WO2023095202A1

WO2023095202A1 - Air conditioner

Info

Publication number: WO2023095202A1
Application number: PCT/JP2021/042972
Authority: WO
Inventors: 賢三浦; 啓伊内
Original assignee: 東芝キヤリア株式会社
Priority date: 2021-11-24
Filing date: 2021-11-24
Publication date: 2023-06-01
Also published as: JPWO2023095202A1; EP4379274A1

Abstract

An air conditioner according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises an outdoor unit, an indoor unit, a pipe, a battery unit, a permission unit, and a valve control unit. The indoor unit cools or heats the interior of a room with the refrigerant supplied from the outdoor unit. The pipe connects the outdoor unit and the indoor unit and allows the refrigerant to flow therethrough. The battery unit supplies power when the power supply from an AC power supply is stopped. A shutoff valve opens and closes the pipe with electric power from the AC power source or from the battery unit. The permission unit permits the shutoff valve to close. The valve control unit closes the shutoff valve with electric power from the battery unit when the supply of electric power from the AC power source to the shutoff valve stops after the permission from the permission unit, and before the permission from the permission unit, maintains the opening of the pipe by the shutoff valve even if the supply of electric power from the AC power source to the shutoff valve stops.

Description

air conditioner

This embodiment relates to an air conditioner.

The refrigerant used in the refrigeration cycle of air conditioners may use flammable refrigerants, including mildly flammable refrigerants, in order to improve air conditioning performance and environmental performance. In such an air conditioner, for example, as disclosed in WO2016/088167, a refrigerant detection unit for detecting refrigerant is provided in a target room to be air-conditioned, and when refrigerant leakage from the refrigeration cycle is detected, , an electric on-off valve, also called a shut-off valve, shuts off a pipe for flowing a refrigerant to an indoor unit that air-conditions the room. However, if a power failure or the like occurs and the power source is cut off, even if the refrigerant leaks, the cutoff valve cannot be driven and the refrigerant leakage cannot be stopped. Therefore, the refrigerant filled in the entire refrigeration cycle including the outdoor unit of the air conditioner is released from the leakage point into the target room.

Therefore, the air conditioner is equipped with a battery unit. As a result, the shutoff valve for shutting off the pipe to the indoor unit is supplied with power from the battery unit to the drive circuit. When the cutoff of power to the cutoff valve is detected, the battery unit supplies electric power to the cutoff valve to close the cutoff valve. As a result, even if the refrigerant leaks during a power outage, since the cutoff valve is already closed, it is possible to prevent a large amount of refrigerant from leaking into the target room. This improves the safety of the air conditioner even during a power failure.

When power is supplied from the battery unit to the shut-off valve to close the shut-off valve when the power is cut off, power is supplied from the power supply to the shut-off valve once after connecting the battery unit in piping, for example, during installation work. After that, if the power supply is cut off for some reason, the cutoff valve is closed using the battery unit as the power supply in response to this power cutoff. Therefore, the piping to the indoor unit is cut off.

In the installation work of an air conditioner, the indoor unit is placed and fixed in a predetermined position such as behind the ceiling, and the indoor unit and the outdoor unit installed outdoors are connected with a refrigerant pipe called a connecting pipe. do. Further, it is necessary to wire to connect between the indoor unit and the outdoor unit and between the indoor unit and the remote control unit. In addition, each device must be connected to a power source to ensure proper communication between these devices. For this reason, in installation work, power-on and power-off are often repeated in each device.

However, in the installation work, after connecting the refrigerant pipes to each device, in order to exhaust the air existing inside the connecting pipes and the pipes such as the heat exchangers housed in the indoor unit, these refrigerant circulation It is necessary to evacuate the piping that will be the path. However, when the cutoff valve is closed, the air in the indoor unit that is cut off by the cutoff valve cannot be exhausted. As a result, there is a risk that air will be mixed with the refrigerant during subsequent operation, resulting in failure of normal operation or failure of the air conditioner. In addition, depending on the length of the piping, the refrigerant may be additionally charged into the refrigerating cycle after vacuuming during the installation work. However, if the cutoff valve is closed, the refrigerant cannot be charged into the indoor unit, and a problem arises in that normal charging of the refrigerant becomes difficult. In order to prevent such a situation from occurring, a procedure of connecting the battery unit after completion of the installation work should be performed. However, shut-off valves are often installed in the middle of pipes in the ceiling or under the floor near the indoor unit. And the battery unit will be installed near the isolation valve. Therefore, there is a problem that it takes a lot of time and effort to connect the battery units after all the installation work is completed.

Therefore, in the event of a refrigerant leak or power outage, the shutoff valve is activated to improve safety, while the operation of the shutoff valve is prohibited until the installation work is completed, and the refrigerant piping is vacuumed and the refrigerant is properly charged. An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner capable of

An air conditioner according to one embodiment includes an outdoor unit, an indoor unit, piping, a battery unit, a permission unit, and a valve control unit.
The indoor unit cools or heats the interior of the room with the refrigerant supplied from the outdoor unit. The piping connects between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit, through which refrigerant flows. The battery unit supplies power when the power supply from the AC power supply is stopped. The shutoff valve opens and closes the pipe with power from an AC power supply or power from a battery unit. The permitting unit permits the shutoff valve to close. When the supply of power from the AC power source to the cutoff valve is stopped after the permission from the permission unit, the valve control unit closes the cutoff valve with power from the battery unit. To keep the piping open by the shutoff valve even if the power supply to the shutoff valve is stopped.

FIG. 1 is a refrigeration cycle diagram of an air conditioner according to the first embodiment, FIG. 2 is a schematic control block diagram of the air conditioner according to the first embodiment, FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram of the indoor unit and valve control unit of the air conditioner according to the first embodiment, FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the procedure in the installation work of the air conditioner according to the first embodiment; FIG. 5 is a control flowchart showing the flow of processing in the valve control circuit of the air conditioner according to the first embodiment; FIG. 6 is a control flowchart following the control flowchart of FIG. FIG. 7 is a control flowchart showing the flow of processing in the battery control unit of the air conditioner according to the first embodiment; FIG. 8 is a circuit block diagram of the indoor unit and the valve control unit in the air conditioner according to the second embodiment, FIG. 9 is a control flowchart showing the flow of processing in the valve control circuit of the air conditioner according to the second embodiment; FIG. 10 is a control flowchart following the control flowchart of FIG. FIG. 11 is a control flow chart showing the flow of processing in the battery control section of the air conditioner according to the second embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of an air conditioner will be described based on the drawings. Hereinafter, in a plurality of embodiments and modified examples, substantially the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof are omitted.
(First embodiment)
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the air conditioner 10 includes an outdoor unit 11, an indoor unit 12, a pipe 13, an energization detection unit 14, a refrigerant detection unit 15, a cutoff valve 16, a battery unit 17, and a valve control unit 18. ing. These outdoor unit 11, indoor unit 12 and pipe 13 constitute a refrigeration cycle using a refrigerant as shown in FIG. The pipe 13 is also called a connecting pipe. In the case of the first embodiment, one outdoor unit 11 is a so-called multi-type air conditioner 10 connected to a plurality of indoor units 12 via pipes 13 . However, the air conditioner 10 may be a so-called single type in which one outdoor unit 11 is connected to one indoor unit 12 . The outdoor unit 11 includes a compressor 21, a heat exchanger 22, an expansion valve 23, and an outdoor fan (not shown) that promotes heat exchange between the heat exchanger 22 and the outside air. The outdoor unit 11 is provided outside a target room to be air-conditioned, usually outdoors. As the refrigerant, for example, slightly flammable HFC-R32 or the like is used. The refrigerant is filled in the outdoor unit 11, the refrigerating cycle components in the indoor unit 12, and the piping 13, which constitute the refrigerating cycle.

