Patent Application
20250207799
The disclosure relates to an air conditioner capable of performing both a cooling operation and a heating operation, and a control method thereof.
An air conditioner includes an outdoor unit where heat exchange between outside air and a refrigerant occurs and an indoor unit where heat exchange between indoor air and a refrigerant occurs The air conditioner is an apparatus that cools or heats an indoor space by utilizing the movement of heat generated during the evaporation and condensation processes as the refrigerant circulates through a heat pump cycle including compression, condensation, decompression, and evaporation.
While the air conditioner performs switching from a cooling operation to a combined cooling and heating operation, pressure equalization sound may be generated as a high-pressure gas is supplied to the pipes. Because the pressure equalization sound may cause discomfort to the user, a technology to reduce this sound is required.
Embodiments of the disclosure provide an air conditioner for reducing noise caused by pressure equalization sound during switching from a cooling operation to a combined cooling and heating operation, and a method of controlling the air conditioner.
An air conditioner according to an example embodiment may include: an outdoor unit including a compressor configured to compress a refrigerant, a plurality of indoor units configured to perform at least one of a cooling operation and a heating operation by receiving the refrigerant from the outdoor unit, a mode switching unit comprising circuitry connected between the outdoor unit and the plurality of indoor units and configured to switch an operation mode of the plurality of indoor units, a high-pressure gas pipe connected to an outlet side of the compressor and the mode switching unit, a low-pressure gas pipe connected to an inlet side of the compressor and the mode switching unit, a hot gas valve provided on a hot gas pipe connecting the high-pressure gas pipe and the low-pressure gas pipe, and a controller comprising circuitry configured to determine whether a combined cooling and heating operation is possible based on an indoor temperature and a cooling operation rate of the plurality of indoor units, and to control the hot gas valve based on whether the combined cooling and heating operation is possible.
The controller may be configured to determine that the combined cooling and heating operation is possible based on the indoor temperature being lower than or equal to a threshold value and the cooling operation rate being less than or equal to a reference value.
The controller may be configured to, based on determination that the combined cooling and heating operation is possible, close the hot gas valve and maintain pressure of the high-pressure gas pipe based on closing of the hot gas valve.
The air conditioner according to an example embodiment may further include a liquid pipe connected to the inlet side of the compressor and the mode switching unit, a bypass pipe connected to the high-pressure pipe and the liquid pipe, and a high-pressure valve provided on the bypass pipe.
The bypass pipe may be provided in any one of the outdoor unit or the mode switching unit.
The controller may be configured to, based on the indoor temperature being lower than or equal to the threshold value or the cooling operation rate being less than or equal to the reference value, close the hot gas valve and increase pressure of the high-pressure gas pipe based on closing of the hot gas valve.
The controller may be configured to, based on reception of a heating operation signal from at least one of the plurality of indoor units, open the high-pressure valve and increase the pressure of the high-pressure gas pipe.
The controller may be configured to gradually increase the pressure of the high-pressure gas pipe by opening the high-pressure valve in stages.
The controller may be configured to switch the plurality of indoor units from the cooling operation to the combined operation after the pressure of the high-pressure gas pipe increases.
A method of operating an air conditioner according to an example embodiment, the air conditioner including an outdoor unit including a compressor configured to compress a refrigerant, a plurality of indoor units configured to perform at least one of a cooling operation or a heating operation, a mode switching unit comprising circuitry configured to switch an operation mode of the plurality of indoor units, a high-pressure gas pipe, a low-pressure gas pipe, and a hot gas valve provided on a hot gas pipe, may include: receiving an indoor temperature and a cooling operation rate of the plurality of indoor units, determining whether a combined cooling and heating operation is possible based on the indoor temperature and the cooling operation rate of the plurality of indoor units, and controlling the hot gas valve based on whether the combined cooling and heating operation is possible.
The determining of whether the combined cooling and heating operation is possible may include, based on the indoor temperature being lower than or equal to a threshold value or the cooling operation rate being less than or equal to a reference value, determining that the combined cooling and heating operation is possible.
The method of operating the air conditioner according to an example embodiment may further include, based on determination that the combined cooling and heating operation is possible, closing the hot gas valve and maintaining pressure of the high-pressure gas pipe based on closing of the hot gas valve.
The method of operating the air conditioner according to an example embodiment may further include, based on the indoor temperature being lower than or equal to the threshold value or the cooling operation rate being less than or equal to the reference value, opening the hot gas valve and increasing pressure of the high-pressure gas pipe based on opening of the hot gas valve.
The increasing of the pressure of the high-pressure gas pipe may include opening the high-pressure valve based on reception of a heating operation signal from at least one of the plurality of indoor units and increasing the pressure of the high-pressure gas pipe before the plurality of indoor units are switched to the combined operation.
