JPH10281537A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the growth of micro-organism such as mold even during the shutdown of an air conditioner. SOLUTION: A humidity sensor 4 detects the relative humidity inside the box body of an interior machine of an air conditioner, and a humidity judgment part 5 judges whether the detected relative humidity exceeds a predetermined humidity or not. Responding to a determination signal from the humidity judgment part 5 which indicates that the detected relative humidity is over the predetermined humidity, a drying operation part 7 performs a predetermined drying operation. A drive part 8 operates the humidity sensor 4, the humidity judgment part 5, and the drying operation part 7 without being affected by the operation and shutdown of the air conditioner.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly, to an air conditioner for suppressing the generation of mold inside a housing of an indoor unit of the air conditioner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Since air conditioners are of the forced convection type, they are not used much for heating in winter, but are mostly used for cooling in summer and for dehumidification in humid conditions. As a result, it is presumed that the inside of the housing of the indoor unit of the air conditioner undergoes a temperature change similar to that of other furniture in winter when the air conditioner is not used. Further, the inside of the housing of the indoor unit of the air conditioner is a sealed space to some extent, and it cannot be expected that a sufficient air flow can be expected. It is known that mold is easily formed due to dew condensation in such a place where there is no air flow, and the occurrence of mold can be suppressed by securing ventilation.

[0003] In addition, since the air conditioner actively discharges the internal air into the room during operation, it is not preferable that microorganisms such as molds are generated inside the housing of the indoor unit and propagated. In consideration of such a point, for example, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 5-1837, when the temperature and humidity in the room are in a state where molds, mites and the like are liable to proliferate during the automatic operation of the air conditioner, the heater is used. There has been proposed an air conditioner that is energized and forcibly performs a dehumidifying operation.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION However, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
The air conditioner disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 837 can only cope during automatic operation, and cannot perform any measure in winter, when it is hardly used as an air conditioner. In particular, in recent years, as the airtightness of buildings has increased, the possibility of dew condensation occurring in winter has increased, so that microorganisms such as molds may be generated inside the housing of indoor units The nature becomes high. Microorganisms such as mold generated inside the housing of the indoor unit become allergens, and thus the generation of microorganisms such as mold cannot be tolerated at all.

[0005] In addition, the generation of microorganisms such as mold is prevented,
Alternatively, it is conceivable to apply an antibacterial agent to the inside of the housing in order to suppress it. However, the antibacterial agent has no effect of preventing or suppressing the generation of microorganisms such as mold in a high humidity condition, and in about two years There is no fundamental solution because it is ineffective.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and has as its object to provide an air conditioner capable of preventing the generation of microorganisms such as mold even during shutdown.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an air conditioner, comprising: a humidity detecting means provided at a predetermined position inside a housing of an indoor unit of the air conditioner; and whether the detected humidity exceeds a predetermined humidity. Humidity determining means for determining whether or not, operating means for performing a predetermined operation in response to a determination signal from the humidity determining means indicating that the detected humidity exceeds a predetermined humidity, operation of the air conditioner, And a driving unit for operating the humidity detecting unit, the humidity determining unit, and the operating unit without being affected by the stop. Here, the humidity may be either absolute humidity or relative humidity.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the air conditioner employs a drying operation means for performing a drying operation to dry the inside of the housing of the indoor unit of the air conditioner as the operating means.
The air conditioner according to claim 3 employs, as the operating means, a notifying means for notifying that there is a risk of mold occurring inside the housing of the indoor unit of the air conditioner.

The air conditioner according to a fourth aspect employs a humidity sensor as the humidity detecting means. The air conditioner according to claim 5, wherein a temperature sensor as humidity detection means;
And a dew point estimating means for estimating a dew point using a past temperature history detected by the temperature sensor.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the air conditioner employs at least one of a blowing means and a heating means as the drying operation means.

