KR100710368B1 - Multi-type air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a compressor oil recovery apparatus for a multi-type air conditioner to prevent oil non-uniformity between the compressors of the multi-type air conditioner.

To this end, the present invention is a compressor provided with two or more outdoor units; An oil separator connected to each of the compressors to separate oil contained in the refrigerant discharged from each compressor; An oil tank connected to each of the oil separators to accommodate oil separated from each oil separator; And, one end is connected to the oil tank, the other end is connected to each compressor oil recovery unit formed to equally supply oil according to the hydrostatic pressure difference inside each compressor: oil recovery of the multi-air conditioning Provide the device.

Air Conditioner, Compressor, Oil Separator, Oil Storage Tank, Oil Recovery Unit

Description

Multi-type air conditioner

1 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an embodiment of a multi-type air conditioner according to the present invention;

2 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a cycle during the cooling operation of the multi-type air conditioner of FIG.

3 is a main configuration diagram showing the compressor oil recovery device of FIG.

Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment of the compressor oil recovery apparatus according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on main parts of the drawings

51, 52, 53, 54: Indoor unit 80: Outdoor unit

83: inverter compressor 84: constant speed compressor

85,86: Oil separator 100: Refrigerant piping

300: oil tank 410: capillary tube

430: first return tube 450: second return tube

The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly, to a compressor oil recovery apparatus of a multi-type air conditioner.

In general, an air conditioner is a device that cools and / or heats an indoor space by performing a process of compressing, condensing, expanding, and evaporating a refrigerant. Such an air conditioner is classified into a cooling air conditioner that supplies cool air to a room by operating a refrigerant cycle in only one direction, and an air conditioner for cooling and heating that supplies cold or warm air to a room by selectively operating a refrigerant cycle in both directions. .

In addition, it is divided into a conventional air conditioner connected to one indoor unit in one outdoor unit, and a multi-type air conditioner connected to a plurality of indoor units in one outdoor unit. On the other hand, the multi-type air conditioner may be configured as an air conditioner having at least one outdoor unit.

On the other hand, the outdoor unit of the multi-type air conditioner is an oil separator for separating at least one compressor and the oil contained in the refrigerant discharged from each compressor connected to the refrigerant discharge pipe of each compressor to correspond to the load of the plurality of indoor units It is made to include.

Each of the compressors is a device that sucks gas refrigerant of low temperature and low pressure, compresses the sucked refrigerant, and discharges the gas refrigerant converted into high temperature and high pressure. When the compressor discharges a high temperature and high pressure gas refrigerant, the oil inside the compressor is discharged together with the refrigerant. The oil contained in the refrigerant discharged from each compressor is separated from each oil separator and flowed back into each compressor.

However, the conventional multi-type air conditioner has the following problems as the oil separated from each oil separator is introduced into each compressor through the refrigerant suction pipe of the compressor.

For example, if the rotation speed of each compressor is different according to the operating conditions, and the flow rate of the refrigerant discharged to each compressor is different, the amount of oil separated from each oil separator is also changed.

That is, since the amount of oil re-introduced into each compressor through each oil separator is different, there is a problem that an oil uniformity phenomenon occurs between the compressors.

In addition, when the oil separated from each of the oil separator is recovered to the compressor through the refrigerant suction pipe of each compressor, the refrigerant suction pipe and the refrigerant discharge pipe of the refrigerant discharge pipe resulting from the flow rate of the refrigerant discharged through the refrigerant discharge pipe of the compressor Due to the pressure difference, there is a problem in that oil recovered from the oil separator through the refrigerant suction pipe is re-ejected together with the refrigerant discharged through the refrigerant discharge pipe before being received in the compressor, causing an oil shortage in the compressor.

When the oil shortage phenomenon occurs in the compressor as described above, there is a problem that the reliability of the compressor is lowered by causing wear and deterioration of the compressor.

