Patent Application
20230213235
The present subject matter relates generally to air conditioning appliances, and more particularly to air conditioning appliances having closed-loop controls.
Air conditioner units or air conditioning appliance units are conventionally utilized to adjust the temperature within structures such as dwellings and office buildings. In particular, one-unit type room air conditioner units, such as single-package vertical units (SPVU), or package terminal air conditioners (PTAC) may be utilized to adjust the temperature in, for example, a single room or group of rooms of a structure. A typical one-unit type air conditioner or air conditioning appliance includes an indoor portion and an outdoor portion. The indoor portion generally communicates (e.g., exchanges air) with the area within a building, and the outdoor portion generally communicates (e.g., exchanges air) with the area outside a building. Accordingly, the air conditioner unit generally extends through, for example, an outer wall of the structure. Generally, a fan may be operable to rotate to motivate air through the indoor portion. Another fan may be operable to rotate to motivate air through the outdoor portion. A sealed cooling system including a compressor is generally housed within the air conditioner unit to treat (e.g., cool or heat) air as it is circulated through, for example, the indoor portion of the air conditioner unit. One or more control boards are typically provided to direct the operation of various elements of the particular air conditioner unit.
Some air conditioner units include a variable speed compressor which is capable of operation at any selected speed within a range of possible operating speeds. The optimal speed for such variable speed compressors may be determined based on the ambient temperature, e.g., current temperature in a room or other area to be cooled, and the target temperature or setpoint temperature. For example, the ambient temperature and the setpoint temperature may be input into a closed-loop control algorithm to determine the speed of the compressor. However, some air conditioner units that include a variable speed compressor may be coupled with a thermometer that has limited communication capabilities, e.g., that does not transmit the setpoint temperature to the air conditioner unit. Thus, the air conditioner unit may not be able to operate the variable speed compressor at an optimal speed based on the ambient temperature and the setpoint temperature when the air conditioner unit does not receive the setpoint temperature information from the thermostat.
As a result, further improvements to air conditioners may be advantageous. In particular, it would be useful to provide an air conditioner that is capable of estimating the setpoint temperature when the setpoint temperature data is not received from the thermostat, e.g., because the thermostat lacks such communication capabilities and/or is malfunctioning.
Aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following description, or may be obvious from the description, or may be learned through practice of the invention.
In one exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, a method of operating an air conditioner unit is provided. The air conditioner unit includes a housing that defines an outdoor portion and an indoor portion. An outdoor heat exchanger is disposed in the outdoor portion. An indoor heat exchanger is disposed in the indoor portion. A variable speed compressor is in fluid communication with the outdoor heat exchanger and the indoor heat exchanger to circulate a refrigerant between the outdoor heat exchanger and the indoor heat exchanger. The method includes measuring an ambient temperature and estimating a setpoint temperature of the air conditioner unit. The method also includes inputting the measured ambient temperature and the estimated setpoint temperature into a closed-loop control algorithm. The method further includes setting a compressor speed of the variable speed compressor based on the output of the closed-loop control algorithm.
In another exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, an air conditioner unit is provided. The air conditioner unit includes a housing defining an outdoor portion and an indoor portion. An outdoor heat exchanger is disposed in the outdoor portion. An indoor heat exchanger is disposed in the indoor portion. The air conditioner unit also includes a variable speed compressor in fluid communication with the outdoor heat exchanger and the indoor heat exchanger to circulate a refrigerant between the outdoor heat exchanger and the indoor heat exchanger. The air conditioner unit further includes a controller. The controller is configured for measuring an ambient temperature and estimating a setpoint temperature of the air conditioner unit. The controller is also configured for inputting the measured ambient temperature and the estimated setpoint temperature into a closed-loop control algorithm. The controller is further configured for setting a compressor speed of the variable speed compressor based on the output of the closed-loop control algorithm.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including the best mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth in the specification, which makes reference to the appended figures.
