KR20110073707A - Method for searching pipes in the air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A pipe searching method of an air conditioner is provided to shorten a pipe searching time since indoor units in each group of indoor units are simultaneously searched. CONSTITUTION: A pipe searching method of an air conditioner is as follows. Since among a plurality of distributors(21,22,23), a searching distributor and rest distributors operate in different operation modes, a group of indoor units for each distributor is searched. Since, by the group of indoor units, searching indoor units(31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39) and remaining indoor units operate in different operation modes, it is determined whether the searching indoor units have been connected to which pipes of the corresponding distributor.

Description

Method for searching pipes in the air conditioner

This embodiment relates to a pipe search method of an air conditioner.

In general, an air conditioner circulates a refrigerant to cool or heat an indoor space.

The air conditioner is classified into a single type air conditioner and a multi air conditioner according to the number of connection of the indoor unit. The single air conditioner is connected to one indoor unit to the outdoor unit. The multi air conditioner has a plurality of indoor units connected to one or more outdoor units.

The multi air conditioner includes a distributor for distributing refrigerant to a plurality of indoor units. In the multi air conditioner, a plurality of distributors may be disposed when the number of indoor units is large. In this case, a plurality of valves are disposed in each of the distributors, pipes are connected to each valve, and indoor units are connected to each pipe.

In addition, the multi air conditioner is classified into a switchable air conditioner and a simultaneous air conditioner according to a refrigerant flow method. The switchable air conditioner operates all indoor units in a cooling mode or a heating mode. On the other hand, in the simultaneous air conditioner, some indoor units are operated in a cooling mode and some indoor units are operated in a heating mode.

The air conditioner described above is first commissioned after being installed in a building and before normal operation. During the trial run of the air conditioner, a pipe search operation for searching which indoor unit each pipe is connected to is performed. By such a pipe search operation, each indoor unit can be individually controlled.

However, the conventional pipe search method of the multi air conditioner has the following problems.

The multi air conditioner controls only the valves disposed in one pipe to sequentially perform pipe search by the indoor units. Therefore, when the number of connected indoor units is large, there has been a problem that the pipe search time is significantly increased. In addition, when the length of the connected pipe is long, there was a problem that a search error occurs due to the temperature discrimination decreases during the pipe search.

An object of the present embodiment is to provide a pipe search method of an air conditioner in which the pipe search time is reduced.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a pipe search method of an air conditioner includes a group search step of searching for a group of indoor units for each distributor by operating a different mode of operation of the distributor and the remaining distributors among the plurality of distributors, and the determined indoor unit. For each group, an individual search step of searching for which pipe of the distributor is connected to the indoor unit for the search is performed by driving the operation modes of the indoor unit for the search and the other indoor units differently.

According to the proposed embodiment, since the indoor unit group connected to each distributor is first searched, since one indoor unit is simultaneously searched for each indoor unit group, the pipe search time can be significantly shortened.

In particular, as the number of connected indoor units increases, the pipe search time is significantly shorter than in the related art.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing an air conditioner according to the present embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the air conditioner according to the present embodiment includes an outdoor unit 10 including a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an outdoor temperature sensor 101 that senses an outdoor temperature, and the like. One or more outdoor units 10 may be provided. 1 illustrates that one outdoor unit 10 is provided as an example.

The outdoor unit 10 is connected to one or more distributors 21, 22, 23 by piping. In FIG. 1, for example, three distributors 21, 22, and 23 are connected, but the number of distributors is not limited.

The distributors 21, 22, 23 include a first distributor 21, a second distributor 22, and a third distributor 23. Each distributor 21, 22, 23 is connected in parallel to the outdoor unit 10.

The pipe may include a high pressure pipe through which the compressed refrigerant flows, a liquid pipe through which the condensed refrigerant flows, and a low pressure pipe through which the expanded refrigerant flows.

A plurality of indoor units may be connected to each of the distributors 21, 22, and 23, and the number of indoor units connected to each of the distributors 21, 22, and 23 is not limited. In FIG. 1, for example, two indoor units 31 and 32 are connected to the first distributor 21, three indoor units 33, 34, and 35 are connected to the second distributor 22. It is shown that four indoor units 36, 37, 38, 39 are connected to three distributors 23.

