KR102267353B1 - Air conditioner and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an air conditioner and a method for controlling the same. An air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention includes at least one step motor related to opening and closing of a discharge port, an indoor fan motor for rotating an indoor fan, and an indoor fan motor driving unit and a controller for driving the indoor fan motor, the control unit comprising: Control to change the rotation angle of at least one step motor, determine whether an error related to at least one step motor occurs based on the control result, and when an error occurs, step related to the error among at least one step motor Control of the motor can be stopped. Accordingly, it is possible to determine whether various errors related to the step motor to which the operating state is not fed back have occurred, and if the smooth operation of the air conditioner is difficult or impossible due to the error related to the step motor, the control of the step motor is stopped Thus, the operation of the air conditioner can be maintained. In addition, various embodiments are possible.

Description

Air conditioner and its control method

The present invention relates to an air conditioner and a control method thereof, and more particularly, to an air conditioner having a step motor related to opening and closing of a discharge port, and a control method thereof.

The air conditioner is installed to provide a more comfortable indoor environment to humans by discharging cold and hot air into the room to adjust the indoor temperature and purify the indoor air in order to create a comfortable indoor environment. In general, an air conditioner includes an indoor unit configured as a heat exchanger and installed indoors, and an outdoor unit configured as a compressor and a heat exchanger and supplying a refrigerant to the indoor unit.

The air conditioner is operated for cooling or heating according to the flow of refrigerant. During cooling operation, high-temperature and high-pressure liquid refrigerant is supplied to the indoor unit from the outdoor unit's compressor through the outdoor unit's heat exchanger, and as the refrigerant expands and vaporizes in the indoor unit's heat exchanger, the ambient air temperature decreases, and the indoor unit fan rotates. Accordingly, the cold air is discharged into the room. During heating operation, high-temperature and high-pressure gaseous refrigerant is supplied from the compressor of the outdoor unit to the indoor unit, and air heated by the energy released as the high-temperature and high-pressure gaseous refrigerant is liquefied in the heat exchanger of the indoor unit is released into the indoor unit according to the operation of the indoor unit fan. is discharged with

A general air conditioner includes a vane or a louver capable of opening and closing a discharge port, as in Prior Art 1 (Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2015-0102202), and an operation of a step motor capable of changing the opening angle of the vane or louver By controlling the air discharge direction can be adjusted.

Meanwhile, in the related art, even when the operation state of the step motor is not fed back to the control unit of the air conditioner and an error related to the step motor occurs and the operation of the air conditioner is not smooth or impossible, the cause is the error related to the step motor There is a problem in that it is difficult to accurately determine whether or not it is recognized.

An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner capable of checking the state of the step motor to which the operating state is not fed back, and controlling the step motor depending on whether various errors related to the step motor occur, and a method for controlling the same. have.

In order to achieve the above object, the air conditioner according to various embodiments of the present invention may control the operation of the step motor to which the operating state is not fed back, and the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor and/or the system of the air conditioner. It may be determined whether an error related to the stepper motor has occurred based on the reset or not.

In order to achieve the above object, an air conditioner according to various embodiments of the present disclosure includes at least one step motor related to opening/closing of a discharge port, an indoor fan motor rotating an indoor fan, an indoor fan motor driving unit driving the indoor fan motor, and a control unit, wherein the control unit controls the rotation angle of the at least one step motor to be changed, determines whether an error related to the at least one step motor occurs based on the result of the control, and when an error occurs, at least It is possible to stop controlling one of the step motors related to the error.

In order to achieve the above object, there is provided a method of controlling an air conditioner according to various embodiments of the present invention, based on an operation of controlling the rotation angle of at least one step motor related to opening and closing of a discharge port to be changed, a result of the control, It may include an operation of determining whether an error related to at least one step motor has occurred, and an operation of stopping control of an error related step motor among the at least one step motor when an error occurs.

According to various embodiments of the present disclosure, it is possible to determine whether various errors related to the step motor to which the operating state is not fed back occur, and when it is difficult or impossible to smoothly operate the air conditioner due to the error related to the step motor, the step By stopping the control of the motor, it is possible to maintain the operation of the air conditioner.

In addition, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, a message about the occurrence of an error related to the stepper motor may be output so that the user can immediately recognize the occurrence of an error related to the stepper motor, and the message related to the stepper motor may be output through the message. It can induce the user to manually operate the vane or louver until the error is resolved.

In addition, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, it is possible to effectively determine whether an error related to the stepper motor has occurred by using existing components provided in the air conditioner without adding a new component, so that the reliability of the performance of the air conditioner can be effectively determined. and price competitiveness.

