JPH11248288A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve efficiency at dehumidification operation with no degraded heating and cooling efficiency. SOLUTION: An indoor heat exchanger comprises heat exchangers 22 and 23 which, provided windward, act as an evaporator at dehumidification operation, a heat exchanger 24 which, being smaller than the heat exchanger 23 and provided leeward of the heat exchanger 23, acts as a reheater at dehumidification operation, and a heat exchanger 21 which, provided adjoining the neat exchanger 22, acts as a reheater at dehumidification operation. An auxiliary air-intake port 38 is provided at a case of an indoor unit which, windward, is a lower end part of the heat exchanger 23, while a flap 37 is provided for allowing intake even through the auxiliary air-intake opening 38 opened only when dehumidification operation. Thus, the efficiency at dehumidification operation is improved without degrading efficiency at cooling and heating.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner capable of efficiently performing a dehumidifying operation while suppressing a decrease in heating efficiency.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a dehumidifying operation (hereinafter referred to as a dry operation) performed to reduce indoor humidity is mainly performed by a weak cooling operation. In the dehumidification by the weak cooling operation, the saturated steam of the air is reduced by cooling the indoor air.

Therefore, if the dehumidified air is directly blown into the room, there is a problem that the room temperature is lowered. Further, when the room temperature approaches the set temperature or when the set temperature is high, the compressor enters an intermittent operation state, so that there is a problem that the dehumidifying efficiency is reduced.

[0004] From such a viewpoint, two heat exchangers are provided adjacent to each other in the indoor unit so that one is on the leeward side and the other is on the leeward side. A system called an air mixing system for blowing air has been proposed.

[0005] In such an air mix system, during the dry operation, one of the heat exchangers acts as an evaporator to obtain cooled and dehumidified cool air, and the other acts as a reheater to obtain warm air. In this configuration, air is mixed and blown indoors.

[0006] The reheater operates on the same principle as the condenser, but from the viewpoint of heating air for purposes other than heating,
In this specification, it is described as a reheater.

In the indoor unit, two heat exchangers are disposed vertically adjacent to each other, and in a dry operation, the heat exchanger disposed on the windward side acts as an evaporator to cool and dehumidify the air, and to be leeward. A method called a full-scale reheating method has been proposed in which a heat exchanger disposed on the side acts as a reheater to warm the air cooled and dehumidified by an evaporator and blows the air indoors.

[0008]

However, in the air mixing system, a single fan sucks air through a plurality of heat exchangers, mixes the air, and blows the air into the room. ， There was a risk that the mix of cold and warm air would not be sufficient.

Further, in the full-scale reheating system, since the two heat exchangers are provided side by side with respect to the flow path, it is not necessary to mix the cool air and the warm air and send the air. The air warmed by the heat exchanger on the leeward side is deprived of heat by the heat exchanger on the leeward side when passing through the heat exchanger on the leeward side because it is supplied first from the heat exchanger on the leeward side. There is a problem that the heating efficiency is reduced.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner capable of efficiently performing a dry operation while suppressing an increase in flow path resistance and a decrease in heating efficiency.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is directed to an outdoor unit provided with a compressor for compressing a refrigerant, and a method in which the refrigerant from the outdoor unit and the indoor air are heated. An indoor air conditioner having an indoor heat exchanger to be exchanged and an indoor unit having a fan that sucks air from the room, passes air through the indoor heat exchanger, and then blows the air into the room. And a first heat exchanger that functions as an evaporator during the dehumidifying operation, and that is smaller than the first heat exchanger and that is disposed on the leeward side of the first heat exchanger. A second heat exchanger that acts as a reheater, and is provided at a position adjacent to the first heat exchanger and through which room air that does not pass through the first heat exchanger can pass, and acts as a reheater during dehumidification operation. Formed by a third heat exchanger In addition, a flow rate adjusting means provided on the windward side of the first heat exchanger for reducing the resistance of the flow path formed through the first and second heat exchangers and increasing the intake air amount during the dehumidifying operation. Provide. Thus, the amount of air flowing through the first to third heat exchangers is adjusted to improve the efficiency during the dehumidifying operation without lowering the efficiency during the cooling and heating operation.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the flow rate adjusting means has an auxiliary intake port provided in the indoor unit housing on the windward side of the first heat exchanger, and a flap for opening the auxiliary intake port only when priority is given to dehumidification. It is characterized by becoming.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to an embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a refrigerant circuit diagram of the air conditioner. The air conditioner mainly has an outdoor unit disposed outdoors and an indoor unit disposed indoors.

