JPH071118B2 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an air conditioner, and more particularly to an improvement of an air conditioner having a plurality of air conditioning units and performing group control of each of the air conditioning units in the same operating state. .

(Prior Art) Conventionally, as an air conditioner of this type, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
As disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 63438/1989, a plurality of air conditioning units each having a heat exchanger are provided, and a single unit for uniformly operating several units among these units in the same operating state as needed. It is known that one remote controller is provided, and a plurality of air conditioning units are operated or stopped at the same time to air-condition a room depending on the presence or absence of an operation command signal output from the remote controller.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, in the case of group control of a plurality of air conditioning units as described above, each air conditioning unit is discriminated by the remote controller or the like as described above, and the operating state of each air conditioning unit is determined. In a special situation, such as when the built-in heat exchanger requires freeze prevention operation or when a drain abnormality has occurred, adjust multiple air conditioning units to this special situation.
It is desirable to carry out freeze prevention operation and to stop operation forcibly.

Therefore, in order to discriminate each air conditioning unit, the setter sets the address for each air conditioning unit, reads the address of each air conditioning unit by a remote controller, etc., and designates each air conditioning unit address. It is conceivable to sequentially allow the transmission of each operation information and receive it, but in this case, the timing for reading the address by the remote controller or the like is usually at the time of power-on,
And there are two methods of constant reading.

In that case, in the former power-on method, if the configurator makes a mistake in setting the address for any of the air conditioning units, reset it and then read this correct address into the remote controller, etc. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to reset the power supply, which causes the drawback of low serviceability. On the other hand, in the latter constant read type, when the correct address is erroneously changed during operation, the address overlaps with other air conditioning units during that period, causing a problem in group control.

The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object thereof is to set the address read timing of each air conditioning unit appropriately so that the power is not reset even when the address is reset correctly. In addition to improving serviceability, even if the address is accidentally changed during operation, duplicate addresses are prevented without reading this incorrect address and good group control is maintained. To do.

(Means for Solving the Problem) In order to achieve the above object, the solving means of the present invention is
As shown in the figure, an air conditioning unit (A) having a heat exchanger
-(G) is provided with a plurality of air-conditioning units (A)-(G) and a control means (H) such as a single remote controller for group-controlling the plurality of air-conditioning units (A)-(G) in the same operating state. Intended for harmony equipment. Then, each of the air conditioning units (A) to (G) is configured such that its own address is set by a setter, and each of the air conditioning units (A) to (A) to the single control means (H). (G) is designated as an address, and transmission permitting means (15) for permitting the transmission of the operation information of each air conditioning unit (A) to (G) in sequence; The address reading means (16) for reading the address of each of the air conditioning units (A) to (G) when the operation information of (1) is received at the same time is provided.

(Operation) With the above configuration, in the present invention, the addresses of the plurality of air conditioning units (A) to (G) are set in advance by the setter. When the air conditioner is operating, the addresses of the air conditioning units (A) to (G) are read by the address reading means (16), and a single control means (H) is read based on the read addresses. Each of the air conditioning units (A) to (G) is addressed by the transmission permission means (15). As a result, the transmission of the operation information of each of the air conditioning units (A) to (G) is sequentially permitted, and each of the air conditioning units (A) to (G)
The operation information of (G) is input to a single control means (H), and the control means (H) group-controls a plurality of air conditioning units in the same operation state.

At that time, the address reading means (16) read the addresses of the air conditioning units (A) to (G) at the same time when the power was turned on or when the operation information of the air conditioning units (A) to (G) was received. Therefore, when the power is turned on under the condition of wrong address setting (duplicate address setting), the reception of operation information overlaps, and the address reading means (16) causes each air conditioning unit (A) to Since there is an opportunity to read the addresses (G) to (G) again, it is not necessary to reset the power supply even when the configurator correctly resets an incorrect address setting, and the serviceability is improved.

In addition, during operation, under the condition of correct address setting, neither when the address is duplicated nor when the power is turned on, the address reading means (16) has no opportunity to read each address. In this case, the wrong address is not read by the control means (H), and good group control based on the original correct address is ensured.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings starting from FIG.