In addition, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, when the air conditioner includes a plurality of step motors, it is possible to accurately determine the step motor in which an error has occurred among the plurality of step motors, and only the operation of the step motor in which the error occurs can be selectively selected. can stop

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a schematic diagram of an outdoor unit and an indoor unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a block diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is an internal block diagram of a control unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5A and 5B are flowcharts illustrating a method of controlling an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, in order to clearly and briefly describe the present invention, the illustration of parts irrelevant to the description is omitted, and the same reference numerals are used for the same or extremely similar parts throughout the specification.

The suffixes "module" and "part" for the components used in the following description are given simply in consideration of the ease of writing the present specification, and do not give a particularly important meaning or role by themselves. Accordingly, the terms “module” and “unit” may be used interchangeably.

In the present application, terms such as "comprises" or "have" are intended to designate that a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification exists, but one or more other features It is to be understood that it does not preclude the existence of, or addition of, elements, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Also, in this specification, terms such as first and second may be used to describe various elements, but these elements are not limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the air conditioner 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include an outdoor unit 21 and at least one indoor unit 31 connected to the outdoor unit 21 . A plurality of indoor units 31 may be connected to outdoor units 21 , and the number is not limited to the drawings.

The indoor unit 31 may include, for example, at least one of a stand-type indoor unit 31a, a wall-mounted indoor unit 31b, and a ceiling-type indoor unit 31c.

Meanwhile, the air conditioner 100 may further include, for example, at least one of a ventilator, an air purifier, a humidifier, and a heater, and operates in conjunction with the operations of the indoor unit 31 and the outdoor unit 21 . can do.

The outdoor unit 21 includes, for example, a compressor (not shown) that receives and compresses a refrigerant, an outdoor heat exchanger (not shown) that exchanges heat between the refrigerant and outdoor air, and extracts a gaseous refrigerant from the supplied refrigerant to the compressor. It may include an accumulator (not shown) to supply, and a four-way valve (not shown) for selecting a flow path of the refrigerant according to the heating operation. In addition, the outdoor unit 21 may further include, for example, a plurality of sensors, valves, and an oil recovery unit.

The outdoor unit 21 may supply the refrigerant to the indoor unit 31 by, for example, operating a provided compressor and an outdoor heat exchanger to compress or heat exchange the refrigerant according to a setting. The outdoor unit 21 may be driven by, for example, a remote controller (not shown) or a demand of the indoor unit 31 . In this case, as the cooling/heating capacity is varied in response to the driven indoor unit 31 , the number of outdoor units and the number of compressors installed in the outdoor unit may vary.

In this case, the outdoor unit 21 may supply the compressed refrigerant to the connected indoor unit 31 .

The indoor unit 31 may receive, for example, a refrigerant from the outdoor unit 21 and discharge cold and hot air into the room. The indoor unit 31 may include, for example, an indoor heat exchanger (not shown), an indoor unit fan (not shown), an expansion valve (not shown) for expanding the supplied refrigerant, and a plurality of sensors (not shown). have.

In this case, the outdoor unit 21 and the indoor unit 31 may be connected, for example, by a communication line to transmit and receive data, and the outdoor unit 21 and the indoor unit 31 may be connected to a remote controller (not shown) by wire or wirelessly. It may be connected and operated under the control of a remote controller (not shown).

The remote controller 41 may be connected to, for example, the indoor unit 31 , transmit a user's control command to the indoor unit 31 , and receive and display status information of the indoor unit 31 . In this case, the remote control 41 may communicate with the indoor unit 31 by wire or wirelessly depending on the connection type.

Meanwhile, the air conditioner 100 may further include, for example, at least one sensor (not shown) capable of detecting the state of indoor air. For example, the air conditioner 100 may further include a temperature sensor for detecting indoor temperature, a humidity sensor for detecting indoor humidity, an air pressure sensor for detecting indoor air pressure, a sensor for measuring the amount of dust in the indoor air, and the like. In addition, it may include a sensor that can collect various data such as temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, and the amount of dust in the air.

2 is a schematic diagram of an outdoor unit and an indoor unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. A detailed description of the content overlapping with the content described in FIG. 1 will be omitted.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the air conditioner 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be largely divided into an indoor unit 31 and an outdoor unit 21 .