The outdoor unit includes a compressor 11 for compressing the refrigerant, an outdoor heat exchanger 12 for exchanging heat between the refrigerant and the outside air,
It has a main pressure reducing device 13 capable of adjusting the flow rate for reducing or reducing the refrigerant, a bypass valve 15 for controlling whether or not the refrigerant flows into the main pressure reducing device 13, and the like. The main pressure reducing device 13 and the bypass valve 15 may be provided on the indoor unit side.

The indoor unit is provided with an indoor heat exchanger. As shown in FIG. 1, the indoor heat exchangers are the first heat exchangers 22, 23 and the second heat exchanger. It is formed by the heat exchanger 24 and the heat exchanger 21 as the third heat exchanger, and is provided in the indoor unit.

The indoor unit is provided with a decompression device 25 for dehumidification and a fan 33. Further, a front intake port 31 is provided in front of the housing of the indoor unit, and an auxiliary intake port 38 is provided below the front intake port 31 in the vicinity of the housing. On the upper surface, the upper surface inlet 32
A discharge port 34 is provided on the lower surface of the housing.

The auxiliary intake port 38 is provided with a flap 39 so that it can be opened only during a dry operation. Therefore, during the dry operation, the resistance of the flow path resistance formed through the heat exchangers 23 and 24 decreases, and the amount of air passing through the heat exchangers 23 and 24 increases.

The heat exchangers 22 and 23 function as an evaporator during a cooling operation and a dry operation, and as a condenser during a heating operation.

The first heat exchanger is divided into heat exchangers 22 and 23 to make the indoor unit compact, and the heat exchanger 2
3 is provided on the front intake port 31 side, and the heat exchanger 22 is provided over the front intake port 22 and the upper intake port 32. However, this is not essential and they are integrally formed. There may be.

Further, the heat exchanger 23 and the fan 33 are located closest to each other, that is, the heat exchanger 24 and the upper intake port 32 provided at the place where the amount of air passing through the heat exchanger 23 is the largest. The provided heat exchanger 21 functions as an evaporator during the cooling operation, as a condenser during the heating operation, and as a reheater during the dry operation.

Next, a detailed configuration will be described while explaining the operation. During the cooling operation, the auxiliary intake port 38 is closed. Therefore, air is sucked from the front air inlet 31 and the upper air inlet 32. Further, the bypass valve 15 is closed, the main pressure reducing device 13 is opened by a predetermined amount, and the dehumidifying pressure reducing device 25 is further opened.
Is fully opened, and the refrigerant is circulated by the four-way valve 16 in the direction indicated by the solid line arrow.

The refrigerant that has been compressed by the compressor 11 to become a hot gas is supplied to the outdoor heat exchanger 12, where the refrigerant exchanges heat with outside air and condenses. At this time, since the bypass valve 15 is closed, the condensed refrigerant is decompressed or throttled by the main decompression device 13 to be supplied to the indoor unit as low-temperature gas.

The refrigerant supplied to the indoor unit sequentially flows through the heat exchangers 21, 24, 23 and 22. At this time, since the dehumidifying decompression device 25 is fully opened, the refrigerant that has passed through the heat exchanger 24 is supplied to the heat exchanger 23 as it is, and returns to the compressor 11 to complete one cycle.

Therefore, all of the heat exchangers 21 to 24 function as evaporators, and can efficiently cool the sucked air.

During the heating operation, the auxiliary intake port 38 is closed. Therefore, air is sucked from the front air inlet 31 and the upper air inlet 32. Further, the bypass valve 15 is closed, the main pressure reducing device 13 is opened by a predetermined amount, the dehumidifying pressure reducing device 25 is fully opened, and the refrigerant is circulated by the four-way valve 16 in the direction shown by the dotted arrow.

Then, the hot gas from the compressor 11 is sequentially supplied to the heat exchangers 22 and 23 of the indoor unit, and sequentially circulates through the heat exchangers 24 and 21 via the dehumidifying decompression device 25.

Since the depressurizing device 25 for dehumidification is fully opened, all the heat exchangers 21 to 24 function as condensers.

In this case, the refrigerant is supplied to the heat exchangers 22, 23,
Since the heat exchangers 24 and 21 are sequentially circulated, the heat exchangers 22 and 23 are warmer than the heat exchangers 21 and 24.

