JP4726664B2 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an air conditioner.

Conventionally, when power supply is resumed after an instantaneous power failure, the information regarding the progress of the operating state of the air conditioner returns to the initial state, and the predetermined device is controlled to gradually increase from a small load. Moreover, even if a power failure occurs during nighttime heat storage operation, an air conditioner that includes a heat storage unit and performs heat storage operation using this heat storage unit is disclosed in Patent Document 1 below, depending on the time period when power supply is resumed. The technology that can select whether to restart the heat storage operation or to start the cooling or heating operation is described.

JP 2002-61917 A

  In the conventional air conditioner described above, even in the event of a momentary power outage such as several milliseconds, the same control is performed and the predetermined equipment is operated so as to gradually increase from a low load state. After the occurrence of this, there has been a problem that the operating capacity of the air conditioner once decreases, the temperature of the air-conditioned space fluctuates, and it takes a long time to reach the air-conditioned state before the power failure.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner that can quickly recover to an air conditioning state before a power failure when power supply is resumed after a power failure occurs.

In order to achieve the above object, an air conditioner according to the present invention includes at least one variable capacity compressor, a heat source side heat exchanger, an expansion valve, and a use side heat exchanger that are sequentially connected in a circular pipe. In the air conditioner including one or more refrigerant circuits, the operation state detection means for detecting the operation state of a predetermined device including at least the compressor and the expansion valve held by the refrigerant circuit, and the operation state detection means An operation state storage means for storing the operation state detected by the power supply, a power failure detection means for detecting power supply and power failure supplied to the refrigerant circuit, and a power failure occurrence and subsequent power supply restart by the power failure detection means. When detected, the operation state before the power failure stored in the operation state storage means is set as the control target value, and the control target value is reached at a rate faster than the control at the normal startup. A predetermined device control means said stepwise controlling the predetermined equipment so that the difference in discharge pressure from the compressor before and after a power failure that is stored in the operating state storage means, stored in the operating state storage means power failure before and after A power failure time estimation means for estimating a power failure time based on a difference in refrigerant inflow side temperature of the use side heat exchanger or a difference in indoor blowing temperature before and after the power failure stored in the operation state storage means, and the power failure time estimation Control determining means for determining whether or not to perform predetermined device control after resumption of power supply by the predetermined device control means according to the power failure time estimated by the means .

An air conditioning apparatus according to the present invention is to set the state of the operation before the power failure, which is stored in the operating state storage means in the control target value, typically to reach the control target value at a faster rate than the control at start a predetermined device control means for stepwise controlling a predetermined device, the difference between the discharge pressure from the compressor before and after a power outage stored in the operating state storage means, before and after a power failure that is stored in the operating state storage means utilization-side heat exchanger Power outage time estimation means for estimating the power outage time based on the difference in the refrigerant inflow side temperature of the cooler or the difference in the indoor outlet temperature before and after the power outage stored in the operation state storage means, and the power outage estimated by the power outage time estimation means because and a control determining means for determining whether to perform a predetermined device control after feeding resumption of a predetermined instrument controller in accordance with the time, the operation load is large state of the predetermined device from the beginning after a power failure power feeding resumed It can be controlled so as to operate. Therefore, even if the operating state has not changed significantly after the occurrence of an instantaneous power failure as in a conventional air conditioner, information on the progress of the operating state returns to the initial state when power supply is resumed, and the specified equipment is loaded. It takes no long time for the temperature of the air-conditioned space to reach the set temperature in order to gradually increase from a small state of the engine, and the time to recover to the air-conditioning temperature before the power outage can be shortened .

Embodiment 1.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the air conditioner according to this embodiment includes an indoor unit 1 and an outdoor unit 2, and a compressor 21 with a variable capacity, a heat source side heat exchanger 22, an expansion valve 11 and the like are used therein. A refrigerant circuit 10 is provided in which a side heat exchanger 12 is sequentially piped in a ring.

