JPH0381055B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and particularly to improvements in means for obtaining a comfortable air-conditioned space during dehumidification operation.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a refrigeration cycle of a conventional separated air conditioner. The separate air conditioner is separated into an outdoor unit A and an indoor unit B, and the outdoor unit A has a compressor 1, a condenser 2, a condenser side blower (hereinafter referred to as an outdoor blower) 3, and a capillary 4.
The indoor unit B consists of an evaporator 5
and evaporator side blower (hereinafter referred to as indoor blower)
It consists of 6. Note that the indoor unit B includes an indoor temperature detection means (hereinafter referred to as a suction sensor) 7,
An indoor humidity detecting means (hereinafter referred to as a humidity sensor) 8, an indoor temperature setting means 9 that is set according to the user's preference, and an operation switching means 10 for cooling, dehumidifying, etc. are provided.

In FIG. 1, during cooling operation and dehumidification operation, high-pressure gas refrigerant compressed by compressor 1 is condensed by condenser 2 and becomes high-pressure liquid refrigerant. The high-pressure liquid refrigerant is expanded in the capillary 4 to become a low-pressure liquid refrigerant, and then heated and evaporated in the evaporator 5 to become a low-pressure gas refrigerant, which is sucked into the compressor 1. At this time, the temperature of the evaporator 5 becomes very low. Therefore, when the air once sucked in by the indoor blower 6 passes through the evaporator 5 again and is returned indoors, it becomes cooled and dehumidified air, providing a comfortable air-conditioned space.

Note that the indoor blower 6 generally has an air volume switching means that allows the air volume to be switched between three levels of "strong wind", "medium wind", and "weak wind" during cooling operation.

In the above-mentioned separated air conditioner, indoor temperature and humidity control during dehumidification operation involves operating the compressor 1, outdoor blower 3, and indoor blower 6.
This is done by controlling ON/OFF.

Note that the reason for turning off the indoor fan 6 is to prevent condensed water and drain water adhering to the evaporator 5 from re-evaporating and to prevent them from flowing back into the room. It is also intended to save energy.

Figure 2 shows the ON/OFF operation of the compressor 1, outdoor blower 3, and indoor blower 6 during dehumidification operation.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control means. 2 in the diagram
Reference numeral 1 denotes a temperature control value setting means, which controls the temperature Ta of the room 22 detected by the suction sensor 7 (hereinafter referred to as suction temperature), the temperature Ts set by the user with the room temperature setting means 9 (hereinafter referred to as set temperature), and Set the temperature control value Td from the difference between Reference numeral 23 denotes a humidity state determination means, and the indoor humidity state 22 detected by the humidity sensor 8 is
Determine whether the humidity is high humidity or low humidity.
Reference numeral 24 denotes an operation command control means which, based on the outputs of the temperature control value setting means 21 and the humidity state determination means 23, instructs the drive relays (not shown) of the respective devices 1, 3, and 6 to operate/on/off. Sends OFF control signal. Reference numeral 25 denotes a signal sending timer, which in this example is configured to send the operation ON/OFF control signal to each drive relay for 10 minutes.

The operation control modes of the compressor 1, outdoor blower 3, and indoor blower 6 are divided into four modes A to D based on the above-mentioned operation ON/OFF control means. In other words, the division determination is based on the difference between the suction temperature Ta and the set temperature Ts, that is, the temperature control value Td, and the ON/OFF of the humidity sensor 8, that is, the determination of whether the indoor humidity is in a high humidity state (ON) or a low humidity state (OFF). Determined by.

The first mode A is a case where the humidity sensor 8 is OFF regardless of the value of Td. In this case, the operation control of each of the devices 1, 3, and 6 is to continue normal cooling operation for 10 minutes. Normal cooling operation refers to a well-known cooling effect, and is a method in which equipment is controlled depending on whether Ta reaches Ts or not, so the details will be omitted.

The second mode B is when the humidity sensor 8 is ON and the value of Td is less than 2. In this case, the operation control of each of the devices 1, 3, and 6 is such that the ON state continues for 5 minutes and then the OFF state continues for 5 minutes.

The third mode C is a case where the humidity sensor 8 is ON and the value of Td is 2 or more and less than 4. In this case, the operation control of each of the devices 1, 3, and 6 is such that the ON state continues for 7 minutes and then the OFF state continues for 3 minutes.

The fourth mode D is when the humidity sensor 8 is ON and the value of Td is 4 or more. In this case, the operation control of each of the devices 1, 3, and 6 continues in the ON state for 10 minutes.

