JPH08178344A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an air conditioner, capable of effecting operation satisfying comfortable feeling not only in cooling operation but also in heating operation. CONSTITUTION: When a temperature in a room is approached an objective temperature upon cooling and heating operation, an indoor fan 21 at the lower side in an indoor machine 1 is controlled so as to be stopped and a lower side louver 18 is controlled so as to be closed fully. Subsequently, the pivoting angle of an upper side louver 17 is regulated so that the maximum flow speed line of air stream, sent out of an upper side air outlet port 15, becomes parallel to a vertical line. According to this control, the air stream, sent out of the upper side air outlet port 15, is sent out upwardly along the vertical line.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner,
Particularly, the present invention relates to an air conditioner capable of contributing to improvement of comfort during steady operation of cooling and heating.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, heat pump type air conditioners are rapidly becoming popular for household use because they can be used for both heating and cooling. By the way, in such a heat pump type air conditioner, the indoor type of the indoor unit is mainly a slender type that is hung on a wall near the ceiling, that is, a stylish type because of the installation space and the like.

This so-called wall-mounted indoor unit employs a structure in which indoor air after heat exchange is blown out obliquely downward. Therefore, in the cooling operation, the cool air comes down and the entire room can be cooled uniformly, so that there is little problem in terms of comfort. However, in the heating operation, since warm air does not easily reach the floor surface, it is difficult for the floor surface under the feet to warm up, and a feeling of comfort remains insufficient. As described above, in the wall-mounted indoor unit, it is essentially difficult to perform both cooling and heating operations so as to satisfy comfort.

In order to improve the feeling of comfort during heating operation, it is conceivable to install an indoor unit on or near the floor to let warm air crawl onto the floor. However, in this method, since the cool air concentrates near the floor surface during the cooling operation, it becomes difficult to uniformly cool the entire room, and it is not only possible to obtain a comfortable feeling during cooling but also the efficiency is inevitable. Becomes

[0005]

As described above, in the conventional heat pump type air conditioner, due to the structure of the indoor unit, the installation location, etc., a comfortable feeling is obtained in both the cooling operation and the heating operation. It was difficult to drive to meet. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner capable of both satisfying a comfortable feeling not only in cooling operation but also in heating operation.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, an air conditioner according to the present invention has a blowout port at least in the upper part, and blows out from the blowout port after heat exchange of the sucked indoor air. And an airflow control means that blows out all of the indoor air taken in by the indoor unit at least during steady operation of cooling and heating upward from a blowout port provided in the upper portion substantially along a vertical line.

As an indoor unit, an inlet for sucking indoor air, an upper outlet and a lower outlet provided above and below the position of the inlet, and an indoor unit from these outlets An upper fan and a lower fan that are provided to blow out air, and an upper louver and a lower louver that are provided at the upper blow-out port and the lower blow-out port so that their rotation angles are controllable, respectively. Using the airflow control means, at least during steady cooling / heating operation, the indoor unit sucks all the indoor air by the rotation control of the upper and lower fans and the rotation angle control of the upper and lower louvers. It is also possible to use one that blows upward from the blowout port substantially along the vertical line.

Further, it is more preferable to provide an approach response control means for reducing the blown air volume or the wind speed when a person approaches the indoor unit within a predetermined distance during the steady cooling / heating operation. In addition, the approach of a person to the indoor unit can be detected by using an infrared sensor.

[0009]

[Function] All of the cool air or the warm air blown out from the indoor unit during the steady operation of cooling and heating is blown upward substantially along the vertical line. Now, assuming that the indoor unit is installed along the wall on the floor surface, the cold air or warm air blown upward almost along the vertical line rises to the ceiling along the wall, and then along the ceiling. After reaching the wall located on the opposite side, it descends along the wall and then flows along the floor to the suction port of the indoor unit.

As described above, since the air conditioning can be performed by the circulation flow using the entire space of the room, the temperature distribution in the room can be made substantially uniform, and the draft in the central part of the room is hardly generated.
Comfort can be improved. In this case, as the speed of air blown out from the indoor unit is higher and the amount of air blown out is higher, the effect of uniform temperature distribution is greater, and the energy saving effect is also greater.

If the blowing air velocity is set high or the blowing air volume is set to a large value as described above, a human may feel a draft when an indoor unit approaches a human. Infrared sensor etc. detect that it is approaching,
By reducing the blowing air velocity and the blowing air volume, it is possible to eliminate the discomfort caused by the draft feeling.

