JP4349230B2 - AIR CONDITIONER, SIGNAL TRANSMISSION METHOD, AND AIR CONDITIONER SIGNAL TRANSMISSION METHOD - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an air-conditioning apparatus, a signal transmission method, and a signal transmission method for an air-conditioning apparatus in which devices are arranged separately inside and outside the room and perform functions while exchanging control signals with each other.

  The conventional air conditioner is provided with an electrical insulation device on the indoor unit side and the outdoor unit side of the gas side refrigerant pipe and liquid side refrigerant pipe of the air conditioner divided into an indoor unit and an outdoor unit. Connect the substrate to the gas side refrigerant pipe and the liquid side refrigerant pipe, connect the control board of the outdoor unit to the gas side refrigerant pipe and the liquid side refrigerant pipe, and connect the gas side and liquid side refrigerant pipes to the indoor unit and the outdoor unit. It was configured to be used as a communication medium for control signals. (See Patent Document 1)

JP-A-6-2880 (Claims 1, 1 and 2)

However, the conventional air-conditioning apparatus needs to insulate between the refrigerant pipe serving as a communication medium, the indoor unit, and the outdoor unit, and the apparatus configuration becomes large and complicated, which is a problem.
In particular, even if an attempt was made to apply a transmission method for a conventional air conditioner to an existing air conditioner, the insulation work was very difficult and cumbersome so that it could hardly be applied in practice.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object thereof is to provide an air-conditioning apparatus that performs signal transmission between indoor and outdoor apparatuses with a very simple configuration. It is another object of the present invention to provide a signal transmission method that can easily use existing piping as a communication medium without complicated and complicated work.

  An air conditioner according to the present invention is an air conditioner having an indoor unit connected to one end of a refrigerant pipe and an outdoor unit connected to the other end of the refrigerant pipe, and is provided at each end of the refrigerant pipe. In addition, an AC control signal is coupled to the refrigerant pipe, and a signal coupling unit that has a predetermined impedance with respect to the AC electrical signal is provided.

In the air conditioner according to the present invention, since the signal coupling portions are provided at both ends of the refrigerant pipe, a transmission path having a predetermined impedance with respect to the AC electric signal can be formed in the refrigerant pipe. As a result, the electrical insulation device as in the prior art is not required, and an excellent effect is achieved that signal transmission between the indoor unit and the outdoor unit can be performed with a simple device configuration.
Moreover, it becomes possible to use it as a communication medium simply by attaching a signal coupling portion comprising an annular core and a connection terminal to an existing refrigerant pipe, for example. As a result, an excellent effect that the existing refrigerant pipe can be used as a communication medium without exchanging the steel pipes near both ends of the refrigerant pipe with the electrical insulation device is exhibited.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the air-conditioning apparatus according to the present embodiment.
In the figure, an outdoor unit 1 and an indoor unit 2 are connected via a gas side refrigerant pipe 3 and a liquid side refrigerant pipe 4 with an outer wall 10 interposed therebetween.

  The indoor unit 2 includes an indoor unit refrigerant circuit 8, an indoor unit control circuit 9, and a signal coupling circuit (signal coupling unit) 7. The indoor unit control circuit 9 exchanges control signals using an AC signal as a medium, and the AC control signal output from the indoor unit control circuit 9 passes through the signal coupling circuit 7 to the gas side refrigerant pipe 3 or the liquid side. The refrigerant pipe 4 or both pipes are transmitted to the outdoor unit as a medium.

