JPH07180895A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent acclimatization by employing fluctuations for an air flow, a temperature, etc., and to be able to arbitrarily set its varying range by a user. CONSTITUTION:The air conditioner comprises an inverter controller 12 for varying an operating frequency of a compressor 1 in a refrigerant circuit R, an indoor fan motor controller 13 for controlling a motor 9 for driving an indoor fan for generating an air flow passing an indoor heat exchanger 5, a louver motor controller 14 for controlling a motor 11 for varied-angle controlling a louver 11, a fluctuation control data memory operator 15 for storing a pattern of fluctuation control, and a remote controller 16 for inputting a desired control width. Thus, a fluctuation operation which varies an indoor fan 8, a compressor 1 and the louver motor 11 in a range set by a user himself based on control data of 1/f fluctuation.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner capable of performing operation control in consideration of environmental conditions such as temperature, air flow, radiant temperature, and humidity, and in particular, taking into consideration the human body's familiarity with the environment. The present invention relates to an air conditioner configured to perform operation control.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a prior art of operation control means of an air conditioner using a refrigerant circuit, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-13751 discloses membership based on outputs of a plurality of sensors for detecting various indoor environmental conditions. By using fuzzy inference using functions, calculate various output amounts of the air conditioner for making the sensible temperature of the occupant a predetermined value, and change various output of the air conditioner based on the calculated output amount. Disclosed is one that attempts to maintain an air-conditioned environment in which the occupant feels comfortable by adjusting the output of the air conditioner so as to maintain the sensible temperature of the occupant at a predetermined value. ing.

[0003]

By the way, one of the important points regarding the control of the air conditioner is the problem of acclimatization of people in the room. That is, the sensible temperature of the person in the room is
It is well known that even if the room temperature is constant, it is not possible to feel the same temperature due to the heat radiation incident from the window and the flow of the air flow. Even if the air conditioner is controlled so as to maintain the temperature, the occupants of the room often become accustomed to the temperature environment over time and do not always feel comfortable. .

However, according to the above prior art example, various outputs of the air conditioner are controlled for the purpose of keeping the sensible temperature of the person in the room at a predetermined value. It means that no consideration has been given to it. For this reason, the human body becomes accustomed to the indoor environment set by the control of the air conditioner for maintaining the sensible temperature, and the problem that the environment thought to be comfortable becomes uncomfortable due to this habituation. .

Further, the prior art example is to control so as to maintain a predetermined sensible temperature when the load changes due to changes in outdoor temperature and the like, and positively creates a comfortable environment. Since it is not a control, it can be said that it is impossible to create a comfortable air-conditioned space in actual control.

As a prior art for solving such a problem, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-203147, a control incorporating fluctuation is used to change the compressor operating frequency, the fan rotation speed, and the louver tilt angle. It is disclosed that the output of the air conditioner is adjusted in consideration of the acclimation of the human body.

However, in the latter prior art example, although the acclimation of the human body is taken into consideration, fluctuations are taken in, but the operating frequency of the compressor in the refrigerant circuit and the wind passing through the indoor heat exchanger are generated. The control range of the fan motor that drives the indoor fan and the tilt angle of the louver that regulates the direction of the wind that passes through the indoor heat exchanger is set by the air conditioner side, and is selected by the person in the room. Since this is not possible, it cannot be said that the control can be performed according to the preference of each different user.

In addition, as a point to be added to this control problem, in the latter prior art example, the compressor operating frequency and the fan rotation speed are taken into consideration when performing the control in which fluctuations are taken into consideration in consideration of acclimation of the human body. However, it cannot be said that the most important point as to what range the fluctuation control of the louver tilt angle is made to be comfortable is clearly disclosed.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and its purpose is to consider the acclimation, which is a physiological reaction of the human body, and to set a control range according to the taste of the user. Alternatively, it is possible to control the compressor operating frequency, fan speed, and louver tilt angle within a control range based on the actual data obtained from the subject experiment, so that a comfortable air conditioning that always suits the user is provided. To provide space.