In addition, as the performance of the compressor is lowered, the overall efficiency of the multi-type air conditioner including the same is lowered, and as a result, there is a problem that the cooling and heating performance is lowered.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a compressor oil recovery apparatus for a multi-type air conditioner that can prevent oil unevenness in each compressor of the multi-type air conditioner. .

The present invention to achieve the above object is a compressor provided with two or more outdoor units; An oil separator connected to each of the compressors to separate oil contained in the refrigerant discharged from each compressor; An oil tank connected to each of the oil separators to accommodate oil separated from each oil separator; And, one end is connected to the oil tank, the other end is connected to each compressor oil recovery unit formed to equally supply oil according to the hydrostatic pressure difference inside each compressor: oil recovery of the multi-air conditioning Provide the device.

In addition, another object of the present invention for achieving the above object is a compressor provided with two or more outdoor units; An oil separator connected to the compressors to separate oil contained in the refrigerant discharged from each compressor; One end is connected to the oil separator, the other end is connected to each compressor and the oil recovery unit is formed to supply oil evenly according to the hydrostatic pressure difference inside each compressor: to provide.

Therefore, the present invention can prevent the oil non-uniformity between each compressor by having an oil recovery unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention in which the above object can be specifically realized are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In describing the embodiments, the same names and symbols are used for the same components, and additional description thereof will be omitted below.

1 is a partial cutaway perspective view showing an embodiment of a multi-type air conditioner according to the present invention, Figure 2 is a schematic view showing a cycle during the cooling operation of the multi-type air conditioner of Figure 1, Figure 3 It is a principal block diagram showing the compressor oil recovery apparatus of FIG.

1 and 2, the multi-type air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention, an outdoor unit 80, a plurality of indoor units (51, 52, 53, 54), the outdoor unit 80 and the It comprises a refrigerant pipe (100) connected to each of the indoor unit (51, 52, 53, 54).

At this time, the refrigerant pipe 100 is one end is connected to the receiver 87c and the other end is divided into a plurality of branch pipes (111, 112, 113, 114) is connected to one end of each indoor unit (51, 52, 53, 54) first refrigerant pipe ( 110 and one end is connected to the accumulator (87a) and the other end is divided into a plurality of branch pipes (121, 122, 123, 124) is composed of a second refrigerant pipe (120) connected to the other end of each indoor unit (51, 52, 53, 54). .

That is, the refrigerant passing through each of the indoor units 51, 52, 53, and 54 through the first refrigerant pipe 110 is combined and then flows to the outdoor unit 80 through the second refrigerant pipe 120. .

Each indoor unit (51, 52, 53, 54) is an outdoor blower (74) for sucking the indoor air into the indoor unit (51, 52, 53, 54) and discharged back to the room, and the indoor unit (51, 52, And an indoor heat exchanger 72 for cooling or heating the air sucked into the 53,54 by heat exchange with the refrigerant.

The outdoor unit 80 includes an indoor blower 81 that sucks outdoor air into the outside and discharges it again to the outside, and an outdoor heat exchanger 82 that exchanges heat sucked by the indoor blower 81 with a refrigerant. And a plurality of compressors 83 and 84 for compressing the refrigerant.

Although not shown, each of the compressors 83 and 84 pumps a compression unit having a compression chamber in which a refrigerant is compressed, a motor unit compressing the compression chamber, and lubrication of the motor unit or the compression unit. It is configured to include an oil pump.

At this time, each of the compressors (83, 84) is composed of an inverter compressor (83) of variable capacity and a constant speed compressor (84) of constant speed drive, when the load of the indoor unit (51, 52, 53, 54) is small For example, when one or two of the plurality of indoor units are operated, only the inverter compressor 83 is driven corresponding to the load of the indoor units 51, 52, 53, 54. On the other hand, when the load of the indoor units 51, 52, 53, 54 is relatively large, for example, when three or four of the plurality of indoor units 51, 52, 53, 54 are operated, the inverter compressor 83 It is preferable that the constant speed compressor 84 is driven together.