The indoor unit 12 is provided in each of one or more target rooms. The target room is a space such as a room to be air-conditioned by the air conditioner 10 . The indoor unit 12 has a heat exchanger 25, an expansion valve (not shown), an indoor fan, and the like. The indoor unit 12 uses the low-temperature or high-temperature refrigerant supplied from the outdoor unit 11 to perform cooling operation or heating operation for the target room.

The pipe 13 connects between the outdoor unit 11 and the indoor unit 12 . The refrigerant circulates between the outdoor unit 11 and the indoor unit 12 through the pipe 13 as the refrigeration cycle operates. The piping 13 generally has two lines, a liquid passageway and a gas passageway. Liquid passages are so-called liquid pipes through which mainly liquefied refrigerant flows. The gas passage is a so-called gas pipe through which mainly vaporized refrigerant flows. However, in the case of a so-called "cooling and heating simultaneous multi-air conditioning system" in which a plurality of indoor units 12 are connected to one outdoor unit 11 and each indoor unit 12 can switch between cooling operation and heating operation, the pipe 13 is at intermediate pressure. You may have three passages which added piping. In the example of this specification, the number of pipes 13 is assumed to be two for ease of explanation.

The outdoor unit 11 has an outdoor controller 31 as shown in FIG. The outdoor control unit 31 is composed of, for example, a microcomputer having a CPU, ROM, and RAM (not shown), and controls the outdoor unit 11 by a computer program stored in the ROM. The indoor unit 12 has an indoor controller 32 . The indoor control unit 32 is composed of a microcomputer having a CPU, a ROM and a RAM, similarly to the outdoor control unit 31, and controls the indoor unit 12 by a computer program stored in the ROM. Each indoor control unit 32 and the outdoor control unit 31 are communicably connected by a communication line L1, and exchange information and give instructions to each other.

The outdoor unit 11 is supplied with power from a commercial three-phase AC power source 33, for example. The indoor unit 12 is supplied with power from, for example, a commercial single-phase AC power source 34 . The indoor unit 12 is connected by wire to a remote control unit 35, which is a so-called remote controller. The remote control unit 35 receives input for operating the indoor unit 12 . The remote control unit 35 is connected to the indoor control unit 32 by, for example, two communication lines L2. The communication line L2 is used both as a communication line and as a power line. Accordingly, operating power for the remote control unit 35 is supplied from the indoor unit 12 . The remote control unit 35 receives inputs such as start of operation of the indoor unit 12, stop of operation, air conditioning temperature, humidity, air volume, and the like. The indoor controller 32 operates the indoor unit 12 based on an input from the remote controller 35 . The indoor unit 12 has a rectifier circuit 36 such as an AC/DC converter as shown in FIG. 3, for example. Electric power supplied from the power supply 34 is rectified and high-voltageized by the rectifier circuit 36, and supplied as a DC power supply to the indoor control unit 32, the remote control unit 35, and the refrigerant detection unit 15, which will be described later.

The refrigerant detection unit 15 is composed of, for example, a gas sensor, a detection judgment circuit, a notification circuit including a communication function, etc., and detects refrigerant leakage in the target room. In the case of this embodiment, the refrigerant uses slightly flammable R32. Therefore, in order to ensure safety, the refrigerant detection unit 15 detects leakage of this refrigerant into the target chamber. On the other hand, if the volume of the target room is large, even if the refrigerant leaks, the concentration of the refrigerant in the air will be low and the influence of the leakage will be small. Therefore, the refrigerant detection unit 15 is not provided in all the indoor units 12, but may be provided in the indoor unit 12 of the target room having a relatively small volume where the influence of refrigerant leakage is large. Although the refrigerant detection unit 15 is housed inside the indoor unit 12 in this embodiment, it may be attached to the wall surface of the target room outside the indoor unit 12 . In other words, the coolant detection unit 15 may be provided at a position where leakage of the coolant can be appropriately detected. The refrigerant detector 15 is electrically connected to the indoor controller 32 . When the refrigerant detection unit 15 detects refrigerant leakage, the refrigerant detection unit 15 outputs a specific electric signal to the indoor control unit 32 via the communication line L2 in order to notify that effect. Upon receiving the refrigerant leakage signal, the indoor controller 32 notifies the valve controller 18 to that effect via the communication line L3.

The shutoff valve 16 is provided in the middle of the pipe 13 as shown in FIG. 1 and opens and closes the pipe 13 . Specifically, the cutoff valve 16 is provided on the inlet side of the indoor unit 12 to which the refrigerant detection unit 15 is attached, that is, on the outdoor unit 11 side. The shut-off valve 16 is electrically opened and closed by being driven by the valve driving circuit 45 based on an instruction from the valve control section 18 . The shutoff valve 16 shuts off the refrigerant from flowing into the target indoor unit 12 by shutting off the pipe 13 . Since the refrigerant is combustible as described above, when leakage to the target room is detected, the shutoff valve 16 shuts off the pipe 13 connected to the indoor unit 12 of the target room where the leak is detected, and Refrigerant flow to machine 12 is stopped. A shutoff valve 16 is provided in each of the passages forming the pipe 13 to separate the indoor unit 12 from the refrigerating cycle. That is, if there are two pipes 13, two cutoff valves 16 are required, and the plurality of cutoff valves 16 are synchronously opened and closed by the valve driving circuit 45. FIG. The shutoff valve 16 can be electrically controlled to open and close, and a pulse motor valve capable of fully closing the refrigerant passage, a so-called PMV, or a ball valve is used.

The battery unit 17 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is a small box-shaped housing. The battery unit 17 accommodates therein an energization detection unit 14 for detecting the presence or absence of energization of the power source 34, in other words, detecting a power failure, a battery 41 and a battery control unit 42 . The battery 41 rectifies and stores AC power supplied from the same commercial single-phase AC power supply 34 as the indoor unit 12 and the valve control unit 18 . Although the battery 41 and the valve control unit 18 are preferably supplied with power from the same AC power supply, the indoor unit 12 may be supplied with power from an AC power supply separate from these devices. The battery 41 is various secondary batteries and capacitors that can be charged and discharged. The battery control unit 42 is composed of, for example, a microcomputer having a CPU, a ROM and a RAM that operates on the power of the power supply 34 or the battery, and executes a computer program stored in the ROM to charge and discharge the battery 41. It controls the operation of the battery unit 17 .
The refrigerant detection unit 15 for detecting refrigerant leakage and the battery unit 17 for ensuring the operation of the shutoff valve 16 during a power failure increase the safety of the air conditioner 10 as security devices.

