KR20010029017A - Dust amount display apparatus for a filter and method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: Provided is a filter dust displayer which measures dust amount in a filter by detecting the pulse generated at an indoor fan motor and shows the measured amount of dust for user to know when to clean the filter. CONSTITUTION: A filter dust displayer includes a pulse detector, dust displayer, and micom. The pulse detector detects pulse generated at an indoor fan motor. The dust displayer gradually shows the amount of dust on LED as dust accumulates at a filter. And the micom controls the dust displayer, which shows the amount of the dust accumulated at the filter according to the reduction of pulse detected at the pulse detector. In short, the micom performs a phase control such as shortening the interval of on and off status of the pulse generated at the indoor fan motor.

Description

Dust amount display apparatus for a filter and method therefor}

The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for displaying a dust amount of a filter for measuring an amount of dust accumulated in a filter for an air conditioner and displaying the measured amount of dust.

An air conditioner is a device that maintains indoor air at an appropriate temperature by performing cooling or heating operation. That is, the air in the room is sucked, the temperature of the air sucked by the heat exchange action is converted, and then discharged to the room again. Therefore, in order to increase the operating efficiency of the air conditioner, the interior should be sealed, for example, in summer, the outdoor high temperature air should be blocked from flowing in. Therefore, air conditioners usually close the windows and doors of the room during operation. However, since the air in the closed room is not ventilated to the outside, foreign matters such as dust may be included to harm the user's health.

Therefore, in order to solve this problem, the air conditioner is provided with a filter in the suction pipe to purify and discharge the dust of the sucked air. However, dust contained in the sucked air is accumulated in the filter, when the amount of dust is more than a predetermined amount of air purification rate of the filter is reduced, the suction and discharge action of the air of the indoor fan is reduced. Therefore, since regular cleaning of the filter is required, a configuration for detecting and displaying the cleaning time of the filter to the user has been added to the air conditioner. Such a conventional filter cleaning request display device is shown in FIG.

1 is a control block diagram showing a conventional filter-cleaning request display device.

The key input unit 1 is a component in which the user selects a setting function of the air conditioner, and the counter 2 measures the cooling operation time of the air conditioner. In addition, the temperature sensing unit 40 senses the temperature of the indoor and outdoor, and the display unit 6 indicates the operation status of the air conditioner and the filter cleaning request display. The load driver 5 drives and controls a compressor, an indoor fan, and an outdoor fan (not shown) that perform cooling operation of the air conditioner.

2 is a flowchart showing a conventional filter cleaning request display method, and a conventional filter cleaning request display apparatus and method will be described in detail using the filter cleaning request display method.

In the initial stage, the microcomputer 4 determines whether the drive selection signal is applied from the key input unit 1. Therefore, when the user turns on the drive switch (not shown) configured in the key input unit 1 and the drive selection signal is transmitted (S1), the microcomputer 4 transmits the room temperature transmitted from the temperature sensing unit 3 to the next step. Compare and determine the set temperature (S2). As a result of determination, when the room temperature exceeds the set temperature, the microcomputer 4 controls the load driving unit 5 to perform the cooling operation (S3). That is, the microcomputer 4 drives an indoor fan (not shown) to suck air in the room. At this time, the sucked air is purified by passing through the filter. The purified air then performs a heat exchange operation through an indoor heat exchanger (not shown), and the heat exchanged air is discharged to the room.

After the cooling operation start step (S3), the microcomputer 4 controls the counter (2) to measure the cooling operation time (S4). At this time, the microcomputer 4 determines whether it corresponds to the filter cleaning request display condition (S5). The conventional filter cleaning request display condition is shown in FIG.

3 is a graph showing a conventional filter cleaning request display time.

As shown, the filter cleaning request display indicates that the lamp of the display unit 6 is turned on when the cumulative cooling operation time of the air conditioner exceeds a predetermined time. That is, the microcomputer 4 determines whether the current cooling operation time measured from the counter 2 and the total cooling operation time previously executed by the air conditioner exceed a predetermined time. Therefore, when the total cumulative cooling operation time exceeds a predetermined time X, the microcomputer 4 controls the display unit 6 to display the cleaning request display of the filter (S6).

After the filter cleaning request display step S6, the microcomputer ends the cooling operation by controlling the load driving unit.

However, such a conventional filter cleaning request display device and method overestimates the fact that the amount of dust accumulated in the filter differs depending on the place where the air conditioner is installed, and only estimates the amount of dust based on the cumulative cooling operation time. Therefore, the conventional filter cleaning request display device and method have a problem in that accuracy is lowered because a filter cleaning request indication is displayed after a predetermined time even when a very small amount of dust is accumulated.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a dust amount display device and method for a filter for measuring the dust amount of the filter by detecting a pulse applied to the indoor fan motor to solve the above problems, and displays the measured dust amount. The purpose.