The operation control sequence of each of the devices 1, 3, and 6 is such that the temperature and humidity are checked every time the operation of one of the modes A to D ends (every 10 minutes in this case), and the above-mentioned decomposition determination is performed again. Select the next mode based on

Note that the air volume when the indoor fan 6 is turned on is adjusted by an air volume switching means selected by the user.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the operating characteristics of the separation type air conditioner during dehumidifying operation. That is, at P0 when the dehumidification operation starts, the value of Td is 4 or more and the humidity sensor 8 is in the ON state, so the compressor 1, outdoor fan 3, and indoor fan 6 are operated at 10 in D mode.
The operation is controlled for minutes. Then, at the first check point P1, that is, when 10 minutes have passed after the start of dehumidification operation, the value of Td is 2 or more and less than 4 and the humidity sensor 8 is in the ON state, so each of the devices 1, 3,
6 is operated in C mode for 10 minutes.

At the second check point P2, that is, when 20 minutes have passed after the start of dehumidification operation, the value of Td is 2.
Since the humidity sensor 8 is in the ON state, the respective devices 1, 3, and 6 are operated in the B mode for 10 minutes. At the third check point P3, that is, when 30 minutes have passed after the start of the dehumidifying operation, the value of Td is less than 2 and the humidity sensor 8 is in the ON state, as in the second check point P2. 6 is operated in B mode for 10 minutes.
Then, at the fourth check point P4, that is, when 40 minutes have passed after the start of the dehumidification operation, the indoor relative humidity reaches a preset comfortable humidity (for example, 60% RH) and the humidity sensor 8 turns OFF, so each of the above-mentioned devices Nos. 1, 3, and 6 are operated in A mode and perform only temperature control.

However, in such conventional separated air conditioners, when the air volume of the indoor fan 6 is large during dehumidification operation, the evaporation temperature of the refrigerant in the evaporator 5 increases, resulting in a decrease in dehumidification capacity, and as a result, during pull-down I had a problem with time. In addition, in the case of the B mode and C mode, the indoor fan 6
Since the system stops completely before the temperature and humidity check timing for moving on to the next operation control sequence, the indoor air stagnates and accurate temperature and humidity cannot be determined at the time of the check. Therefore, there was a risk that the wrong operation control mode would be selected.

The present invention has been made based on these circumstances, and its purpose is to increase the dehumidifying ability during dehumidifying operation, and as a result, to quickly lower the relative humidity during pull-down and quickly provide a sense of comfort to the user. Another object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner that can provide an air-conditioned space intended by the user by having a sensor detect accurate indoor temperature and indoor humidity.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is characterized by the following configuration. In other words, in an air conditioner that controls the operation and stopping of the refrigeration cycle compressor, outdoor blower, and indoor blower at regular intervals based on detected temperature and humidity information during dehumidification operation, The operation of the indoor blower is controlled with "ultra-light air" so as not to reduce the dehumidification ability, and the control means starts the operation of the indoor blower a certain period of time earlier than the temperature and humidity detection timing to check the temperature and humidity. It is characterized by the fact that it sometimes circulates the air inside the room.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a separate air conditioner. Components that are the same as those in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals, and detailed explanations will be omitted.

The configuration of the refrigeration cycle is the same as the conventional one except for the indoor blower 6a. In this embodiment, the indoor blower 6a has three air volume settings: "strong wind,""mediumwind," and "weak wind."
It has an air volume switch called ``Ultra Breeze'' which allows for a smaller air volume. During dehumidification operation, the indoor blower 6
For example, even if the air volume set by the user is "strong wind", the air volume a is automatically switched to "ultra light wind" for operation. If the vehicle is being operated in "ultra-breeze" mode, the switch is first turned to "low-breeze" for a few seconds, and then compensation is performed to return to "super-breeze" again.

30 in the figure is a microcomputer, which performs ON/OFF control of the compressor 1, outdoor blower 3, and indoor blower 6a during dehumidification operation, and is functionally indicated by the dotted line C in Fig. 2. It has partial functions.

The microcomputer 30 is composed of an interface (input/output signal processing circuit) 31, a microprocessor (central processing unit) 32, a memory (storage device) 33, and a clock (clock device) 34. Detected temperature and humidity information is input to the interface 31. In other words, the analog signal from the suction sensor 7, which is composed of a negative temperature sensitive resistance element or the like that detects the indoor temperature, is
An ON/OFF signal S of the humidity sensor 8 is input as a digital signal S1 via the A/D converter 35 and determines whether the indoor humidity is higher than a preset humidity (for example, 60% RH).
2 enters. Furthermore, the above interface 31
A signal from an analog type temperature setting means 9 consisting of a variable resistor is input as a digital signal S3 via an A/D converter 36. Input signals S1, S2, S to this interface 31
3, the temperature control value and the humidity state are calculated, and the aforementioned operation control modes A to D are set to control the operation of each device 1, 3, and 6a.