[0011]

According to the air conditioner of the first aspect, the humidity inside the housing of the indoor unit of the air conditioner is detected by the humidity detecting means, and it is determined whether the detected humidity exceeds a predetermined humidity. A predetermined operation is performed by the operating means in response to a determination signal from the humidity determining means which is determined by the determining means and indicates that the detected humidity exceeds the predetermined humidity. Then, the humidity detecting unit, the humidity determining unit and the operating unit are operated by the driving unit without being affected by the operation and stoppage of the air conditioner.

Therefore, when the inside of the housing becomes in a state where dew condensation occurs during a period in which the air conditioner is not operated, such as in winter, such a state can be eliminated, and as a result, mold can be eliminated. And other microorganisms can be prevented. According to the air conditioner of the second aspect, since the drying operation means for performing the drying operation to dry the inside of the housing of the indoor unit of the air conditioner is employed as the operation means, the same as the first aspect is adopted. Action can be achieved.

According to the air conditioner of the third aspect, as the operating means, a notifying means for notifying that there is a danger of mold generation inside the casing of the indoor unit of the air conditioner is employed. The same action as in claim 1 can be achieved by the operator taking necessary measures (for example, blowing operation) in response to notification by the notification means. Claim 4
In the air conditioner of the above, since the humidity sensor is employed as the humidity detecting means, the same operation as the first aspect can be achieved.

According to the air conditioner of the present invention, the humidity detecting means includes a temperature sensor and a dew point estimating means for estimating a dew point using a past temperature history detected by the temperature sensor. Therefore, the same operation as in claim 1 can be achieved without having a humidity sensor. According to the air conditioner of the sixth aspect, since a device including at least one of the blowing means and the heating means is employed as the drying operation means, the same operation as the second aspect can be achieved.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view schematically showing the configuration of an indoor unit of an air conditioner.
The indoor unit has an indoor heat exchanger 2, a blower fan 3, and a humidity sensor 4 inside a housing 1 having an air suction unit and an air discharge unit (not shown).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing one embodiment of the air conditioner of the present invention. This air conditioner has a humidity sensor 4 for detecting relative humidity inside the housing 1.
Is compared with a predetermined reference humidity signal (for example, a reference humidity signal corresponding to the dew point) with the relative humidity detection signal output from the humidity sensor 4 as an input, and it is determined whether the relative humidity exceeds the reference humidity. A drying operation for drying the inside of the housing 1 in response to a determination result signal from the humidity determination unit 5 that outputs a determination result signal and the humidity determination unit 5 indicating that the relative humidity exceeds the reference humidity. An actuator 6 for operating the unit 7 and a drive unit 8 for supplying power to the humidity sensor 4, the humidity determination unit 5, the actuator 6, and the drying operation unit 7 regardless of whether the air conditioner is stopped.
And Here, as the drying operation unit 7, at least one of a unit that operates only the blower fan 3, a unit that stops or operates the blower fan 3 to perform a heating operation of the air conditioner, and a unit that operates a heater (not illustrated) is used. One can be adopted.

Since a structure for performing a normal air conditioning operation is conventionally known, a detailed description thereof will be omitted. The operation of the air conditioner having the above configuration is as follows. During a period in which the normal air conditioning operation is not performed, the relative humidity inside the housing 1 is detected by the humidity sensor 4, and the humidity determination unit 5 determines whether the detected relative humidity exceeds a predetermined reference humidity. And outputs a determination result signal. If the detected relative humidity does not exceed the predetermined reference humidity, the actuator 6 is not operated, and therefore, the drying operation unit 7 is not operated.

Conversely, if the detected relative humidity exceeds the predetermined reference humidity, the actuator 6 is operated based on the judgment result signal output from the humidity judgment unit 5, and the drying operation unit 7 is also operated. Therefore, the inside of the housing 1 is dried, and the occurrence of dew condensation can be prevented beforehand, and the occurrence of microorganisms such as mold can be prevented. Also,
In any of the above cases, the humidity sensor 4, the humidity determination unit 5,
Although power for operation is supplied to the actuator 6 and the drying operation unit 7 by the driving unit 8, the actuator 6 operates only in response to a predetermined determination result signal. Absent.

