JPH05248690A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent drying in a room at the time of turning OFF a thermostat by so constituting as to operate a humidifier at the time of turning OFF the thermostat in a room heating operation and to heat the air passing the humidifier by a heater at the time of turning OFF the thermostat in an air conditioner having the humidifier. CONSTITUTION:When a room heating operation is conducted, deviations of detected values of temperature and humidity sensors 14, 15 from their set values in a room are first obtained by a controller 17, a compressor 5 is controlled based on the deviations, and the operation is executed. After a temperature in the room reaches the set temperature and a thermostat is turned OFF, whether a humidity in the room reaches the set humidity or not is judged. In the case of YES, operations of the compressor 5 and a humidifier 12 are stopped, while in the case of NO, the operations of the compressor 5 and the humidifier 12 are continued. At the time of this humidifying (room heating) operation, diffused air temperature of an indoor unit 3 is detected by a diffusing temperature sensor, the compressor 5 is so operated that the diffusing temperature coincides with the temperature in the room, an indoor heat exchanger 11 is operated as a heater to heat the diffusing air.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner equipped with a humidifier used during heating operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an air conditioner having a built-in humidifier, the humidifier is used during heating operation in winter so that the room can be heated and humidified at the same time. During such a heating operation, for example, when the thermostat is turned off (when the room temperature reaches the set temperature), the heating operation may be temporarily stopped, and the operation of the humidifier may be stopped at the same time as or slightly delayed. It has been proposed (see Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-50338).

This is, for example, while operating the humidifier,
This is because, if the heating operation is stopped and switched to the blowing operation, the temperature of the blown air is lowered because the blown air is humidified, which may give the user a feeling of cool air.

[0004]

As described above, when the humidifying operation is also stopped when the heating operation is temporarily stopped (thermo-off),
There was an undeniable decrease in indoor humidity, and sometimes the room became very dry when the thermostat was turned off.

An object of the present invention is to keep the humidity and temperature in the room substantially constant when the thermostat is turned off during heating.

[0006]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a controller for operating a humidifier at the time of turning off the thermostat in this heating operation, and a heater for heating air passing through the humidifier at the time of turning off the thermostat. Is provided.

[0007]

The indoor air sucked into the air conditioner during the heating-off of the heating operation is first heated by the heater and then humidified by the humidifier. Alternatively, after being humidified by a humidifier, it is heated by a heater. The air thus heated and humidified is discharged into the room.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an air conditioner, which is a room 2
And an outdoor unit 4 installed outdoors.

The outdoor unit 4 has a compressor 5 and
A four-way valve 6, an outdoor heat exchanger 7, and an electric expansion valve 8 are built in, respectively. This compressor 5 is called an "inverter compressor" whose rotation speed can be changed by the air conditioning load or the like.

On the other hand, in the indoor unit 3, from the suction port 9 to the discharge port 10, an indoor heat exchanger 11 and a humidifier 12 are provided.
And the blower 13 are sequentially arranged. The indoor heat exchanger 11 and each device built in the outdoor unit 4 are connected to the refrigerant pipe 14 by a refrigerant pipe. And during heating operation,
By setting the four-way valve 6 to the solid line state, the compressor 5
The refrigerant discharged from the inside flows as indicated by a solid arrow, and causes the indoor heat exchanger 11 to act as a condenser (heater). or,
During the cooling operation, the four-way valve 6 is set to the broken line state so that the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 5 flows in the direction opposite to the solid arrow.

Reference numeral 14 is an indoor temperature sensor for detecting the indoor temperature, 15 is an indoor humidity sensor for detecting the indoor humidity, and 16 is an indoor humidity sensor.
Is an outlet temperature sensor provided at the discharge port 10 of the indoor unit 3, and these sensors are connected to the controller 17. The output from the controller 17 is input to the compressor 5.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the heating operation of the controller 17.

In FIG. 2, when the heating operation is started, first, in step 19, the temperature and humidity of the room are set, and thereafter, in step 20, the temperature and humidity of the room are detected by the two sensors 14 and 15 (FIG. 1). Then, the output based on the difference between the set temperature and the room temperature is given to the compressor 5 via the controller 17 to perform the heating operation. At the same time, the humidifier 12 is also operated (step 21). Such heating operation is continued until the temperature is turned off, that is, the temperature in the room reaches the set temperature. Then, when the thermostat is turned off (step 22), the indoor humidity is detected in step 23, and if the indoor humidity reaches the set humidity, the operation of the compressor 5 and the humidifier 12 is stopped ( All stop).

However, when the indoor humidity has not reached the set humidity, as shown in step 24, the compressor 5 and the humidifier 12 are operated to perform the humidifying (heating) operation. During this humidifying (heating) operation, the temperature of the blown air of the indoor unit 3 is detected by the blowout temperature sensor 16 and control is performed so that the blown air and the room temperature substantially match (step 2).
5). That is, the compressor 5 is operated to drive the indoor heat exchanger 11
To act as a heater to heat the air flowing into the humidifier 12. By heating the air flowing into the humidifier in this manner, the moisture generated in the humidifier 12 is easily absorbed by the air. Then, the air containing the moisture is blown out from the discharge port 10 to continue humidifying the room and prevent the room from being dried. At this time, the temperature of the air blown from the discharge port 10 is detected by the blowout temperature sensor 16, and the heating amount is controlled so that the blown air substantially matches the air temperature in the room. Therefore, there is no possibility that the user feels cold. Further, the heating by the indoor heat exchanger 11 is intended to prevent a decrease in the indoor temperature after the thermostat is turned off, and this heating is performed in comparison with the thermo-on (operation to reach the set temperature of the thermostat). Since the amount is very small, the operating frequency of the compressor 5 becomes a value close to the minimum.

The humidifier 12 described above includes a vaporization type. Further, although the indoor heat exchanger 11 is used as the heater in this embodiment, an electric heater or the like may be used. Further, although such a heater 11 is arranged on the windward side of the humidifier 12 in the above-mentioned embodiment, the heater 11 is arranged between the humidifier 12 and the blower 13 in the leeward side region 30 shown in FIG. You may arrange. In this case, since the air flowing into the humidifier 12 operated when the thermostat is turned off is low, the humidity from the humidifier 12 is not easily absorbed by this air, but it is possible to prevent the feeling of cold air when the thermostat is turned off.

[0016]

As described above, the present invention is provided with the controller for operating the humidifier when the thermostat is turned off during heating operation, and the heater for heating the air passing through the humidifier when the thermostat is turned off. Even when the thermostat is off, the room is humidified, and the room can be prevented from drying.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an internal structure of an air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing control of the air conditioner shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Air Conditioner 11 Heater (Indoor Heat Exchanger) 12 Humidifier 17 Controller

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioner provided with a humidifier used during heating operation, wherein a controller for operating the humidifier when the thermostat is turned off during heating operation and heating air passing through the humidifier when the thermostat is turned off. An air conditioner comprising a heater.