  The outdoor unit 1 includes an outdoor unit refrigerant circuit 5, an outdoor unit control circuit 6, and a signal coupling circuit (signal coupling unit) 7. The outdoor unit control circuit 6 exchanges control signals through an AC signal as in the case of the indoor unit control circuit 9, and the AC control signal output from the outdoor unit control circuit 6 passes through the signal coupling circuit 7. The gas side refrigerant pipe 3 or the liquid side refrigerant pipe 4 or both pipes are coupled to each other and transmitted to the indoor unit 2.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram showing the principle of the signal coupling circuit 7 according to the present embodiment. Here, the outdoor unit 1 will be described as an example. The outdoor unit refrigerant circuit 5 is made of a metal material, and the liquid side pipe 3 and the gas side pipe 4 are electrically short-circuited via the outdoor unit refrigerant circuit 5. As shown in FIG. 2 (b), an inductance having a winding number of 1 is formed by inserting the liquid side pipe 3 and the gas side pipe 4 into the center of an annular core 11 made of a magnetic material. The For example, in the case of a toroidal core having an inner radius R1, an outer radius R2, a height h and a magnetic permeability μ, the self-inductance L is
L = (μh / 2π) ln (R2 / R1), and for an AC signal of frequency f,
It has an impedance of Z = j2πfL. Therefore, for the AC control signal transmitted by the outdoor unit control circuit 6, 2 * Z is generated on the outdoor unit refrigerant circuit 5 side by the action of the core 11 penetrating the liquid side pipe 3 and the gas side pipe 4. A transmission line terminated with an impedance is formed.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a coupling clamp 12 which is a specific example of the signal coupling circuit 7. The coupling clamp 12 includes a partial core piece 11 a obtained by dividing the annular core 11 into two along the central axis, and a connection terminal 13 that couples an AC control signal from the outdoor unit control circuit 6. Moreover, the connection terminal 13 is a connection part 13b for connecting the metallic contact part 13a provided in the pipe insertion part of the longitudinal direction one end surface of the partial core piece 11a, and the alternating current control signal of the outdoor unit control circuit 6. And.
The coupling clamp 12 is configured to be openable and closable, and can be closed in a state where the partial core pieces 11a are combined as shown in FIG. At this time, the inductance described with reference to FIG. 2A is formed by sandwiching the metal part of the liquid side pipe 3 or the gas side pipe 4 in the central part of the partial core piece 11a. And the connection part 13b of the coupling clamp 12 becomes an injection | pouring part of the alternating current control signal to each piping.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a pipe connection portion of the outdoor unit 1, and shows a specific example of coupling an AC control signal to the liquid side pipe 3 and the gas side pipe 4 using the coupling clamp 12 shown in FIG. 3. Yes. As shown in FIG. 5, the liquid side pipe 3 and the gas side pipe 4 are connected to the outdoor unit 1 in the same manner as the air conditioner described in the prior art, and the control signal cable 16 from the outdoor unit control circuit 6 is electrically connected. The signal coupling circuit 7 shown in FIG. 1 is formed by covering the coupling clamps 12 connected to each other and attaching them to the metal parts of the liquid side pipe 3 and the gas side pipe 4.
The liquid side pipe 3 and the gas side pipe 4 connected to the outdoor unit refrigerant circuit 5 are covered with a heat insulating material made of an insulating material such as urethane foam, and are laid on the indoor unit 2. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 1, the pipe connection portion of the indoor unit refrigerant circuit 8 of the indoor unit 2 is covered with a coupling clamp 12 from above in the same manner as the outdoor unit 1. By attaching to the signal coupling circuit 7, the signal coupling circuit 7 is formed.

In this way, by attaching the coupling clamp 12 to the liquid side pipe 3 and the gas side pipe 4, parallel lines that are insulated from each other and that are both ends terminated with a predetermined impedance are formed. The outdoor unit control circuit 6 and the indoor unit control circuit 9 transmit / receive control signals to / from each other via this line, and the outdoor unit 1 and the indoor unit 2 perform a pair of air conditioning operations.
As described above, according to this method, the refrigerant piping work of the air conditioner does not require any change to the method of the prior art, and the refrigerant piping can be easily used as the transmission line simply by attaching the coupling clamp 12. This makes it possible to realize an air conditioner with good workability and no control wiring work.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
Next, an air-conditioning apparatus according to Embodiment 2 will be described. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the principle of the signal combining circuit 7 according to the second embodiment. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the component which is the same as that of Embodiment 1, or equivalent, and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In FIG. 6A, the outdoor unit 1 will be described as an example. The outdoor unit refrigerant circuit 5 is made of a metal material and is electrically connected to the ground line connection terminal of the outdoor unit 1. Therefore, the liquid side pipe 3 and the gas side pipe 4 are electrically connected to the ground connection terminal via the outdoor unit refrigerant circuit 5. In general, the outdoor unit 1 is grounded. Even if the signal is directly coupled to the liquid side pipe 3 or the gas side pipe 4 in this state, if the ground impedance is low, the coupling loss is large, and signal propagation to the pipe cannot be expected.

