JPH05618B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention particularly relates to an indoor unit structure of an air conditioner that is housed in a wall of a house.

[Conventional technology]

The blowing of cold and hot air from the indoor unit of an air conditioner that performs cooling and heating has a tendency for cold air to descend and warm air to rise.In addition, in order to achieve a comfortable feeling of air conditioning with a cold head and warm feet, louvers have traditionally been used for heating and cooling. Methods such as switching the wind direction up and down or switching between upper and lower air outlets have been adopted. Among these, those with a structure in which the air outlet can be switched have the above-mentioned effect, and as shown in Figure 6, the indoor unit is housed in a wall, and the air inlet 3 and the indoor heat exchanger are placed in the upper part near the ceiling. A blower 25, an upper outlet 4, and a lower outlet 5 are arranged in this order from above, and a damper 26 is provided at the upper outlet to switch between the upper and lower outlets. It has been adopted.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, although the indoor unit with the above configuration has the advantage that only one blower 25 is required, the blowing direction of the blower cannot be changed.
Since the indoor heat exchanger 6 and the blower 25 are installed so that air is always blown from above to below, it is necessary to install the indoor heat exchanger 6 and the blower 25 above the upper air outlet 4, and the upper air outlet 4 is provided at a sufficient height. This becomes difficult. Furthermore, since it is necessary to cover the entire air volume with one blower 25, a large air blower must be installed that has the ability to blow air at the maximum air volume of the air conditioning system. For this type of wall-mounted air conditioner, it is very important to store the indoor unit 1 as thinly, narrowly, and compactly as possible in order to make wide use of the indoor space. This was a big problem from that point of view.

[Means for solving problems]

Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention includes an upper outlet provided above the unit to blow out conditioned air toward the room, and an upper outlet provided within the unit to blow out the conditioned air into the upper outlet. an upper blower that blows air; a lower air outlet that is installed below the unit and blows out conditioned air toward the room; a lower blower that is installed inside the unit that blows conditioned air to the lower air outlet; and a control device that independently controls the amount of air blown by the downward blower.

[Effect]

According to the above means, since the two blowers independently blow air from the upper and lower outlets, if the sum of the maximum air volume of each blower becomes the same as the maximum air volume of one conventional blower, This makes it possible to downsize the blower. Furthermore, since the two blowers can independently blow air to the upper and lower air outlets, it is possible to provide the upper air outlet above the indoor heat exchanger.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Therefore, according to the present invention, by downsizing the blower, the entire indoor air conditioning unit can be made thinner, making it easier to store on a wall surface, and making effective use of indoor space. In addition, since the upper air outlet can be installed above near the ceiling, the cooling effect achieved by blowing cold air from the upper part of the room is enhanced, which has the excellent effect of achieving a comfortable air-conditioned feeling. have at the same time.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be explained in detail below based on embodiments shown in the drawings. FIGS. 1a and 1b are a side sectional view and a front view of an air conditioner according to the present invention, showing a state in which an indoor unit 1 is housed in a side wall 2a of a house 2. FIG.
The indoor unit 1 has a size that extends from the floor 2b to the ceiling 2c, and is deep enough to be embedded in the wall.
As thin as possible, the width is as narrow as possible for aesthetic reasons,
It has a slim shape. An indoor air intake port 3 and a ceiling surface 2 are located approximately in the center of the front of the indoor unit 1.
An upper air outlet 4 is provided at the top near c, and a lower air outlet 5 is provided at the bottom near the floor 2b. An indoor heat exchanger 6 is provided inside the suction port 3 and has a front face shape substantially the same as that of the suction port 3. Further, an upper blower 7 whose air outlet is connected to the upper air outlet 4 to blow out conditioned air, and a lower blower 8 whose air outlet is connected to the lower air outlet 5 to blow out the conditioned air are provided, respectively. Each blower includes cylindrical cross flow fans 7a, 8a,
It is composed of drive motors 7b and 8b. And an indoor heat exchanger 6 located approximately in the center of the indoor unit 1.
At the bottom of the , there is a control device 9 for independently controlling the air volume blown out from the upper and lower blowers.
A control panel 9a of this control device 9 is provided at a position where it can be easily operated in front of the air conditioner.

