JPH1163628A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a simplification of a control specification and a lowering of a product cost, by mounting a room temperature sensor to only one air passage through which wind passes in any operation mode in an air conditioner which performs cooling, dehumidifying or heating operation in response to a set operation mode. SOLUTION: An indoor heat exchanger 16 mounted in an indoor unit 1 (comprises an upper heat exchange portion 19 which consists of an upper-portion exchanger portion 17, an intermediate-portion heat exchanger portion 18, a lower heat exchange portion 22 which consists of a lower-portion heat exchanger portion 20, and an intermediate-portion heat portion 21. During a heating operation, a refrigerant passes through the intermediate-portion lower heat exchanger portion 21 and flows into the lower-portion heat exchanger portion 20, and then the refrigerant passes through the upper-portion heat exchanger portion 17, flows into the intermediate-portion upper heat exchanger portion 18 and is discharged. In this case, when viewed from a vertical direction, a temperature sensor 37 is provided at a frontal position slightly below the central position of the upper-portion heat exchanger portion 17. By such a construction, even when only a lower fan 13 is operated, the room temperature can be accurately detected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an indoor unit having a plurality of air outlets for blowing indoor air sucked from an air inlet, and having an indoor fan provided in a ventilation passage partitioned from the air inlet to the air outlet. The present invention relates to an air conditioner having the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional air conditioner of this type, there has been an air conditioner provided with air outlets on the upper and lower sides of an indoor unit. In this case, a ventilation path is formed that is partitioned from the suction port to the air outlet, whereby interference between the indoor fans can be suppressed and the air volume can be controlled stably. In this case, it is important to obtain a detection value close to room temperature even when the operation mode changes when determining the air volume for each indoor fan. Therefore, conventionally, a temperature sensor is provided for each ventilation path to detect the room temperature.

As described above, when temperature sensors are provided in the ventilation passages, a highly accurate room temperature can be obtained from the detection values of both sensors. However, different processing is performed on the two detection values depending on the operation mode. In addition, there is a problem that the cost is increased in that the sensors are provided in duplicate.

[0004] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner capable of simplifying control specifications and reducing product cost.

[0005]

The invention according to claim 1 is
The indoor heat exchanger is housed in the housing, and has a plurality of outlets for blowing out the indoor air sucked from the inlet through the indoor heat exchanger, thereby forming a ventilation passage partitioned from the inlet to the outlet. Along with the indoor unit provided with an indoor fan in each of these ventilation paths, based on the set operation mode and indoor temperature, and based on the detected indoor temperature, performs each operation of cooling, dehumidification, heating, indoor In an air conditioner having a control unit for controlling the operation of a fan, a room temperature sensor for detecting an indoor temperature is provided in only one ventilation path through which a wind flows in any operation mode.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the air conditioner according to the first aspect, air outlets are provided on the upper and lower sides of the indoor unit, respectively, and a room temperature sensor is provided in a ventilation path communicating with the upper air outlet. It is characterized by:

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the air conditioner according to the second aspect, in the heating operation mode, the control section makes the air volume from the lower air outlet larger than the air volume from the upper air port. In the cooling mode, the speed of each indoor fan is controlled so that the air volume from the upper air outlet is larger than the air volume from the lower air outlet.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the air conditioner according to the second or third aspect, the control unit is configured such that, in the heating operation mode, the detected room temperature is equal to or higher than the set room temperature and the compressor is stopped. It is characterized in that air is blown only from the upper outlet.