The multi-type air conditioner of the present invention is provided in the outdoor unit 80, and is connected to the refrigerant suction pipes 83b and 84b of the inverter compressor 83 and the constant speed compressor 84, and the inverter compressor 83 and the constant speed compressor ( 84) further includes a common accumulator 87a for accumulating the liquid refrigerant so that only the gaseous refrigerant can be introduced into each.

Multi-type air conditioner of the present invention is provided in the outdoor unit 80, the refrigerant passing through the oil separator (85, 86) to use the plurality of indoor units (51, 52, 53, 54) as a cooler or a heater It further comprises a four-way valve (87b) for switching the flow path to be introduced into any one of the indoor heat exchanger 72 and the outdoor heat exchanger (82).

The multi-type air conditioner of the present invention further includes a receiver 87c provided in the outdoor unit 80 to store excess refrigerant and to circulate only liquid refrigerant to the indoor unit during cooling operation.

The multi-type air conditioner of the present invention is provided in the refrigerant pipe 100 between the outdoor heat exchanger 82 and the indoor heat exchanger 72 to cool the refrigerant passing through the outdoor heat exchanger 82 or the indoor heat exchanger 72 at a low temperature. And an expansion mechanism 88a, such as an orifice or an electronic expansion valve for expanding at low pressure, and a second electronic expansion valve provided to the outdoor unit 80 to adjust the flow rate of the refrigerant circulating through the refrigeration cycle by adjusting the flow path of the refrigerant. It further comprises (88b).

The multi-type air conditioner of the present invention further includes a check valve 89 which is provided to the refrigerant outlet pipes 83a and 83b of the inverter compressor 83 and the constant speed compressor 84, respectively, to prevent backflow of refrigerant or oil. .

2 and 3, the multi-type air conditioner of the present invention is connected to each of the compressors (83, 84), respectively, oil separator (85) for separating the oil contained in the refrigerant discharged from each of the compressors (83, 84) And 86, the oil tank 300 connected to each of the oil separators 85 and 56 to receive the oil separated from each of the oil separators 85 and 86, and one end to the oil tank 300. The other end further includes an oil recovery device including an oil recovery unit connected to each compressor 83 and 84 and configured to supply oil evenly according to the hydrostatic pressure difference inside each compressor 83 and 84.

The oil tank 300 is, for example, a storage container having a storage space therein, and is connected to the oil separators 85 and 86 by a plurality of oil recovery pipes 156 and 157, respectively.

And, the oil recovery unit, for example, is connected to the lower portion of the oil tank 300 to recover the oil stored in the oil tank 300 to each compressor (83,84), the flow rate of the oil recovered to each compressor Capillary tube 410 formed to reduce the pressure, one end is connected to the capillary tube 410 and the other end is connected to the inverter compressor 83 to guide a portion of the oil introduced into the capillary tube 410 to the inverter compressor 83 The first return tube 430 and one end thereof are connected to the capillary tube 410, and the other end thereof is connected to the constant velocity compressor 84 to guide a part of oil introduced into the capillary tube 410 to the constant velocity compressor 84. It may be made including a second return pipe 450.

At this time, the first return pipe 430 and the second return pipe 450 preferably has a communication structure.

On the other hand, the capillary tube 410 is formed, for example, in a state smaller than the diameter of each of the return pipes (430, 450), a portion of the tube is formed twisted like a spring form to the flow rate of the oil flowing through the capillary tube (410) Reducing serves to maintain the oil is always filled in the oil tank 300.

More specifically, when the pressure of the oil tank 300 and the oil separators 85 and 86 on the capillary tube 410 is higher than that of the first return 430 and the second return pipe 450, Refrigerant may be introduced into the oil tank 300 by the pressure difference between them. At this time, the refrigerant introduced into the oil tank 300 is present in the upper side of the oil because its specific gravity is lower than the oil. At this time, the capillary tube 410 reduces the flow rate of the oil flowing through the capillary tube 410 to each of the return pipes 430 and 450 so that the refrigerant present in the oil tank is discharged through the capillary tube to form the respective compressors 83 and 84. To prevent ingress.

