KR100757941B1 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

An air conditioner is provided to continuously heat the inside of a room, and to improve heating performance by allowing heating to be not stopped during defrosting operation of an outdoor heat exchanger. An air conditioner comprises an outdoor heat exchanger(20), a bypass pipe(90), a bypass flow path deciding device(90a), an inflow pipe(70), an inflow path deciding device(70a) and a controller. The outdoor heat exchanger includes first and second heat exchange units(21,22) disposed in parallel. The bypass pipe is branched from a pipe between a compressor(10) and a four-way valve, and bypasses high temperature refrigerant discharged from the compressor. The bypass flow path deciding device is installed in the bypass pipe, and decides a flow path of the refrigerant bypassed through the bypass pipe. The inflow pipe allows the refrigerant completed an expansion process to be flowed into the outdoor heat exchanger. The inflow path deciding device is installed in the inflow pipe and decides the flow path of the refrigerant flowing in the inflow pipe. The controller controls the bypass flow path deciding device and the inflow path deciding device.

Description

Air Conditioner {AIR CONDITIONER}

      1 is a block diagram showing a refrigerant cycle of a conventional air conditioner.

      2 is a view showing the configuration of an air conditioner according to the present invention.

     3 to 5 are views for explaining the operation mode of the air conditioner according to the present invention.

      * Description of symbols on the main parts of the drawings *

      10: compressor 20: outdoor heat exchanger

      21: first heat exchanger 22: second heat exchanger

      31: first blowing fan 32: second blowing fan

      70: inlet pipe 70a: inlet flow passage determination device

      71: first inflow tube 72: second inflow tube

      81: first discharge pipe 82: second discharge pipe

      90: bypass pipe 90a: bypass flow path determination device

      91: 1st bypass pipe 92: 2nd bypass pipe

      111: First Return Hall 112: Second Return Hall

      91a, 92a, 71a, 72a, 81a, 82a, 111a, 112a: on-off valve

      The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly, to an air conditioner having an improved configuration of a refrigerant cycle to enable continuous heating operation even when defrosting an outdoor heat exchanger.

      An air conditioner is a device that controls the temperature or humidity of an air by using heat transfer generated during evaporation or condensation of a refrigerant.

      1 is a configuration diagram showing a refrigerant cycle of a conventional air conditioner. A conventional air conditioner having a refrigerant cycle as shown in FIG. 1 includes a compressor (1) for compressing a low temperature low pressure refrigerant, an indoor heat exchanger (2) arranged indoors to exchange heat with indoor air, and an outdoor air disposed outdoors. It comprises an outdoor heat exchanger (3) for heat exchange with and an expansion valve (4) for expanding a high-pressure liquid refrigerant, these components are connected by a pipe (5).

      The pipe 5 is provided with a four-way valve 6 for switching the path through which the refrigerant flows. In the heating operation, the four-way valve 6 determines the refrigerant flow path so that the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 1 flows toward the indoor heat exchanger 2. The indoor heat exchanger 2 then functions as a condenser and the outdoor heat exchanger ( 3) will function as an evaporator.

      When the surface temperature of the outdoor heat exchanger 3 drops below zero during the heating operation, frost is attached to the surface of the outdoor heat exchanger 3 and the heat exchange performance of the outdoor heat exchanger 3 is lowered. Therefore, the defrosting operation is performed periodically so that the attached frost of the outdoor heat exchanger 3 can be removed during the heating operation. During the defrosting operation, the four-way valve 6 determines the refrigerant flow path so that the high temperature and high pressure refrigerant discharged from the compressor 1 flows toward the outdoor heat exchanger 3 so that the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger 2 is increased to remove frost. .

      However, such a conventional air conditioner has a problem in that the heating performance cannot be continuously performed during the defrosting operation. That is, during the defrosting operation, since a high temperature refrigerant flows through the outdoor heat exchanger 3 and a low temperature refrigerant flows through the indoor heat exchanger 2, the heating operation cannot be performed and the indoor heat exchanger is not supplied with cold air. (2) The indoor blower (7) installed nearby is to be stopped.

      The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner capable of continuously heating operation even during defrost operation.