The valve control section 18 has a valve control circuit 44 , a valve drive circuit 45 and a switch section 55 . The valve control circuit 44 is composed of, for example, a microcomputer having a CPU, ROM and RAM, and controls opening and closing of the cutoff valve 16 by executing a computer program stored in the ROM. The valve drive circuit 45 is electrically connected to the shutoff valve 16 . The valve drive circuit 45 controls energization of the cutoff valve 16 according to instructions from the valve control circuit 44 to drive the cutoff valve 16 and open and close the cutoff valve 16 . As shown in FIG. 3, the valve control circuit 44 and the valve drive circuit 45 both receive power from a rectifier circuit 46 such as an AC/DC converter connected to the power supply 34 via a DC power supply line M1 to operate. . The DC power line M1 is also connected in parallel with a DC power line M2 that is a DC discharge line for the battery 41 . Therefore, even if the power source 34 is cut off, the valve control circuit 44 and the valve driving circuit 45 can continue to operate by being supplied with operating power as long as the battery 41 is discharged from the battery control unit 42 . The DC output voltage of the rectifier circuit 46 and the DC output voltage due to the discharge of the battery 41 are substantially the same, or the output voltage on the battery 41 side is slightly lower within the operating voltage range of the valve control circuit 44 and the valve drive circuit 45. is set. A diode D is connected to the DC output line M<b>2 on the “+output” side of the battery control unit 42 in the forward direction toward the rectifier circuit 46 . This prevents the output voltage of the rectifier circuit 46 from being reversely applied to the battery output terminal of the battery control section 42 .

When the refrigerant detection unit 15 detects refrigerant leakage, the valve control unit 18 receives notification of the refrigerant leakage from the indoor control unit 32 via the communication line L3 and operates the valve drive circuit 45 . As a result, the valve control unit 18 closes the shutoff valve 16 to shut off the pipe 13 . Furthermore, when the power supply 34 is not energized after the conditions are satisfied as described later, the valve control unit 18 drives the cutoff valve 16 with electric power from the battery unit 17 to cut off the pipe 13 . In the case of using a flammable refrigerant, when leakage of the refrigerant is detected, the cutoff valve 16 is required to close even if the power supply 34 to the valve control section 18 is cut off. Therefore, the valve control unit 18 receives electric power supply from the battery unit 17 in advance to drive the shutoff valve 16 and shut off the pipe 13 in the event of a power failure. The switch unit 55 is provided in the middle of the power supply line P2 between the power supply 34 and the battery unit 17, and interrupts the energization from the power supply 34 to the battery unit 17. As shown in FIG. In the case of the first embodiment, the switch section 55 is a normally open relay inserted into one side of the power supply line P2. The switch unit 55 may be a relay inserted in both power lines P2, or the relay may be replaced with a semiconductor switch.

The valve control unit 18, the shutoff valve 16, and the battery unit 17 are incorporated in a shutoff valve unit 47, which is a box-shaped housing, so as to be installed in the ceiling space, under the floor, or in the piping installation space. The shut-off valve unit 47 incorporates only the shut-off valve 16 and the valve control unit 18, is installed separately from the battery unit 17, and is connected to the single-phase AC power supply 34 and the valve control unit 18 by wiring outside. You may do so.

In addition to the above, the air conditioner 10 includes a permission unit 50 and an input unit 51 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 .
In the case of this embodiment, the permitting section 50 is provided in the indoor control section 32 . The permitting unit 50 is implemented in software by executing a computer program on the microcomputer of the indoor control unit 32, for example. The permitting unit 50 may be realized by hardware or cooperation between software and hardware. The permitting unit 50 permits the closing operation of the cutoff valve 16 that opens and closes the pipe 13 .

When the battery unit 17 is electrically connected, the valve control unit 18 is in a state in which the shutoff valve 16 can be closed by the power supplied from the battery unit 17 even when the power source 34 is not energized. On the other hand, the valve control unit 18 may close the shutoff valve 16 with the electric power of the battery unit 17 if the energized state is shut off for some reason during the installation work of the air conditioner 10 . In this case, the pipe 13 is shut off by the shutoff valve 16 . If the pipe 13 is shut off by the shutoff valve 16, vacuuming and refrigerant charging are prevented during the installation work of the air conditioner 10. FIG. Therefore, the valve control unit 18 keeps the switch unit 55 in an open state until permission is given from the permission unit 50, and cuts off the energization from the power source 34 to the battery unit 17. FIG. Therefore, the valve control section 18 does not close the shutoff valve 16 until permission is given from the permission section 50 . When there is permission from the permission unit 50, the valve control unit 18 turns on the switch unit 55 to shut off the power supply to the power supply 34, that is, to close the shutoff valve 16 during a power failure, that is, to shut off the pipe 13 by the shutoff valve 16. becomes. Note that the permission unit 50 is not limited to the indoor control unit 32, and is provided in other control units such as the remote control unit 35 and the outdoor control unit 31 that can be indirectly connected to the valve control unit 18 and the valve control circuit 44 by communication. may be Furthermore, the permitting section 50 may be provided at a plurality of these locations.

The input unit 51 receives an input of a permission instruction from an operator who installs and installs the air conditioner 10 . The input unit 51 is, for example, a mechanical switch or a software switch. It is desirable that the input unit 51 can be operated only by the installation operator of the air conditioner 10 . That is, it is desirable that the input unit 51 requires a special operation or is arranged at a position where the user cannot operate it, so as not to operate it by a normal user of the air conditioner 10. . The installation worker of the air conditioner 10 inputs a permission instruction to the valve control section 18 through the input section 51 . That is, when a permission instruction is input from the operator through the input unit 51, the permission unit 50 transmits the permission instruction to the valve control unit 18 through the communication line L3 in order to permit the shutoff of the piping 13 by the shutoff valve 16. It is transmitted to the valve control circuit 44 .

The valve control unit 18 is in a state where the shutoff valve 16 opens the pipe 13 in the initial state when the air conditioner 10 is shipped. For example, when performing installation work for the air conditioner 10, the air conditioner 10 and the power supplies 33 and 34 are electrically disconnected. Therefore, the indoor unit 12 of the air conditioner 10 is not supplied with power from the power supply 34 , that is, is not energized from the power supply 34 . As a result, the shut-off valve 16 maintains its initial state and opens the pipe 13 . When the battery unit 17 is connected to the valve control unit 18 or the indoor unit 12 is connected to the power supply 34 at any time during installation work or repair of the air conditioner 10, the shutoff valve 16 is closed. is operable by the power supplied. Therefore, the shutoff valve 16 may shut off the pipe 13 depending on the conditions. On the other hand, the air conditioner 10 needs to reduce the pressure in the pipe 13, that is, to draw a vacuum in order to fill the refrigerant. That is, when the refrigerant is charged, the vacuum pump 52 is connected to a predetermined position as shown in FIG. 1, and the pressure in the pipe 13 is reduced. In this case, it is required to sufficiently depressurize the pipe 13 and remove the air remaining in the pipe 13 . If the pipe 13 is shut off by the shutoff valve 16 during this vacuuming operation, air remains in the pipe 13 and the indoor unit 12 . Therefore, in the present embodiment, the valve control unit 18 does not drive the cutoff valve 16 and keeps the pipe 13 open until receiving the permission instruction from the permission unit 50 . Thus, the pipe 13 is kept open until the installation operator of the air conditioner 10 operates the input unit 51 to permit the operation of the cutoff valve 16 . Therefore, evacuation and additional charging of refrigerant can be easily performed. A specific control mechanism for carrying out this operation will be described.

