JPH08200904A - Cooler - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To enable handling of leakage of a refrigerant effectively by a method wherein a damper of an air supply/discharge port is opened and an air diffuser of a room unit is closed to rotate a fan when a sensor detects the leakage of the refrigerant. CONSTITUTION: When a sensor 35 provided in a room unit 3 detects the leakage of a refrigerant, dampers 25 and 27 of an air supply/discharge port 21 communicating between the inside of the room unit 3 and outdoors 23 are opened, an air diffuser 17 of the room unit 3 is closed and a fan 15 provided in the room unit 3 is rotated to exhaust the inside of the room unit 3. Moreover, when the exhaustion is insufficient, a damper 31 of an exhaust port 29 communicating between the inside and outside of the room as provided in the room unit 3 is opened, the air diffuser 17 of the room unit 3 is opened and the fan 15 of the room unit 3 is rotated to exhaust the inside of the room. This enables the keeping of the refrigerant leaked from being further leaked into the room.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for coping with leakage of a refrigerant provided in a cooling apparatus using a harmful or combustible refrigerant such as ammonia.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a cooling device using a harmful or flammable refrigerant such as ammonia, for example, there is a cooling device using an absorption refrigerator having ammonia as a refrigerant. The cooling device generally has an indoor unit and an outdoor unit. Of these, the cooling device called the direct expansion type, the refrigerant condensed in the outdoor unit,
It is directly sent to the outdoor unit without passing through another refrigerant such as water, and is expanded in the indoor unit to remove water from the surroundings. When such a direct expansion type cooling device uses a harmful and flammable refrigerant such as ammonia, it is necessary to deal with the possibility that the refrigerant leaks from the indoor unit to the room.

In the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-94338,
It shows a structure in which a closed container covers a portion where ammonia, which is a refrigerant, may leak. Further, when ammonia as a refrigerant leaks, it is generally considered that an absorbent such as water is sprayed.

[0004]

However, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-94338, there is no choice but to provide a heat exchanger, which has a high possibility of causing a leak location, outside the hermetically sealed container. It was hard to prevent. Further, when the leakage occurs from the indoor unit, there is a practical problem in spraying the absorbent such as water into the room.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and provides a cooling device which can more effectively deal with refrigerant leakage and does not need to spray an absorbent such as water. With the goal.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention of claim 1 is a cooling device using a harmful or flammable refrigerant, and detects leakage of the refrigerant provided in an indoor unit. A sensor, an air supply / exhaust port with a damper that communicates the inside and the outside of the air conditioner with the indoor unit fan to exhaust the air inside the indoor unit, and a damper for the air supply / exhaust port when the sensor detects refrigerant leakage. And a control means for opening the fan and closing the outlet of the indoor unit to rotate the fan.

Further, according to the invention of claim 2, in a cooling device using a harmful or flammable refrigerant, a sensor provided in the indoor unit for detecting leakage of the refrigerant, and an indoor unit and an outdoor unit provided in the indoor unit. And a control means for opening the damper of the exhaust port and opening the outlet of the indoor unit to rotate the fan when the sensor detects the leakage of the refrigerant. .

Further, according to the invention of claim 3, an air supply port with a fan for taking in the outside air into the room is provided at another place apart from the indoor unit, and the control means detects the leakage of the refrigerant. At that time, the fan of the air supply port is rotated.

[0009]

According to the invention of claim 1, when the sensor provided in the indoor unit detects the leakage of the refrigerant, the damper of the air supply / exhaust port is opened, the outlet of the indoor unit is closed, and the fan of the indoor unit is rotated. As a result, the interior of the indoor unit, which is highly likely to leak the refrigerant, is exhausted.

According to the second aspect of the invention, when the sensor provided in the indoor unit detects the leakage of the refrigerant, the damper of the exhaust port is opened, the blowout port of the indoor unit is opened, and the fan of the indoor unit is rotated. As a result, the interior of the room where the refrigerant has leaked is exhausted.

Further, in the invention of claim 3, when the sensor detects the leakage of the refrigerant, the fan of the air supply port provided at another place apart from the indoor unit is rotated. As a result, fresh outside air is taken into the room, the amount of air taken in by the fan of the indoor unit can be made sufficient, and at the same time, ventilation of the room where the refrigerant has leaked can be promoted.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
Will be explained. First, as can be seen from the plan view of the room shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of indoor units 3 are provided on one wall 1 of this room. An air supply port 5 is provided on the other wall 4 facing the wall 1 and a fan 7 with a damper (not shown) is provided.

