JP2005106441A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner for realizing drying operation which does not cause misunderstanding of a user by performing minimum times of drying operation after cooling operation or dehumidifying operation without deteriorating amenity and operability of a wireless remote controller. <P>SOLUTION: A receiving part and a transferring part for conducting two-way transmission with the wireless remote controller are provided in an indoor unit of the air conditioner and a transferring part and a receiving part are provided in the wireless remote controller. In accordance with cooling operation time or dehumidifying operation time, the drying operation for reducing humidity in the indoor unit and preventing mold and bacteria from breeding is performed and a signal is transferred to the receiving part of the wireless remote controlling from the transferring part of the indoor unit at the time of the drying operation start and a display part of the wireless remote controller displays that the drying operation is being performed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioner that performs bidirectional communication with a wireless remote controller and displays on a wireless remote controller execution of a drying operation that reduces the humidity inside an indoor unit.

Conventionally, after the air conditioner is cooled or dehumidified, the interior of the air conditioner indoor unit is in a high humidity state. In such an environment, mold and bacteria can easily propagate, and mold and bacteria can cause bad odors when operating the air conditioner, and mold and bacteria can be scattered indoors. It was not preferable. In view of such a problem, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-286278 discloses an air conditioner in which a wireless remote controller is provided with a switch that allows a user to arbitrarily control ON / OFF of a cooling operation or a drying operation after a dehumidifying operation. It is disclosed. According to this, the user can decide whether or not to perform a drying operation as needed, and if the user selects the drying operation, it is possible to suppress the growth of mold and bacteria. (For example, see Patent Document 1).
JP 2002-286278 A

  However, in the above-described conventional configuration, when the execution of the drying operation is selected in advance, the drying operation is always performed immediately after the cooling operation or the dehumidifying operation, and the cooling operation is attempted again immediately after stopping the cooling operation. In this case, the operation of the wireless remote controller must be performed to stop the drying operation, and then the cooling operation must be started.

  The present invention solves such conventional problems, and performs a minimum number of drying operations after cooling operation or dehumidifying operation without impairing comfort and operability of the wireless remote controller. It aims at providing the air conditioner which implement | achieves the dry operation which does not give.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, an air conditioner of the present invention has a reception unit and a transmission unit that perform bidirectional communication with a wireless remote controller in an indoor unit, and the wireless remote control also includes a transmission unit and a reception unit. Then, according to the cooling operation time or the dehumidifying operation time, a dry operation is performed to reduce the humidity inside the indoor unit to prevent the growth of mold and bacteria, and when the dry operation starts, the wireless remote controller A signal is transmitted to the receiving unit, and the fact that the drying operation is being performed is displayed on the display unit of the wireless remote controller. Further, after a predetermined time has elapsed as the drying operation time, the drying operation display of the wireless remote controller is stopped or switched to an operation display other than the drying operation. Further, at the end of the drying operation, a signal is transmitted from the transmitting unit of the indoor unit to the receiving unit of the wireless remote controller, and the drying operation display of the wireless remote controller is stopped or switched to an operation display other than the drying operation. It is.

  With the above configuration, a minimum number of drying operations are performed after the cooling operation or dehumidifying operation, and the drying operation display is performed on the wireless remote controller, further reducing the comfort and operability of the wireless remote controller. An air conditioner that achieves a dry operation without misunderstanding can be obtained.

  As described above, according to the air conditioner of the present invention, the drying operation performed after the cooling operation or the dehumidifying operation can be suppressed to the minimum number of times, without impairing the comfort and operability of the wireless remote controller. There is an effect that the drying operation can be performed without misunderstanding the user.

  Further, according to the present invention, the current consumption of the wireless remote control can be suppressed, and the wireless remote control battery life can be improved.

    Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is possible to display the drying operation of the wireless remote controller corresponding to the drying operation time that varies depending on the installation environment of the indoor unit, and the usability of the wireless remote controller can be improved.