Further, during a period in which a normal air conditioning operation is being performed, generation of microorganisms such as mold can be prevented by performing a blowing operation, a heating operation, and the like based on the humidity detected by the humidity sensor 4. FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing another embodiment of the air conditioner of the present invention.

The difference between this air conditioner and the air conditioner of FIG. 2 is that, instead of the drying operation unit 7, there is a risk that mold may be generated inside the housing of the indoor unit of the air conditioner. The only difference is that the notification unit 9 is employed. Therefore,
In the case of this embodiment, when the detected relative humidity exceeds a predetermined reference humidity, there is a risk that the notification unit 9 may generate mold inside the housing of the indoor unit of the air conditioner. Can be reported. Then, in response to the notification, the operator operates the air conditioner to perform any of the blowing operation, the drying operation, and the heating operation,
The inside of the housing 1 is dried to prevent the occurrence of dew condensation and to prevent the generation of microorganisms such as mold.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematically showing still another embodiment of the air conditioner of the present invention. This air conditioner employs a temperature sensor 10 for detecting the temperature inside the housing of the indoor unit of the air conditioner instead of the humidity sensor 4. The temperature detection signal output from the temperature sensor 10 is stored in the temperature history storage unit 12 and the danger rate table 1.
3 and supplies a temperature detection signal corresponding to the highest temperature stored in the temperature history storage unit 12 to the danger rate table 13 and stored in the temperature detection signal output from the temperature sensor 10 and the temperature history storage unit 12. The danger rate determined based on the detected temperature signal corresponding to the highest temperature is read from the danger rate table 13 and supplied to the dew-condensation judging section 11, which compares the danger rate with a predetermined reference danger rate. Thus, the comparison result signal is supplied to the actuator 6. The actuator 6 operates the drying operation unit 7 to dry the inside of the housing 1.
Temperature sensor 10, dew condensation determining unit 11, temperature history storage unit 1
2, a drive unit 14 for supplying power for operation to the danger rate table 13, the actuator 6, and the drying operation unit 7 regardless of whether the air conditioner is stopped.

The temperature history storage unit 12 stores a detected temperature over a predetermined time (for example, the past 24 hours) as a temperature history, and supplies the highest temperature among the stored temperatures to the danger rate table 13. I do. The risk rate table 13 is a table in which a risk rate (a dew condensation risk rate and an estimated dew point) determined based on the highest temperature in the temperature history and the current detected temperature is set in advance. The maximum risk of the unit 12 and the current temperature detected by the temperature sensor 10 are input and a corresponding risk factor is output.

The temperature history storage unit 12 and the danger rate table 13 constitute a dew point estimating unit. Here, as a method of setting the risk factor, for example, the following method may be adopted. It is known that in a normal temperature range, the relative humidity changes by about 10% with two degrees of temperature change. Further, since the room is a living area of a person, the relative humidity can be estimated to be about 40% to 80%. Therefore, it is possible to predict the dew point to some extent using the psychrometric chart.
For example, in a situation where heating is not performed,
The maximum temperature at the time is stored, the relative humidity is assumed to be 40% at that temperature, and the relative humidity corresponding to each current temperature may be set based on the maximum temperature.