As shown in FIG. 6 (b), the liquid side pipe 3 and the gas side pipe 4 are respectively inserted into the center portion of the annular core 11 made of a magnetic material, thereby forming an inductance having one winding. The For example, in the case of a toroidal core having an inner radius R1, an outer radius R2, a height h and a magnetic permeability μ, the self-inductance L is
L = (μh / 2π) ln (R2 / R1), and for an AC signal of frequency f,
It has an impedance of Z = j2πfL. Therefore, with respect to the AC control signal transmitted by the outdoor unit control circuit 6, the impedance of Z is provided to the outdoor unit refrigerant circuit 5 side by the action of the core 11 penetrating the liquid side pipe 3 or the gas side pipe 4. A grounded transmission line is formed.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a pipe connection portion of the outdoor unit 1, and shows a specific example of coupling an AC control signal to the liquid side pipe 3 or the gas side pipe 4 using the coupling clamp 12 shown in FIG. 3. Yes. For simplification of description, the description will be made by coupling a signal to the gas side pipe 4. As shown in FIG. 7, the liquid side pipe 3 and the gas side pipe 4 are connected to the outdoor unit 1 in the same manner as the air conditioner described in the prior art, and the control signal coaxial cable 17 from the outdoor unit control circuit 6 is connected. A coupling clamp 12 electrically connected to the center conductor is covered from above and attached to the metal part of the gas side pipe 4. Further, the outer conductor of the control signal coaxial cable 17 is connected to the excitation unit 18 covered with a conductive material on the surface of the heat insulating material of the gas side pipe 4 by a predetermined width, so that the signal coupling circuit 7 shown in FIG. It is formed.
Similarly, as shown in FIG. 1, the joint clamp 12 is covered from above on the pipe connection portion of the refrigerant circuit 8 of the indoor unit 2 and attached to the gas side pipe 4 in the same manner as the outdoor unit 1. The signal coupling circuit 7 is formed by connecting the outer conductor of the control signal coaxial cable 17 to the excitation unit 18.

  In such a manner, when an AC control signal is transmitted from the outdoor unit control circuit 6, an electromagnetic field is generated between the surface of the gas side pipe 4 and the excitation unit 18, and this electromagnetic field is generated by the gas side pipe 4. Propagating the surface layer. Because the self-inductance of the coupling clamp 12 has a predetermined impedance with respect to the ground, the excitation current is not completely absorbed by the ground, and the injection loss is also kept low.

The electromagnetic field propagated through the surface layer of the gas side pipe 4 reaches the signal coupling circuit 7 on the indoor unit 2 side, and generates an electric signal in the control signal coaxial cable 17 connected to the excitation unit 18 and the coupling clamp 12. The indoor unit control circuit 9 receives this electric signal, and communication is performed. The communication from the indoor unit 2 to the outdoor unit 1 is performed in the same manner with the transmission / reception operation reversed.
As described above, according to this method, the refrigerant piping work of the air conditioner does not require any change to the method of the prior art, and it is easy to attach the coupling clamp 12 and the excitation portion 18 on the piping surface. In addition, the refrigerant pipe can be used as a transmission line, and it is possible to realize an air conditioner with good workability and no control wiring work.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the AC control signal is coupled to the gas side pipe 4 has been described, but the same effect can be obtained by coupling the signal to the liquid side pipe 3 or both pipes.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a pipe connection portion of the outdoor unit 1, and a second specific example in which an AC control signal is coupled to the liquid side pipe 3 or the gas side pipe 4 using the coupling clamp 12 illustrated in FIG. 3. Is shown. For simplification of description, the description will be made by coupling a signal to the gas side pipe 4. As shown in FIG. 8, the liquid side pipe 3 and the gas side pipe 4 are connected to the outdoor unit 1 in the same manner as the air conditioner described in the prior art, and the control signal coaxial cable 17 from the outdoor unit control circuit 6 is connected. A coupling clamp 12 electrically connected to the center conductor is covered from above and attached to the metal part of the gas side pipe 4. Further, the signal coupling circuit 7 is formed by connecting the outer conductor of the control signal coaxial cable 17 to the outdoor unit refrigerant circuit 5.
Similarly, the pipe connection portion of the refrigerant circuit 8 of the indoor unit 2 is attached to the gas side pipe 4 by covering the coupling clamp 12 from above in the same manner as the outdoor unit 1, and the outside of the control signal coaxial cable 17. A signal coupling circuit 7 is formed by connecting the conductor to the indoor unit refrigerant circuit 8.

