JPH11230596A - Air conditioner with extension indoor unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an air conditioner exhibiting sufficient capacity even when an extra indoor unit is coupled with an outdoor unit having heat exchanging capability substantially equal to that for single indoor unit and distributing cooling/heating capacity appropriately to respective indoor units. SOLUTION: An outdoor unit 100 has heat exchanging capability substantially for single indoor unit to be coupled but since a compressor 1 is subjected to PWM drive and PAM drive through control of a controller 9, a capacity sufficient for heating/cooling a plurality of indoor units can be exhibited. Indoor units 120a, 120b are coupled with the outdoor unit 100 through a changeover valve unit 110 which sets a maximum allowable r.p.m. of the compressor 1 for the outdoor unit 100 depending on the number of indoor units to be coupled and the state thereof and also sets the opening of restrictors 5, 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an outdoor unit and an indoor unit each having substantially the same heat exchange capacity.
The present invention relates to an additional indoor unit type air conditioner in which one or more indoor units are combined with each other to enable air conditioning operation of a plurality of indoor units with the same outdoor unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an air conditioner has been configured such that one outdoor unit is connected to an indoor unit having substantially the same heat exchange capacity as the outdoor unit. For this reason, for example, when air-conditioning a plurality of rooms, an air conditioner having such a configuration is installed for each of the rooms. Alternatively, an outdoor unit having heat exchange capacity for two indoor units has been developed. Two indoor units are connected to this, and each indoor unit is installed in a separate room. Have been.

On the other hand, for example, as described in JP-A-61-228273, it is possible to connect one or more indoor units to one outdoor unit by using a switching valve unit. There are also known air conditioners. This is the first one
Even if one indoor unit is used, one or more indoor units can be additionally connected to the same outdoor unit by using the switching valve unit, and air conditioning is required. This is convenient when the number of places increases. In this case, each indoor unit has substantially the same heat exchange capacity as the outdoor unit shared by them.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing such a conventional air conditioner, in which 100 is an outdoor unit, 101 is a compressor,
102 is a four-way valve, 103 is an outdoor heat exchanger, 104 is a capillary tube, 110 is a switching valve unit, 111-
114 is a solenoid valve, 115 and 116 are capillary tubes, 117 and 118 are check valves, 120 is an indoor unit, 12
Reference numeral 1 122 denotes an indoor heat exchanger.

In this figure, here, one indoor unit 1
00, the indoor unit 120 via the switching valve unit 110
It is assumed that the two indoor heat exchangers 121 and 122 are connected. Here, the indoor unit 120 is a collection of two indoor heat exchangers 121 and 122, and these indoor heat exchangers 121 and 122 are installed in different rooms, for example.

In the switching valve unit 110, the outdoor unit 100
The first refrigerant pipe connected to the refrigerant pipe from the four-way valve 102 is branched into two, and the electromagnetic valves 113 and 114 are respectively provided.
The indoor heat exchangers 121 and 122 of the indoor unit 120 via
It is connected to the. Further, the second refrigerant pipe connected to the refrigerant pipe from the capillary tube 104 of the outdoor unit 100 is also branched into two, and connected to the indoor heat exchangers 121 and 122 via electromagnetic valves 112 and 111, respectively. Have been.

With this configuration, the indoor heat exchanger 12
A refrigeration cycle using the outdoor unit 100 in common is formed for each of the units 122.

The switching valve unit 110 branches between the electromagnetic valve 112 and the indoor heat exchanger 121, and passes through the capillary tube 116 and the check valve 118 to the outdoor unit 1.
00 outdoor heat exchanger 103 and capillary tube 1
In the outdoor unit 100, a branch is made between the solenoid valve 111 and the indoor heat exchanger 122, and the bypass path is connected to the refrigerant pipe between the outdoor unit 100 and the solenoid valve 111 through the capillary tube 115 and the check valve 117. A bypass connected to a refrigerant pipe between the outdoor heat exchanger 103 and the capillary tube 104 is provided.

The solenoid valves 111 to 114 can take only two states, that is, fully open and closed states.
When both of the solenoid valves 111 and 114 are in the operating state, all of the solenoid valves 111 to 114 are fully opened. When one of them is in the operating state and the other is in the stopped state, the solenoid valves 111 and 114 are fully opened. The electromagnetic valves 112 and 113 are fully closed, or the electromagnetic valves 112 and 113 are fully opened and the electromagnetic valves 111 and 114 are fully closed.

In such a configuration, in the case of a cooling operation, a high-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant gas discharged from the compressor 101 is sent to the outdoor heat exchanger 103 through the four-way valve 102, and is transmitted to the outdoor heat exchanger 103 by an outdoor fan (not shown). The heat is condensed by radiating heat to the sent outdoor air and becomes a high-pressure liquid refrigerant. This liquid refrigerant is decompressed in the capillary tube 104,
Assuming that all the solenoid valves 111 to 114 are fully opened, the indoor air is sent to the indoor heat exchangers 122 and 121 through the solenoid valves 111 and 112 and is sent by an indoor fan (not shown). , And evaporates into high-temperature refrigerant gas. These refrigerant gases are supplied to the solenoid valve 11
4, 113, and further returns to the compressor 101 through the four-way valve 102.

In the heating operation, the refrigerant is sent in a direction opposite to the above. In this case, the indoor heat exchanger 12
At 1, 122, the high-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant gas is radiated and condensed into the indoor air sent by an indoor fan (not shown), and the liquid refrigerant decompressed by the capillary tube 104 in the outdoor heat exchanger 103 is not shown. It absorbs heat from the outdoor air sent by the outdoor fan and evaporates to become a refrigerant gas, and the compressor 1 passes through the four-way valve 102.
Return to 01.

If the bypass between the capillary tube 116 and the check valve 118 and the bypass between the capillary tube 115 and the check valve 117 are not provided, the following problem occurs.

That is, when only one of the indoor heat exchangers performs the heating operation, for example, when the indoor heat exchanger 121 performs the heating operation and the indoor heat exchanger 122 is in the operation stop state, , The solenoid valves 112 and 113 are fully opened, and the solenoid valves 111 and 114 are fully closed. However, when the heating operation is started, the compressor 101 starts operating and sends out the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant gas to the indoor heat exchangers 121 and 122 together with the operation of the air conditioner. The valves 112 and 113 are kept in a fully open state, while the solenoid valves 111 and 114 are controlled to be in a fully closed state. Therefore, a high-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant gas is sent to the indoor heat exchanger 122 before the solenoid valves 111 and 114 are fully closed. When the solenoid valves 111 and 114 are fully closed in this state, the indoor heat Refrigerant pools will occur in the exchanger. For this reason, the oil contained in the refrigerant is deposited on the indoor heat exchanger.

To prevent this, the above-mentioned bypass is provided.

That is, in the case of the above heating operation, the outdoor unit 10
In the case of 0, the refrigerant is depressurized between the capillary tube 104 and the outdoor heat exchanger 103 by the action of the capillary tube 104, and the refrigerant stored in the indoor heat exchanger 122 that is not operating is Under low pressure. Therefore, even if the electromagnetic valve 111 is fully closed, the refrigerant in the indoor heat exchanger 122 is depressurized by the capillary tube 115 and sent from the check valve 117 to the outdoor heat exchanger 103.

In this way, it is possible to prevent refrigerant pooling in the indoor heat exchanger 122 in which the heating operation is stopped. The same is true when the indoor heat exchanger 121 is in the heating operation stopped state. The capillary tube 116 and the check valve 118 can prevent the liquid pool of the refrigerant in the indoor heat exchanger 121.

The check valves 117 and 118 are for preventing the refrigerant from flowing back through the bypass.

[0018]

By the way, in an air conditioner, a drive motor of a compressor in an outdoor unit (hereinafter referred to as a compressor motor) is driven to rotate by a drive device having an inverter. By keeping the power supply voltage constant and making the duty ratio of the drive current variable, the number of revolutions of the compressor motor is made variable according to the capability of the air conditioner at the time of starting or stable operation.

By the way, in the above-mentioned prior art, the same is true. One or two indoor heat exchangers can be connected to the outdoor unit 100, so that the operation can be performed efficiently. The outdoor unit 100 has a heat exchange capacity of one indoor heat exchanger, and therefore, the rotation speed of the compressor motor, and therefore, the compressor 101,
It is designed to obtain up to 6000-8000rpm. Thus, when the two indoor heat exchangers 121 and 122 are in a stable operation state, the heat exchange capacity can be sufficiently provided, and each of them can be activated.

However, these indoor heat exchangers 12
1, 122 are usually installed in different places (rooms, etc.), so they may be activated almost simultaneously. After activation, the other indoor switch may be activated before it enters a stable operating state.
In such a case, although the outdoor unit 100 has only about the same heat exchange capacity as one indoor heat exchanger,
Such a start of the indoor heat exchanger requires a very high heat exchange capacity, and in order to start almost two units at the same time, from the start to the stable operation state. It will take a long time.

When the other indoor heat exchanger is started during the stable operation of one indoor heat exchanger, the capacity is also distributed to the indoor heat exchanger during the stable operation. This affects the start of the indoor heat exchanger.

Therefore, it takes a long time to enter a comfortable cooling and heating state, and the apparatus operates at the maximum power during that time, so that the power consumption also increases.

In order to prevent this, it is conceivable to increase the capacity of the outdoor unit or the compressor.
When only one unit is operated, the capacity becomes excessive and wasteful, and the air conditioner becomes large and the cost increases.