      An air conditioner according to the present invention for achieving this purpose, in the air conditioner having a compressor and a four-way valve for switching the refrigerant flow path to enable the heating operation and cooling operation, the first heat exchange unit and the second heat exchange arranged in parallel An outdoor heat exchanger having a portion; and a bypass pipe branched from a pipe between the compressor and the four-way valve to bypass the high temperature refrigerant discharged from the compressor to the outdoor heat exchanger; and the bypass pipe installed in the bypass pipe. A bypass flow path determining device for determining a flow path of the refrigerant bypassed through the pipe; and an inflow pipe for introducing the refrigerant having been expanded to the outdoor heat exchanger; and a flow path of the coolant installed in the inflow pipe and flowing through the inflow pipe. Inflow passage determining apparatus for determining a; and the refrigerant passing through the bypass pipe is the second heat exchange with the first heat exchanger A control unit for controlling the bypass flow path determining device to be introduced into any one of the parts, and controlling the inflow flow path determining device so that the refrigerant passing through the inflow pipe is introduced into the other of the first heat exchange part and the second heat exchange part. Characterized in that.

The inlet pipe includes a first inlet pipe connected to the first heat exchange part and a second inlet pipe connected to the second heat exchange part, and the air conditioner includes the refrigerant introduced through the first inlet pipe. A first discharge pipe discharged from the first heat exchanger, a second discharge pipe through which the refrigerant introduced through the second inlet pipe is discharged from the second heat exchanger, a refrigerant passing through the first discharge pipe, and the second discharge pipe It further comprises a discharge confluence pipe flowing through the past refrigerant.

The bypass pipe is branched into a first bypass pipe connected to the first discharge pipe and a second bypass pipe connected to the second discharge pipe.

The bypass flow path determining device includes a first open / close valve and a second open / close valve respectively installed at the first bypass pipe and the second bypass pipe, and the inflow flow path determining device includes the first inflow pipe and the first open pipe. It may be configured to include a third opening and closing valve and the fourth opening and closing valve respectively installed in the inlet pipe.

In addition, the air conditioner of the present invention further comprises a first return pipe connecting the first inlet pipe and the discharge confluence pipe, and a second return pipe connecting the second inlet pipe and the discharge confluence pipe.

The first discharge pipe, the second discharge pipe, the first return pipe and the second return pipe are respectively provided with fifth to eight open / close valves for controlling the opening and closing of each pipe.

In addition, the air conditioner of the present invention further includes a first blowing fan installed corresponding to the first heat exchanger and a second blowing fan installed corresponding to the second heat exchanger.

The control unit opens the first open / close valve, the fourth open / close valve, the six open / close valve, and the second open / close valve, the third open / close valve, the fifth open / close valve, And a first defrost mode for stopping the operation of the first blowing fan.

The control unit opens the second open / close valve, the third open / close valve, the fifth open / close valve, and close the first open / close valve, the fourth open / close valve, the sixth open / close valve, and the open / close valve. And a second defrost mode for stopping the operation of the second blowing fan.

      Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. 2 is a view showing the configuration of an air conditioner according to the present invention. 2 illustrates a case in which the air conditioner performs heating operation.

      As shown in FIG. 2, the air conditioner according to the present invention has an outdoor unit 100 and an indoor unit 200 connected by a refrigerant pipe.

      The outdoor unit 100 includes a compressor 10 for compressing a refrigerant at high temperature and high pressure, an outdoor heat exchanger 20 having a first heat exchanger 21 and a second heat exchanger 22 arranged in parallel with each other, and each heat exchanger. A first blower fan 31 and a second blower fan 32 installed corresponding to each of the heat exchangers 21 and 22 so as to blow into the parts 21 and 22, and an expansion valve 40 for expanding the liquid refrigerant; And four-way valve 50 for switching the refrigerant flow path is installed so that both heating operation and cooling operation is possible. In addition, the indoor unit 200 is provided with an indoor heat exchanger 210 for heat exchange with the indoor air.

      A suction tube 11 is connected to the suction side of the compressor 10, and a discharge tube 12 is connected to the discharge side of the compressor 10. The discharge pipe 12 is connected to the first port 51 of the four-way valve 50, and the first port 51 communicates with the second port 52. The second port 52 of the four-way valve 50 is connected to the indoor heat exchanger 210 installed in the indoor unit 200 through the pipe 61. In addition, the indoor heat exchanger 210 is connected to the expansion valve 40 through the pipe 62, the expansion valve 40 is the inlet pipe 70 for introducing the refrigerant having completed the expansion process to the outdoor heat exchanger (20). It is connected to the outdoor heat exchanger 20 through.

      The inflow pipe 70 is branched into the first inflow pipe 71 and the second inflow pipe 72 so that the first inflow pipe 71 is connected to the first heat exchange part 21 and the second inflow pipe 72. Is connected to the second heat exchange unit 22. In addition, the first heat exchange part 21 is connected to the first discharge pipe 81 discharged from the first heat exchange part 21 after the refrigerant introduced through the first inlet pipe 71 is heat exchanged, the second heat exchange part The second discharge pipe 82 discharged from the second heat exchange unit 22 is connected to the refrigerant 22 introduced through the second inflow pipe 72 after heat exchange.