The outdoor unit 21 includes, for example, a compressor 102b serving to compress a refrigerant, a compressor electric motor 102b for driving the compressor 102b, and an outdoor heat exchanger serving to radiate heat from the compressed refrigerant. An outdoor blower 105 comprising a unit 104, an outdoor fan 105a disposed on one side of the outdoor heat exchanger 104 to promote heat dissipation of the refrigerant, and an electric motor 105b rotating the outdoor fan 105a; , an expansion mechanism 106 for expanding the condensed refrigerant, a cooling/heating switching valve 110 for changing the flow path of the compressed refrigerant, and temporarily storing the vaporized refrigerant to remove moisture and foreign substances and then supplying the refrigerant at a constant pressure. It may include an accumulator 103 that supplies the compressor.

The indoor unit 31 includes, for example, an indoor heat exchanger 108 disposed indoors to perform a cooling/heating function, and an indoor fan disposed at one side of the indoor heat exchanger 108 to promote heat dissipation of the refrigerant. It may include an indoor blower 109 including a 109a and an indoor fan motor 109b for rotating the indoor fan 109a.

At least one indoor heat exchanger 108 may be installed, for example. The compressor 102 may be, for example, at least one of an inverter compressor and a constant speed compressor.

In addition, the air conditioner 100 may be configured as, for example, an air conditioner that cools the room, or may be configured as a heat pump that cools or heats the room.

3 is a block diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the air conditioner 100 includes, for example, an indoor fan motor 109b, an indoor fan motor driving unit 310 for driving the indoor fan motor 109b, a step motor 320, a memory ( 330 ), an output unit 340 , and/or a control unit 350 .

The indoor fan motor 109b may rotate the indoor fan 109a provided in the indoor unit 31 , for example.

The indoor fan motor 109b may be, for example, a brushless direct current (BLDC) motor. BLDC motors, for example, consist of a rotor of permanent magnets and a stator of windings, due to the relationship between the permanent magnet rotor and the magnetic field generated from the windings energized, Electrical energy can be converted into mechanical energy by rotating the rotor. In the present invention, it is described that the indoor fan motor 109b is a BLDC motor, but the present invention is not limited thereto. It may include an Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (IPMSM), a Reluctance Motor (SynRM), and the like.

The indoor fan motor 109b may be, for example, a single-phase BLDC motor or a three-phase BLDC motor.

For example, when the indoor fan motor 109b is a single-phase BLDC motor, the indoor fan motor 109b may change the rotation speed according to the speed control voltage Vsp transmitted from the controller 350 . Here, the speed control voltage Vsp may mean, for example, a DC voltage of a predetermined magnitude for controlling the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b, and as the magnitude of the speed control voltage Vsp increases, the indoor fan The rotation speed of the motor 109b may increase. Meanwhile, the speed control voltage Vsp may be, for example, a DC voltage of a predetermined magnitude output from the indoor fan motor driving unit 310 under the control of the controller 350 .

For example, when the indoor fan motor 109b is a three-phase BLDC motor, the indoor fan motor 109b applies three-phase AC power of a predetermined frequency to the coils of the stators of each phase (a, b, c). Thus, the rotor may rotate, and as the frequency of the three-phase AC power increases, the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b may increase.

On the other hand, the indoor fan motor 109b may include, for example, a sensing element for detecting the position of the rotor, such as a hall sensor, or a sensorless type that does not include a sensing element. It could be a motor. The signal related to the position of the rotor detected through the sensing element may be input to the controller 350 as, for example, a discrete signal in the form of a pulse.

The indoor fan motor driving unit 310 may drive the indoor fan motor 109b, for example.

The indoor fan motor driving unit 310 may include, for example, a rectifier (not shown) for rectifying AC power into DC power and outputting it and/or a dc terminal capacitor (not shown) for storing the pulsating voltage output from the rectifier. can

The indoor fan motor driving unit 310 includes, for example, an inverter (not shown) that includes a plurality of switching elements and converts and outputs smoothed DC power to AC power having a predetermined frequency through on/off operations of the switching elements. ) may be further provided.

The indoor fan motor driving unit 310 may change the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b under the control of the controller 350 , for example.

For example, when the indoor fan motor 109b is a single-phase BLDC motor, the indoor fan motor driving unit 310 changes the size of the speed control voltage Vsp according to the control of the control unit 350, so that the indoor fan motor ( 109b) the rotation speed can be changed.

For example, when the indoor fan motor 109b is a three-phase BLDC motor, the indoor fan motor driving unit 310 changes the frequency of the three-phase AC power output from the inverter under the control of the controller 350, The rotation speed of the fan motor 109b may be changed.

The step motor 320 may be, for example, a motor capable of rotating by a predetermined angle under the control of the controller 350 .