The method of operating the air conditioner according to an example embodiment may further include gradually increasing the pressure of the high-pressure gas pipe by opening the high-pressure valve in stages.
The method of operating the air conditioner according to an example embodiment may further include switching the plurality of indoor units from the cooling operation to the combined operation after the pressure of the high-pressure gas pipe increases.
An air conditioner and a control method thereof according to an example embodiment may reduce noise generated while a high-pressure gas pipe is used for low-pressure purposes during a combined cooling and heating operation.
The above and other aspects, features and advantages of certain embodiments of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Like reference numerals will refer to like components throughout this disclosure. This disclosure does not describe all components of the various example embodiments, and general information in the technical field to which the present disclosure belongs or overlapping information between the various embodiments may not be described. As used herein, the terms “portion”, “part, “module, “member” or “block” may be implemented as software or hardware, and according to various embodiments, a plurality of “portions”, “parts, “modules, “members” or “blocks” may be implemented as a single component, or a single “portion”, “part, “module, “member” or “block” may include a plurality of components.
It will be understood that when a certain part is referred to as being “connected” to another part, it can be directly or indirectly connected to the other part. When a part is indirectly connected to another part, it may be connected to the other part through a wireless communication network.
It will be understood that when a certain part “includes” a certain component, the part does not exclude another component but can further include another component, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
Throughout this disclosure, when a certain component is referred to as controlling another component, it can transmit a control signal directly to the other component, or can transmit a control signal to another component that provides power to the other component, and the other component can control the other component by providing power to the other component.
When a certain component is referred to as transferring or transmitting a signal or data to another component, another component may exist between the corresponding component and the other component unless the context clearly dictates otherwise and the signal or data may be transferred or transmitted through the other component.
It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
It will also be understood that ordinal numbers such as “first” and “second” are used to distinguish a plurality of components or information from each other, not to define the order of the plurality of components.
Reference numerals used in operations are used to identify the operations, without describing the order of the operations, and the operations can be executed in a different order from the stated order unless a specific order is definitely specified in the context.
A cooling cycle of an air conditioner may be configured with a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator. The cooling cycle may perform a series of processes of compression-condensation-expansion-evaporation to supply conditioned air that has exchanged heat with a refrigerant.
The compressor may compress a refrigerant gas to a high-temperature and high-pressure state and discharge the refrigerant gas. The discharged refrigerant gas may enter the condenser. The condenser may condense the compressed refrigerant to a liquid state and release heat to surroundings through the condensation process.
The expansion valve may expand the liquid-state refrigerant in the high-temperature and high-pressure state condensed by the condenser to a liquid-state refrigerant in a low-pressure state. The evaporator may evaporate the refrigerant expanded by the expansion valve and return a refrigerant gas in a low-temperature and low-pressure state to the compressor. The evaporator may achieve a cooling effect through heat-exchange with an object to be cooled using evaporative latent heat of a refrigerant. Through the cycle, the air conditioner may adjust a temperature of an indoor space.
An outdoor unit of the air conditioner may be a part of the cooling cycle, configured with the compressor and an outdoor heat exchanger. An indoor unit of the air conditioner may include an indoor heat exchanger, and the expansion valve may be positioned in any one of the indoor unit or the outdoor unit. The indoor heat exchanger and the outdoor heat exchanger may function as condensers or evaporators. While the indoor heat exchanger is used as a condenser, the air conditioner may function as a heater, and while the indoor heat exchanger is used as an evaporator, the air conditioner may function as a cooler.
An example in which the number of indoor units operating in a cooling mode among a plurality of indoor units is more than the number of indoor units operating in a heating mode is referred to as a main cooling mode, and a case in which the number of indoor units operating in a heating mode among the plurality of indoor units is more than the number of indoor units operating in a cooling mode is referred to as a main heating mode.
Hereinafter, various example embodiments according to the present disclosure will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The air conditioner according to an embodiment may include, as shown in
The outdoor unit 10 may include compressors 11A and 11B that compress a refrigerant, an outdoor heat exchanger 12 that performs heat exchange with outside air, a four-way valve 13 that selectively guides a refrigerant discharged from the compressors 11A and 11B to any one of the outdoor unit 10 or the indoor units 20, an outdoor expansion valve 14 that decompresses and expands a refrigerant guided to the outdoor heat exchanger during heating, and a gas-liquid separator 15 that prevents/reduces a refrigerant in a gaseous state from flowing into the compressors, and each of the plurality of indoor units 20 may include an indoor heat exchanger 21 that performs heat exchange with indoor air, and an indoor expansion valve 22 that decompresses and expands a refrigerant guided to the indoor heat exchanger 21 during cooling.