The upper air outlet 4 has two directions: the direction of the blown air is almost horizontal (arrow a1 in the figure) and diagonally downward (arrow a2 in the figure).
Upper wind direction control device 1 configured to be able to switch to
0, but the direction of the blown air at the lower air outlet 5 is almost horizontal (arrow b1 in the figure) and diagonally upward (arrow b2 in the figure).
A downward wind direction control device 1 configured to be able to switch to
1 is installed, and each wind direction control device is composed of louvers 10a, 11a and small motors 10b, 11b that drive the louvers.
As shown in FIG. 2, a decorative grille 14 is removably installed on the front surface of the indoor unit 1 over the entire surface except for the control panel section 9a. Also 12
is an outdoor unit of an air conditioner, and the compressor 12
a, outdoor heat exchanger 12b, outdoor blower 12c, accumulator 12d, expansion valve 12e, four-way valve 12
A refrigeration cycle is constructed by appropriately connecting the refrigerant pipes f with refrigerant pipes, and refrigerant is supplied to the indoor heat exchanger 6 through a refrigerant pipe 13.

Next, we will discuss the configuration of the air volume control device 9 of the upper and lower blowers in the indoor unit of the present invention in the third section.
The explanation will be based on the electrical system diagram shown in the figure.

Motor 7 for driving upper and lower blowers 7 and 8
b and 8b are connected to a household AC 100V, a main switch 15, a motor chopper power supply 16 that generates a square wave from AC, and an inverter 1 that controls the rotation speed of the AC motor by frequency modulating the square wave.
A drive circuit is formed sequentially through 7a and 17b.

Also, near the control panel 9a of the indoor unit 1,
A sensor 19 for detecting room temperature and an indoor heat exchanger 6 are installed at locations suitable for detecting indoor temperature such as the suction port.
includes a sensor 2 that detects the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger 6.
0 is provided, and the computer 21 makes a comparison judgment based on the temperature detected by each sensor and the set room temperature set by the control panel 9a, and issues a control signal to the inverters 17a, 17b to drive the drive motors 7b, 8b. The airflow volume can be adjusted by changing the voltage waveform applied to the engine and controlling the rotation speed. FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram illustrating the control pattern. The horizontal axis is the temperature difference ΔT between the room temperature detected by the sensor 19 on an arbitrary scale and the set room temperature, and the vertical axis is the air volume of the blower on an arbitrary scale. Control pattern A changes the fan air volume in stages in areas where ΔT is relatively small, that is, areas where the cooling or heating load is small, and control pattern B changes the air volume of the blower in stages where ΔT is relatively large, that is, areas where the cooling or heating load is small. It controls over a large area.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained. During heating operation, high-temperature, high-pressure refrigerant vapor discharged from the compressor 12 passes through the four-way valve 12f, condenses in the indoor heat exchanger 6, releases latent heat, and liquefies. This liquefied refrigerant is depressurized into a mist by the expansion valve 12e and vaporized by receiving heat from the outside air in the outdoor heat exchanger 12b.
The latent heat generated in the indoor heat exchanger 6 is transferred to the air sucked in from the indoor air intake port 3 by the operation of the upper and lower blowers 7 and 8, and is blown out from the upper and lower air outlets 4 and 5 to provide heating. will be held.

When the heating load is high, such as at the start of heating, the control device 9 controls the air volume of both the upper blower 7 and the lower blower 8 to almost reach the maximum, so that almost the same amount of warm air flows from the upper air outlet 4 and the lower air outlet 5. It's blown out. As the sensor 19 detects that the room temperature has risen and the heating load becomes smaller, the upper blower 7 is controlled based on control pattern B to gradually reduce the amount of hot air from the upper outlet 4. Then, when the heating load becomes smaller, the lower blower 8 is controlled,
The amount of hot air from the lower air outlet 5 is also gradually reduced. In this way, during heating, the warm air is always mainly from the lower air outlet 5, except when the load is maximum, that is, when the maximum air volume is required, so that comfortable heating can be performed. In the case of cooling, cooling is performed by reversing the flow direction of the refrigerant using the four-way valve 12f to make the indoor heat exchanger 6 work as an evaporator. However, during high loads such as when starting cooling, the upper blower 7 and the lower blower The control device 9 controls the air volumes of the air vents 8 and 8 so that they are both approximately at maximum, and almost the same amount of cold air is blown out from the upper air outlet 4 and the lower air outlet 5. As the room temperature decreases and the cooling load becomes smaller, the lower blower 8 is controlled based on control pattern B, and the amount of cold air from the lower blower outlet 5 is gradually reduced. When the cooling load becomes smaller, the upper blower 7 is then controlled. is controlled to gradually reduce the amount of cold air coming from the upper air outlet 4. In this way, during cooling, the cold air is always mainly from the upper outlet 4, except when the load is maximum, that is, when the maximum air volume is required, so that comfortable cooling can be performed to prevent cold heads and feet. At maximum load and
When it is close to that, it is not a cooling method for cold feet and cold feet,
It has the advantage that the entire room can be cooled by the cold air from the upper air outlet 4 and the occupant can be cooled in spots by directing the cold air from the lower air outlet 5 at the same time.

