 1b, and the microcomputer 21 of each indoor unit 2-i repeatedly execute the processing shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 at a predetermined cycle. . Further, in the following, for convenience, the representative indoor unit designated by the centralized controller 4 is referred to as the indoor unit 2-1 having the smallest address.
However, this representative indoor unit is defined by the initial setting of the input device 45, and is not necessarily limited to the indoor unit 2-1. The setting of the representative indoor unit is performed by the microcomputer 41 of the centralized controller 4 storing in the nonvolatile memory 44 the address of the indoor unit to be the representative indoor unit reset in the input device 45.

First, the microcomputer 41 of the centralized controller 4 constantly monitors the input from the input device 45 (step S401), and when the address of the indoor unit 2-1 which is the representative indoor unit is input, it is nonvolatile. It is stored in the memory 44 (step S402). Next, the microcomputer 41 of the centralized controller 4
Transmits the address information of the representative indoor unit 2-1 to the outdoor unit 1b (step S403), and ends this processing.

On the other hand, in the microcomputer 11 of the outdoor unit 1b, it is judged whether or not the address information is received from the centralized controller 4 (step S41).
1) If the address information is not received, the current process is terminated without the subsequent steps.

On the other hand, when the address information is received from the centralized controller 4, the address information is stored in the non-volatile memory 19 (step S412), and then it is judged whether or not the first setting means 14 is in the ON state. Yes (step S413). When the first setting means 14 is in the off state, the current processing is terminated without the subsequent steps.

On the other hand, when the first setting means 14 is on, the microcomputer 1 of the outdoor unit 1b
1 reads the address stored in the non-volatile memory 19 (step S414), and further transmits the automatic switching operation permission information to the representative indoor unit 2-1 and the corresponding remote controller 3-1 specified by this (step S415). After that, the reception standby state from the representative indoor unit 2-1 is set (step S416).

On the other hand, each microcomputer 21 of the indoor unit 2-i determines whether or not the automatic switching operation permission information is received from the outdoor unit 1b (step S421). Here, in the previous step S413, when the first setting unit 14 is set to the off state, the procedure is performed in step S in all the indoor units 2-i.
In step 429, it is determined whether or not operation mode determination information described below has been received. In this case, since the operation mode determination information has not been received, each indoor unit 2-i performs the remote controller operation according to the operation mode input from the remote controller 3-i (step S430), and the current processing is performed. finish. As a result, in a state in which the operation mode is fixed to the cooling mode or the heating mode, each indoor unit 2 is set according to the difference between the set temperature set by the remote controller 3-i and the detected temperature of each temperature sensor 24. -I will operate individually.

On the other hand, in the indoor unit that has received the automatic switching operation permission information in step S421, that is, in the representative indoor unit 2-1, the operation mode input from the remote controller 3-1 corresponding to the microcomputer 21 is automatically switched. It is determined whether or not the operation is set (step S422). If the operation mode is not set to the automatic switching operation, the procedure proceeds to step S430, and after performing the remote controller operation as before,
This processing ends.

On the other hand, the remote controller 3-1
When the operation mode input by is set to the automatic switching operation, the microcomputer 21 of the representative indoor unit 2-1 performs the automatic switching operation. That is, the temperature Ti detected by the self temperature sensor 24 is compared with the set temperature Tr input from the remote controller 3-1 (step S423), and the operation mode is determined according to the temperature difference between the two (step S424). , Step S42
5). Then, the microcomputer 21 of the representative indoor unit 2-1 transmits the determined operation mode as operation mode determination information to the outdoor unit 1b through the bus 50 (step S426).

After that, the representative indoor unit 2-1 operates according to the temperature difference between the detected temperature Ti and the set temperature Tr of the remote controller 3-1 according to the operation mode determined in step S424 or step S425. (Step S427), also the remote controller 3
-1, the current operation mode is transmitted through the bus 50 (step S428), and the processing of this time is ended. The operation mode transmitted to the remote controller 3-1 is
It is displayed on the display device 35.

On the other hand, in step S416, the microcomputer 11 of the outdoor unit 1b which has received the operation mode decision information from the representative indoor unit 2-1 sends the operation mode decision information to the indoor units 2-other than the representative indoor unit 2-1. j through the bus 50 (step S
417), the processing of this time is ended.

During the above operation, the representative indoor unit 2-
In the indoor units 2-j other than 1, when the operation mode determination information is received from the outdoor unit 1 in step S429, the temperature Ti detected by each is input from each remote controller 3-j according to the received operation mode. The operation is performed according to the temperature difference from the set temperature Tr (step S431), and the remote controller 3-j
The current operation mode is transmitted via the bus 50 (step S432), and the current process is terminated. The operation mode transmitted to each remote controller 3-j is displayed on each display device 35.

Further, from the above-mentioned state, the first setting means 1
4 is set to the off state, the procedure goes through step S429 to step S43 again in all the indoor units 2-i.
Since the operation proceeds to 0, remote controller operation is performed, and each indoor unit 2-i operates individually.

Further, the input device 45 of the centralized controller 4
If the address of the representative indoor unit input from is changed, the transmission destination of the automatic switching operation permission information from the outdoor unit 1b is changed, and thereafter, the above operation is performed.

