JPH0429946B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to an air conditioning system, and more specifically, a plurality of indoor units are connected to one outdoor unit, and the outdoor unit is the main unit. This invention relates to an air conditioning system that controls each indoor unit.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, air conditioning systems have been provided in which a plurality of indoor units are connected to one outdoor unit, and each indoor unit is controlled using the outdoor unit as a main station. A relatively small-scale type of air conditioning system is one for general households.
Large-scale devices include those built into high-rise buildings.

In air conditioning systems of all sizes, it is necessary to ensure reliable signal transmission between the outdoor and indoor units. A configuration in which the outdoor unit and the indoor unit are connected by a signal transmission line, and a shared signal transmission line is used to connect the outdoor unit and the indoor unit, and an address is set for each indoor unit.
A configuration has been adopted in which only necessary data can be received by identifying signal transmission between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit using address data.

In order to prevent problems with refrigerant control in any type of air conditioning system, the number of indoor units connected to the outdoor unit must be set while the necessary indoor units are connected. I was getting used to it.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> When the above configuration is adopted, there is a problem that as the number of indoor units increases, the length of the signal transmission line becomes longer and the wiring work becomes more complicated. be. In particular, in the case of an air conditioning system built into a high-rise building, the distance from the outdoor unit to the indoor unit becomes large, so the above-mentioned problems become noticeable. Furthermore, in outdoor units, in order to send and receive signals to and from each indoor unit, it is necessary to incorporate a number of transmission ports equal to the number of indoor units, making the configuration of the outdoor unit itself complicated. There is also.

In addition, when the above configuration is adopted, it is possible to shorten the signal transmission line, and moreover,
This has the advantage that only one transmission port can be built into the outdoor unit, but since it is necessary to set the address of the indoor unit on-site, there is a possibility of making a mistake in setting the address. If you make a mistake in setting the address,
There is a problem in that a transmission abnormality occurs, making it impossible to perform a controlled air conditioning operation.

In either case, it is necessary to set the number of indoor units to be connected to the outdoor unit when the indoor unit is connected to the outdoor unit. If you make a mistake, there is a problem that refrigerant control will be performed based on the incorrect number of indoor units rather than the actual number of connected indoor units. There is a problem in that the indoor unit operates without receiving a control signal from the outdoor unit, and if there are many settings, a transmission error will occur.

<Object of the Invention> This invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to reduce the number of transmission ports in an outdoor unit, and also to reliably prevent mistakes in setting the number of indoor units in the outdoor unit. The aim is to provide air conditioning systems that can.

<Means for Solving the Problems> In order to achieve the above object, the air conditioning system of the present invention is such that an outdoor unit that controls a plurality of indoor units has one signal generation means and one signal generation means. a plurality of shorting means connected between the signal receiving means and the signal generating means, and a selection means for selectively driving the shorting means; The machine has a resistor connected in series between the terminals of either of the shorting means, one signal receiving means, and a signal generating means, and further includes:
A shorting member is connected between the terminals of the shorting means to which the indoor unit is not connected.

However, the plurality of shorting means may be connected in series between the signal receiving means and the signal generation means, and an indoor unit may be connected between the terminals of each shorting means, or The shorting means may be connected in parallel between the signal receiving means and the signal generating means, and the indoor unit may be connected in series with each shorting means.

<Function> In the air conditioning system having the above configuration, when the control unit selectively drives the shorting means in sequence while the signal generating means and the signal receiving means are operating, the generated signal level and the received signal level can be adjusted. Based on this, it can be determined whether the indoor unit is connected or not. That is, it is possible to identify the number of connected indoor units and the shorting means to which the indoor units are connected, and to perform initial settings in the control unit of the outdoor unit, etc.

After the initial settings have been made on the outdoor unit side as described above, when controlling multiple indoor units using the outdoor unit as the main station, the control unit of the outdoor unit can be set to either one by the selection means. By driving the signal generating means with the two shorting means driven, the control signal can be transmitted to the signal receiving means of the indoor unit through the signal transmission line connected between the terminals.

Further, the signal from the signal generating means of the indoor unit is transmitted to the signal receiving means of the outdoor unit through signal transmission, so that the state of the indoor unit can be identified in the outdoor unit.

By sequentially changing the shorting means driven by the selection means, signal transmission with all the indoor units can be performed sequentially.

and the plurality of shorting means are connected in series between the signal receiving means and the signal generating means,
In addition, when an indoor unit is connected between the terminals of each short-circuiting means, the above-mentioned effect can be performed by selectively opening the short-circuiting means. Conversely, the plurality of shorting means are connected in parallel between the signal receiving means and the signal generating means,
In addition, when an indoor unit is connected in series with each short-circuiting means, the above-mentioned effect can be achieved by selectively closing the short-circuiting means.