In the description of the present embodiment, the indoor units 31 and 32 connected to the first distributor 21 are called a first indoor unit group, and the indoor units 33, 34, 35 connected to the second distributor 22. ) Will be referred to as a second indoor unit group, and the indoor units 36, 37, 38, and 39 connected to the third distributor 23 will be referred to as a third indoor unit group.

The first indoor unit group includes a first indoor unit 31 and a second indoor unit 32, and the second indoor unit group includes a third indoor unit 33, a fourth indoor unit 34, and a fifth indoor unit 35. ), And the third indoor unit group includes a sixth indoor unit 36, a seventh indoor unit 37, an eighth indoor unit 38, and a ninth indoor unit 39.

Each of the indoor units 31 to 39 includes pipe temperature sensors 311, 321, 331, 341, 351, 361, 371, 381, and 391 which sense the outlet side temperature of the indoor heat exchanger provided therein. .

The temperature sensed by each of the temperature sensors 311 to 391 is transmitted to the controller 102 provided in the outdoor unit 10.

In the case where the air conditioner is to be installed, first, pipes are extended from each of the distributors 21, 22, and 23 and disposed in the respective indoor spaces, and then the indoor units 31 to 39 are respectively connected to the respective pipes. Therefore, it is searched which indoor unit is connected to each pipe before the air conditioner is normally operated.

Hereinafter, a pipe searching method of the air conditioner according to the present embodiment will be described.

2 and 3 are diagrams illustrating a method for searching an indoor unit group for each distributor, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are diagrams for a method for searching an individual indoor unit in the found indoor unit group.

2 and 4 show a search method when the outdoor temperature is greater than or equal to the reference temperature T1, and FIGS. 3 and 5 show a search method when the outdoor temperature is less than the reference temperature T1.

2 to 5, in this embodiment, the pipe is searched in two steps. That is, the indoor unit group corresponding to each of the distributors 21, 22, and 23 is first determined, and then, the individual indoor units 31 to 39 are determined for each of the distributors 21, 22, and 23.

First, referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, when a pipe search signal is input to the controller 102, the controller 102 determines whether a temperature detected by the outdoor temperature sensor 101 is equal to or greater than a reference temperature T1. Will be judged.

If the detected outdoor temperature is greater than or equal to the reference temperature T1, the distributor to be searched is heated and the remaining distributors are cooled. On the other hand, when the sensed outdoor temperature is less than the reference temperature T1, the distributor to be searched is cooled and the remaining distributors are heated.

In detail, referring to FIG. 2, when the sensed outdoor temperature is greater than or equal to the reference temperature T1, first, the first distributor 21 is heated for a reference time, and the second distributor 22 and the third distributor are heated. 23 allows the cooling operation for the reference time.

In this embodiment, the cooling operation of the distributor means that the indoor unit group connected to the distributor is operated to be cooled, and the heating operation of the distributor means that the indoor unit group connected to the distributor is operated to be heated.

When the first distributor 21 is heated and operated, the temperature detected by the pipe temperature sensors of the indoor unit group belonging to the first distributor 21 is transferred to the second distributor 22 and the third distributor 23. It is higher than the temperature detected by the pipe temperature sensors of the indoor unit group.

The control unit 102 registers the indoor units including the pipe temperature sensors higher than the lowest temperature D1 higher than the lowest among the temperatures detected by the pipe temperature sensors as the first indoor unit group belonging to the first distributor 21. do.

In the present embodiment, the first indoor unit 31 and the second indoor unit 32 will be registered as the first indoor unit group.

When the first indoor unit group is searched, the first distributor 21 and the third distributor 23 are cooled and operated for a reference time, and the second distributor 22 is heated for a reference time.

When the second distributor 22 is heated, the temperature detected by the pipe temperature sensors of the indoor unit group belonging to the second distributor 22 may belong to the first distributor 21 and the third distributor 23. It is higher than the temperature detected by the pipe temperature sensors of the indoor unit group.

The control unit 102 registers indoor units including pipe temperature sensors higher than a reference temperature difference D1 higher than the lowest among the temperatures detected by the pipe temperature sensors as a second indoor unit group belonging to the second distributor 22. Done.

In the present embodiment, the third indoor unit 33, the fourth indoor unit 34 and the fifth indoor unit 35 will be registered as a second indoor unit group.

When the first indoor unit group belonging to the first distributor 21 and the second indoor unit group belonging to the second distributor 22 are determined, the remaining indoor units are determined to be the third indoor unit group belonging to the third distributor 23. .