That is, in the indoor unit 1, the expansion valve 11 and the use side heat exchanger 12 are connected and accommodated by the refrigerant pipe 23. In addition, a first refrigerant temperature detection means 16 is provided between the expansion valve 11 and the use side heat exchanger 12, and a second refrigerant temperature detection means 17 is provided in the cooling refrigerant outflow side piping of the use side heat exchanger 12. Is provided. Further, an indoor blower 13 for blowing the air heat-exchanged in the use side heat exchanger 12 into the room is housed in the indoor unit 1, and an indoor suction temperature is detected in the vicinity of the indoor air suction port of the indoor unit 1. Means 18 are provided, and an indoor outlet temperature detecting means 19 is provided in the vicinity of the outlet.

The indoor unit 1 is provided with an indoor unit control means 14, and the indoor unit control means 14 is constituted by an arithmetic device including a general-purpose CPU, a data bus, an input / output port, a nonvolatile memory, a timer, and the like. As shown in FIG. 2, the indoor unit control means 14 reads data from the operation state detection means 5 and the power failure detection means 8, and performs predetermined equipment control means 9, power failure time estimation means 4, control determination means 32, indoor ventilation. Each function of the control means 34, the expansion valve opening degree control means 36, and the operation state storage means 6 is provided, and predetermined control is performed on the indoor air blowing means 13 and the expansion valve 11.

In the outdoor unit 2, a variable capacity compressor 21 and a heat source side heat exchanger 22 are connected and accommodated by a refrigerant pipe 23. The compressor 21 is connected to the use side heat exchanger 12 in the indoor unit 1 by the refrigerant pipe 23, and the heat source side heat exchanger 22 is connected to the expansion valve 11 in the indoor unit 1 by the refrigerant pipe 23. Moreover, the 1st refrigerant | coolant pressure detection means 30 is provided in the refrigerant | coolant suction side of the compressor 21, and the 2nd refrigerant | coolant pressure detection means 31 is each provided in the discharge side. A third refrigerant temperature detection means 26 is provided between the compressor 21 and the heat source side heat exchanger 22, and a fourth refrigerant temperature detection means 27 is provided on the cooling refrigerant outflow side pipe of the heat source side heat exchanger 22. It has been. An outdoor blower 24 for sending air to the heat source side heat exchanger 22 is accommodated, and an outdoor suction temperature detecting means 28 is provided in the vicinity of the outdoor air suction port of the outdoor unit 2, and a blowing temperature detection is provided in the vicinity of the outdoor outlet. Each means 29 is provided.

The outdoor unit 2 includes an outdoor unit control unit 25. The outdoor unit control unit 25, like the indoor unit control unit 14, has a general-purpose CPU, a data bus, an input / output port, a nonvolatile memory, a timer, and the like. It consists of devices. As shown in FIG. 3, the outdoor unit control means 25 reads data from the operating state detection means 5 and the power failure detection means 8 in the same manner as the indoor unit control means 14, and the predetermined equipment control means 9, power failure time estimation means. 4, control determining means 32, operation state storage means 6, and further, compressor capacity control means 33 and outdoor air blow control means 35 are provided as control means for only the outdoor unit 2, and compressor 21, outdoor air blow Predetermined control is performed on the means 24. Note that the outdoor unit control unit 25 is not provided with the indoor air blow control unit 34 and the expansion valve opening degree control unit 36 that are in the indoor unit control unit 14.

Power is supplied to the air conditioner from the power source 7, and the compressor 21, the expansion valve 11, the indoor blower 13, the outdoor blower 24, the first refrigerant temperature detection means 16, the second refrigerant temperature detection means 17, and the third refrigerant temperature detection means. 26, fourth refrigerant temperature detecting means 27, indoor suction temperature detecting means 18, indoor blowing temperature detecting means 19, outdoor suction temperature detecting means 28, outdoor blowing temperature detecting means 29, first refrigerant pressure detecting means 30, second refrigerant pressure. Electric power is supplied to the detection unit 31, the indoor unit control unit 14, the outdoor unit control unit 25, and the like.

Next, the operation will be described. The indoor unit control means 14 includes the opening of the expansion valve 11 detected by the operating state detection means 5, the refrigerant temperature detected by the first refrigerant temperature detection means 16, the refrigerant temperature detected by the second refrigerant temperature detection means 17, the indoor unit 1 is detected at predetermined intervals such as the indoor intake air temperature detected by the intake temperature detecting means 18 and the indoor blown air temperature detected by the indoor blowout temperature detecting means 19 at predetermined time intervals. And it memorize | stores in the non-volatile memory which is the driving | running state memory | storage means 6. FIG. The nonvolatile memory stores data relating to the operating state even when a power failure occurs.