Further, in the above-mentioned prior art, it is necessary to provide a bypass path comprising a check valve and a capillary tube in order to prevent the generation of liquid pool of the refrigerant in the non-operating indoor heat exchanger during the heating operation. That is, a bypass path for the original refrigeration cycle is added. For this reason,
The configuration of the entire refrigeration cycle was complicated, and the cost of the air conditioner was high. Moreover, when installing such an air conditioner, not only the connection of the original refrigeration cycle piping, but also the piping of the bypass path consisting of the check valve and the capillary tube must be connected to the service valve of the outdoor unit. There are problems that the work is troublesome and the installation time is long.

Further, when a plurality of indoor units are connected to one outdoor unit as described above, a switching valve unit for distributing the refrigerant to each indoor unit is required. There was also a need to consider the placement space.

Further, in the above conventional air conditioner,
Each indoor unit is usually installed in a separate room,
In such a case, even if the remote controller
Even if the operation is performed by a remote controller), in order to operate the indoor unit in a desired room, the user has to go to the room and perform the operation, which may be very troublesome.

A first object of the present invention is to solve such a problem and to make it possible to additionally connect indoor units, and to make it possible for all of the connected indoor units to exhibit their full performance. An additional air conditioner is provided.

A second object of the present invention is to simplify the structure,
It is another object of the present invention to provide an additional indoor unit type air conditioner in which installation work is simplified.

A third object of the present invention is to provide an additional indoor unit type air conditioner capable of minimizing an installation space.

A fourth object of the present invention is to provide an additional indoor unit type air conditioner capable of operating any of the indoor units connected from the same place.

[0031]

In order to achieve the first object, the present invention provides one or more indoor units connected to an outdoor unit via a switching valve unit. And the input voltage of an inverter for driving the compressor motor is made variable, and the duty ratio of a chopper circuit in a converter that generates the input voltage is controlled to control the input voltage. . Thereby, the number of revolutions of the compressor motor can be further increased than when controlling the duty ratio of the inverter,
The heat exchange capacity of the outdoor unit increases.

In addition, the control range of the input voltage of the inverter is made different depending on the number of indoor units connected to the outdoor units. For example, when the number of connected indoor units is one, the maximum number of revolutions of the compressor is, for example, 6000 to 8000 rpm as in the conventional case, and when the number is two, the number is 900 to 10,000.
The control range of the input voltage of the inverter is changed so as to be about rpm. By doing so, when only one indoor unit is connected, useless capacity can be eliminated, and the compressor of the outdoor unit can have a margin.
In the case of two units, the outdoor unit can provide a heat exchange capacity corresponding to the heat exchange capacity required by these indoor units.

In order to achieve the second object, the present invention provides a switching valve unit having a throttle device capable of controlling an opening degree, thereby controlling distribution of refrigerant in each indoor unit. Thus, even in the stopped indoor unit, a small amount of refrigerant can flow.
For this reason, it is not necessary to provide a bypass including a capillary tube and a check valve unlike the above-described related art, and it is possible to prevent the liquid pool of the refrigerant in the stopped indoor unit. As a result, the number of refrigerant pipes in the switching valve unit can be reduced to simplify the structure, and the connection work between the switching valve unit and the outdoor unit or the indoor unit can be reduced because the piping is reduced.

In order to achieve the third object, the present invention enables a switching valve unit to be housed in a housing of an outdoor unit. This eliminates the need to provide a dedicated space for the switching valve unit both indoors and outdoors.
Since the switching valve unit is not exposed to the outside, interior characteristics are also improved.

In order to achieve the fourth object, according to the present invention, a remote controller provided for each indoor unit is provided with at least a selection operation button for each indoor unit installed in a separate room. By operating any of the buttons, the operation of an indoor unit installed in any of the separate rooms can be performed by the remote controller.

[0036]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of a heat pump type additional indoor unit air conditioner according to the present invention, in which 100 is an outdoor unit, 110 is a switching valve unit, 120a and 120b are indoor units, and 1 is an indoor unit. Compressor, 2 for a four-way valve, 3 for an outdoor heat exchanger, 4 to 6 for a throttle device, 7, 8
Is an indoor heat exchanger, 9 to 12 are control devices, and 13 to 24 are connection devices as joints for connecting refrigerant pipes. In addition,
Solid lines indicate refrigerant pipes, and dashed lines indicate indoor units 120a,
120b, a signal line connecting each of the outdoor unit 100 and the switching valve unit 110.

In the same figure, in the outdoor unit 100, the four-way valve 2 is connected to the refrigerant discharge port and the refrigerant inlet of the compressor 1 via a refrigerant pipe, and further connected to the connection device 14 via the refrigerant pipe. It is connected to the outdoor heat exchanger 3. The outdoor heat exchanger 3 is connected to the connection device 13 via the expansion device 4 on the other side of the four-way valve 2 by a refrigerant pipe.
It is connected to the.

The outdoor unit 100 includes a control device 9.
The control device 9 controls the operation of the compressor 1 and the throttled state of the throttle device 4. In order to control the operation of the compressor 1, the control device 9 includes:
A drive circuit for a compressor motor (not shown) including an inverter circuit is also included.

In the indoor unit 120a, two connection devices 2
1 and 22 are provided, and between these connecting devices 21 and 22,
An indoor heat exchanger 7 is provided by the refrigerant pipe.
Similarly, in the indoor unit 120b, the two connection devices 2
3 and 24 are provided, and between these connecting devices 23 and 24,
An indoor heat exchanger 8 is provided by the refrigerant pipe.

The indoor units 120a and 120b are provided with control circuits 11 and 12, respectively, for controlling a fan (blower) (not shown) and receiving an instruction signal from a remote controller to be described later.

The switching device 110 includes a connecting device 16.
To 20 are provided. A refrigerant pipe is connected to the connection device 16, and the refrigerant pipe branches and is connected to the connection devices 19 and 20. Further, a refrigerant pipe is also connected to the connection device 15, and the refrigerant pipe branches and is connected to the connection devices 17 and 18 via the expansion devices 5 and 6, respectively.
Further, a control device 10 is provided. The control device 10 controls the throttle states of the throttle devices 5 and 6, that is, the flow rate of the refrigerant, and also performs the control described later.

In the configuration of each unit as described above, when one indoor unit, for example, the indoor unit 120a is connected to the outdoor unit 100, the connection devices 21 and 22 are connected to the outdoor unit 1 respectively.
What is necessary is just to connect to the connection devices 13 and 14 of 00 directly or via a refrigerant pipe. Alternatively, the connection device 15, 1
6 is connected to the connection devices 13 and 14 of the outdoor unit 100, thereby connecting the outdoor unit 100 to the switching valve unit 110. The connection devices 21 and 22 of the indoor unit 120a are connected to the connection devices 17 and 19 of the switching valve unit 110. By connecting, the indoor unit 120a may be connected to the outdoor unit 100 via the switching valve unit 110. Thus, in a state where the indoor unit 120a is connected via the switching valve unit 110, the indoor unit 120b can be newly added by sharing the outdoor unit with 100. In this case, in the newly added indoor unit 120b, the connection devices 23, 2
4 are connected to the connection devices 18 and 20 of the switching valve unit 110, respectively.

As described above, when the outdoor unit 100 and one indoor unit 120a are connected, these control devices 9 and 11 are also electrically connected, and the indoor unit is connected via the switching valve unit 110. 120a and 120b are outdoor units 1
00, the control device 10 of the switching valve unit 110 includes the control device 9 of the outdoor unit 100 and the control devices 11, 1 of the indoor units 120a and 120b, respectively, as shown in the figure.
2 are electrically connected to each other.

As described above, in this embodiment, the outdoor unit 1
When one indoor unit is connected to the air conditioner 00, it can be used as a normal separate type air conditioner without using the switching valve unit 110. At first, the outdoor unit is used as a normal separate type air conditioner. 1 unit and 1 indoor unit
When the indoor units are installed on a stand and are to be added at a certain point in time, the expansion can be easily performed by using the switching valve unit 110.

Although the number of indoor units connected to the outdoor unit 100 is two here, the number may be three or more. It is clear that the configuration of the switching valve unit 110 in this case is an extension of the configuration shown in the figure.

Now, as shown in FIG.
It is assumed that the indoor units 120a and 120b are connected. In this case, the control device 10 of the switching valve unit 110
In addition, the indoor units 120a, 120b
Is set to indicate that is connected.
Of course, when only one indoor unit is connected, information indicating which of the connection devices 17 to 20 is connected to the indoor unit is set. The setting of such information may be performed by manual operation when connecting the indoor unit, or when the indoor unit is connected, a predetermined information signal is transmitted from the control device to the control device 10. May be performed automatically.

Now, one indoor unit, for example, the indoor unit 12
On the 0a side, when an operation start command is issued by a remote controller (not shown), the control device 11 receives the command and notifies the control device 10 of the switching valve unit 110 of the command. As a result, the control device 10 sends a start command signal to the control device 9 of the outdoor unit 100, and the control device 9 starts the compressor 1 and also controls the throttle amount of the expansion device 4 and the illustration of the outdoor heat exchanger 3. Not to control the outdoor fan speed. In the switching valve unit 110, the indoor unit 1 in which the control device 10 starts operating
The throttle device 5 on the side 20a is set to a fully open state, and the throttle device 6 on the indoor unit 120b side in an operation stop state is set to a substantially fully closed state.

