JP3075979B2 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-system air conditioner in which a plurality of indoor units are connected to one outdoor unit, and more particularly to a technique for controlling the flow of refrigerant from an outdoor unit to an indoor unit. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, a multi-system type air conditioner in which a plurality of indoor units are connected to one outdoor unit is known. In this type of air conditioner, the outdoor unit is provided with a plurality of (for example, four liquid pipes and four gas pipes) connection ports (joints) for connecting a plurality of refrigerant pipes (liquid pipes and gas pipes). The indoor units are connected one-to-one to these pipe connection ports.

In such a multi-system type air conditioner, in order to distribute the refrigerant in accordance with a request from each indoor unit, an electric expansion valve for diverting control provided at a pipe connection port of the outdoor unit (see FIG. 1). The degree of opening of the flow dividing valve is adjusted. The control of the valve opening of each electric expansion valve is executed under the control of the microcomputer in the outdoor unit, following the temperature detected by the heat exchanger temperature sensor attached to the heat exchanger of each indoor unit.

On the other hand, the air conditioner has a so-called "high power operation" in which the capacity of the outdoor unit is made larger than a normal value in order to improve the start-up at the time of startup and to adjust the target temperature in a short time. Operation mode is provided. The high-power operation is an operation mode in which the operation capacity is increased by switching the operation frequency of the compressor to the maximum frequency during normal operation and increasing the amount of refrigerant circulating from the outdoor unit. High power operation is individually requested by a switch such as a remote controller connected to each indoor unit.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional air conditioner, the valve response is not changed until the temperature of each part changes, so that there is a problem that the operation response is slow. Also, if any of the plurality of indoor units attempts to perform high-power operation, the air-conditioning capacity of other indoor units that do not require high-power operation also increases, and the capacity is dispersed. There is a problem. Further, when the operation is already performed at the maximum frequency, there is no change in the performance even if the high-power operation is set, and there is a case where the performance is insufficient and the high-power operation becomes substantially impossible.

An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner that can start high-power operation promptly in response to a request from an indoor unit and operate without reducing the performance of other indoor units as much as possible. is there.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an outdoor unit and a plurality of refrigerant pipe connection ports provided in the outdoor unit can be adjusted in opening degree. A plurality of indoor units connected via a diverting valve, and a high-power operable air conditioner that forcibly increases the operation capacity to the maximum capacity side, wherein the outdoor unit is connected to the outdoor unit. Having an opening adjustment mechanism of the shunt valve that automatically controls the opening of each shunt valve based on the request, and when receiving a high-power operation request signal transmitted from any of the indoor units, The opening of the corresponding shunt valve of the indoor unit that has issued the operation request signal is increased by a predetermined opening from the valve opening of the opening adjustment mechanism, and the opening of the shunt valve corresponding to another indoor unit is set to a predetermined value. The control device is provided with control means for reducing the opening degree.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the control means receives the high power operation request signal, the control unit widens the opening of the flow dividing valve corresponding to the corresponding indoor unit by a predetermined opening, and opens the other indoor unit. The diverting valve opening corresponding to the machine. By performing such opening adjustment of the flow dividing valve, it is possible to speed up the response to the high power operation request from the indoor unit, and to concentrate the refrigerant on the indoor unit that has issued the high power operation request. As a result, high-power operation can be performed without significantly changing the performance of other indoor units.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an outdoor unit, and a plurality of indoor units connected to a plurality of refrigerant pipe connection ports provided in the outdoor unit via split flow valves whose opening degree can be adjusted. In the air conditioner capable of high-power operation for forcibly increasing the operation capacity to the maximum capacity side, the outdoor unit automatically adjusts the degree of opening of each flow dividing valve based on a request from an indoor unit connected to the outdoor unit. It has an opening adjustment mechanism of the shunt valve to control,
When the high power operation request signal transmitted from any of the indoor units is received, the operation frequency of the compressor built in the outdoor unit is further increased by a predetermined frequency (for example, 10%) from the maximum operation frequency during normal operation. ５50%), the opening of the corresponding shunt valve of the indoor unit that has issued the high-power operation request signal is made larger by a predetermined opening than the opening of the opening adjustment mechanism, and the other Control means is provided for reducing the opening of the flow dividing valve corresponding to the indoor unit by a predetermined opening.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the control means receives the high-power operation request signal, the control unit increases the operating frequency of the compressor by a predetermined frequency further than the maximum operating frequency in the normal operation, and controls the outdoor unit. The capacity of the unit itself is increased, the opening of the shunt valve corresponding to the relevant indoor unit is widened by a predetermined opening, and the opening of the shunt valve corresponding to another indoor unit is reduced. By performing such opening adjustment of the flow dividing valve,
It is possible to speed up the response to the high power operation request from the indoor unit, to maximize the capacity of the outdoor unit, and at the same time, to reduce the capacity of other indoor units that do not require high power operation It can be maintained in the operating state.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(I) Configuration of Air Conditioner FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an air conditioner to which the present invention is applied.