[0012]

Embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of an indoor unit 1 which is a component of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention. The indoor unit 1 is of a so-called floor-standing type installed on the floor surface 3 along the wall 2 of the room.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 designates a housing which is flat in the front-rear direction, is relatively long in the up-down direction, and has a prismatic outer shape. A suction port 13 for sucking indoor air is formed in a portion of the front wall 12 of the housing 11 excluding an upper portion and a lower portion, and a filter for trapping dust is attached to the suction port 13. .

An upper outlet 15 is provided on the upper wall 14 of the housing 11.
Are formed. Further, in the front wall 12 of the housing 11, a lower outlet 16 is provided in a portion located below the inlet 13.
Are formed. The upper outlet 15 and the lower outlet 16 are rotatably provided with an upper louver 17 and a lower louver 18 capable of varying the outlet direction and closing the outlet. The upper louver 17 and the lower louver 18 are controlled in rotation angle by an upper louver angle adjuster 50 (see FIG. 3) which is not shown in FIG. There is.

An indoor heat exchanger 19 is provided in the housing 11 at a position on the back side of the suction port 13. Then, at a position facing the back surface of the indoor heat exchanger 19, an upper indoor fan 20 for sucking indoor air from the suction port 13 to bring it into contact with the indoor heat exchanger 19 and then sending it out from the upper outlet port 15, and a suction A lower indoor fan 21 is provided for sucking indoor air from the opening 13 and bringing it into contact with the indoor heat exchanger 19 and then sending it out from the lower outlet 16. The upper indoor fan 20 and the lower indoor fan 2
Each of the components 1 is composed of a cross flow fan.

In FIG. 1, 23 is an upper fan nose, 24 is a lower fan nose, 25 is a fan casing, and 26 is a drain pan. Reference numeral 27 denotes an infrared sensor that is arranged above the front wall 12 of the housing 11 and detects the approach of a person to the indoor unit 1.

FIG. 2 shows a refrigeration cycle system of the air conditioner according to this embodiment. This refrigeration cycle system includes a compressor 31, a four-way valve 32, the indoor heat exchanger 19 described above, a throttle mechanism 33, and an outdoor heat exchanger 34.

In FIG. 2, reference numerals 35 and 36 denote motors for independently driving the upper indoor fan 20 and the lower indoor fan 21, respectively, and 37 denotes an outdoor fan attached to the outdoor heat exchanger 34. , 38 are motors for driving the outdoor fan 37.

Here, the refrigeration cycle will be briefly described.
When the heating operation mode is selected, the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant gas discharged from the compressor 31 passes through the four-way valve 32 and is then heat-exchanged with the indoor air by the indoor heat exchanger 19, and then by the throttling mechanism 33. The gas is squeezed into a low-pressure gas-liquid two-phase state. Thereafter, the outdoor heat exchanger 34 exchanges heat with outdoor air to evaporate,
It becomes low temperature, low pressure gas, and is compressed by the compressor 31 to become high temperature, high pressure gas. On the other hand, when the cooling operation mode is selected, the high-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant gas discharged from the compressor 31 passes through the four-way valve 32 and is then heat-exchanged with the outdoor air by the outdoor heat exchanger 34, and then the throttling mechanism. It is throttled by 33 to be a low pressure gas-liquid two-phase state. Then, the indoor heat exchanger 19 exchanges heat with the indoor air to evaporate and become a low-temperature, low-pressure gas, and the compressor 31 compresses it to a high-temperature, high-pressure gas.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a control device 41 incorporated in this air conditioner. The control device 41 includes a control device main body 42 composed of a microprocessor or the like. The control device main body 42 receives the operation mode designation signal, the target temperature signal, the operation start command signal, the operation stop command signal, and the like from the remote controller 43 that is operated at hand, for example, and then the indoor temperature sensor 44.
Of the four-way valve switching drive circuit 36, the compressor drive circuit 46, while monitoring the output of the infrared sensor 27 and the output of the infrared sensor 27 described above.
Outdoor fan drive circuit 47, upper indoor fan drive circuit 4
8. The lower indoor fan drive circuit 49, the upper louver angle adjuster 50, and the lower louver angle adjuster 51 are controlled in the relationships described below.

The remote controller 43 has a temperature setter 52 for setting a target temperature, a switch 53 for selecting start and stop, a switch 54 for selecting a heating operation mode, and a cooling operation mode. There is provided a switch 55 for doing so.