Further, the other indoor unit, that is, the indoor unit 12
Even in the case of 0b, similarly, when there is an instruction to start the operation, the control device 12 notifies the control device 10 of the instruction. In this case, the control device 10 controls these indoor units 120a, 1
The throttle states of the expansion devices 5 and 6 are controlled in accordance with the operation state of the indoor unit 20b, and the flow rates of the refrigerant in the indoor units 120a and 120b are adjusted.

When only one of the indoor units 120a and 120b is operated, the corresponding one of the expansion devices 5 and 6 is slightly opened without closing the corresponding one of the expansion devices 5 and 6. And make the refrigerant flow slightly. This is to prevent the liquid pool of the refrigerant, that is, the oil contained in the refrigerant, from collecting in the stopped indoor unit. However, even if the refrigerant slightly flows to the stopped indoor unit in this way,
It does not affect the load of the compressor 1.

Here, the two indoor units 120a and 120b
First, the case of the cooling operation will be described assuming that the air conditioner is in the operating state. In this case, the control device 9 controls the four-way valve 2 so that the refrigerant flows in the direction of the solid arrow. The type of operation (cooling operation, heating operation, etc.) is also specified by the remote controller on the indoor unit side, and this is transmitted from the control unit of the indoor unit to the control unit 9 of the outdoor unit 100 via the control unit 10 of the switching valve unit 110. Sent.

The high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant gas discharged from the compressor 1 is sent to the outdoor heat exchanger 3 through the four-way valve 2 and radiates heat to the outdoor air sent by the outdoor fan. To condense into a high-pressure liquid refrigerant. This liquid refrigerant is
Further, the pressure is reduced by the expansion device 4. As the expansion device 4, a capillary tube, a temperature-type expansion valve, an electric expansion valve, or the like can be used.

The refrigerant which has become low temperature and low pressure in the expansion device 4 is
The light is branched in the switching valve unit 110 and sent to the expansion devices 5 and 6. The control device 10 controls the expansion device 5 according to the refrigerant capacity required by the indoor unit 120a having the indoor heat exchanger 7 (hereinafter referred to as a required refrigerant capacity) and the required refrigerant capacity from the indoor unit 120b having the indoor heat exchanger 8. , 6 are adjusted in the squeezed state, and the indoor units 120a, 120
Distribute the refrigerant to b.

The required refrigerant capacity depends on the indoor units 120a,
At 120b, the temperature difference between the room temperature detected by a temperature sensor (not shown) (hereinafter, referred to as a detected room temperature) and the room temperature set by a user (hereinafter, referred to as a set room temperature) corresponds to the temperature difference. The required refrigerant capacity is larger as the temperature difference is larger.

For example, when the required refrigerant volumes from the indoor units 120a and 120b are equal (that is, when the indoor unit 120
a, 120b, if the temperature difference between the detected indoor temperature and the set indoor temperature is in the same state), the control device 10
Fully open these expansion devices 5 and 6 to equally divide the refrigerant supplied from the expansion device 4 of the outdoor unit 100 and to split the indoor units 120a,
120b. When the indoor unit 120a requires more cooling capacity than the indoor unit 120b, the control device 10 increases the amount of throttling of the throttling device 5 to increase the indoor heat exchange of the indoor unit 120a. More refrigerant is sent to the vessel 7. For example, if the expansion devices 5 and 6 are electric expansion valves, the opening of the expansion device 5 is made smaller than the opening of the expansion device 6. However, at this time, the openings of the expansion devices 5 and 6 are made sufficiently larger than the opening corresponding to the pressure reducing operation of the expansion device 4. That is, the expansion of the refrigerant by reducing the temperature to a temperature at which cooling is possible is performed by the expansion device 4, and the flow distribution of the refrigerant is performed by the expansion devices 5 and 6.

Next, the heating operation will be described. In this case, the refrigerant is sent in the direction indicated by the dashed arrow. In this case, the operation of the expansion devices 4, 5, and 6 is the same as that in the cooling operation.

In the indoor units 120a and 120b, the four-way valve 2
, High-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant gas is supplied to the indoor heat exchangers 7 and 8, and heat is released to indoor air sent by the indoor fans. Further, the refrigerant that has radiated heat in this way is decompressed by the expansion device 4 until it reaches a temperature at which heat can be absorbed by the outdoor heat exchanger 3, absorbs heat from the outdoor air by the outdoor heat exchanger 3, and then passes through the four-way valve 2. It is returned to the compressor 1.

FIG. 2 shows the control unit 9 of the outdoor unit 100, the control unit 10 of the switching valve unit 110 and the indoor unit 1 in FIG.
It is a block diagram which shows the connection relationship of 20a, 120b with the control apparatuses 11 and 12, and their control objects, 25 is a compressor motor, 26 is a drive motor (outdoor fan motor) of an outdoor fan, and 27 is a compression motor. Thermistor for machine 1, 2
Reference numerals 8 and 29 denote drive motors (indoor fan motors) of the indoor fans of the indoor heat exchangers 7 and 8, respectively, and reference numerals 30 to 32 denote signal lines, and portions corresponding to those in FIG.

In the figure, the control device 10 of the switching valve unit 110 and the control device 9 of the outdoor unit 100 are connected by a signal line 30.
And the control device 1 of the switching valve unit 110
0 and the control device 11 of the indoor unit 120a and the control device 12 of the indoor unit 120b are connected via signal lines 31 and 32, respectively.

The control devices 11 and 12 are provided with command information such as operation start and operation stop, setting information such as a set room temperature and a reservation time, and an indoor unit 1 by a remote controller (not shown).
Information (such as information indicating the temperature difference between the set room temperature and the detected room temperature) indicating the state of the switching valve unit 20a, 120b is input to the switching valve unit 110 via the signal lines 31, 32.
Is sent to the control device 10.

The control device 10 processes the information and sends a control signal to the control device 9 of the outdoor unit 100 via the signal line 30 or controls the control devices 11 and 12 via the signal lines 31 and 32. A signal is sent and the diaphragm devices 5 and 6 are controlled. The control device 9 controls the compressor motor 25 and the outdoor fan motor 2 based on the control signal from the control device 10 and further according to the temperature detected by the thermistor 27.
6, control the aperture device 4. Further, the control devices 11 and 12
Controls the indoor fan motors 28 and 29 based on the control signal from the control device 10, respectively.

Here, the drive section of the compressor motor 25 in the control device 9 will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a specific example, in which 33 is an AC power supply, 34 is a full-wave rectifier, 35 is a reactor, 36 is a converter (a portion surrounded by a dashed line), 37 is a capacitor, 38 is an inverter, 39 is an inverter drive circuit, 40 is a microcomputer, 41
Is a diode, 42 is a switching element, 43 is a changeover switch, 44 is an LPF (low-pass filter), 45 is a changeover switch, 46 is a voltage comparator, 47 is a multiplier, 48 is a load current detector, 49 is a current comparator, 50 is an oscillator, 5
1 is a modulation / drive circuit, 52 is a speed detection circuit, and 2
Numerals 5 and 30 are a compressor motor and signal lines shown in FIG. 2, respectively.

In the figure, an AC power supply voltage from an AC power supply 33 is full-wave rectified by a full-wave rectifier 34 and a rectified voltage E
s. This rectified voltage Es is converted into electric power by the reactor 35 and the converter 36 and is applied to the capacitor 37 to obtain a smoothed DC voltage Ed. This DC voltage Ed becomes the power supply voltage of the inverter 38.

The converter 36 raises the rectified voltage Es by using the operation of the reactor 35, and enables a predetermined DC voltage Ed to be stably and efficiently obtained in the capacitor 37.

In converter 36, diode 41 is provided between reactor 35 and capacitor 37, and switching element 42 is provided in parallel with diode 41 and capacitor 37. The rectified voltage Es is converted into a boosted intermittent wave by the on / off operation of the switching element 42 and the accumulation and emission of electromagnetic energy in the reactor 35 due to the on / off operation of the switching element 42, and the capacitor 3
7 and the smoothing action of the capacitor 37
A DC voltage Ed obtained by boosting the AC power supply voltage from the AC power supply 33 is obtained.

Here, in this specific example, the converter 36
When the load on the compressor motor 25 is small, the DC voltage Ed obtained at the capacitor 37 as the power supply voltage of the inverter 38 is maintained constant by controlling the on / off duty ratio of the switching element 42 at
When the load is large, the DC voltage Ed is changed according to the load. Hereinafter, the converter 36 performing such an operation will be described.

The DC voltage Ed at the capacitor 37 is divided by a voltage dividing circuit comprising resistors R3 and R4 to form a DC voltage Ed1 ', which is supplied to the converter 36.

In converter 36, this DC voltage Ed
1 'is supplied to the contact B of the changeover switch 45. Also,
The contact A of the changeover switch 45 has a PWM output from the microcomputer 40 for controlling the speed of the compressor motor 25.
A DC voltage Ed2 ′ formed by smoothing the signal by the LPF 44 is supplied. The changeover switch 45 is controlled by the microcomputer 40 so that when the load on the compressor motor 25 is small and the flow rate in the inverter 38 can be made smaller than 100%, the contact B side and the compressor motor 25 When the load is large and the flow rate must be 100%, the contact A side is selected. DC voltage Ed1 ', E selected by the changeover switch 45
Either d2 'is supplied as a DC voltage Ed' to the voltage comparator 46, and a deviation value from the reference voltage Eo is obtained to form a voltage control signal Ve.

