JPH04297744A - Drain pump control method for air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To avoid unnecessary operation of a drain pump by performing an assured draining all the time by a method wherein when it is detected that a water level in a drain pan has reached a discharge level by a water level detecting device, and when the integrating operation time for a compressor of the cooling circuit has exceeded a specified value, a drain pump is driven to drain water. CONSTITUTION:A water level detecting electrode 11 and a drain pump 12 are arranged in a drain reservoir 101 which is provided in a drain pan 10 which is located under indoor heat exchangers for cooling/heating 7, 8; and when the water level of the drain reservoir 101 has reached a specified value, the drain pump is driven to drain water. Also, when the water level is at the specified value or lower and the integrated operation time of a compressor for a cooling circuit for cooling has reached a specified value, the drain pump 12 is driven, and at the same time, after a specified period of time has passed, an integration timer is reset to zero. Therefore, even when malfunction takes place on the water level detecting electrode 11, drain water is assuredly discharged, and an unnecessary operation of the drain pump 12 can be avoided.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a drain pump control method for an air conditioner that reliably drains drain water stored during cooling operation.

0002

[Prior Art] Generally, when an air conditioner performs cooling operation, indoor air is cooled by an indoor heat exchanger in an indoor unit and then blown into the room as low-temperature air. When the indoor air is drained, the moisture contained in the indoor air is liquefied, stored in the indoor unit as drain water, and drained outside from the drain pipe.

[0003] As a drain drainage mechanism for such an air conditioner, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-247447 includes a water level detection device for detecting the amount of drain water in a drain pan.
When the water level detection device detects that the amount of drain water has reached a predetermined value, the detection signal drives a drainage device such as a drain pump for a certain period of time, and if the detection signal of the water level detection device is not released after a certain period of time, or It is described that the operation of the air conditioner is stopped when a detection signal indicating that the amount of drain water has reached a predetermined value is output twice or more within a predetermined period of time.

Furthermore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 175544/1983 discloses that by providing two timer means, a drain pump is turned on when the compressor of an air conditioner is started, and thereafter the drain pump is turned on while the compressor is operating. It is described that the pump is controlled by a time program by turning the pump on and off periodically and turning it on at least once when the compressor is stopped, thereby eliminating the need for a water level detection device.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-mentioned conventional drain drainage mechanism of an air conditioner equipped with a water level detection device, problems such as poor connection of the connector of the water level detection sensor, dirt on the detection electrode as the water level detection sensor, etc. When the water level detection device malfunctions or malfunctions, a detection signal indicating that the amount of drain water has reached a predetermined value is not output, so the drain pump is not driven, drain water is not discharged, and the drain water overflows from the drain pan. There is also a problem with the time program control, which drives the drain pump even when there is no drain water stored in the drain pan, causing unnecessary drain pump operation and causing the drain pump to run dry. The problem was that there was something to do.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide a drain system for an air conditioner that can reliably drain drain water even when the drain water level detection device malfunctions and that does not require unnecessary operation of the drain pump. An object of the present invention is to provide a pump control method.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, a drain pump control method for an air conditioner according to the present invention includes a drain pan for storing drain water that condenses in a heat exchanger during cooling operation; In an air conditioner equipped with a drain pump that discharges drain water from the drain pan, the water level of the drain water in the drain pan is detected by a water level detection device, and the drain pump is activated based on a detection signal when a predetermined drain water level is reached. At the same time, the operation time of the compressor in the cooling circuit is accumulated while the water level detection device is not detecting the discharge water level, and when the accumulated operation time exceeds a predetermined value, the drain water is discharged. The system drives the drain pump regardless of the presence or absence of a water discharge level detection signal, which allows drain water to be reliably discharged even if the water level detection device malfunctions, and eliminates the need for unnecessary drain pumps. It does not involve driving.

[0008]

[Embodiment] An example of an air conditioner to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIGS.
, and a movable air shower nozzle 5 that is stored in a storage recess 6 when not needed.

Inside the main body 1 of the air conditioner with air shower, a partition wall 14 having spot vents 15 allows an air conditioner A having an air intake port 2 and an air conditioning outlet 3 on the bottom surface, and an air shower having a nozzle 5 on the bottom surface to be connected to each other. It is divided into D and
The air conditioner A is provided with a filter 21 and a room temperature thermistor 22 inside the intake port 2, and a refrigerant reciprocating pipe 71 is connected to the outdoor unit (not shown) in the flow path from the intake port 2 to the air conditioning outlet 3. an indoor heat exchanger 7 for air conditioning connected to the indoor heat exchanger 7 for heating; An indoor fan 13 is arranged in order, and an indoor heat exchanger 7 for cooling
A heat exchanger temperature detection thermistor 9 is provided in contact with the heating indoor heat exchanger 8, and the louver 4 disposed at the air conditioning outlet 3 is connected to the arm 4 of the autolouver motor 41.
They are connected via 2.

A drain pan 10 is disposed below the indoor heat exchanger 7 for cooling and the indoor heat exchanger 8 for heating, and a drain reservoir 101 is continuously provided on the side of the drain pan 10. Detection electrode (water level detection device) 11 and drain pump 1 for detecting the liquid level of stored drain
A drain pipe 121 connected to the discharge side of the drain pump 12 is led out of the air conditioner main body 1.

During air conditioning operation, indoor air is sucked in from the intake port 2 (arrow F1), and cold air cooled by the cooling indoor heat exchanger 7 (during cooling) or heated indoor heat exchanger 8 is used.
The indoor fan 13 blows warm air (during heating) heated by the
2) It is something.

