JP4214198B2 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioning system, and more particularly, to an air conditioning system that performs demand control that suppresses peak power consumption.

  Generally, demand control for reducing the power consumption of the power load is performed in order to suppress the peak at the time of power peak. In demand control in an air conditioning system, when a demand command is input, the air conditioning capacity is reduced or the operation is stopped. As an example, when an air conditioning monitoring panel is connected to the signal line that exchanges signals between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit, and a demand command is input, a control signal that lowers the air conditioning capacity individually from this air conditioning monitoring panel to each indoor unit. What is output has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  On the other hand, there are various rooms to be air-conditioned, such as a laboratory, a conference room, a canteen, and a library where precision equipment is installed, and the necessity, frequency of use, or importance of air-conditioning varies depending on the room. Therefore, when performing demand control, it is desired to individually control the air conditioning capacity for each room.

JP 2001-317791 A (page 2-4, FIG. 1)

  When demand control is performed individually for each room, according to the technique of Patent Document 1, an address table in which addresses of each indoor unit are classified for each room so that the indoor units installed in each room can be recognized by addresses. It is provided in the air conditioning monitoring panel, and a control signal is output to the indoor unit for each room according to the demand command.

  Here, since the outdoor unit generally recognizes the address of each indoor unit, it is conceivable to transfer the address of each indoor unit to the air conditioning monitoring panel. However, although the outdoor unit can identify the address of each indoor unit, it cannot generally identify which address of the indoor unit is installed in which room. Therefore, a control program is required that creates an address table that stores the correspondence between indoor units and rooms, and transfers the correspondence to the air conditioning monitoring panel. For this reason, when configuring an air conditioning system that performs demand control, a dedicated control program is required, which goes against the desire to standardize outdoor units and indoor units. Instead of providing a dedicated control program, it may be possible to set the address of the indoor unit placed in each room directly in the air conditioning monitoring panel, but this method corresponds to the address of each indoor unit and the room. Since it is necessary for the worker to examine the relationship, the work becomes complicated.

  An object of the present invention is to automatically identify an indoor unit that is a target of demand control using a general-purpose control program.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention includes a plurality of indoor units, an outdoor unit that supplies refrigerant to each indoor unit, a controller provided in the outdoor unit, and a power monitoring device that suppresses power consumption . In an air conditioning system, a plurality of indoor units are divided into a plurality of groups, and the indoor units belonging to each group are connected and connected to the controller through the same signal line. A repeater is inserted and connected between the two, and this repeater relays the control signal transmitted from the controller to the indoor unit and the operation state signal transmitted from the indoor unit to the controller, and is transmitted from the indoor unit. When relaying the operation status signal, the address of each indoor unit attached to the operation status signal is stored, and when a demand command for reducing power consumption is input from the power monitoring device , the controller and Signal line connection with indoor unit Blocked, by applying an address to the control signal corresponding to the demand command and outputs through the signal line to each indoor unit.

  That is, the controller receives an operation state signal assigned with each address from each indoor unit, and also controls the air conditioning capacity to the address of each indoor unit, for example, a signal for opening and closing the expansion valve of the indoor unit Or a signal for adjusting the opening of the expansion valve. Here, the present invention connects the controller and the indoor unit of each group via each repeater, so when relaying the operation state signal transmitted from the indoor unit to the controller, the self group The address of the indoor unit belonging to can be grasped. Therefore, demand control can be performed individually for each group using the grasped address.

  This eliminates the need for a special control program for creating and transferring an address table in which the correspondence between indoor units and rooms is stored, and also eliminates the need for the operator to check the address. That is, the indoor unit targeted for demand control can be automatically identified using a general-purpose control program.

  Note that it is preferable to use a signal of the same type as the control signal output from the controller as the control signal output from the repeater because it is not necessary to change the control circuit of the indoor unit.