On the other hand, the rectified voltage Es of the sine wave full-wave rectified waveform output from the full-wave rectifier 34 is divided by a voltage dividing circuit composed of resistors R1 and R2, and is supplied to the multiplier 47 as a sine wave synchronizing signal Es'. The current reference signal Vi ′ is supplied and multiplied by the voltage control signal Ve from the voltage comparator 46 to obtain a current reference signal Vi ′.
The current reference signal Vi 'is compared with the current signal Vi obtained by the load current detector 48 by the current comparator 49, and the modulation signal Vk is obtained. This modulation signal Vk is applied to the modulation / drive circuit 5
1 and modulates the sawtooth or triangular carrier Vk 'from the oscillator 50 to generate a PWM switching drive signal Vg whose duty ratio changes in accordance with the modulation signal Vk. Thus, the switching element 42 is turned on and off.

As described above, the switching element 42 is turned on and off while following the waveform of the rectified voltage Es of the sine wave full-wave rectified waveform, whereby the sine wave having a high power factor and few harmonics is obtained. Since the input AC current can be wavy, and the duty ratio of the switching element 42 is changed in accordance with the deviation value between the reference voltage Eo and the DC voltage Ed ′, the current is stable regardless of the load fluctuation. The obtained DC voltage Ed is obtained. Therefore, the reference voltage Eo and the resistance R
3, DC voltage Ed can be set to a desired voltage value by appropriately setting the resistance values of R4.

The PWM signal output from the microcomputer 40 is supplied to an inverter drive circuit 39 via a changeover switch 43 normally closed to the A side, and the inverter drive circuit 39 responds to the duty ratio of the PWM signal. On / off control of a switch element (not shown) of the inverter 38 is performed at the conduction ratio. Thereby, in the inverter 38,
The DC power of the DC voltage Ed supplied from the capacitor 37 is chopped at this conduction ratio and converted into AC power, and is supplied to the compressor motor 25 to rotate at a rotational speed according to the duty ratio of the PWM signal.

Next, a control driving method of this specific example will be described.

First, when the power is turned on, the microcomputer 40 performs an initial setting, and sets the changeover switch 45 to the contact B side.
The changeover switches 43 are respectively closed to the contact A side. As a result, the DC voltage Ed1 ′ is supplied to the voltage comparator 46 by the DC voltage E1.
The charging operation is started by the capacitor 37.

Then, the capacitor 37 is charged until approximately Eo = Ed ', and as a result, the DC voltage Ed obtained by the capacitor 37 becomes Ed = Eo × {1 + R3 / R4}. In this case, for example, assuming that the AC power supply voltage from the AC power supply 33 is 100 V, Ed = 150 V.

At this time, when the load on the compressor motor 25 is small and the duty ratio of the inverter 38 is less than 100%, the output is output from the microcomputer 40 because the switch 43 is closed to the contact A side. The PWM signal is supplied to the inverter drive circuit 39 via the changeover switch 43, and the switching element of the inverter 38 is turned on and off at the duty ratio of the PWM signal. As a result, the DC voltage Ed is converted into AC by the inverter 38, and the compressor motor 25 is rotationally driven by the AC. At this time, the on / off operation of the switching element 42 is performed as described above so that the DC voltage Ed of the capacitor 37 becomes constant (for example, as described above, Ed is maintained at 150 V). Controlled.

On the other hand, for example, when the load on the compressor motor 25 increases and the duty ratio of the switching element in the inverter 38 becomes 100%, the microcomputer 40 switches the changeover switch 4
5 is switched to the contact A side, and the changeover switch 43 is switched to the contact B side.

As a result, a DC voltage Ed 2 ′ obtained by smoothing the drive signal (PWM signal) of the switching element of the inverter 38 from the microcomputer 40 calculated based on the speed command by the LPF 44 is supplied from the changeover switch 45 to the DC voltage Ed 2 ′. The voltage is output as a voltage Ed ′,
6, the DC voltage Ed 'is compared with the reference voltage Eo to form a voltage control signal Ve.
Supplied to In this case, depending on the duty ratio of the PWM signal, the DC voltage Ed at the capacitor 37 becomes, for example,
On / off control of the switching element 42 is performed so that the voltage becomes an arbitrary voltage from 150 V to a maximum of 300 V. Also,
At the same time, since the switch 43 is switched to the contact B side, a voltage Ei for driving the inverter 38 at a flow rate of 100% is supplied to the inverter drive circuit 39 via the switch 43. You.

Here, the operation of this specific example in the case of the heating operation will be described in further detail, assuming that the AC power supply voltage from the AC power supply 33 is 100 V.

The microcomputer 40 includes indoor units 120a, 120
The information on the total required refrigerant capacity b is taken in from the control device 10 (FIG. 1) of the switching valve unit 110 via the signal line 30, and the required number of revolutions of the compressor motor 25 for this total required refrigerant capacity is obtained. . Hereinafter, such a rotation speed is referred to as a set rotation speed.

As described above, the switching valve unit 11
0 knows the number of indoor units connected thereto and the state of each indoor unit (whether it is in an operating state or in a stopped state), and transmits information according to this via the signal line 30. To the microcomputer 40. The microcomputer 40 determines the set rotation speed of the compressor motor 25 based on the information as described above.

The microcomputer 40 includes the switching unit 11
The maximum allowable number of rotations of the compressor motor 25 is set according to the number of indoor units connected thereto indicated by the information from 0 and their states. For example, when one indoor unit is connected to the switching unit 110, the input voltage Ed of the inverter 38 is kept constant at 150 V, and the inverter 38 is turned on and off.
By changing the off duty ratio, the maximum allowable rotation speed is set to 6000 to 8000 rpm (at this time, the duty ratio becomes 100%). When two units are connected as shown in FIG. By changing the input voltage Ed of the inverter 38 from 150 V while keeping the on / off duty ratio constant at 100%, the maximum allowable rotation speed is set to 900 to 10000 rpm or more (at this time, the input voltage Ed of the inverter 38 is 300V).

When the set rotation speed and the maximum allowable rotation speed of the compressor motor 25 are determined in this way, the microcomputer 40
Is a changeover switch 4 according to the magnitude of the set rotation speed.
3, 45 are switched and controlled. Here, the set rotation speed is 6000
In the case of low-speed rotation up to about rpm, the changeover switch 43
Is closed to the contact A side, and the changeover switch 45 is closed to the contact B side.
To the contact B side and the changeover switch 45 to the contact A side.

When the changeover switch 43 is closed on the contact A side and the changeover switch 45 is closed on the contact B side, as described above, the DC voltage Ed obtained at the capacitor 37 and, therefore, the input voltage of the inverter 38 is, for example, , 150V, and the microcomputer 40 outputs a PWM signal having a duty ratio corresponding to the set number of rotations.
The inverter 38 is operated at a flow rate corresponding to the duty ratio to drive the compressor motor 25 to rotate. The rotation speed of the compressor motor 25 at this time is detected by the speed detection circuit 52, and the microcomputer 40 compares the detected rotation speed with the set rotation speed, and the PWM supplied to the inverter drive circuit 39 so that they match. Adjust the signal duty ratio.

As described above, the input voltage E of the inverter 38
A method of controlling the rotation speed of the compressor motor 25 by changing the duty ratio of the inverter 38 while keeping d constant is hereinafter referred to as a PWM drive method. Even if the number of rotations of the machine motor 25 is controlled, there are cases where this number of rotations cannot reach the set number of rotations. In this case,
P supplied from the microcomputer 400 to the inverter drive circuit 39
The duty ratio of the WM signal is almost 100%, and even so, the rotation speed of the compressor motor 25 has not reached the set rotation speed.

In such a case, the microcomputer 40 switches the changeover switch 43 to the contact B side and the changeover switch 45 to the contact A side, and supplies a constant voltage Ei to the inverter drive circuit 39 to switch the inverter 38. Maintains the conduction ratio of the element at 100% and converts the PWM signal to LP
By supplying the DC voltage Ed2 'obtained by smoothing in F44 to the voltage comparator 46 as the DC voltage Ed', the duty ratio of the PWM signal to be output is sequentially reduced as described above, and is generated in the capacitor 37. Inverter 3
8 is sequentially increased from 150V. As a result, the rotation speed of the compressor motor 25 further increases, and becomes equal to the set rotation speed. When the input voltage Ed is 300 V, a maximum allowable rotation speed of 900 to 10,000 rpm or more can be obtained.

Thus, the duty ratio of the inverter 38 is set to 10
A method of controlling the number of revolutions of the compressor motor 25 by changing the input voltage Ed of the inverter 38 to 0%, hereinafter, is referred to as a PAM driving method.

As described above, in this embodiment, the PWM
Although the driving method and the PAM driving are used together, the rotation speed of the compressor motor 25 can be obtained up to about 10,000 rpm or more. However, as described above, the room connected to the switching valve unit 110 The maximum allowable number of rotations of the compressor motor 25 is set according to the number of machines and their states.

As an example, when the number of connected indoor units is one, or when only one of the connected indoor units is operated, the maximum allowable number of rotations is set to one. It should be around 6000-8000rpm. With this degree, in the home air conditioner, the compressor 1 (FIG. 1) can obtain sufficient performance with respect to the indoor unit even at the time of starting the indoor unit. When two units are connected to the switching valve unit 110, or when two units are connected and both units are operating, the maximum allowable rotation speed of the compressor motor 25 is set to 90.
Set to about 100 to 10000 rpm or more.