In the case of the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. The energization detection unit 14 detects whether power is supplied from the power source 34 to the battery unit 17 , that is, whether power is supplied from the power source 34 to the valve control unit 18 . The energization detector 14 is composed of, for example, a photocoupler connected to the output side of a full-wave rectifier, and uses a so-called zero-cross detection circuit for detecting "zero-cross" of the voltage of the power supply 34 . The output of the energization detection unit 14 is input to the battery control unit 42 . The battery control unit 42 determines that there is power supply when the power supply detection unit 14 detects a "zero cross" during the half-cycle period of the AC power frequency. On the other hand, the battery control unit 42 determines that the power source 34 has been cut off, ie, a power outage, if the "zero cross" of the power source 34 is not detected even after the half-cycle period of the AC power source frequency has passed from the above-described state of energization. . As described above, the battery control unit 42 can operate when power is supplied from either the power supply 34 or the battery 41 . Therefore, even if the power supply 34 is cut off, the battery control unit 42 can operate as long as the battery 41 has electric power. Note that the battery control unit 42 may use only the battery 41 as a power source. Further, the energization detection unit 14 may be configured to include the above-described power cutoff determination in the battery control unit 42 . In this case, the energization detection unit 14 independently inputs the determination result of energization and cutoff of the power supply 34 to the battery control unit 42 . Further, here, an example has been described in which the determination of whether to turn on or off the power supply 34 is made using the periodic occurrence of "zero crossings" of the voltage of the power supply 34. FIG. However, the determination of whether to turn on or off the power supply 34 may be detected by other methods such as detection of the voltage of the power supply 34, for example.

In the case of the first embodiment, the permitting unit 50 permits power supply from the battery unit 17 to the shutoff valve 16 by permitting energization from the power supply 34 to the battery 41 of the battery unit 17 . The valve control circuit 44 does not turn on the switch section 55 until there is a permission instruction from the permission section 50 . Therefore, the battery unit 17 is not supplied with power from the power source 34, and the battery unit 17 is not charged. Furthermore, the battery unit 17 does not detect power interruption even if the battery 41 is sufficiently charged at the time of shipment. This is because the energization detection unit 14 and the battery control unit 42 detect that energization from the power source 34 is stopped after energization once, and judge that the power is cut off. For this reason, it is not determined that the power supply has been turned off when the power supply 34 is not energized even once.

As a result, power is not supplied from the battery unit 17 to the valve control circuit 44 and the valve drive circuit 45 of the valve control unit 18 until the permission instruction is issued from the permission unit 50, and the shutoff valve 16 operates. do not. On the other hand, when there is a permission instruction from the permission unit 50, the switch unit 55 is turned on, the power source 34 is connected to the battery unit 17, charging of the battery 41 is started, and power is supplied from the battery 41 to the cutoff valve 16. It becomes possible. The battery control unit 42 supplies power from the battery 41 to the valve control unit 18, that is, the valve control circuit 44 and the valve drive circuit 45, when the energization detection unit 14 detects the stop of the power supply from the power source 34 after the permission instruction. . As a result, the shutoff valve 16 is operable by the valve drive circuit 45 with power from the battery 41 even when power is not supplied from the power supply 34 . As a result, when the power supply 34 is cut off after the permission instruction from the permission unit 50 , the valve control unit 18 uses the electric power supplied from the battery 41 to cut off the pipe 13 with the valve control circuit 44 and the valve driving unit 18 . Circuit 45 drives isolation valve 16 . After the shutdown valve 16 has been closed by detecting the interruption of the power supply 34, the battery control unit 42 detects the re-energization after the interruption of the power supply 34 by the energization detection unit 14, the valve control circuit of the valve control unit 18 44 via the communication line L4. As a result, the valve control unit 18 enters a state in which the cutoff valve 16 can be opened. There are two types of energization state signals regarding energization sent from the battery control unit 42 to the valve control circuit 44: a "discharge stop" signal indicating energization and a "discharging" signal indicating no energization. The battery control unit 42 determines that the power supply 34 has started to re-energize when the energization state signal changes from "discharging" to "discharging stopped".

When the cutoff valve 16 is closed, the operation of the air conditioner 10 is stopped. Therefore, when the valve control circuit 44 is newly instructed to start operation from the indoor unit 12 of the air conditioner 10 via the communication line L3 after the determination of re-energization, the valve control circuit 44 operates the valve drive circuit 45 to open the shutoff valve 16. do. On the other hand, the closing of the shutoff valve 16 based on the detection of refrigerant leakage is not opened unless inspection and special operation by the repairer are performed after inspection, confirmation and repair of refrigerant leakage.

Next, the flow of the installation work of the air conditioner 10, that is, the procedure will be described with reference to FIG.
The air conditioner 10 is installed as equipment in a building or the like. In this case, the outdoor unit 11 and the indoor unit 12 of the air conditioner 10 are installed at preset positions in the facility (F101). Subsequently, the air conditioner 10 is connected to piping and wiring by the installation operator (F102). The pipe 13 connects the outdoor unit 11 and the indoor unit 12 . Further, the wiring includes a power line connecting the power source 33 and the outdoor unit 11, a power source 34 and the indoor unit 12, a communication line L1 between the outdoor unit 11 and the indoor unit 12, and a communication line L1 between the remote control unit 35 and the indoor unit 12. Various wirings such as L2 are included. The cutoff valve 16 is in a state in which the pipe 13 is opened as an initial state at the time of shipment. That is, the air conditioner 10 is installed as equipment in a state where the shutoff valve 16 keeps the pipe 13 open.

A security device is attached to the air conditioner 10 to ensure safety (F103). In the case of this embodiment, the safety device is the cutoff valve unit 47 including the refrigerant detection section 15, the valve control section 18 and the battery unit 17 as described above. Next, a power line is connected between the power supply 34 and the cutoff valve unit 47 . Further, a communication line L2 between the refrigerant detection unit 15 and the indoor unit 12, a communication line L3 between the indoor unit 12 and the cutoff valve unit 47, and a communication line between the valve control unit 18 in the cutoff valve unit 47 and the battery unit 17 The wiring of L4 is connected and installation of a security device is completed. Note that the procedures of F102 and F103 are not restricted in order and may be executed in parallel. If the

power sources

33 and 34 are turned on at the time of F103, each part of the air conditioner 10 can communicate. In this case, even if the power supply 34 is cut off after this, the permission unit 50 does not output a permission instruction to the valve control unit 18 . Therefore, the switch section 55 is kept off, that is, in an open state. Therefore, the energization detection unit 14 does not detect that the power supply 34 has been cut off, and power is not supplied from the battery unit 17 to the valve control unit 18 . As a result, the valve control unit 18 does not operate, and the pipe 13 is kept open without closing the cutoff valve 16 .