The stepper motor 320 rotates by a predetermined angle when the excitation state for the coil winding is changed by a pulse signal input from the controller 350, for example, and when the excitation state does not change, a predetermined position It may mean a motor that stops by maintaining

The stepper motor 320 may include, for example, a plurality of coil windings and a plurality of switching elements corresponding to each of the plurality of coil windings. At this time, a current may selectively flow in the plurality of coil windings by a pulse signal input to each of the switching elements, thereby changing the torque and rotation angle of the step motor 320 .

The step motor 320 may be connected to, for example, a vane (not shown) or a louver (not shown) capable of opening and closing the discharge port provided in the indoor unit 31 , and may rotate the vane or the louver.

For example, when the operation of the air conditioner 100 is started, the step motor 320 may rotate from a minimum angle at which the discharge port is closed to a maximum angle at which the discharge port is maximally opened. Depending on the rotation, the vane or louver may rotate.

The memory 330 may store various data for the overall operation of the air conditioner 100 , such as a program for processing or controlling the controller 350 .

The memory 330 may store data about the step motor 320 , for example. In this case, when the air conditioner 100 includes a plurality of step motors 320 , the memory 330 may classify and store data for each of the plurality of step motors 320 .

The memory 330 may store, for example, data on the rotation angle of the step motor 320 . For example, the memory 330 may store data about a pulse signal that rotates the step motor 320 according to a predetermined rotation angle.

The memory 330 may store, for example, data on the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b.

The memory 330 may store, for example, data on a motor speed control variable that determines the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b. Here, the motor speed control variable may be, for example, a speed control voltage Vsp when the indoor fan motor 109b is a single-phase BLDC motor, and may be a speed control voltage Vsp when the indoor fan motor 109b is a three-phase BLDC motor. ^{Three-phase output voltage setpoint (v *} a, v ^* b, v ^* c in Fig. 4) and/or d-axis, q-axis voltage setpoint (Fig. 4) that determines the frequency of the three-phase AC power output to the fan motor 109b 4 v ^* _d , v ^* _q ), which will be described later with reference to FIG. 4 .

The output unit 340 may include, for example, a display, a display device such as a light emitting diode (LED), and displays an operation state related to the operation state of the air conditioner 100 , an error occurrence, and the like. can do.

The output unit 340 may include, for example, an audio device such as a speaker and a buzzer, may output a sound effect for the operating state of the air conditioner 100, and may output a predetermined warning sound when an error occurs. can

The control unit 350 may be connected to each component provided in the air conditioner 100 , for example. The controller 350 may, for example, transmit/receive signals to and from each component provided in the air conditioner 100 and may control the overall operation of each component. The control unit 350 may be provided in, for example, at least one of the outdoor unit 21 , the indoor unit 31 , and/or a remote controller (not shown).

The controller 350 may control the operation of the indoor fan motor 109b, for example.

For example, when the indoor fan motor 109b is a single-phase BLDC motor, the controller 350 may output the speed control voltage Vsp to the indoor fan motor 109b, and the magnitude of the speed control voltage Vsp. can be changed to change the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b. Meanwhile, the controller 350 may, for example, control the indoor fan motor driving unit 310 to output the speed control voltage Vsp to the indoor fan motor 109b, or output from the indoor fan motor driving unit 310 . The rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b may be changed by controlling the magnitude of the speed control voltage Vsp to be changed.

For example, when the indoor fan motor 109b is a three-phase BLDC motor, the controller 350 transmits a switching signal for controlling the switching operation of the inverter provided in the indoor fan motor driver 310 to the indoor fan motor driver ( 310) can be printed. Here, the switching signal may be, for example, a pulse width modulation (PWM) control signal having a predetermined duty cycle and frequency.

In this case, the control unit 350 controls the frequency of the AC power output from the indoor fan motor driver 310 to be changed, for example, through a switching signal output to the indoor fan motor driver 310 , to change the frequency of the indoor fan motor driver 310 . It is also possible to change the rotational speed of (109b).

The controller 350 may calculate, for example, the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b.

For example, the controller 350 may receive a signal related to the position of the rotor from a sensing element provided in the indoor fan motor 109b, and based on the received signal, rotate the indoor fan motor 109b. speed can be calculated.

For example, the controller 350 may calculate the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b based on a current flowing between the indoor fan motor driving unit 310 and the indoor fan motor 109b.

In this case, the air conditioner 100 may further include, for example, an output current detection unit (not shown) that detects a current flowing between the indoor fan motor driving unit 310 and the indoor fan motor 109b.

The output current detection unit may include, for example, three resistance elements, and through the three resistance elements, phase currents (ia, ib, ic) that are output currents flowing through the indoor fan motor 109b can be detected. The detected output currents ia, ib, and ic may be input to, for example, the controller 350, and a switching for controlling a switching operation of the inverter based on the detected output currents ia, ib, and ic A signal may be generated.

