JP2006162197A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a healthy air conditioner capable of improving amenity. <P>SOLUTION: In this air conditioner having a cooling cycle and provided with a throttle mechanism of variable throttling quantity on the way of a flow channel of an indoor heat exchanger, the operation is performed in a state that the throttle mechanism is transferred to a minimum flow rate side in a case of air conditioning load where a compressor is intermittently operated so far as a set state of the throttle mechanism is kept, in a normal cooling operation where the throttle mechanism is set to a maximum flow rate side and the air conditioner is operated in the cooling cycle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and in particular, an air conditioner that includes a throttle mechanism with a variable throttle amount provided in the middle of a flow path of an indoor heat exchanger, avoids intermittent characteristics in a cooling cycle, and performs stable continuous operation. About.

  Conventionally, in a cooling operation at a low load, the compressor is stopped when the air temperature load condition falls below the minimum capacity due to a decrease in the room temperature, and the operation is restarted when the temperature rises again. As a result, hunting occurs at room temperature of ± 1 ° C. or higher and humidity of about ± 5%, which is not comfortable for the user. Also, in an air conditioner that uses a compressor that cannot reduce the minimum capacity so much, when the compressor is turned on, cold air falls to the floor when the compressor is turned on, and an air conditioner that uses a compressor that can reduce the minimum capacity Compared to continuous driving in Japan, cold feet were noticeable and there were health problems.

Patent Document 1 proposes an air conditioner in which a throttle mechanism with a variable throttle amount is provided in the middle of the flow path of the indoor heat exchanger, and reheat dehumidification is performed using this throttle mechanism to improve comfort. However, this only shows that the air cooled and dehumidified into the room is blown out at the same temperature as the room temperature, and does not show the relationship with the operation of the compressor.
JP 2004-108618 A

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a healthy air conditioner with improved comfort.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, an air conditioner according to the present invention includes a variable capacity compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an outdoor throttle mechanism, and an indoor heat exchanger connected by piping, and a flow path of the indoor heat exchanger. In an air conditioner having a refrigeration cycle in which an indoor throttle mechanism with a variable throttle amount is installed in the middle, the indoor throttle mechanism is set to the maximum flow rate side, and during normal cooling operation that operates in the cooling cycle, the minimum of the compressor When it is determined that the air conditioning load condition is lower than the capacity, an operation mode is provided in which the operation is performed in a state in which the indoor throttle mechanism is shifted to the minimum flow rate side.

  According to the air conditioner according to the present invention, comfort can be improved and a healthy air conditioner can be provided.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of an air conditioner according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigeration cycle 2 of the air conditioner 1 according to this embodiment includes a compressor 3, a four-way valve 4, an outdoor heat exchanger 5 that performs heat exchange with outdoor air, and the outdoor heat exchanger 5. An outdoor expansion mechanism 6 composed of an electronic expansion valve that squeezes and depressurizes the liquid refrigerant from the first, a first indoor heat exchanger 7 and a second indoor heat exchanger 8 that exchange heat with room air, and this first room heat exchange. An indoor throttle mechanism 9 that can be switched between open and throttle interposed between the heat exchanger 7 and the second indoor heat exchanger 8 is connected by piping. In the cooling cycle, the indoor throttle mechanism 9 is configured to switch to a fully open state on the maximum flow rate side during normal cooling operation, and to a throttle state on the minimum flow rate side during reheat dehumidifying operation. An on-off valve with a configuration that performs a throttling function between the valve seat and the valve seat, a configuration in which a capillary tube and an on-off valve are connected in parallel, or an electronic expansion valve whose throttle opening can be continuously changed is used. The maximum flow rate side and the minimum flow rate side are switched by opening and closing.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the air conditioner 1 is provided with a control device 10, which controls the rotation of the compressor 3 through the inverter device 11. Further, the throttle mechanisms 6, 9 are controlled. The outdoor fan 12 that blows air to the outdoor heat exchanger 5 and the indoor fan 13 that blows air to the indoor heat exchangers 7 and 8 are controlled, and necessary sensors such as the indoor temperature sensor 14 are connected.

  In FIG. 1, the cooling / dehumidifying operation of the cooling cycle in the normal operation with the outdoor throttle mechanism 6 on the minimum flow rate side and the indoor throttle mechanism 9 on the maximum throttle side will be described. The refrigerant compressed by the compressor 3 is sent to the outdoor heat exchanger 5 through the four-way valve 4, decompressed by the rear outdoor throttle mechanism 6 that exchanges heat with the outdoor air, and sent to the first indoor heat exchanger 7. Then, it evaporates, passes through the indoor throttle mechanism 9, is sent to the second indoor heat exchanger 8, and evaporates. For this reason, since the indoor air is cooled and dehumidified by the first indoor heat exchanger 7 and the second indoor heat exchanger 8, the indoor humid air is cooled and dehumidified, and the cooling operation is performed in which the air is blown into the room. It is.

