JP3203096B2 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly to an air conditioner in which a plurality of outdoor units are connected in parallel to a pipe between units extending from the outdoor unit when an abnormality occurs in the device. The present invention relates to a highly-reliable air conditioner in which the device is temporarily stopped to perform a four-way valve adjustment between outdoor units and then to a normal operation, thereby preventing damage to the outdoor unit due to high-pressure cut.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a plurality of indoor units are arranged in parallel, and a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, and the like are incorporated in piping between units connected to each indoor unit.
2. Description of the Related Art A multi-type air conditioner for a building in which at least two outdoor units are connected in parallel is known (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
-85656).

In this type of multi-type air conditioner, (1)
It has the following advantages: a large-capacity system for the equipment can be achieved, (2) simple expansion can be performed to increase the load, (3) the degree of freedom in air-conditioning design can be expanded, and optimal design can be performed. ing.

[0004] The outdoor unit of the multi-type air conditioner having such a configuration is provided with a four-way valve for switching between heating and cooling. When the device is in normal operation, depending on the operation mode of heating and cooling. The operation is performed by adjusting the directions of the four-way valves in a plurality of outdoor units.

That is, when the direction of the four-way valve is different between the outdoor units, the high-pressure refrigerant and the low-pressure refrigerant short-circuit, the high-pressure refrigerant flows into the outdoor unit under the low-pressure refrigerant, and the high-pressure cut causes the outdoor unit to cut. Stop. If this happens frequently, it will damage the outdoor unit.

[0006]

Therefore, in the conventional air conditioner, (1) when the power supply of each outdoor unit is cut off due to an artificial or blackout, (2) the power supply of each outdoor unit is reduced. If an instantaneous power failure occurs due to an objective factor, or (3) an abnormality such as a failure of the outdoor unit or indoor unit occurs, the direction of the four-way valve will be different between the outdoor units, and normal operation will continue as it is. Then, there is a problem that the high-pressure refrigerant and the low-pressure refrigerant are short-circuited and the outdoor unit is stopped by high-pressure cut, thereby damaging the outdoor unit.

The present invention solves the above problems,
In an air conditioner that controls the number of operating outdoor units according to the indoor air-conditioning load, if an abnormality occurs in the equipment, the equipment is temporarily stopped, four-way valve adjustment between the outdoor units is performed, and then normal operation is performed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a highly reliable air conditioner that prevents damage to an outdoor unit due to high pressure cut by shifting.

[0008]

In order to solve the above problems, an air conditioner according to a first feature of the present invention comprises a plurality of outdoor units 1-1 to 1-3 and a plurality of outdoor units as shown in FIG. It comprises indoor units 3-1 to 3-n and control means 40, connects the outdoor units 1-1 to 1-3 in parallel to inter-unit pipes 6 extending from the indoor units, and controls indoor air conditioning loads. The outdoor units 1-1 to 1-1
In the air conditioner that controls the number of operating units 1-3, the control unit 40 stops the air conditioner when detecting an abnormality in each of the outdoor units 1-1 to 1-3, and restarts the air conditioner when restarting. Each of the outdoor units 1-1 to 1
Start after adjusting the directions of the three-way four-way valves to the same.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an air conditioner according to the first aspect, wherein the outdoor units 1-1 to 1-3 are adapted to operate when an abnormality occurs in the outdoor units. , And signal generating means 16-1 to 16-3 for generating a first signal indicating the fact, and the control means 40 controls the signals in the arbitrary outdoor units 1-1 to 1-3. When receiving the first signal from the generating means,
Stop the air conditioner.

In the air conditioner according to a third aspect of the present invention, in the air conditioner according to the second aspect, the signal generating means 16-1 to 16-3 generate an instantaneous power failure in the outdoor unit. In this case, the instantaneous power outage time is detected, and when the time is within a predetermined time range, a second signal indicating that fact is generated, and the control means 40 controls the arbitrary outdoor units 1-1 to 1-1. When the first signal or the second signal is received from the signal generating means in 3, the air conditioner is stopped.