The air shower D is equipped with an air shower spot fan 17 equipped with a filter 18 at the intake port at one end, and is equipped with a hot air ceramic heater 19, a thermal fuse 190, and a heating prevention switch 191 inside. A shower case 16 is installed, and a nozzle 5 is rotatably connected to the other end of the air shower case 16 so that its angle with respect to the air shower case 16 can be adjusted. 7 and the air on the downstream side of the heating indoor heat exchanger 8 and blows it from the nozzle 5. When the air shower D is in operation, there is a risk that indoor air will be sucked from the air conditioning outlet 3.
At this time, by setting the indoor fan 13 to a gentle breeze operation, suction of indoor air can be suppressed.

The connecting end of the nozzle 5 to the air shower case 16 is supported by a rotating shaft 50 and rotated by a motor 51 to adjust the angle of the nozzle 5 with respect to the air shower case 16. A nozzle position detection device 52 for detecting an angle with respect to 16 is disposed.

The air shower D is capable of blowing out hot air or cold air as needed, and when operating to blow out hot air, the angle of the nozzle 5 with respect to the air shower case 16 is adjusted to move the nozzle 5 into the sanitary space. When hot air is required, the ceramic heater 19 is energized to heat the air from the spot fan 17 and blow hot air. However, depending on the strength of the operation mode and the intake air temperature, the hot water adjustment valve 80 is turned on when necessary to operate the heating indoor heat exchanger 8 of the air conditioner A, and the intake air temperature of the spot fan 17 is adjusted. is increased to make the temperature of the hot air blown out from the nozzle 5 sufficiently high (backup operation).

On the other hand, when cold air is required, the cold air obtained by operating the cooling indoor heat exchanger 7 of the air conditioner A is sucked into the air shower D through the spot vent 15, and is then sucked into the air shower D from the nozzle 5 by the spot fan 17. It blows air.

The drain pump control method will be explained based on FIGS. 3 to 5. A water level detection electrode (water level detection device) is connected to a controller (not shown) that controls the drain pump.
11 calculates the cumulative operating time T by integrating the operating time t of the compressor of the air-conditioning cooling circuit in a state where the drain water level is not detected, and when the drain pump 12 is turned on, the cumulative operating time T of the compressor is calculated. An integration timer is provided whose time is canceled and reset to zero.

First, when the detection electrode 11 that detects the liquid level of drain stored in the drain reservoir 101 detects a predetermined water level at which draining operation should start, the drain pump 12 starts operating, and the detection electrode 11 detects the drain water level. The compressor is further driven for a predetermined period of time (for example, 1 minute) from the time when the compressor is no longer detected, and the drain water is discharged from the drain pipe 121 (Fig. 3), and at this time, the cumulative operating time T of the compressor is canceled in the cumulative timer and becomes zero. will be reset.

When the water level detection electrode (water level detection device) 11 is not detecting the drainage water level of the drain water, the cooling for the air conditioner is operated repeatedly by starting and stopping n times (n is a natural number). The operating time t of each compressor in the circuit
1, t2, ..., tn, and the cumulative operating time T (T=t1 +t2 +...+tn) is the sum of the operating times t1, t2, ..., tn of the compressor.
for a predetermined time Tm (for example, 15 minutes)
In comparison, when the cumulative operating time T is less than the predetermined time Tm (15 minutes) (T≦Tm, that is, T≦15 minutes), the operation is continued.

Next, the cumulative operating time T is a predetermined time Tm (
15 minutes) (T>Tm, that is, T>15 minutes), the drain pump 12 is activated at a specified level regardless of the presence or absence of the drain water level detection signal from the water level detection electrode (water level detection device) 11. The drain water is discharged from the drain pipe 121 by driving for a period of time (for example, one minute) (FIG. 4).

As described above, the cumulative operating time T, which is the sum of the compressor operating times t1, t2, . ) exceeds (T>Tm, that is, T>
15 minutes), regardless of the presence or absence of the drain water level detection signal from the water level detection electrode (water level detection device) 11,
By driving the drain pump 12 for a predetermined period of time (1 minute), there is no risk of drain water overflowing from the drain reservoir 101 even if the water level detection electrode 11 is malfunctioning due to some kind of malfunction.

[0021]

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention calculates the cumulative operating time, which is the total operating time of the compressor in the cooling circuit, and when the cumulative operating time exceeds a predetermined time, drains the water from the water level detection device. By driving the drain pump for a predetermined period of time regardless of the presence or absence of a water drain level detection signal, drain water can be reliably drained even if the water level detection electrode is malfunctioning due to some kind of malfunction. There is no risk of drain water overflowing from the drain reservoir, and there is no need to operate the drain pump unnecessarily.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of an air conditioner with an air shower to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an air conditioner with an air shower to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a time chart showing operations based on the water level detection device.

FIG. 4 is a time chart showing operations based on cumulative operating time of the compressor.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of control operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Air conditioner body 2 Intake port 3 Air conditioning outlet 5 Air shower nozzle 7 Cooling indoor heat exchanger 8 Heating indoor heat exchanger 13 Indoor fan 17 Air shower spot fan 19 Ceramic heater (warm air heater) 52 Nozzle position detection device

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: In an air conditioner equipped with a drain pan that stores drain water condensed on a heat exchanger and a drain pump that discharges the drain water, the water level of the drain water in the drain pan is detected by a water level detection device, Based on the detection signal when a predetermined discharge water level is reached, the drain pump is driven to discharge the drain water, and the compressor operating time when the water level detection device is not detecting the discharge water level is accumulated, A drain pump control method for an air conditioner, characterized in that the drain pump is driven regardless of the presence or absence of a drain water discharge level detection signal when the cumulative value of operating time exceeds a predetermined value.