1 is a control block diagram showing a filter cleaning request display device of a conventional air conditioner;

2 is a flowchart showing a conventional filter cleaning request display method;

3 is a graph showing a conventional filter cleaning request display time;

4 is a control block diagram showing a preferred embodiment of the filter dust amount display device according to the present invention;

5 is a flow chart showing a preferred embodiment of the filter dust amount display method according to the present invention;

6 is a graph showing a pulse width reduced according to the reference pulse width and the amount of dust.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

50: microcomputer 60: pulse detection unit

70: display unit 71: first LED

72: second LED 73: third LED

Dust and dust display device and method of the filter according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a pulse detector for detecting a pulse applied to the indoor fan motor, a display unit for indicating the amount of dust accumulated in the filter, the pulse of the pulse detected by the pulse detector And a microcomputer for controlling the display unit according to the reduction width to display the amount of dust accumulated in the filter.

Alternatively, the amount of dust accumulated in the filter may be displayed step by step on the LED included in the display unit.

In addition, the filter dust amount display method of the air conditioner including a pulse detection unit for detecting a pulse applied to the indoor fan motor and a display unit for displaying the amount of dust, when the drive signal is applied to perform a cooling operation by a predetermined time elapsed Detecting a pulse applied to the indoor fan motor, calculating a sensed pulse width to obtain a reference pulse width, and comparing the subtracted value of the reduced pulse width from the reference pulse width with the reference pulse width and the comparison result. Characterized in that it comprises the step of displaying the amount of dust step by step.

In addition, the step of displaying the amount of dust is a step of setting the reference pulse width by detecting the width of the pulse applied to the indoor fan motor to obtain an average value, the pulse reduction width of a predetermined reference in the reference pulse width ( If the value obtained by subtracting Ta) is smaller than the reference pulse width, the first LED is turned on to indicate that the dust amount is small, and the pulse reduction width of the predetermined reference is reduced from the reference pulse width of the pulse. If the result obtained by subtracting Tb) is smaller than the reference pulse width, the second LED is turned on to indicate that the amount of dust is medium, and the pulse reduction width of the predetermined reference is reduced from the reference pulse width of the pulse. If the result of subtracting Tc) is smaller than the reference pulse width, turning on the third LED to indicate that the amount of dust is large.

Therefore, the dust amount display device and method of the filter according to the present invention as described above is displayed according to the amount of dust accumulated in the filter, the accuracy of the device is improved, and the user can recognize the cleaning time of the filter accurately, the management is made efficiently.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, a preferred embodiment of the dust amount display device and method of the filter according to the present invention with the above configuration will be described in detail.

The present invention is characterized by measuring and displaying the amount of dust using the point that the pulse changes according to the amount of load when the indoor fan motor is driven. In general, the indoor fan motor rotates the fan by maintaining a predetermined number of revolutions under the control of the microcomputer to inhale and discharge the air. However, the indoor fan motor reduces the amount of air that can be sucked because the dust accumulated in the filter blocks the air intake. Therefore, since the load of the indoor fan motor is increased and the rotation speed is decreased, the microcomputer converts the phase of the pulse applied to the indoor fan motor to maintain the rotation speed of the indoor fan motor constant. In other words, as the intake of air becomes harder, the load on the indoor fan motor increases, and the microcomputer responds to the phase of shortening the on / off section (hereinafter referred to as pulse width) of the pulse applied to the indoor fan motor. Take control. Therefore, the dust display device and method of the filter according to the present invention detects the phase control pulse applied to the indoor fan motor to measure the amount of dust, and display the measured amount of dust so that the user can accurately recognize the cleaning time of the filter It is. Such a configuration for achieving the features of the present invention is shown in FIG.

4 is a control block diagram showing a dust amount display device of a filter according to the present invention.

Since the key input unit 10, the counter 20, the temperature sensing unit 40, and the load driving unit 30 perform the same functions as in the related art, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The pulse detecting unit 60 detects a pulse applied to an indoor fan motor (not shown), and the microcomputer 50 calculates an average width of the pulse transmitted from the pulse detecting unit 60 to obtain a predetermined pulse reduction width ( ΔT, see FIG. 6). The display unit 70 displays the amount of dust accumulated in the filter as the first LED 71, the second LED 72, and the third LED 73 are gradually turned on by the control of the microcomputer 50.

The first LED 71 indicates that the amount of dust is small, and when the first LED 71 and the second LED 72 are turned on at the same time, the first LED 71 indicates that the amount of dust is heavy. When 71, the second LED 72 and the third LED 73 are turned on at the same time, it indicates that the dust amount is large.

5 is a flowchart showing a preferred embodiment of the method for displaying the amount of dust of a filter according to the present invention, and the operation of the method and apparatus for displaying the amount of dust of the filter according to the present invention will be described in detail.

In the first step, the microcomputer 50 determines whether the driving selection signal is applied from the key input unit 10. Therefore, when the user turns on the driving switch (not shown) configured in the key input unit 10, the microcomputer 50 detects this (S11).

