KR100379444B1 - diagnostic apparatus and method for piping in the air conditioner using vibration - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly, to a pipe connection search apparatus and method for quickly and accurately searching whether a pipe connecting an electronic expansion valve and an indoor unit is connected to an indoor unit corresponding to each other after installing an air conditioner system. It is about.

To this end, in the multi-air conditioner in which a plurality of indoor units 20 and 20a are connected to the outdoor unit 10, the compressor 11 in a state in which all the electromagnetic expansion sides 14 and 14a installed in the outdoor unit 10 are closed. Compressor operation step of operating; An electronic expansion edge opening step of sequentially opening only one of the closed electron expansion edges (14, 14a); A vibration search step of filtering and signal-processing the pipe vibration frequency generated when the refrigerant passing through the open electronic expansion valve 14 enters the indoor unit 20 by the vibration detection means 30; Vibration, characterized in that consisting of the indoor unit search step for receiving a signal from the vibration detection means 30 detects which indoor unit is connected to the open electronic expansion valve 14 and stores the detected information in the control unit 13 Provides a pipe connection search method of a multi air conditioner.

Description

Diagnostic apparatus and method for piping in the air conditioner using vibration

The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly, to a pipe connection search method for quickly and accurately searching whether a pipe connecting an electronic expansion valve and an indoor unit is connected to an indoor unit corresponding to each other after installing an air conditioner system. .

The air conditioner is classified into a general air conditioner in which one indoor unit is connected to one outdoor unit, and a multi air conditioner in which a plurality of indoor units are connected to one outdoor unit.

In addition, the multi air conditioner is divided into a multi air conditioner having a cooling function and a multi heat pump having a cooling and heating function.

The conventional multi-air conditioner described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 with reference to the installation and the pipe connection search.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional multi-air conditioner, and FIG. 2 is a graph showing a change in temperature detected by a temperature sensor installed at an inlet pipe of each indoor unit when opening and closing each electronic expansion valve of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 1, a multi-air conditioner includes an outdoor unit 10 including an compressor 11, an outdoor heat exchanger 12, an electronic expansion valve 14 and 14a, a control unit 13, and the like, and an indoor heat exchanger 21. It consists of indoor units 20 and 20a.

It is understood that only two indoor units are shown in FIG. 1.

The multi-air conditioner configured as described above cools the room by sequentially passing the refrigerant along the compressor 11, the outdoor heat exchanger 12, the electromagnetic expansion sides 14 and 14a, and the indoor heat exchanger 21.

Refrigerant circulation of the multi-air conditioner is the same as the refrigerant cycle during the cooling action of the multi-heat pump, and the heating action of the multi-heat pump is vice versa.

Such a multi air conditioner is used for cooling or heating a large building having a plurality of interior spaces.

In the case where the multi-air conditioner is installed in a large building, the outdoor unit 10 is divided into a plurality of pipes so as to supply refrigerant to the plurality of indoor units 20 and 20a, respectively. The portion is provided with electron expansion edges 14 and 14a.

The pipes 15 and 15a extending from the respective electromagnetic expansion sides 14 and 14a are connected to the corresponding indoor units 20 and 20a. As the electromagnetic expansion sides 14 and 14a are selectively opened and closed, the compressor The refrigerant discharged from (11) is supplied or cut off to each indoor unit (20, 20a).

On the other hand, since there are many pipes 15 and 15a connected to the indoor units 20 and 20a corresponding to each of the electromagnetic expansion sides 14 and 14a, the pipes 15 and 15a are long and have long lengths. It is quite complicated to connect 15a) to the corresponding indoor units 20, 20a.

Since the pipe connection of the multi-air conditioner is quite complicated and it is often impossible to directly check which pipe is connected to which indoor unit, the pipe is connected even after connecting the pipes 15 and 15a to the respective indoor units 20 and 20a. It is necessary to find out whether they are connected to indoor units corresponding to each other.

In order to search for the pipe connection of the multi-air conditioner installed as described above, temperature sensors 22 and 22a are installed in the inlet pipe of each indoor unit 20 and 20a.