Note that the ROM (read-only memory) in the memory 33
The control values corresponding to the input signals S1, S2, and S3 are stored in advance as a Tader table, and the corresponding control values are read out by performing a table lookup according to the calculation results.

In addition, the clock 34 controls each of the above-mentioned devices 1,
Setting of operation control modes A to D of 3 and 6a is performed once every fixed period of time (10 minutes in this embodiment). However, as shown in FIG. 5, the indoor blower 6a is designed to start operating a time t, for example, 30 seconds before the detection timing of indoor temperature and indoor humidity for setting operation modes A to D. .

Figure 6 shows the ON/OFF operation of each of the above devices 1, 3, and 6a.
It is a flowchart which shows the program of OFF control. First, when dehumidification operation starts in step 61,
In step 62, the air volume of the indoor blower 6a is set to "ultra-breeze". Next, in steps 63, 64, and 65, the indoor humidity, established temperature (Ts), and indoor temperature (Ta) are set.
is input, and in steps 66, 67, and 68, the temperature control value Td is calculated and set, and the indoor humidity state is determined. Next, in steps 69a to 69d, operation control modes A to D are set based on the results of steps 67 and 68 and stored in the X register. Next, as step 70, the result stored in the
After minutes and 30 seconds, the indoor blower 6a is turned on, and the next control mode is started in step 72.

As described above, according to this embodiment, since the air volume of the indoor blower 6a is set to "ultra-breeze" during the dehumidifying operation, the evaporation temperature of the refrigerant in the evaporator 5 decreases. Therefore, the dehumidifying capacity increases and the blowing temperature decreases. In addition, the indoor blower 6a
Since it is operated before the temperature and humidity check timing, the air in the room is circulated. As a result, accurate indoor temperature and indoor humidity are detected at the check timing, and there is no risk of selecting the wrong operation control mode.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the embodiment described above, the ON/OFF signal S2 is directly transmitted from the humidity sensor 8 to the interface 31.
However, it is also possible to input the data via an A/D converter using an analog sensor. Further, the operation control mode, operation/stop interval, check timing, etc. are not limited to those of this embodiment, and of course may be subdivided or lengthened or shortened depending on the unit capacity.

As detailed above, according to the present invention, during dehumidification operation, the operation and stopping of the refrigeration cycle compressor, outdoor blower, and indoor blower are controlled at regular intervals based on detected temperature and humidity information. In the air conditioner, during the dehumidifying operation, the indoor blower is controlled to operate with "ultra-light air" so as not to reduce the dehumidification ability, and the control means starts operating the indoor blower at a time that is earlier than the temperature/humidity detection timing. Since the air in the room is circulated a certain period of time earlier when the temperature and humidity are checked, the dehumidification capacity during the dehumidification operation can be increased, and as a result, the relative humidity can be quickly lowered during the pull-down operation, quickly providing a sense of comfort to the user. It is also possible to provide an air conditioner that can provide an air-conditioned space intended by the user by having a sensor detect accurate indoor temperature and indoor humidity.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 3 are diagrams showing a conventional separated air conditioner, with Figure 1 showing a refrigeration cycle and Figure 2 showing the configuration of the operation control means for the compressor and blower during dehumidification operation. The block diagram, Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of dehumidifying operation characteristics, and Figs. 4 to 6 are diagrams showing an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the present invention applied to a separate type air conditioner. Figure 5 showing the configuration of an example
The figure shows the dehumidifying operation characteristics, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the control program for the compressor and blower during the dehumidifying operation. 1... Compressor, 2... Condenser, 3... Condenser side blower (outdoor blower), 4... Capillary, 5...
Evaporator, 6...Evaporator side blower (indoor blower),
7...Temperature sensor, 8...Humidity sensor, 9...Indoor temperature setting means, 10...Operation switching means, 30...
...Microcomputer, 31...Interface, 32...Microprocessor, 33...Memory, 34...Clock, 35, 36...A/D
converter.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Compressor, condenser, condenser side blower, evaporator,
The refrigeration cycle consists of the evaporator blower, etc., and during dehumidification operation, the compressor, condenser side blower, and evaporator side blower are controlled at regular intervals based on detected temperature and humidity information. In the air conditioner equipped with a control means for
1. An air conditioner comprising: means for controlling the operation according to the state; and means for causing the control means to start operating the evaporator side blower a certain period of time earlier than the temperature/humidity detection timing.