Next, the operation of the air conditioner configured as above will be described. For example, do the following to start the heating operation. First, the temperature setting device 52 of the remote controller 43 is used to set the target temperature, and then the heating selection switch 54 is operated and then the start switch 53 is operated.

When such an operation is performed, the control device body 42 first controls the upper louver angle adjuster 50 and the lower louver angle adjuster 51 to fully open the upper louver 17 and the lower louver 18. Then, the four-way valve switching drive circuit 36 is controlled to switch the four-way valve to the heating side. Further, the compressor drive circuit 46, the outdoor fan drive circuit 47, the upper indoor fan drive circuit 48, the lower indoor fan drive circuit 4
9 is controlled to start rotation of the compressor 31, the outdoor fan 37, the upper indoor fan 20, and the lower indoor fan 21.

The heating operation is started up by this control. At the time of this start-up, the upper louver 17 and the lower louver 18 are held in the fully opened position, and the upper indoor fan 2
0, the lower indoor fan 21 is driven together. Therefore, the warm air that has flown into the housing 11 through the suction port 13 and has increased in temperature due to heat exchange with the refrigerant flowing through the indoor heat exchanger 19 has the upper outlet 15 and the lower outlet 1
It will be blown from both 6 and.

As a result, the temperature in the room rises rapidly. When the temperature in the room approaches within 1 ° C. with respect to the target temperature, the control device main body 42 causes the lower indoor fan drive circuit 49
By controlling the lower louver angle adjuster 51, the lower indoor fan 21 is stopped, and the lower louver 18 is moved to the position shown in FIG.
It is controlled to the fully closed state as shown in. Then, the upper louver angle adjuster 50 is controlled to rotate the upper louver 17 so that the maximum flow velocity line 61 of the warm air 60 blown out from the upper outlet 15 is substantially parallel to the vertical line 62, as shown in FIG. Adjust the moving angle. By this air flow control, the upper outlet 15
The warm air 60 blown out from is blown upward along substantially the vertical line 62. The direction of the maximum flow velocity line 61 can be slightly inclined toward the center of the room or slightly toward the wall 2 side.

The blown warm air 60 rises up to the ceiling 63 along the wall 2 and then reaches the wall 64 located on the opposite side along the ceiling 63, as indicated by the solid arrow in FIG. After that, it descends along the wall 64 and then flows along the floor surface 3 to the suction port 13 of the indoor unit 1. After that, the operation of circulating the warm air 63 through this path is continued as the heating steady operation.

During the steady heating operation, since the amount of air blown upward from the indoor unit 1 is large, when a person approaches the indoor unit 1, the approaching person may feel a draft feeling. In the apparatus of the present embodiment, when a human approaches the indoor unit 1 within a certain distance, the infrared sensor 27 detects this, and the control device body 42 controls the upper indoor fan drive circuit 48 based on the infrared sensor 27. The so-called approach response control is performed so that the rotation speed of the upper indoor fan 20 is reduced by a predetermined amount only during the approaching period so that the draft feeling is not felt.

The above-described operation is for the heating operation, but the same operation is performed when the cooling operation mode is selected. That is, at the start of the cooling operation, the upper louver 17 and the lower louver 18 are held in the fully opened position,
Both the upper indoor fan 20 and the lower indoor fan 21 are driven. Therefore, the cold air is blown out from both the upper outlet 15 and the lower outlet 16.

When the room temperature approaches the target temperature, for example, within 1 ° C., the control device main body 42 causes the lower indoor fan drive circuit 49 and the lower louver angle adjuster 5 to operate.
1, the lower indoor fan 21 is stopped and the lower louver 18 is controlled to the fully closed state as shown in FIG. Then, by controlling the upper louver angle adjuster 50, as shown in FIG.
As shown in, the rotation angle of the upper louver 17 is adjusted so that the maximum flow velocity line of the cool air blown out from the upper outlet 15 is substantially parallel to the vertical line 62. By this control, the cool air blown from the upper outlet 15 is blown upward along the vertical line 62.

The blown out cool air is indicated by a solid arrow 65 in FIG.
As shown in, the air circulates in the same route as in the heating operation. And the operation of circulating the cool air 65 through this route is
Continued as the cooling steady operation.

The operation when the human approaches the indoor unit 1 during the steady cooling operation is the same, and the infrared sensor 27 detects this when the human approaches the indoor unit 1 within a certain distance. Based on this, the control device main body 42
Controls the upper indoor fan drive circuit 48 so that the rotation speed of the upper indoor fan 20 is lowered to a predetermined level only during a period when a person is approaching within a certain distance so as not to feel a draft feeling.