The outdoor unit 100 has a connection pipe (liquid pipe) 28.
The indoor unit group 101 is connected via a to c and connection pipes (gas pipes) 29a to 29c. This air conditioner can perform cooling and heating operations, and in FIG.
The flow of the refrigerant during cooling is indicated by a solid line, and the flow of the refrigerant during heating is indicated by a broken line.

During cooling, the refrigerant flows out of the compressor 3, the muffler 4, the four-way valve 5, the outdoor heat exchanger 6, the modulator 7, the modulator 8, the strainer 9, and the electric expansion valve 10 for controlling the refrigerant of the main refrigeration circuit. Shunted into three circuits. Each of the branch circuits is provided with a refrigerant control electric expansion valve 11a to 11c, and the refrigerant is supplied to a strainer 12a.
To 12c, liquid pipe side connection ports 23a to 23c, connection pipe 28
a to 28c, and sent to the indoor heat exchangers 2a to 2c. The refrigerant flowing out of the indoor heat exchangers 2a to 2c is connected to the connection pipe 2
Returning to the gas pipe side connection ports 27a to 27c via 9a to 29c, the muffler 13, the four-way valve 5, the accumulator 14,
The flow returns to the compressor 3 via 15.

On the other hand, during the heating, the refrigerant circulates in a path reverse to that of the above-described cooling, so that the arrows are indicated by broken lines and the details are omitted. In addition, 16 is an electromagnetic on-off valve for defrost,
When frost has started or is likely to form frost on the outdoor heat exchanger 6, a portion of the warm-air gas refrigerant discharged from the compressor 3 is provided to the outdoor heat exchanger 6 to prevent defrosting or frost formation. It is for.

Dividing liquid pipe temperature sensors 18a to 18c are attached to the respective dividing circuits on the liquid pipes 28a to 28c side. Similarly, each of the gas pipe side branch circuits is provided with a branch gas pipe temperature sensor 19a to 19c. A compressor discharge temperature sensor 20 is mounted on the discharge side of the compressor 3. Further, the outdoor heat exchanger 6 is provided with an outdoor heat exchanger temperature sensor 21, and an outdoor air temperature sensor 22 is provided on the windward side of the outdoor heat exchanger 6.
Is attached.

The outdoor unit 100 is a microcomputer 17
The microcomputer 17 includes the above-mentioned temperature sensors 18a to 18c, 19a to 19c, 20,
Upon receiving the temperature detection signals from 21 and 22, the outdoor unit 100 is controlled according to a control program stored in advance. The outdoor unit microcomputer 17 and each of the indoor unit microcomputers 27a to 27e to be described later are connected by a communication line (not shown) to communicate temperature data, compressor frequency data, and the like.

The microcomputer 17 includes a compressor discharge temperature sensor 20 and a diversion liquid pipe temperature sensor 18.
a to 18c and a refrigerant control electric expansion valve 11 based on temperature detection signals from the branch gas pipe temperature sensors 19a to 19c.
Calculation of the valve opening degree of a to 11c is performed.