Meanwhile, the memory 330 may store, for example, data on the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b calculated through a sensing element provided in the indoor fan motor 109b, and the indoor fan motor driving unit 310 . ) and the data on the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b calculated through the current flowing between the indoor fan motor 109b may be stored.

Meanwhile, the controller 350 may determine a motor speed control variable, for example, based on the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b. For example, the controller 350 may check whether or not the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b reaches the target rotation speed, and controls the motor so that the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b reaches the target rotation speed. The speed control variable can be changed.

For example, when the indoor fan motor 109b is a single-phase BLDC motor, when the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b is lower than the target rotation speed, the speed control voltage corresponding to the motor speed control variable By changing the size of Vsp, it is possible to control the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b to reach the target rotation speed.

For example, when the indoor fan motor 109b is a three-phase BLDC motor, when the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b is lower than the target rotation speed, the three-phase motor speed control variable By changing the output voltage command values (v ^* a, v ^* b, v ^* c in FIG. 4 ), it is possible to control the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b to reach the target rotation speed. It will be described with reference to 4.

4 is an internal block diagram of a control unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4 , the control unit 350 includes an axis converting unit 410 , a speed calculating unit 420 , a current command generating unit 430 , a voltage command generating unit 440 , an axis converting unit 450 , and / Alternatively, it may include a switching control signal output unit 460 .

The axis conversion unit 410 may receive, for example, the three-phase output currents ia, ib, and ic detected by the output current detection unit, and convert them into two-phase currents iα, iβ of a stationary coordinate system.

Meanwhile, the axis conversion unit 410 may convert, for example, the two-phase currents iα and iβ of the stationary coordinate system into the two-phase currents id and iq of the rotational coordinate system.

)와 연산된 속도(

)를 출력할 수 있다.The speed calculating unit 420 is, for example, based on the two-phase currents (iα, iβ) of the axis-changed stationary coordinate system in the axis transformation unit 410, the calculated position (

) and the calculated speed (

) can be printed.

)와 속도 지령치(

^* _r)에 기초하여, 전류 지령치(i^* _q)를 생성할 수 있다. 예를 들어, 전류 지령 생성부(430)는, 연산 속도(

)와 속도 지령치(

^* _r)의 차이에 기초하여, PI 제어기(435)에서 PI 제어를 수행하며, 전류 지령치(i^* _q)를 생성할 수 있다. 도면에서는, 전류 지령치로, q축 전류 지령치(i^* _q)를 도시하나, 본 발명이 이에 한정되는 것은 아니며, d축 전류 지령치(i^* _d)를 함께 생성할 수도 있다. 한편, d축 전류 지령치(i^* _d)의 값은 0으로 설정될 수도 있다. On the other hand, the current command generation unit 430, for example, the calculation speed (

) and the speed setpoint (

^{Based on *} _r ), a current command value (i ^* _q ) can be generated. For example, the current command generation unit 430 may set the calculation speed (

) and the speed setpoint (

^{Based on the difference of *} _r ), the PI controller 435 may perform PI control and generate a ^{current command value (i *} _{q ).} In the drawings, the q-axis current command value (i ^* _q ) is shown as the current command value, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the d-axis current command value (i ^* _d ) may be generated together. On the other hand, the value of the d-axis current command value (i ^* _d ) may be set to 0.

On the other hand, the current command generation unit 430, for example, the current command value (i ^* _q ) may further include a limiter (not shown) for limiting the level so as not to exceed the allowable range.

The voltage command generator 440 includes, for example, the d-axis and q-axis currents i _d , i _q , which are axis-transformed into the two-phase rotational coordinate system by the shaft converter, and the current from the current command generator 430 , etc. Based on the setpoints (i ^* _d , i ^* _q ), d-axis and q-axis voltage setpoints (v ^* _d , v ^* _q ) may be generated. For example, the voltage command generator 440 performs PI control in the PI controller 444 based on the difference between the _{q-axis current (i q} ) and the q-axis current command value (i ^* _{q ), q} A shaft voltage setpoint (v ^* _q ) can be generated. In addition, the voltage command generation unit 440, for example, _{based on the difference between the d-axis current (i d} ) and the d-axis current command value (i ^* _d ), performs PI control in the PI controller 448, , d-axis voltage setpoint (v ^* _d ) can be generated. On the other hand, the voltage command generation unit 440, for example, d-axis, q-axis voltage command values (v ^* _d , v ^* _q ) may further include a limiter for limiting the level so as not to exceed the allowable range. .