In addition, the outdoor unit control means 25 includes the operating capacity of the compressor 21 in the operating state detecting means 5, the refrigerant pressure detected in the first refrigerant pressure detecting means 30, the refrigerant pressure detected in the second refrigerant pressure detecting means 31, The refrigerant temperature detected by the refrigerant temperature detecting means 26, the refrigerant temperature detected by the fourth refrigerant temperature detecting means 27, the outdoor intake air temperature detected by the outdoor intake temperature detecting means 28, and the outdoor blowing temperature detected by the outdoor blowing temperature detecting means 29 The data relating to the outdoor unit operation state such as the above is detected and stored in the nonvolatile memory which is the operation state storage means 6. Moreover, the indoor unit control means 14 and the outdoor unit control means 25 are connected via the communication means 15, and exchange and share various information data.

When the power supply 7 supplied to the refrigerant circuit 10 stops, the power failure detection means 8 detects the stop of the power supply, and then a control command is issued to automatically restart the operation when power is restored. Or resume operation manually. Then, the power failure time estimation means 4 calculates and estimates the power failure time. The power outage time is estimated as follows. That is, the discharge pressure of the compressor 21 gradually decreases due to a power failure. In this case, a relational expression between the power failure time and the discharge pressure decrease rate is stored in advance in a nonvolatile memory, and the power failure time is calculated by substituting the difference in discharge pressure before and after the power failure into this relational expression.

Similarly, the flow of the refrigerant stops due to the power failure, and the temperature on the refrigerant inflow side of the use side heat exchanger 12 approaches the ambient temperature. Therefore, the amount of change in the power outage time and the refrigerant inflow side temperature of the use side heat exchanger 12 Is stored in the nonvolatile memory in advance, and the blackout time is estimated by substituting the difference between the refrigerant inflow side temperatures of the use side heat exchanger 12 before and after the power failure into this relational expression. Further, the temperature of the blown air blown into the room from the indoor unit 1 also rises during cooling due to a power failure and decreases during heating. The power failure time can be calculated by substituting the difference between the blowout temperatures of the indoor unit 1 before and after the power failure into this relational expression, and the power failure time can be estimated.

Furthermore, the predetermined device control unit 9 controls the predetermined device by setting the operation state before the power failure stored in the operation state storage unit 5 to the control target value. Specifically, the capacity of the compressor 21 before the power failure is set as a control target value, and the compressor capacity control means 33 controls the compressor capacity. That is, for the operating frequency of the compressor motor that controls the operating capacity of the compressor 21, the operating frequency immediately before the power failure is read from the operating state storage means 6 and set as the target frequency, and the air conditioner is started. At that time, the control is performed so that the frequency is increased at a faster rate, for example, twice as compared with the rate at which the frequency is increased stepwise at the time of normal startup that is not a power failure.

As a result, it becomes possible to reach the compressor frequency before the power failure within a short time, so that the operating capacity of the compressor 21 is reduced due to the power failure, so the amount of refrigerant to be compressed is reduced and the air conditioning capacity is lowered. Thus, before the temperature of a heat generating device such as a computer rises or the temperature of the air-conditioned space approaches the outside air temperature, the air-conditioning temperature before the power failure can be quickly recovered.

Similarly, the predetermined device control means 9 can control the opening degree of the expansion valve 11 by setting the opening degree of the expansion valve 11 before the power failure as a control target value. As for the opening degree of the expansion valve 11, an earlier rate compared to the rate at which the expansion valve opening degree immediately before the power failure is set as the control target value and the expansion valve opening degree is increased stepwise at the time of normal startup that is not a power failure The expansion valve opening degree control means 36 controls the opening degree to increase. As a result, the expansion valve opening before the power failure can be reached within a short period of time, so the situation where the refrigerant flow rate decreases due to the expansion valve opening being reduced due to a power failure is suppressed, and air conditioning before the power failure is performed early. Can recover to temperature. In addition, by combining the control of the operating capacity of the compressor 21 and the control of the expansion valve opening described above, the refrigerant flow rate increases faster than the normal start-up according to the rate of increase in the compressor frequency when power supply is resumed after a power failure. In addition, by increasing the opening of the expansion valve at an earlier stage in accordance with the increase in the refrigerant flow rate, it is possible to reach the air conditioning temperature before the power failure in a shorter time due to a synergistic effect. it can.