However, the air conditioner according to an embodiment may be an example for describing control for removing noise caused by pressure equalization sound in
The compressors 11A and 11B may include a pair of compressors 11A and 11B connected in parallel to each other to flexibly respond to a required cooling load and a required heating load, and the outdoor expansion valve 14 and the indoor expansion valve 22 may be electronic expansion valves capable of adjusting opening degrees to selectively decompress and expand refrigerants passing through the outdoor expansion valve 14 and the indoor expansion valve 22.
The components may be connected to each other through refrigerant pipes to circulate a refrigerant therethrough. The refrigerant pipes may include a first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) connecting the four-way valve 13 and the indoor heat exchangers 21 to transfer a high-temperature refrigerant discharged from the compressors 11A and 11B to the indoor heat exchangers 21, a second refrigerant pipe P2 (low-pressure gas pipe) connecting the indoor heat exchangers 21 and the two compressors 11A and 11B to guide a refrigerant that has absorbed heat in the indoor heat exchangers 21 during cooling to the compressors 11A and 11B, a third refrigerant pipe P3 (liquid pipe) connecting the outdoor heat exchanger 12 and the indoor heat exchangers 21 to guide a refrigerant that has released heat in any one of the outdoor heat exchanger 12 or the indoor heat exchangers 21 to another one, a fourth refrigerant pipe P4 connecting the four-way valve 13 and the outdoor heat exchanger 12 to transfer a high-temperature refrigerant to the outdoor heat exchanger 12, and
A fifth refrigerant pipe P5 connecting the four-way valve 12 and the second refrigerant pipe P2 (low-pressure gas pipe) to guide a refrigerant transferred from the outdoor heat exchanger 12 through the four-way valve 13 during heating to the compressors 11A and 11B via the gas-liquid separator 15.
Between the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) and the fourth refrigerant pipe P4, a heating bypass refrigerant pipe P6 connecting the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) and the fourth refrigerant pipe P4 to transfer a part of a refrigerant transferred to the outdoor heat exchanger 12 through the fourth refrigerant pipe P4 to a specific indoor heat exchanger 21 through the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) while heating for a relatively smaller load than a cooling load is performed, thereby enabling the corresponding heat exchanger 21 to perform heating may be further provided, and a heating bypass valve 16 for opening or closing the heating bypass refrigerant pipe P6 may be positioned on the heating bypass refrigerant pipe P6.
On the third refrigerant pipe P3 (liquid pipe), the outdoor expansion valve 14 described above may be positioned, and the refrigerant pipes may include a cooling bypass refrigerant pipe P7 for causing a refrigerant to bypass the outdoor expansion valve 14 during cooling. A cooling bypass valve 17 for opening or closing the cooling bypass refrigerant pipe P7 may be positioned on the cooling bypass refrigerant pipe P7.
The mode switching unit 30 may include a plurality of cooling refrigerant pipes P8 connecting the second refrigerant pipe P2 (low-pressure gas pipe) to the plurality of indoor heat exchangers 21 to transfer, during cooling, refrigerants passed through the indoor heat exchangers 21 to the compressors 11A and 11B through the second refrigerant pipe P2 (low-pressure gas pipe), a plurality of heating refrigerant pipes P9 connecting the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) to the plurality of indoor heat exchangers 21 to transfer, during heating, a refrigerant transferred from the compressors 11A and 11B through the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) to the indoor heat exchangers 21, cooling valves 31 respectively positioned on the plurality of cooling refrigerant pipes P8 to enable a corresponding indoor unit 20 to selectively perform cooling, and heating valves 32 respectively positioned on the plurality of heating refrigerant pipes P6 to enable a corresponding indoor unit 20 to selectively perform heating.
A cooling valve 31 and a heating valve 32 may be connected as a pair to each indoor unit 20, and a plurality of pairs may be provided to correspond to the plurality of indoor units 20.
The refrigerant pipes may include a plurality of first diverging refrigerant pipes P10 diverging from the third refrigerant pipe P3 (liquid pipe) such that refrigerants are distributed and supplied to the plurality of indoor heat exchangers 21 during cooling, and a plurality of second diverging refrigerant pipes P11 respectively connecting the plurality of indoor heat exchangers 21 to the corresponding cooling refrigerant pipes P8 and the corresponding heating refrigerant pipes P9, wherein the indoor expansion valves 22 described above may be positioned on the first diverging refrigerant pipes P10.
The mode switching unit 30 may include a supercooling unit 33 that prevents/reduces a gaseous refrigerant from flowing into the indoor expansion valves 22 by supercooling the refrigerant transferred from the outdoor heat exchanger 12 before the refrigerant flows into the indoor units during cooling.