The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that, in the air conditioner according to any one of claims 2 to 4, the control unit blows air only from the upper outlet in the dehumidifying operation mode.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the air conditioner according to any one of the second to fifth aspects, the indoor heat exchanger is disposed at a portion corresponding to each ventilation path and connected in series. And a temperature sensor is provided at a position corresponding to a lower portion of the upper heat exchange unit.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on preferred embodiments. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an indoor unit in one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, an indoor unit 1 is formed by providing a rear plate 3 on a rear side of a front panel 2 and providing a suction grill 4 on a front side. Installed by fixing to S. The suction grille 4 has a suction port 5 formed therein. An upper louver 7 is provided at an upper outlet 6 opening at the upper part of the indoor unit 1, and a lower louver 9 is provided at a lower outlet 8 opening at the lower part.
Is provided.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
Although air is blown both above and below the indoor unit 1, the amount of air blown from below is increased during operation in the heating mode, and the amount of air blown from above is increased during operation in the cooling mode. Further, when the detected room temperature is equal to or higher than the set room temperature in the heating operation mode and the compressor is stopped, or in the cooling or dehumidification operation mode, the upper outlet is as shown in FIG. It is designed to blow air only from In this case, a temperature sensor is provided only in the ventilation path from the suction port 5 to the upper outlet 6, and the indoor fan, the compressor, and the like are controlled using the detection value of this temperature sensor.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a detailed configuration of the indoor unit 1. As shown in FIG. Each of the indoor units 1 is independently provided with an upper fan 10 on an upper side to provide an upper ventilation path 1.
1 is formed along the upper inner wall 12 of the rear plate 3 so as to extend from the inlet 5 to the upper outlet 6, and further, a lower fan 13 is provided on the lower side, and a lower ventilation passage 14 is formed from the inlet 5 to the lower outlet. 8 is formed along the lower inner wall 15 of the rear plate 3.

The indoor unit 1 includes an indoor heat exchanger 1.
The indoor heat exchanger 16 is provided with an upper heat exchange section 19 composed of an upper heat exchanger section 17 and an intermediate upper heat exchanger section 18, and a lower heat exchanger section 20. And a lower heat exchange section 22 composed of the subordinate heat exchanger section 21. The upper heat exchange section 19 is provided in the upper ventilation passage 11 on the downstream side of the suction port 5 and on the upstream side of the upper fan 10, and the upper heat exchanger section 17 is vertically arranged along the surface of the suction port 5. The middle upper heat exchanger section 18 is arranged so as to be inclined downward toward the inner side below the upper heat exchanger section 17 and is inclined below the middle upper heat exchanger section 18. An upper drain pan 23 serving as a partition plate between the upper ventilation path 11 and the lower ventilation path 14 is provided.

The lower heat exchange section 22 is provided in the lower ventilation path 14 on the downstream side of the suction port 5 and on the upstream side of the lower fan 13, and the lower heat exchanger section 20 extends along the surface of the suction port 5. The lower intermediate heat exchanger section 21 is disposed vertically so that the lower intermediate heat exchanger section 21 is inclined upward toward the inner side above the lower heat exchanger section 20. A drain pan 24 is provided.

Although not shown, the indoor heat exchanger 1
6, the upper heat exchanger section 17, the intermediate upper heat exchanger section 18, the lower heat exchanger section 20, and the intermediate lower heat exchanger section 21 each have a heat exchange pipe in which a number of radiating fins are mounted at predetermined intervals. Further, a meandering flow path is formed by connecting a heat exchange pipe by a U-vent, and these are sequentially connected to form a refrigerant flow path.

Incidentally, during the operation in the heating cycle, the refrigerant flows into the intermediate lower heat exchanger section 21 of the lower heat exchange section 22, flows therethrough, flows into the lower heat exchanger section 20, and further flows into the upper heat exchange section. After flowing into and flowing into the container section 17, it flows into the intermediate upper heat exchanger section 18 and is discharged out of the indoor heat exchanger 16.

On the other hand, a temperature sensor 37 for detecting room temperature is provided at a front position slightly below the center of the upper heat exchanger section 17 when viewed in the vertical direction of the upper heat exchanger section 17. Is mounted with a temperature sensor 38 for detecting its own temperature.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the refrigeration cycle including the indoor unit 1 and its control system. In the figure, the same elements as those in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. Here, the refrigeration cycle is provided between the discharge port and the suction port of the compressor 31 via the four-way valve 32.
The lower heat exchanger 22 and the upper heat exchanger 19 provided in the indoor unit 1, the electronic expansion valve 34 as an expansion device, and the outdoor heat exchanger 3 provided together with the outdoor fan 36 in the outdoor unit.
5 are connected in order.