The refrigerant control electric expansion valves 11a to 11c are:
The valve opening is adjusted by an attached stepping motor. The microcomputer 17 outputs a pulse signal to the step motor of each of the refrigerant control electric expansion valves 11a to 11c based on the calculation result by the microcomputer 17. Thus, the flow rate of the refrigerant in the main circuit and the flow dividing circuit is controlled. These refrigerant control electric expansion valves 11a
To 11c operate up to full open in, for example, 511 steps,
By outputting a pulse for normal rotation or a pulse for reverse rotation from the microcomputer 17, the valve opening control is performed with a resolution of one step unit.

In this embodiment, the indoor unit group 101 includes:
Each of the indoor units has indoor heat exchangers 2a to 2c. Although not shown, the air conditioner has a blower fan, and the basic structure of the indoor unit itself may be a general structure.

The indoor heat exchangers 2a to 2c are provided with heat exchanger temperature sensors 24a to 24e and indoor suction air temperature sensors 25a to 25e at their air inlets.

Each indoor unit has a microcomputer 26a.
To 26c are built in each microcomputer 2
6a to 26c execute calculation and control of an air blowing amount and the like based on temperature detection signals from the heat exchanger temperature sensors 24a to 24e and the indoor suction air temperature sensors 25a to 25e,
Also, necessary data is exchanged with the outdoor unit-side microcomputer 17 via a communication line (not shown).

(II) Split control during high power operation The air conditioner described above is configured to be capable of high power operation. The opening control of the split valve during the high power operation is performed by a ROM in the microcomputer 17. The program is executed in accordance with a shunt control program stored in advance and data stored in the EEPROM.

FIG. 2 shows an algorithm of the flow control program according to the present invention. Hereinafter, description will be made in the order of steps.

First, by inputting a high power operation command from a remote controller (not shown) connected to each indoor unit, the microcomputers 26a to 256c of the indoor units cause the microcomputer 17 of the outdoor unit 100 to perform high power operation. A request signal is sent.

Next, when a high-power operation request signal is received (step S1), this control program is started, and the functions after step S2 are executed.

In step S2, the microcomputer 17 sets the valve opening of the electric expansion valve 9 to an initial control mode (control mode at the start of operation of the air conditioner) based on the received high power operation request signal. , Larger than the opening during normal operation. Next, the valve opening of the electric expansion valve (for example, 11a) of the flow dividing circuit corresponding to the outdoor unit that has transmitted the high power operation request signal is set to, for example, an opening corresponding to 450 steps, and is opened. The valve openings of the electric expansion valves (for example, 11b and 11c) of the circuit are set to an opening equivalent to 300 steps and are throttled. Further, the operating frequency of the compressor 3 is set to a frequency higher than the maximum frequency during normal operation. The degree of increase in the operating frequency of the compressor 3 is determined by a coefficient α corresponding to the capacity of the outdoor unit (that is, the capacity of the compressor 3), and an example of the coefficient α is shown in FIG. When the setting in step S2 is completed, the process proceeds to step S3.

Step S3 is a timer which sets the initial control mode of step S2 (for example, 360
S) to regulate. Therefore, the initial control mode of step S2 is executed only for the above set time, and when the set time is counted up (YES), the processing shifts to step S4, and the electric expansion valves 11a to 11c of the respective shunt circuits perform the shunt during normal operation. It is returned to the controlled valve opening.

Next, in step S5, it is confirmed whether or not there is a high power operation end signal. The high-power operation end signal is a signal that is issued because the high-power operation itself is an overload operation, and during the heating operation, the heat exchanger temperature of the indoor unit or the high-power operation allowable time is a predetermined time. This signal is output when the temperature has reached the predetermined value, and is output when the heat exchanger temperature of the indoor unit or the high-power operation allowable time for the anti-freezing control has reached a predetermined value during the cooling operation.

When the high power operation is completed (step S
5, YES), and the process proceeds to step S6. Step S
In step S6, the maximum operating frequency of the compressor 3 which has been set high in step S2 is returned to the frequency in the normal control (control corresponding to a request from each indoor unit).