Next, the operator who installs the air conditioner 10 determines whether or not the connection of the pipe 13 has been completed and the vacuum can be drawn. When it becomes possible to evacuate (F104: Yes), the installation worker of the air conditioner 10 evacuates the indoor unit 12 and the pipe 13 (F105). As shown in FIG. 1, the vacuum pump 52 is connected to a part of the pipe 13 with the valve of the pipe 13 on the outdoor unit 11 side closed, and the refrigeration cycle components in the pipe 13 and the indoor unit 12 are removed over several hours, for example. evacuate. When the vacuuming of F105 is completed, the installation worker removes the vacuum pump from the outdoor unit 11, and then opens the valve on the outdoor unit 11 side to the pipe 13 side to connect the refrigeration cycle. Furthermore, depending on installation conditions such as a long pipe length, the refrigerant is additionally charged into the refrigerating cycle through the valve of the outdoor unit 11 in F106. If the length of the pipe 13 is short and the amount of refrigerant charged in the outdoor unit 11 from the beginning is sufficient, the additional charging of refrigerant F106 is omitted. Even during this evacuation and additional charging of the refrigerant, the cutoff valve 16 is not permitted to operate, and the pipe 13 is open. Therefore, the outdoor unit 11, the indoor unit 12, and the pipe 13 can be evacuated without any trouble, and the refrigerant can be easily filled.

Next, the installation worker of the air conditioner 10 confirms that each power line and communication line are connected, and operates the breaker or the like to turn on the power supplies 33 and 34 (F107). Then, the installation operator operates the input unit 51 to issue a permission instruction from the permission unit 50 (F108). Upon receiving this instruction, the valve control unit 18 determines that the cutoff valve 16 is in an operable state, that is, the pipe 13 can be cut off. As a result, the safety device starts to operate, and the refrigerant detector 15, cutoff valve 16 and battery unit 17 start to operate normally (S109). When the power source 34 is cut off after this permission instruction is issued, the valve control unit 18 closes the cutoff valve 16 and cuts off the pipe 13 using the battery 41 as the power source. At this time, evacuation and refrigerant charging have been completed, and there is no problem even if the shutoff valve 16 is closed. According to the above procedure, the permission instruction is issued after the evacuation and refrigerant charging are completed as described above. Therefore, there is no problem in drawing a vacuum and charging the refrigerant. When the power source 34 is cut off after the permission instruction is issued, the valve control unit 18 and the valve drive circuit 45 operate using the battery 41 as a power source to drive the cutoff valve 16 and cut off the pipe 13 . When the power supply 34 is cut off, power is not supplied to the indoor unit 12 and the refrigerant detection unit 15 . Therefore, even if a refrigerant leak occurs, the refrigerant detection unit 15 may not be able to detect the refrigerant. However, in this case, the shutoff valve 16 is driven in advance to shut off the pipe 13 when the power supply 34 is shut off. Therefore, even if refrigerant leakage should occur during a power failure, the flow of the refrigerant to the indoor unit 12 is blocked, and the safety of the air conditioner 10 is improved.

Subsequently, the installation worker performs a test run of the air conditioner 10 (F110). That is, the test operation of the air conditioner 10 is performed with the refrigerant detection unit 15, the shutoff valve 16, and the battery unit 17 enabled.
Through the above procedure, the air conditioner 10 undergoes a series of installation, evacuation, refrigerant charging, and trial operation, and is ready for operation.

Next, the control operation by the valve control circuit 44 of the valve control unit 18 according to the first embodiment will be described based on FIGS. 5 and 6, and the control operation by the battery control unit 42 will be described based on FIG. Control by the valve control circuit 44 and control by the battery control section 42 are executed in parallel.

(Control by valve control circuit 44)
When the valve control circuit 44 in the valve control unit 18 starts operating, it determines whether or not the refrigerant detection unit 15 has detected leakage of the refrigerant (S201). Specifically, it is determined whether or not notification of the occurrence of refrigerant leakage has been input from the indoor controller 32 of the indoor unit 12 to the valve control circuit 44 via the communication line L2. When the valve control circuit 44 detects the occurrence of refrigerant leakage (S201: Yes), the valve control circuit 44 operates the valve drive circuit 45 to close the shutoff valve 16 and shut off the pipe 13 (S202). . In this case, the valve control circuit 44 closes the cutoff valve 16 of the indoor unit 12 provided in the target room in which the refrigerant leakage is detected. In addition, when a plurality of indoor units 12 are provided with shutoff valves 16 , the valve control circuit 44 may close the shutoff valves 16 of all the indoor units 12 .

Subsequently, the valve control circuit 44 determines whether or not there is a recovery instruction (S203). The recovery instruction is issued when it is determined that the operation of the air conditioner 10 can be recovered by taking preset safety measures such as repairing refrigerant leakage. The recovery instruction is issued by the repair/inspection person of the air conditioner 10 by arbitrary means such as a mechanical switch (not shown), a software switch, or an input from the remote control unit 35 . When the valve control circuit 44 determines that there is a recovery instruction (S203: Yes), it drives the cutoff valve 16 to open the pipe 13 (S204). That is, when there is a recovery instruction, it is considered that the safety of the operation has been secured, so the pipe 13 is opened and the normal air conditioning operation is resumed. At this time, the valve control circuit 44 closes the cutoff valve 16 via the valve drive circuit 45 to open the pipe 13 . On the other hand, when the valve control circuit 44 determines that there is no recovery instruction (S203: No), it waits until there is a recovery instruction. That is, when there is no recovery instruction, the valve control circuit 44 maintains the state in which the pipe 13 is shut off by the shutoff valve 16 because it is considered that safe operation is not sufficiently ensured.

When the valve control circuit 44 detects no refrigerant leakage in S201 (S201: No), the permitting instruction from the permitting unit 50 permitting closing of the shutoff valve 16 during a power failure, that is, the operation in F103 in the procedure of FIG. It is determined whether or not there is (S205). Specifically, the valve control circuit 44 determines whether or not a permission instruction has arrived from the indoor control unit 32 to the valve control circuit 44 via the communication line L3.

When the permission instruction is given (S205: Yes), the valve control circuit 44 turns on the switch section 55 of the battery unit 17 (S206). Thereby, the power supply 34 and the battery 41 of the battery unit 17 are electrically connected. Therefore, power is supplied to the battery 41 from the power supply 34 . On the other hand, if there is no instruction to start operation (S205: No), the process returns to S201 and these processes are repeated. At the beginning of installation of the air conditioner 10, normally S201 is NO, S205 is YES, and the process goes through S206 to step S207 in FIG. On the other hand, if leakage is detected at the time of installation (S201: Yes), the processes of steps 202 and 203 are executed.