Furthermore, refrigerant control can be performed in accordance with the number of connected indoor units.

<Examples> Hereinafter, examples will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings showing examples.

FIG. 1 is an electrical circuit diagram showing one embodiment of the air conditioning system of the present invention, in which one outdoor unit 1 and 3
The outdoor units 21, 22, 23 and the signal transmission line 3
Connected by

To explain in more detail, the outdoor unit 1 includes a switching transistor 4 that turns on and off when a control signal from a control section (not shown) is supplied to a base terminal, and five shorting switches 51, 5.
2...55 and the light emitting diode 6 are connected in series in this order between the power supply terminal and the ground terminal. The output signal on the cathode side of the light emitting diode 6 and the received signal on the collector terminal side of the switching transistor 4 are supplied to the level comparison circuit 11. Further, a selection section 5 is attached to selectively open the short circuit switches 51, 52, . . . , 55. That is, it has only one set of control units. Here, the selection section 5 includes, for example, a relay coil, and by selectively energizing one of the relay coils, the short circuit switches 51, 52...55 can be selectively opened. can. Further, although the number of shorting switches is five in the above embodiment, it can be increased or decreased as necessary. Furthermore, a shorting plate 12 is connected between the terminals of the shorting switches 51 and 53 to which no indoor unit is connected, so that a conductive state can always be ensured regardless of the state of the shorting switches 51 and 53.

Note that the light emitting diode 6 is optically coupled to the control section 5 .

Further, the indoor unit has a resistor 10, a light emitting diode 8, and a phototransistor 9 connected in series between the output terminals of the full-wave rectifier circuit 7, and connects the light emitting diode 8 and phototransistor 9 to a control section (not shown) and a phototransistor 9. are combined.

The input terminal of the full-wave rectifier circuit 7 and the terminal of any of the shorting switches are connected by a signal transmission line 3.

Furthermore, the switching transistor 4 is
When the signal is being transmitted from the outdoor unit 1, it is turned ON and OFF in response to the signal to be transmitted, and when the signal is being received from the indoor unit, it is controlled so that it is maintained in the ON state without being affected by the signal state. be done.

Further, the phototransistor 9 is turned on and off in response to the signal to be transmitted when the signal is being transmitted from the indoor unit, and is not affected by the signal state when receiving the signal from the outdoor unit 1.
It is controlled to be kept in the ON state.

The operation of the air conditioning system with the above configuration is as follows.

When the connection of the indoor unit to the outdoor unit 1 is completed at the site, the switching transistor 4 is held in the ON state and the shorting switches are sequentially opened selectively to connect the terminals of the shorting switch. It is possible to detect whether or not an indoor unit is connected and the number of connected indoor units. That is, when the indoor unit is connected, the difference between the cathode side signal level of the light emitting diode 6 and the collector terminal side signal level of the switching transistor 4 is the difference between the voltage drop due to other shorting switches and the indoor unit. It is equal to the sum of the voltage drop due to the resistor 10, the sending diode 8, and the phototransistor 9. Conversely, if the indoor unit is not connected, the voltage drop due to one shorting plate and four shorting switches There will only be a voltage drop. Therefore, by determining the magnitude of the voltage drop using the level comparison circuit 11, it is possible to identify whether or not the indoor unit is connected. and,
By performing the above identification on all the shorting switches, it is possible to detect the position and number of the shorting switches to which the indoor unit is connected.

After the initial settings have been made as described above,
By opening only the shorting switch 55 by the selection means 5, the indoor unit 21 is selected, and in this state, if the switching transistor 4 is turned on and off based on the control signal from the control section, the ON-
The OFF signal is transmitted to the selected indoor unit 21 through the signal transmission path 3. In the indoor unit 21, since the phototransistor 9 continues to be kept in the ON state, a forward current can flow through the light emitting diode 8 by being rectified by the full wave rectifier circuit 7, and the light emitting diode 8 By having the control unit receive the optical signal from the outdoor unit 1, an air conditioning operation can be performed based on the control signal from the outdoor unit 1.

Further, data from the indoor unit 21, such as temperature detection data, is supplied from the control unit as a digital signal to the phototransistor 9, and the polarity is converted by the full-wave rectifier circuit 7 so that it becomes the forward polarity of the outdoor unit. outdoor unit 1 through signal transmission path 3.
transmitted to. In this state, the switching transistor 4 of the outdoor unit 1 continues to be kept in the ON state, so that a forward current can flow through the light emitting diode 6, and the light signal from the light emitting diode 6 is received by the control unit. By doing so, data detected by the indoor unit 21, operational status data of the indoor unit 21, etc. can be imported.

Next, by opening only the shorting switch 54 by the selection section 5, signals can be exchanged with the indoor unit 22 in the same manner as described above.