As shown in FIG. 1, in each indoor unit 3, a heat exchanger 13 having a large number of refrigerant passages 11 for passing a refrigerant therein is arranged inside an intake port 9 for taking in indoor air 8. . A fan 15 is provided downstream of the heat exchanger 13 through which the air 8 flows. An outlet 17 is formed further downstream of the fan 15. This outlet 17
A damper 19 for the outlet is provided in the. Furthermore,
An air supply / exhaust port 21 is provided adjacent to the outlet 17 and communicates with the outside 23. An inlet damper 25 is provided at the inlet to the air supply / exhaust port 21, and an outlet damper 2 is provided at the outlet.
7 are provided.

In addition to the air supply / exhaust port 21, the indoor unit 3 is also provided with an exhaust port 29 for directly exhausting the indoor air 8 to the outside 23. A damper 31 is also provided at the exhaust port 29. Each damper 19, 25, 2
7 and 31 are damper motors 33 provided respectively.
Is opened and closed. Further, a sensor 35 for detecting the leakage of the refrigerant is provided near the outlet 17.

Although not shown, of the connecting unit pipes connecting the indoor unit 3 and the outdoor unit, the portion that penetrates the room has a double pipe structure, and even if the refrigerant leaks from the connecting unit pipes, The structure can be prevented from leaking into the room.

As shown in FIG. 4, the dampers 19, 27,
The control device 39 controls the motor 33 that opens and closes 31, the fan 15 of the indoor unit, the fan 7 of the air supply port 5, the motor that opens and closes the damper of the air supply port 5, and the outdoor unit 37.

The control of this embodiment will be described below with reference to the flow chart of FIG. First, it is monitored whether or not the refrigerant leak is detected by the sensor 35 (S1). If not detected, the dampers 25 and 27 of the air supply / exhaust port 21 and the damper 31 of the exhaust port 29 are closed, and the damper 19 of the outlet port 17 is open, as shown in FIG. As a result, similarly to a general indoor unit, the air 8 in the room is taken in through the intake port 9 and cooled by the heat exchanger 13, and then blown out into the room through the blowout port 17 by the fan 15.

Next, when refrigerant leakage is detected (S1),
The damper 19 of the outlet 17 is closed (S2), the dampers 25 and 27 of the air supply / exhaust port 21 are opened (S3), and when the fan 15 of the indoor unit 3 is stopped, rotation is performed (S4). . As a result, the indoor air 8 taken in through the intake port 9 is sent to the air supply / exhaust port 21 by the fan 15 and is exhausted to the outside 23. Furthermore, a measure is taken to prevent the refrigerant liquid from being liquid-sealed in the indoor unit 3 (S5), and the outdoor unit is stopped (S6).

After a certain time t1 has passed (S7), if the refrigerant concentration is less than the certain value N1 (S8), the damper 31 of the exhaust port 29 is opened to promote ventilation in the room (S7).
9) Then, the damper 19 of the outlet 17 which has been closed until then is opened (S10). As a result, fresh air is sent into the room and the room is ventilated.

If the concentration N is still larger than the constant value N2 (S11) despite the lapse of the predetermined time t2 (S12), it is determined that the countermeasure against the refrigerant leakage is insufficient. The damper of the air supply port 5 is opened and the fan 7 is rotated (S13). As a result, fresh outdoor air is taken in, and ventilation in the room is actively promoted. In this way, the ventilation of the room using the fan 15 of the indoor unit 3 and the fan 7 of the air supply port 5 is continued until the refrigerant is no longer detected (S14). When the refrigerant is no longer detected, the fan 15 of the indoor unit 3 and the fan 7 of the air supply port 5
Is stopped (S15).