  1 and 3 show a normal reheat dehumidifying operation in which the outdoor throttle mechanism 6 is set to the maximum flow rate side and the indoor throttle mechanism 9 is set to the minimum flow rate side. The refrigerant compressed by the compressor 3 is sent to the outdoor heat exchanger 5 through the four-way valve 4 and exchanges heat with the outdoor air. It is sent and condensed, depressurized by the indoor side throttle mechanism 9, sent to the second indoor heat exchanger 8 and evaporated. At this time, for example, the temperature of the first indoor heat exchanger 7 is 35 ° C., and the temperature of the second heat exchanger 8 is 12 ° C. For this reason, since indoor air is heated with the 1st indoor heat exchanger 7, and is cooled and dehumidified with the 2nd indoor heat exchanger 8, for example, the high humidity air whose indoor intake air temperature is 24 degreeC is 22 degreeC. A reheat dehumidification operation is performed with low humidity air. Usually, this reheat dehumidification is applied to the operation of dehumidifying the room by circulating air in the room.

  1 and 4 show operation control during low-capacity operation during the normal cooling operation. The air conditioner 1 throttles the outdoor throttle mechanism 6 to a predetermined minimum flow rate side, and throttles the indoor throttle mechanism 9 to the minimum flow rate side. During the cooling cycle operation, the rotation control of the outdoor fan 12 and the opening degree control of the outdoor throttle mechanism 6 are also performed. The refrigerant compressed by the compressor 3 is sent to the outdoor heat exchanger 5 through the four-way valve 4, decompressed by the rear outdoor throttle mechanism 6 that exchanges heat with the outdoor air, and sent to the first indoor heat exchanger 7. However, since the pressure is reduced by the indoor side throttle mechanism 9, the refrigerant in the first indoor heat exchanger 7 is sent to the second indoor heat exchanger 8 without being evaporated, and is evaporated here. For this reason, since the 1st indoor heat exchanger 7 becomes an intermediate pressure, the temperature of the 1st indoor heat exchanger 7 will be about 24 degreeC, and the 2nd heat exchanger 8 will be about 10 degreeC. In such an operation, low-performance operation can be performed by an internal circulation system in which air blown from the outlet is returned to the suction side without being sent to the indoor side by a short circuit, and blown air is sent into the room. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the room temperature and to maintain the refrigeration cycle operation.

  The remote controller 15 outputs an operation mode and a room temperature value desired by the user by a user operation.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, the indoor unit 21 of the air conditioner 1 has an indoor unit main body 22. The indoor unit main body 22 has a front surface inlet 22a on the front surface portion 22a and an upper surface on the upper surface portion 22b. A suction port 23b is provided, and a blower port 24 is provided below the front surface portion 22a. Further, an air passage 25 is formed in the indoor unit body 22 so as to communicate both the suction ports 23a, 23b and the air outlet 24, and the air passage 25 faces the both air suction ports 23a, 23b. A first indoor heat exchanger 7, an indoor throttle mechanism 9, and a second indoor heat exchanger 8 are disposed, and an indoor blower 13 is disposed on the downstream side of the indoor heat exchangers 7 and 8. ing.

  The blower outlet 24 is provided with a blower upper louver 27a and a lower louver 27b for setting the air direction in the vertical direction of the heat exchange air. Further, a front panel 22c constituting the front surface of the indoor unit body 22 is attached to the front part 22a of the indoor unit body 22 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction. The front panel 22c has a smooth surface, and has a control motor ( The front suction port 23a is closed and opened using a link mechanism with a link mechanism, and the lower end portion 22c1 of the blower outlet 24 is in contact with the front suction port 23a. It extends to a position covering the upper front side.

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the indoor unit 21 closes the front panel 22c by contacting the front suction port 23a and extends the lower end portion 22c1 so as to cover the upper front side of the air outlet 24. In addition, the front panel fully closed mode in which the lower louver 27b is in the suspended state, and as shown in FIG. 6, the front panel 22c is largely moved forward and obliquely upward from the front suction port 23a, and the lower end portion 22c1 is moved to the outlet 24 The front panel full open mode in which the louvers 27a and 27b are inclined forward and the front panel 22c is moved forward from the front suction port 23a and smaller than the full open mode, as shown in FIG. The front lower end portion 22c1 is extended and positioned so as to cover the upper front side of the air outlet 24, and the upper louver 27a is inclined forward and upward. 27b and in the horizontal state, to realize the front panel half-opened mode shielded half outlet 35.