For the outdoor blower 24, the rotation speed immediately before the power failure is read from the operation state storage means 6, set as the target rotation speed, and the air conditioner is activated. At that time, the outdoor fan control means 35 controls to increase the rotation speed at an earlier stage than the rate at which the rotation speed is increased stepwise at the time of normal startup that is not a power failure. Thereby, the outdoor blower 24 is controlled so as to keep the refrigerant outlet temperature of the heat source side heat exchanger 22 constant. That is, when the refrigerant flow rates of the compressor 21 and the expansion valve 11 are temporarily reduced due to a power failure, the amount of refrigerant exchanged by the heat source side heat exchanger 22 decreases, so the rotational speed of the outdoor blower 24 is slowed down and the heat source side It operates to suppress the amount of air sent to the heat exchanger 22, but when the refrigerant flowed in a large amount earlier than at the normal start, control is performed to increase the rotational speed and increase the amount of air blown accordingly. .

As with the outdoor blower 24, the indoor blower 13 also sets the rotational speed before the power failure as a target value, and rotates at an earlier stage than during normal startup as the amount of refrigerant flowing through the use-side heat exchanger 12 increases. The indoor air blow control means 34 performs control so as to increase the speed.

The control flow is shown in FIG. First, the operation state detection means 5 provided in each of the indoor unit control means 14 and the outdoor unit control means 25 stores the operation state of a predetermined device in the detected operation state storage means 6 (S1). Next, it is determined whether or not a power failure has occurred by the power failure detection means 8 (S2). If a power failure has occurred, the change of the predetermined device such as the compressor 21 or the use side heat exchanger 12 before and after the power failure as described above. The power failure time t is estimated from the amount, that is, the change rate of the discharge pressure of the compressor 21 and the difference in the refrigerant inflow side temperature of the use side heat exchanger 12 (S3).

Next, it is determined whether or not the power failure time t estimated by the power failure time estimating means 4 in the control determining means 3 is longer than the judgment value ta previously input to the control determining means 3 such as 5 minutes (S4). . When the power failure time t is equal to or greater than the judgment value ta, the predetermined device control after the power supply is resumed by the predetermined device control means 9 is not performed, and the operation at the normal start is performed. This is because, even when the power failure time t is equal to or greater than the judgment value ta, if the rapid recovery operation is performed in which the operation state before the power failure stored in the operation state storage means 6 is set as the control target value, the compressor 21 This is because it cannot withstand such operation and there is a risk of failure. Therefore, only when the t ≧ ta is not satisfied, the predetermined device control after the power supply is resumed by the predetermined device control means 9 is performed.

When t ≧ ta is not satisfied in S4, the operation state before the power failure stored in the operation state storage unit 6 is read in the predetermined device control unit 9 (S5), and this is set as a control target value ( S6) The air conditioner is started (S7), and predetermined equipment is controlled.

As described above, the air conditioner according to the present embodiment controls the predetermined device by setting the operation state before the power failure detected by the operation state detection unit 5 and stored in the operation state storage unit 6 as the control target value. Since the predetermined device control means 9 is provided, it can be controlled to operate in a state where the operation load of the predetermined device is large from the beginning of the power supply restart after the occurrence of a power failure. Therefore, even when the operation state does not change significantly after the occurrence of an instantaneous power failure as in the case of a conventional air conditioner, when the power supply is resumed, the information on the progress of the operation state returns to the initial state, It takes less time for the temperature of the air-conditioned space to reach the set temperature in order to gradually increase from a light load state, and the time to recover to the air-conditioning temperature before the power outage can be shortened. it can.

In addition, particularly in a room where a heat generating device is installed, if air conditioning such as cooling is not performed due to a power failure, the temperature of the heat generating device may increase, leading to failure of the heat generating device. Then, quick response is possible.