The operation of the air conditioner having the above configuration is as follows. During a period in which the normal air conditioning operation is not performed, the current temperature is continuously detected by the temperature sensor 10, and a temperature detection signal is supplied to the temperature history storage unit 12 and the danger rate table 13. Then, the temperature history storage unit 12
A temperature detection signal corresponding to the maximum temperature held in
Is supplied to the danger rate table 13, the danger rate determined based on both signals is read out from the danger rate table 13, and supplied to the dew-condensation determination unit 11. The dew-condensation judging unit 11 compares this risk factor with a predetermined reference risk factor and supplies a comparison result signal to the actuator 6, so that the risk factor read from the risk factor table 13 is higher than the predetermined reference risk factor. Actuator 6 only if high
And thus the drying operation section 7 can be operated to dry the inside of the housing 1, so that the inside of the housing 1 is dried, and the occurrence of dew condensation can be prevented, and microorganisms such as molds can be prevented. Can also be prevented from occurring.

Conversely, when the risk rate is not higher than the predetermined reference risk rate, the detection of the current temperature is continued without operating the actuator 6 and the drying operation section 7. In any of the above cases, the temperature sensor 10, the dew condensation determination unit 11, the temperature history storage unit 12, the danger rate table 1
3, the driving power is supplied to the actuator 6, and the drying operation unit 7 by the driving unit 14. However, since the actuator 6 operates only in response to a predetermined determination result signal, any operation is performed. No inconvenience.

Further, during a period in which a normal air conditioning operation is being performed, generation of microorganisms such as mold can be prevented by performing a blowing operation, a dehumidifying operation, and the like based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 10. of course,
In the embodiment of FIG. 4, it is possible to employ, instead of the drying operation unit 7, a notification unit 9 that notifies that there is a risk of mold generation inside the housing of the indoor unit of the air conditioner.

Although the case where the relative humidity is directly or indirectly detected has been described above, it is needless to say that the absolute humidity can be detected.

[0028]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the inside of the housing becomes dew-condensed during a period in which the air conditioner is not operated as in winter, such a state is solved. This has a specific effect that the generation of microorganisms such as mold can be prevented.

The invention of claim 2 has the same effect as that of claim 1. According to the third aspect of the present invention, the same effect as in the first aspect can be obtained by performing necessary measures (for example, dehumidifying operation) by the operator in response to the notification by the notification means. Claim 4
The present invention has the same effect as the first aspect. The invention of claim 5 has the same effect as that of claim 1 even without a humidity sensor.

The sixth aspect of the invention has the same effect as the second aspect.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view schematically showing a configuration of an indoor unit of an air conditioner.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing one embodiment of the air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing another embodiment of the air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematically showing still another embodiment of the air conditioner of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Housing 4 Humidity sensor 5 Humidity judgment part 6 Actuator 7 Drying operation part 8, 14 Driving part 9 Notification part 10 Temperature sensor 11 Risk factor judgment part 12 Temperature history storage part 13 Risk factor table

Claims (6)

[Claims] A humidity detecting means (4) (10) (1) provided at a predetermined position inside a housing (1) of an indoor unit of an air conditioner.
2) (13), humidity determination means (5) (11) for determining whether the detected humidity exceeds a predetermined humidity, and humidity determination indicating that the detected humidity exceeds the predetermined humidity The operation means (6), (7) and (9) for performing a predetermined operation in response to the determination signal from the means (5) and (11), and the humidity detection means ( 4)
(10) (12) (13), humidity determination means (5) (1)
An air conditioner comprising: 1) driving means (8) and (14) for operating the operating means (6), (7) and (9). The operating means (6) (7) is a drying operation means (6) (7) for performing a drying operation to dry the inside of the housing (1) of the indoor unit of the air conditioner. 2. The air conditioner according to 1. The operating means (6) (9) notifies the user that there is a danger of mold occurring inside the housing (1) of the indoor unit of the air conditioner. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein 4. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the humidity detecting means (4) is a humidity sensor (4). 5. Humidity detecting means (10) (12) (13)
The air according to claim 1, further comprising a temperature sensor (10) and dew point estimating means (12) (13) for estimating a dew point using a past temperature history detected by the temperature sensor (10). Harmony equipment. 6. The air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein the drying operation means (7) includes at least one of a blowing means and a heating means.