Meanwhile, the generated d-axis and q-axis voltage command values (v ^* _d , v ^* _q ) may be input to, for example, the axis conversion unit 450 .

)와, d축, q축 전압 지령치(v^* _d, v^* _q)를 입력받아, 축변환을 수행할 수 있다.The axis conversion unit 450 is, for example, the position calculated by the speed calculating unit 420 (

) and d-axis and q-axis voltage command values (v ^* _d , v ^* _q ) can be input to perform axis transformation.

)가 사용될 수 있다.First, the axis transformation unit 450 may perform transformation from a two-phase rotational coordinate system to a two-phase stationary coordinate system. At this time, the position calculated by the speed calculating unit 420 (

) can be used.

In addition, the axis transformation unit 450 may perform transformation from a two-phase stationary coordinate system to a three-phase stationary coordinate system. Through this conversion, the axis conversion unit 450 may output a three-phase output voltage command value (v ^* a, v ^* b, v ^* c).

The switching control signal output unit 460, for example, based on the three-phase output voltage command value (v ^* a, v ^* b, v ^* c), according to the pulse width modulation method, the switching operation of the inverter 315 can generate and output a switching signal for controlling the .

Meanwhile, the controller 350 may control the operation of the step motor 320 to open and close the discharge port provided in the indoor unit 31 . The controller 350 may, for example, control the operation of the step motor 320 to change the opening angle of the vane and/or the louver, and may adjust the amount of air discharged.

The control unit 350, for example, outputs a pulse signal to a plurality of switching elements corresponding to each of the plurality of coil windings so that currents selectively flow in the plurality of coil windings of the stepper motor 320, the step motor ( 321) can be controlled to change the torque and rotation angle.

The controller 350 may determine whether an error related to the step motor 320 has occurred, for example. In this case, when the air conditioner 100 includes a plurality of step motors 320 , the controller 350 may determine whether an error has occurred in each of the plurality of step motors 320 .

For example, when the operation of the air conditioner 100 is started, the control unit 350 rotates the step motor 320 from the minimum angle at which the discharge port is closed to the maximum angle at which the discharge port is opened at the maximum. It may be determined whether an error related to 320 has occurred.

For example, when the operation mode of the air conditioner 100 is the error detection mode, the controller 350 controls the operation of the step motor 320 to determine whether an error related to the step motor 320 has occurred. can do. At this time, the operation mode of the air conditioner 100 may be changed to an error detection mode when an error occurs during operation of the air conditioner 100 , for example, a user command received through the remote controller 41 . may be changed according to

The controller 350 may determine whether an error related to the rotation angle of the step motor 320 has occurred, for example.

For example, at the same target rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b, the control unit 350 may include a motor speed control variable corresponding to the first rotation angle (eg, 72°) of the step motor 320 and the step The motor speed control variable corresponding to the second rotation angle (eg, 16°) of the motor 320 may be compared, and it may be determined whether an error related to the rotation angle of the step motor 320 occurs based on the comparison result. have.

At this time, the motor speed control variable corresponding to the first rotation angle (eg, 72°) of the step motor 320 and the motor speed control variable corresponding to the second rotation angle (eg, 16°) of the step motor 320 . When the difference between ' is less than a predetermined criterion, the control unit 350 may determine that an error related to the rotation angle of the step motor 320 has occurred.

The controller 350 may determine, for example, whether an error related to a system reset of the air conditioner 100 has occurred. Here, in the reset of the system of the air conditioner 100 , for example, when an abnormality occurs in the operation of the configuration provided in the air conditioner 100 , an overvoltage is applied to the configuration provided in the air conditioner 100 . When it is applied or it is determined that an overcurrent flows, it may mean that the system of the air conditioner 100 is reset, and in this case, the controller 350 may also be reset.

For example, when at least one of a plurality of coil windings provided in the step motor 320 is short-circuited, and a current greater than a predetermined standard flows in the step motor 320 , the system of the air conditioner 100 is reset. can

The control unit 350, for example, when the system of the air conditioner 100 is reset while controlling the operation of the step motor 320, while controlling the operation of the step motor 320, the air conditioner 100 ) can calculate the number of times the system has been reset, and when the reset number is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference number, it can be determined that an error related to the reset of the system of the air conditioner 100 has occurred.

For example, when an error related to the step motor 320 occurs, the controller 350 may stop controlling the step motor 320 related to the error. At this time, when the air conditioner 100 is provided with a plurality of step motors 320 , the control unit 350 may selectively stop only controlling at least one of the plurality of step motors 320 related to an error. have.