In addition, the first return pipe 430 is connected to the lower end side of the inverter compressor 83 through the first oil supply port 431, and the second return tube 450 is the lower end side of the constant speed compressor 84. It is preferably connected via a second oil supply port 451.

Hereinafter, the compressor oil recovery process and the effects thereof in the multi-type air conditioner according to the present invention configured as described above are as follows.

First, when the compressors 83 and 84 of the outdoor unit are driven, the compressors 83 and 84 compress the refrigerant to high temperature and high pressure, and discharge the refrigerant together with the internal oil to the refrigerant discharge pipes 83a and 84a. The discharged refrigerant and oil flow into each of the oil separators 85 and 86.

Next, the refrigerant and the oil introduced into each of the oil separators 85 and 86 are separated in the oil separators 85 and 86, and the separated oil is transferred to the oil tank 300 through the oil return pipes 156 and 157. Inflowed and stored.

Next, after the oil stored in the oil tank 300 flows into the capillary tube 410, a part of the oil is compressed by the inverter through the first oil supply port 431 under the guidance of the first return tube 430. It is supplied to the air supply side, a part of which is guided by the second return pipe 450 is supplied to the constant speed compressor 84 side through the second oil supply port 451.

On the other hand, during operation of each of the compressors 83 and 84, for example, when the oil on the inverter compressor 83 side is insufficient and the hydrostatic pressure inside the inverter compressor 83 becomes lower than the internal hydrostatic pressure of the constant speed compressor 84, the oil. Most of the oil in the tank 300 flows to the low hydrostatic pressure side, that is, the inverter compressor 83. At this time, more oil is supplied to the inverter compressor 83 until the hydrostatic pressure between the inverter compressor 83 and the constant speed compressor 84 becomes equal.

The refrigerant passing through each oil separator (85, 86) passes through the four-way valve (87b), the outdoor heat exchanger (82), and the expansion mechanism (88a) in turn, and then the indoor heat exchanger (72) of the indoor unit that is cooled and operated. ), Passes through the indoor heat exchanger (72), and then circulates inside each compressor (83).

Therefore, the multi-type air conditioner according to the present invention can supply more oil to the compressor with lower hydrostatic pressure among the compressors 83 and 84, thereby preventing oil non-uniform distribution between the compressors 83 and 84, thereby preventing each compressor ( 83, 84) as well as improve the efficiency of the multi-type air conditioner consisting of this.

In addition, the capillary tube 410 is provided to prevent the refrigerant from flowing back to the compressors 83 and 84.

Next, Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment of the compressor oil recovery apparatus according to the present invention.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the configuration is the same as the above-described embodiment of the present invention, except that a single oil separator is provided and a capillary is directly connected to the oil separator.

Referring to FIG. 4, a compressor oil recovery device according to another embodiment of the present invention is connected to each of the compressors 83 and 84 and an oil separator for separating oil contained in the refrigerant discharged from each of the compressors 83 and 84. (85), and one end is connected to the oil separator 85, the other end is connected to each compressor (83, 84), the oil recovery formed to equally supply oil according to the hydrostatic pressure difference inside each compressor (83,84) It includes wealth.

At this time, the oil recovery unit is connected to the lower portion of the oil separator 85 to recover the oil of the oil separator 85 to each of the compressors (83, 84), but the flow rate of the oil recovered to each compressor (83, 84) Capillary tube 410 is formed to reduce, one end is connected to the capillary tube 410, the other end is connected to the inverter compressor 83 to guide a portion of the oil introduced into the capillary tube 410 to the inverter compressor 83 The first return tube 430 and one end thereof are connected to the capillary tube 410, and the other end thereof is connected to the constant velocity compressor 83 to guide a part of the oil introduced into the capillary tube 410 to the constant velocity compressor 84. It may be made including a second return pipe 450.

In this case, the first return pipe 430 is connected to the lower end of the inverter compressor 83 through a first oil supply port 431, and the second return pipe 450 is a second oil supply port 451. It is preferable to be connected to the lower end of the constant speed compressor (84) through.

