KR101253572B1 - Apparatus for controlling fan motor of air conditioner and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a fan motor control apparatus and a method of an air conditioner employing a fan motor of a two-stage outdoor unit, by operating and controlling two fan motors alternately in an optimal pattern using the outdoor temperature and the outdoor heat exchanger temperature. The purpose is to ensure the reliability of the outdoor unit.

To this end, the present invention is a fan motor control method of an air conditioner having a plurality of fan motors for heat exchange of an outdoor heat exchanger, the method comprising: sensing an outdoor temperature; Sensing the outdoor heat exchanger temperature; And alternately controlling operation of the plurality of fan motors based on the sensed outdoor temperature and the outdoor heat exchanger temperature.

Description

Apparatus for controlling fan motor of air conditioner and method

1 is a perspective view of a two-stage outdoor unit of a conventional air conditioner,

2 is a control circuit diagram of the two-stage outdoor unit fan motor of FIG.

3 is an internal coil winding diagram of the two-stage outdoor unit fan motor of FIG. 1;

4 is a refrigerant flow path of an air conditioner to which the present invention is applied;

5 is a fan motor control configuration diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention;

6 is an operation flowchart of a fan motor control method of an air conditioner according to the present invention;

7 is a table showing a fan motor control pattern during the cooling operation of the air conditioner according to the present invention;

8 is a table showing a fan motor control pattern during the heating operation of the air conditioner according to the present invention.

Description of the Related Art [0002]

10: outdoor unit 11: compressor

12: four-way valve 13: outdoor heat exchanger

14A, 14B: Outdoor fan 15A, 15B: Outdoor fan motor

18: outdoor heat exchanger temperature sensor 30: outdoor temperature sensor

34: control unit

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner employing a fan motor of a two-stage outdoor unit, and more particularly, to a fan motor control apparatus and a method of an air conditioner in which two fan motors are alternately operated and controlled to ensure reliability of the outdoor unit. .

In general, an air conditioner is a device used for cooling or heating a room, and a conventional refrigeration cycle in which refrigerant is circulated between the indoor unit and the outdoor unit is applied to absorb ambient heat when the liquid refrigerant evaporates. The cooling or heating operation is performed by the characteristic of releasing heat when liquefied. Fans are installed in outdoor units and indoor units to help absorb and dissipate heat, and fan motors are used to control the air volume of the fans.

Among them, the fan motor installed in the outdoor unit helps to release heat during the cooling operation and promotes the absorption of heat during the heating operation. A two-stage outdoor unit using two fan motors to secure the installation area and performance of the outdoor unit (10 ) Is generally used as shown in FIG. 1.

AC single phase induction motors and BLDC motors are used for these fan motors, and BLDC motors are easy to control, but considering the cost, AC single phase induction motors are common in household air conditioners.

As described above, the fan motor using the AC single-phase induction motor, as shown in Fig. 2, has a control board 3 attached with relays RY1 to RY2 by the number of taps to the fan motor 1 made of the AC tap motor. Connect.

As shown in FIG. 3, a tap motor is a motor manufactured to control and make taps on coils wound inside the motor according to a desired air volume mode (strong wind and weak wind) in an air conditioner as a method of resistance control. The advantage of tap motor is that it is widely used because of low cost and high durability in terms of cost because the air volume can be obtained by the number of taps even with general commercial power without special control method.

In order for the fan motor 1 to operate, an AC input power source must be connected to one of the common terminal COMMON and two taps. Since the common terminal COMMON is always connected to the power source, the control board 3 The attached relays RY1 to RY2 have a switch function for selecting a tap. Therefore, when AC power is applied to the inside of the fan motor 1 by the selected relays RY1 to RY2, the resistance value changes for each air volume mode.

For example, in the case of high wind, the resistance value is main, and the resistance value of the low wind is main + con. The higher the air flow rate, the smaller the resistance value, so that a relatively large current flows. The rotation speed (rpm) of 1) is high.

As described above, in the conventional fan motor 1, any one of the plurality of relays RY1 to RY2 is turned on to rotate the fan motor 1 so as to supply a current with an intensity as proportional to the selected required air flow rate. In order to change the rotation speed of the fan motor 1, any one of the relays other than the on-operated relay is turned on to adjust the amount of air discharged into the room.