A plurality of supercooling units 33 may be provided to respectively supercool refrigerants flowing into the plurality of indoor units 20, and may supercool refrigerants passing through the first diverging refrigerant pipes P10. The mode switching unit 30 may include a supercooling refrigerant pipe P12 that diverges from the third refrigerant pipe P3 (liquid pipe), passes through the supercooling units 33 and then joins the second refrigerant pipe P2 (low-pressure gas pipe) to cool refrigerant passing through the first diverging refrigerant pipes P10 in the supercooling units 33, and a supercooling expansion valve 34 positioned on the supercooling refrigerant pipe P12 to decompress and expand refrigerants before the refrigerants flow into the supercooling units 33.
For example, in the supercooling units 33, the first diverging refrigerant pipes P10 may exchange heat with the supercooling refrigerant pipe P12 to supercool refrigerants passing through the first diverging refrigerant pipes P10 by a refrigerant passing through the supercooling refrigerant pipe P12 and heat the refrigerant passing through the supercooling refrigerant pipe P12 by the refrigerants passing through the first diverging refrigerant pipes P10.
Accordingly, a refrigerant transferred from the outdoor heat exchanger 12 may be decompressed and expanded by passing through the supercooling expansion valve 34, and the decompressed and expanded refrigerant may pass through the supercooling units 33 along the supercooling refrigerant pipe P12 and absorb heat from refrigerants passing through the first diverging refrigerant pipes P10. Accordingly, the refrigerants passing through the first diverging refrigerant pipes P10 may be supercooled by passing through the supercooling units 33 before the refrigerants flow into the indoor expansion valves 22 of the indoor units 20.
The supercooling refrigerant pipe P12 may sequentially pass through all of the plurality of supercooling units 33 to supercool all refrigerants flowing into the respective indoor units 20. As such, because the supercooling refrigerant pipe P12 sequentially passes through the plurality of supercooling units 33, in the case in which there is an indoor unit 20 stopped, no heat exchange may occur in a supercooling unit 33 corresponding to the stopped indoor unit 20, and a refrigerant may be transferred to a next supercooling unit 33 along the supercooling refrigerant pipe P12 and used to absorb heat of a refrigerant passing through the first diverging refrigerant pipe P10 in the next supercooling unit 33. Accordingly, because no refrigerant absorbing heat exists in the supercooling unit 33 corresponding to the stopped indoor unit 20, efficiency of the air conditioner may be improved.
The mode switching unit 30 may include a temperature sensor that measures temperatures of refrigerants passing through the supercooling units 33. The temperature sensor may include a first temperature sensor 35 that measures a temperature of a refrigerant flowing into a supercooling unit 33 located at an uppermost side of the supercooling refrigerant pipe P12 among the supercooling units 33, and a second temperature sensor 36 that measures a temperature of a refrigerant discharged from a supercooling unit 33 located at a lowermost side of the supercooling refrigerant pipe P12 among the supercooling units 33.
Accordingly, by measuring a temperature of a refrigerant passing through the supercooling refrigerant pipe P12 through the first temperature sensor 35 and the second temperature sensor 36, it may be determined whether the refrigerant is a mixture of liquid and gas or in a pure gas state, based on the temperature of the refrigerant, and by adjusting an opening degree of the supercooling expansion valve 34 based on the determined result, a liquid refrigerant may be prevented/inhibited from flowing into the compressors 11A and 11B.
Accordingly, it may be possible to prevent/reduce a refrigerant passed through the supercooling unit 33 from failing to be overheated to a pure gas state, while securing a supercooling degree required for each indoor unit 20.
A hot gas pipe P14 connecting the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) and the second refrigerant pipe P2 (low-pressure gas pipe) may be provided, and a hot gas valve 19 for opening or closing the hot gas pipe P14 may be provided on the hot gas pipe P14.
In order to reduce an installation pipe diameter by additionally securing a required low-pressure pipe diameter of a long pipe, the air conditioner according to an embodiment may control the hot gas valve in the outdoor unit to use the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) between the outdoor unit and the mode switching unit as a low-pressure pipe while the indoor units perform only cooling operations.
For example, the air conditioner according to an embodiment may open the hot gas valve 19 of the hot gas pipe P14 while the plurality of indoor units perform cooling operations to use the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) as a low-pressure pipe, and accordingly, the air conditioner may use two second refrigerant pipes P2 (low-pressure gas pipes), thereby reducing an installation pipe diameter.
However, while the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) is used as a low-pressure pipe as described above, there may be a problem of noise caused by pressure equilibrium as a high-pressure gas is abruptly supplied to the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) when a cooling operation is switched to a combined cooling and heating operation.
