JPS6017642Y2 - air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to an air-conditioner/heater that can efficiently utilize each of its cooling and heating capacities, and in particular can solve the problem of insufficient refrigerant during heating operation. .

A drawback of air-source heat pump type air conditioners is that the ability of the outdoor heat exchanger to exchange heat with outside air decreases significantly during severe cold winters, resulting in a lack of heating capacity.

Therefore, recently, air-conditioning/heating machines have been used that combine cooling operation using a refrigeration cycle and heating operation using hot water obtained from combustion heat of kerosene gas or the like.

By the way, this type of air conditioner requires two coils, a hot water coil and an evaporator, to be installed indoors.
The equipment becomes larger, and in the case of a separate type, there are four connecting pipes between the indoor and outer circular units, making the construction work troublesome.
The disadvantages of this system are that it leads to increased costs, that a circulation pump is required due to the use of hot water, and that sufficient measures must be taken to prevent water leakage, which are hindering its widespread use.

In this way, we focused on the fact that all conventional air conditioners and heaters have problems, and even if they are improved by the present invention,
In particular, cooling is performed by a normal cooling cycle, heating is performed by a natural circulation heating cycle using the same refrigerant, and the condenser is heated by combustion exhaust gas during heating operation to prevent refrigerant from pooling. It is characterized by a structure that prevents so-called gas shortage from occurring.

The contents of the present invention will be explained below with reference to the examples shown in the attached drawings.
FIG. 1, which will be explained in detail, shows an example of the air conditioner of the present invention,
It has a separate structure consisting of an outdoor unit 1 and an indoor unit 2, and the outdoor unit 1 includes a compressor 3, an air-cooled condenser 4 equipped with an outdoor fan 9, a pressure reducer 5, and a combustion heating device 7 (such as a gas burner). The indoor unit 2 is provided with a refrigerant heating coil 6 provided to be able to exchange heat with a heating device 7 (hereinafter referred to as a heating device 7), and an indoor coil 8 and an indoor fan 10.

The outdoor unit 1 is placed outdoors on the ground or on the floor of a machine room, while the indoor unit 2 is attached to the upper part of the wall inside the room. The refrigerant circuits of ゜2 are connected to each other by connecting pipes 17 and 18.

In the outdoor unit 1, the refrigerant heating coil 6 has a structure in which the refrigerant outlet 6b is provided at a higher position than the refrigerant population 6a, for example, a vertical heat exchange coil, and the refrigerant in the coil is heated from below by the heating device 7. It is now possible to
The refrigerant temperature can be maintained at a predetermined value through air or hot water.

On the other hand, the compressor 3, condenser 4, and pressure reducer 5 are connected in series to form a series circuit, and this series circuit and the refrigerant heating coil 6 are connected in parallel to constitute the main refrigerant circuit of the outdoor unit 1. ing.

The indoor coil 8 in the indoor unit 2 has a structure in which there is a level difference between both ends of the coil, and connecting pipes 17 are connected to the high-position side pipe end 8a and the low-position side pipe end 8b, respectively. .18 is connected to the outdoor unit 1, preferably without any part of it being uphill.

In addition, there is a pipe 17.1 connecting the outdoor and indoor units 1 and 2.
8, it is necessary to connect the refrigerant outlet 6b and refrigerant port 6a of the refrigerant heating coil 6 to the high-position side pipe end 8a and the low-position side pipe end 8b of the indoor coil 8, respectively.

The air conditioner having the above-mentioned configuration is further provided with a refrigerant switching means in the refrigerant circuit of the outdoor unit 1, and this refrigerant switching means controls the flow of refrigerant to the refrigerant heating coil 6 during compression operation of the compressor 3. The refrigerant heating coil 6 has the function of suppressing the flow of refrigerant to the series circuit during heating operation of the refrigerant heating coil 6. In the example shown in FIG. A solenoid valve 11 is provided and opened in conjunction with the operation of the compressor 3, and a solenoid valve 11 is provided in the middle of a pipe connected to the refrigerant inlet 6a of the refrigerant heating coil 6, and is opened in conjunction with the heating operation of the heating device 7. The refrigerant switching means is composed of the electromagnetic valve 12 and the check valve 13 which is interposed in the connecting pipe between the condenser 4° pressure reducer 5 and prevents the refrigerant from flowing back to the condenser 4 side.