In FIG. 2, (A) to (G) are indoor units that configure a plurality of (7 in the figure) air conditioning units having an indoor heat exchanger and an expansion mechanism inside, and each of the indoor units (A). ) ~
Although not shown, (G) is connected to an outdoor unit having a compressor, a four-way switching valve for switching between cold / warm and an outdoor heat exchanger in parallel with each other in a circulatory manner, and Form a single refrigerant circulation system.

Further, (H) is a remote control device (hereinafter referred to as a remote control device) as a single control means for group-controlling the indoor units (A) to (G) in the same operating state, The remote control device (H) has a key input section (1) for an operator to appropriately select a driving mode and the like, and a display section (2) for displaying the selected driving mode and the current driving state. ) Has. Further, inside the remote control device (H), each of the indoor units (A) to
(G) a control unit (3) for performing discrimination, etc., a control signal including an operation mode command signal for each of the indoor units (A) to (G) and a determination signal of the master unit, and each indoor unit Machine (A) ~
A pair of transmitters (4) and receivers (5) for transmitting and receiving the driving information (G) are provided.

On the other hand, each of the seven indoor units (A) to (G) should have an address setting unit (7) including a DIP switch or the like in which its own address is set by a setter, and internal equipment control. An indoor control unit (8) for determining an operating state,
A main body control unit (9) for actually controlling the internal equipment to a required operation state is provided, and an address signal of itself, a normal / abnormal determination signal of the internal equipment, and a freeze prevention operation are provided to the remote control device (H). A pair of indoor transmitting section (10) and indoor receiving section (11) for transmitting operation information (operation data) such as a request signal or a drain abnormality signal and receiving a control signal from the remote control device (H). Is provided.

The addresses of the seven indoor units (A) to (G) are set to, for example, “0 ^H ”, “1 ^H ” ..., “6 ^H ” in order by the respective address setting units (7). It is a thing.

Next, the control of the remote control device (H) for transmitting and receiving address signals and operation information between the indoor units (A) to (G) and the remote control device (H) will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. explain.

First, when the operation is started and the operation switch is operated to the operation side at the start of operation in step S ₁ , the power is turned on.
Reads the respective set address in each indoor unit (A) ~ address setting unit of the _{(G) (7) S 2} .

Then, based on the polling function of the remote control device (H), the indoor unit (A) with the youngest address "0 ^H " is addressed and its operation data (operation information) is allowed to be transmitted for a predetermined time. In step S ₄ , the operation data of the indoor unit (A) is received. After that, if the address of "0 ^H " is set by mistake in two or more indoor units, the operation data will overlap and collide. Specifically, the address will be set to "0 ^H " by mistake. Each of the two or more indoor units transmits its own operation data from its own indoor transmission unit (10) and receives data from its own indoor reception unit (11). Combined the operation data signal from another indoor unit set to the same address "0 ^H " and the operation data signal transmitted from its own indoor transmission unit (10) 1
Since the two signals are received, and the operation data indicated by the received signal and the operation data transmitted by itself are different (collision), other indoor units other than its own indoor unit can Each indoor transmission unit (10) of the above-mentioned two or more indoor units, which shows that the operation data is transmitted at the same timing by two or more indoor units with the above-mentioned addresses set to overlap, and which indicates a collision of the operation data. the presence or absence of transmission of signals from, the operating data it is determined whether or not a collision at step S5, if not collide, the process returns to the step S _3, similarly to the above indoor unit (B) To (G), the operation information is allowed to be transmitted for a predetermined time in the order of the addresses, and the operation data is repeatedly received.

On the other hand, when the collision operation data in step S _5, it is determined during configuration erroneous address (when overlapping set), the indoor unit returns to step S ₂ the address (A) ~ (G) I will read it again.

Therefore, in the flowchart of FIG.
By repeating S ₃ and S ₄ , each air conditioning unit (A)
(G) is addressed and the respective air conditioning units (A) are sequentially designated.
The transmission permitting means (15) is configured to permit the transmission of the driving information from (G) to (G). Also, steps S ₁ and S ₅
Depending on the power supply startup or the air conditioning unit (A)
The address reading means (16) is configured to read the addresses of the air conditioning units (A) to (G) when the reception of the operation information of (G) overlaps and collides.