  The indoor unit 2 is generally installed by being suspended from a ceiling building structure material 19 (such as a steel frame) with a metal anchor or the like. Moreover, in the outdoor unit 1, it is earth | grounded via the building structural material 19, or a ground wiring and structural material are couple | bonded by electrostatic coupling etc. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, a transmission line is formed using the building structure 19 as a common line and the gas side pipe 4 terminated with the impedance of the coupling clamp 12 as an electric wire.

In such an aspect, since the gas side pipe 4, the coupling clamp 12, and the building structure 19 form an electric signal loop, when the AC control signal is transmitted from the outdoor unit control circuit 6, the AC control signal Is transmitted to the indoor unit 2 through the gas side pipe 4. The indoor unit control circuit 9 receives this AC control signal, and communication is performed. The communication from the indoor unit 2 to the outdoor unit 1 is performed in the same manner with the transmission / reception operation reversed.
As described above, according to this method, the refrigerant piping work of the air conditioner does not require any change to the method of the prior art, and the refrigerant piping can be easily used as the transmission line only by attaching the coupling clamp 12. Therefore, it is possible to realize an air conditioner with good workability and no control wiring work.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the AC control signal is coupled to the gas side pipe 4 has been described, but the same effect can be obtained by coupling the signal to the liquid side pipe 3 or both pipes.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
Next, an air-conditioning apparatus according to Embodiment 3 will be described. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating the principle of the signal combining circuit 7 according to the third embodiment. In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the component which is the same as that of Embodiment 1, or equivalent, and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In FIG. 10, the outdoor unit 1 will be described as an example. The outdoor unit refrigerant circuit 5 is made of a metal material, and the liquid side pipe 3 and the gas side pipe 4 are electrically short-circuited via the outdoor unit refrigerant circuit 5. When the outdoor unit refrigerant circuit 5 is a short-circuit termination (refrigerant pipe take-out portion) and the liquid-side pipe 3 and the gas-side pipe 4 are parallel lines, the impedance at a distance l from the short-circuit termination is expressed by the equations shown in FIGS. As shown in the graph, in principle, it varies in the range of 0 to ∞ depending on the distance l. For example, if the wavelength is selected to ¼ of the wavelength of the AC control signal using the distance l, it becomes infinite, and the gas side pipe 4 and the liquid side pipe 3 can be regarded as insulated wires. Here, since the wavelength is 30 cm when the frequency of 1 GHz is used, the distance l from the short-circuit end may be set to 7.5 cm.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a pipe connection portion of the outdoor unit 1, and shows an example in which the diagram of FIG. 10 is embodied. By connecting the distance l to the liquid side pipe 3 and the gas side pipe 4 at a quarter of the wavelength according to the frequency of the AC control signal, both pipes can be used as transmission lines.
Through this line, the outdoor unit control circuit 6 and the indoor unit control circuit 9 transmit and receive control signals to each other, and the outdoor unit 1 and the indoor unit 2 perform air conditioning operation in pairs.
As described above, according to this method, the refrigerant piping work of the air conditioner does not require any change to the conventional method, and the signal is output from the outdoor unit refrigerant circuit 5 to a distance of 1/4 of the wavelength of the AC control signal. It is possible to easily use the refrigerant pipe as a transmission line simply by combining the two, and it is possible to realize an air conditioning apparatus that has good workability and eliminates control wiring work.

  Although a single frequency is assumed here, even if the frequency band of the control signal has a predetermined band, some communication systems can absorb the transmission path characteristics depending on the frequency. The distance between the points is a frequency band to be used, and may be approximately ¼ wavelength.

  Furthermore, although the case where the outdoor unit 1 and the indoor unit 2 were each one was demonstrated, the structure by which the several indoor unit 2 is connected to the single outdoor unit 1 like a building air conditioning system (building multi air conditioner). Or vice versa. In this case, it is possible to construct a network system using the refrigerant piping.

