JP3789620B2 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly to an air conditioner that controls operation using a control temperature that is a predetermined temperature away from a set temperature set by a user.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In general, an air conditioner is controlled to be turned on and off using a control temperature that is a predetermined temperature away from a set temperature set by a user, and adjusts the indoor temperature of the building to approach the set temperature.
[0003]
By the way, when the indoor heating operation of the building is performed using an air conditioner in which an indoor unit is installed on the ceiling or upper wall of the building, the room temperature near the ceiling in the room is the room temperature near the floor. It becomes higher than this, and a temperature difference occurs between the two. The user sets the indoor temperature in the vicinity of the floor surface to determine the set temperature, but the control device for the air conditioner takes into account the temperature difference described above, and the control temperature is higher by a predetermined temperature than the set temperature determined by the user. Is used to start and stop the operation of the indoor unit depending on whether or not the indoor temperature in the vicinity of the air inlet (near the ceiling) of the indoor unit has reached the control temperature, thereby adjusting the indoor temperature. Actually, when the room temperature near the air intake port of the indoor unit becomes slightly higher (for example, 1 ° C.) than the control temperature, the operation of the indoor unit is stopped, and the room temperature near the air intake port becomes the control temperature. When the temperature becomes slightly lower (for example, 1 ° C.), the operation of the indoor unit is started.
[0004]
Conventionally, the temperature difference (shift temperature value) between the set temperature and the control temperature is a predetermined fixed value.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The temperature difference between the room temperature near the ceiling and the room temperature near the floor during heating operation is more significant as the ceiling height increases, but gradually decreases as the operating time of the air conditioner increases. For example, this temperature difference is, for example, about 8 ° C. at the start of operation of the air conditioner, but is stabilized at, for example, about 4 ° C. as the operation time elapses.
[0006]
However, if the shift temperature value is set to a fixed value of 8 ° C., for example, and the set temperature is set to 22 ° C., the control temperature is 30 ° C. Therefore, the room temperature near the floor surface reaches the set temperature (22 ° C.) at an early stage as indicated by a two-dot chain line A in FIG. 5 at the start of the operation of the air conditioner. For example, after about 1 hour from the start of operation, the temperature exceeds the set temperature and is stabilized at 26 ° C., for example.
[0007]
On the other hand, if the shift temperature value is set to a fixed value of 4 ° C., for example, and the set temperature is set to 22 ° C., the control temperature is 26 ° C. In this case, the indoor temperature in the vicinity of the floor surface portion stabilizes in accordance with the set temperature of 22 ° C. after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of the operation of the air conditioner, as indicated by the one-dot chain line B in FIG. The rise of the room temperature at the beginning will be delayed.
[0008]
An object of the present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described circumstances, and in particular, provides an air conditioner that can quickly and satisfactorily reach the set temperature of the room temperature near the floor surface of the room during heating operation. There is to do.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention according to claim 1 is an outdoor unit including a compressor and an outdoor heat exchanger, an indoor unit attached to a ceiling portion of a building and including an indoor heat exchanger and an indoor air temperature detector, the indoor unit, Controlling the outdoor unit, based on the control temperature of the indoor air near the ceiling part, which is a predetermined temperature away from the set temperature of the indoor air near the floor of the building, and the indoor temperature detected by the indoor air temperature detector In the air conditioner having the control device for starting and stopping the indoor unit, the control device controls to change the temperature difference between the set temperature and the control temperature as the operation time elapses. .
[0010]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the control device gradually decreases the temperature difference between the set temperature and the control temperature in accordance with an increase in the number of start / stop of the indoor unit. It is something to control.
[0011]
The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the temperature difference between the set temperature and the control temperature at the start of operation can be changed.
[0012]
The invention described in claims 1 to 3 has the following effects.
[0013]
When the heating operation is started, the control device can set the temperature difference between the set temperature and the control temperature to be large so that the room temperature can reach the set temperature at an early stage. In addition, after a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the heating operation, the control device can set the temperature difference between the set temperature and the control temperature to be small, and the room temperature can be matched with the set temperature and stabilized.
[0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an overall side view showing an embodiment of an air conditioner according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a refrigerant circuit diagram of the air-conditioning apparatus of FIG.
[0015]
As shown in FIG. 2, the air conditioner 10 includes an outdoor unit 11, an indoor unit 12, and a control device 21, and refrigerant pipes 13 and 14 of the outdoor unit 11 and the indoor unit 12 are connected to connecting pipes 15A and 15B, respectively. It is connected by.
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 1, the outdoor unit 11 is installed outside the building 1. The outdoor unit 11 includes an accumulator 16, a compressor 17, a four-way valve 18, and an outdoor heat exchanger 19 that are sequentially arranged in the refrigerant pipe 13 from the connecting pipe 15A side to the connecting pipe 15B side. A fan 20 that blows air toward the outdoor heat exchanger 19 is disposed adjacent to the outdoor heat exchanger 19.