The present invention can also be used in an air conditioning system configured to exchange signals by superimposing signals on a power line. Specifically, a plurality of indoor units, an outdoor unit that supplies refrigerant to each indoor unit, a controller provided in the outdoor unit, and a power monitoring device that reduces power consumption are provided. divided into groups, and connect the indoor units belonging to the respective groups to the power source, respectively through the same power line, each indoor unit outputs an operating state signal superimposed on the power line, control signal superimposed on the power line A repeater connected to the controller via the signal line is provided for each group, and this repeater superimposes the control signal transmitted from the controller on the power line and transmits it to the indoor unit. The present invention is directed to an air conditioning system that transmits an operation state signal transmitted from an indoor unit while being superimposed on a power line to a controller via a signal line. In such a repeater, when converting the operation state signal transmitted from the indoor unit, the address of each indoor unit attached to the operation state signal is stored to reduce power consumption from the power monitoring device. When a demand command to be input is input, the connection of the signal line to the controller is cut off, an address is given to the control signal corresponding to the demand command, and it is superimposed on the power line and output to each indoor unit be able to.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to automatically identify an indoor unit targeted for demand control using a general-purpose control program.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of an air conditioning system of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an air conditioning system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a repeater according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the air conditioner system of this embodiment includes an outdoor unit 1 and a plurality of indoor units 2. The outdoor unit 1 includes a compressor that compresses a refrigerant and a heat exchanger. Each indoor unit 2 includes a heat exchanger and an expansion valve. Each indoor unit 2 is connected in parallel to the outdoor unit 1 via a refrigerant pipe (not shown) to form a refrigeration cycle. In FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, illustration of refrigerant piping, a compressor, a heat exchanger, and an expansion valve is omitted for simplification of the drawings. The outdoor unit 1 is provided with a controller 3. The controller 3 is connected to each indoor unit 2 via a signal line.

  Next, the characteristic part of this embodiment is demonstrated. The plurality of indoor units 2 are divided into group I and group II. Each indoor unit 2 belonging to the group I and each indoor unit 2 belonging to the group II are connected to each other by a signal line 5. The signal lines 5 of the groups I and II are each connected to the signal line 9 of the controller 3 via the repeater 7. A demand command is input to each repeater 7 from the power monitoring device 11 via the signal line 13. The power monitoring device 11 is configured to output a demand command when the power consumption peak exceeds a set value.

  The operation of the air conditioning system configured as described above will be described. First, when the operation is started, the controller 3 receives an operation state signal (for example, an indoor temperature, a set temperature, an air flow rate of an indoor fan, an operation mode, etc.) assigned with its own address from each indoor unit 2. . And the control signal which attached | subjected each address to each indoor unit 2 is output. This control signal includes a signal for controlling the air conditioning capability of the indoor unit 2, for example, a signal for adjusting the opening degree of the expansion valve of the indoor unit 2 and a signal for opening and closing the expansion valve of the indoor unit 2 (thermo on / off signal). include. On the other hand, the output of the outdoor unit 1, for example, the operating frequency of the compressor is appropriately controlled in accordance with the air conditioning load obtained from the operating state of each indoor unit 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the repeater 7 relays a control signal transmitted from the controller 3 to the indoor unit 2 and an operation state signal transmitted from the group of indoor units 2 to the controller 3. The repeater 7 stores the address of the indoor unit 2 attached to the operation state signal when relaying the operation state signal transmitted from the indoor unit 2 (address storage means 15).

  When a demand command is input via the signal line 13, the repeater 7 generates a demand control signal set in advance according to the demand command (demand control signal generating means 16). The demand control signal is a signal for reducing the air conditioning capability of the indoor unit 2 and can be set to a different value for each repeater 7 (for example, 100%, 50%, 0%). The demand control signal is given the address stored in the address storage means 15 and is output to the signal line 5. At this time, the connection between the signal line 9 of the controller 3 and the signal line 5 of the indoor unit 2 is cut off so that the demand control signal does not overlap the signal exchanged between the controller 3 and the indoor unit 2 (switching means). 17). Note that the switching unit 17 appropriately connects the signal line 5 and the signal line 9 after outputting the demand control signal.

  Thus, since the address given to the control signal output from the repeater 7 is the address taken from the operation state signal transmitted from the indoor unit 2 of its own group, the control signal given this address is Naturally, it is sent to the indoor unit 2 belonging to its own group. In addition, when the indoor unit 2 receives the control signal and the air conditioning capability is reduced, the air conditioning load sent from the indoor unit 2 to the controller 3 is reduced. Therefore, the output of the outdoor unit 1 is lowered accordingly, and the air conditioning system As a whole, power consumption is reduced.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to grasp the addresses of the indoor units 2 belonging to its own groups I and II. Therefore, for example, it is not necessary to create an address table in which the addresses of the indoor units belonging to the group are set in the controller 3, etc., and to provide a control program for transferring these addresses. There is no need to check the address belonging to the group. That is, it is possible to automatically identify the indoor unit that is the target of demand control without changing the control program or the like.