After turning on the switch section 55, the valve control circuit 44 determines whether or not the cutoff valve 16 is closed (S207). Here, when the valve control circuit 44 determines that the shutoff valve 16 is closed at that time to shut off the pipe 13 (S207: Yes), it determines whether or not the battery 41 is discharging (S208). ). Whether or not the battery 41 is discharging is determined by an energization state signal sent from the battery control section 42 via the communication line L4. That is, if the energization state signal is "discharge stop", the battery 41 is not discharging. On the other hand, if the energization state signal is "discharging", the battery 41 is discharging. When the valve control circuit 44 determines that the battery 41 is discharging (S208: Yes), it determines whether the battery 41 has stopped discharging, that is, whether the energization state signal has changed from "discharging" to "discharging stopped". (S209). When the valve control circuit 44 determines that the discharge of the battery 41 has not stopped (S209: No), it waits until the discharge stops, and the cutoff valve 16 is kept closed.

When the valve control circuit 44 determines that the discharge of the battery 41 has stopped, ie, that the power has been restored (S209: Yes), it determines whether or not refrigerant leakage has been detected (S210). When the valve control circuit 44 determines that no refrigerant leakage has been detected (S210: No), it determines whether or not there has been an instruction to open the valve (S211). That is, the valve control circuit 44 determines whether or not there is a valve open instruction to open the pipe 13 by the cutoff valve 16 when no refrigerant leakage is detected at the time of restoration from power failure. The valve opening instruction is an instruction to start operation of the air conditioner 10, and the valve control circuit 44 is sent from the indoor control unit 32 via the communication line L3 by the user of the air conditioner 10 operating the remote control unit 35 or the like to start operation. is input to When the valve control circuit 44 determines that there is an instruction to open the valve (S211: Yes), it operates the valve drive circuit 45, drives the cutoff valve 16 to open it, opens the pipe 13 (S212), and proceeds to S207. return.

After this, the air conditioner 10 will start operating. On the other hand, if the valve control circuit 44 determines in S211 that there is no valve opening instruction, that is, that the air conditioning operation is being stopped (S211: No), the valve control circuit 44 returns to S210 and returns to S210. Wait for the valve opening instruction. On the other hand, when refrigerant leakage is detected in S210 (S210: Yes), the process returns to S207, and the shutoff valve 16 keeps the pipe 13 closed.

When the valve control circuit 44 determines in S208 that the battery 41 is not discharging (S208: No), it determines whether or not there is a recovery instruction (S213). The recovery instruction is the same as in S203. Here, if the battery 41 is not discharging in S208, it means that the shutoff valve 16 is closed due to detection of refrigerant leakage. The cutoff valve 16 is not opened without an instruction. When there is a recovery instruction (S213: Yes), the valve control circuit 44 proceeds to S212 and opens the pipe 13 by the cutoff valve 16. On the other hand, if there is no recovery instruction (S213: No), the valve control circuit 44 waits until there is a recovery instruction. Therefore, in the air conditioner 10, the shutoff valve 16 remains closed and the air conditioning operation cannot be started until a recovery instruction is given, so that safety can be ensured.

When the valve control circuit 44 determines in S207 that the shutoff valve 16 has not shut off the pipe 13 (S207: No), it then determines whether or not refrigerant leakage has been detected (S214). That is, when the valve control circuit 44 determines in S207 that the shutoff valve 16 has opened the pipe 13, it continues detection of refrigerant leakage. When the valve control circuit 44 detects refrigerant leakage in S214 (S214: Yes), the shutoff valve 16 shuts off the pipe 13 (S215), and the process returns to S207. On the other hand, when the valve control circuit 44 determines that no refrigerant leakage has been detected (S214: No), it determines whether the battery 41 is being discharged (S216). When the valve control circuit 44 determines that the battery 41 is discharging (S216: Yes), the process proceeds to S215, and the shutoff valve 16 shuts off the pipe 13. In this case, power is supplied from the battery 41 to the valve drive circuit 45 for driving the cutoff valve 16 . It should be noted that the valve control circuit 44 itself, which executes the procedure in this flow chart, is also operating with power supplied from the battery 41 at this time. It should be noted that, after a power failure such as a power failure occurs, it takes several tens of hours until the power detection unit 14 and the battery control unit 42 detect this, the battery 41 starts discharging, and the valve control circuit 44 is notified of this. A period of milliseconds occurs. During this period, the valve control circuit 44 continues to operate with power stored in a capacitor or the like provided in the rectifier circuit 46 or the like. Therefore, the processing of the valve control circuit 44 is not interrupted.

When the valve control circuit 44 determines that the battery 41 is not discharging (S216: No), it returns to S207. In a normal state, NO in S207, NO in S214, and NO in S216 are repeated. During this time, the shutoff valve 16 is open, so the operation of the air conditioner 10 can be stopped freely.

(Control by battery control unit 42)
Next, the operation of the battery control section 42 that operates in cooperation with the valve control circuit 44 will be described with reference to FIG. When the process is started, the battery control unit 42 determines whether or not the stoppage of the power supply to the power supply 34, that is, the power failure has been detected (S301). When the battery control unit 42 detects the stoppage of energization through the energization detection unit 14 (S301: Yes), it starts discharging the battery 41 (S302). Then, the battery control unit 42 notifies the valve control circuit 44 of a "discharging" signal indicating that the battery 41 is discharging (S303), and sets "power failure" as an internal determination flag. (S304).

When the battery control unit 42 does not detect the energization stoppage in S301 (S301: No), it determines whether or not the determination flag is set to "during power outage" (S305). That is, the battery control unit 42 determines whether or not there is a setting of "during power failure" in S304 in the flow of a series of processes. When the battery control unit 42 determines that there is a setting of "during power failure" (S305: Yes), it determines whether or not the power supply to the power supply 34 has been restored (S306). That is, the battery control unit 42 determines whether the power supply from the power supply 34 is restored through the power supply detection unit 14 .

When the battery control unit 42 determines that the energization has been restored in S306 (S306: Yes), it stops discharging the battery 41 (S307). That is, the battery control unit 42 stops supplying power from the battery 41 to the valve control unit 18 . At the same time, the battery control unit 42 notifies the valve control circuit 44 of a "discharge stop" signal indicating that the battery 41 has stopped discharging as an energization state signal, and cancels the internal flag "during power outage" (S308). ). In S209, the valve control circuit 44 described above receives from the battery control unit 42 the energization state signal of "discharge stop" in S308. Further, when the battery control unit 42 determines that the energization has not been restored in S306 (S306: No), the process returns to S301.