At this time, the temperature sensors 22 and 22a are installed on the outer circumferential surface of the pipes 15 and 15a so as to detect the temperature of the pipes.

The temperature sensors 22 and 22a are connected to the whole body wire 34 to transmit a signal to the control unit 13 of the outdoor unit 10 when a temperature of a constant frequency is detected.

Referring to the pipe connection search method for the multi-air conditioner installed in this way as follows.

First, all of the electromagnetic expansion edges 14 and 14a connected to the branched pipes 15 and 15a of the outdoor unit 10 are opened and operated while gradually increasing the frequency of the compressor 11.

Accordingly, the refrigerant flows into the indoor units 20 and 20a through the open tank expansion sides 14 and 14a, and when the flow of the refrigerant continues for a predetermined time, the pipes 15 and 15a have almost the same temperature as the refrigerant. do.

When the temperatures of the pipes 15 and 15a are maintained at substantially the same temperature as the refrigerant, only one of the electron expansion edges 14 among the electron expansion edges 14 and 14a is closed.

Subsequently, the next electron expansion edge 14a is closed, and the closed electron expansion edge 14 is opened at the same time.

In this manner, the indoor units 20 and 20a corresponding to the respective electron expansion edges 14 and 14a are searched while only one of the electron expansion edges 14 and 14a are sequentially opened.

At this time, the temperature sensed by the temperature sensors 22 and 22a changes rapidly, and when such a temperature change occurs, the temperature sensors 22 and 22a signal that the corresponding indoor units 20 and 20a are operating. Transfer to the control unit 13 through).

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when the closed electronic expansion edges are closed and reopened one by one in the order of the first, second, and third electron expansion edges, the temperature sensor installed to correspond to each of the electronic expansion edges is caused by blocking of the refrigerant. After detecting the temperature change, the control unit 13 transmits a signal.

At this time, the control unit 13 sequentially stores the detection information of the indoor unit connected to the first, second, and third electronic expansion sides by the signals of the temperature sensors 22 and 22a.

In this way, it is possible to detect which indoor units 20 and 20a are connected to correspond to each of the openings 14 and 14a.

After the pipe connection search of the multi-air conditioner is completed as described above, the indoor space may be selectively cooled by opening and closing the electronic expansion sides 14 and 14a corresponding to the indoor units 20 and 20a by the control unit 13.

In addition, it is easily understood that the method of searching for a pipe connection by using the temperatures of the pipes 15 and 15a in the same manner may be used in the multi-heat pump.

However, the pipe connection search method using temperature requires a considerable time since the pipe connection must be searched after operating the system until each pipe 15, 15a maintains a temperature almost equal to that of the refrigerant.

In addition, the temperature sensors 22 and 22a are greatly influenced by the ambient temperature in which the temperature sensors 22 and 22a are installed and the temperature of the refrigerant due to the overload of the compressor 11.

For example, such as the peak value of the temperature surrounded by the circle of Figure 2, the temperature detected by the temperature sensor due to the external influence as described above, the peak value is irregularly formed, so that the temperature sensor is wrong in the inflection point of the temperature The recognition signal may be recognized and transmitted to the controller.

Accordingly, the controller 13 may recognize the indoor units corresponding to the first electron expansion edge, the third electron expansion edge, and the second electron expansion edge, and change the numbers of the indoor units corresponding to the respective electron expansion edges.

In this way, if the numbers of the indoor units 20 and 20a corresponding to each of the electronic expansion sides 14 and 14a are incorrectly recognized and stored in the control unit 13, the user may cool or heat an indoor space different from the intended indoor space. Problems arise.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to quickly and accurately search whether the pipe connecting the electronic expansion valve and the indoor unit is connected to the indoor unit corresponding to each other after installing the air conditioner system.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a conventional multi-air conditioner.

FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating a change in temperature detected by a temperature sensor installed at an inlet pipe of each indoor unit when opening and closing each electronic expansion edge of FIG. 1.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a multi-air conditioner according to the present invention.

4 is an operation diagram showing the operation of each component in the pipe connection search method using the vibration of FIG.