Reference now will be made in detail to embodiments of the invention, one or more examples of which are illustrated in the drawings. Each example is provided by way of explanation of the invention, not limitation of the invention. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the scope of the invention. For instance, features illustrated or described as part of one embodiment can be used with another embodiment to yield a still further embodiment. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers such modifications and variations as come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
As used herein, the terms “includes” and “including” are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising.” Similarly, the term “or” is generally intended to be inclusive (i.e., “A or B” is intended to mean “A or B or both”). The terms “upstream” and “downstream” refer to the relative flow direction with respect to fluid flow in a fluid pathway. For example, “upstream” refers to the flow direction from which the fluid flows, and “downstream” refers to the flow direction to which the fluid flows.
As used herein, terms of approximation, such as “generally,” or “about” include values within ten percent greater or less than the stated value. When used in the context of an angle or direction, such terms include within ten degrees greater or less than the stated angle or direction. For example, “generally vertical” includes directions within ten degrees of vertical in any direction, e.g., clockwise or counter-clockwise.
Turning now to the figures,
Generally, air conditioner 100 defines a vertical direction V, lateral direction L, and transverse direction T. Each direction V, L, T is mutually perpendicular with every other direction, such that an orthogonal coordinate system is generally defined.
In some embodiments, housing 114 contains various other components of the air conditioner 100. Housing 114 may include, for example, a rear opening 116 (e.g., with or without a grill or grate thereacross) and a front opening 118 (e.g., with or without a grill or grate thereacross) may be spaced apart from each other along the transverse direction T. The rear opening 116 may be part of the outdoor portion 110, while the front opening 118 may be part of the indoor portion 112. Components of the outdoor portion 110, such as an outdoor heat exchanger 120, outdoor fan 124, and compressor 126 may be enclosed within housing 114 between front opening 118 and rear opening 116. In certain embodiments, one or more components are mounted on a base 136, as shown. The base 136 may be received on or within a drain pan 300.
During certain operations, air 1000 may be drawn to outdoor portion 110 through rear opening 116. Specifically, an outdoor inlet 128 defined through housing 114 may receive outdoor air 1000 motivated by outdoor fan 124. Within housing 114, the received outdoor air 1000 may be motivated through or across outdoor fan 124. Moreover, at least a portion of the outdoor air 1000 may be motivated through or across outdoor heat exchanger 120 before exiting the rear opening 116 at an outdoor outlet 130. It is noted that although outdoor inlet 128 is illustrated as being defined above outdoor outlet 130, alternative embodiments may reverse this relative orientation (e.g., such that outdoor inlet 128 is defined below outdoor outlet 130) or provide outdoor inlet 128 beside outdoor outlet 130 in a side-by-side orientation, or another suitable orientation.
As shown, indoor portion 112 may include an indoor heat exchanger 122, and an indoor fan 142, e.g., a blower fan 142 as in the illustrated example embodiment. These components may, for example, be housed behind the front opening 118. A bulkhead may generally support or house various other components or portions thereof of the indoor portion 112, such as the blower fan 142. The bulkhead may generally separate and define the indoor portion 112 and outdoor portion 110 within housing 114.
During certain operations, air 1002 may be drawn to indoor portion 112 through front opening 118. Specifically, an indoor inlet 138 defined through housing 114 may receive indoor air 1002 motivated by blower fan 142. At least a portion of the indoor air 1002 may be motivated through or across indoor heat exchanger 122 before passing to a duct 132. The indoor air 1002 may be motivated (e.g., by fan 142) into and through the duct 132 and returned to the indoor area of the room through an indoor outlet 140 defined through housing 114 (e.g., above indoor inlet 138 along the vertical direction V). Optionally, one or more conduits (not pictured) may be mounted on or downstream from indoor outlet 140 to further guide air 1002 from air conditioner 100. It is noted that although indoor outlet 140 is illustrated as generally directing air upward, it is understood that indoor outlet 140 may be defined in alternative embodiments to direct air in any other suitable direction.
Outdoor and indoor heat exchangers 120, 122 may be components of a thermodynamic assembly (i.e., sealed system), which may be operated as a refrigeration assembly (and thus perform a refrigeration cycle) or, in the case of the heat pump unit embodiment, a heat pump (and thus perform a heat pump cycle). Thus, as is understood, exemplary heat pump unit embodiments may be selectively operated to perform a refrigeration cycle at certain instances (e.g., while in a cooling mode) and a heat pump cycle at other instances (e.g., while in a heating mode). By contrast, exemplary A/C exclusive unit embodiments may be unable to perform a heat pump cycle (e.g., while in the heating mode), but still perform a refrigeration cycle (e.g., while in a cooling mode).