Accordingly, a configuration of software and hardware for reducing noise caused by pressure equilibrium in the air conditioner according to various embodiments will be described in greater detail below.
Referring to
In this case, the outdoor unit controller 195 may be included in a controller 400 of the air conditioner 1, together with an indoor unit controller 255 and a cooling/heating switching controller 305 which will be described below.
The outdoor unit operation part 160 may include a button type switch, a membrane switch, or a touch panel for receiving an operation command for the outdoor unit 10 or the air conditioner 1, and the outdoor unit display 165 may include a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) panel or a Light Emitting Diode (LED) panel for displaying operation information of the outdoor unit 10 or the air conditioner 1. In addition, the outdoor unit operation part 160 and the outdoor unit display 165 may include a Touch Screen Panel (TSP) into which the outdoor unit operation part 160 and the outdoor unit display 165 are integrated.
The outdoor unit temperature detector 170 may include a temperature sensor and detect a temperature of an outdoor space where the outdoor unit 10 is located, and output an electrical signal corresponding to the detected temperature. The outdoor unit temperature detector 170 may include a thermistor of which electrical resistance changes according to a temperature.
The outdoor unit driver 175 may drive the compressor 11 and the four-way valve 13 according to a control signal from the outdoor unit controller 195. For example, the outdoor unit driver 175 may include an inverter that supplies driving current to a compressor (11) motor to drive the compressor 11.
The outdoor unit storage device 180 may include non-volatile memory, such as a magnetic disc, a solid state disk, etc., for permanently storing programs and data related to operations of the outdoor unit 10, and volatile memory, such as Dynamic Random Access Memory (D-RAM) and Static Random Access Memory (S-RAM), for temporarily storing temporary data that may be generated while the outdoor unit 10 operates.
The outdoor unit communication device 185 may include a communication module including various communication circuitry that communicates with the indoor units 20 using, for example, a communication method such as RS-485.
The outdoor unit power supply 190 may include a rectifier circuit that rectifies external power, a smoothing circuit that removes ripples included in the rectified power, etc.
The outdoor unit controller 195 may include various processing and/or control circuitry and control operations of components included in the outdoor unit 10. Where the outdoor unit controller 195 includes a processor, the processor may include various processing circuitry and/or multiple processors. For example, as used herein, including the claims, the term “processor” may include various processing circuitry, including at least one processor, wherein one or more of at least one processor, individually and/or collectively in a distributed manner, may be configured to perform various functions described herein. As used herein, when “a processor”, “at least one processor”, and “one or more processors” are described as being configured to perform numerous functions, these terms cover situations, for example and without limitation, in which one processor performs some of recited functions and another processor(s) performs other of recited functions, and also situations in which a single processor may perform all recited functions. Additionally, the at least one processor may include a combination of processors performing various of the recited/disclosed functions, e.g., in a distributed manner. At least one processor may execute program instructions to achieve or perform various functions,
For example, according to reception of a cooling request from the indoor units 20 through the outdoor unit communication device 185, the outdoor unit controller 195 may control the outdoor unit controller 185 to transmit a cooling request reception signal to the indoor units 20, and control the outdoor unit driver 175 to operate the compressor 11. The outdoor unit controller 195 may include a single General Processor that performs all operations related to operations of the outdoor unit 10, a communication processor that performs only operations related to communication, and a processor that performs specialized operations, such as a control processor that performs only operations related to control operations.
The outdoor unit driver 175 may receive a control signal from the outdoor unit controller 195 to control opening or closing of the hot gas valve 19 and the high-pressure valve 40.
For example, the outdoor unit controller 195 may determine whether a combined cooling and heating operation is possible based on an indoor temperature and a cooling operation rate of the plurality of indoor units 20, and control the hot gas valve 19 based on whether the combined cooling and heating operation is possible.
Based on an indoor temperature being lower than or equal to a threshold value or a cooling operation rate being less than or equal to a reference value, the outdoor unit controller 195 may close the hot gas valve and increase pressure of the high-pressure gas pipe based on closing of the hot gas valve. For example, based on reception of a heating operation signal from at least one of the plurality of indoor units, the outdoor unit controller 195 may open the high-pressure valve in stages to gradually increase pressure of the high-pressure gas pipe.
Referring to
The indoor unit operation part 225 may include a button type switch, a membrane switch, or a touch panel for receiving an operation command for the indoor unit 20. However, in the case in which the air conditioner 1 includes a remote controller that receives an operation command for the indoor unit 20 and displays operation information of the indoor unit 20, the indoor unit controller 225 of the indoor unit 20 may include only a power button for supplying power of the indoor unit 20.