In addition, the upper wind direction control device 1 can be operated manually or automatically.
0 and the downward air direction control device 11, the hot air from the upper air outlet 4 is set diagonally downward during heating, the warm air from the lower air outlet 5 is set horizontally or slightly downward, and during cooling the warm air is set from the upper air outlet 4. If the cold air from the lower outlet 5 is directed horizontally or slightly upward, and the cold air from the lower outlet 5 is directed diagonally upward, comfort will be further increased.

In this way, the indoor unit of the present invention blows out air-conditioning airflow simultaneously from the two upper and lower outlets when achieving maximum capacity for both cooling and heating, and as the load decreases, the upper and lower air volumes are independently reduced to keep the head cold and feet warm. Compared to conventional air conditioners that blow out air from only one air outlet for cooling and heating, the air blowing capacity per blower is only about half, making it possible to make the unit more compact. When used by being embedded in a wall, it is advantageous in that the width and depth can be reduced.

In addition to the method disclosed in the above embodiments, the method for controlling the air volume of the blower used in the present invention includes voltage control using a capacitor motor and a triax that performs voltage control through waveform control of AC waveforms as the drive motor. Various modifications are possible, such as the method of controlling the motor rotation speed by tap switching to change the number of turns of the stator coil of the motor, etc.
Upper and lower blowers 7 and 8 as shown
Dampers 27a and 27b are provided in the ventilation passage leading to the air passage, and by controlling these two dampers, the amount of hot air from the lower air outlet 5 is reduced during heating as explained above. It may be configured such that the amount of cold air from the upper air outlet 4 is increased during cooling.

Furthermore, although the air conditioner of the present invention is assumed to be a general heat pump system, any system that performs air conditioning or heating may be used, such as a cold/hot water type fan coil unit. Moreover, the wind direction control device 1 of the present invention
0 and 11 are used as louvers, but it goes without saying that other means such as a device using a fluid element may also be used.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1A and 1B are a sectional view and a front view illustrating the configuration of an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view showing a state in which a decorative grille 14 is attached, and FIG. FIG. 4 is an electric circuit diagram illustrating means for controlling the air flow rates of the upper and lower blowers in the indoor unit, FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram illustrating the control pattern of this control means, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a sectional view illustrating the configuration of an indoor unit of a conventional air conditioner. 1...Indoor unit, 2a...Wall surface, 3...Suction port,
4... Upper air outlet, 5... Lower air outlet, 6... Indoor heat exchanger, 7... Upper blower, 8... Lower blower, 9... Control device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An indoor unit of an air conditioner housed in a wall of a room, comprising: an upper outlet provided above the unit and blowing out conditioned air toward the room; and an upper outlet provided in the unit. an upper blower that blows conditioned air to the upper air outlet; a lower air outlet that is provided below the unit and blows conditioned air toward the room; and a lower air blower that is provided within the unit that blows conditioned air to the lower air outlet. 1. An indoor unit of an air conditioner, comprising: a downward blower that blows air; and a control device that independently controls air flow rates of the upper and lower blowers. 2. When the maximum air volume of the blower is required, the control device blows out the maximum air volume from both the upper and lower blowers, and when the maximum air volume is not required, the control device controls the air volume from the lower air outlet during heating according to the cooling or heating load. 2. The indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 1 is controlled to increase the air volume from the upper air outlet during cooling.