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

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an indoor unit of an air conditioner and a wireless remote controller according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In the figure, the indoor unit 1 has a receiving unit 3 that receives infrared signals transmitted from the transmitting infrared element 2 of the transmitting unit and the transmitting infrared element 5 of the wireless remote controller 4 and converts them into digital signals. The wireless remote controller 4 includes a receiving unit 6 that receives infrared signals transmitted from the transmitting infrared element 5 of the transmitting unit and the transmitting infrared element 2 of the indoor unit 1 and converts them into digital signals, and an operation mode. Is displayed, an operation button 8 for operating / stopping the air conditioner 1, and an operation switching button 9 for selecting cooling, dehumidification, heating, automatic operation, or the like.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart at the time of the drying operation process of the indoor unit 1 of the air conditioner according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart at the time of a drying operation process of the wireless remote controller 4 of the air conditioner according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  The operation of the air conditioner indoor unit will be described with reference to FIG. First, in FIG. 2, during the cooling operation or the dehumidifying operation, the cooling operation / dehumidifying operation time is measured in step S1. In step S2, the time during which the drying operation is not performed is measured. Although not shown, the time during which the drying operation is not performed even during the operation stop is measured. In step S3, it is determined whether or not the transmission code of the operation stop instruction from the wireless remote controller 4 is received. If not received, the cooling operation or the dehumidifying operation is continued. If the operation stop code is received, the process proceeds to step S4, where it is determined whether the cooling operation or the dehumidifying operation has been completed. If the operation has ended from the heating operation or the like, the process proceeds to an operation stop process in step S6. When shifting from the cooling operation or the dehumidifying operation to the stop, in step S5, is the cooling operation or the dehumidifying operation time longer than a predetermined time, or whether the elapsed time from the previous drying operation time (non-drying operation time) is longer than the predetermined time? It is determined whether all the drying operation start conditions such as whether the user has selected the drying operation are satisfied. If the conditions are not satisfied, the operation proceeds to the operation stop process in step 6, and if the conditions are satisfied, the drying operation is performed. When carrying out the drying operation, the drying operation code is transmitted from the indoor unit infrared signal transmitting infrared element 2 in step S7. In step S8, drying operation processing such as blowing, heating, and ventilation is performed. At this time, the drying operation time is measured in step S9, and it is determined whether or not the predetermined drying operation time has elapsed in step S10. If not, the drying operation is continued, and if it has elapsed, the stop process in step S6. Migrate to

Next, the operation of the wireless remote controller will be described with reference to FIG. In step R1, it is determined whether or not the operation button 8 has been operated. If the operation button 8 has not been operated, the input of the button is repeated, but if it is determined that the operation has been operated, the process proceeds to step R2. In step R2, it is determined whether the operation is started or stopped. If the operation is started, the process proceeds to the normal operation display in step R3. When the operation is stopped, in step R4, a signal is input to the wireless remote control infrared receiver 6 and reception processing is performed. Next, in step R5, it is determined whether or not the received signal is a drying operation signal from the indoor unit 1. If not, the process proceeds to a stop display process in step R6. If there is a drying operation signal, the process proceeds to step R7, and the drying operation is displayed on the display unit 7.

  With the above configuration, the drying operation is performed only when the humidity of the indoor unit becomes high according to the cooling operation or the dehumidifying operation time, and the drying operation is displayed on the wireless remote control at hand of the user during the drying operation. Therefore, it is possible to realize the drying operation of the air conditioner that is comfortable and has good operability, which is the minimum necessary number of times and which the user does not feel as a malfunction.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 4 is a flowchart at the time of the drying operation process of the wireless remote controller 4 of the air conditioner according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 4, the same processing as that in the first embodiment is given the same step number and description thereof is omitted. If it is determined in step R5 that the drying operation is started, the process proceeds to a drying operation display process in step R7. In step R8, the drying operation time is measured. In step R9, it is determined whether or not a predetermined drying operation time has elapsed. As a result, if the drying operation time has not elapsed, the process returns to step R7 and the drying operation display is continued. If the drying time has elapsed, the process proceeds to the stop display process in step R6 as the drying operation time is over.