  In addition, it is preferable to use a signal of the same type as the control signal output from the controller 3 as the demand control signal output from the repeater 7, because it is not necessary to change the control circuit of the indoor unit 2.

  In the present embodiment, the power monitoring apparatus 11 is configured to simply output a demand command when the power consumption peak exceeds the set value. Instead, the power consumption peak exceeds the set value. The demand command can be output in stages (for example, 75%, 50%, and 25% operation) depending on the degree. In this case, the repeater 7 can be configured to output different demand control signals according to the input demand command.

  By the way, the degree of decrease in the air conditioning capability of the indoor unit 2 by the demand control signal of the present embodiment is set in consideration of the necessity of air conditioning, the usage frequency, or the importance of each room. For example, a priority order can be set for each room, and an indoor unit in a room with a high priority can be operated at 100%, and an indoor unit in a room with a low priority can be operated at an air conditioning capacity of 0%. According to this, while ensuring the comfort of a room having a high priority, it is possible to operate while reducing the capacity of the entire air conditioning system, and it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the entire air conditioning system.

  In the present embodiment, the indoor unit 2 is connected to the signal line 5 by crossover wiring. Instead, as shown in FIG. 3, the air conditioning system is configured to exchange signals by superimposing signals on the power line. Can be used. In FIG. 3, the same components as those in FIG.

  That is, the air conditioning system of FIG. 3 includes the outdoor unit 1 and a plurality of indoor units 22. The plurality of indoor units 22 are divided into groups I and II, and are connected to a power source (not shown) via the same power line 25. Each indoor unit 22 has a function of outputting an operation state signal superimposed on the power line 25 and receiving a control signal superimposed on the power line 25. Each group I, II is provided with a repeater 27. The repeater 27 is connected to the signal line 9 of the controller 3. In addition to the functions of the repeater 7 in FIG. 2, the repeater 27 superimposes the control signal transmitted from the controller 3 on the power line 25 and transmits it to the indoor unit 2, and superimposes the control signal on the power line from the indoor unit 2 and transmits it. The operation state signal to be transmitted is transmitted to the controller 9 through the signal line 9. The power line 25 is provided with a blocking filter 30 to prevent a signal superimposed on the power line 25 from leaking to the power supply side.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the air conditioning system of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the repeater of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the modification of the air conditioning system of one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Outdoor unit 2 Indoor unit 3 Controller 5, 9, 13 Signal line 7 Repeater 11 Power monitoring apparatus I, II group

Claims (2)

In an air conditioning system including a plurality of indoor units, an outdoor unit that supplies a refrigerant to each indoor unit, a controller provided in the outdoor unit, and a power monitoring device that suppresses power consumption ,
Dividing the plurality of indoor units into a plurality of groups, connecting the indoor units belonging to each group by the same signal line and connecting to the controller, the controller of the signal line of each group and the room A repeater is inserted and connected to the machine,
The repeater relays a control signal transmitted from the controller to the indoor unit and an operation state signal transmitted from the indoor unit to the controller, and relays an operation state signal transmitted from the indoor unit. The address of each indoor unit attached to the operation state signal is stored at the time, and when a demand command for reducing power consumption is input from the power monitoring device , between the controller and the indoor unit The air conditioning system is characterized in that the connection of the signal line is cut off, the address is given to the control signal corresponding to the demand command, and the control signal is output to the indoor units via the signal line. A plurality of indoor units; an outdoor unit that supplies refrigerant to each indoor unit; a controller provided in the outdoor unit; and a power monitoring device that suppresses power consumption. divided, controlling the indoor units belonging to the respective groups respectively through the same power line connected to a power supply, said each indoor unit outputs an operating state signal superimposed on the power line, which is superimposed on the power line Has the ability to receive signals,
A repeater connected to the controller via a signal line is provided for each group, and the repeater superimposes a control signal transmitted from the controller on the power line and transmits it to the indoor unit. In an air conditioning system that transmits an operation state signal transmitted from an indoor unit to the power line in a superimposed manner to the controller via the signal line,
The repeater stores the address of each indoor unit attached to the operation state signal when transmitting the operation state signal transmitted from the indoor unit to the controller, and is consumed from the power monitoring device. When a demand command for reducing power is input, the connection of the signal line to the controller is cut off, and the address is given to the control signal corresponding to the demand command and superimposed on the power line. An air conditioning system that outputs to each indoor unit.

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