The flow direction of the refrigerant is changed by switching the four-way valve 32, and by switching the direction, it is possible to switch between the cooling operation and the heating operation. That is,
The cooling operation is performed by setting the flow direction of the refrigerant to the direction indicated by the dashed arrow X, and the heating operation is performed by setting the direction of the refrigerant to the direction indicated by the solid arrow Y. When the dehumidifying operation is performed, the cooling operation and the heating operation are alternately repeated under a predetermined condition.

In order to control the refrigeration cycle, a remote controller 40, a control circuit 41, a valve drive circuit 44, an inverter 45, a fan drive circuit 46, a valve opening control circuit 47,
A two-way valve drive circuit 48 and a louver drive circuit 49 are provided. Among them, the remote controller 40 has a temperature setting unit 43 for setting the room temperature, an operation mode setting unit 42 for selecting and setting the operation mode, and transmits each setting signal to the control circuit 41. The control circuit 41 collectively represents an indoor control unit mainly including a micro control unit (MCU) included in the indoor unit 1 and an outdoor control unit mainly including a micro control unit included in the outdoor unit. The setting signal transmitted from the device 40 and the detected room temperature Ta of the temperature sensor 37 provided in the indoor unit 1
And the temperature T detected by the temperature sensor 38 at the upper heat exchange section 19.
c and the outdoor heat exchanger 3 attached to the outdoor heat exchanger 35
Based on the detected room temperature Te, a predetermined process is executed to output a control command for each element forming the refrigeration cycle.

In this case, when the heating operation mode is instructed, the valve drive circuit 44 excites the four-way valve 32 to circulate the refrigerant in the direction of the solid arrow Y, and conversely, the cooling operation mode is instructed. At this time, the four-way valve 32 is demagnetized to circulate the refrigerant in the direction of the dashed arrow X. The inverter 45 converts a commercial power supply voltage (not shown) into a direct current, outputs an alternating current having a frequency according to a frequency command applied from the control circuit 41, and supplies the alternating current to the compressor 31. The fan drive circuit 46 drives the outdoor fan 36, the upper fan 10, and the lower fan 13 according to a command from the control circuit 41,
It is to stop. The electronic expansion valve 34 is for appropriately maintaining the degree of superheat of the refrigerant on the outlet side of the heat exchanger acting as an evaporator, and the valve opening control circuit 47 is provided with an electronic expansion valve in accordance with a command from the valve opening control circuit 47. 34 is controlled.

The operation of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described below. First, when the heating mode is selected by the operation mode setting unit 42 of the remote control device 40, the control circuit 41 gives a refrigerant flow switching command to the valve drive circuit 44, and the valve drive circuit 44 To excite. As a result, a refrigerant circulation path in the direction indicated by the solid arrow Y is formed. Further, the control circuit 41 controls the set room temperature Ts set by the temperature setting unit 43 and the temperature sensor
7 and calculates a deviation from the detected room temperature Ta, and applies a frequency command to the inverter 45 so as to make the deviation close to zero. Therefore, the capacity control of the compressor 31 is substantially performed according to the air conditioning load. At this time, the control circuit 41
Drives the outdoor fan 36 and operates the upper heat exchanger 17
A command to drive the upper fan 10 and the lower fan 13 is given to the fan drive circuit 46 when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 38 attached to the fan exceeds a predetermined value. The speed of the upper fan 10 and the lower fan 13 is controlled so that the amount of air discharged downward is significantly larger than the amount of air discharged upward.

The control circuit 41 opens the valve so that the refrigerant having an appropriate degree of superheat is sucked into the compressor 31 based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 39 mounted on the refrigerant outlet side of the outdoor heat exchanger 35 or the like. A command is given to the degree control circuit 47, and the valve opening degree control circuit 47 controls the degree of opening of the electronic expansion valve 34 according to the command. Further, the control circuit 41 outputs a command to open both the upper louver 7 and the lower louver 9 to the louver drive circuit 49, and the louver drive circuit 49 opens both the upper and lower louvers.

With the above control, when the room temperature detected by the temperature sensor 37 exceeds the temperature set by the temperature setting unit 43,
The compressor 31 is stopped, and only the fan of the indoor unit 1 is operated at a low speed. Upper fan 10 when the fan is running at low speed
When both the lower fan 13 and the lower fan 13 are operated, there is a possibility that an error occurs between the detected value of the temperature sensor 38 and the actual room temperature due to the small air volume. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the detected room temperature exceeds the set temperature, the lower fan 13 is stopped, only the upper fan 10 is operated, and a faster air flow is created at the installation point of the temperature sensor 38 to accurately detect the room temperature. I am trying to do it.

