Patent Grant
9581349
This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2013-0057840, filed on May 22, 2013 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field
One or more embodiments relate to an indoor unit and an air conditioning system using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A general air conditioner is a device for heating or cooling an indoor space, which circulates a refrigerant between an indoor unit and an outdoor unit to perform a cooling or heating function based on characteristics whereby a refrigerant in a liquid state absorbs surrounding heat when vaporized and emits the heat when liquefied.
In general, with regard to a typical air conditioner, one indoor unit is installed with respect to one outdoor unit. Recently, consumer demand for a system air conditioner, in which various indoor units with various shapes and capacities are connected to one or more outdoor units to perform a cooling or heating function in a place containing a plurality of separate spaces, such as in a school, a company, or a hospital, has increased.
The system air conditioner includes, for example, one outdoor unit and a plurality of indoor units and is configured in such a way that a direct current (DC) power line, a communication line, etc. are connected between the outdoor unit and each indoor unit such that the outdoor unit and each indoor unit communicate with each other.
Therefore, the foregoing described aspects and/or other aspects may be achieved by one or more embodiments of an indoor unit and an air conditioning system using the same, for preventing a malfunction of a communication circuit regardless of polarities connected between devices.
Additional aspects and/or advantages of one or more embodiments will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of one or more embodiments of disclosure. One or more embodiments are inclusive of such additional aspects.
In accordance with one or more embodiments, an indoor unit may include a first communication module to communicate with a wired remote controller, a power switch connected to a power terminal of one or the other side of the first communication module, a ground switch connected to a ground terminal of one or the other side of the first communication module to constitute a pair with the power switch, and an indoor unit controller to turn on the power switch and the ground switch when an indoor unit supplies power to the wired remote controller, and to turn off the power switch and the ground switch when another indoor unit supplies power to the wired remote controller.
The wired remote controller and the indoor unit may communicate with each other in a straight polarity manner of connecting the wired remote controller and the indoor unit to the same polarity, a reverse polarity manner of connecting the wired remote controller and the indoor unit to different polarities, or a mixture thereof.
The power switch and the ground switch may each include a relay or a transistor.
The wired remote controller and the first communication module may be connected to each other using DC power two-wire communication to transmit a communication signal and power via two lines.
In accordance with one or more embodiments, an air conditioning system may include an outdoor unit, a wired remote controller to receive power from an indoor unit and to operate, and a plurality of indoor units connected to the outdoor unit, wherein a group of a power switch and ground switch of a corresponding specific indoor unit may be turned on and a group of a power switch and ground switch of another indoor unit may be turned off when the corresponding specific indoor unit supplies power to the wired remote controller.
The indoor unit may include a first communication module to communicate with a wired remote controller, a power switch connected to a power terminal of one or the other side of the first communication module, a ground switch connected to a ground terminal of one or the other side of the first communication module to constitute a pair with the power switch, and an indoor unit controller to turn on the power switch and the ground switch when an indoor unit supplies power to the wired remote controller, and to turn off the power switch and the ground switch when another indoor unit supplies power to the wired remote controller.
These and/or other aspects will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
Reference will now be made in detail to one or more embodiments, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. In this regard, embodiments of the present invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to embodiments set forth herein, as various changes, modifications, and equivalents of the systems, apparatuses and/or methods described herein will be understood to be included in the invention by those of ordinary skill in the art after embodiments discussed herein are understood. Accordingly, embodiments are merely described below, by referring to the figures, to explain aspects of the present invention.
Hereinafter, a disclosed air conditioning system may refer to a system air-conditioner.
Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
As illustrated in
In this case, the outdoor unit 100 and the indoor units 200 may be connected to each other to communicate with each other such as, for example, via RS485 two-wire communication. RS 485 as an expansion version of RS232 and RS422 is a kind of a serial communication protocol standard specification for supporting a home network. In order to supplement RS232 with a relatively low transmission rate and a short transmission distance, RS422 may be employed. According to RS422, data may be transmitted between one master device and one slave device. On the other hand, according to RS485, data may be transmitted between all devices through the same line and support both a semi-duplex communication method and a duplex communication method. In addition, according to RS485, it may be possible that a maximum of 32 drivers and a maximum 32 receivers may be used and a network with a maximum speed of 10 Mbps and a maximum distance of 1.2 km may be established.
Although not illustrated, the outdoor unit 100 may include a compressor to compress a refrigerant, a four-way valve to adjust a direction of a flow of the refrigerant ejected from the compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger to receive the refrigerant compressed by the compressor and to exchange heat with outside air, an outdoor fan to send air to the outdoor heat exchanger, an outdoor fan motor to rotate the outdoor fan, an electronic expansion valve to expand the refrigerant sent from the outdoor heat exchanger and to simultaneously adjust a flow of the refrigerant ejected from the outdoor heat exchanger, and an accumulator to transmit the refrigerant discharged from indoor and outdoor heat exchangers to the compressor in the form of gas and may be connected to a plurality of indoor units 200 to satisfy heating and cooling capacity demand in a corresponding installation space.
For example, as illustrated in
In this case, the indoor units 200 and the wired remote controller 300 may be connected to each other via DC power two-wire communication in which communication signals may be linked to a power-supply line and the communication signals and power may be transmitted via 2 lines. That is, the indoor unit 200 may have a physical channel for communication using a separate method such as RS485 for communication with the outdoor unit 100 in addition to the DC power two-wire communication with the wired remote controller 300.
In addition, the indoor unit 200 may include a first communication module 210, a power switch 220, a ground switch 230, an indoor unit controller 240, and a second communication module 250.
The first communication module 210 may be a device for communication with the wired remote controller 300. In this case, the first communication module 210 and the wired remote controller 300 may be connected to each other using a method of sharing communication information using DC power two-wire communication.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The power switch 220 and the ground switch 230 may each include, but are not limited to, a relay or a transistor.