  In the front panel fully closed mode shown in FIG. 5, the conditioned air from the indoor unit 21 is blown only downward, and in the front panel fully opened mode shown in FIG. 6, the conditioned air is blown only in the front horizontal direction. In the front panel half-open mode shown in FIG. 7, an internal circulation air flow method is adopted in which conditioned air is caused to flow along the back and front surfaces of the front panel 33 c and the blown air is sucked again without blowing into the indoor space.

  In the cooling cycle operation of the air conditioner as described above, the following control is performed according to a change in the required cooling capacity.

  As shown in the explanatory diagram of the operation mode shown in FIG. 8, for example, in the front panel fully open mode shown in FIG. 6, when the normal air flow and the indoor throttle mechanism 9 are operating in the cooling operation of the zone A on the maximum flow rate side, As the required cooling capacity decreases, the compressor rotational speed is decreased sequentially, and when the air conditioning load becomes smaller than the operation at the minimum compressor rotational speed An in zone A, the indoor throttle mechanism 9 is minimized from the maximum flow rate side. Change to zone B on the flow rate side.

  At this time, the minimum compressor BnHz in zone B satisfies the following equation.

[Equation 1]
Compressor minimum AnHz ≤ Compressor minimum BnHz <Compressor rating Hz / 2

  Further, the outdoor fan 12 and the outdoor unit throttle mechanism 6 are adjusted based on the indoor set temperature and the indoor temperature sensor.

  Further, when the air conditioning load is small, the air flow is switched to the internal circulation air flow method in the front panel half-open mode shown in FIG. 7, and the operation in the zone C as shown in FIG.

  Further, whether or not to adopt zones B and C can be switched by a dedicated button on the remote controller, for example, a gentle airflow button.

  By performing such control, it is possible to connect the zone A (conventional compressor frequency variable range) to the zone D (compressor OFF) without any interruption, and continuous operation is ensured.

  By adopting the throttle amount control by the indoor throttle mechanism 9 and the internal circulation air flow, the cooling operation from the maximum flow rate side and the normal air flow is changed to the cooling operation at the minimum flow rate side and the normal air flow as the required cooling capacity decreases. Further, by changing to the cooling operation with the minimum flow rate side and the internal circulation airflow, the cooling A → cooling B shown in FIG. In the cooling C, the airflow discharged to the outside of the indoor unit can be suppressed, and the continuity of the sensory cooling ability can be improved by preventing the chill due to the airflow. Further, as can be seen from the comparison between the conventional example in zones B and C in FIG. 8 and the present embodiment, in the conventional cooling operation, the operation in zone A and zone D, that is, the air conditioning load is relatively large. Due to the repeated cooling and operation of the capacity, the operation in zones B and C with relatively small air conditioning load was not performed. Therefore, the temperature fluctuation in this region and the occupant's flow due to the cold air flow during operation Heat from the body surface was taken away, causing chills and cold feet, but due to continued low-capacity operation in Zones B and C, cool air dropped into the living area and fluctuations in room temperature and humidity Therefore, it is possible to prevent the feet from getting cold and provide a comfortable and healthy space. In addition, even when the cooling capacity at the minimum compressor speed is high, continuous operation with the supplied cooling capacity suppressed at the same compressor speed is possible, and an uncomfortable environment due to indoor temperature fluctuations during intermittent compressor operation. Can be avoided and comfort is improved.

  In the air conditioner of the present embodiment, the control of switching the throttle state of the indoor throttle mechanism 9 can be performed by the remote controller 14 during the cooling operation, so that the maximum throttle side is excellent in energy saving and the minimum throttle side. Is excellent in comfort and has the effect that the user can choose at his own will. Further, FIG. 9 also shows that the maximum compressor speed in the cooling operation set to the minimum flow rate side is equal to or less than half the compressor speed at the normal cooling rated capacity, and further equal to the minimum compressor speed. As described above, power consumption can be reduced.

  As the indoor-side diaphragm mechanism 9, a stepless diaphragm or a two-stage switching mechanism that takes into consideration the price is used. When the indoor side throttle mechanism 9 is not a stepless throttle, reliability is improved by making the minimum compressor rotation speed in the cooling operation set to the minimum flow rate side larger than the minimum compressor rotation speed on the maximum flow rate side. Can be secured.

  In the cooling cycle set to the minimum flow rate side, the cooling capacity adjustment based on the deviation between the set temperature and the target temperature is performed by controlling the rotational speed of the outdoor blower 12, the first indoor heat exchanger 7, and the outdoor heat exchanger 5. By performing the throttle amount control of the outdoor unit throttle mechanism 6 installed therebetween, the cooling capacity can be suppressed and the continuous operation can be ensured without changing the compressor rotation speed.