[0017]
The indoor unit 12 is an embedded indoor unit embedded in the ceiling 2 of the building 1. The indoor unit 12 includes an expansion valve 22 and an indoor heat exchanger 23 arranged in the refrigerant pipe 14 sequentially from the connecting pipe 15B side to the connecting pipe 15A side, and a fan that blows air to the indoor heat exchanger 23. 24 is arranged adjacent to the indoor heat exchanger 23. The indoor unit 12 includes an indoor air temperature detector 26 that detects an indoor temperature (suction air temperature) in the vicinity of the ceiling 2 in the room of the building 1 in the vicinity of the fan 24, that is, in the vicinity of the air inlet 25 of the indoor unit 12. Is installed. The room temperature detected by the room air temperature detector 26 is transmitted to the control device 21.
[0018]
The control device 21 controls the outdoor unit 11 and the indoor unit 12. That is, the control device 21 controls the start and stop of the compressor 17 and the start and stop of the fans 20 and 24, respectively. The control device 21 also controls switching of the four-way valve 18 to switch the air conditioner 10 to cooling or heating operation. The control device 21 is operated by a user via a remote controller (not shown). When the control device 21 switches the four-way valve 18 to the cooling side, the refrigerant flows as shown by the solid line arrow in FIG. 2, and the outdoor heat exchanger 19 serves as a condenser and the indoor heat exchanger 23 serves as an evaporator for cooling operation. The indoor heat exchanger 23 cools the room of the building 1. Further, when the control device 21 switches the four-way valve 18 to the heating side, the refrigerant flows as indicated by broken line arrows in FIG. 2, the indoor heat exchanger 23 becomes the condenser, and the outdoor heat exchanger 19 becomes the evaporator. It will be in a driving | running state and the indoor heat exchanger 23 will heat the room | chamber interior of the building 1. FIG.
[0019]
The control device 21 further stops the compressor 17 and the fans 20 and 24 when the room temperature near the ceiling 2 detected by the room air temperature detector 26 reaches a predetermined control temperature, thereby detecting the room air temperature. The compressor 17 and the fans 20 and 24 are activated when the room temperature in the vicinity of the ceiling 2 detected by the vessel 26 departs from the control temperature, and the operation of the outdoor unit 11 and the indoor unit 12 is controlled. The control temperature is a temperature that is a predetermined temperature away from the set temperature in the vicinity of the floor portion 3 set by the user via the remote controller. The temperature difference between the control temperature and the set temperature (hereinafter referred to as “shift temperature value”) is set so that the control temperature is higher than the set temperature during heating operation. The shift temperature value during the heating operation is set in consideration of the ceiling height of the building 1 or the like, but the control device 21 sets the initially set shift temperature value as the heating operation time elapses, that is, the outdoor unit. 11 and the indoor unit 12 are controlled to gradually decrease in accordance with an increase in the number of times of starting and stopping, and the room temperature in the vicinity of the floor 3 in the room of the building 1 is adjusted.
[0020]
Control during the heating operation of the control device 21 will be described with reference to FIG.
When the remote controller is turned ON by the user (step 1), the control device 21 operates the outdoor unit 11 and the indoor unit 12 with the shift temperature value ΔT set to 8 ° C. (ΔT = 8 ° C.), for example (step 2). .
[0021]
Note that ΔT = 8 ° C. in this case is a value stored in the control device 21 in advance at the time of shipment from the factory, but this value is determined by, for example, a remote controller by a setting worker or the like according to the installation status of the air conditioner. It can be changed by the predetermined operation used.
[0022]
When the shift temperature value ΔT is set to ΔT = 8 ° C., when the user sets the set temperature to, for example, 22 ° C. by using the remote controller, the control temperature becomes 30 ° C., and the control device 21 has an indoor air temperature detector. When the indoor temperature in the vicinity of the ceiling portion 2 detected at 26 becomes slightly higher (for example, 1 ° C.) than the control temperature of 30 ° C., the compressor 17 and the fans 20 and 24 are stopped and the outdoor unit 11 is stopped. When the indoor unit 12 is stopped (thermo OFF control) and the room temperature near the ceiling 2 becomes slightly lower (for example, 1 ° C.) than the control temperature of 30 ° C., the compressor 17 and the fans 20 and 24 are used. Is activated (thermo ON control), and as shown in FIG. 3A, the room temperature near the floor 3 is adjusted to coincide with the set temperature (22 ° C.).
[0023]
The control device 21 determines whether or not the above-described thermo-ON / OFF control is performed (step 3). If the thermo-OFF control is not performed, the control device 21 maintains the shift temperature value ΔT at the current value, and the thermo-OFF is performed. When the control is performed once, the shift temperature value ΔT is set lower by 1 ° C. and updated (step 4). This is because the temperature difference between the room temperature in the vicinity of the ceiling portion 2 and the room temperature in the vicinity of the floor surface portion 3 in the room of the building 1 is gradually reduced by the above-described thermo ON / OFF control.