The indoor unit display 230 may include a LCD panel or a LED panel for displaying operation information of the indoor unit 20. However, in the case in which the air conditioner 1 includes a remote controller that receives an operation command for the indoor unit 20 and displays operation information of the indoor unit 20, the indoor unit display 230 of the indoor unit 20 may include a power indicator LED and an operation indicator LED that represent whether the indoor unit 20 is powered and whether the indoor unit 20 operates.
The indoor unit temperature detector 235 may include a temperature sensor and detect a temperature of an indoor space where the indoor unit 20 is located, and output an electrical signal corresponding to the detected temperature. The indoor unit temperature detector 235 may include a thermistor of which electrical resistance changes according to a temperature.
The indoor unit storage device 240 may include non-volatile memory, such as a magnetic disc and a semiconductor disc, for permanently storing programs and data related to operations of the indoor unit 20, and volatile memory, such as D-RAM and S-RAM, for temporarily storing temporary data that may be generated while the indoor unit 20 operates.
The indoor unit communication device 245 may include a communication module including various communication circuitry that communicates with the outdoor unit 10 using a communication method such as RS-485.
The indoor unit power supply 250 may include a rectifier circuit that rectifies external power, a smoothing circuit that removes ripples included in the rectified power, etc.
The indoor unit controller 255 may include various processing and/or control circuitry and control operations of components included in the indoor unit 20. Where the indoor unit controller 255 includes a processor, the processor may include various processing circuitry and/or multiple processors. For example, as used herein, including the claims, the term “processor” may include various processing circuitry, including at least one processor, wherein one or more of at least one processor, individually and/or collectively in a distributed manner, may be configured to perform various functions described herein. As used herein, when “a processor”, “at least one processor”, and “one or more processors” are described as being configured to perform numerous functions, these terms cover situations, for example and without limitation, in which one processor performs some of recited functions and another processor(s) performs other of recited functions, and also situations in which a single processor may perform all recited functions. Additionally, the at least one processor may include a combination of processors performing various of the recited/disclosed functions, e.g., in a distributed manner. At least one processor may execute program instructions to achieve or perform various functions.
For example, according to an indoor temperature being higher than a cooling target temperature, the indoor unit controller 255 may control the indoor unit communication device 245 to transmit a cooling request signal to the outdoor unit 10, and control the indoor unit display 230 to indicate a cooling operation of the air conditioner 1. The indoor unit controller 255 may include a single General Processor that performs all operations related to operations of the indoor unit 20, a communication processor that performs only operations related to communication, and a processor that performs specialized operations, such as a control processor that performs only operations related to control operations.
The indoor unit driver 265 may include circuitry and/or a valve and drive the hot gas valve 19 and the high-pressure valve 40 according to a control signal from the indoor controller 255.
The indoor unit controller 255 driving the hot gas valve 19 and the high-pressure valve 40 may be under an assumption that the hot gas valve 19 and the high-pressure valve 40 are provided in the indoor unit, and may be the same as the outdoor unit controller 195 controlling the hot gas valve 19 and the high-pressure valve 40 in the case in which the hot gas valve 19 and the high-pressure valve 40 are provided in the outdoor unit. Therefore, descriptions thereof will be omitted.
The outdoor unit controller 195, which is a microprocessor comprising various processing circuitry that controls overall operations of the outdoor unit 10, may receive various information required for operations of the outdoor unit 10 from the outdoor unit temperature detector 170, the outdoor unit operation part 160, and the outdoor unit communication device 185, and control operations of the compressor 11, the for-way valve 13, the hot gas valve 19, and the high-temperature valve 40 based on the various information.
The indoor unit controller 255 (255-1, 255-2, and 255-3), which is a microprocessor including processing circuitry that controls overall operations of the indoor unit 20, may receive various information required for operations of the indoor unit 20 from the indoor unit temperature detector 235, the indoor unit operation part 225, and the indoor unit communication device 245, and control operations of the indoor unit 20 based on the various information.
The cooling/heating switching controller 305 may include various circuitry and be connected to the outdoor unit 10 and the plurality of indoor units 20 to control flow of a refrigerant such that the plurality of indoor units 20 perform cooling or heating independently.
The air conditioner 1 according to an embodiment may integrate the outdoor unit controller 195, the indoor unit controller 255, and the cooling/heating switching controller 305 into one body, and any one of the outdoor unit controller 195, the indoor unit controller 255, or the cooling/heating switching controller 305 may control operations of the remaining controllers.
Referring to
The controller 400 may determine whether an indoor temperature detected by the indoor unit temperature detector 235 is lower than or equal to a threshold value (510). The threshold value may be a value set by a manager within a specific temperature range of 20 degrees to 26 degrees in which a combined cooling and heating operation is allowed.