[0011]

In the air conditioner according to the first aspect of the present invention, FIG.
As shown in the figure, in an air conditioner that controls the number of operating units of the outdoor units 1-1 to 1-3 according to the indoor air-conditioning load, the control unit 40 controls the outdoor units 1-1 to 1-1.
When an abnormality is detected for each of the three units, the air conditioner is stopped, and then, when restarting, the outdoor units 1-1 to 1-3 are started after adjusting the directions of the four-way valves to the same. ing.

In the air conditioner according to the second feature of the present invention, the signal generating means 1 in the outdoor units 1-1 to 1-3 is provided.
6-1 to 16-3 generate a first signal indicating that an abnormality has occurred in the outdoor unit, while the control unit 40 controls the internal unit in any of the outdoor units 1-1 to 1-3. When the first signal is received from the signal generation means, the air conditioner is stopped, and then, when the air conditioner is restarted, the air conditioner is started after aligning the directions of the four-way valves between the outdoor units 1-1 to 1-3. ing.

As described above, when an abnormality occurs in the apparatus, the apparatus is temporarily stopped and the outdoor units 1-1 to 1-3 are stopped.
Since the normal operation is performed after the four-way valve adjustment is performed, breakage of the outdoor unit due to high-pressure cut can be prevented, and a highly reliable air conditioner can be realized.

In the air conditioner according to the third aspect of the present invention, when an instantaneous power failure occurs in the outdoor unit, the signal generators 16-1 to 16-3 detect the instantaneous power failure time and detect the instantaneous power failure time. Is within a predetermined time range, a second signal indicating that fact is generated, and the control means 40 outputs the first signal or the second signal from the signal generation means in any of the outdoor units 1-1 to 1-3. Is received, the air conditioner is stopped, and when the air conditioner is restarted, each of the outdoor units 1-1 is stopped.
It is designed to start after the direction of the four-way valve between 1-3 is adjusted.

For example, the signal generating means 16-1 to 16-3
Is realized by a microcomputer that controls the operation of the outdoor units 1-1 to 1-3, the first signal is an initial signal generated when the microcomputer is in an initial state due to an abnormality such as a power failure. At the time of a power failure, depending on the length of the power failure time, the case where the four-way valve is reversed may occur even if the microcomputer has not reached the initial state.

In order to cope with such a case, a power outage time is detected and a second signal is generated when the power outage time is within a predetermined time range, as in the air conditioners of the first and second aspects.
The system is temporarily stopped, and after performing the four-way valve adjustment between the outdoor units 1-1 to 1-3, the operation is shifted to the normal operation. Thus, the outdoor unit can be prevented from being damaged by the high pressure cut, and a highly reliable air conditioner can be realized.

[0017]

Next, an embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the air conditioner of this embodiment has three outdoor units 1-1 to 1-3, n indoor units 3-1 to 3-n, and a controller (control means). 40. Outdoor units 1-1 to 1-3
Are connected in parallel to the inter-unit piping 6 extending from the indoor units 3-1 to 3-n, and the controller 40 is realized by a microcomputer or the like, and controls the outdoor units 1-1 to 1-1 according to the indoor air-conditioning load. -3 is controlled. In the drawings, a solid line connecting the components indicates a pipe (refrigerant pipe) 6 between the units, and a dashed line indicates a signal line for transmitting various signals.

FIG. 2 shows a detailed configuration diagram of a part of the air conditioner of the present embodiment, and shows the internal configuration of the outdoor units 1-1 and 1-2 and the indoor unit 3-1.

As shown in the figure, the outdoor unit 1-1
Is an accumulator 10-1, a compressor 11-1, an oil separator 12-1, a four-way valve 13-1, an outdoor heat exchanger 14-1,
Outdoor electric expansion valve 15-1 and outdoor controller 17
-1. A signal line 1 for transmitting and receiving various signals between the outdoor controller 17-1 and the controller 40.
01-1. Also, another outdoor unit 1
-2 and 1-3 have the same configuration.

