JPH0129477Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a multi-chamber heat pump type air conditioner.

In recent years, the installation rate of air conditioners in general households has increased, and it is no longer uncommon for each household to have two or three units installed.However, in this case, the problem is that the area dedicated to the outdoor unit increases. Therefore, in such a case, using a multi-room heat pump air conditioner will reduce the area dedicated to the outdoor unit, which is beneficial in terms of space saving.

However, multi-room heat pump air conditioners cannot be mass-produced compared to general heat pump air conditioners (hereinafter referred to as standard models) due to relatively low demand, so the price is still high. To achieve this, we have combined standard units that control fan rotation according to the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger and perform so-called thermo-operation, which turns the compressor on and off using a room temperature sensor. It is desired to configure a multi-chamber heat pump type air conditioner while keeping the price down.

In that case, the utility patent application filed by the inventor in 1983-
The air conditioner circuit as shown in the system diagram in Figure 1, which has the same gist as 152136, does not use a reversible solenoid valve and refrigerant does not accumulate in the idle unit during heating, and is recommended as a low-cost, high-performance multi-room heat pump air conditioner. be done.

In such a multi-room air conditioner, when two units are operated during cooling, the high-temperature, high-pressure gas refrigerant that exits the compressor 1 passes through the four-way switching valve 2, condenses and radiates heat in the outdoor heat exchanger 3, and is transferred to the capillary 4. Reduce the pressure at branch point 7
In the circuit, the high temperature and high pressure gas refrigerant flows through the solenoid valve 5a → check valve 6a → capillary 1.
0a, the refrigerant evaporates in the indoor heat exchanger 11a to perform a cooling effect, and the circuit also performs a cooling effect in the same way, and the refrigerant that has finished evaporating in the indoor heat exchanger joins at a confluence point 12 and passes through the four-way switching valve. 2 and then returns to compressor 1.

During cooling, when one unit is operated, the solenoid valve corresponding to the idle indoor unit is closed. For example, when the indoor heat exchanger 11a is suspended, the solenoid valve 5a is closed, so that the refrigerant is transferred to the compressor. 1 → Four-way switching valve 2 → Outdoor heat exchanger 3, capillary 4 → Solenoid valve 5b → Check valve 6b → Capillary 10b → Indoor heat exchanger 11
It circulates as follows: b → four-way switching valve 2 → compressor 1.

Next, during heating operation, the solenoid valves 5a and 5b are always open regardless of the number of indoor units in operation, and when two indoor units are operated, the high temperature and high pressure gas refrigerant that exits the compressor 1 is distributed in all directions. The flow is divided into a circuit at a branch point 12 via a switching valve 2, and in the circuit, heat is condensed and radiated in an indoor heat exchanger 11a, and heat is dissipated through a capillary 10a.
In the circuit, the indoor heat exchanger 11
The heat is condensed and radiated in capillary 10b, the pressure is reduced in capillary 10b, and the circuit is joined at confluence point 8 via check valves 9a and 9b, where the pressure is further reduced in capillary 4 and evaporated in outdoor heat exchanger 3. The air then returns to the compressor 1 via the four-way switching valve 2, thereby heating the room.

When operating one indoor unit in heating mode,
The indoor fan motor 14a or 14b is operated, and the indoor fan motor 14a or 1 of the idle indoor unit is operated.
4b is turned off to prevent condensation and heat dissipation, and the refrigerant circuit is the same as when two units are operated, the refrigerant flows to the confluence point 8, the pressure decreases in the capillary 4, and it evaporates in the outdoor heat exchanger 3. Then, it returns to the compressor 1 via the four-way switching valve 2.

However, when a standard model is used as an indoor unit and a dedicated multi-room heat pump air conditioner is used as an outdoor unit, the following problems occur. That is, during heating operation, in the standard indoor unit, the indoor fan motors 14a and 14b are connected to the indoor heat exchanger 11.
The temperatures detected by the heat exchanger temperature sensors 13a and 13b attached to the heat exchangers 13a and 11b, respectively, are independent of the room temperature and are controlled only by the heat exchanger temperature in the manner shown in the diagram in Figure 2. If the temperature is in the process of increasing, and the heat exchanger sensor reaches 30℃,
The fan, which had been stopped until now, will operate at low speed (L), when the temperature reaches 35°C, it will operate at medium speed (M), and when the temperature reaches 40°C, it will operate at high speed (H).

During heating operation, the refrigerant circulates through all piping regardless of the number of indoor units in operation, so when two indoor units are in operation, a room temperature sensor (not shown) Even if one unit stops heating operation due to thermo-off, the temperature detected by the heat exchanger sensor may be higher than the fan motor stop setting temperature of the fan motor microcomputer controller because high-temperature, high-pressure gas refrigerant is flowing through the indoor unit that has stopped. For example, since the fan motor does not stop and continues heating operation, the room temperature continues to rise.