[0024]
If the updated shift temperature value ΔT exceeds, for example, 4 ° C., the control device 21 repeats Step 3 and Step 4, and sets the temperature of the shift temperature value ΔT to be lower by 1 ° C. each time the thermo-OFF control is performed ( Step 5). Then, when the updated shift temperature value ΔT is, for example, 4 ° C. or less, the control device 21 sets the shift temperature value ΔT to 4 ° C. (step 6). When the shift temperature value ΔT is held at 4 ° C., if the set temperature continues to be 22 ° C., the control temperature becomes 26 ° C., and the control device 21 causes the room temperature near the ceiling 2 to be slightly higher than the control temperature at 26 ° C. The compressor 17 and the fans 20 and 24 are stopped when the temperature becomes high (for example, 1 ° C.), and the room temperature near the ceiling 2 becomes slightly lower (for example, 1 ° C.) than the control temperature of 26 ° C. Occasionally, the compressor 17 and the fans 20 and 24 are activated to make the room temperature near the floor 3 match the set temperature of 22 ° C. as shown in FIG. 3 (B).
[0025]
The control device 21 maintains the shift temperature value ΔT at 4 ° C. as long as the heating operation is continued without the remote controller being turned off by the user (step 7).
[0026]
Therefore, according to the air conditioner 10 of the above embodiment, the control device 21 sets a shift temperature value, which is a temperature difference between the set temperature and the control temperature, at the start of the heating operation, and sets the control temperature from the set temperature. Therefore, the rise of the room temperature can be accelerated as shown by the solid line C in FIG.
[0027]
Further, the control device 21 sets the shift temperature value small each time the thermo ON / OFF control is repeated from the start of the heating operation, and gradually brings the control temperature closer to the set temperature. As shown, the room temperature near the floor portion 3 can be stabilized by matching the set temperature.
[0028]
As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated based on one Embodiment, this invention is not limited to this. For example, the indoor unit 12 is not limited to the embedded indoor unit 12 but may be a wall-mounted indoor unit 12 installed on the upper portion of the wall 4 of the building 1. Moreover, although the case where the indoor unit 12 was single was described in the said embodiment, what is called a multi-type air conditioning apparatus which has several indoor units may be sufficient. In this case, the control device 21 performs control to stop the expansion valve 22 and the fan 24 in the indoor unit 12 to be controlled without stopping the compressor 17 and the fan 20 of the outdoor unit 11 in the thermo OFF control. Further, the shift temperature value is varied for each indoor unit 12.
[0029]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the air conditioner of the present invention, the outdoor unit including the compressor and the outdoor heat exchanger, and the indoor heat exchanger and the indoor air temperature detector attached to the ceiling of the building are provided. The indoor unit, the indoor unit, and the outdoor unit are controlled, and the indoor air detected by the indoor air temperature detector and the indoor air control temperature near the ceiling, which is a predetermined temperature away from the set temperature of the indoor air near the floor of the building. And a control device that starts and stops the indoor unit based on the temperature, the control device changes the temperature difference between the set temperature and the control temperature as the operating time elapses, or the indoor unit Because it is controlled to gradually decrease as the number of start / stop operations increases, or the temperature difference between the set temperature and the control temperature at the start of operation can be changed. The room temperature near the floor in the room can be set to the set temperature at an early stage, and the control device sets the temperature difference between the set temperature and the control temperature to be small after a predetermined time from the start of the heating operation. The room temperature in the vicinity of the floor surface can be made consistent with the set temperature and stabilized.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an overall side view showing one embodiment of an air conditioner according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a refrigerant circuit diagram of the air conditioner of FIG.
3 shows the temperature distribution in the room of FIG. 1, (A) is a temperature distribution diagram at the start of the heating operation, and (B) is a temperature distribution diagram when a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of the heating operation.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart executed by the control device of FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between room temperature and time during heating operation.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Air conditioning apparatus 11 Outdoor unit 12 Indoor unit 17 Compressor 19 Outdoor heat exchanger 21 Control apparatus 23 Indoor heat exchanger 26 Indoor air temperature detector

Claims (3)

An outdoor unit including a compressor and an outdoor heat exchanger, an indoor unit attached to a ceiling of the building and including an indoor heat exchanger and an indoor air temperature detector, the indoor unit and the outdoor unit, and the building The indoor unit is started and stopped based on the control temperature of the indoor air near the ceiling portion that is a predetermined temperature away from the set temperature of the indoor air near the floor of the floor and the indoor temperature detected by the indoor air temperature detector An air conditioner comprising: a control device that controls the temperature difference between the set temperature and the control temperature to change as the operating time elapses. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the control device controls the temperature difference between the set temperature and the control temperature so as to gradually decrease in accordance with an increase in the number of times of starting and stopping the indoor unit. The air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a temperature difference between the set temperature and the control temperature at the start of operation can be changed.

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