      The first discharge pipe 81 and the second discharge pipe 82 are joined to one pipe to form a discharge confluence pipe 83. The discharge confluence pipe 83 is connected to the third port 53 of the four-way valve 50. The third port 53 communicates with the fourth port 54, and the fourth port 54 is connected with the suction pipe 11 described above.

Hereinafter, the point where the first discharge pipe 81 and the second discharge pipe 82 join is referred to as point A.

      Meanwhile, the piping between the discharge side of the compressor 10 and the four-way valve 50, that is, the discharge pipe 12, is a bypass pipe branched from the discharge pipe 12 to bypass the high temperature refrigerant to the outdoor heat exchanger 20 ( 90) is connected. The bypass pipe 90 is for allowing the outdoor heat exchanger 20 to directly supply the high temperature refrigerant discharged to the compressor 10 during the defrosting operation of the air conditioner.

      The bypass pipe 90 is branched into a first bypass pipe 91 and a second bypass pipe 92. The first bypass pipe 91 is connected to the first discharge pipe 81 and the second bypass pipe is connected to the first bypass pipe 91. The pass pipe 92 is connected to the second discharge pipe 82. Therefore, the high temperature refrigerant passing through the first bypass pipe 91 is supplied to the first heat exchange part 21 through the first discharge pipe 81, and the high temperature refrigerant passing through the second bypass pipe 92 is the second refrigerant. It is supplied to the second heat exchange part 22 through the discharge pipe 82. Hereinafter, the point where the first bypass pipe 91 meets the first discharge pipe 81 is referred to as point B, and the point where the second bypass pipe 92 meets with the second discharge pipe 82 is referred to as point C.

      A first return pipe 111 is provided between the first inflow pipe 71 and the discharge confluence pipe 83 to return the defrost refrigerant supplied through the first discharge pipe 81 back to the suction side of the compressor 10. The second return pipe 112 for returning the defrost refrigerant supplied through the second discharge pipe 82 back to the suction side of the compressor 10 between the second inflow pipe 72 and the discharge confluence pipe 83. Is provided.

      On the other hand, the bypass pipe 90 described above is provided with a bypass flow path determination device 90a for determining the flow path of the refrigerant bypassed through the bypass pipe 90, the inlet pipe 70, the inlet pipe 70. An inflow passage determining apparatus 70a for determining a passage of the refrigerant flowing through the apparatus is provided. The bypass flow passage determination device 90a includes a first opening / closing valve 91a provided in the first bypass pipe 91 and a second opening / closing valve 92a provided in the second bypass pipe 92. The inflow passage determining apparatus 70a may include a third open / close valve 71a installed in the first inlet pipe 71 and a fourth open / close valve 72a installed in the second inlet pipe 72. Can be configured. The bypass flow path determining device 90a determines a refrigerant flow path such that a high temperature refrigerant flows into either the first heat exchange part 21 or the second heat exchange part 22 when the outdoor heat exchanger 20 is defrosted. The inflow passage determining apparatus 70a determines the refrigerant passage so that the refrigerant having completed the expansion process is introduced into the other heat exchange unit.

      Between the point A and the point B in the first discharge pipe 81, a fifth opening / closing valve 81a for controlling the refrigerant flowing through the first discharge pipe 81 is installed, and the point A and the point C in the second discharge pipe 82 are installed. The sixth opening / closing valve 82a for intermittently controlling the refrigerant flowing through the second discharge pipe 82 is provided therebetween. In addition, the first return pipe 111 and the second return pipe 112 are provided with a seventh open and close valve 111a and an eighth open and close valve 112a for controlling the refrigerant flowing through each pipe.

      Meanwhile, the outdoor unit 100 controls the operation of the first blower fan 31, the second blower fan 32, and a series of opening / closing valves 91a, 92a, 71a, 72a, 81a, 82a, 111a, and 112a as described above. The control unit 120 is provided.

      Hereinafter, the operation mode of the air conditioner according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

      Figure 3 shows when the air conditioner according to the present invention only heating operation without defrosting operation (for convenience, such operation mode is referred to as 'heating operation mode'). In the heating operation mode, the control unit 120 (refer to FIG. 2) opens the third open / close valve 71a, the fourth open / close valve 72a, the fifth open / close valve 81a, and the sixth open / close valve 82a. The on-off valve 91a, the second open / close valve 92a, the seventh open / close valve 111a, and the eighth open / close valve 112a are closed. In addition, the control unit 120 drives both blowing fans 31 and 32.