Of course, even if the two indoor units connected to the switching valve unit 110 are both in the operating state, if the detected indoor temperature is almost equal to the set indoor temperature and both are in a stable operating state, Their required refrigerant capacity is also very small, so that the compressor 1 does not require a large capacity. In such a case, the compressor motor 25
May be made as low as about 6000 to 8000 rpm. Therefore, in this case, when the two indoor units are started almost simultaneously, or when one of the indoor units is started and the other is started before the indoor unit is brought into a stable operation state, the total demand of the two indoor units is determined. When the refrigerant capacity becomes very large, the maximum allowable rotation speed of the compressor
Increase the maximum allowable rotation speed to 6000 to 8000 when they become stable operation state
You may make it reduce to about rpm.

As described above, the maximum allowable rotation speed of the compressor motor 25 is varied depending on the number of indoor units connected to the switching valve unit 110 and their operating conditions for the following reasons. It is.

That is, the discharge pressure of the refrigerant in the compressor is determined by the area of the heat exchanger connected to the compressor. The smaller this area is, the higher the discharge pressure is, and the greater the load on the compressor is. Affects machine life. On the other hand, as described above, when the PAM driving method and the PAM driving method are used together,
As the capacity of the compressor, 10,000 rpm or more can be taken out at the number of rotations.

However, if the number of rotations of the compressor is set to 10,000 rpm or more for one indoor unit, the discharge pressure of the refrigerant of the compressor is extremely low because the area of the heat exchanger connected to the compressor is small. And the life of the compressor is adversely affected. Also, for one indoor unit, if the rotation speed of the compressor is 10,000 rpm, the startup at startup is very good, and a good air-conditioning environment can be obtained immediately. Even if the number of revolutions is not set to 10,000 rpm, the compressor can exhibit a sufficient capacity and exhibit a useless capacity. For this reason, when one indoor unit is connected to the switching valve unit 110, or when only one of the two indoor units is operated, the maximum allowable rotation speed of the compressor is set to 6000. ~ 8000rpm
Make it low enough.

On the other hand, only when two indoor units are connected to the switching valve unit 110 or only when both units are in operation, the maximum allowable rotation speed of the compressor motor 25 is set to about 900 to 10,000 rpm. The reason for the increase in the size or more is that the area of the heat exchanger connected to the compressor is increased. For example, the same 8000 compressor
In the case where only one indoor unit is operated and the case where two indoor units are operated as rotation at rpm, since the latter case has a larger heat exchanger area, the discharge of refrigerant by the compressor is performed. The pressure is small, and the rotational speed of the compressor has a margin, and can be further increased. Moreover, if the maximum allowable rotation speed of the compressor is set to about 6000 to 8000 rpm, especially when the two indoor units are started almost at the same time as described above, or when one of the indoor units is started, stable operation is performed. If the other indoor unit is started before the state is reached, the necessary capacity cannot be obtained from the compressor, and the rise time for obtaining a favorable air-conditioning environment becomes very long. From this, when operating at least two indoor units, the maximum permissible rotational speed of the compressor motor 25 is increased to about 900 to 10,000 rpm or more, thereby increasing the start-up characteristics of each indoor unit. Is good.

As described above, the switching valve unit 11
0, when two indoor units are connected, the maximum allowable rotational speed of the compressor motor 25 is set to 900 to 10 irrespective of their state.
Although it may be set to be as large as about 000 rpm or more, this is the case when the two indoor units are started almost simultaneously as described above, or when one of the indoor units is started and the stable operation state is started. This is because the other indoor unit may be activated before the operation becomes, and even when one of the two indoor units is operated, the set indoor temperature and the detected indoor temperature are not changed at the time of the activation. If it is a special environment that is extremely different, 9000-1000
Very high rotational speeds, such as on the order of 0 rpm or more, will be required, but this is very rare and the compressor will not be heavily loaded. From this, when two indoor units are connected to the switching valve unit 110, regardless of their state, even if the maximum allowable rotation speed of the compressor motor 25 is set to about 900 to 10000 rpm or more, It doesn't matter.

Further, when two indoor units are connected to the switching valve unit 110 and one of the indoor units is started as described above, the rotation speed of the compressor becomes about 900 to 10,000 rpm or more. In order to prevent this, as described above, when starting two indoor units at substantially the same time, or starting one indoor unit and starting the other indoor unit before a stable operation state is established, Only in this case, the maximum allowable rotation speed of the compressor motor 25 may be set to about 900 to 10000 rpm or more.

As described above, in this embodiment, the PWM driving method and the PAM
By using the driving method together, one outdoor unit 100
The maximum allowable number of revolutions of the compressor motor 25 can be switched and set according to the number of indoor units connected to the compressor and their operating conditions, and the best performance corresponding to each can be obtained from the compressor.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the drive unit of the compressor motor 25 in the control device 9 shown in FIG. 2. Parts corresponding to those in FIG. Is omitted.

[0097] The specific example shown in FIG.
Is low, the input voltage E of the inverter 38 is low.
By setting d as a constant low voltage value and changing the conduction ratio of the inverter 38, P
When the WM drive method is used and the number of rotations of the compressor motor 25 is high, the duty ratio of the inverter 38 is kept at 100%,
Input voltage E of inverter 38 that controlled converter 36
Although the PAM driving method for obtaining a predetermined number of rotations by changing d, the specific example shown in FIG. 4 uses the PWM driving method and the PAM driving method together, The input voltage Ed is changed stepwise, and the duty ratio of the inverter 38 is changed for each input voltage Ed, so that the rotation speed of the compressor motor 25 is made to match the set rotation speed. .

In FIG. 4, a DC voltage Ed ′ obtained by dividing a DC voltage Ed obtained by a capacitor 37 by resistors R3 and R4 is supplied to a voltage comparator 46, and a reference voltage supplied to the voltage comparator 46 is supplied to the voltage comparator 46. Eo is variable by the microcomputer 40. The PWM signal output from the microcomputer 40 is supplied only to the inverter drive circuit 39.

Other operations are the same as those of the specific example shown in FIG. Therefore, in this specific example, the changeover switches 43 and 45 and the LPF 44 in FIG. 3 are omitted.

Next, the operation of this specific example will be described with reference to FIG. Here, FIG. 5 shows the rotational speed N of the compressor motor 25 on the horizontal axis, the characteristic A represents the voltage of the compressor motor 25, the characteristic B represents the input voltage Ed of the inverter 38, and the characteristic C represents the current flowing through the inverter 38. The rates are shown respectively. Here,
The duty ratio C of the inverter 38 is assumed to be in the range of 60 to 100%, but the present invention is not particularly limited to this.

[0102] In FIGS. 4 and 5, here, the range number of revolutions of the possible compressor motor 25 0~N _1, N ₁ ~N
_{2, N 2 ~N 3, N} 3 assumed to be divided into four ranges of - (provided that _{0 <N 1 <N 2 <} N 3).

[0102] First, the set rotational speed Ns in the range of low 0 ≦ Ns ≦ N ₁ of the compressor motor 25 of 0 to N _1, the microcomputer 40 sets the reference voltage Eo to the lowest voltage Eo _1, the capacitor 37 Obtained input voltage Ed of inverter 38
Is set to the lowest DC voltage Ed ₁ . This input voltage E
In d _1, the by changing the duty ratio duty ratio of the inverter 38 of the PWM signal from the microcomputer 40 to 60% 100
%, The rotation speed of the compressor motor 25 is 0
It can vary from up to N _1.

Next, the set rotation speed Ns of the compressor motor 25
Is N ₁ <Ns ≦ N ₂ , the microcomputer 40 sets the reference voltage Eo to the second lowest voltage Eo ₂ and sets the input voltage Ed of the inverter 38 obtained in the capacitor 37 to the second lowest DC voltage. set to Ed _2. This input voltage Ed ₂
So, by changing the by changing the duty ratio of the PWM signal conduction ratio of the inverter 38 from the microcomputer 40 to 60% to 100%, causing the rotational speed of the compressor motor 25 is changed from N ₁ to N ₂ Can be.

Next, the set rotation speed Ns of the compressor motor 25
Is N ₂ <Ns ≦ N ₃ , the microcomputer 40 sets the reference voltage Eo to the third lowest voltage Eo ₃ and sets the input voltage Ed of the inverter 38 obtained by the capacitor 37 to the third lowest DC voltage. set to Ed _3. This input voltage Ed ₃
So, by changing the by changing the duty ratio of the PWM signal conduction ratio of the inverter 38 from the microcomputer 40 to 60% to 100%, causing the rotational speed of the compressor motor 25 is changed from the N ₂ to N ₃ Can be.

Next, the set rotation speed Ns of the compressor motor 25
If N ₃ <Ns, the microcomputer 40 sets the reference voltage Eo to the highest voltage Eo ₄ and sets the input voltage Ed of the inverter 38 obtained by the capacitor 37 to the highest DC voltage Ed ₄ . At this input voltage Ed ₄ , by changing the duty ratio of the PWM signal from the microcomputer 40 to change the duty ratio of the inverter 38 from 60% to 100%, the rotation speed of the compressor motor 25 is made higher than N _3. Can be changed high.