By the way, in the case of the two-stage outdoor unit using two such fan motors 1, the two fan motors 1 are controlled by the on / off control of the relays RY1 to RY2 corresponding to the respective fan motors 1. Since the air volume is controlled at the same time, the relays (RY1 to RY2), which are directly connected to the life of the system, are shortened due to frequent on / off control, which makes it difficult to secure reliability of the outdoor unit 10.

Accordingly, the present invention is to solve the conventional problems as described above, the object of the present invention is to ensure the reliability of the outdoor unit by controlling the operation of the two fan motor alternately in the two-stage outdoor unit using two AC fan motor. The present invention provides a fan motor control apparatus for air conditioner and a method thereof.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner capable of securing reliability of an outdoor unit by reducing frequent on / off control of a relay by variablely operating a fan motor in an optimal control pattern using an outdoor temperature and an outdoor heat exchanger temperature. The present invention provides a fan motor control apparatus and a method thereof.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a fan motor control method of an air conditioner having a plurality of fan motors for heat exchange of an outdoor heat exchanger, the method comprising: sensing an outdoor temperature; Sensing the outdoor heat exchanger temperature; And alternately controlling operation of the plurality of fan motors based on the sensed outdoor temperature and the outdoor heat exchanger temperature.

The controlling of the plurality of fan motors alternately may include reading the plurality of fan motor control patterns predetermined according to the sensed outdoor temperature and the outdoor heat exchanger temperature, and controlling the plurality of fan motors in a control pattern. According to the present invention, the on / off cycle of each fan motor is variably controlled, the variable control time of each fan motor is counted, and the plurality of fan motors are alternately operated.

In addition, the present invention further includes the step of inputting cooling or heating operation by a user command; In the step of controlling the operation of the plurality of fan motors alternately, the on / off cycle of the fan motor is controlled differently according to cooling or heating operation.

In addition, the present invention provides a fan motor control apparatus for an air conditioner having a plurality of fan motors for heat exchange of an outdoor heat exchanger, comprising: an outdoor temperature sensor configured to sense an outdoor temperature; An outdoor heat exchanger temperature sensor detecting the outdoor heat exchanger temperature; And a controller configured to alternately control operation of the plurality of fan motors based on the sensed outdoor temperature and outdoor heat exchanger temperature.

The control unit may store the plurality of fan motor control patterns corresponding to the sensed outdoor temperature and the outdoor heat exchanger temperature range in an internal memory.

In addition, the controller reads the plurality of fan motor control patterns stored according to the sensed outdoor temperature and the outdoor heat exchanger temperature, and varies the on / off cycle of each fan motor in accordance with the control pattern to the read plurality of fan motors. It is characterized by controlling.

The present invention may further include an input unit configured to input a cooling or heating operation by a user command, and the controller may control the on / off cycle of the fan motor differently according to the cooling or heating operation.

In addition, the fan motor is characterized in that the AC outdoor unit motor capable of high or low two-stage control.

In addition, the plurality of fan motors are characterized in that at least two or more.

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

4 is a refrigerant flow diagram of an air conditioner to which the present invention is applied.

In FIG. 4, the air conditioner of the present invention includes an outdoor unit 10 and an indoor unit 20 connected to the outdoor unit 10 to perform indoor cooling and heating, and a refrigerant pipe is disposed between the outdoor unit 10 and the indoor unit 20. Connected.

The outdoor unit 10 includes a compressor 11, a four-way valve 12, an outdoor heat exchanger 13, two outdoor fans 14A and 14B, two outdoor fan motors 15A and 15B, and an electronic expansion valve 16. ), An accumulator 17 and an outdoor heat exchanger temperature sensor 18, and the indoor unit 20 includes an indoor heat exchanger 21, an indoor fan 22, and an indoor fan motor 23, respectively.

The compressor 11 is an inverter-type compressor that compresses a refrigerant in a low temperature low pressure gas state to be sucked and discharges the refrigerant in a high temperature high pressure gas state.

The four-way valve 12 has two independent passages through which high-temperature, high-pressure gas refrigerant discharged from the compressor 11 is transferred to the indoor heat exchanger 21 during the heating operation and to the outdoor heat exchanger 13 during the cooling operation. It has an on / off switching operation to change the flow of the refrigerant in accordance with the mode of cooling operation and heating operation according to the user's selection.