This has the effect of eliminating the disadvantage that the system is not restarted even when the room temperature is lowered due to the use of one temperature sensor. That is, the lower fan 1
Assuming that the number of rotations of the fan 3 is W1 and the number of rotations of the upper fan 10 is W2, W1> W2 when the detected room temperature is lower than the set room temperature, and this relationship is maintained even when the detected room temperature exceeds the set temperature. The temperature sensor 38 detects a high room temperature due to heat build-up, and does not restart even though the room temperature is lowered. In this case, the problem can be solved by operating only the upper fan 10.

When only the upper fan 10 is operated, the provision of the temperature sensor 37 at a position corresponding to the upper heat exchanging section is achieved by the fact that the wind blown out from the lower outlet 8 forms a short circuit, and There is also an effect of preventing a situation where the detected value becomes higher than room temperature.

By the way, in this embodiment, control is performed so as to increase the amount of air blown from the lower side during the operation in the heating mode.
Only the lower fan 13 may be operated in the heating operation mode. At this time, it is predicted that it is difficult to correctly detect the room temperature in the configuration in which the temperature sensor 38 is provided only in the upper ventilation path 11. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the temperature sensor 38
Is provided at a position corresponding to a lower portion of the upper heat exchange section.

That is, when only the lower fan 13 is operated in order to improve the comfort when operated in the heating mode, the air volume from the lower outlet 8 is も し く は or less than when the upper and lower fans are operated simultaneously. Below this, the condensing capacity (heating capacity) decreases. Therefore, a considerable air volume is required to control the room temperature to match the set value. Now, assuming that the rotation speed of the lower fan 13 when both the upper and lower fans are operated is W1 and the rotation speed when the lower fan 13 is operated alone is W3, W3> W1. This increases the air volume,
Wind flow also occurs in the surrounding area. Here, since the temperature sensor 37 is provided at a position corresponding to the lower part of the upper heat exchange unit, the room temperature can be detected fairly accurately even when only the lower fan 13 is operated.

The temperature sensor 39 attached to the outdoor heat exchanger 35 detects the temperature of the outdoor heat exchanger 35 based on the detected temperature.
This is for determining whether or not frost has formed. If frost has formed, the air conditioner is switched to the cooling mode for a predetermined time to remove it.

Next, when the cooling mode is selected by the operation mode setting section 42 of the remote control device 40, the control circuit 4
1 gives a command to switch the refrigerant channel to the valve drive circuit 44, and the valve drive circuit 44 demagnetizes the coil of the four-way valve 32.
As a result, a refrigerant circulation path in the direction indicated by the dashed arrow X is formed. Hereinafter, as in the heating operation, the control circuit 4
1 applies a frequency command to the inverter 45, controls the capacity of the compressor 31, further drives the outdoor fan 36, and further gives a command to drive the upper fan 10 and the lower fan 13 to the fan drive circuit 46. The upper fan 10
The speed of the lower fan 13 is controlled such that the amount of air discharged upward is significantly greater than the amount of air discharged downward.

Next, when the dehumidification mode is selected by the operation mode setting section 42 of the remote control device 40, the control circuit 4
Reference numeral 1 denotes to the fan drive circuit 46 a command to operate the upper fan 10 alone while forming the refrigerant circulation path in the direction indicated by the dashed arrow X. At this time, the temperature sensor 37 can correctly detect the room temperature.

Thus, according to this embodiment, by providing the room temperature sensor for detecting the room temperature in one ventilation path predetermined according to the operation state of the room fan, the control specifications are simplified and the product cost is reduced. Can be achieved.

In the above embodiment, the indoor unit 1
The air conditioner having the indoor fan and the discharge port above and below has been described. However, when three or more fans are provided, and further, when the air conditioner has the discharge ports in three or more directions, The same effect as described above can be obtained by providing the room temperature sensor in one ventilation path predetermined according to the operation state.