As described above, in this specific example, the PAM driving method of changing the input voltage Ed of the in-hater 38 stepwise according to the set rotation speed of the compressor motor 25 is adopted, Adopts a PWM driving method for changing the duty ratio of the inverter 38, and thereby the number of indoor units connected to one outdoor unit and the rotation speed of the compressor motor 25 according to the state of the indoor units. Can be obtained.

FIG. 6 shows the switching valve unit 110 in FIG.
6 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the control device 10 for the aperture devices 5 and 6.

In FIGS. 1, 2 and 6, when the power of the air conditioner is turned on and the cooling and heating operation of the indoor units 120a and 120b is started (step 600), the control unit 10
Is a signal from the control device 11 of the indoor unit 120a.
The required refrigerant capacity Q1 of a is taken in (step 601),
Further, the control unit 12 of the indoor unit 120b sends the indoor unit 1
The required refrigerant capacity Q2 of 20b is taken in (step 60).
2). Here, these control devices 11 and 12 obtain the temperature difference between the set indoor temperature determined by the user in the indoor units 120a and 120b and the detected indoor temperature detected by the temperature sensor, respectively. The information is taken into the control device 10 of the switching valve unit 110 as the required refrigerant capacity Q1, Q2.

Next, the control device 10 determines the opening degree of the expansion devices 5 and 6 in accordance with the taken-in required refrigerant volumes Q1 and Q2 (step 603), and controls and determines these expansion devices 5 and 6. The opening degree is set (step 604). Hereinafter, as long as the two indoor units 120a and 120b perform the cooling / heating operation, the operations of steps 601 to 604 are repeated.

Here, although not shown, the control device 10 determines these indoor units 120 from these required refrigerant capacities Q1, Q2.
The required refrigerant capacity is determined for the entirety a and 120b, the capacity of the outdoor unit 100 required for this refrigerant capacity is determined, and data representing this is sent to the control device 9 of the outdoor unit 100. Therefore, in the control device 9, in order to enable the outdoor unit 100 to output the required capacity, the rotation speed of the compressor 1 and the opening degree of the expansion device 4 are set as described above. .

In this way, the outdoor unit 100 exerts a capacity corresponding to the required refrigerant capacity of each of the indoor units 120a and 120b. Therefore, the control device 10 of the switching valve unit 110 sets the opening degree of the expansion devices 5 and 6 so that the capacity can be distributed to the indoor units 120a and 120b according to the ratio of the required refrigerant capacity. Since the outdoor unit 100 exerts its capacity as described above, when the required refrigerant capacities of the indoor units 120a and 120b are equal, both of the expansion devices 5 and 6 are fully opened, and the required refrigerant capacities are reduced. If different, the throttle device (for example, the throttle device 6) corresponding to the indoor unit (for example, the indoor unit 120a) having the larger required refrigerant capacity is fully opened,
The expansion device (for example, expansion device 5) corresponding to the other indoor unit (for example, indoor unit 120b) is connected to the required refrigerant capacity Q1, Q2.
The opening is set according to the ratio of 2. Of course, the indoor units 120a,
When only one of the indoor units 120b is operated, the indoor unit (for example, the indoor unit 120
The throttle device (for example, the throttle device 6) corresponding to a) is fully opened, and the other throttle device (for example, the throttle device 5) is fully closed. In order to prevent refrigerant oil from accumulating in the indoor unit, the refrigerant may flow slightly.)

FIG. 7 shows the switching valve unit 110 in FIG.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a specific example of flow characteristics of the expansion devices 5 and 6 in FIG.

The expansion devices 5 and 6 have a plurality of throttles connected in parallel, for example, like an electric expansion valve. By controlling each of the throttles to be fully closed and fully open, the entire throttle device is fully closed to fully open. Is adjustable. In FIG. 7, the expansion devices 5 and 6 are electric expansion valves, and the horizontal axis represents the number of control pulses supplied to the expansion devices 5 and 6 as S _i (i = 1, 2, 2).
3, 4), and the degree of opening of these expansion devices 5, 6 depends on the number of control pulses supplied.

In FIG. 7, the number of control pulses 0 to S ₁
In the range, the expansion devices 5 and 6 are in the fully closed state, and the flow rate of the passing refrigerant is zero. The opening increases in the range of the number of control pulses S _{1 to} S ₂ and the flow rate increases. In the range of the number of control pulses S _{2 to} S ₃ , the opening of the expansion devices 5 and 6 is constant. is there. In this case, the opening degree is small, and as described above, is used to slightly flow the refrigerant to the indoor unit in the stopped state. From the number of control pulses S ₃ , as the number of control pulses increases, the opening increases and the flow rate increases linearly.
_{At 4} , the throttle devices 5 and 6 are fully opened.

During the cooling operation, a plurality of indoor units 120
a, one of 120b is in operating condition, but when the other is in a stopped state, diaphragm 5 or 6 corresponding to the indoor unit in this stop state, the number of control pulses to be supplied by the S ₁ or less There is a fully closed state in which no refrigerant flows, but during the heating operation, a plurality of indoor units 120a,
The throttle device 5 or 6 for the non-operating indoor unit out of the 120b is supplied with the control pulses of the number S _{2 to} S ₃ so that a small amount of the refrigerant flows to the indoor unit in the stopped state. In this way, the refrigerant oil is prevented from accumulating therein.

The range of the number of control pulses S _{3 to} S ₄ is used for distribution of refrigerant to a plurality of indoor units during operation.

As described above, in this embodiment, the basic configuration is a state in which one indoor unit is connected to one outdoor unit. However, even if one outdoor unit is used in common and the heat exchange capacity of the outdoor unit is substantially equal to the heat exchange capability of one indoor unit, the compressor in the outdoor unit can be driven by the PWM driving method and the PAM driving method. By using together, regardless of the number of indoor units connected to this outdoor unit and the state of these indoor units, the cooling / heating capacity can be appropriately distributed to the indoor units in operation, and a plurality of indoor units can be used. Regarding the start-up, irrespective of the start-up condition, sufficient performance can be exhibited, and a good heating and cooling environment can be obtained without delay.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of a heat pump type additional indoor unit type air conditioner according to the present invention. In FIG. 8, reference numerals 53 to 56 denote temperature detecting devices. Are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

In the same figure, in the switching valve unit 110, between the branch point of the refrigerant pipe connected to the connecting device 16 and the connecting device 20, a temperature detecting device 56 for detecting the refrigerant temperature there is provided. Between the branch point and the connecting device 19, temperature detecting devices 55 for detecting the refrigerant temperature there are provided. Further, between the connecting device 18 and the expansion device 5, a temperature detection device 54 for detecting the temperature of the refrigerant flowing therethrough is provided with the connection device 17 and the expansion device 6.
And temperature detecting devices 53 for detecting the temperature of the refrigerant flowing therethrough.

In the second embodiment, the degree of opening of the expansion devices 5, 6 is controlled in accordance with the temperatures detected by the temperature detection devices 53 to 56, and a plurality of indoor units, here,
When cooling the indoor units 120a and 120b,
The control device 10 detects the temperature of the refrigerant absorbed by the indoor heat exchangers 7 and 8 with the temperature detection devices 55 and 56 and controls the opening of the expansion devices 5 and 6 so that the refrigerant temperatures become equal. . When the indoor units 120a and 120b are operated for heating, the control device 10 detects the temperatures of the refrigerant radiated by the indoor heat exchangers 7 and 8 with the temperature detection devices 53 and 54, and makes the refrigerant temperatures equal. The opening degree of the expansion devices 5 and 6 is controlled.

When one of the indoor units 120a and 120b is in the air-conditioning operation state and the other is in the stop state, similarly to the first embodiment, the expansion device 5 or 6 for the indoor unit in the operation state is used. Is fully opened, and the throttle device 6 or 5 for the other is fully closed as described above. Information indicating whether the vehicle is in the operation state or the stop state is supplied from the control devices 11 and 12 of the indoor units 120a and 120b, respectively.

FIG. 9 shows the control unit 9 of the outdoor unit 100, the control unit 10 of the switching valve unit 110 and the indoor unit 1 in FIG.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a connection relation between the control devices 20 and 120a and the control devices 11 and 12, and control objects thereof.
Parts corresponding to those in FIG. 8 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In the figure, as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the control device 10 controls the number of indoor units connected to the switching valve unit 110, the state of these indoor units, the required refrigerant capacity of these indoor units, and the like. From the control unit of the indoor unit, and sends control data for controlling the indoor unit to the control 9 of the outdoor unit 100 as described above.
The detected temperatures of .about.56 are taken in, and the degree of opening of the expansion devices 5, 6 is controlled in accordance with the detected temperatures. Here, as described above, during the cooling operation, the detection temperatures T1, T1 of the temperature detection devices 55, 56 are used.
T2 is used, and at the time of heating, the detected temperatures T3 and T4 of the temperature detecting devices 53 and 54 are used.

Next, the operation of the control device 10 during the cooling operation will be described with reference to FIG.

When the power is turned on, the air conditioner is turned on (step 1000), and the indoor units 120a and 120b are turned on.
When both (FIG. 8) are instructed to perform the cooling operation, control device 10 takes in detected temperature T1 of temperature detecting device 55 (step 1001), and takes in detected temperature T2 of temperature detecting device 56 (step 1001). 1002) These temperature detecting devices 55 and 56 are calculated by calculating the detected temperatures T1 and T2 or using a table provided in advance.
Are determined (step 1003) so that the detected temperatures of the refrigerants, that is, the temperatures of the refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchangers 7 and 8 are equal (step 1003). The diaphragm devices 6, 5 are controlled (step 1004). Hereinafter, as long as the indoor units 120a and 120b are performing the cooling operation, the operations of steps 1001 to 1004 are repeated.