The outdoor heat exchanger 13 serves as a condenser for condensing a refrigerant in a high temperature and high pressure gas state to a high temperature and high pressure liquid state in a heating operation mode, and in a cooling operation mode, a refrigerant in a low temperature low pressure liquid state in a gas state. It acts as an evaporator to evaporate, thereby exchanging heat with ambient air in response to the enthalpy change of the refrigerant.

The first and second outdoor fans 14A and 14B play a catalytic role of promoting heat exchange between the refrigerant flowing in the outdoor heat exchanger 13 and air, thereby enhancing the heat exchange capability of the outdoor unit 10.

The first and second outdoor fan motors 15A and 15B are AC fan motors for controlling the air volume of the outdoor fans 14A and 14B. The configuration of the first and second outdoor fan motors 15A and 15B is illustrated in FIG. 2 and 3 are the same as the conventional fan motor 1 shown in FIG.

The electromagnetic expansion valve 16 (hereinafter referred to as EEV) is installed between the outdoor heat exchanger 13 and the indoor heat exchanger 21 to form a refrigerant at room temperature and high pressure liquid which is condensed at one side as a low temperature and low pressure. Pressure is reduced by inflation with a mixed two-phase refrigerant.

The accumulator 17 is installed on the suction side of the compressor 11 to convert the refrigerant sucked into the compressor 11 into gas in a completely gaseous state.

The outdoor heat exchanger temperature sensor 18 is a pipe temperature sensor that senses the temperature (specifically, the evaporation temperature) of the refrigerant passing through the outdoor heat exchanger 13.

The indoor heat exchanger 21, as opposed to the outdoor heat exchanger 13, performs heat exchange with ambient air as a condenser during heating operation and an evaporator during cooling operation.

The indoor fan 22 promotes heat exchange between the refrigerant flowing in the indoor heat exchanger 21 and the air and simultaneously generates cold or warm air required for the room.

The indoor fan motor 23 is a fan motor for adjusting the air volume of the indoor fan 22, and may use the same AC fan motor as the first and second outdoor fan motors 15A and 15B.

In the air conditioner configured as described above, the cooling operation and the heating operation mode change the refrigerant flow by switching of the four-way valve 12 according to the user's selection.

For example, during heating operation, the four-way valve 12 is turned on, and the refrigerant flows along the direction of the dotted arrow in FIG. 1 to the compressor 11 → four-way valve 12 → indoor heat exchanger 21 → EEV 16 → outdoor. A refrigeration cycle circulated in the order of heat exchanger 13 → four-way valve 12 → accumulator 17 → compressor 11 is formed.

On the other hand, during the cooling operation, the four-way valve 12 is turned off so that the refrigerant flows in the direction of the solid arrow in FIG. 1 from the compressor 11 to the four-way valve 12 to the outdoor heat exchanger 13 to the EEV 16 to the indoor heat exchanger. A refrigeration cycle circulated in the order of (21) → four-way valve (12) → accumulator (17) → compressor (11).

5 is a configuration diagram of a fan motor control of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention, in addition to the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, an outdoor temperature sensor 30, an input unit 32, a control unit 34, and a compressor driving unit 36. ), An outdoor fan motor driver 38, an indoor fan motor driver 40, a valve driver 42, and a display unit 42.

The outdoor temperature sensor 30 is a temperature sensor that detects the temperature (outdoor temperature) of the outdoor air sucked into the outdoor unit 10, and the input unit 32 is an operation mode (cooling or heating) and a set temperature selected by the user. And an operation unit to input operation information such as a set air volume.

The control unit 34 is a microcomputer that controls the operation of the compressor 11, the outdoor fan motors 15A and 15B and the indoor fan motor 23 by receiving a user command, and includes an outdoor heat exchanger temperature sensor 18 and an outdoor temperature. The first and second outdoor fan motors 15A and 15B are alternately operated by using the sensor values of the sensor 30.

In addition, the controller 34 tabulates a control pattern for variably driving the first and second outdoor fan motors 15A and 15B using the outdoor temperature T _O and the outdoor heat exchanger temperature T _C. Save to internal memory in advance.

The compressor driver 36 controls the driving of the compressor 11 according to the compressor control signal of the controller 34, and the outdoor fan motor driver 38 controls the first and second motors according to the motor control signal of the controller 34. The driving of the outdoor fan motors 15A and 15B is controlled, and the indoor fan motor driving unit 40 controls the driving of the indoor fan motor 23 according to the motor control signal of the controller 34.