For example, when an error related to the stepper motor 320 occurs, the controller 350 may output a message related to the error through the output unit 340 . In this case, when the air conditioner 100 is provided with a plurality of step motors 320 , the controller 350 may output a message about at least one of the plurality of step motors 320 related to an error.

For example, the controller 350 may display a message related to an error related to the step motor 320 through the display, or may output a warning sound related to the error through an audio device.

5A and 5B are flowcharts illustrating a method of controlling an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5A , in operation S501 , the air conditioner 100 may rotate at least one step motor 320 so that all the outlets of the indoor unit 31 are closed.

The air conditioner 100 may select any one of the at least one step motor 320 in operation S502. For example, the air conditioner 100 may select any one of the at least one step motor 320 according to a preset order.

In operation S503, the air conditioner 100 rotates any one (hereinafter, a first step motor) selected in operation S502 among at least one step motor 320 according to a first rotation angle (eg, 72°) can do it

In operation S504, the air conditioner 100 determines whether the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b reaches the target rotation speed when the first step motor rotates according to the first rotation angle (eg, 72°). can be checked. At this time, the air conditioner 100 may determine the motor speed control variable when the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b reaches the target rotation speed as the first motor speed control variable corresponding to the first rotation angle. have.

The air conditioner 100 may rotate the first step motor according to a second rotation angle (eg, 16°) in operation S505 . At this time, for example, the air conditioner 100 controls the indoor fan motor 109b to rotate at a rotation speed lower than the target rotation speed, and then rotates the first step motor at a second rotation angle (eg, 16°). It can also be rotated according to

The air conditioner 100 determines whether the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b reaches the target rotation speed again when the first step motor rotates according to the second rotation angle (eg, 16°) in operation S506 . can check whether At this time, the air conditioner 100 determines the motor speed control variable when the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor 109b reaches the target rotation speed again as the second motor speed control variable corresponding to the second rotation angle. can

The air conditioner 100 may compare the first motor speed control variable and the second motor speed control variable in operation S507, and determine whether the difference between the first motor speed control variable and the second motor speed control variable is greater than or equal to a predetermined standard. can be checked

When the difference between the first motor speed control variable and the second motor speed control variable is equal to or greater than a predetermined standard, the air conditioner 100 may determine that an error related to the rotation angle of the first stepper motor does not occur.

Meanwhile, in operation S508, when the difference between the first motor speed control variable and the second motor speed control variable is less than a predetermined standard, the air conditioner 100 determines that an error related to the rotation angle of the first stepper motor has occurred. and it may be determined that the first stepper motor is defective.

In operation S509, the air conditioner 100 may check whether or not an error related to the rotation angle has occurred for each of the at least one step motor 320, and the step motor 320 that does not determine whether an error has occurred ), it can branch to operation S501.

Meanwhile, the air conditioner 100 may output an error message when it is determined whether an error related to a rotation angle has occurred for all of the at least one step motor 320 in operation S510 .

Referring to FIG. 5B , the air conditioner 100 may select any one of the at least one step motor 320 in operation S521 . For example, the air conditioner 100 may select any one of the at least one step motor 320 according to a preset order.

In operation S522 , the air conditioner 100 may control any one selected in operation S521 (hereinafter, referred to as a first step motor) to rotate among at least one step motor 320 . For example, the control unit 350 provided in the air conditioner 100 outputs a pulse signal to a plurality of switching elements corresponding to each of a plurality of coil windings provided in the first step motor, and the step motor 321 . It can be controlled to change the rotation angle of

The air conditioner 100 may check whether the system of the air conditioner 100 is reset while controlling the operation of the first step motor in operation S523 . For example, the air conditioner 100 may check whether the operation of controlling the rotation of the first stepper motor is being performed before the system of the air conditioner 100 is reset.

In operation S524 , when the system of the air conditioner 100 is reset while controlling the operation of the first step motor, the air conditioner 100 may determine whether the reset number is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference number.

When the number of times the system of the air conditioner 100 is reset is less than a predetermined reference number, the air conditioner 100 may branch to operation S522 to rotate the first step motor again.

In operation S525, when the number of times the system of the air conditioner 100 is reset is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference number, in operation S525, in relation to the first step motor, the system of the air conditioner 100 is reset and It may be determined that a related error has occurred, and it may be determined that the first stepper motor is defective.

On the other hand, when the system of the air conditioner 100 is not reset while controlling the operation of the first step motor, the air conditioner 100 has a system of the air conditioner 100 in relation to the first step motor. It can be determined that an error related to the reset of

In operation S526, the air conditioner 100 may check whether an error related to the reset of the system of the air conditioner 100 has been determined for each of the at least one step motor 320, and whether an error occurs If there is a step motor 320 that has not been determined, it may branch to operation S521.