In this case, the degree of opening of the expansion devices 6 and 5 is set such that the temperatures of the refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchangers 7 and 8 become equal when one of them is fully opened.
This determines the other opening. That is, the aperture device 5,
In the distribution of the refrigerant by 6, one throttle device is fully opened, whereas the opening degree of the other throttle device is determined. This is the same in the case of the heating operation described below and also in the case of other embodiments described later.

Next, the operation of the control device 10 during the heating operation will be described with reference to FIG.

When the power is turned on and the air conditioner is activated (step 1100), and the indoor units 120a and 120b are instructed to perform the heating operation, the control unit 10
Fetches the detected temperature T3 of the temperature detecting device 53 (step 1101).
4 (step 1102), and these detected temperatures T
3, T4 is calculated, or the temperature detected by these temperature detecting devices 53 and 54, and thus the temperature of the refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchangers 7 and 8 is made equal using a table provided in advance. , Determine the degree of opening of the expansion devices 6,5
(Step 1103), the aperture devices 6, 5 are controlled so as to have the determined opening degree (Step 1104). Hereinafter, as long as the indoor units 120a and 120b perform the heating operation, the operations of steps 1101 to 1104 are repeated.

In this manner, the same effects as those of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 can be obtained in the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of a heat pump type additional indoor unit type air conditioner according to the present invention, in which reference numerals 57 and 58 denote temperature detectors, which correspond to those shown in FIG. Are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

In the figure, a temperature detecting device 57 for detecting the refrigerant temperature in the indoor heat exchanger 7 is provided to the indoor unit 120a.
In addition, the indoor unit 120b is provided with a temperature detecting device 58 for detecting the refrigerant temperature in the indoor heat exchanger 8, and the control device 10 detects these temperature when the indoor units 120a and 120b perform the cooling / heating operation. The detected temperatures of the devices 57 and 58 are taken in, and the openings of the expansion devices 6 and 5 are set so that the detected temperatures become equal.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the connection relationship between the control device 9 of the outdoor unit 100, the control device 10 of the switching valve unit 110, and the control devices 11 and 12 of the indoor units 120a and 120b and their control targets in FIG. In the figure, portions corresponding to those in FIGS. 2 and 12 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In the figure, as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the control device 10 controls the number of indoor units connected to the switching valve unit 110, the state of these indoor units, the required refrigerant capacity of these indoor units, and the like. From the control unit of the indoor unit, and sends control data for controlling the indoor unit to the control 9 of the outdoor unit 100 as described above.
When both the air conditioners 120b are performing the cooling / heating operation, the detected temperatures of the temperature detecting devices 57, 58 are taken in, and the opening degrees of the expansion devices 5, 6 are controlled in accordance with these.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the operation of control device 10 in FIG. 13 when both indoor units 120a and 120b perform the cooling / heating operation.

When the power is turned on, the air conditioner is activated (step 1400), and the indoor units 120a and 120b are turned on.
Are instructed to drive together, the control device 10
Captures the refrigerant temperature of the indoor heat exchanger 7 detected by the temperature detection device 57 from the indoor unit 120a (step 14).
01) Also, the refrigerant temperatures of the indoor heat exchanger 8 detected by the temperature detecting device 58 from the indoor unit 120b are taken in (step 1402), and these detected temperatures are calculated, or a table provided in advance is used. The expansion devices 6 and 6 are set so that the temperatures detected by the temperature detection devices 57 and 58, and thus the refrigerant temperatures in the indoor heat exchangers 7 and 8 become equal.
5 is determined (step 1403), and the throttle devices 6, 5 are controlled so as to achieve the determined opening (step 14).
04). Hereinafter, as long as the indoor units 120a and 120b perform the heating operation, the operations of steps 1401 to 1404 are repeated.

In the second embodiment, the same effect as in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 can be obtained.

In the above embodiments, the indoor heat exchangers 7 and 8 perform forced heat transfer. However, other structures such as panels in which refrigerant pipes are embedded may be used. The same effects as in the embodiment can be obtained.

FIG. 15 shows the outdoor unit 100 in each of the above embodiments.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a specific example of the external appearance of FIG.
Reference numeral 60 denotes a lid, and 61 denotes a housing of the switching valve unit 110.

FIG. 15A shows, for example, FIG.
One indoor unit (for example, the indoor unit 12) is directly connected to the outdoor unit 100.
0a) is shown, and a lid 60 for sealing the inside is openably and closably mounted on a housing 59 in which the outdoor unit 100 is stored.

FIG. 15 (b) shows, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, a switching valve unit 110 connected to an outdoor unit 100,
The case where one or more indoor units are connected to the outdoor unit 100 via the switching valve unit 110 is shown. In this case, the lid 60 is removed from the housing 59 in the state shown in FIG. 15A, and the housing 61 of the switching valve unit 110 is mounted on the housing 59 as shown in FIG. The lid 60 is attached to the upper part of the housing 61 so as to be openable and closable. Then, with the lid 60 opened, the connection work of the refrigerant pipe and the signal line between the switching valve unit 110 and the outdoor unit 100, the switching valve unit 110 and each of the indoor units 120a, 120
0b can be connected to a refrigerant pipe or a signal line.

As described above, in this specific example, the switching valve unit 110 is provided integrally with the housing 59 of the outdoor unit 100, so that the space for the switching valve unit 110 is particularly required outdoors or indoors. As a result, the installation space for the air conditioner does not increase, and the interior is also improved.

FIG. 16 shows the indoor unit 120 in each of the above embodiments.
FIGS. 6A and 6B are plan views illustrating a specific example of an operation unit of a remote controller used for the remote controllers a and 120b;
65 is a select button, and 66 is a run / stop button.

[0143] In the figure, the remote controller 63 is provided with a cover 63 that covers substantially the lower half thereof so as to be openable and closable. FIG. Indicates a state where the lid 63 is opened.

In each of the above embodiments, the indoor unit 120
a and 120b are installed in separate rooms, respectively. A remote controller is provided for each of the indoor units 120a and 120b. Here, any of the remote controllers can control an indoor unit installed in another room (separate room).

For this purpose, in FIG. 16A, two selection buttons 64 and 65 are provided on the lid 63 of the remote controller 62, so that the indoor unit in the own room and the indoor unit in another room can be selected and operated. . This lid 63 can be set on the remote control body by a hinge mechanism or the like.
Also, it is easily removable.

Now, the user is in a certain room, this room is his / her own room, and the other rooms are separate rooms. The remote controller 62 provided in the indoor unit of his / her own room has the select button 6
When the selection button 4 is a selection button for the indoor unit in the own room (hereinafter, referred to as a selection button for the own room) and the selection button 65 is a selection button for the indoor unit in another room (hereinafter, the selection button for the separate room), the indoor unit in the own room is cooled and heated. When the operation is to be performed, the own room selection button 64 is operated, and further the operation / stop button 66 is operated, so that the indoor unit in the own room starts the cooling / heating operation. When the separate room selection button 65 is operated and then the operation / stop button 66 is operated, the indoor unit in another room starts the cooling / heating operation.

As shown in FIG. 16 (b), when the lid 63 is opened, switching of operation modes such as cooling and heating, dehumidification, etc., and setting operations such as timer reservation can be performed. Therefore, FIG.
When the selection button 64 or 65 is operated in the state shown in FIG. 6A, and then the lid 63 is opened as shown in FIG. 16B and a predetermined button is operated, the above setting in the own room or another room is performed. Can do it.

Next, taking the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 as an example,
The starting operation of the indoor unit in another room will be described with reference to FIGS. However, FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the control operation in this case. Here, the room in which the indoor unit 120a is installed is defined as the own room, and the indoor unit 120b installed in another room is activated from the own room. Step 17
00, 1701 is a control device 1 of the indoor unit 120a in the own room.
Steps 1702 and 1703 show the operation of the control device 10 of the switching valve unit 110.
Reference numeral 41705 denotes a controller 12 for the indoor unit 120b in a separate room.
Steps 1706 and 1707 are performed by the outdoor unit 100
Of the control device 9 of FIG.

Now, in the remote controller 62 shown in FIG. 16A, the separate room selection button 65 is operated, and
Assuming that the stop button 66 is operated to instruct the start of the indoor unit 120b in another room, the control device 11 of the indoor unit 120a in the own room receives the start instruction by the operation (step 1).
700), an activation instruction signal and information indicating the activation target (in this case, indicating the indoor unit 120b) are created based on the instruction, and transmitted to the control device 10 of the switching valve unit 110 (step 1701).

Upon receiving these start instruction signals and information (step 1702), control device 10 determines from this information that indoor unit 120b is to be controlled and that start is instructed from the start instruction signal, and An operation instruction signal is transmitted to the indoor unit 120b, and an operation instruction signal is also transmitted to the outdoor unit 100 (step 1703). In this case, the switching valve unit 110 also controls the degree of opening of the expansion devices 5 and 6 as described above.