According to determination that the indoor temperature is higher than the threshold value (NO in 510), the controller 400 may determine whether a cooling operation rate is less than or equal to a reference value (520). The reference value may be a reference percentage in the case in which there is possibility of a combined operation because a cooling operation rate of the plurality of indoor units 20 is low, and for example, the controller 400 may determine whether a cooling operation rate of the plurality of indoor units 20 is 70% or less.
According to determination that the indoor temperature is lower than or equal to the threshold value (YES in 510) or that the cooling operation rate of the indoor units 20 is less than or equal to the reference value (YES in operation 520), the controller 400 may turn off the hot gas valve 19 provided in the hot gas pipe (530).
For example, the controller 400 may determine a case in which an indoor temperature is lower than or equal to the threshold value or a case in which a cooling operation rate of the indoor units 20 is less than or equal to the reference value, as a case in which a combined cooling and heating operation is possible. For example, in the case in which an indoor temperature is lower than or equal to the threshold value, an old person or child who feels cold in each of spaces where the indoor units 20 are installed may perform a heating operation and a young man may perform a cooling operation. Therefore, the controller 400 may determine the case as a case in which a combined cooling and heating operation is possible.
Accordingly, based on determination that a combined cooling and heating operation is possible based on an indoor temperature and a cooling operation rate, the controller 400 may turn off the hot gas valve 19 to prevent or block the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) from being used as a low-pressure pipe.
For example, the controller 400 may prevent/inhibit the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) from being used as a low-pressure pressure in advance before a combined cooling and heating operation of the indoor units 20 is performed, thereby preventing and/or reducing noise caused by pressure equalization sound generated when the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) being used as a low-pressure pipe is used as a high-pressure pipe in response to a heating signal.
The controller 400 may determine whether a signal for turning on heating of the indoor units 20 is received while the hot gas valve 19 is in a turned-off state (540). According to determination that a signal for turning on heating of at least one indoor unit 20 among the plurality of indoor units 20 is received from the at least one indoor unit 20 (YES in 540), the controller 400 may perform a combined cooling and heating operation by causing the corresponding indoor unit 20 to perform a heating operation and the remaining indoor units 20 to keep performing cooling operations (550).
In this way, because the controller turns off the hot gas valve 19 before a combined operation based on a specific temperature and a cooling operation rate at which a combined cooling and heating operation is capable of being actually performed, noise caused by pressure equalization sound may be reduced by changing software while using existing hardware as it is, resulting in cost reduction.
Referring to
The high-pressure valve 40 may be provided in the mode switching unit 30, and provided on the bypass pipe P13 connecting the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) and the third refrigerant pipe P3 (liquid pipe).
The high-pressure valve 40 may include an Electric Expansion Valve, and an opening degree of the high-pressure valve 40 may be adjusted by a control signal from the cooling/heating switching controller 305 to increase pressure of the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) in advance in order to prevent or inhibit a high-pressure gas from abruptly flowing into the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe).
For example, based on reception of a heating operation signal from at least one among the plurality of indoor units 20 during cooling operations of the plurality of indoor units 20, the cooling/heating switching controller 305 may open the high-pressure valve 40 to increase pressure of the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) in advance.
For example, the cooling/heating switching controller 305 may gradually increase pressure of the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) by opening the high-pressure valve 40 in stages, thereby reducing noise caused by pressure equilibrium sound generated by abruptly supplying a high-pressure gas to the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe).
Referring to
The high-pressure valve 40 may include an Electric Expansion Valve, and an opening degree of the high-pressure valve 40 may be adjusted by a control signal from the outdoor unit controller 195 to increase pressure of the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) in advance in order to prevent or inhibit a high-pressure gas from abruptly flowing into the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe).
For example, based on reception of a heating operation signal from at least one among the plurality of indoor units 20 during cooling operations of the plurality of indoor units 20, the outdoor unit controller 195 may open the high-pressure valve 40 to increase pressure of the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) in advance.
For example, the outdoor unit controller 195 may gradually increase pressure of the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) before a combined cooling and heating operation by opening the high-pressure valve 40 in stages, thereby reducing noise caused by pressure equilibrium sound generated by abruptly supplying high-pressure gas to the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe).
As described above, the bypass pipe P13 and the high-pressure valve 40 may be provided in the outdoor unit 10 or the mode switching unit 30, and an example embodiment in which medium pressure of the third refrigerant pipe P3 (liquid pipe) is supplied in stages for the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) to be used as a high-pressure pipe after the first refrigerant pipe P1 is used as a low-pressure pipe may be possible.
Referring to
The controller 400 may determine whether an indoor temperature detected by the indoor unit (20) temperature detector 235 is lower than or equal to a threshold value (910). The threshold value may be a value set by a manager within a specific temperature range of 20 degrees to 26 degrees in which a combined cooling and heating operation is allowed.