In this way, since air circulation is performed by forming a circulation flow that uses the entire space of the room, the temperature distribution in the room can be made almost uniform, and there is almost no draft feeling in the center of the room, which is comfortable. It is possible to improve the sex.

In this case, as the speed of air blown out from the indoor unit is higher and the amount of air blown out is higher, the effect of uniform temperature distribution is greater, and the energy saving effect is also greater. However, if the blowing air velocity is increased or the blowing air volume is set to a large value, a draft feeling may be felt when a person approaches the indoor unit 1. It is possible to eliminate the discomfort due to the draft feeling by detecting that the air is approaching with the infrared sensor 2 and reducing the blowing air velocity and the blowing air amount.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. That is, in the above embodiment, the lower indoor fan is stopped during the heating operation and the lower louver is controlled to be fully closed, and the maximum flow velocity line of the air flow blown out from the upper outlet is substantially parallel to the vertical line. The rotation angle of the upper louver is adjusted as described above, but the rotation angle of the upper louver is controlled so that the maximum flow velocity line of the airflow blown out from the upper outlet is almost parallel to the vertical line from the start of startup. May be.

In the above embodiment, the indoor unit having the upper outlet and the lower outlet is used, but an indoor unit having only the upper outlet may be used. Also,
It is also possible to have a structure in which the indoor unit is stopped at an intermediate position in the height direction of the wall.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Not only the cooling operation, but also the heating operation can be operated with a comfortable feeling.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an indoor unit that is a component of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a refrigeration cycle system of the air conditioner.

FIG. 3 is a block configuration diagram of a control device incorporated in the air conditioner.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the blowing directions of warm air and cold air during steady cooling / heating operation in the same air conditioner.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining flows of warm air and cold air when the room is cooled and heated by the air conditioner.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Indoor unit 2, 64 ... Wall 3 ... Floor 11 ... Housing 12 ... Front wall 13 ... Suction port 14 ... Upper wall 15 ... Upper outlet 16 ... Lower outlet 17 ... Upper louver 18 ... Lower louver 19 ... Indoor heat exchanger 20 ... Upper indoor fan 21 ... Lower indoor fan 27 ... Infrared sensor 31 ... Compressor 32 ... Four-way valve 33 ... Throttling mechanism 34 ... Outdoor heat exchanger 41 ... Control device 42 ... Control device body 43 ... Remote Controller 45 ... 4-way valve switching drive circuit 46 ... Compressor drive circuit 47 ... Outdoor fan drive circuit 48 ... Upper indoor fan drive circuit 49 ... Lower indoor fan drive circuit 50 ... Upper louver angle adjuster 51 ... Lower louver angle adjustment Container 60 ... Warm air 61 ... Maximum flow velocity line 62 ... Vertical line 65 ... Cold air

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Takeshi Mishima Takeshi Mishima 8 Shinsita-cho, Isogo-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Stock company, Toshiba Yokohama Works (72) Inventor Arai Kurai 8 Shinsita-cho, Isogo-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa (72) Inventor Yukinobu Takahashi, No. 8 Shinsugita-cho, Isogo-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Stock Company, Toshiba Yokohama Office

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An indoor unit having an outlet at least in the upper part thereof, which heats the sucked indoor air and then blows out from the outlet, and at least all of the indoor air sucked by the indoor unit during a steady cooling / heating operation. An air conditioner comprising: an air flow control means for blowing air upward from an outlet provided in the upper portion substantially along a vertical line. 2. The indoor unit according to claim 1, wherein the indoor unit has a suction port for sucking indoor air, upper and lower blowing ports provided above and below the position of the suction port, and each of these blowing ports. An upper fan and a lower fan provided for blowing indoor air from the mouth, and an upper louver and a lower louver respectively provided at the upper blow-out port and the lower blow-out port so that the rotation angles thereof can be controlled. The air flow control means controls at least the indoor air sucked by the indoor unit by the rotation control of the upper and lower fans and the rotation angle control of the upper and lower louvers at least during the steady cooling and heating operation. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the air is blown upward from the outlet substantially along the vertical line. 3. The approach response control means for reducing the blown air volume or the wind speed when a person approaches the indoor unit within a predetermined distance during the steady cooling / heating operation, further comprising: Air conditioner. 4. The air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein the approach response control means detects the approach of a person by infrared rays.