The valve driving unit 42 controls the driving of the four-way valve 12 and the EEV 16 according to the valve control signal of the control unit 34, and the display unit 44 controls air conditioning according to the display control signal of the control unit 34. Display the operation status and error mode.

Hereinafter, the operation process and the effect of the fan motor control apparatus and method of the air conditioner configured as described above will be described.

6 is an operation flowchart of a fan motor control method of an air conditioner according to the present invention.

First, when a user selects information such as a desired operation mode (cooling or heating operation), a set temperature, a set air volume, and the like through the input unit 32, the selected operation information is input to the controller 34.

Therefore, the controller 34 determines whether the compressor 11 is operated according to the comparison result between the room temperature and the set temperature (S100), and when the compressor 11 is operated, the controller 34 controls the valve driver 42 through the valve driver 42. The four-way valve 12 is switched on and off so that the flow of the refrigerant is changed to a solid line or a dotted line in FIG. 4 to start a heating or cooling operation (S102).

In FIG. 4, when the cooling operation is started, the refrigerant flows along the solid arrow direction in accordance with the operation of the compressor 11. The compressor 11 → four-way valve 12 → outdoor heat exchanger 13 (specifically, a condenser) → EEV 16 → indoor heat exchanger (21; specifically, evaporator) → four-way valve (12) → accumulator (17) → compressor (11) to form a refrigeration cycle circulating in order to cool the heat exchanged in the indoor heat exchanger (21) It discharges to room and performs cooling operation.

In FIG. 4, when the heating operation is started, the refrigerant flows in accordance with the operation of the compressor 11 in the direction of the dashed arrow in FIG. 1. EEV (16) → outdoor heat exchanger (13; specifically, evaporator) → four-way valve (12) → accumulator (17) → compressor (11) to form a refrigeration cycle circulated in the heat exchanger 21 Heating operation is performed by discharging warm air into the room.

During the cooling or heating operation, the temperature T _C of the refrigerant passing through the outdoor heat exchanger 13 is detected by the outdoor heat exchanger temperature sensor 18, and the outdoor temperature T _O is detected by the outdoor temperature sensor 30. Detected in the input to the control unit 34 (S104).

Accordingly, the control unit 34 uses the outdoor heat exchanger temperature sensor 18 and the outdoor temperature T _O , which are the sensor values of the outdoor temperature sensor 30, and the outdoor heat exchanger temperature T _C to determine the first and second outdoor temperatures. A control for variable operation of the fan motors 15A and 15B is started. For this purpose, the first and second outdoor fans corresponding to the range of the outdoor temperature T _O and the outdoor heat exchanger temperature T _C during the cooling or heating operation are started. The control patterns of the motors 15A and 15B are read out from the internal memory as shown in Figs. 7 and 8 (S106).

Thereafter, the controller 34 variably controls the first outdoor fan motor 15A according to the read control pattern (S108), for example, when the outdoor temperature T _O is greater than -5 degrees and less than 0 degrees during a cooling operation. When the outdoor heat exchanger temperature T _C is in the first temperature region T _C1 , the first outdoor fan motor 15A is operated to be 1:11 (see FIG. 7).

In this case, 1:11 is a control pattern for operating the first outdoor fan motor 15A at a cycle of 10 seconds on / 110 seconds off while the first outdoor fan motor 15A is connected with a low wind tap.

For example, when the outdoor temperature (T _O ) is more than 12 degrees and less than 17 degrees during the heating operation, when the outdoor heat exchanger temperature (T _C ) is in the first temperature region (T _C1 ), the first outdoor fan motor ( 15A) is operated to be low (see Fig. 8).

According to the control pattern read by the controller 34, it is determined whether the operation time in which the first outdoor fan motor 15A is variably controlled has passed a predetermined time (about a few minutes) (S110).

As a result of the determination in S110, when a predetermined time has elapsed, the controller 34 variably controls the second outdoor fan motor 15B according to the control pattern read for the operation of the second outdoor fan motor 15B (S112). For example, when the outdoor temperature exchanger temperature T _C is in the first temperature region T _C1 when the outdoor temperature T _O is more than -5 degrees and less than 0 degrees during the cooling operation, the second outdoor fan motor 15B ) Is operated at 1:11 similarly to the first outdoor fan motor 15A (see FIG. 7).