After the driving signal determination step (S11), the microcomputer 50 compares the indoor temperature transmitted from the temperature sensing unit 40 with the set temperature stored in itself (S12). As a result of the determination of the room temperature and the set temperature, if it is determined that the room temperature is higher than the set temperature, the microcomputer 50 controls the driving of each load (S13). Therefore, the microcomputer 50 drives the compressor (not shown) to circulate the refrigerant in the freezing cycle, and drives an indoor fan (not shown) to suck air in the room and discharge it again. At this time, the sucked indoor air is passed through the filter to remove dust and the like, the temperature is changed by the heat exchange action in the indoor heat exchanger (not shown) is discharged to the room.

After the cooling operation start step (S13), the microcomputer 50 determines whether the cooling operation has elapsed a predetermined time as a time detection signal transmitted from the counter 20 (S14). As a result, when the cooling operation is started and a predetermined time elapses, the microcomputer 50 receives the pulse detection signal of the indoor fan motor (not shown) from the pulse detection unit 60 to count the detected pulse width as N. (S15) (S16). The reference pulse width T (see Fig. 6) is obtained by calculating the average value of the counted N pulse widths (S17). In addition, the microcomputer 50 calculates the set reduction pulse width (ΔT, see FIG. 6) and the detected pulse width (T1, see FIG. 6) of the predetermined reference and compares it with the reference pulse width (T, see FIG. 6). Measure the amount of dust. Such a reference pulse width (T, see Fig. 6) and the pulse width (ΔT, see Fig. 6) reduced in accordance with the dust amount is shown graphically in FIG.

6 is a graph showing a pulse width reduced according to the reference pulse width and the amount of dust.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the microcomputer 50 compares the reference pulse width T with a result obtained by subtracting the pulse reduction width ΔTa from the reference pulse width T (S18). As a result of the comparison, when the calculated value is smaller than the reference pulse width T, the microcomputer 50 turns on the first LED 71 of the display unit 70 (S19). Accordingly, the user may recognize that the amount of dust accumulated in the filter is small as the first LED 71 of the display unit 70 is turned on.

After the first LED 71 is turned on (S19), the microcomputer 50 compares the result value obtained by subtracting the pulse reduction width ΔTb detected from the reference pulse width T with the reference pulse width T. (S20). As a result of the comparison, when the calculated value is smaller than the reference pulse width T, the microcomputer 50 turns on the second LED 72 (S21). Accordingly, the user may recognize that the dust amount of the filter is about medium as the first LED 71 and the second LED 72 are turned on.

After the second LED 72 is turned on (S21), the microcomputer 50 compares the reference pulse width T with a result obtained by subtracting the sensed pulse reduction width ΔTc from the reference pulse width T again ( S22). As a result of the comparison, if the calculated value is smaller than the reference pulse width, the microcomputer 50 turns on the third LED 73 (S23). Accordingly, the user recognizes that a large amount of dust is accumulated in the filter as the first LED 71, the second LED 72, and the third LED 73 are turned on.

After the third LED on step S23, the microcomputer 50 controls the load driver 30 to end the operation of the air conditioner.

According to the present invention as described above, the dust display device and method of the filter improve the accuracy of the device by displaying the dust amount accumulated in the filter step by step, and the user can recognize the cleaning time of the filter accurately. have.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described specific preferred embodiments, and various modifications are possible to those skilled in the art without departing from the gist of the present invention as claimed in the claims. Such changes will fall within the scope of the claims.

Claims (4)

A pulse detector for detecting a pulse applied to an indoor fan motor; A display unit indicating an amount of dust accumulated in the filter; And a microcomputer for controlling the display unit to display the amount of dust accumulated in the filter according to the reduction width of the pulse sensed by the pulse detector. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the amount of dust accumulated in the filter is displayed step by step on the LED included in the display unit. In the filter dust amount display method of the air conditioner comprising a pulse detection unit for detecting a pulse applied to the indoor fan motor and a display unit for displaying the dust amount, Performing a cooling operation when a driving signal is applied and detecting a pulse applied to an indoor fan motor when a predetermined time elapses; Calculating a reference pulse width by calculating the sensed pulse width, and comparing the reference pulse width with a result of subtracting the reduced pulse width from the reference pulse width; And And displaying the dust amount step by step based on the comparison result. The method of claim 4, wherein the displaying of the amount of dust Setting a reference pulse width by obtaining a mean value by detecting a width of a pulse applied to the indoor fan motor; If the result obtained by subtracting the reference pulse width from the pulse reduction width? Ta is smaller than the reference pulse width, turning on the first LED to indicate that the amount of dust is small; If the result obtained by subtracting a predetermined reference pulse width (ΔTb) from the reference pulse width of the pulse is smaller than the reference pulse width, turning on the second LED to indicate that the amount of dust is medium; And And turning on the third LED to indicate that the amount of dust is large when the result obtained by subtracting the reference pulse width ΔTc from the reference pulse width of the pulse is smaller than the reference pulse width. How to display the dust level on the filter.