Multi-type air conditioner according to another embodiment of the present invention by supplying more oil required for the compressor of the low hydrostatic pressure of the oil separated in the oil separator 85 according to the hydrostatic pressure difference in each of the compressor (83,84) In addition, it is possible to prevent oil non-uniform distribution during the operation of each of the compressors (83, 84).

Although several embodiments have been described above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in many other forms without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Accordingly, the described embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and all embodiments within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents are included within the scope of the present invention.

Referring to the effects of the multi-type air conditioner according to the present invention described above are as follows.

First, according to the present invention, it is possible to supply a larger amount of oil to a compressor having a low hydrostatic pressure according to the hydrostatic pressure difference in each compressor, to prevent the oil uneven distribution between each compressor in advance to improve the performance of the compressor There is this.

Secondly, according to the present invention, the capillary tube has an effect of preventing the refrigerant from flowing back to each compressor through each return tube.

Third, according to the present invention, by supplying the oil separated from the refrigerant in the oil separator to the oil storage side of the compressor smoothly without interference, to prevent the wear and noise of the compressor and increase the life, as well as the system efficiency of the air conditioner There is an advantage to improve.

Claims (8)

Two or more compressors in the outdoor unit; An oil separator connected to each of the compressors to separate oil contained in the refrigerant discharged from each compressor; An oil tank connected to each of the oil separators to accommodate oil separated from each oil separator; And, It is provided separately from the refrigerant suction pipe which is a passage of the refrigerant flowing into the compressor, and one end is directly connected to the oil tank and the other end is directly connected to each compressor to supply oil to the compressor evenly. Compressor according to the difference A multi-type air conditioner including an oil recovery unit for supplying oil in a direction in which the pressure inside is low. The method of claim 1, The compressor is a multi-type air conditioner, characterized in that consisting of an inverter compressor and a constant speed compressor. The method of claim 2, The oil recovery unit A capillary tube connected to a lower portion of the oil tank to recover oil stored in the oil tank to each compressor, and to reduce a flow rate of oil recovered to each compressor; A first return tube connected at one end to a capillary tube and connected at the other end to an inverter compressor to guide a part of oil introduced into the capillary tube to the inverter compressor; And, And a second return tube, one end of which is connected to the capillary tube and the other end of which is connected to the constant speed compressor to guide a part of the oil introduced into the capillary tube to the constant speed compressor. The method of claim 3, The first return tube is connected to the lower end side of the inverter compressor via a first oil supply port, and the second return tube is connected to the lower end side of the constant speed compressor through a second oil supply port. . Two or more compressors in the outdoor unit; An oil separator connected to each of the compressors to separate oil contained in the refrigerant discharged from each compressor; And, it is provided separately from the refrigerant suction pipe which is a passage of the refrigerant flowing into the compressor, one end is connected to the oil separator and the other end is directly connected to each compressor to supply oil evenly to the compressor A multi-type air conditioner including an oil recovery unit for supplying a large amount of oil in a direction in which the pressure inside the compressor is low according to the difference in the hydrostatic pressure. The method of claim 5, The compressor is a multi-type air conditioner, characterized in that consisting of an inverter compressor and a constant speed compressor. The method of claim 6, The oil recovery unit A capillary tube connected to a lower portion of the oil separator to recover oil of the oil separator to each compressor, and to reduce a flow rate of oil recovered to each compressor; A first return tube connected at one end to a capillary tube and connected at the other end to an inverter compressor to guide a part of oil introduced into the capillary tube to the inverter compressor; And, And a second return tube, one end of which is connected to the capillary tube and the other end of which is connected to the constant speed compressor to guide a part of the oil introduced into the capillary tube to the constant speed compressor. The method of claim 7, wherein The first return tube is connected to the lower end side of the inverter compressor via a first oil supply port, and the second return tube is connected to the lower end side of the constant speed compressor through a second oil supply port. .

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