Therefore, in the indoor unit 120b, the control device 1
2 receives this operation instruction signal (step 1704),
The operation is started with the specified contents by rotating the indoor fan or the like (step 1705). At the same time,
In the outdoor unit 100, the control device 9 receives the operation instruction signal from the control device 10 (step 1706), activates the compressor 1, or sets the number of rotations of the compressor 1 as desired, The operation is started with the specified contents by rotating the outdoor fan in the exchanger 3 (step 1707).

The above is a case where the indoor unit 120b in the separate room is started, but as shown in FIG.
When the operation of changing the operation mode or setting the timer reservation is performed by the indoor unit 120b of another room by opening the lid 63 of the control unit 10 of the switching valve unit 110 as described above, Target indoor unit 120 via
b to the control device 12.

When an operation such as activation of the indoor unit 120a in the own room is performed, the control device 11 of the indoor unit 120a operates the indoor unit 120a in accordance with the operation. However, also in this case, the control device 11 of the indoor unit 120a performs the operations of steps 1700 and 1701 shown in FIG. 17 and sends a start instruction signal to the control device 10 of the switching valve unit 110. Then, the control device 10 performs the above-described operation shown in steps 1706 and 1707 with respect to the outdoor unit 100, but performs the operation shown in FIG.
The operations of Steps 1704 and 1705 of No. 7 are not performed.

As described above, when the selection button 64 for the own room is operated, the indoor unit 120a of the own room is directly controlled by the control unit 11 because the indoor unit 120a is operated by the switching valve unit. This is to enable the remote controller 62 to operate even when directly connected to the outdoor unit 100 without going through the 110.

[0155] In the remote controller 62 shown in FIG. 16, only select buttons for separate rooms may be provided as select buttons. In this case, for example, only the selection button 65 is provided as a selection button, and when operating the indoor unit of the own room, the selection button 65 is not operated, and the direct operation / stop button or the operation button shown in FIG. The operation buttons may be operated, and only when the indoor unit in another room is operated, the selection button 65 is operated before the operation buttons are operated.

Of course, in the above embodiment, one indoor unit can be added. However, even when two or more indoor units can be added, the lid 63 of the remote controller 62 must have at least an indoor unit in another room. Can be provided so as to be identifiable.

Furthermore, the correspondence between the selection button provided on the remote controller 62 and each indoor unit can be set by a user or the like when the indoor unit is installed.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the number of indoor units connected via the switching valve unit 110 is determined by the control device 10 when the indoor unit is connected to the switching valve unit 110. As described above, the state of the indoor unit is switched by the control unit of the indoor unit transmitting the information from the remote controller 62 to the control unit 10 of the switching valve unit 110, as described above. It is grasped by the valve unit 110.

Furthermore, specific numerical values have been shown in each of the above embodiments, but these are merely shown as an example for easy understanding, and the present invention is not limited by the multiplied numerical values. .

[0160]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Regardless of the number of indoor units connected to the same outdoor unit and their state, the distribution of refrigerant to the indoor units in the cooling and heating operation state can always be set appropriately, and the optimum A cooling and heating environment can be obtained.

According to the present invention, even when a plurality of indoor units are operated at the same time, there is no need to increase the size of the compressor or reduce the motor efficiency to increase the torque. With this outdoor unit, it is possible to provide sufficient capacity corresponding to the required refrigerant capacity of each indoor unit.

Further, according to the present invention, when a plurality of indoor units are installed, the indoor unit in another room can be operated and operated via the indoor unit in its own room, so that the usability is greatly improved and the switching valve unit is improved. Can be integrated into the outdoor unit so that it can be installed inside the outdoor unit.Therefore, even if the switching valve unit is provided, there is no need for a dedicated space for that, and the air conditioner does not become large, improves.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of an additional indoor unit type air conditioner according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a connection relationship of a control device among an indoor unit, a switching valve unit, and an indoor unit in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a specific example of a compressor motor driving unit in the outdoor unit control device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing another specific example of the driving unit of the compressor motor in the outdoor unit control device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing operating characteristics of the specific example shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the throttle device by the switching valve unit in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a view showing a flow rate characteristic of a throttle device in the switching valve unit in FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram illustrating a second embodiment of an additional indoor unit type air conditioner according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a connection relationship of a control device among the indoor unit, the switching valve unit, and the indoor unit in FIG.

10 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the expansion device during a cooling operation by the control device of the switching valve unit in FIG. 9;

11 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the expansion device during a heating operation by the control device of the switching valve unit in FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a third additional indoor unit air conditioner according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

13 is a block diagram showing a connection relationship of a control device among the indoor unit, the switching valve unit, and the indoor unit in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a control operation of the expansion device by the control device of the switching valve unit in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of the outdoor unit in FIGS. 1, 8, and 12.

FIG. 16 is a front view showing a specific example of an operation unit of a remote controller used for the indoor unit in FIGS. 1, 8, and 12.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the operation of the remote controller shown in FIG. 16;
13 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 8 and 12.

FIG. 18 is a configuration diagram illustrating an example of a conventional indoor unit-added air conditioner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 Outdoor unit 110 Switching valve unit 120 a, 120 b Indoor unit 1 Compressor 2 Four-way valve 3 Outdoor heat exchanger 4 to 6 Throttling device 7, 8 Indoor heat exchanger 9 to 12 Control device 13 to 24 Connection device 25 Outdoor fan Motor 26 Compressor motor 27 Thermistor 28, 28 Indoor fan 30-32 Signal line 36 Converter 37 Capacitor 38 Inverter 40 Microcomputer 53-58 Temperature detecting device 59 Outdoor unit housing 60 Cover 61 Switching valve unit housing 62 Remote control 63 Cover 64, 65 selection button 66 run / stop button

Claims (14)

[Claims] At least one indoor unit is detachably connected to one outdoor unit via a switching valve unit detachably connected to the outdoor unit, and the indoor unit in operation is operated by the switching valve unit. The refrigerant from the outdoor unit is distributed and supplied to the unit, and an input voltage of an inverter circuit for driving the compressor motor in the outdoor unit is generated by a converter circuit having a chopper circuit for boosting, and the control circuit is provided by the chopper circuit. An indoor unit-added air conditioner characterized by varying the input voltage of the inverter circuit by controlling the on / off duty ratio of the air conditioner. 2. The indoor unit according to claim 1, wherein the switching valve unit is provided with a throttling device for each refrigerant distribution pipe to the outdoor unit, and controlling an opening degree of the throttling device. An additional indoor unit type air conditioner, wherein the amount of refrigerant to be distributed to each is set. 3. The control circuit according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit changes a range of a duty ratio of on / off of the chopper circuit in accordance with the number of the indoor units, thereby maximizing the inverter circuit. An additional indoor unit type air conditioner characterized by different input voltages. 4. The control circuit according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit changes a change range of an on / off duty ratio of the chopper circuit according to the number of the indoor units that operate simultaneously among the indoor units. In this case, the maximum input voltage of the inverter circuit is made different, thereby providing an additional indoor unit type air conditioner. 5. The control circuit according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit is configured to turn on or off the chopper circuit in accordance with a sum of the abilities of the indoor units that operate simultaneously among the indoor units.
An additional indoor unit type air conditioner, wherein the maximum input voltage of the inverter circuit is varied by varying the range of change of the off duty ratio. 6. The indoor unit to be started by the switching valve unit according to claim 1 or 2, when starting at least one other indoor unit during stable operation of at least one of the indoor units. An additional indoor unit type air conditioner characterized by distributing and supplying a refrigerant corresponding to its starting ability. 7. The additional indoor unit according to claim 1, wherein the switching valve unit distributes and supplies the refrigerant to the indoor units operating at the same time at a ratio according to the capacity of the indoor units. Air conditioner. 8. The switching valve unit according to claim 7, wherein the switching valve unit detects a temperature of the refrigerant distributed and supplied to the indoor unit in an operating state, and obtains a capability of the indoor unit in the operating state from the detected temperature. An additional air conditioner for an indoor unit, characterized in that: 9. The control circuit according to claim 1, wherein the control circuit determines whether the on / off duty ratio of the chopper circuit is variable in accordance with the total sum of the capacities of the indoor units that operate simultaneously. An additional air conditioner for an indoor unit, characterized in that: 10. The control circuit according to claim 9, wherein the control circuit fixes an ON / OFF duty ratio of the chopper circuit to a minimum when operating one of the indoor units, and turns ON / OFF of the inverter circuit. By controlling the off duty ratio to control the speed of the compressor motor and simultaneously operating a plurality of the indoor units, the on / off duty ratio of the inverter circuit is fixed to a maximum, An additional air conditioner for an indoor unit, wherein a speed control of the compressor motor is performed by controlling an on / off duty ratio of a chopper circuit to control an input voltage of the inverter circuit. 11. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the switching valve unit is incorporated in a housing of the outdoor unit. 12. The outdoor unit, the switching valve unit, and the connected indoor unit according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein a control circuit for exchanging control signals with each other is provided and connected. Transmitting an instruction signal from a remote controller to any one of the control circuits of the indoor units, thereby controlling any operation of the connected indoor units. Machine. 13. The remote controller according to claim 12, wherein the remote controller is provided with a selection operation button for each of the indoor units connected to a lid that covers the lid, and by operating one of the selection operation buttons, An indoor unit-added air conditioner, wherein an operation operation of the connected indoor unit corresponding to the operated selection operation button is enabled. 14. The air conditioner using a branch unit according to claim 1, wherein a panel in which a refrigerant pipe is embedded can be connected instead of the indoor unit.