When an indoor unit supplies power to the wired remote controller 300, the indoor unit controller 240 may turn on the power switch 220 and the ground switch 230. When another indoor unit supplies power to the wired remote controller 300, the indoor unit controller 240 may turn off a group of the power switch 220 and the ground switch 230. For example, when the indoor unit 1 200a supplies power to the wired remote controller 300, the power switch 220 and the ground switch 230 of each of the indoor unit 2 200b and the indoor unit 3 200c may be turned off such that redundant power is not supplied from the indoor unit 2 200b and the indoor unit 3 200c.
That is, the indoor units 200 may include a plurality of indoor units each of which may be connected to the outdoor unit 100. When a specific indoor unit among the indoor units 200 supplies power to the wired remote controller 300, a group of the power switch 220 and ground switch 230 of the corresponding specific indoor unit may be turned on and a group of the power switch 220 and ground switch 230 of another indoor unit may be turned off. In this case, the group of the power switch 220 and ground switch 230 refers to the power switch 220 and the ground switch 230 which are arranged in one indoor unit 200. For example, the power switch 220 and ground switch 230 included in the indoor unit 1 200a may constitute a group.
This may be applied to the power switch 220 and ground switch 230 included in each of the indoor unit 2 200b and the indoor unit 3 200c in the same way. Thus, since only one of the indoor units 200 may supply power to the wired remote controller 300, a circuit malfunction may be prevented.
The wired remote controller 300 may receive power from the indoor unit 200 and operate. In addition, the wired remote controller 300 may transmit and receive information that is input and set by a user through the first communication module 210 of the indoor unit 200.
The wired remote controller 300 and the indoor unit 200 may communicate with each other in a straight polarity manner in which the wired remote controller 300 and the indoor unit 200 are connected to the same polarity, a reverse polarity manner in which the wired remote controller 300 and the indoor unit 200 are connected to different polarities, or a mixture thereof.
The second communication module 250 may be a component for communication with the outdoor unit 100. In addition, the second communication module 250 and the outdoor unit 100 may be connected via RS 485 two-wire communication, but embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto.
As illustrated in
In addition, the power switch 220 may be connected to the first communication module 210 and may be formed between the first communication module 210 and a power terminal (for example, 12 V of
The ground switch 230 may be connected to the first communication module 210 and may be formed between the first communication module 210 and a ground terminal (for example, Gnd1, Gnd2, or Gnd3 of
As illustrated in
In addition, as illustrated in
An inductor and a capacitor may also be arranged between the ground switch 230 and the first communication module 210, but embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto. For example, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
In addition, the power switch 220 may be connected to the first communication module 210 and may be formed between the first communication module 210 and a power terminal (for example, 12 V of
The ground switch 230 may be connected to the first communication module 210 and may be formed between the first communication module 210 and a ground terminal (for example, Gnd1, Gnd2, or Gnd3 of
As illustrated in
In this circuit structure, as power is supplied to the wired remote controller 300 by closing the group of the power switch 220 and ground switch 230 included in the indoor unit 1 200a such that the power switch 220 and ground switch 230 are turned on in terms of circuit configuration, the group of the power switch 220 and ground switch 230 included in each of the indoor unit 2 200b and the indoor unit 3 200c may be opened such that the power switch 220 and the ground switch 230 may be turned off in terms of circuit configuration. Thus, even if reverse polarity is formed between components, a ground level between the indoor unit 1 200a, the indoor unit 2 200b, and the indoor unit 3 200c may be kept constant, thereby possibly preventing circuit malfunction.
In addition, as illustrated in
An inductor and a capacitor may also be arranged between the ground switch 230 and the first communication module 210, but embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto. For example, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
In addition, in the circuit of
Referring to
In this regard, a group of a power switch and ground switch of another indoor unit, which are not closed, may be opened such that the power switch and the ground switch may remain off.
In general, a communication module for communication between an indoor unit and an outdoor unit may have a common mode range (CMR) that is limitation in potential difference between ground terminals of the indoor and outdoor units. When the potential difference between the ground terminals exceeds the CMR, communication error may occur. According to one or more embodiments, a ground switch connected to a ground terminal of an indoor unit and a power switch connected to a power terminal of the indoor unit may be used. Thus, when a specific indoor unit among a plurality of indoor units supplies power to a wired remote controller, a power switch and ground switch of another indoor unit may be opened to be turned off in terms of circuit configuration, and thus, a ground level may be maintained even if the indoor units and the wired remote controller are connected in a straight polarity manner, a reverse polarity manner, or a mixture thereof.
As is apparent from the above description, an indoor unit and an air conditioning system using the same according to one or more embodiments may maintain a stable ground level regardless of polarities connected between an indoor unit and a wired remote controller by applying a power switch and a ground switch to the indoor unit.
While aspects of the present invention have been particularly shown and described with reference to differing embodiments thereof, it should be understood that these embodiments should be considered in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. Descriptions of features or aspects within each embodiment should typically be considered as available for other similar features or aspects in the remaining embodiments. Suitable results may equally be achieved if the described techniques are performed in a different order and/or if components in a described system, architecture, device, or circuit are combined in a different manner and/or replaced or supplemented by other components or their equivalents.
Thus, although a few embodiments have been shown and described, with additional embodiments being equally available, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2013-0057840 | May 2013 | KR | national |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4526010 | Sato | Jul 1985 | A |
| 4764981 | Miyahara | Aug 1988 | A |
| 5555509 | Dolan | Sep 1996 | A |
| 5751948 | Dolan | May 1998 | A |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20140346238 A1 | Nov 2014 | US |