  According to such a configuration, if the drying operation start signal is received, the drying operation display can be turned ON / OFF in synchronization with the drying operation time of the indoor unit, and the reception standby time of the wireless remote control can be shortened. The current consumption of the wireless remote control can be reduced, and a wireless remote control with a long battery life can be realized.

(Embodiment 3)
FIG. 5 is a flowchart at the time of the drying operation process of the indoor unit 1 of the air conditioner according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart at the time of a drying operation process of the wireless remote controller 4 of the air conditioner according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. In FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the same processing as that of the first embodiment will be omitted by giving the same step number.

  First, in step S10 in FIG. 5, it is determined whether or not the drying operation time set in advance has elapsed, or other factors such as a decrease in humidity are detected, and the end of the drying operation is determined. If it is determined that the drying operation has ended, the process proceeds to step S11, and a drying operation end code is transmitted from the indoor unit infrared signal transmitting infrared element 2. Then, it progresses to the operation stop process of step S6.

  Next, the operation of the wireless remote controller 4 will be described with reference to FIG. In step R5, it is determined that the drying operation is performed, and the process proceeds to step R7 to display the drying operation on the wireless remote control display unit 7. In step R10, a signal is input to the wireless remote control infrared receiver 6 and reception processing is performed. Next, it is determined whether or not the signal received in step R11 is a drying operation end signal from the indoor unit 1. If the signal is not a drying operation end signal, the drying operation display is continued. In the case of the drying operation end signal, the process proceeds to the stop display process in step R6.

According to such a configuration, even when the drying operation is shorter or longer than a predetermined drying operation time, it is possible to display the drying operation display of the wireless remote controller in synchronization with the drying operation of the indoor unit. There is no difference in the wireless remote control display, and an easy-to-use wireless remote control can be realized.

  In addition, although the indoor unit and the wireless remote controller are made to communicate using infrared light, the same effect can be obtained by communication using radio waves.

  As described above, the air conditioner according to the present invention is useful as an air conditioner that performs a drying operation because the drying operation can be performed a minimum number of times without impairing comfort and operability.

1 is a system configuration diagram of an indoor unit of an air conditioner and a wireless remote controller according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The flowchart at the time of the indoor unit drying operation process of the air conditioner in Embodiment 1 of this invention The flowchart at the time of the wireless remote control drying operation process of the air conditioner in Embodiment 1 of this invention The flowchart at the time of the wireless remote control drying operation process of the air conditioner in Embodiment 1 of this invention The flowchart at the time of the indoor unit drying operation process of the air conditioner in Embodiment 1 of this invention The flowchart at the time of the wireless remote control drying operation process of the air conditioner in Embodiment 1 of this invention

Explanation of symbols

1 Indoor Unit 2 Indoor Unit Transmitting Infrared Element (Transmitter)
3 Indoor unit reception unit 4 Wireless remote control 5 Wireless remote control infrared signal transmission infrared element (transmission unit)
6 Wireless remote control receiver 7 Display 8 Run button 9 Run switch button

Claims (3)

The indoor unit has a receiving unit and a transmitting unit that perform two-way communication with the wireless remote controller, and the wireless remote controller also has a transmitting unit and a receiving unit. Depending on the cooling operation time or the dehumidifying operation time, Performs a dry operation to reduce the humidity and prevent the growth of mold and bacteria, sends a signal from the transmission unit of the indoor unit to the reception unit of the wireless remote control at the start of the dry operation, and performs a dry operation on the display unit of the wireless remote control An air conditioner characterized by displaying that is being implemented. 2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the drying operation display of the wireless remote controller is stopped or switched to an operation display other than the drying operation after a predetermined time has elapsed as the drying operation time. 2. When the drying operation ends, a signal is transmitted from the transmitting unit of the indoor unit to the receiving unit of the wireless remote controller, and the drying operation display of the wireless remote controller is stopped or switched to an operation display other than the drying operation. The air conditioner described.

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