Next, the operating mode of this device will be explained. First, in the case of cooling operation, the compressor 3. Outdoor fan9. When the indoor fan 10 is operated and the solenoid valve 11 is opened, while the operation of the heating device 7 is stopped and the solenoid valve 12 is closed, the refrigerant flows as shown by the solid line arrow due to the operation of the compressor 3. In the condenser 4, the high-pressure refrigerant gas releases condensation heat to the outside air, and the indoor coil 8
In this case, the low-pressure refrigerant liquid takes the heat of evaporation from the indoor air, so
Cooling operation is performed using a normal forced circulation cooling cycle.

The compressor 3 and outdoor fan 9 are started and stopped by the indoor unit 2.
This is automatically performed using a temperature controller (not shown) provided on the side.

In this cooling operation, the refrigerant heating coil 6 has a refrigerant population of 6
A is disconnected from the high pressure side by closing the solenoid valve 12, and the refrigerant outlet 6b communicates with the low pressure side, forming a low pressure area. It has no negative effect on performance.

On the other hand, in the case of heating operation, the indoor fan 10 and heating device 17 are operated, the solenoid valve 12 is opened, the compressor 3 and the outdoor fan 9 are stopped, and when the solenoid valve 11 is closed, the refrigerant heating coil 6 is The high-temperature refrigerant gas evaporated by heating reaches the high-position side pipe end 8a of the indoor coil 8 via the refrigerant outlet 6b and the connecting pipe 17, and while flowing through the indoor coil 8, it releases condensation heat to the indoor air and condenses and liquefies. and heat the room.

This liquefied refrigerant flows down the connecting pipe 18 from the lower side pipe end 8b under its own weight, and further passes through the electromagnetic valve 12 to reach the refrigerant population 6a of the refrigerant heating coil 6, where it is heated again.

At this time, the refrigerant flow direction is as shown by the dashed arrow, and the refrigerant undergoes a gas/liquid phase change and repeats natural circulation due to the difference in specific gravity, so heating operation is performed using a natural circulation heating cycle that does not use any power. That will happen.

The above operation mode has been explained for the case where there is one indoor unit 2, but it is of course possible to connect one or more indoor units in parallel as shown by the two-dot chain line, and such multiple connections are possible. In the case of outdoor unit 1
In the refrigerant circuit in which the series circuit and the refrigerant heating coil 6 are arranged in parallel, a solenoid valve 15 is installed in the source side branch pipe of a gas side branch pipe and a source side branch pipe that are branched from both ends of the circuit, respectively.
．． 15-2 are interposed respectively, and each indoor unit is started and stopped by the corresponding solenoid valve 1 according to the temperature controller of the unit.
5-,. 15-2 may be opened and closed.

In addition, in the case of heating operation, the heating device 7 may be automatically controlled to operate when the refrigerant temperature at the refrigerant outlet 6b of the refrigerant heating coil 6 becomes below a set value, and in the case of cooling operation, It is only necessary to control the compressor 3 and the indoor unit so that they are operated as long as one compressor 3 and one indoor unit are operated.

Therefore, in the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerant pipe 18 is
In either case of heating, since the refrigerant liquid flow pipe is used, there is an advantage that the pipe diameter can be further reduced.

However, in the above device, during heating operation performed with the compressor 3 stopped, the series circuit of the compressor 3 and the condenser 4 is disconnected from the natural circulation circuit by the solenoid valve 11 and the check valve 13. However, due to a slight leak in the valve portions of both valves 11 and 13, a small amount of refrigerant flows into the series circuit and is cooled by the outside air, so that it becomes a refrigerant liquid in the condenser 4 over time. The amount of will start to accumulate.

As a result, the amount of refrigerant in the natural circulation heating cycle may become insufficient, leading to a decrease in heating capacity.

The fact that the refrigerant liquid is prevented from accumulating in the condenser 4 in this manner is another feature of the present invention, and this will be explained with reference to the drawings from FIG. 2 onwards.

In FIGS. 2 to 4, 14 is an exhaust path and a heating device 7
The exhaust passage 14 is arranged in the middle of the exhaust passage 14 for heat exchange with the cross-fin coil type condenser 4, and the coil of the condenser 4 is Heat exchange is performed between the refrigerant inside and the exhaust gas.