The sealed system may, for example, further include compressor 126 (e.g., mounted on base 136) and an expansion device (e.g., expansion valve or capillary tube—not pictured), both of which may be in fluid communication with the heat exchangers 120, 122 to flow refrigerant therethrough, as is generally understood. The outdoor and indoor heat exchangers 120, 122 may each include coils 146, 148, as illustrated, through which a refrigerant may flow for heat exchange purposes, as is generally understood.
A plenum 200 may be provided to direct air to or from housing 114. When installed, plenum 200 may be selectively attached to (e.g., fixed to or mounted against) housing 114 (e.g., via a suitable mechanical fastener, adhesive, gasket, etc.) and extend through a structure wall 150 (e.g., an outer wall of the structure within which air conditioner 100 is installed) and above a floor 151. In particular, plenum 200 extends along an axial direction X (e.g., parallel to the transverse direction T) through a hole or channel 152 in the structure wall 150 that passes from an internal surface 154 to an external surface 156. Optionally, a caulk bead 252 (i.e., adhesive or sealant caulk) may be provided to join the plenum 200 to the external surface 156 of structure wall 150 (e.g., about or outside from wall channel 152).
The plenum 200 includes a duct wall 212 that is formed about the axial direction X (e.g., when mounted through wall channel 152). Duct wall 212 may be formed according to any suitable hollow shape, such as conduit having a rectangular profile (shown), defining an air channel 210 to guide air therethrough. Moreover, duct wall 212 may be formed from any suitable non-permeable material (e.g., steel, aluminum, or a suitable polymer) for directing or guiding air therethrough. In certain embodiments, plenum 200 further includes an outer flange 220 that extends in a radial direction (e.g., perpendicular to the axial direction X) from duct wall 212. Specifically, outer flange 220 may extend radially outward (e.g., away from at least a portion of the axial direction X or the duct wall 212).
In some embodiments, plenum 200 includes a divider wall 256 within air channel 210. When assembled, divider wall 256 defines a separate upper passage 258 and lower passage 260. For instance, divider wall 256 may extend along the lateral direction L from one lateral side of plenum 200 to the other lateral side. Generally, upper passage 258 and lower passage 260 may divide or define two discrete air flow paths for air channel 210. When assembled, upper passage 258 and lower passage 260 may be fluidly isolated by divider wall 256 (e.g., such that air is prevented from passing directly between passages 258 and 260 through divider wall 256, or another portion of plenum 200). Upper passage 258 may be positioned upstream from outdoor inlet 128. Lower passage 260 may be positioned downstream from outdoor outlet 130.
The plenum 200 may further include a second divider wall 257 which separates a make-up air passage 262 from the remainder of the air channel 210, such as from the upper passage 258 and the lower passage 260. For example, the make-up air passage 262 may be positioned directly above the upper passage 258, whereby the second divider separates and partially defines the make-up air passage 262 and the upper passage 258, e.g., as in the exemplary embodiment illustrated in
The operation of air conditioner 100 including compressor 126 (and thus the sealed system generally), indoor fan 142, outdoor fan 124, and other suitable components may be controlled by a control board or controller 158. Controller 158 may be in communication (via for example a suitable wired or wireless connection) to such components of the air conditioner 100. By way of example, the controller 158 may include a memory and one or more processing devices such as microprocessors, CPUs or the like, such as general or special purpose microprocessors operable to execute programming instructions or micro-control code associated with operation of air conditioner 100. The memory may be a separate component from the processor or may be included onboard within the processor. The memory may represent random access memory such as DRAM, or read only memory such as ROM or FLASH. In one embodiment, the processor executes programming instructions stored in memory. The memory may be a separate component from the processor or may be included onboard within the processor. Alternatively, controller 158 may be constructed without using a microprocessor, e.g., using a combination of discrete analog and/or digital logic circuitry (such as switches, amplifiers, integrators, comparators, flip-flops, AND gates, and the like) to perform control functionality instead of relying upon software. Further, it should be understood that controllers 158 as disclosed herein are capable of and may be operable to perform any methods and associated method steps as disclosed herein.