In step 12, the refrigerant concentration N
Is smaller than the constant value N2, it is determined whether or not the density is too low to be detected (S17), and if not detected, the fan 15 of the indoor unit 3 and the fan 7 of the air supply port 5 are stopped.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the fan 15 provided originally in the indoor unit 3 is used to evacuate the interior of the indoor unit 3 or the interior of the room, and further, the air supply port provided separately. By ventilating the room using the fan 7 of No. 5, it is possible to effectively deal with the leakage of ammonia which is a harmful and flammable refrigerant. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the inconvenience that the heat exchanger cannot be hermetically sealed even if the portion where the refrigerant is concerned is hermetically sealed by the hermetically sealed container as in the conventional case, and the hermetic sealing is eventually insufficient. Furthermore, it is not necessary to use an impractical method such as spraying an absorbent such as water that absorbs ammonia into the room.

In the above embodiment, the air supply / exhaust port 21
Two dampers, an inlet damper 25 and an outlet damper 27, are provided in the above, but only one of the dampers may be provided in other embodiments.

Further, in the above embodiment, the exhaust port 29 for exhausting the air in the room and the fan 15 are in communication with each other, but in other embodiments, both 29 and 15 are separated by the partition wall 41 (FIG. 3). It is also possible to use a cooling device having a structure separated by (see). By separating the two members 29 and 15, the air taken in from the intake port 9 and directed to the exhaust port 29 is not attracted toward the fan 15, and the indoor air can be efficiently exhausted.

Further, in the above embodiment, the wall 4 provided with the air supply port 5 faces the wall 1 provided with the indoor unit 3, but in other embodiments, both walls 1, 4 are provided. May be at right angles rather than facing each other.

Further, in the above embodiments, the refrigerant was described as ammonia, but in other embodiments, other harmful or flammable refrigerant may be used instead of ammonia. Further, in the above embodiments, only the case where the cooling device performs cooling has been described, but in other embodiments, for example, an absorption refrigerator may be used to perform not only cooling but also heating. .

[0027]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, by exhausting the inside of the indoor unit using the fan provided in the indoor unit, the leaked refrigerant further leaks into the room. It can be prevented.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the leakage of the refrigerant into the room can be dealt with by exhausting the room using the fan provided in the indoor unit.

According to the invention of claim 3, the fan provided in the indoor unit further exhausts air, and the outside air is taken into the room by the fan at the air supply port provided at another location apart from the indoor unit. This makes it possible to sufficiently deal with refrigerant leakage by making the amount of air exhausted by the fan of the indoor unit sufficient, promote fresh air from the outside to promote arousal in the room, and sufficiently deal with refrigerant leakage. it can.

As described above, according to the above invention, it is more effective against the leakage of the refrigerant without using an incomplete closed container as in the prior art and without spraying an absorbent such as water. It is possible to provide a cooling device that can cope with the above.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an indoor unit of a cooling device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an interior of a room in which a plurality of indoor units of FIG. 1 are provided.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a normal state of the indoor unit of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of the indoor unit of FIG.

5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the indoor unit of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Indoor Unit 5 Air Supply Port 7 Fan 9 Inlet Port 11 Refrigerant Pathway 13 Heat Exchanger 15 Indoor Unit Fan 17 Outlet Port 19, 25, 27, 31 Damper 21 Air Supply / Exhaust Port 29 Air Supply Port 33 Motor 35 Sensor

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Shigeru Murayama 2-5-5 Keihan Hondori, Moriguchi City, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tomonori Tamura 2-5-5 Keihan Hondori, Moriguchi City, Osaka Prefecture Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. In a cooling device using a harmful or flammable refrigerant, a sensor provided in the indoor unit for detecting the leakage of the refrigerant and the indoor unit inside and outside the cooling device are connected to each other by a fan of the indoor unit. An air supply / exhaust port with a damper for exhausting the inside of the machine, and a control means for opening the damper of the air supply / exhaust port to close the air outlet of the indoor unit and rotating the fan when a sensor detects leakage of the refrigerant. A cooling device characterized by the above. 2. A cooling device using a harmful or combustible refrigerant, comprising a sensor provided in the indoor unit for detecting leakage of the refrigerant, and an exhaust port with a damper provided in the indoor unit for communicating the indoor and the outdoor. And a control means for opening the damper of the exhaust port and opening the outlet of the indoor unit to rotate the fan when the sensor detects the leakage of the refrigerant. 3. An air supply port with a fan for taking in outside air into the room is provided at a separate location apart from the indoor unit, and the control means controls the fan of the air supply port when the sensor detects the leakage of the refrigerant. The cooling device according to claim 1 or 2, which is rotated.