As described above, according to the air conditioning system of the third embodiment, the first setting means 14 is provided only in the outdoor unit 1, and each of the first setting means 14 is set based on the setting of the first setting means 14. It can be set whether or not the indoor unit 2-i is set to the automatic switching operation. Therefore, even if there are many indoor units 2-i, or even if the installation location of the indoor units 2-i is in the ceiling,
The setting work of automatic switching operation can be performed very easily. Further, since the operation modes of the other indoor units 2-j are decided according to the specified operation mode of the representative indoor unit 2-1, all the indoor units 2-i.
Can be operated in the same operation mode.

Further, the input device 4 of the centralized controller 4
The designation of the representative indoor unit can be changed based on the address input from 5. Therefore, even after the outdoor unit 1b and each indoor unit 2-i are installed, even if the indoor temperature situation changes due to, for example, a change in the arrangement of heat source equipment such as OA equipment, automatic switching operation according to the changed temperature situation. Can be done easily.

In the third embodiment, the address of the representative indoor unit is designated and changed by inputting the address of the representative indoor unit from the input device 45. For example, the setting is made by the timer 48 provided in the centralized controller 4. Depending on time, the representative indoor unit can be automatically changed to perform automatic switching operation. Further, the microcomputer 41 of the centralized controller 4 is the same as that of the second embodiment.
As described above, the outside air temperature To detected by the temperature sensor 18 of the outdoor unit 1a is compared with the change reference temperature Tc set in the third setting unit 17, and they are designated as the representative indoor unit according to the comparison result. May be changed.

[0087]

As described above, according to the present invention, whether or not the automatic switching operation can be set for each indoor unit can be set based on the setting contents of the automatic operation setting means of the outdoor unit. Whether or not the automatic switching operation can be performed can be easily set regardless of the installation location and the number of installations.

According to the next invention, since the other indoor units can be operated in accordance with the operation mode of the representative indoor unit designated by the designating means, all the indoor units can be controlled in the same operation mode. You can

Further, according to the next invention, since the designating means changes the designation of the representative indoor unit based on the preset condition, the operation mode is optimized according to various situations such as the temperature distribution in the room. be able to.

Further, according to the next invention, the other indoor units can be operated according to the operation mode of the representative indoor unit designated by the centralized controller.
All indoor units can be controlled in the same operating mode.

Further, according to the next invention, since the centralized controller changes the designation of the representative indoor unit based on the preset condition, even after the installation of the outdoor unit and the indoor unit, the indoor temperature distribution and the like are varied. The operation mode can be flexibly and easily optimized with respect to various changes in the situation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an air conditioning system that is Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the air conditioning system shown in FIG. 1, in which (a) shows the contents of processing performed by the microcomputer of the outdoor unit,
(B) shows the processing contents performed by the microcomputer of the indoor unit.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of a modified example of the air conditioning system shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an air conditioning system that is Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

5 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the air conditioning system shown in FIG. 4, (a) showing the processing contents executed by the microcomputer of the outdoor unit,
(B) shows the processing contents performed by the microcomputer of the indoor unit.

FIG. 6 is a layout diagram of an indoor unit.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an air conditioning system that is Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the air conditioning system shown in FIG. 7, showing the contents of processing executed by the microcomputer of the centralized controller.

9 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the air conditioning system shown in FIG. 7, in which (a) shows the processing contents performed by the microcomputer of the outdoor unit,
(B) shows the processing contents performed by the microcomputer of the indoor unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 outdoor unit, 1a outdoor unit, 1b outdoor unit, 2-1 to n indoor unit, 3-1 to n remote controller, 4 centralized controller, 11 microcomputer, 12 transmitter, 13 receiver, 14
1st setting means, 15 2nd setting means, 16 address setting means, 17 3rd setting means, 18 temperature sensor, 19 non-volatile memory, 21 microcomputer, 22 transmitter, 23 receiver, 24 temperature sensor, 2
5 address setting means, 31 microcomputer,
32 transmitter, 33 receiver, 34 input device, 35
Display device, 36 address setting means, 41 microcomputer, 42 transmitting part, 43 receiving part, 44 non-volatile memory, 45 input device, 46 display device, 47 address setting means, 48 timer.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Hiroki Masui             2-3 2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo             Inside Ryo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Junichi Kameyama             2-3 2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo             Inside Ryo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazuya Tamura             2-3 2-3 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo             Inside Ryo Electric Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 3L060 AA08 CC01 CC02 CC19 DD01                       EE01 EE22                 3L061 BA04 BA05

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioning system comprising an outdoor unit and a plurality of indoor units connected to the outdoor unit, each indoor unit being capable of performing automatic switching operation for automatically switching individual operation modes. The air conditioning system according to claim 1, wherein the outdoor unit is provided with automatic operation setting means for setting whether or not the automatic switching operation is possible. 2. The outdoor unit is provided with a designation unit for designating a representative indoor unit that serves as a criterion for determining the operation mode of each indoor unit in the automatic switching operation. 1. The air conditioning system according to 1. 3. The air conditioning system according to claim 2, wherein the designation unit changes designation of the representative indoor unit based on a preset condition. 4. A central controller that is provided independently of the outdoor unit and the indoor unit and that designates a representative indoor unit that serves as a criterion for determining the operation mode of each indoor unit in the automatic switching operation. The air conditioning system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that. 5. The air conditioning system according to claim 4, wherein the centralized controller changes designation of the representative indoor unit based on a preset condition.