  In the first to third embodiments, the signal transmission method using the refrigerant pipe of the air-conditioning apparatus has been described. However, such a signal transmission method is not limited to the refrigerant pipe. Any piping made of a current-carrying material capable of transmitting an AC electrical signal may be used. For example, a hot water supply pipe of a hot water supply system using a water pipe, a gas pipe, a fan coil unit, or the like, a pipe of an FF type heater, or the like may be used. A network system can be easily constructed by using such piping already installed in a building or house.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an air-conditioning apparatus according to Embodiment 1. FIG. (A) is a block diagram which shows the principle of the signal coupling circuit which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. (B) is sectional drawing which shows the structure of a core. It is a figure which shows the structure of the coupling clamp which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the state which closed the coupling clamp which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a signal coupling unit according to Embodiment 1. FIG. (A) is a block diagram which shows the principle of the signal coupling circuit which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. (B) is sectional drawing which shows the structure of a core. 6 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a signal coupling circuit according to Embodiment 2. FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another specific example of the signal coupling circuit according to the second embodiment. It is a system block diagram for demonstrating the transmission path | route using the signal coupling circuit of FIG. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the principle of a signal coupling circuit according to a third embodiment. It is a figure which shows the edge part of the liquid side piping 3 and the gas side piping 4. FIG. It is a graph which shows the impedance in the distance l from a short circuit termination | terminus. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a signal coupling circuit according to a third embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Outdoor unit 2 Indoor unit 3 Liquid side piping 4 Gas side piping 5 Outdoor unit refrigerant circuit 6 Outdoor unit control circuit 7 Signal coupling circuit (signal coupling part)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 8 Indoor unit refrigerant circuit 9 Indoor unit control circuit 10 Outer wall 11 Core 11a Partial core piece 12 Coupling clamp 13 Connection terminal 13a Contact part 13b Connection part 15 Heat insulating material 16 Control signal cable 17 Control signal coaxial cable 18 Excitation part 19 Building structure

Claims (9)

An air conditioner having an indoor unit connected to one end of a refrigerant pipe covered with a heat insulating material made of an insulating material, and an outdoor unit connected to the other end of the refrigerant pipe,
A signal coupling portion provided at each end of the refrigerant pipe and coupling an AC control signal to the refrigerant pipe and exhibiting a predetermined impedance with respect to the AC electric signal, wherein the signal coupling section includes a magnetic material. And an indoor unit of the refrigerant pipe, and an annular core that is inserted into the central part of the refrigerant pipe and a connection terminal that is in electrical contact with a metal part of the refrigerant pipe at a center side of the annular core. An air conditioner characterized in that a transmission path terminated by the predetermined impedance is formed at a side end and an outdoor unit side end . The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the annular core is configured to be separable into a plurality of partial core pieces, and the refrigerant pipes are sandwiched and inserted when the partial core pieces are combined. The connection terminal is provided on one end surface of the annular core on the center side, and connects a contact portion that comes into electrical contact with the metal portion when the refrigerant pipe is inserted, and an electric wiring for transmitting an AC control signal. The air-conditioning apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a connecting portion that performs the operation. The said refrigerant | coolant piping has gas side piping and liquid side piping, The said signal coupling | bond part is provided in both the said gas side piping and the said liquid side piping, The Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. Item 4. The air conditioner according to any one of Items 3 to 3. The refrigerant pipe has a gas side pipe and a liquid side pipe,
The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the signal coupling portion is provided in any one of the gas side pipe and the liquid side pipe. The center conductor of the coaxial cable for AC control signal transmission is connected to the signal coupling portion, and the outer conductor of the coaxial cable is connected to the ground of the indoor unit or the outdoor unit. The air conditioning apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 6. A central conductor of a coaxial cable for AC control signal transmission is connected to the signal coupling portion, and an outer conductor of the coaxial cable is connected to a conductive portion provided on a heat insulating material surface of the refrigerant pipe. The air conditioning apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6. A signal transmission method for transmitting an AC control signal between both ends of a pipe,
By covering the both ends of the pipe with a magnetic material from above , a transmission line terminated by exhibiting a predetermined impedance with respect to the AC electric signal is formed in the pipe,
A signal transmission method characterized in that a control signal is transmitted / received via a connection terminal to the pipe closer to the center than the magnetic material. Signal transmission of an air conditioner that transmits an AC control signal between an indoor unit connected to one end of a refrigerant pipe covered with a heat insulating material made of an insulating material and an outdoor unit connected to the other end of the refrigerant pipe. In this method, a magnetic material is covered from above on both ends of the refrigerant pipe to form a transmission line terminated in the refrigerant pipe by providing a predetermined impedance to the AC electric signal, and the magnetic pipe A signal transmission method for an air-conditioning apparatus, wherein a control signal is transmitted and received via a connection terminal to the pipe on the center side from the material.

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