After notifying "stop discharging" in S308, the battery control unit 42 determines whether the remaining amount of the battery 41 is sufficient (S309). The battery control unit 42 determines, for example, whether or not the remaining amount P of the battery 41 is greater than a preset charging amount Ps. The set charge amount Ps can be arbitrarily set, such as 95% of the maximum capacity of the battery 41, for example. When the battery control unit 42 determines that the remaining amount of the battery 41 is sufficient, that is, P>Ps (S309: Yes), the battery control unit 42 stops charging the battery 41 (S310) and returns to S301. On the other hand, when the battery control unit 42 determines that the remaining amount of the battery 41 is insufficient, for example, P≦Ps (S309: No), the battery 41 is charged using the power from the power supply 34 (S311), and the process returns to S301. do. Further, when the battery control unit 42 determines that it is not "during power outage" in S305 (S305: No), it proceeds to S309 and continues the subsequent processing. In a normal state, that is, in a state in which regular power is supplied from the power supply 34, the battery control unit 42 repeats NO in S301, NO in S305, S309, S310, or S311 until the charge amount of the battery 41 reaches the set charge amount. Ps.

To summarize the operation points of the first embodiment, (1) the shutoff valve 16 powered by the battery 41 is not closed until the permission instruction is input to the valve control unit 18, and (2) after the permission instruction. (3) When the power supply to the valve control unit 18 is cut off and the shutoff valve 16 is closed when a refrigerant leak is detected, (3) When the power supply to the valve control unit 18 is cut off , the shutoff valve 16 is driven by the battery 41 as a power source.

In the first embodiment described above, when the power supply 34 stops energizing the valve control unit 18, the shutoff valve 16 can be shut off by the power of the battery 41, and safety can be improved. Furthermore, the valve control unit 18 restricts the driving of the cutoff valve 16 and maintains the open state of the pipe 13 until the permission instruction is given. Therefore, even if the connection and disconnection of the power source 34 to the battery unit 17 are repeated when the air conditioner 10 is installed, the shutoff valve 16 is not closed and the pipe 13 is kept open. Therefore, it is possible to easily perform evacuation and refrigerant charging before issuing the permission instruction.

(Second embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the case of the second embodiment, the connection location of the energization detection unit 14 is moved to the valve control unit 18 side instead of the battery unit 17 shown in the first embodiment. As a result, the energization detection unit 14 and the valve control circuit 44 cooperate to detect whether power is supplied from the power source 34 to the valve control unit 18 . The valve control circuit 44 instructs the battery control unit 42 to discharge the battery 41 via the communication line L4 when there is no power supply from the power supply 34, that is, when a cutoff or power failure is detected. Upon receiving this signal, the battery control section discharges the battery 44 to supply operating power to the valve control circuit 44 and the valve drive circuit 45 . That is, in the first embodiment, the valve control unit 18 and the battery unit 17 cooperate with each other to determine when it is necessary to close the cutoff valve 16, but in the case of the second embodiment, the valve control unit 18 It manages the closing operation of the cutoff valve 16 and the discharge from the battery unit 17 when the power supply 34 is cut off without any linkage. Other configurations are common to the first embodiment.

In the case of the second embodiment, the permitting unit 50 permits the valve control unit 18 to close the cutoff valve 16 . The valve control unit 18 does not close the shutoff valve 16 until a permission instruction is given from the permission unit 50 . On the other hand, after receiving the permission instruction from the permission unit 50 , the valve control unit 18 closes the cutoff valve 16 when refrigerant leakage is detected and when the power supply 34 is cut off.

A specific control flow by the valve control circuit 44 during normal operation of the air conditioner 10 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10, and a control flow by the battery control unit 42 is shown in FIG. will be explained based on Here, detailed description of the processing common to the first embodiment is omitted.

(Control by valve control circuit 44)
First, the operation of the valve control circuit 44 shown in FIG. 9 is the same as each step in FIG. 5 except that the last step S206 in FIG. 5 is omitted, so the explanation is omitted.
If there is a permission instruction in the last step S205 of FIG. 9 (S205: Yes), the process moves to the first step S406 of FIG. When the valve control circuit 44 determines that the shutoff valve 16 has shut off the pipe 13 (S406: Yes), it determines whether or not it stores "during a power outage" in which the power supply from the power source 34 is stopped. (S407). Here, the storage of "during power failure" is a flag set in S420, which will be described later. When the valve control circuit 44 determines that "during a power outage" is being set (S407: Yes), the valve control circuit 44 determines whether power supply from the power supply 34 to the valve control unit 18 has been restored through the power supply detection unit 14. (S408). When the valve control circuit 44 determines that the power supply has not been restored (S408: No), the valve control circuit 44 waits until the power supply to the power supply 34 is restored.

When the valve control circuit 44 determines that the energization has been restored (S408: Yes), it outputs a "discharge stop instruction" to the battery control unit 42 via the communication line L4 (S409). When power supply is restored, power supply from the battery 41 is unnecessary. Therefore, the valve control unit 18 outputs a “discharge stop instruction” to the battery control unit 42 that controls the battery 41 to stop discharging the battery 41 . In the first embodiment, the battery control unit 42 determines whether or not the battery 41 needs to be discharged. In the second embodiment, the valve control circuit 44 determines whether or not the battery 41 needs to be discharged, direct to.

After outputting the "discharge stop instruction", the valve control circuit 44 determines whether or not refrigerant leakage has been detected (S410). When the valve control circuit 44 determines that refrigerant leakage has not been detected (S410: No), it determines again whether a power failure has been detected (S411). Then, when the valve control unit 18 determines that a power failure has not been detected (S411: No), it determines whether or not a valve opening instruction, which is an instruction to start operation of the air conditioner 10, has been issued (S412). That is, the valve control circuit 44 determines whether or not there is an instruction to open the valve when no refrigerant leakage is detected and no power failure is detected. When the valve control unit 18 determines that there is an instruction to open the valve (S412: Yes), the shutoff valve 16 opens the pipe 13 (S413) and returns to S406. On the other hand, when the valve control unit 18 determines that there is no valve opening instruction in S412 (S412: No), it returns to S410 and continues the subsequent processing. Further, when the valve control unit 18 determines that a refrigerant leak has been detected in S410 (S410: Yes) and when it determines that a power failure has been detected in S411 (S411: Yes), the valve control unit 18 indicates "power failure" in S420. After storing, the process returns to S406 to continue closing the pipe 13 by the shutoff valve 16. FIG.

Also, when the valve control circuit 44 determines in S407 that it is not "out of power" (S407: No), it determines whether or not there is a recovery instruction (S414). Here, if it is determined that there is a recovery instruction (S414: Yes), the process proceeds to S413, the cutoff valve 16 is driven to open, and the pipe 13 is opened. On the other hand, if there is no recovery instruction (S414: No), it waits until there is a recovery instruction. If it is not "during power outage" in S407 (S407: No), it means that the shutoff valve 16 is closed due to detection of refrigerant leakage. Therefore, after taking measures against refrigerant leakage, the shutoff valve is prevented from opening unless the inspector inputs a recovery instruction, thereby enhancing safety.