That is, in the present embodiment, the sixth indoor unit to the ninth indoor unit will be registered as the third indoor unit group.

Therefore, when each of the distributors 21, 22, and 23 is referred to as one-time search for cooling or heating operation during the reference time, the present invention searches for determining the indoor unit group belonging to each of the distributors 21, 22, and 23. The number of times may be two (cumulative two reference times). That is, in this embodiment, the number of times for determining the indoor unit group belonging to each distributor is (number of distributors-1) times.

Meanwhile, referring to FIG. 3, when the detected outdoor temperature is less than the reference temperature T1, the indoor unit group is determined in a manner opposite to that described in FIG. 2. Even with this method, the number of times for determining the indoor unit group belonging to each distributor may be two times.

However, the control unit 102 registers the indoor units including the pipe temperature sensors lower than the reference temperature difference (D1) higher than the highest temperature among the temperatures detected by the pipe temperature sensors as a specific indoor unit group.

On the other hand, after the registration of the indoor unit group for each distributor 21, 23, 23 is completed, the individual indoor unit is determined for each distributor.

4 and 5, the controller 102 determines again whether the outdoor temperature detected by the outdoor temperature sensor 101 is equal to or greater than the reference temperature T1.

If the detected outdoor temperature is greater than or equal to the reference temperature T1, the indoor unit to be searched for each distributor is heated and the other indoor units are cooled. On the other hand, when the sensed outdoor temperature is less than the reference temperature T1, the indoor unit to be searched for each distributor is cooled and operated, and the remaining indoor units are heated and operated.

In detail, referring to FIG. 4, when the detected outdoor temperature is greater than or equal to the reference temperature T1, first, one indoor unit is heated for a reference time for each of the distributors 21, 22, and 23, and the remaining indoor unit is referred to. Cool down for hours.

When one indoor unit is heated for each distributor, the temperature detected by the pipe temperature sensors of the indoor unit to be heated is higher than the temperature detected by the pipe temperature sensors of the indoor unit to be cooled.

The control unit 102 registers the indoor units including the pipe temperature sensors having a reference temperature difference D1 higher than the lowest temperature among the temperatures detected by the pipe temperature sensors as belonging to the first indoor unit of each distributor.

In the present embodiment, the first indoor unit 31 connected to the first distributor 21 is searched, the third indoor unit 33 connected to the second distributor 22 is searched, and the sixth indoor unit connected to the third distributor 21 is searched. The indoor unit is searched.

When the first indoor unit 31 connected to the first distributor 21 is searched, the second indoor unit 32 belonging to the first indoor unit group is automatically searched.

After the search for the specific indoor units 31, 33, 36 belonging to each of the distributors 21, 22, 23 is completed, the second indoor unit is heated for each of the distributors 21, 22, 23. Other indoor units are cooled and operated.

At this time, since the search for the indoor units belonging to the first distributor 21 is completed, in the process of searching for the indoor units belonging to another group, the first indoor group groups belonging to the first distributor 21 are cooled like the other indoor units. Can be driven or stopped.

In addition, the controller 102 registers indoor units including pipe temperature sensors higher than a reference temperature difference D1 higher than the lowest temperature among the temperatures detected by the pipe temperature sensors as belonging to the second indoor unit of the distributor.

In the present embodiment, the fourth indoor unit 34 connected to the second distributor 22 is searched, and the seventh indoor unit 37 connected to the third distributor 33 is searched.

When the fourth indoor unit 34 connected to the second distributor 22 is searched, the fifth indoor unit 35 connected to the second distributor 22 is automatically searched.

After the search for the specific indoor units 34 and 37 belonging to each of the distributors 21, 22, and 23 is completed, the second indoor unit is heated and operated for each of the distributors 21, 22, and 23. Drives cooling.

At this time, since the search for the indoor units belonging to the first distributor 21 and the second distributor 22 is completed, the first distributor 21 is used in the process for searching for the indoor units belonging to another distributor (third distributor). And the indoor unit groups belonging to the second distributor 22 may be cooled or stopped like the other indoor units.

The controller 102 registers the indoor units including the pipe temperature sensors higher than the lowest temperature D1 higher than the lowest temperature among the temperatures detected by the pipe temperature sensors as belonging to the third indoor unit of the distributor.

In this embodiment, the eighth indoor unit 38 connected to the third distributor 23 is searched. When the eighth indoor unit 38 connected to the third distributor 23 is searched, the ninth indoor unit 39 connected to the third distributor 23 is automatically searched.