The outdoor controller 17-1 includes a signal generating means 16-1, a compressor control means 18-1, and a four-way valve control means 19-1, and is realized by, for example, a microcomputer. The signal generating means 16-1 outputs an initial signal when the microcomputer goes into the initial state when an abnormality such as a power failure occurs in the outdoor unit 3-1. When the instantaneous power failure occurs, the microcomputer generates an initial signal. Even when the state is not reached, an instantaneous power outage time is detected, and when the time is within a predetermined time range, an initial signal is generated and output to the controller 40 via the signal line 101-1. Also, the compressor control means 18
-1 and the four-way valve control means 19-1 are controlled by the four-way valve 13-1 and the compressor 11 based on a command from the controller 40, respectively.
-1 is controlled.

The indoor unit 3-1 includes an indoor heat exchanger 34-1 and an electrically operated indoor expansion valve 35-1, and an indoor controller (such as a microcomputer) is provided in the indoor unit 3-1. (Not shown), and is connected to the controller 40 via the terminal 39-1 and the signal line 103-1. The other indoor units 3-2 to 3-n have the same configuration. Further, from the indoor units 3-1 to 3-n, an inter-unit pipe 6 including a gas pipe 5 and a liquid pipe 7 extends.
1 to 1-3 are connected in parallel.

The gas pipes 5 constituting the inter-unit pipes include:
The four-way valves 13-1 to 13-3 of the outdoor unit are connected,
The accumulators 10-1 to 10-3 are connected to the four-way valves 13-1 to 13-3, respectively.
Depending on the switching position of 1 to 13-3, whether or not the gas pipe 5 and the accumulators 10-1 to 10-3 communicate with each other depends on the switching of the four-way valves 13-1 to 13-3. At the stage of blocking the communication, the four-way valves 13-1 to 13-3 constitute a so-called blocking valve.

Next, the operation performed by the controller 40 and the outdoor controllers 17-1 to 17-3 when various abnormalities occur in the air conditioner having such a configuration will be described with reference to FIG. . FIG. 3A shows the controller 4.
FIG. 3B is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the outdoor controllers 17-1 to 17-3 in the outdoor unit.

The abnormalities that occur are roughly divided into the following three.

(1) When the power supply of each outdoor unit is turned off due to human or power failure, etc. (2) When the power supply of each outdoor unit is momentarily blacked out due to objective factors (3) The outdoor unit Or, when the indoor unit has failed In the case of (1), the outdoor unit 1-i (i = 1 to 3) is completely in a power failure state. At this time, the outdoor controller 17
-I is in the initial state, and outputs an initial signal to the controller 40 via the signal line 101-i in step S13 after step S11. On the other hand, the controller 40 receives the initial signal from the outdoor controller 17-i in step S2, and proceeds to step S3 to stop the operation of the air conditioner.

Thereafter, at the time of restart, the four-way valves 13-1 to 13-13 in each of the outdoor units 1-1 to 1-3 are determined in step S4.
After adjusting the direction of -3, the process returns to the normal operation in step S5. At this time, the outdoor controller 17-i sequentially performs the four-way valve adjustment operation control (step S14) and the normal operation control (step S15) based on a command from the controller 40.

In the case of (2), the power outage time T of the instantaneous power outage
Depends on the situation.

(A) When the power outage time T is a short time (for example, 0.5 seconds) shorter than a certain time T1, the four-way valve 13-
i is not inverted. Therefore, in this case, step S11
Normal operation will be continued through steps S12 to S15.

(B) When the power failure time T is longer than a certain time T2, the four-way valve 13-i is inverted, and the outdoor controller 17-i is also in the initial state. This case is included in the above case (1) and goes through the same processing procedure as (1).

(C) When the power outage time T satisfies T1 <T <T2, the four-way valve 13-i is inverted, but the outdoor controller 17-i does not enter the initial state. In order to deal with such a case, step S12 for detecting the power failure time T is added to the processing procedure of the outdoor controller 17-i.

That is, in the case of (c), since the outdoor controller 17-i is not in the initial state, the process proceeds to step S12 via step S11 to detect the power failure time T, and the power failure time T is longer than the time T1. (Four-way valve 13-i
Is inverted), an initial signal is output to the controller 40 via the signal line 101-i in step S13. On the other hand, the controller 40 receives the initial signal from the outdoor controller 17-i in step S2, and proceeds to step S3 to stop the operation of the air conditioner. Thereafter, at the time of restart, as in the case of (1), step S4
The four-way valves 13-1 to 13-1 in each of the outdoor units 1-1 to 1-3
After adjusting the direction of 13-3, the process returns to the normal operation in step S5.