      Then, the high temperature refrigerant discharged from the compressor 10 is not bypassed to the outdoor heat exchanger 20 through the bypass pipe 90 and all flows into the four-way valve 50. The refrigerant whose flow path is determined to the pipe 61 by the four-way valve 50 is supplied to the indoor heat exchanger 210, and the liquid refrigerant formed in the heat exchange in the indoor heat exchanger 210 is decompressed by the expansion valve 40. The outdoor heat exchanger 20 is introduced through the inlet pipe 70.

      At this time, some of the refrigerant is introduced into the first heat exchange unit 21 through the first inflow pipe 71, and some of the refrigerant is introduced into the second heat exchange unit 22 through the second inflow pipe 72. . The refrigerant that has completed heat exchange in the first heat exchange part 21 is discharged to the first discharge pipe 81, and the refrigerant that has completed heat exchange in the second heat exchange part 22 discharges the second discharge pipe 82 to discharge discharge pipe 83. ) Is joined.

The combined refrigerant is led to the suction pipe 11 through the third port 53 and the fourth port 54 of the four-way valve 50 and is compressed again by the compressor 10.

      If the heating operation continues as described above, the frost is also attached to the outdoor heat exchanger (20). Then, the defrosting operation is performed while continuing the heating operation as follows.

      Figure 4 shows a case in which the first heat exchange unit defrosting operation in the air conditioner according to the present invention. In FIG. 4, the arrow indicated by the dotted line shows the flow path of the refrigerant for performing the defrosting operation, and the arrow indicated by the solid line shows the flow path of the refrigerant for performing the heating operation.

      In the first defrost mode in which the first heat exchanger 21 performs the defrosting operation, the controller 120 (see FIG. 2) includes a first open / close valve 91a, a fourth open / close valve 72a, a sixth open / close valve 82a, and The seventh open / close valve 111a is opened, and the second open / close valve 92a, the third open / close valve 71a, the fifth open / close valve 81a, and the eighth open / close valve 112a are closed. In addition, the control unit 120 stops the operation of the first blowing fan 31.

      Then, some of the high temperature refrigerant discharged from the compressor 10 is supplied to the first heat exchange part 21 through the first bypass pipe 91 and the first discharge pipe 81. At this time, since the fifth opening / closing valve 81a provided in the first discharge pipe 81 is closed, the refrigerant in the first discharge pipe 81 does not flow back to the discharge confluence pipe 83. Thus, the high temperature refrigerant supplied to the first heat exchange part 21 melts and removes frost adhering to the surface of the first heat exchange part 21.

      The refrigerant having performed the defrosting operation is discharged to the first inlet pipe 71 and returned to the discharge confluence pipe 83 through the first return pipe 111. At this time, since the third opening / closing valve 71a installed in the first inlet pipe 71 is closed, the refrigerant discharged into the first inlet pipe 71 is directed toward the second inlet pipe 72 or the expansion valve 40. Backflow does not occur. The refrigerant returned to the discharge confluence pipe 83 is sucked into the compressor 10 through the four-way valve 50 and the suction pipe 11.

      Meanwhile, the other part of the high temperature refrigerant discharged from the compressor 10 is supplied to the indoor heat exchanger 210 through the four-way valve 50 and the pipe 61 to heat the indoor air while exchanging heat with the indoor air. The refrigerant passing through the indoor heat exchanger 210 is supplied to the second heat exchanger 22 through the second inlet pipe 72 after the pressure is reduced in the expansion valve 40. At this time, since the eighth opening / closing valve 112a provided in the second return pipe 112 is closed, all the refrigerant flows into the second heat exchange part 22. The refrigerant heat-exchanged with the outdoor air in the second heat exchanger 22 is discharged to the second discharge pipe 82 and sucked into the compressor 10 through the discharge confluence pipe 83, the four-way valve 50, and the suction pipe 11. do.

      5 illustrates a case in which the second heat exchanger performs defrost operation in the air conditioner according to the present invention. In FIG. 5, the arrow indicated by the dotted line shows the flow path of the refrigerant performing the defrosting operation, and the arrow indicated by the solid line shows the flow path of the refrigerant performing the heating operation.