On the other hand, the air conditioner 100, in operation S527, when it is determined whether an error related to the reset of the system of the air conditioner 100 has occurred for all of the at least one step motor 320, an error message is displayed. can be printed out.

As described above, according to various embodiments of the present invention, it is possible to effectively determine whether various errors related to the step motor 320 to which the operating state is not fed back occur.

In addition, when an error related to the step motor 320 occurs, by stopping the control of the step motor 320, not only maintaining the operation of the air conditioner 100, but also outputting a message about the error, Until the error related to the motor 320 is resolved, the user may be induced to manually operate the vanes or louvers provided in the air conditioner 100 .

The accompanying drawings are only for easy understanding of the embodiments disclosed in the present specification, and the technical spirit disclosed in the present specification is not limited by the accompanying drawings, and all changes and equivalents included in the spirit and scope of the present invention It should be understood to include water or substitutes.

Likewise, although acts are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, it should not be construed that such acts must be performed in that particular order or sequential order shown, or that all depicted acts must be performed in order to achieve desirable results. . In certain cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.

In addition, although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and the technical field to which the present invention pertains without departing from the gist of the present invention as claimed in the claims In addition, various modifications are possible by those of ordinary skill in the art, and these modifications should not be individually understood from the technical spirit or perspective of the present invention.

Claims (14)

at least one step motor associated with opening and closing of the discharge port;
an indoor fan motor for rotating the indoor fan;
an indoor fan motor driving unit for driving the indoor fan motor; and
including a control unit;
The control unit is
Control the operation of the at least one step motor so that all the discharge ports are closed,
controlling a first step motor among the at least one step motor to rotate according to a first rotation angle;
When the first step motor rotates according to the first rotation angle, a motor speed control variable that determines the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor is changed to control the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor to reach a predetermined speed; ,
determining a first motor speed control variable corresponding to the first rotation angle when the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor reaches the predetermined speed;
Control the first step motor to rotate according to a second rotation angle different from the first rotation angle,
When the first step motor rotates according to the second rotation angle, the motor speed control variable is changed to control the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor to reach the predetermined speed again;
determining a second motor speed control variable corresponding to the second rotation angle when the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor reaches the predetermined speed again;
and determining whether or not a first error related to the first stepper motor occurs based on a result of comparing the first motor speed control variable and the second motor speed control variable. According to claim 1,
The control unit is
Checking whether the system of the air conditioner is reset while controlling the operation of the first stepper motor;
Calculate the number of times the system is reset while controlling the operation of the first stepper motor,
The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether a second error related to resetting the system occurs in relation to the first stepper motor based on the calculated number of times. 3. The method of claim 2,
The control unit is
The air conditioner, characterized in that when the number of the at least one step motor is plural, whether or not the first error occurs is determined for each of the plurality of step motors. 4. The method of claim 3,
Further comprising an output unit having at least one of a display device and an audio device,
The control unit is
The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein when at least one of the first error and the second error occurs, a message about the error is output through the output unit. delete delete delete In the control method of an air conditioner,
changing a rotation angle of at least one step motor related to opening and closing of the discharge ports to close all the discharge ports;
rotating a first step motor among the at least one step motor according to a first rotation angle;
When the first step motor rotates according to the first rotation angle, a motor speed control variable for determining the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor is set so that the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor rotating the indoor fan reaches a predetermined speed. changing action;
determining a first motor speed control variable corresponding to the first rotation angle when the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor reaches the predetermined speed;
rotating the first step motor according to a second rotation angle different from the first rotation angle; when the first step motor rotates according to the second rotation angle, the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor is set to the predetermined changing the motor speed control variable to re-achieve the speed;
determining a second motor speed control variable corresponding to the second rotation angle when the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor reaches the predetermined speed again; and
and determining whether or not a first error related to the first stepper motor occurs based on a result of comparing the first motor speed control variable and the second motor speed control variable. 9. The method of claim 8,
checking whether the system of the air conditioner is reset while controlling the operation of the first stepper motor;
calculating the number of times the system is reset while controlling the operation of the first stepper motor; and
The method of controlling the air conditioner according to claim 1, further comprising: determining whether a second error related to resetting the system occurs in relation to the first stepper motor based on the calculated number of times. 10. The method of claim 9,
The operation of determining whether the first error has occurred is
When the number of the at least one step motor is plural, the control method of the air conditioner, characterized in that it is determined whether the first error occurs for each of the plurality of step motors. 11. The method of claim 10,
and outputting an error message through an output unit provided in the air conditioner when at least one of the first error and the second error occurs. delete delete delete

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