5 is an operation diagram showing another embodiment of the pipe connection search method according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

10: outdoor unit 11: compressor

12: outdoor heat exchanger 13: control unit

14,14a: Electron expansion side 15,15a: Piping

20, 20a: indoor unit 21: indoor heat exchanger

22, 22a: temperature sensor 30, 30a: vibration detection means

31: vibration detection unit 32: filter unit

33: signal processor 34: telegraph line

To this end, the present invention is provided with a plurality of outdoor units of the multi-air conditioner and the electronic expansion side for passing or blocking the refrigerant discharged from the compressor; Vibration detection means which is installed in the refrigerant inlet pipe of the indoor unit connected to each of the electronic expansion sides, and detects and filters the vibration frequency of the pipe generated by the refrigerant flowing into the indoor unit when the corresponding electromagnetic expansion side is opened; Piping of the multi air conditioner using the vibration consisting of a control unit for receiving the signal that the corresponding indoor unit is in operation from the vibration detecting means and the control unit for detecting which indoor unit is connected to correspond to each other and stores the detected information A connection navigation device.

In addition, a multi-air conditioner connected to a plurality of indoor units in the outdoor unit, comprising: a compressor operating step of operating the compressor in a state in which all the electronic expansion valves installed in the outdoor unit are closed; An electron expansion edge opening step of sequentially opening only one of the closed electron expansion edges; A vibration search step of filtering and signal-processing the pipe vibration frequency generated when the refrigerant passing through the open electronic expansion valve is introduced into the indoor unit by vibration detection means; Searching for a pipe connection of a multi-air conditioner using vibration, comprising: an indoor unit searching step of detecting which indoor unit is connected to an open electronic expansion valve by receiving a signal from the vibration detecting unit and storing the detected information in a control unit It is about a method.

Regarding the pipe connecting search apparatus and method according to the present invention, the same reference numerals are given to the same parts as the pipe connecting search apparatus and the method using a conventional temperature, and the description thereof will be omitted.

Hereinafter, a pipe connecting search apparatus and method for a multi-air conditioner using vibration according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

3 is a schematic view showing a schematic configuration of a multi-air conditioner according to the present invention. In the multi-air conditioner, a plurality of indoor units 20 and 20a are connected to an outdoor unit 10.

Branches of the outdoor unit 10 are provided with electromagnetic expansion edges 14 and 14a, respectively, so that the refrigerant is supplied to the corresponding indoor units 20 and 20a as the respective electromagnetic expansion edges 14 and 14a are opened and closed. Block it.

Corresponding indoor units 20 and 20a are connected to the pipes 15 and 15a extending from the electromagnetic expansion sides 14 and 14a, respectively, and to refrigerant inlet side pipes 15 and 15a of the indoor units 20 and 20a. Vibration detecting means (30, 30a) such as a vibration sensor is mounted.

The vibration detecting means includes a vibration detecting unit 31, a filter unit 32, and a signal processing unit 33. The signal processing unit 33 includes a telegraph line 34 to transmit a vibration signal to the control unit 13. Connected.

The vibration detector 31 detects vibrations of the pipes 15 and 15a when the refrigerant flows into the indoor unit, and the filter unit 32 filters only a specific frequency band among the detected vibration frequencies.

In addition, the signal processor 33 compares a predetermined reference frequency with a specific frequency band that has passed through the filter unit 32.

That is, when it is determined that the peak value of the vibration frequency passing through the filter unit 32 is equal to or greater than the reference frequency, the signal processing unit 33 controls the control unit 13 through the telegraph line 34 to signal that the indoor units 20 and 20a are in operation. To pass on.

Meanwhile, the specific frequency band of the filter unit 32 and the reference frequency of the signal processor 33 are preset and stored in the filter unit 32 and the signal processor 33, respectively.

The control unit 13 that receives the signal that the indoor units 20 and 20a are in operation detects which indoor unit corresponds to the open electronic expansion edge and stores the detected information.

Therefore, after the pipe connection search is completed, the control unit 13 can selectively operate each indoor unit according to the detected information.

Referring to the pipe connection search using the pipe connection search device of the multi-air conditioner as follows.

4 is an operation diagram showing the operation of each component in the pipe connection search method using the vibration of FIG.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the compressor is operated while gradually increasing the frequency of the compressor 11 in a state in which all of the electromagnetic expansion edges 14 and 14a installed in the outdoor unit 10 are closed.

When the compressor 11 is operated at a normal frequency, only one electron expansion edge of the closed electron expansion edges 14 and 14a is opened.

At this time, the refrigerant passing through the open electron expansion side 14 flows into the indoor unit 20 corresponding to the open electron expansion edge 14.

As the refrigerant flows into the indoor unit, the vibration detecting means 30 installed in the refrigerant pipe of the indoor unit 20 detects vibration of the pipe.

At this time, the filter unit 32 of the vibration detecting means 30 filters only a specific vibration frequency band among the detected vibration frequencies.

If it is determined by the signal processor 33 that the peak value of the vibration frequency detected by the vibration detecting means 30 is equal to or greater than a reference frequency, the signal processor 33 controls a signal indicating that the indoor unit 20 is in operation. And the control unit 13 stores this detection signal.

For example, after the search for the indoor unit connected to the opened first electron expansion edge is completed as shown in FIG. 4, the second electron expansion edge is opened.

That is, the open first electron expansion edge is closed and the second electron expansion edge is opened, and the pipe connection search is performed while the above procedure is sequentially performed.

As described above, the control unit 13 detects which indoor unit among the plurality of indoor units 20 and 20a is connected to correspond to the open electronic expansion side to detect the information corresponding to each of the electronic expansion sides 14 and 14a. Save it.

Next, another pipe connection search method using the pipe connection search apparatus of the above-described multi-air conditioner will be described with reference to FIG. 5 as follows.

5 is an operation diagram showing another embodiment of the pipe connection search method according to the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 5, the compressor 11 is operated while gradually increasing the frequency of the compressor 11 in a state in which all the electromagnetic expansion edges 14 and 14a installed in the outdoor unit 10 are opened.

When the compressor 11 is operated at a normal frequency, only one of the open electron expansion sides 14 and 14a is closed.

Accordingly, the supply of the refrigerant to the indoor unit 20 connected to correspond to the closed electron expansion side 14 is blocked.

At this time, the vibration detector 31 detects the vibration frequency of the pipe when the refrigerant does not flow in the pipe of the indoor unit, and the filter unit 32 filters only a specific frequency band from the detected vibration frequency. do.

In addition, the signal processor 33 compares the vibration frequency passing through the filter unit 32 with the reference frequency band, and when the vibration frequency passing through the filter unit 32 is determined to be less than or equal to the reference frequency, the indoor units 20 and 20a stop. The signal is transmitted to the control unit 13 through the telegraph line 34.

On the other hand, the specific frequency band and the signal processor 33 of the filter unit 32 are preset and stored in the filter unit 32 and the signal processor 33, respectively.

For example, after the search of the indoor unit connected to the closed first electron expansion edge is completed as shown in FIG. 5, the open second electron expansion edge is closed.

That is, the pipe search is performed while opening the closed first electron expansion edge and closing the second electron expansion edge, and the pipe connection search is performed while applying the pipe connection search method to each electron expansion edge sequentially.

Accordingly, the control unit 13 detects which indoor units 20 and 20a of the plurality of indoor units 20 and 20a are connected to correspond to the closed electronic expansion sides to correspond to the respective electronic expansion sides 14 and 14a. Save detection information.

In the case of using the method of searching for a pipe connection in a state in which all the electromagnetic expansion sides 14 and 14a installed in the outdoor unit 10 are closed, the indoor units 20 and 20a are used in the electronic expansion sides 14 and 14a in which the refrigerant is opened. Since it takes only a very short time to reach), the search time can be significantly reduced.

In addition, when the pipe connection search method is used in a state in which all of the above-described electronic expansion edges 14 and 14a installed in the outdoor unit 10 are opened, when the refrigerant is blocked in the closed electromagnetic expansion edge and the flow of the refrigerant almost disappears, the pipe connection is performed. Since the search is completed, the search time can be significantly reduced.

In general, vibrations are transmitted with inherent frequency characteristics, and the inherent frequency characteristics of vibrations are hardly affected by the environment.

Therefore, the pipe connection search can be performed more accurately by using vibration to search for the pipe connection.

As described above, the present invention can detect the indoor unit connected to each electronic expansion edge of the outdoor unit more quickly and accurately.

In addition, the installation cost can be reduced by speeding up the installation of the multi-air conditioner.

Claims (8)

An electronic expansion valve installed in a plurality of outdoor units of the multi-air conditioner to pass or block the refrigerant discharged from the compressor; Vibration detection means which is installed in the refrigerant inlet pipe of the indoor unit connected to each of the electronic expansion sides, and detects and filters the vibration frequency of the pipe generated by the refrigerant flowing into the indoor unit when the corresponding electromagnetic expansion side is opened; Piping of the multi air conditioner using the vibration consisting of a control unit for receiving the signal that the corresponding indoor unit is in operation from the vibration detecting means and the control unit for detecting which indoor unit is connected to correspond to each other and stores the detected information Connect navigation device. The method of claim 1, The vibration detecting means includes a vibration detecting unit for detecting the vibration of the pipe; A filter unit for filtering only a specific vibration frequency band among the detected vibration frequencies; And a signal processor configured to compare and determine a vibration frequency passing through the filter unit with a preset reference frequency and transmit a signal indicating that the indoor unit is in operation to the control unit. In the multi air conditioner in which a plurality of indoor units are connected to the outdoor unit, A compressor operating step of operating the compressor in a state in which all the electromagnetic expansion sides installed in the outdoor unit are closed; An electron expansion edge opening step of sequentially opening only one of the closed electron expansion edges; A vibration search step of filtering and signal-processing the pipe vibration frequency generated when the refrigerant passing through the open electronic expansion valve is introduced into the indoor unit by vibration detection means; Searching for a pipe connection of a multi-air conditioner using vibration, comprising: an indoor unit searching step of detecting which indoor unit is connected to an open electronic expansion valve by receiving a signal from the vibration detecting unit and storing the detected information in a control unit Way. The method of claim 3, wherein The method of claim 1, wherein the opening of the electron expansion valve comprises opening the next electron expansion valve among the closed electron expansion valves and closing the first electron expansion valve. The method of claim 3, wherein In the vibration search step, a specific vibration frequency band preset in the filter unit is filtered out of the vibration frequencies detected by the vibration detection unit, and the signal processor is determined to compare the reference frequency preset and stored in the signal processor with the vibration frequency passed through the filter unit. If the peak value of the vibration frequency passed through the filter unit is determined to be equal to or more than the reference frequency pipe connection search method of the multi air conditioner using vibration, characterized in that for transmitting a signal that the indoor unit is in operation. In the multi air conditioner in which a plurality of indoor units are connected to the outdoor unit, A compressor operating step of operating the compressor in a state in which all the electromagnetic expansion sides installed in the outdoor unit are opened; An electron expansion valve closing step of sequentially closing only one of the open electron expansion valves; A vibration search step of filtering and signal-processing the pipe vibration frequency generated when the inflow of the refrigerant to the indoor unit connected to the closed electromagnetic expansion side by vibration detection means; Searching for a pipe connection of a multi-air conditioner using vibration, which comprises a indoor unit searching step of receiving a signal from the vibration detecting means and detecting which indoor unit is connected to a closed electronic expansion valve and storing the detected information in a control unit. Way. The method of claim 6, The method of claim 1, wherein in the closing step of the electronic expansion valve, closing the next electronic expansion valve among the open electronic expansion valves opens the closed electronic expansion valve first. The method of claim 6, The vibration search step filters a specific vibration frequency band preset in the filter unit among the vibration frequencies detected by the vibration detection means, and compares the reference frequency preset and stored in the signal processing unit with the vibration frequency band passed through the filter unit in the signal processing unit. And determining that the peak value of the vibration frequency passing through the filter unit is equal to or less than the reference frequency, and transmitting a signal indicating that the operation of the indoor unit is stopped to the controller.