[0010]

According to the present invention, in a refrigerant circuit having a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an expansion valve and an indoor heat exchanger, the compressor changes an operating frequency by an inverter, and The indoor heat exchanger faces an indoor fan that is rotationally driven by a fan motor, and the air direction of the indoor fan is regulated by a louver that is variably driven by a louver motor. I am trying.

In order to achieve the above object, in the first configuration of the present invention, there is provided control means for changing the outputs of the inverter, the fan motor and the louver motor based on control data of 1 / f fluctuation of the frequency f. Control operation means for arbitrarily setting the output change widths of the inverter, the fan motor, and the louver motor and giving the output change width to the control means.

In the second configuration of the present invention, the outputs of the inverter, the fan motor and the louver motor are changed based on the control data of 1 / f fluctuation of the frequency f,
In addition, a control means for controlling each fluctuation range within a comfortable range based on actual measurement data is provided.

[0013]

According to the first configuration of the present invention, by changing the compressor operating frequency, the fan motor and the louver motor based on the control data for controlling 1 / f fluctuation,
f The room temperature, air velocity and wind direction can be changed by fluctuations. Therefore, when controlling the operation of the air conditioner,
Taking into account the acclimation, which is the physiological response of the human body, the temperature, airflow velocity, and wind direction of the air-conditioned space are positively controlled by the 1 / f data prepared beforehand, so the human being in the room should be acclimatized to the surrounding environment. There is no.

Further, the control width at this time is set by the user of the air conditioner by using the control operation means, so that the operation control can be performed in accordance with his / her preference. Therefore, the user himself / herself can operate the air conditioner in a control range suitable for himself / herself, and thus an environment suitable for his / her taste can be created.

Furthermore, according to the second configuration of the present invention, the control width is always within the comfortable range of the wind speed and the wind temperature previously obtained by the subject experiment. Since it controls the compressor operating frequency, indoor fan motor, and wind direction louver motor, the environment is always comfortable for humans.

[0016]

Embodiments of the air conditioner according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 schematically shows the configuration of this embodiment. In this figure, R is a refrigerant circuit, which includes a compressor 1, a four-way valve 2, an outdoor heat exchanger 3, and an expansion valve 4.
And the indoor heat exchanger 5, and both ends of the pipeline passing through the outdoor heat exchanger 3, the expansion valve 4, and the indoor heat exchanger 5 are pipe-connected to the four-way valve 2 which is pipe-connected to the compressor 1 and the refrigeration cycle. Are configured.

In this refrigerant circuit R, during cooling operation, as indicated by a solid arrow, compressor 1 → four-way valve 2 → outdoor heat exchanger 3 → expansion valve 4 → indoor heat exchanger 5 → four-way valve 2 → compressor 1 The refrigerant circulates in the cycle of, and conversely, the four-way valve 2 is switched during the heating operation, so that the compressor 1 → the four-way valve 2 → the indoor heat exchanger 5 → the expansion valve 4 as shown by a dashed arrow.
→ The outdoor heat exchanger 3 → the four-way valve 2 → the compressor 1 cycle to circulate the refrigerant.

The compressor 1 has a built-in inverter, and the capacity is variable by changing the operating frequency by the inverter. Further, on the outdoor heat exchanger 3 side, an outdoor fan 6 facing the outdoor heat exchanger 3 and an outdoor fan motor 7 for rotationally driving the outdoor fan 6 are provided. On the other hand, on the side of the indoor heat exchanger 5, an indoor fan 8 facing the indoor heat exchanger 5 and an indoor fan motor 9 for rotationally driving the indoor fan 8 are provided, and the direction of the air flow in the room can be changed. A louver 10 and a louver motor 11 that drives the louver to change its angle are provided.