Thereafter, by sequentially opening the short-circuit switches to which the indoor units are connected by the selection unit 5,
Signals can be exchanged with connected indoor units.

As is clear from the above explanation, there is no need to set the number of connected indoor units in the outdoor unit 1, and the shorting plate remains between the terminals of the shorting switch to which no indoor unit is connected without being removed. Therefore, normal refrigerant control can be performed in accordance with the number of indoor units actually connected. Also,
There is no need to set an address on the indoor unit 2; just connect the indoor unit 2 between the terminals of the shorting switch to ensure that the signal between the outdoor unit 1 and the indoor unit 2 is transmitted without causing transmission abnormalities. can be made to give and receive.

FIG. 2 is an electric circuit diagram showing another embodiment,
The difference from the above embodiment is that a plurality of shorting switches 51, 5 are provided between the cathode side of the light emitting diode 6 and the collector terminal side of the switching transistor 4.
2...55 are connected in parallel, and the shorting switches are sequentially and selectively closed by the selection section 5, and the indoor unit 2 or the shorting plate 12 is connected in series with each shorting switch. This is the only point that has been made.

Therefore, in the case of this embodiment, if the indoor unit is not connected in series with the closed shorting switch, the corresponding shorting switch and the shorting plate 1
Only the voltage drop caused by 2 is supplied to the level comparison circuit 11 as a signal level difference, and if the indoor unit is connected and operational, the corresponding shorting switch, resistor 10, light emitting diode 8, and phototransistor 9 , and the voltage drop due to the line resistance are supplied to the level comparison circuit 11 as a signal level difference, and if the indoor unit is connected and is in an inoperable state (such as a state where the power is not turned on), the switching transistor The collector terminal side of No. 4 becomes the ground level. By detecting the difference in these signal levels by the level determination circuit 11, it is possible to determine whether the indoor unit is connected and in an operable state.

FIG. 3 is an electric circuit diagram showing one embodiment of the level determination circuit 11, in which a diode 13 and a resistor 14 are connected in series in this order between the cathode terminal of the light emitting diode 6 and the collector terminal of the switching transistor 4. At the same time, a resistor 15 and a diode 16 are connected in series in this order, and the voltage at the connection point between the diode 13 and the resistor 14 and the voltage at the connection point between the resistor 15 and the diode 16 are supplied to the comparator 17.

Therefore, since the voltage drop across the diodes 13 and 16 is substantially constant, the connection point voltage changes depending on whether the indoor unit is connected or disconnected, and the above determination operation can be performed. however,
Even if the indoor unit is connected, it cannot be determined that it is in an inoperable state. However, since this state can be determined by determining whether the collector terminal voltage of the switching transistor 4 is at the ground level, it is omitted in FIG. 3 above.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment; for example, instead of the phototransistor 9, a switching transistor controlled by an electric signal may be used, or another switching element may be used. In addition, it is possible to use a switching element driven by an electric signal in place of the light emitting diodes 6 and 8, and within the scope of not changing the gist of the present invention,
Various design changes are possible.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, the present invention connects a plurality of shorting means between the signal generating means and the signal receiving means, and adjusts the signal level when the shorting means is selectively driven by the selection means. Since the connected/disconnected state of indoor units can be identified based on the number of connected indoor units, the number of connected indoor units can be accurately identified without special setting operations, and refrigerant control can be performed normally. In addition, it has the unique effect of being able to prevent transmission abnormalities from occurring between the indoor unit and the indoor unit.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an electrical circuit diagram showing one embodiment of the air conditioning system of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an electrical circuit diagram showing another embodiment, and FIG. 3 is an electrical circuit diagram of a level comparison circuit. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Outdoor unit, 2, 21, 22, 23... Indoor unit, 3... Signal transmission path, 4... Switching transistor, 5,... Selection section, 6, 8... Light emitting diode, 9... Phototransistor, 10...Resistor, 11...Level comparison circuit, 12...Short circuit plate,
51, 52,...55...Short switch.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In an air conditioner in which a plurality of indoor units are connected to one outdoor unit, and each indoor unit is controlled using the outdoor unit as a main station, the outdoor unit: It comprises one signal receiving means, one signal generating means, a plurality of shorting means connected between the signal receiving means and the signal generating means, and a selection means for selectively driving the shorting means. The indoor unit has a resistor connected in series so that energization is controlled by one of the shorting means,
1. An air conditioning system comprising two signal receiving means and a signal generating means, further comprising a shorting member connected to the shorting means to which the indoor unit is not connected. 2. A plurality of short circuit means are connected in series between the signal reception means and the signal generation means, and each short circuit means connects an indoor unit between terminals. Air conditioning system as described. 3. A plurality of short circuit means are connected in parallel between the signal reception means and the signal generation means, and each short circuit means connects the indoor units in series. air conditioning system.