  In this embodiment, one compressor is provided in one refrigerant circuit 10, but a plurality of compressors including at least one variable capacity compressor may be provided in one refrigerant circuit. Absent. Moreover, although the power failure detection unit 8 is provided in both the indoor unit control unit 14 and the outdoor unit control unit 25, only the indoor unit control unit 14 or the outdoor unit control unit 25 may be provided.

Embodiment 2.
As shown in FIG. 5, the air conditioner of the present embodiment includes one indoor unit 1 and two outdoor units 2a and 2b, and is housed in the indoor unit 1 and the outdoor units 2a and 2b. The expansion valves 11a and 11b of the two refrigerant circuits 10a and 10b and the use side heat exchangers 12a and 12b are both disposed in the indoor unit 1, and the compressor 21a and the heat source side heat exchanger 22a having variable capacity are provided in the outdoor unit. In the outdoor unit 2b, a compressor 21b having a variable capacity and a heat source side heat exchanger 22b are respectively provided in 2a. The indoor unit 1 and the outdoor units 2a and 2b are respectively provided with an indoor unit control means 14 and outdoor unit control means 25a and 25b having the same various functions as those shown in the first embodiment.

In the air conditioner having the two refrigerant circuits 10a and 10b as described above, when power supply is resumed after a power failure, both refrigerant circuits 10a and 10b are independently activated at substantially the same timing. Therefore, compared with the case where two compressors are provided in parallel in one refrigerant circuit, it is possible to return to the air conditioning state before the power failure in a shorter time and adapt to a wide air-conditioned space. Is also possible. In addition, when different power supplies 7a and 7b (not shown) are separately supplied to the outdoor units 2a and 2b, the other indoor unit 2b resumes power supply even if one indoor unit 2a does not resume power supply. Then, it is possible to control so that the air conditioning temperature before the power failure can be reached somewhat early by the operation of the refrigerant circuit 10b on the power recovery side.

It is a lineblock diagram of the air harmony device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the indoor unit control means of the said air conditioning apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the outdoor unit control means of the said air conditioning apparatus. It is a flowchart of the said air conditioning apparatus. It is a block diagram of the air conditioning apparatus concerning other embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

3 control decision means, 4 power failure time estimation means, 5 operation state detection means, 6 operation state storage means, 7 power supply, 8 power failure detection means, 9 predetermined device control means, 10, 10a, 10b refrigerant circuit, 11, 11a, 11b Expansion valve, 12, 12a, 12b Use side heat exchanger, 21, 21a, 21b Compressor, 22, 22a, 22b Heat source side heat exchanger.
more than

Claims (3)

In an air conditioner including one or more refrigerant circuits in which at least one variable capacity compressor, a heat source side heat exchanger, an expansion valve, and a use side heat exchanger are sequentially piped in a ring connection,
An operating state detecting means for detecting an operating state of a predetermined device including at least a compressor and an expansion valve held by the refrigerant circuit;
Driving state storage means for storing the driving state detected by the driving state detection means;
Power failure detection means for detecting power supply and power failure supplied to the refrigerant circuit;
When the occurrence of a power failure and the subsequent resumption of power feeding are detected by the power failure detection means, the operation state before the power failure stored in the operation state storage means is set as a control target value, and the control at the normal startup Predetermined device control means for controlling the predetermined device in a stepwise manner so as to reach the control target value at an earlier rate ,
Difference in discharge pressure from the compressor before and after the power failure stored in the operation state storage means, difference in refrigerant inflow side temperature of the use side heat exchanger before and after the power failure stored in the operation state storage means, or operation state A power failure time estimation means for estimating a power failure time based on a difference in indoor blowing temperature before and after the power failure stored in the storage means;
An air conditioner comprising: control determination means for determining whether or not to perform predetermined device control after resumption of power supply by the predetermined device control means according to the power failure time estimated by the power failure time estimation means. . The predetermined device control means controls the compressor capacity by setting the compressor capacity before the power failure as a control target value.
The air conditioner according to claim 1. The predetermined device control means controls the opening degree of the expansion valve by setting the opening degree of the expansion valve before the power failure as a control target value.
The air conditioner according to claim 1.

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