  In addition, the air conditioner has a function of performing a sleep mode operation that changes the indoor temperature state so that a comfortable sleep state can be maintained during sleep.

  This is because the room temperature change characteristic curve between the start of sleep mode control and the end of sleep mode control is a gradually decreasing region where the room temperature gradually decreases from the user set temperature before the start of sleep mode control, and after the end of control. The room air-conditioning operation is controlled so as to change the room temperature from the start of the sleep mode operation to the end of the sleep mode operation based on the sleep mode control pattern stored in advance. To do.

  The setting of the sleep mode operation is performed using the remote controller 15. That is, when the sleep mode setting switch (not shown) provided on the remote controller is operated to set the sleep mode in which the room temperature and the duration thereof are determined in advance, the indoor side diaphragm mechanism 9 is set accordingly. By controlling the amount of throttling, temperature fluctuations at light loads during sleep are suppressed, and accurate air conditioning within ± 1 ° C reduces sweating during sleep, promotes sleep, and increases body temperature when waking up An encouraging effect is obtained.

  As described above, according to the air conditioner of the present embodiment, comfort is improved and healthy air conditioning is realized.

The conceptual diagram of the refrigerating cycle used for the air conditioner which concerns on this invention. The conceptual diagram of the control circuit used for the air conditioner which concerns on this invention. The conceptual diagram which shows the reheat dehumidification driving | running state of the air conditioner which concerns on this invention. The conceptual diagram which shows the air_conditioning | cooling operation state of the throttle mechanism minimum flow rate side of the air conditioner which concerns on this invention. The longitudinal cross-sectional view of the front panel full-close mode of the indoor unit of the air conditioner which concerns on this invention. The longitudinal cross-sectional view of the front panel full open mode of the indoor unit of the air conditioner which concerns on this invention. The longitudinal cross-sectional view of the front panel half-open mode of the indoor unit of the air conditioner which concerns on this invention. Explanatory drawing of the operation mode of the air conditioner which concerns on this invention. The figure which shows the relationship between the dehumidification amount of the air conditioner which concerns on this invention, and power consumption.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Air conditioner, 2 ... Refrigeration cycle, 3 ... Compressor, 4 ... Four-way valve, 5 ... Outdoor heat exchanger, 6 ... Outdoor throttle mechanism, 7 ... 1st indoor heat exchanger, 8 ... 2nd indoor heat Exchanger, 9 ... Indoor side throttle mechanism, 10 ... Control device, 11 ... Inverter device, 12 ... Outdoor fan, 13 ... Indoor fan, 15 ... Remote control, 21 ... Indoor unit, 22 ... Indoor unit body, 22a ... Front part, 22b ... Upper surface portion, 22c ... Front panel, 22c1 ... Lower end portion, 23a ... Front suction port, 23b ... Upper surface suction port, 24 ... Air outlet, 27a ... Upper louver, 27b ... Lower louver.

Claims (4)

The compressor has a variable capacity, an outdoor heat exchanger, an outdoor throttle mechanism, and an indoor heat exchanger, and has a refrigeration cycle in which an indoor throttle mechanism with a variable throttle amount is installed in the middle of the flow path of the indoor heat exchanger. In an air conditioner, when it is determined that the air conditioning load condition is lower than the minimum capacity of the compressor during normal cooling operation in which the indoor throttle mechanism is set to the maximum flow rate side, the indoor throttle mechanism is set to the minimum flow rate side. An air conditioner comprising an operation mode in which operation is performed in a state in which the air conditioner is shifted to. 2. The control unit according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit configured to set a maximum compressor rotational speed in an operation mode set on the minimum flow rate side of the indoor throttle mechanism to half or less of a maximum rotational speed at a normal cooling rated capacity. The air conditioner described. Sleeping control is performed so that the room temperature change characteristic curve from the start of sleep mode control to the end of sleep mode control has a gradually decreasing region where the room temperature gradually decreases from the set temperature and then a gradually increasing region where the room temperature gradually increases until the end of control. The air conditioning according to claim 1, wherein when the sleep mode is set by a switch having a mode control pattern and capable of setting the sleep mode, an operation mode in which a throttle amount of the throttle mechanism is controlled is set. Machine. An air inlet is provided at the front of the indoor unit of the air conditioner, and an air outlet is provided at the lower part of the front. An indoor heat exchanger, an indoor throttle mechanism, and an indoor fan are disposed inside the indoor unit, and the air blown out from the air outlet As the required cooling capacity is reduced, from the cooling operation at the maximum flow rate side and the normal air flow to the cooling operation at the minimum flow rate side and the normal air flow, as the required cooling capacity is reduced. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the air conditioner is further changed to a cooling operation at the minimum flow rate side and the internal circulation airflow.

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