M is a control means for changing each output of the inverter of the compressor 1, the indoor fan motor 9 and the louver motor 11 based on the control data of 1 / f fluctuation of the frequency f. Stores an inverter control circuit 12 for varying the compressor operating frequency, an indoor fan motor control circuit 13 for controlling the indoor fan motor 9, a louver motor control circuit 14 for controlling the louver motor 11, and a 1 / f fluctuation control pattern. It is composed of a fluctuation control data storage / calculation unit 15 composed of a microcomputer.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a remote controller as a control operation means, which arbitrarily sets the output variation width of the inverter of the compressor 1, the indoor fan motor 9 and the louver motor 11 and gives it to the control means. By doing so, it is possible to input a desired control width.

The basic operation of the air conditioner of this embodiment will be described by taking the case of performing the cooling operation as an example. During normal cooling, the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 1 at high temperature and high pressure passes through the four-way valve 2 and reaches the outdoor heat exchanger 3 through the path indicated by the solid arrow. Here, the refrigerant releases heat to the air generated by driving the outdoor fan 6 to perform heat exchange, and the expansion valve 4
Leading to. The refrigerant is decompressed by the expansion valve 4, becomes low temperature and low pressure, and reaches the indoor heat exchanger 5. The indoor heat exchanger 5 absorbs heat from the indoor air blown by the driving of the indoor fan 8 to perform heat exchange. The refrigerant exiting the indoor heat exchanger 5 passes through the four-way valve 2 and returns to the compressor 1, and the cycle is repeated thereafter.

During this cooling operation, the indoor fan 8
Since the indoor air blown by the heat is absorbed, it becomes low temperature air and is released into the room, so that the indoor temperature can be lowered. At this time, in the control means M, the inverter control circuit 12 is used to increase the operating frequency of the compressor 1 to increase the amount of heat exchange with the indoor air and lower the indoor temperature.

By controlling the number of revolutions of the indoor fan motor 9 by using the indoor fan motor control circuit 13, the wind speed blown out from the air conditioner can be changed. Furthermore, the angle of the louver 10 provided at the air conditioner outlet can be changed by driving the louver motor 11 using the louver motor control circuit 14.

In the air conditioner of this embodiment having such a configuration, the remote controller 16 is used and the fluctuation operation becomes effective when the user presses the fluctuation operation button. That is, FIG. 2 shows the details of the operation section of the remote controller 16. In this figure, 17 is a fluctuation operation button, 18 is a normal operation button, 19 is a temperature display section, 20 is a wind speed display section, and 21 is a wind direction display. It is a department.

The user sets the temperature control range with the remote controller 16 to, for example, A to B on the temperature display section 19, and the wind speed control range from C to C on the wind direction display section 20.
When the fluctuation control button 17 is pressed after setting the wind direction control range to E to F on the wind direction display unit 21 by setting D, a signal giving the set temperature, wind speed, and wind direction control range from the remote controller 16 is set. Is transmitted to the fluctuation control data storage arithmetic unit 15.

The fluctuation control data storage / calculation unit 15 includes:
A basic pattern for fluctuation control is stored as time-series data having a maximum of five levels of amplitude as shown in FIG. 3, for example. By controlling the compressor operating frequency, indoor fan speed, and louver motor rotation angle based on this pattern
Control with 1 / f fluctuation can be performed.

Next, the method of determining the operating range will be described by taking the indoor fan speed for determining the wind speed as an example.
As shown in, the maximum rotation speed of the indoor fan is 800 to 1200 rpm.
It is assumed that the control range has five levels. When the user sets this in the three-step control range of 1000 to 1200 rpm,
In the fluctuation control data storage / calculation device 15, when the maximum wind speed is displayed as "3", the middle wind speed is displayed as "2", and the minimum wind speed is displayed as "1", "3" is 1200 rpm, "2" is 1100 rpm, "1".
To 1000 rpm.

Then, based on the following equation (1),
The time series fluctuation control data is calculated. Number of generation steps = {(maximum number of steps in the setting range) / (maximum number of basic control data)} x control data + 0.4 ……………………………………………… (1)

In FIG. 3, since the control data is "5" in the section of L1, the number of generation stages becomes the value of 3.4 from the equation (1). When this number is rounded off, it becomes 3. Therefore, the actual number of control stages is determined to be 3. Therefore, the indoor fan rotation speed is 1200 rpm, and this value is transmitted to the indoor fan motor control circuit 13, whereby the indoor fan is operated.