When the individual pipe search is made three times in this way, the search of each indoor unit is completed.

In summary, the pipe search of all the indoor units is completed by two group searches for searching the indoor unit group for each distributor and three individual searches for searching each indoor unit.

Accordingly, when the time for searching for nine indoor units is, for example, compared with the conventional case, assuming that the reference time is 5 minutes, the conventional case requires 45 minutes since nine searches must be performed. However, according to the present embodiment, a total of five searches are performed two times for each group search and three times for each individual search, which takes 25 minutes. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, there is an advantage that the pipe search time is reduced as compared with the prior art.

In particular, as the number of indoor units increases, the pipe search time can be significantly reduced as compared with the related art.

In addition, since the cooling or heating operation of the indoor unit for the search is determined according to the outdoor temperature, the temperature discrimination power can be maximized.

For example, when the outdoor temperature is high, the indoor unit (or indoor unit group) for the search is heated and the remaining indoor unit (or indoor unit group) is cooled and operated to improve the temperature discrimination power of the indoor unit for the search.

Meanwhile, referring to FIG. 5, when the sensed outdoor temperature is less than the reference temperature T1, the individual indoor units are searched in a manner opposite to that described in FIG. 4.

However, the controller 102 registers an indoor unit in each distributor including pipe temperature sensors lower than a reference temperature difference D1 higher than the highest temperature among the temperatures detected by the pipe temperature sensors.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing an air conditioner according to the present embodiment.

2 and 3 are diagrams illustrating a method for searching an indoor unit group for each distributor.

4 and 5 show a method for searching for an individual indoor unit in a group of discovered indoor units.

Claims (8)

In the pipe search method of the air conditioner includes at least one outdoor unit, a plurality of distributors connected to the at least one outdoor unit, each distributor is connected to, Among the plurality of distributors, a group search step of searching for the indoor unit group for each distributor by operating the operation mode of the distributor for the search and the remaining distributors differently, For each indoor group determined, the operation of the indoor unit and the other indoor units for searching is performed differently, so that the pipe search of the air conditioner includes an individual search step for searching which pipe of the distributor is connected to the indoor unit for searching. Way. The method of claim 1, In the group search step, when the outdoor temperature is higher than the reference temperature, the distributor for searching is heated and the remaining distributors are cooled. If the outdoor temperature is less than the reference temperature, the distributor for the search is cooled operation, the remaining distributor is a heating operation method of pipe search of the air conditioner. The method of claim 2, In the group searching step, when the outdoor temperature is greater than or equal to the reference temperature, for searching for indoor units including the pipe temperature sensors higher than the reference temperature difference (D1) higher than the lowest temperature among the temperatures detected by the pipe temperature sensors provided in each indoor unit. Pipe search method of air conditioner judged by indoor unit group belonging to distributor. The method of claim 2, In the group search step, when the outdoor temperature is less than the reference temperature, the distributor for searching the indoor units including the pipe temperature sensors lower than the reference temperature difference (D1) higher than the highest temperature among the temperatures detected by the pipe temperature sensor provided in each indoor unit Pipe search method of the air conditioner judged by the indoor unit group belonging to. The method of claim 1, In the individual search step, when the outdoor temperature is higher than the reference temperature, the indoor unit for the search is operated by heating, the remaining indoor unit is cooled by operation, If the outdoor temperature is less than the reference temperature, the indoor unit for the search is the cooling operation, the remaining indoor unit is a heating operation method of pipe search of the air conditioner. The method of claim 5, In the individual search step, when the outdoor temperature is higher than the reference temperature, the indoor units including the pipe temperature sensors higher than the reference temperature difference (D1) higher than the lowest temperature among the temperature detected by the pipe temperature sensor provided in each indoor unit belongs to each distributor Pipe search method of air conditioner judged as indoor unit. The method of claim 5, In the individual search step, when the outdoor temperature is less than the reference temperature, the indoor units including the pipe temperature sensors lower than the reference temperature difference (D1) lower than the highest temperature among the temperature detected by the pipe temperature sensor provided in each indoor unit belongs to each distributor Pipe search method of air conditioner judged as indoor unit. The method of claim 1, In the individual search step, the searched indoor units are operated in the same mode as the other indoor units, or the pipe search method of the air conditioner is stopped.

Images