The time T1 at which the four-way valve 13-i is reversed is T1.
Depends on the characteristics of the four-way valve 13-i, so that the time T1 may be determined by experimentally confirming the characteristics of the four-way valve 13-i in advance.

If the outdoor unit 1-i or the indoor unit 3-i of (3) breaks down, the outdoor unit 1-i
Alternatively, since an alarm is issued from the controller 40, the process proceeds to step S3, and the operation of the air conditioner is stopped. afterwards,
At the time of restart, as in the case of (1), the four-way valves 13-1 to 13-13 in each of the outdoor units 1-1 to 1-3 in step S4.
After adjusting the direction of -3, the process returns to the normal operation in step S5.

As described above, according to the air conditioner of the present embodiment, when the power of each of the outdoor units 1-1 to 1-3 is turned off due to a human or power failure, the individual outdoor units 1 to 1-3 are turned off. When abnormalities occur, such as when the power supply of 1-1 to 1-3 is instantaneously interrupted due to an objective factor, or when the outdoor units 1-1 to 1-3 or the indoor units 3-1 to 3-3 are out of order. In addition, when the four-way valve is reversed to be in a different state between the outdoor units, the apparatus is stopped once, the four-way valve adjustment between the outdoor units is performed, and then the normal operation is performed. The outdoor unit is prevented from being damaged by high-pressure cut due to short-circuit with the refrigerant, and a highly reliable air conditioner can be realized.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In an air conditioner that controls the number of operating outdoor units according to the indoor air-conditioning load, if an abnormality occurs in the equipment, the equipment is temporarily stopped, four-way valve adjustment between the outdoor units is performed, and then normal operation is performed. I decided to move,
The outdoor unit can be prevented from being damaged by high-pressure cutting, and a highly reliable air conditioner can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial detailed configuration diagram of the air conditioner of the embodiment.

FIG. 3A is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a controller, and FIG. 3B is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an outdoor controller in an outdoor unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1-1 to 1-3 Outdoor unit 3-1 to 3-n Indoor unit 5 Gas pipe 6 Refrigerant pipe (piping between units) 7 Liquid pipe 10-1 to 10-3 Accumulator 11-1 to 11-3 Compressor 12 -1 to 12-3 Oil separator 13-1 to 13-3 Four-way valve 14-1 to 14-3 Outdoor heat exchanger 15-1 to 15-3 Outdoor electric expansion valve 16-1 to 16-3 Signal generation Means 17-1 to 17-3 Outdoor controller 18-1 to 18-3 Compressor control means 19-1 to 19-3 Four-way valve control means 34-1 Indoor heat exchanger 35-1 Indoor electric expansion valve 39-1 , 39-2 terminal 40 controller (control means) 51 balance tube 101-1 to 101-3 signal line 103-1 to 103-n signal line

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F25B 49/02 F25B 1/00 F25B 13/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An outdoor unit comprising: a plurality of outdoor units; and an indoor unit, wherein the outdoor units are connected in parallel to a unit-to-unit pipe extending from the indoor units, and the number of the outdoor units to be operated is controlled according to the indoor air conditioning load. In the air conditioner, when an abnormality is detected for each of the outdoor units, the air conditioner is stopped, and when restarting , the directions of the four-way valves of the outdoor units are all the same.
An air conditioning apparatus, characterized in that a control means for activating the combined. 2. The outdoor unit according to claim 1, further comprising a signal generating unit configured to generate, when an abnormality occurs in the outdoor unit, a first signal indicating the occurrence of the abnormality, wherein the control unit controls the inside of the arbitrary outdoor unit. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein when the first signal is received from the signal generator, the air conditioner is stopped. 3. The signal generating means detects an instantaneous power failure time when an instantaneous power failure occurs in the outdoor unit, and when the instantaneous power failure time is within a predetermined time range, a second signal indicating the fact. The control unit stops the air conditioner when receiving the first signal or the second signal from the signal generation unit in the arbitrary outdoor unit. An air conditioner according to item 1.