[0035]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a ventilation passage having a plurality of outlets for discharging room air sucked from an inlet through an indoor heat exchanger, and partitioning each other from the inlet to the outlet. In addition to forming an indoor fan in each of these ventilation paths, based on the set operation mode and indoor temperature, and based on the detected indoor temperature, perform each operation of cooling, dehumidification, and heating. In the operation control, since the room temperature sensor for detecting the room temperature is provided only in one ventilation passage through which the air flows in any operation mode, the control specifications can be simplified and the product cost can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the air outlets are provided on the upper side and the lower side of the indoor unit, respectively, and the room temperature sensor is provided in the air passage leading to the upper air outlet. can get.

According to the third aspect of the invention, in the heating operation mode, the air volume from the lower air outlet is made larger than the air volume from the upper air outlet, and in the cooling mode, the air volume from the upper air outlet is reduced. Since the speed of each indoor fan is controlled so as to be larger than the air volume from the side outlet, there is also an effect that the air conditioning efficiency of the entire room is improved.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in the heating operation mode, the detected room temperature is equal to or higher than the set room temperature, and while the compressor is stopped, air is blown only from the upper outlet, so that a high room temperature due to heat build-up can be obtained. Due to the detection, there is also an effect that it is possible to prevent a phenomenon that the restart is not performed even though the room temperature is lowered.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the control unit blows air only from the upper outlet in the dehumidifying operation mode, it is possible to correctly detect the room temperature.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the indoor heat exchanger is disposed at a position corresponding to each ventilation path and is composed of two heat exchange units connected in series, and the temperature sensor is connected to the upper heat exchange unit. Is provided at a position corresponding to the lower part of the vehicle, the room temperature can be detected fairly accurately even when only the lower fan is operated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of an indoor unit in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a detailed configuration of the indoor unit of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a refrigeration cycle and a control system thereof according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Indoor unit 5 Inlet 6 Upper outlet 8 Lower outlet 10 Upper fan 13 Lower fan 19 Upper heat exchange part 22 Lower heat exchange part 31 Compressor 32 Four-way valve 34 Electronic expansion valve 35 Outdoor heat exchanger 36 Outdoor fan 37- 39 temperature sensor 40 remote control device 41 control circuit 42 operation mode setting unit 43 temperature setting unit 44 valve drive circuit 45 inverter 46 fan drive circuit 47 valve opening control circuit

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshinori Watanabe 336 Tatehara, Fuji City, Shizuoka Prefecture Inside Toshiba Fuji Factory

Claims (6)

[Claims] An indoor heat exchanger is housed in a housing, and a plurality of air outlets for blowing indoor air sucked from an air inlet through the indoor heat exchanger are provided, from the air inlet to the air outlet. Along with forming ventilation passages partitioned from each other, each of these ventilation passages includes an indoor unit provided with an indoor fan,
Based on the set operation mode and the indoor temperature, and based on the detected indoor temperature, cooling, dehumidification, while performing each operation of heating, and an air conditioner including a control unit that controls the operation of the indoor fan, An air conditioner characterized in that a room temperature sensor for detecting an indoor temperature is provided in only one ventilation path through which a wind flows in any of the above operation modes. 2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the air outlets are provided on an upper side and a lower side of the indoor unit, respectively, and the room temperature sensor is provided in a ventilation path communicating with the upper air outlet. Machine. 3. The controller according to claim 1, wherein in the heating operation mode, the air volume from the lower air outlet is larger than the air volume from the upper air outlet, and in the cooling mode, the air volume from the upper air outlet is lower. The air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein the speed of each of the indoor fans is controlled so as to be larger than an air volume from an outlet. 4. The controller according to claim 2, wherein in the heating operation mode, when the detected room temperature is equal to or higher than the set room temperature and the compressor is stopped, air is blown only from the upper outlet. Or the air conditioner according to 3. 5. The control unit according to claim 2, wherein air is blown only from the upper outlet in an operation mode of dehumidification.
An air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. The indoor heat exchanger comprises two heat exchange units arranged in a position corresponding to each of the ventilation passages and connected in series, and the temperature sensor is disposed at a position below the upper heat exchange unit. The air conditioner according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the air conditioner is provided at a corresponding position.