For example, when the outdoor temperature (T _O ) is greater than 12 degrees and less than 17 degrees during the heating operation, when the outdoor heat exchanger temperature (T _C ) is in the first temperature region (T _C1 ), the second outdoor fan motor ( 15B) at 8: 4 (see FIG. 8).

In this case, 8: 4 is a control pattern for operating the second outdoor fan motor 15B at a period of 80 seconds on / 40 seconds off while the second outdoor fan motor 15B is connected with a low wind tap.

According to the control pattern read by the control unit 34, it is determined whether the operation time of the variable control of the second outdoor fan motor 15B has elapsed for a predetermined time (about a few minutes) (S114). 34 determines whether the operation stop command of the air conditioner has been input (S116) and terminates all operations of the air conditioner when the operation stop command is input.

As a result of the determination of S116, when the operation stop command is not input, it is fed back to the S104 and the first and second outdoor fan motors 15A and 15B according to the outdoor temperature T _O and the outdoor heat exchanger temperature T _C. Proceeds after the variable control to alternately for a predetermined time.

As described above, the control unit 34 controls the control pattern for optimally operating the first and second outdoor fan motors 15A and 15B by using the outdoor temperature T _O and the outdoor heat exchanger temperature T _C. It is possible to improve the reliability even more than the conventional case which relies on ON / OFF continuous operation for relay life by pre-stored. In the low temperature cooling and heating overload reliability section, by adjusting the on / off cycle in the fan motor which is not low RPM Through the above control pattern, the outdoor air volume can be formed lower in the reliability section, thereby facilitating the reliability of the system.

As described above, according to the fan motor control apparatus and method of the air conditioner according to the present invention, reliability is obtained by alternately controlling the operation of two fan motors in a two-stage outdoor unit using two AC fan motors. The noise can be reduced in the area, and by using the outdoor temperature and the outdoor heat exchanger temperature to variably operate the fan motor in an optimal control pattern, it is possible to reduce the frequent on / off control of the relay to secure the reliability of the outdoor unit. .

Claims (9)

In the fan motor control method of the air conditioner having a plurality of fan motor for heat exchange of the outdoor heat exchanger, Sensing outdoor temperature; Sensing the outdoor heat exchanger temperature; And Reading predetermined control patterns of the plurality of fan motors according to the sensed outdoor temperature and the outdoor heat exchanger temperature, and alternately controlling operation of the plurality of fan motors based on the read control patterns; Fan motor control method of an air conditioner comprising. The method of claim 1, Alternating driving control of the plurality of fan motors, Variable on / off period of each of the plurality of fan motors in accordance with the read control pattern; And counting a variable control time of each of the plurality of fan motors to alternately drive the plurality of fan motors. 3. The method of claim 2, Inputting cooling or heating operation by a user command; Alternately driving control of the plurality of fan motors, The fan motor control method of the air conditioner, characterized in that for controlling the on / off cycle of the fan motor according to the cooling or heating operation. A plurality of fan motors for heat exchange of the outdoor heat exchanger; An outdoor temperature sensor for detecting an outdoor temperature; An outdoor heat exchanger temperature sensor detecting the outdoor heat exchanger temperature; And A controller configured to read predetermined control patterns of the plurality of fan motors according to the sensed outdoor temperature and the outdoor heat exchanger temperature, and alternately control operation of the plurality of fan motors based on the read control patterns. Fan motor controller of the air conditioner, including. 5. The method of claim 4, The control unit further includes an internal memory for storing a control pattern of the plurality of fan motors corresponding to the sensed outdoor temperature and the outdoor heat exchanger temperature range. 6. The method of claim 5, And a fan motor control device for controlling the on / off cycle of each fan motor in accordance with the read control pattern. The method according to claim 6, Further comprising an input unit for inputting cooling or heating operation by a user command, The control unit is a fan motor control device of the air conditioner, characterized in that for controlling the on / off cycle of the fan motor in accordance with the cooling or heating operation. 5. The method of claim 4, The fan motor is a fan motor controller of an air conditioner, characterized in that the AC outdoor unit motor capable of high or low two-stage control. 5. The method of claim 4, The fan motor control apparatus of the air conditioner, characterized in that at least two fan motors.

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