When the valve control circuit 44 determines in S406 that the shutoff valve 16 has not shut off the pipe 13 (S406: No), it determines whether a power failure has been detected (S415). That is, when the valve control circuit 44 determines in S406 that the shutoff valve 16 has opened the pipe 13, it determines whether or not a power failure has occurred. When the valve control circuit 44 determines in S415 that a power failure has been detected (S415: Yes), it outputs a "discharge instruction" for instructing discharge of the battery 41 to the battery control unit 42 (S416). As a power source, the valve drive circuit 45 is operated to close the shutoff valve 16 and shut off the pipe 13 (S417). After closing the cut-off valve 16 in S417, the valve control circuit 44 stores the flag indicating the state of "blackout" (S420), and returns to S406.

If the valve control circuit 44 has not detected a power failure in S415 (S415: No), it determines whether or not refrigerant leakage has been detected (S418). When the refrigerant detection unit 15 detects the leakage of the refrigerant, that is, when the indoor controller 32 notifies of the “refrigerant leakage” through the communication line L3 (S418: Yes), the valve control unit 18 proceeds to S417, and the shutoff valve 16 is closed to shut off the pipe 13 . On the other hand, if no refrigerant leakage has been detected (S418: No), the process returns to S406 and repeats NO in S406, NO in S415, and NO in S418. In this flow, the shut-off valve 16 is in an open state, which is a normal state in which the pipe 13 is communicated. Therefore, the air conditioner 10 is operated and stopped by the user during this period.

(Control by battery control unit 42)
Next, operation of the battery control unit 42 in the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 11 . The battery control unit 42 determines whether or not there is a "discharge instruction" (S501). The battery control unit 42 uses the battery 41 or the power source 34 as a power source, but can operate with the electric power stored in the internal capacitor even if the power source 34 fails during the period from the power failure until the battery 41 is discharged. is.

The battery control unit 42 determines whether or not there is a "discharge instruction" output in S416 of the valve control unit 18 as described above. ” is stored as an internal flag as “instructing to discharge” (S502). That is, the battery control unit 42 stores the "discharge instruction" in a storage unit such as a RAM or non-volatile memory (not shown), and discharges the battery 41 (S504). That is, once the "discharge instruction" is issued, the battery control unit 42 receives the "discharge stop instruction", and until the storage of "discharge instruction in progress" is canceled in S506, which will be described later, the battery 41 is stored. The stored power is discharged, and the process returns to S501.

When the battery control unit 42 determines in S501 that there is no "discharge instruction" from the valve control circuit 44 (S501: No), the "discharge stop instruction" output in S409 of the control flowchart of the valve control circuit 44 shown in FIG. ” is found (S505). When receiving the "discharge stop instruction" (S505: Yes), the battery control unit 42 cancels the memory of "discharge instruction in progress" (S506). In other words, the battery control unit 42 erases "instructing to discharge" stored in the storage unit (not shown) in S502. Then, the battery control unit 42 stops discharging from the battery 41 (S507). The reason why the information "instructing to discharge" is stored as an internal flag is that the "instruction to discharge" sent from the valve control circuit 44 to the battery control unit 42 is sent only once when the interruption of the power supply 34 is detected. is.

After stopping the discharge from the battery 41 in S506, the battery control unit 42 determines whether the remaining amount of the battery 41 is sufficient (S508). When the battery control unit 42 determines that the remaining amount of the battery 41 is sufficient, that is, P>Ps (S508: Yes), the battery control unit 42 stops charging the battery 41 (S509) and returns to S501. When the battery control unit 42 determines that the remaining amount of the battery 41 is not sufficient (S508: No), it charges the battery 41 (S510) and returns to S501. When the power supply 34 is in a normal state, the battery control unit 42 repeats the processes of S501 NO, S505 NO, S503 NO, S507, S508, S509 or S510 without discharging the battery 41 .

In the second embodiment, the valve control circuit 44 prohibits the discharge from the battery unit 17 until a permission instruction is given. keep it open. Therefore, when the air conditioner 10 is installed, the piping 13 is kept open even if power is repeatedly supplied and interrupted by connecting to the power supply 34 or connecting the battery unit 17 . Therefore, the pipe 13 is not shut off until a permission instruction is issued, and the evacuation and refrigerant charging can be performed smoothly. After the evacuation and refrigerant filling work is completed and the power supply 34 is de-energized after the permission instruction is issued, the shut-off valve 16 is closed by the power of the battery unit 17 to improve safety. be able to.

The present invention described above is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be applied to various embodiments without departing from the gist of the present invention.
While several embodiments of the invention have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and equivalents thereof.

In the drawing, 10 is an air conditioner, 11 is an outdoor unit, 12 is an indoor unit, 13 is a pipe, 14 is a current detection unit, 15 is a refrigerant detection unit, 16 is a cutoff valve, 17 is a battery unit, and 18 is a valve control unit. , 34 is a commercial single-phase AC power supply, 41 is a battery, 42 is a battery control section, 44 is a valve control circuit, 45 is a valve driving section, 50 is a permission section, and 51 is an input section.

Claims

outdoor unit and
an indoor unit that cools or heats a room with the refrigerant supplied from the outdoor unit;
a pipe that connects between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit and through which the refrigerant flows;
a battery unit that supplies power when the power supply from the AC power supply is stopped;
a shutoff valve that opens and closes the pipe with power from the AC power supply or power from the battery unit;
a permitting unit that permits the shutoff valve to close;
When the supply of electric power from the AC power source to the cutoff valve is stopped after the permission from the permission unit, the cutoff valve is closed by the electric power from the battery unit, and before the permission from the permission unit, the AC a valve control unit that maintains opening of the pipe by the shutoff valve even when power supply from a power source to the shutoff valve is stopped;
air conditioner.
further comprising a refrigerant detection unit that detects leakage of the refrigerant in the room cooled or heated by the indoor unit;
2. The valve control unit according to claim 1, wherein when the refrigerant detection unit detects leakage of the refrigerant, the valve control unit closes the shutoff valve to shut off the pipe regardless of whether or not permission is given by the permission unit. Air conditioner.
Further comprising an input unit provided in at least one of the outdoor unit and the indoor unit for receiving an input of a permission instruction for permitting closing operation of the shutoff valve,
The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the permitting section permits the valve closing operation based on an input from the input section.
3. The air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the valve control unit permits energization from the power source to the battery unit and power supply from the battery unit to the cutoff valve based on permission from the permission unit. machine.
further comprising an energization detection unit provided between the power supply and the battery unit,
4. The air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein the battery unit supplies power to the cutoff valve when the power detection unit detects that the supply of power from the power source is stopped.
further comprising an energization detection unit provided between the power supply and the valve control unit;
3. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the valve control unit drives the shutoff valve using the power supplied from the battery unit when the electricity supply detection unit detects that the supply of power from the power source is stopped. machine.
The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the valve control section operates using power supplied from the battery unit as a power source when power supply from the power supply is stopped.
When the valve control unit receives an instruction to start the operation of the indoor unit after the supply of power from the power supply is stopped and the shutoff valve is closed and the supply of power from the power supply is restarted. 8. The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the shutoff valve is opened to allow the pipe to communicate.
The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the valve control section has a valve drive circuit that drives the cutoff valve.