According to determination that the indoor temperature is higher than the threshold value (NO in 910), the controller 400 may determine whether a cooling operation rate is less than or equal to a reference value (920). The reference value may be a reference percentage in the case in which there is possibility of a combined operation because a cooling operation rate of the plurality of indoor units 20 is low, and for example, the controller 400 may determine whether a cooling operation rate of the plurality of indoor units 20 is 70% or less.
According to determination that the indoor temperature is lower than or equal to the threshold value (YES in 910) or that the cooling operation rate of the indoor units 20 is less than or equal to the reference value (YES in operation 920), the controller 400 may turn on the hot gas valve 19 provided on the hot gas pipe (930).
For example, because the high-pressure valve 40 is provided, the control unit 400 may control the high-pressure valve 40 while keeping the hot gas valve 19 closed to gradually increase pressure of the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe), thereby reducing noise.
The controller 400 may determine whether a signal for turning on heating of the indoor units 20 is received while the hot gas valve 19 is in a turned-on state (940).
According to determination that a signal for turning on heating of at least one indoor unit 20 among the plurality of indoor units 20 is received from the at least one indoor unit 20 (YES in 940), the controller 400 may control the high-pressure valve 40 to gradually increase pressure of the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high pressure gas pipe) in a low-pressure state (950).
For example, as described above, the controller 400 may gradually increase pressure of the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe) by opening the high-pressure valve 40 in stages, thereby reducing noise caused by pressure equilibrium sound generated by abruptly supplying a high-pressure gas to the first refrigerant pipe P1 (high-pressure gas pipe).
The controller 400 may perform a combined cooling and heating operation by causing the indoor unit 20 from which a heating signal has been received to perform a heating operation and the remaining indoor units 20 to perform cooling operations (960).
The air conditioner 1 according to an embodiment as described above may reduce noise caused by pressure equilibrium sound by controlling the hot gas valve 19 and the high-pressure valve 40 based on possibility of a combined cooling and heating operation, thereby minimizing/reducing a change of existing hardware and improving a user's satisfaction with the use of the air conditioner 1.
The various example embodiments may be implemented in the form of a recording medium that stores instructions executable by a computer. The instructions may be stored in the form of program codes, and when executed by a processor, the instructions may create a program module to perform operations of the disclosed embodiments. The recording medium may be implemented as a computer-readable recording medium.
The computer-readable recording medium may include all kinds of recording media storing instructions that can be interpreted by a computer. For example, the computer-readable recording medium may be Read Only Memory (ROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic tape, a magnetic disc, flash memory, an optical data storage device, etc.
The computer-readable storage medium may be provided in the form of a non-transitory storage medium. The ‘non-transitory storage medium’ is a tangible device, and may not include a signal (e.g., an electromagnetic wave), but this term does not differentiate between where data is semi-permanently stored in the storage medium and where the data is temporarily stored in the storage medium. For example, a ‘non-transitory storage medium’ may include a buffer in which data is temporarily stored.
According to an embodiment of the disclosure, a method according to various embodiments of the disclosure may be included and provided in a computer program product. The computer program product may be traded as a product between a seller and a buyer. The computer program product may be distributed in the form of a machine-readable storage medium (e.g., compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM)), or be distributed (e.g., downloadable or uploadable) online via an application store (e.g., Play Store™) or between two user devices (e.g., smart phones) directly. When distributed online, at least part of the computer program product (e.g., a downloadable app) may be temporarily generated or at least temporarily stored in a machine-readable storage medium, such as a memory of the manufacturer's server, a server of the application store, or a relay server.
The above detailed description illustrates examples of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the above-mentioned contents describe example embodiments of the present disclosure, and the present disclosure may be used in various other combinations, changes, and environments. For example, variations or modifications can be made to the present disclosure without departing from the scope of the technical concept of the disclosure, the equivalent scope to the written disclosure, and/or the technical or knowledge range of those skilled in the art. The above-described embodiments describe examples for implementing the technical spirit of the present disclosure, and various changes required in specific applications and purposes of the present disclosure can be made. Accordingly, the detailed description of the disclosure is not intended to restrict the present disclosure in the disclosed embodiments. In addition, it should be construed that the attached claims include various embodiments. It will also be understood that any of the embodiment(s) described herein may be used in conjunction with any other embodiment(s) described herein.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2022-0135224 | Oct 2022 | KR | national |
This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/KR2023/013577 designating the United States, filed on Sep. 11, 2023, in the Korean Intellectual Property Receiving Office and claiming priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2022-0135224, filed on Oct. 19, 2022, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of each of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/KR2023/013577 | Sep 2023 | WO |
| Child | 19080092 | US |