Therefore, the air heated through the heat exchanger 23 is deprived of heat by the heat exchanger 24.
Since the air heated through the heat exchanger 22 is not deprived of heat in this way, it is possible to improve the heating efficiency as compared with the full-scale reheating system.

During a dry operation, the auxiliary intake port 38 is opened, and air is taken in from the front intake port 31, the upper intake port 32 and the auxiliary intake port 38. The bypass valve 15 is fully opened, the main pressure reducing device 13 is fully closed, the dehumidifying pressure reducing device 25 is opened by a predetermined amount, and the refrigerant is supplied to the four-way valve 1.
6 circulates in the direction indicated by the dashed line arrow.

The refrigerant that has become hot gas from the compressor 11 exchanges heat with the outside air in the outdoor heat exchanger 12 to be condensed, and is sequentially supplied to the heat exchangers 21 and 24 via the bypass valve 15.

The refrigerant from the heat exchanger 24 is substantially adiabatically expanded in the dehumidifying decompression device 25 to become a refrigerant in a low-temperature liquid / gas mixed state, and is supplied to the heat exchangers 22 and 23 in sequence.

Thus, the cold air that has passed through the heat exchanger 23 and has been cooled and dehumidified is heated by passing through the heat exchanger 24. On the other hand, the air that has passed through the heat exchanger 22 is cooled and dehumidified to become cool air, and the air that has passed through the heat exchanger 21 is warmed and becomes warm air.

At this time, since the auxiliary intake port 38 is open, the amount of air taken in through the heat exchangers 23 and 24 increases, so that the amount of cool air from the heat exchanger 22 decreases.

Accordingly, the fan 33 receives warm air from the heat exchanger 21 having a high temperature, a small amount of cool air from the heat exchanger 22 having a low temperature, and air from the heat exchanger 24 having a temperature substantially at room temperature. As a layer is formed and the flow rate is set to the same value as assumed above, mixing can be performed efficiently, and blowing can be performed at a temperature close to room temperature, and comfortable dry operation can be performed. Will be possible.

Further, since the flap 39 is opened during the dry operation, it is possible to confirm that the user is performing the dry operation only by looking at the indoor unit.

The refrigerant circulated as described above is supplied to the four-way valve 16.
And the cycle returns to the compressor 11 through one cycle.

[0038]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the amount of air flowing through the first to third heat exchangers is made different between the dehumidifying operation and the cooling / heating operation. In addition, the efficiency of the dehumidifying operation can be improved without lowering the efficiency of the cooling and heating operation.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the auxiliary intake port and the flap that opens the auxiliary intake port only during the dehumidifying operation are provided on the windward side of the first heat exchanger, the efficiency of the cooling and heating operation is simple. It is possible to improve the efficiency at the time of the dehumidifying operation without lowering the efficiency.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an indoor unit applied to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a refrigerant circuit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Compressor 12 Outdoor heat exchanger 13 Main decompression device 15 Bypass valve 21 Heat exchanger (3rd heat exchanger) 22, 23 Heat exchanger (1st heat exchanger) 24 Heat exchanger (2nd heat exchanger) 25 Dehumidifying decompression device 31 Front intake port 32 Top intake port 33 Fan 34 Discharge port 37 Flap 38 Auxiliary intake port

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yugo Tomami 2-5-5 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] An outdoor unit having a compressor for compressing a refrigerant; an indoor heat exchanger for exchanging heat between the refrigerant from the outdoor unit and indoor air; In the air conditioner having an indoor unit having a fan that blows the air into the room after the air is passed, the indoor heat exchanger is disposed on the windward side and operates as an evaporator during the dehumidifying operation. A second heat exchanger that is smaller than the first heat exchanger and that is located downstream of the first heat exchanger and that acts as a reheater during the dehumidifying operation; A third heat exchanger is provided at a position where indoor air that does not pass through the heat exchanger can pass therethrough, and acts as a reheater in the dehumidifying operation, and is provided on the windward side of the first heat exchanger. , The first and second
An air conditioner comprising a flow rate adjusting means for increasing an amount of air passing through a heat exchanger. 2. The flow rate adjusting means has an auxiliary intake port provided in an indoor unit housing on the windward side of the first heat exchanger, and a flap that opens the auxiliary intake port only during a dehumidifying operation. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein: