KR100671301B1 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an air conditioner, comprising: a compressor, a plurality of heat exchangers for heat-exchanging a refrigerant supplied from the compressor, a plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves provided between the plurality of heat exchangers, and the heat exchanger and the compressor. A refrigerating device having an accumulator; And a controller configured to close the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves to prevent the refrigerant located between the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves from being received by the accumulator when the compressor is stopped. As a result, the accumulator can be reduced in size.

Description

Air Conditioner {AIR CONDITIONER}

1 is a schematic diagram of an air conditioner according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a control block diagram of an air conditioner according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a control flowchart of an air conditioner according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a schematic diagram of an air conditioner according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a schematic diagram of an air conditioner according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

1: Refrigerating device 7: Refrigerant pipe

10: outdoor unit 11: compressor

13 four-way valve 15 first heat exchanger

17: first electromagnetic expansion valve 19: accumulator

21: pressure control unit 23: auxiliary pipe

25: relief valve 30: indoor unit

31: second heat exchanger 33: second electromagnetic expansion valve

40: control unit

The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly, to an air conditioner having an improved structure to reduce the size of an accumulator.

In general, an air conditioner is installed in a building such as a house, an office, or a factory to adjust an indoor temperature of a building, and includes a refrigeration device provided to adjust an indoor air temperature.

Such a refrigerating device includes a compressor and a heat exchanger such as a condenser and an evaporator connected to the compressor.

An example of an air conditioner having such a conventional refrigeration apparatus is disclosed in Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-2004-74544. Such a conventional air conditioner includes an accumulator for separating liquid and gas from a low temperature low pressure refrigerant generated by an evaporator and passing only a gas refrigerant, a plurality of compressors for compressing a low temperature low pressure gas refrigerant passing through the accumulator, and A plurality of check valves installed at each discharge port to prevent backflow of the refrigerant, a condenser for condensing the high temperature and high pressure gas refrigerant discharged from the compressor to medium temperature high pressure liquid refrigerant through heat exchange with external air, and discharged from the condenser. An electronic expansion valve for reducing the medium-temperature high-pressure liquid refrigerant to a low-temperature low-pressure liquid refrigerant, an evaporator for evaporating the low-temperature low-pressure liquid refrigerant decompressed by the expansion valve to a low-temperature low-pressure gas refrigerant through heat exchange with ambient air, and the evaporator Blowing air to discharge cold ambient air to the room through evaporation It includes. In addition, the conventional air conditioner further includes a fan motor that blows external air to the condenser by reducing the rotational speed by 20% to 30% than when the plurality of compressors are operated when only one of the plurality of compressors is operated. .

Thus, such a conventional air conditioner can increase the efficiency of the entire refrigerating apparatus by changing the speed of the fan motor of the condenser according to the number of compressors operated.

In the conventional air conditioner, heat exchangers such as an evaporator and a condenser may be located above the accumulator according to the installation structure. In addition, the conventional accumulator should be large enough to accommodate all the refrigerant in the heat exchangers when the operation of the refrigeration unit is stopped, otherwise liquid refrigerant may be supplied toward the compressor through the accumulator. Restarting the compressor may cause a malfunction.

Therefore, the accumulator provided in the conventional air conditioner has to be provided large enough to accommodate all the refrigerant in the heat exchangers, thereby increasing the volume and manufacturing cost. Thus, a method for reducing the size of the accumulator provided in the air conditioner is required.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner capable of reducing the size of the accumulator.

According to the present invention, an object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner comprising: a compressor, a plurality of heat exchangers for heat-exchanging refrigerant supplied from the compressor, a plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves provided between the plurality of heat exchangers, A refrigerating device having an accumulator provided between the compressors; And a controller configured to close the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves to prevent the refrigerant located between the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves from being received by the accumulator when the compressor is stopped. Is achieved.

The refrigeration apparatus may further include a check valve provided in the refrigerant outlet region of the compressor to prevent the refrigerant from flowing back to the compressor.

The refrigerating device may further include a pressure regulating unit provided to adjust the pressure of the refrigerant contained between the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves.

The pressure regulating unit may include a refrigerant pipe provided between the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves, an auxiliary pipe connected to the accumulator, and a relief valve provided in the auxiliary pipe.

The refrigeration apparatus may further include a four-way valve provided to change the refrigerant flow direction in the plurality of heat exchangers to enable the cooling and heating operation.

The refrigerating device may further include a receiver provided between the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves to receive the refrigerant and to discharge the liquid refrigerant.

The refrigerating device further includes an outdoor unit including any one of the plurality of heat exchangers, the compressor and the accumulator, and an indoor unit including at least another one of the plurality of heat exchangers, wherein the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves are included. One may be mounted to the outdoor unit, and at least one of the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves may be mounted to the indoor unit.

Further, an object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner comprising: a compressor, a plurality of heat exchangers for heat-exchanging refrigerant supplied from the compressor, an electromagnetic expansion valve provided between the plurality of heat exchangers, and the heat exchanger and the compressor. A refrigerating device having an accumulator provided in the and a check valve provided in the refrigerant outlet region of the compressor to prevent the refrigerant from flowing back into the compressor; And a controller configured to close the electromagnetic expansion valve to prevent the refrigerant located between the electromagnetic expansion valve and the check valve from being received by the accumulator when the compressor is stopped. May be achieved.

Here, the refrigerating device may further include a four-way valve provided to change the refrigerant flow direction in the plurality of heat exchangers to enable the cooling and heating operation.

Prior to the description, in various embodiments, components having the same configuration will be representatively described in the first embodiment using the same reference numerals, and in other embodiments, only the configuration different from the first embodiment will be described. Do.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First embodiment

1 and 2, the air conditioner according to the first embodiment of the present invention is a refrigeration device (1) provided for controlling the temperature of the indoor air, etc., and a control unit for controlling the refrigerating device ( 40).

The refrigerating device 1 includes a compressor 11, a plurality of heat exchangers 15 and 31 for heat-exchanging refrigerant supplied from the compressor 11, and a plurality of electrons provided between the plurality of heat exchangers 15 and 31. Expansion valves (17, 33), and an accumulator (19) provided between the heat exchangers (15, 31) and the compressor (11). The refrigerating device 1 forms a closed circuit by the refrigerant pipe 7 so that the refrigerant circulates through the compressor 11, the plurality of heat exchangers 15, 31, the accumulator 19, and the like. The refrigerating device 1 further includes a pressure regulating unit 21 provided to adjust the pressure of the refrigerant contained between the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves 17 and 33, and the plurality of heat exchangers 15 to operate in combination with cooling and heating. It may further include a four-way valve 13 provided to change the refrigerant flow direction in the 31. The freezer 1 is installed in a room such as a house, an office, or a factory, and has at least one indoor unit 30 for cooling or heating the room, and an outdoor unit 10 provided outside the building to be connected to the indoor unit 30. It may include. However, the refrigerating device 1 may be provided integrally mounted to one casing to supply cold air or the like to the interior of the building. The refrigerating apparatus 1 may further include a receiver 27 provided between the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves 17 and 33 to receive the refrigerant and to discharge the liquid refrigerant.

The plurality of heat exchangers 15 and 31 include, as an example of the present invention, a first heat exchanger 15 provided in the outdoor unit 10 and a second heat exchanger 31 provided in the indoor unit 30. The plurality of heat exchangers 15 and 31 are formed by bending the refrigerant pipe 7 several times so that heat exchange with ambient air is performed well. A plurality of heat exchangers (15, 31) is provided in close proximity to the blowing fan 35 to promote heat exchange by forced convection.

The first heat exchanger 15 serves as a condenser that condenses the refrigerant compressed from the compressor 11 when the refrigeration unit 1 performs the cooling operation, and the ambient air when the refrigeration unit 1 performs the heating operation. It acts as an evaporator that absorbs heat from the evaporation.

The second heat exchanger 31 serves as an evaporator that absorbs heat from ambient air and evaporates when the refrigeration unit 1 performs the cooling operation, and the compressor 11 when the refrigeration unit 1 performs the heating operation. From the condenser to condense the compressed refrigerant. The second heat exchanger 31 may be provided in plural numbers according to the quantity of the indoor unit 30.

The plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves 17 and 33 include, as an example of the present invention, a first electromagnetic expansion valve 17 provided in the outdoor unit 10 and a second electromagnetic expansion valve 33 provided in the indoor unit 30.

The first electromagnetic expansion valve 17 is mounted on the refrigerant pipe 7 between the first heat exchanger 15 and the second heat exchanger 31, and is connected to the outdoor unit 10 so as to be close to the first heat exchanger 15. To be prepared. The first electromagnetic expansion valve 17 is completely open so that the refrigerant passing through the refrigeration unit 1 hardly expands during the cooling operation, and the refrigerant having a high temperature and high pressure passing therethrough when the refrigeration unit 1 performs the heating operation. It is adjusted to expand at low temperature and low pressure.

The second electromagnetic expansion valve 33 is mounted on the refrigerant pipe 7 between the first electromagnetic expansion valve 17 and the second heat exchanger 31, and the indoor unit 30 is located close to the second heat exchanger 31. To be prepared. The second electromagnetic expansion valve 33 is adjusted to expand the high temperature and high pressure refrigerant passing through when the refrigerating device 1 performs cooling operation to low temperature low pressure, and the refrigerant passing through when the refrigerating device 1 performs heating operation. It is fully open so that it hardly expands.

The accumulator 19 is provided between the heat exchangers 15 and 31 and the compressor 11 to accommodate the refrigerant transferred from the heat exchangers 15 and 31, and to supply gas among the received refrigerants to the compressor 11. do. The accumulator 19 may be installed to be positioned below the first and second heat exchangers 15 and 31, and in this case, the refrigerant in the refrigerant pipe 7 may not be moved to gravity when the refrigeration unit 1 is stopped. Can be received by flow. In this case, since the first electromagnetic expansion valve 17 and the second electromagnetic expansion valve 33 are closed by the controller 40, the refrigerant located between the first electromagnetic expansion valve 17 and the second electromagnetic expansion valve 33 is Since the accumulator 19 is not accommodated, the accumulator 19 can be reduced in size.

The four-way valve 13 serves to adjust the flow direction of the refrigerant to enable the refrigeration unit 1 to operate by cooling or heating. The four-way valve 13 guides the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 11 to the first heat exchanger 15 when the refrigerating device 1 performs the cooling operation, and passes the refrigerant passed through the second heat exchanger 31. Guides to the accumulator 19 and guides the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 11 to the second heat exchanger 31 when the refrigerating device 1 performs the heating operation and passes through the first heat exchanger 15. To the accumulator 19.

When the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves 17 and 33 are closed by the controller 40, the pressure regulating unit 21 increases the pressure of the refrigerant located between the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves 17 and 33 to a predetermined pressure or more. It is provided as a means for preventing that. This predetermined pressure is preferably lower than the tolerable pressure of the refrigerant pipe 7 located between the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves 17 and 33. The pressure regulating unit 21 includes an auxiliary pipe 23 connected to the refrigerant pipe 7 and the accumulator 19 provided between the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves 17 and 33, and a relief valve provided on the auxiliary pipe 23. 25). However, the pressure regulating unit 21 is not limited to the auxiliary pipe 23 and the relief valve 25, and prevents the pressure of the refrigerant located between the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves 17 and 33 from increasing above a predetermined pressure. It can be prepared in a variety of ways to.

The auxiliary pipe 23 connects the refrigerant pipe 7 provided between the first and second electromagnetic expansion valves 17 and 33 and the refrigerant pipe 7 provided between the four-way valve 13 and the accumulator 19. To be prepared. However, the auxiliary pipe 23 is a refrigerant pipe between the refrigerant tube 7 provided between the first and second electromagnetic expansion valves 17 and 33 and the second electromagnetic expansion valve 33 and the second heat exchanger 31. (7) may be provided in various ways, such as may be provided.

The relief valve 25 is provided to open when the coolant provided in the coolant pipe 7 between the first and second electromagnetic expansion valves 17 and 33 increases above a predetermined pressure. Therefore, the refrigerant provided in the refrigerant pipe 7 between the first and second electromagnetic expansion valves 17 and 33 passes through the auxiliary pipe 23 and the relief valve 25 when the pressure increases above a predetermined pressure, and accumulator 19 It becomes movable to).

The receiver 27 is provided between the first and second electromagnetic expansion valves 17 and 33, and the liquid refrigerant flows into the first or second electromagnetic expansion valve 33 for the stable operation of the refrigerating device 1. It is prepared to be.

The outdoor unit 10 is provided with a compressor 11, a first heat exchanger 15, an accumulator 19, and a first electromagnetic expansion valve 17. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the outdoor unit 10 may further include a four-way valve 13, a pressure regulating unit 21, and a receiver 27. The outdoor unit 10 may further include a blower fan 35 near the first heat exchanger 15.

The indoor unit 30 is provided with a second heat exchanger 31 and a second electromagnetic expansion valve 33. The outdoor unit 10 may be further provided with a blowing fan 35 in proximity to the second heat exchanger 31.

The controller 40 is configured to prevent the refrigerant located between the first and second electromagnetic expansion valves 17 and 33 from being received into the accumulator 19 when the operation of the refrigerating device 1 is stopped. The electromagnetic expansion valves 17 and 33 are controlled to close. The control unit 40 controls the first and second electromagnetic expansion valves 17 and 33 so that the first electromagnetic expansion valve 17 or the second electromagnetic expansion valve 33 can expand when the refrigerator 1 is in operation. ) Will open.

According to this configuration, the control process of the air conditioner according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the control flow diagram of FIG. 3.

First, power is applied to the refrigerating device 1 (S1). Then, the compressor 11 is operated so that the refrigerant circulates through the refrigerant pipe 7 (S3). Then, it is checked whether the compressor 11 is operated (S5). The operation of the compressor 11 may be periodically checked whether the compressor 11 is operated, or may detect a signal for stopping the operation of the compressor 11. At this time, when the compressor 11 operates, it is checked whether the compressor 11 is operated again (S5). When the compressor 11 is stopped, the first and second electromagnetic expansion valves 17 and 33 are closed (S7), and between the first and second electromagnetic expansion valves 17 and 33. The refrigerant located at is not accommodated in the accumulator 19.

As described above, the air conditioner according to the first embodiment of the present invention closes the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves to prevent the refrigerant contained between the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves from moving to the accumulator when the compressor is stopped. And since the refrigerant located between the second electromagnetic expansion valve is not accommodated in the accumulator can reduce the size of the accumulator.

Second embodiment

4 is a schematic diagram of an air conditioner according to a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the refrigerating device 101 of the air conditioner according to the second embodiment is provided in the refrigerant outlet region of the compressor 11 to check valve 50 to prevent the refrigerant flow back to the compressor (11) ) Is different from the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 4, a check valve 50 is provided between the compressor 11 and the four-way valve 13 to cool the refrigerant from the first heat exchanger 15 or the second heat exchanger 31 to the compressor 11. Backflow can be prevented.

When the check valve 50 is provided, the controller 40 may close one of the first and second electromagnetic expansion valves 17 and 33 when the operation of the compressor 11 is stopped. The control unit 40 may close the second electromagnetic expansion valve 33 when the operation of the compressor 11 is stopped during the cooling operation of the refrigeration apparatus 101, and the compressor 11 is operated during the heating operation of the refrigeration apparatus 101. When the operation of) is stopped, the first electromagnetic expansion valve 17 may be closed.

Therefore, the air conditioner according to the second embodiment of the present invention closes the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves when the operation of the compressor is stopped, and not only the refrigerant located between the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves, but also any one of the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves. The refrigerant located between the check valves can also be prevented from being received by the accumulator, reducing the accumulator size.

Components described in FIG. 4 but not described in the second embodiment are similar to those in the first embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted.

Third embodiment

5 is a schematic diagram of an air conditioner according to a third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in this figure, the air conditioner according to the third embodiment includes a refrigerating device 201 provided to adjust the temperature of indoor air and the like, and a control unit (not shown) for controlling the refrigerating device 201. .

The refrigerating device 201 includes an electromagnetic expansion valve provided between the compressor 11, a plurality of heat exchangers 15 and 31 for heat-exchanging refrigerant supplied from the compressor 11, and a plurality of heat exchangers 15 and 31. 217, an accumulator 19 provided between the heat exchanger 15, 31 and the compressor 11, and a check valve provided in the refrigerant outlet region of the compressor 11 to prevent the refrigerant from flowing back to the compressor 11 And 50. The refrigeration apparatus 201 may further include a four-way valve 13 provided to change the refrigerant flow direction in the plurality of heat exchangers 15 and 31 to enable the heating and cooling operation.

The electromagnetic expansion valve 217 is provided as one unlike the first and second embodiments described above. Since the function of the electromagnetic expansion valve 217 is the same as that of the first embodiment described above, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The plurality of heat exchangers 15 and 31 are provided with a first heat exchanger 15 and a second heat exchanger 31.

The first heat exchanger 15 serves as a condenser that condenses the refrigerant compressed from the compressor 11 when the refrigeration unit 201 performs the cooling operation, and the ambient air when the refrigeration unit 201 performs the heating operation. It acts as an evaporator that absorbs heat from the evaporation.

The second heat exchanger 31 serves as an evaporator that absorbs heat from ambient air and evaporates when the refrigerating device 201 performs cooling operation, and the compressor 11 when the refrigerating device 201 performs heating operation. From the condenser to condense the compressed refrigerant.

Since the four-way valve 13 is almost similar to the first embodiment described above, description thereof will be omitted.

The control unit (not shown) is the electromagnetic expansion valve 217 to prevent the refrigerant located between the expansion valve 217 and the check valve 50 is stored in the accumulator 19 when the operation of the compressor 11 is stopped. Control to close.

Therefore, the air conditioner according to the third embodiment of the present invention can prevent the refrigerant located between the electronic expansion valve and the check valve from moving to the accumulator when the control unit closes the electromagnetic expansion valve when the operation of the compressor is stopped. This reduces the size of the accumulator.

Configurations described in FIG. 5 but not described in the third embodiment are similar to those of the first and second embodiments described above, and thus description thereof will be omitted.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an air conditioner capable of reducing the size of the accumulator by closing the electromagnetic expansion valve when the operation of the compressor is stopped.

Claims (9)

In air conditioners, A refrigerating device having a compressor, a plurality of heat exchangers for heat-exchanging refrigerant supplied from the compressor, a plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves provided between the plurality of heat exchangers, and an accumulator provided between the heat exchanger and the compressor; And a controller configured to close the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves to prevent the refrigerant located between the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves from being received by the accumulator when the compressor is stopped. . The method of claim 1, The refrigeration apparatus further comprises a check valve provided in the refrigerant outlet region of the compressor to prevent the refrigerant flow back to the compressor. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The refrigeration apparatus further comprises a pressure regulating unit provided to adjust the pressure of the refrigerant contained between the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valve. The method of claim 3, The pressure regulating unit includes a refrigerant pipe provided between the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves, an auxiliary pipe connected to the accumulator, and a relief valve provided in the auxiliary pipe. The method of claim 1, The refrigeration apparatus further comprises a four-way valve provided to change the refrigerant flow direction in the plurality of heat exchangers to enable the heating and cooling operation. The method of claim 1, The refrigeration apparatus further comprises a receiver (receiver) provided between the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valve to accommodate the refrigerant and to discharge the refrigerant in the liquid phase. The method according to claim 1 or 6, The refrigeration apparatus further includes an outdoor unit including any one of the plurality of heat exchangers, the compressor and the accumulator, and an indoor unit including at least another one of the plurality of heat exchangers; One of the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves is mounted to the outdoor unit, and at least another one of the plurality of electromagnetic expansion valves is mounted to the indoor unit. In air conditioners, A compressor, a plurality of heat exchangers for heat-exchanging refrigerant supplied from the compressor, an electromagnetic expansion valve provided between the plurality of heat exchangers, an accumulator provided between the heat exchanger and the compressor, and a refrigerant outlet region of the compressor. A refrigerating device having a check valve to prevent the refrigerant from flowing back into the compressor; And a control unit configured to close the electromagnetic expansion valve to prevent the refrigerant located between the electromagnetic expansion valve and the check valve from being received by the accumulator when the compressor is stopped. . The method of claim 8, The refrigeration apparatus further comprises a four-way valve provided to change the refrigerant flow direction in the plurality of heat exchangers to enable the heating and cooling operation.

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