When the time elapses and reaches the section of L2, the number of generation stages is 1.6, the number of control stages becomes 2 by rounding, 1100 rpm is transmitted to the indoor fan motor control circuit 13, and the indoor fan rotation speed is 1100 rpm. Be driven.

The calculation example of the above equation (1) can be expressed by a mathematical expression as follows. Rounding 3 ← −− 3.4 = (3/5) × 5 + 0.4 2 ← −− 1.6 = (3/5) × 2 + 0.4

Although the above example has been carried out for five stages, the present invention is not limited to this. As for the compressor operating frequency and the louver angle, similarly to the above example, the control range adapted to the range set by the user at that time is determined, and the fluctuation control data is stored in the inverter control circuit 12 and the louver motor control circuit 14. The operation is performed based on the data determined by the arithmetic unit 15. Although the cooling operation has been described above as an example, the same control can be performed during the heating operation by switching the four-way valve 2 as described above.

Next, another embodiment of the air conditioner according to the present invention will be described. The basic structure and operation of the air conditioner of this embodiment are common to those of the above-described embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and therefore their description is omitted to avoid duplication.

In this embodiment, the control means M changes each output of the inverter, the indoor fan motor 9 and the louver motor 11 based on the control data of the 1 / f fluctuation of the frequency f, and measures the fluctuation range. It operates so as to control within a comfortable range based on data, and as shown in FIG.
2, an indoor fan motor control circuit 13, a louver motor control circuit 14, and a fluctuation control data storage / calculation device 15.

The fluctuation control data storage / calculation unit 15 includes:
The basic pattern of fluctuation control is stored as time-series data having a maximum of five levels of amplitude, as shown in FIG. By controlling the compressor operating frequency, indoor fan rotation speed, and louver motor rotation angle based on this pattern, control with 1 / f fluctuation can be performed. Also, using the remote controller 16,
When the user presses the fluctuation driving button, the fluctuation driving becomes effective.

In the following, the cooling operation will be described as an example.
That is, when the user presses the fluctuation driving button, the fluctuation driving start signal is transmitted from the remote controller 16 to the fluctuation control data storage / calculation unit 15. Here, the fluctuation control data storage / calculation device 15 performs control based on the fluctuation control data of FIG. 3 on the basis of the room temperature when the fluctuation operation button is pressed, the compressor operating frequency, the fan motor rotation speed, and the louver tilt angle.

At this time, the fluctuation control data storage / calculation device 15 stores the comfort range previously obtained by the subject experiment, and the calculation device 15 calculates the compressor operating frequency, the fan motor rotation speed, and the louver inclination angle. It is calculated how much the fluctuation is changed to the fluctuation operation in this comfortable range, and the values of the compressor operating frequency, the fan motor rotation speed, and the louver tilt angle obtained by the calculation are controlled by the inverter control circuit 12 and the indoor fan motor control. Circuit 13, louver motor control circuit 1
4, and the control circuits 12 to 14 control the compressor 1, the indoor fan motor 9, and the louver motor 11 based on these values, so that the fluctuation operation can be performed in the comfortable range.

FIG. 4 shows the comfort range obtained by the above-mentioned subject experiment, (A) room temperature 23 ° C., (B) room temperature 27
C and (C) show comfortable areas at room temperature of 32 ° C, respectively. In addition, in FIG. 4 (A)-(C), although the data of only the said 3 room temperature are illustrated, room temperature 18 degree-C 32
It has the same data every 1 ° C up to 0 ° C.

That is, in the subject experiment shown in FIG. 4, the room temperature is set to 18 ° C. to 32 ° C. at every 1 ° C., the subject is put in the set laboratory, and the subject is placed in front of the wind tunnel where the wind hits the whole body. And set the wind speed on the subject to 0 to 1.2.
Change the air temperature to 1 m / s at each wind speed.
Change from 8 ° C to 32 ° C. At this time, the subject uses Table 1 to report comfort satisfaction every 5 minutes after the wind hits. In addition, the declaration for this experiment will be made continuously for about one hour. Table 1 is a questionnaire about comfort and satisfaction regarding wind speed and temperature.