Air conditioner 100 may additionally include a control panel 160 (
Also as may be seen in
The drain pan 300 may include one or more sockets which are configured to receive the leg(s) 307 and/or 308. For example, as illustrated in
The material for the leg(s) 307 and/or 308 may be any suitable material which is strong enough to bear the weight of the housing 114 and drain pan 300. For example, materials which are likely to be readily available during installation of the air conditioner unit and which can be suitable for forming the leg(s) 307 and/or 308 include building materials such as lumber, e.g., dimensional lumber such as a nominal two-inch-by-four-inch board, commonly referred to as a two-by-four, or plumbing, e.g., PVC piping having sufficient size (e.g., outer diameter, wall thickness, etc.). Thus, in some embodiments, the socket, e.g., first socket 301, may have a rectangular cross-section and may thereby be configured to receive a leg 307 made of lumber, such as a two-by-four leg, a two-by-six leg, or a four-by-four leg, etc. Additionally, in some embodiments, the socket, e.g., the second socket 302, may be cylindrical and may thereby be configured to receive a round, e.g., cylindrical, leg 308, such as a piece of piping, e.g., a PVC pipe as mentioned above, or, as another example, a steel pipe or other tubular or solid round leg 308.
Turning now to
The exemplary operation illustrated in
As may be seen in
After establishing the initial estimate of the setpoint temperature (e.g., the leftmost end of line 604 in
Still referring to
The ON cycle also includes operating the variable speed compressor at one or more non-zero (greater than zero) speeds. For example, the variable speed compressor may be operated at varying speeds based on the ambient temperature and the estimated setpoint temperature, e.g., as shown by the gradual curvature in line 606 over at least a first portion of the second ON cycle 614. For example, the compressor speed 606 may be controlled by a closed-loop control algorithm during the subsequent ON cycle 614, where the ambient temperature 602 (measured by the air conditioner unit, as mentioned above) and the estimated setpoint temperature 604 are the inputs into the algorithm, and the algorithm outputs compressor speed values, e.g., which may be or correspond to the speed 606 at which the compressor is then operated when the variable speed compressor is operated according to the closed-loop algorithm. Any suitable closed-loop control algorithm may be used, e.g., a proportional-integral (PI) control, a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control, or other similar closed-loop feedback based control may be used in various embodiments of the present disclosure. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that such controls, e.g., PI controls, may overshoot the target value as the error values are reduced. Thus, the initial shift of the estimated setpoint temperature 604 at the start of the ON cycle 614 may reduce or prevent prematurely turning off the compressor when the closed-loop control algorithm, e.g., PI control, overshoots the target temperature, e.g., when the ambient temperature 602 dips below (in cooling operations, or above if in a heating operation) the estimated setpoint temperature 604.
The vertical dashed line 608 in
Similar to
Further,
In particular,
Turning now to
As illustrated in
In some embodiments, the estimated setpoint temperature may be estimated after, such as at the end of, a first or initial ON cycle of the air conditioner unit. For example, the method 500 may include activating the variable speed compressor at a fixed speed over a first ON cycle prior to estimating the setpoint temperature. In such embodiments, the compressor speed may be set based on the output of the closed-loop algorithm in a next ON cycle after the first ON cycle. Further, such embodiments may also include measuring the ambient temperature at an end of the first ON cycle and storing the measured ambient temperature at the end of the first ON cycle as the estimated setpoint temperature.
Also as illustrated in
In some embodiments, the method 500 may also include changing, e.g., reducing during a cooling operation and/or increasing during a heating operation, the estimated setpoint temperature over an ON cycle after the first ON cycle, such as a second or other subsequent ON cycle, e.g., where the estimated setpoint is established after or at the end of the first ON cycle. For example, the method 500 may include changing, e.g., reducing and/or increasing, the estimated setpoint at a predetermined rate over the ON cycle, such as a constant, linear rate.
In some embodiments, the method 500 may include shifting, e.g., increasing during a cooling operation and/or reducing during a heating operation, the estimated setpoint temperature at a start of the next ON cycle after the first ON cycle. As described above with reference to
As described above in reference to
This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they include structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.