      In the second defrost mode in which the second heat exchanger 22 performs the defrosting operation, the controller 120 (see FIG. 2) includes a second open / close valve 92a, a third open / close valve 71a, a fifth open / close valve 81a, and The eighth open / close valve 112a is opened, and the first open / close valve 91a, the fourth open / close valve 72a, the sixth open / close valve 82a, and the seventh open / close valve 111a are closed. In addition, the control unit 120 stops the operation of the second blowing fan 32.

      Then, some of the high-temperature refrigerant discharged from the compressor 10 is supplied to the second heat exchange part 22 through the second bypass pipe 92 and the second discharge pipe 82 to supply the second heat exchange part 22. Remove the frost attached to it. After the defrosting operation, the refrigerant is returned to the discharge confluence pipe 83 through the second inlet pipe 72 and the second return pipe 112, and is sucked into the compressor 10 through the four-way valve 50 and the suction pipe 11. do.

      Meanwhile, the other part of the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 10 is supplied to the indoor heat exchanger 210 through the four-way valve 50 and the pipe 61 to perform the heating operation, and the expansion valve 40 and the first refrigerant. The inlet pipe 71 is supplied to the first heat exchange part 21. The refrigerant heat-exchanged with the outdoor air in the first heat exchanger 21 is discharged to the first discharge pipe 81 to be sucked into the compressor 10 through the discharge confluence pipe 83, the four-way valve 50, and the suction pipe 11. do.

      As described above, according to the present invention, even when the defrosting operation is performed on the outdoor heat exchanger, the heating performance can be continuously warmed without interruption of heating, thereby improving the heating performance.

Claims (9)

In the air conditioner having a compressor and a four-way valve for switching the refrigerant flow path to enable the heating operation and cooling operation, An outdoor heat exchanger having a first heat exchanger and a second heat exchanger arranged in parallel; and a bypass pipe branched from a pipe between the compressor and the four-way valve to bypass the high temperature refrigerant discharged from the compressor to the outdoor heat exchanger. And a bypass flow path determining device installed in the bypass pipe to determine a flow path of the refrigerant to be bypassed through the bypass pipe; and an inlet pipe for introducing the refrigerant having been expanded to the outdoor heat exchanger. An inflow passage determining device installed in a pipe to determine a flow path of the refrigerant flowing through the inflow pipe; and the bypass flow path determining device such that the refrigerant passing through the bypass pipe flows into any one of the first heat exchange part and the second heat exchange part. The refrigerant is passed through the inlet pipe so that the oil flowing into the other of the first heat exchange unit and the second heat exchange unit A; a control unit for controlling the flow decider Air conditioner comprising a. The method of claim 1, The inlet pipe includes a first inlet pipe connected to the first heat exchange part, and a second inlet pipe connected to the second heat exchange part, The air conditioner includes a first discharge pipe through which the refrigerant introduced through the first inlet pipe is discharged from the first heat exchange unit, and a second discharge pipe through which the refrigerant introduced through the second inlet pipe is discharged from the second heat exchange unit. And a discharge confluence pipe through which the refrigerant passing through the first discharge pipe and the refrigerant passing through the second discharge pipe are joined. The method of claim 2, And the bypass pipe is branched into a first bypass pipe connected to the first discharge pipe and a second bypass pipe connected to the second discharge pipe. The method of claim 3, The bypass flow path determining device includes a first open / close valve and a second open / close valve respectively installed at the first bypass pipe and the second bypass pipe, and the inflow flow path determining device includes the first inflow pipe and the first open pipe. An air conditioner comprising a third opening and closing valve and the fourth opening and closing valve respectively installed in the inlet pipe. The method of claim 4, wherein And a first return pipe connecting the first inlet pipe and the discharge confluence pipe, and a second return pipe connecting the second inlet pipe and the discharge confluence pipe. The method of claim 5, The first exhaust pipe, the second discharge pipe, the first return pipe and the second return pipe is an air conditioner, characterized in that the fifth to eight opening and closing valves for controlling the opening and closing of each pipe, respectively. The method of claim 6, And a first blowing fan installed corresponding to the first heat exchanger and a second blowing fan installed corresponding to the second heat exchanger. The method of claim 7, wherein The control unit opens the first open / close valve, the fourth open / close valve, the six open / close valve, and the second open / close valve, the third open / close valve, the fifth open / close valve, And a first defrost mode for stopping the operation of the first blowing fan. The method of claim 7, wherein The control unit opens the second open / close valve, the third open / close valve, the fifth open / close valve, and close the first open / close valve, the fourth open / close valve, the six open / close valve, and the open / close valve. And a second defrost mode for stopping the operation of the second blowing fan.

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