Therefore, in the above-described embodiment, the addresses of the seven indoor units (A) to (G) are respectively set in advance based on the operation of each address setting section (7) by the setter prior to the operation.
For example, the addresses are set in order of "0 ^H ", "1 ^H " ..., "6 ^H ".

Then, when the operation switch is operated to the operation side, the address reading means (16) is activated with the rise of the power supply, and the addresses of the indoor units (A) to (G) are the remote control device (H). After being read in, means for allowing transmission (15)
The operation data of each indoor unit (A) to (G) is sequentially received and fetched by the remote control device (H) in the order of address, which enables the group operation of a plurality of indoor units by the remote control device (H). It will be possible.

At this time, when the addresses of the indoor units (A) to (G) are all set correctly without overlapping, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), the control signal from the remote control device (H) is transmitted. After the transmission, the operation information of each indoor unit (A) to (G) is sequentially transmitted to the remote control device (H) in the order of address, so that there is no duplication (collision) of operation data and good group control is ensured. It

On the other hand, when the address of the indoor unit (A) is erroneously set to “1 ^H ” which is equal to that of the indoor unit (B) as shown in FIG. Due to the polling function of the remote control device (H), the data is not transmitted when the correct address "0 ^H " is transmitted, but is transmitted at the same time when the operation data of the indoor unit (B) having the address "1 ^H " is transmitted. The driving data collide with each other and collide with each other, which hinders group control.

However, in this case, the address reading means (16) is activated due to the collision of the operation data from both the indoor units (A) and (B) to read the addresses of the indoor units (A) to (G). As the setting person resets the address of the indoor unit (A) to "0 ^H " correctly, the correct address is taken into the remote control device (H) without resetting the power supply. After that, the group control is performed well by the remote controller (H).

Further, when the group control of the indoor units (A) to (G) is being performed with the addresses of the indoor units (A) to (G) being correct as described above, any of the indoor units (for example, the indoor unit) If the address (“2 ^H ”) in (C) is accidentally changed to another address (eg “4 ^H ”), the power is not turned on at this time and the original address setting is correct. Address reading means (1
6) does not work and there is no opportunity to read each address. As a result, the remote control device (H) can receive the operation data of each of the indoor units (A) to (G) without collision by using the correct address setting before the address change, and can continue good group control. .

Therefore, address resetting can be performed without requiring power reset, and serviceability can be improved, and good group control can be ensured regardless of accidental address setting change. can do.

In addition, although the present invention is applied to the multi-type air conditioner in the above-described embodiment, it is needless to say that the present invention can be similarly applied to a device including a plurality of air conditioners having one refrigerant circulation system. Is.

(Effect of the invention) As described above, according to the air conditioner of the present invention,
When the addresses of multiple air conditioning units are read and the operation information of each air conditioning unit is input individually, and a plurality of air conditioning units are group-controlled in the same operating state by a single control means, Since the address read timing is set only when the power is turned on or when there is a collision in receiving operation information from each air conditioning unit, it is possible to reset the address without resetting the power when resetting the address. The serviceability can be improved, and even when the address is changed erroneously, good group control can be continued without reading the erroneous address.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present invention. 2 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an electric circuit diagram when applied to a multi-type air conditioner, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the remote control device, FIG. 4 (a) shows the transmission timing of each indoor unit when the address setting is normal, and FIG. 4 (b) shows the duplicated address setting. It is a figure which shows the transmission timing of each indoor unit in a case. (A) to (G) ... Indoor unit (air conditioning unit), (H) ...
... remote control device (single control means), (7) ... address setting section, (15) ... transmission permitting means, (16) ... address reading means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioning unit (A) having a heat exchanger
An air conditioner comprising a plurality of (G) and a single control means (H) for group controlling the plurality of air conditioning units (A) to (G) in the same operating state, Each of the air conditioning units (A) to (G) has its own address set by the setter, and the single control means (H) addresses each of the air conditioning units (A) to (G). The transmission permitting means (15) for permitting the transmission of the operation information of each of the air conditioning units (A) to (G) sequentially overlaps the reception of the operation information of the air conditioning units (A) to (G) when the power is turned on. Each air conditioning unit (A) to (G)
And an address reading means (16) for reading the address of the air conditioner.