In the case shown in FIG. 2, the middle part of the exhaust passage 14 is formed into a parallel pipe in which a plurality of exhaust gas pipes are connected in parallel between headers, and each of the exhaust gas pipes is connected to a condenser. By dispersively penetrating the four fin groups, effective heat exchange can be performed.

On the other hand, in the one shown in FIG. 4, the middle part of the exhaust pipe 14 is
It has a structure in which the condenser 4 passes through the lower part of both end tube plates, and the temperature of the condenser 4 can be kept high by the hot air in the exhaust path 14.

On both sides, during heating operation, the condenser 4 is heated using exhaust gas and can be kept above the saturation temperature of the refrigerant, so there is no accumulation of refrigerant liquid in the condenser 4.
Therefore, the concern about refrigerant shortage as described above is resolved.

The present invention has the above-mentioned configuration and function, and the cooling operation is performed by a forced circulation cooling cycle in which the compressor is operated, while the heating operation is performed by the refrigerant heating coil 6 and the indoor coil 8. Since the heating is performed using a natural circulation heating cycle between the two, on the indoor unit 2 side, only one indoor coil 8 can be used for both the evaporator (for cooling) and the condenser (for heating). Therefore, the indoor unit can be made smaller and more compact than the conventional one which requires an evaporator and hot water coil.

Furthermore, this invention completely eliminates the need for hot water circulation pumps and hot water piping, greatly simplifying the system and making construction easier.In the case of a separate structure, the connection piping between the indoor and outdoor units is also reversible. As with heat pump machines, construction is easy as only two units are required.

Furthermore, since no water piping is required, there is no risk of water leakage or freezing, and there are advantages in that it is easy to handle.

Furthermore, by using the separate structure of the present invention, it is possible to ensure a sufficient gap between the indoor coil 8 and the refrigerant heating coil 6, and the heating capacity by the natural circulation method can be increased in accordance with the load. This allows for heating with extra power.

Moreover, in the present invention, the exhaust gas generated by the combustion type heating device 7 is used to warm the condenser 4 during heating operation, so that the refrigerant does not accumulate in the condenser 4 as a liquid. Therefore, it is possible to ensure a sufficient amount of circulating refrigerant during heating operation, and the heating capacity can be maximized as expected, and since waste heat is used, it does not have any effect on operating costs, and in fact reduces heat damage. It is effective in preventing

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a device circuit diagram of one example of the air conditioner of the present invention, Figures 2 and 4 are schematic structural diagrams of the condenser sections on each side of the air conditioner of the present invention, and Figure 3 is the same as that of Figure 2. It is a sectional view taken along the line A-A. 1... Outdoor unit, 2... Indoor unit, 3... Compressor, 4... Condenser,
5... Pressure reducer, 6... Refrigerant heating coil, 6a... Refrigerant inlet, 6b... Refrigerant outlet, 7... Heating device , 8...Indoor coil, 8a...High position side tube end, 8b...
Low position side tube end, 9...Outdoor fan, 10...
... Indoor fan, 11゜12 ... Solenoid valve, 1
3... Check valve, 14... Exhaust path, 15
-,. 15-2...Branch solenoid valve, 17°18.
...Connection piping.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] The combustion type heating device 7 has a refrigerant outlet higher than a refrigerant inlet.
A refrigerant heating coil 6 provided to be able to exchange heat with the compressor 3
．． @Detailed 4. A refrigerant circuit formed by connecting a series circuit having a pressure reducer 5 in series in parallel is arranged at a lower location than the indoor coil 8 provided so that there is a level difference between both ends of the pipes, and the refrigerant circuit is connected between them. The refrigerant outlet and refrigerant inlet of the refrigerant heating coil 6 are connected to the high-position side pipe end and the low-position side pipe end of the indoor coil 8 through connecting pipes 17 and 18, respectively. A refrigerant switching means is provided in the refrigerant circuit to suppress the refrigerant flow to the heating coil 6 and to suppress the refrigerant flow to the series circuit during heating operation of the refrigerant heating coil 6, and the compressor 3. Condenser 4. A cooling operation using a cooling cycle consisting of a pressure reducer 5 and an indoor coil 8 and a heating operation using a natural circulation heating cycle consisting of a refrigerant heating coil 6 and an indoor coil 8 are performed. Exhaust path 1 that leads the air to all or some of the coils of the condenser 4 in a heat exchangeable manner.
4 to prevent refrigerant liquid from accumulating in the condenser 4 during heating operation.