[0031]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the high power operation request signal is received, the opening of the flow dividing valve corresponding to the corresponding indoor unit is greatly opened by a predetermined opening. The opening of the shunt valve is adjusted so as to reduce the opening of the shunt valve corresponding to the indoor unit, so that the response to the high power operation request from the indoor unit can be sped up, and the demand for the high power operation can be increased. Since the refrigerant is supplied intensively to the indoor unit that has issued the air conditioner, high-power operation can be performed without significantly changing the performance of the other indoor units.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the high power operation request signal is received, the operation frequency of the compressor is increased by a predetermined frequency further than the maximum operation frequency in the normal operation, and the performance of the outdoor unit itself is increased. , The opening of the flow dividing valve corresponding to the corresponding indoor unit is greatly opened by a predetermined opening,
Since the opening of the shunt valve is adjusted to reduce the opening of the shunt valve corresponding to other indoor units, the response to the high power operation request from the indoor unit can be accelerated, and the capacity of the outdoor unit can be improved. It is possible to extract the maximum power, and at the same time, to maintain the performance of the other indoor units that do not require the high-power operation in the same operation state as before.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a refrigerant circuit of an air conditioner according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a flow control algorithm of the air conditioner according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a capacity coefficient of a compressor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 outdoor unit, 101 indoor unit group 2 a to 2 c indoor unit heat exchanger 3 compressor 4 muffler 5 four-way valve 6 outdoor heat exchanger 7 modulator 8 strainer 9 electric expansion valve for refrigerant control of main refrigeration circuit 10 strainer 11 a to 11 c branch circuit Electric expansion valve for refrigerant control 12a to 12c Strainer of shunt circuit 13 Muffler 14 Accumulator 15 Accumulator 17 Microcomputer 18a to 18c Separating liquid pipe temperature sensor 19a to 19c Separating gas pipe temperature sensor 20 Compressor discharge temperature sensor 21 Outdoor heat exchanger temperature Sensor 22 Outside air temperature sensor 23a to 23c Liquid pipe side connection port 24a to 24c Heat exchanger temperature sensor 25a to 25e Indoor suction air temperature sensor 26a to 26e Indoor unit microcomputer 27a to 27c Gas pipe side connection port 28a 28c connecting pipe 29a~29c connecting pipe

Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Koichi Aoishi 2-5-1-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-7-180924 (JP, A) JP-A 64-64 70660 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F24F 11/02 102 F25B 13/00 104

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An outdoor unit, and a plurality of indoor units connected to a plurality of refrigerant pipe connection ports provided in the outdoor unit via a flow dividing valve whose opening degree can be adjusted, and have an operating capacity. In an air conditioner capable of high-power operation that forcibly increases to the maximum capacity side, the outdoor unit automatically controls the opening of each flow dividing valve based on a request from an indoor unit connected to the outdoor unit. Having an adjusting mechanism, when receiving a high-power operation request signal transmitted from any of the indoor units, adjusts an opening of a corresponding shunt valve of the indoor unit that has issued the high-power operation request signal by the opening adjustment. An air conditioner comprising control means for increasing the opening degree of a shunt valve corresponding to another indoor unit by a predetermined opening degree by increasing the opening degree of the valve by a predetermined opening degree. 2. An outdoor unit comprising: an outdoor unit; and a plurality of indoor units connected to each of a plurality of refrigerant pipe connection ports provided in the outdoor unit via a flow dividing valve whose opening is adjustable. In an air conditioner capable of high-power operation that forcibly increases to the maximum capacity side, the outdoor unit automatically controls the opening of each flow dividing valve based on a request from an indoor unit connected to the outdoor unit. Having an adjustment mechanism, when receiving a high-power operation request signal transmitted from any of the indoor units, the operation frequency of the compressor incorporated in the outdoor unit is further predetermined frequency than the maximum operation frequency during normal operation And the opening of the corresponding shunt valve of the indoor unit that has issued the high power operation request signal is increased by a predetermined opening from the valve opening during normal operation, and the shunt valve corresponding to another indoor unit Only the specified opening An air conditioner comprising control means for reducing the size.