[0040]

[Table 1]

The wind speed and wind temperature are used as explanatory variables in order to correspond the wind speed and wind temperature at that time with the report result written in Table 1, and the report result is formulated as a target variable by a multiple regression equation or the like. You can go and ask. That is, it is possible to obtain the comfort regions G to H of the wind speed and the comfort regions I to J of the air temperature shown in FIG. 4 and obtain the range surrounded by hatching as the comfort region satisfying both the wind speed and the air temperature. it can.

[0042]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the fluctuation control data adapted to the range arbitrarily selected by the user is generated, and based on this control data,
By controlling the outputs of the inverter of the compressor, the fan motor that rotationally drives the indoor fan, and the louver motor that drives the louver at a variable angle, it is possible to operate in a range that suits the user's preference.

That is, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-2 mentioned in the section of the prior art.
In the one disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 03147, even if the set temperature during the cooling operation is set to be higher than the indoor temperature by about 2 ° C. and the control is performed based on the fluctuation control pattern, the range is required by the user. The fluctuation is not limited to the above, and there is a possibility that the fluctuation is changed to an unnecessary range, and in some cases, useless power is consumed. Moreover, it cannot be said that a comfortable environment suitable for the user is created. On the other hand, as in the present invention, the user himself / herself determines the control range and performs the fluctuating operation based on the control range, so that the operation is performed within the range suitable for the user without changing the range to an unnecessary range. Because it will be
A comfortable air-conditioned space for the user can be realized.

According to the second aspect, the outputs of the inverter, the fan motor and the louver motor are respectively fed with the frequency f.
Since the 1 / f fluctuation control data of 1 is changed based on the 1 / f fluctuation control data, and the fluctuation range is controlled within the comfortable range based on the measured data, fluctuation control data is always generated within the comfortable range and this control is performed. By controlling based on the data, it is possible to always drive within the comfortable range.

That is, since the control is performed within the comfort range determined in advance, the control operation is always performed within the comfortable range without changing to an unnecessary range, so that the air-conditioned space is comfortable for the user. Can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged detailed view of a remote controller.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing basic fluctuation control data.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a comfortable range obtained by a subject experiment in another example of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Compressor 2 Four-way valve 3 Outdoor heat exchanger 4 Expansion valve 5 Indoor heat exchanger 8 Indoor fan 9 Indoor fan motor 10 Louver 11 Louver motor 12 and inverter control circuit 13 Indoor fan motor control circuit 14 Louver motor control circuit 15 Fluctuation control data storage Computing device 16 Remote controller M Control means R Refrigerant circuit

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A refrigerant circuit having a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an expansion valve and an indoor heat exchanger, an inverter for changing an operating frequency of the compressor, an indoor fan facing the indoor heat exchanger, and an indoor fan for the indoor heat exchanger. A fan motor that is rotationally driven, a louver that changes the wind direction of the indoor fan and a louver motor that drives the angle of the louver, and outputs of the inverter, fan motor, and louver motor are based on control data of 1 / f fluctuation of frequency f. An air conditioner comprising: a control unit for changing the output of the inverter, a fan motor, and a louver motor, and a control operation unit for arbitrarily setting the output change width of the inverter, the fan motor, and the louver motor. 2. A refrigerant circuit having a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an expansion valve and an indoor heat exchanger, an inverter for changing an operating frequency of the compressor, an indoor fan facing the indoor heat exchanger, and the indoor fan. A fan motor that is rotationally driven, a louver that changes the wind direction of the indoor fan and a louver motor that drives the angle of rotation of the louver, and outputs of the inverter, fan motor, and louver motor are based on control data of 1 / f fluctuation of frequency f. And a control means for controlling the fluctuation range within a comfortable range based on actual measurement data.