The present invention was proposed in view of these circumstances, and is a high-performance multi-chamber heat pump that does not cause any problems even if a mass-produced low-cost standard model is used as an indoor unit. The purpose is to provide a type air conditioner.

To this end, the present invention connects multiple indoor units in parallel to the same outdoor unit, each of which has a microcomputer controller that controls the rotation of the indoor fan in accordance with the temperature of the indoor unit's heat exchanger, and which performs thermo-operation using a temperature sensor. In a multi-room heat pump air conditioner that flows refrigerant through all indoor units during heating and controls the heating capacity of each indoor unit by turning on and off the fans, in addition to the microcomputer controller mentioned above, the fans are operated intermittently. and a switching circuit that automatically switches the operation of the fan to control by the microcomputer controller or the timer controller in response to turning on and off of the thermostat by the temperature sensor.

This invention was first proposed by the inventor in 1983.
An example applied to the air conditioner shown in Fig. 1, which is almost the same as that published in No. 152136, will be explained with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the control circuit.

In the above figure, the same symbols as in Fig. 1 indicate the same equipment components as in the same figure, 21a and 21b are ordinary fan motor microcomputer controllers corresponding to each indoor unit, and 22a and 22b are respectively corresponding to each indoor unit. A corresponding thermo-on/off discrimination circuit, 23 indicates a timer control circuit.

In such an apparatus, when two indoor units are operated during heating operation, the fan motor 14a or 14b is controlled by a normal fan motor microcomputer controller 21a or 21b.

Also, when operating one indoor unit (another
The fan motor 14a or 14b is controlled by the normal fan motor microcomputer controller 21a or 21b, respectively.In this case, of course, when only one indoor unit is in operation, the compressor 1 will stop if the thermostat is turned off.

When two indoor units are in operation, when one indoor unit's thermostat is turned off by an indoor sensor installed in each room, the thermoon/off determination circuit 22a or 22b controls the fan motor of the indoor unit whose thermostat is off. Timer control circuit 2 from motor microcomputer controller
3 control, K ₁ minute off, K ₂
The indoor fan is operated intermittently with a minute-on timer control.

In the meantime, when the thermostat on the thermo-off indoor unit side turns on, the fan motor 14a or 14b
The control returns to the normal fan motor microcomputer controller 21a or 21b, which controls the fan motor.

According to this structure, when a standard indoor unit is used, when one indoor unit's thermostat is turned off while two indoor units are operating, the fan motor continues to rotate due to the action of the fan motor microcomputer controller. By stopping the operation and switching the control of the fan motor from microcomputer control to timer control, the fan motor can be rotated intermittently, thereby suppressing the rise in room temperature.

In short, according to the present invention, multiple indoor units that have a microcomputer controller that controls the rotation of the indoor fan in accordance with the temperature of the heat exchanger of the indoor unit and perform thermo-operation using a temperature sensor can be connected in parallel to the same outdoor unit. In a multi-room heat pump air conditioner that flows refrigerant through all indoor units during heating and controls the heating capacity of each indoor unit by turning on and off the fans, in addition to the microcomputer controller mentioned above, the fans are intermittently turned on and off. The multi-chamber heat pump is economical because it is equipped with a timer controller that operates the heat pump, and a switching circuit that automatically switches the fan operation to control by the microcomputer controller or timer controller in response to the thermostat being turned on and off by the temperature sensor. The present invention is extremely useful industrially because it provides a type air conditioner.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a system diagram showing the two-chamber heat pump type air conditioner that the present inventor proposed earlier, and Figure 2 shows the relationship between the temperature detected by the heat exchanger temperature sensor of the indoor unit in Figure 1 and the fan motor speed. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. 1... Compressor, 2... Four-way switching valve, 3... Outdoor heat exchanger, 4... Capillary, 5a, 5b...
Solenoid valve, 6a, 6b...check valve, 7...branch point,
8... Merging point, 9a, 9b... Check valve, 10a,
10b...Capillary, 11a, 11b...Indoor heat exchanger, 12...Confluence point, 13a, 13b...
...Heat exchanger temperature sensor, 14a, 14b...Fan motor, 21a, 21b...Indoor unit fan motor microcomputer controller, 22a, 22b...
...On/off discrimination circuit, 23...Timer control circuit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] Multiple indoor units that have a microcomputer controller that controls the rotation of the indoor fan according to the temperature of the indoor unit's heat exchanger and perform thermo-operation using a temperature sensor are connected in parallel to the same outdoor unit, and all indoor units can be operated in parallel during heating. In a multi-room heat pump type air conditioner that controls the heating capacity of each indoor unit by flowing refrigerant and turning on and off the fans, in addition to the microcomputer controller described above, there is also a timer controller that operates the fans intermittently; A multi-room heat pump air conditioner comprising a switching circuit that automatically switches the operation of the fan to control by the microcomputer controller or timer controller in response to turning on and off of a thermostat by a temperature sensor.