JPH0579687A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the comfortableness of room heating by allowing warm air to sufficiently arrive stably at a floor surface by so controlling that the components of an air flow rate in a vertically downward direction become substantially constant before and after a variation in the direction of a louver. CONSTITUTION:The air conditioner comprises louver position detecting means 11a for detecting angles of wind direction louvers 5, 6, and indoor fan control means 12 for controlling air volume of an indoor fan 4 based on louver angle data applied from the means 11a so that the component of an air flow rate in a vertically downward direction becomes substantially constant at the time of room heating.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner in which the air volume is controlled so that the downward component of the wind speed becomes constant regardless of the direction of the wind direction louver of the indoor unit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An indoor unit of an air conditioner has a wind direction louver attached to its air outlet, and by changing the direction of the wind direction louver, the direction in which cold air or warm air is blown can be adjusted. There is. In recent air conditioners, those having a function of automatically adjusting the direction of the wind direction louver have been generalized. For example, when the room temperature is low immediately after the start of heating operation, the direction of the wind direction louver is automatically set so that warm air is blown toward the floor, and when the indoor air eventually warms, warm air will flow to the entire room. It is automatically adjusted to the direction like. By the way, depending on the inclination of the wind direction louver, this wind direction louver becomes a resistance and the wind speed,
Air volume decreases. In order to solve such a drawback, an air conditioner has been proposed which controls the operation of a fan so as to compensate for a decrease in air volume due to ventilation resistance and keep the air volume constant regardless of the inclination angle of the wind direction louver.

[0003]

However, depending on the adjustment of the wind direction louver, the wind speed in the specific direction also changes with the change in the air flow. For example, during the heating operation, the angle of the upper and lower louvers is inclined downward by 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal plane, and until then, the left and right louvers were at the position vertical to the front of the indoor unit, but were inclined to the right and left by a predetermined angle. Think about the case. By changing the direction of the louver at this time, even if the air volume control is performed so that the air volume becomes constant before and after that, the warm air will not reach the floor and the cold air will not remain at the feet. There was a flaw. This is because, of the velocity components of the warm air, the downward velocity component becomes small. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to eliminate the problems of the above-described conventional technology, and to control the vertical downward component of the wind speed to be substantially constant before and after the change in the direction of the louver, thereby producing warm air. An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner that reaches the floor surface sufficiently to improve heating comfort.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a louver position detecting means for detecting the louver angle of the wind direction louver, and a louver so that the vertically downward component of the wind speed becomes substantially constant during heating. An indoor fan control means for controlling the air volume of the indoor fan based on the louver angle data provided from the position detection means, and a temperature detector for detecting the room temperature on both sides of the indoor unit body in the above-mentioned configuration. And temperature comparison means for comparing the outputs of the temperature detectors, and louver control means for changing the louver angle according to the comparison result of the temperature detection means.

[0005]

[Operation] When the louver angle of the wind direction louver is changed by operating the remote control or the like, the indoor fan is rotated with an air volume such that the vertically downward velocity component of the wind speed blown at the louver angle does not change from that before the change. The wind velocity reaches the floor because the component of the wind velocity toward the floor is almost constant. Further, the louver angle is adjusted to detect the room temperature on the left and right of the indoor unit and eliminate the temperature difference. At this time, since the air volume is controlled in the same manner as described above, the wind reaches the floor despite the change in the louver angle.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of an air conditioner according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In FIG.
Reference numeral 1 indicates an indoor unit of the air conditioner, reference numeral 2 indicates a front panel, the upper arrow in the drawing indicates the air to be sucked in, and the lower arrow indicates the hot air or the cold air blown from the outlet. Reference numeral 3 is a heat exchanger, and reference numeral 4 is a cross flow type indoor fan. Between the outlet of the indoor unit 1 and the indoor fan 4, as a wind direction louver for adjusting the wind direction of warm air or cold air, a vertical louver 5 that changes the wind direction in the vertical direction, and in the left and right directions based on this indoor unit 1 Left and right louvers 6 that change the wind direction are provided. In this embodiment, the upper and lower louvers 5 are attached so as to be rotatable by 90 ° from a position perpendicular to the horizontal plane indicated by the broken line to a position parallel to the horizontal plane. The angle ψ is an angle formed by the vertical plane as shown in the figure. Further, the configuration of the left and right louvers 6 is shown in FIG. 4, and the left and right louver motors 7 to which pulse motors are applied are used as a drive source to transmit rotation to the connecting rod 9 via the cranks 8 and the connection is performed. A plurality of left and right louvers 6 that are pin-connected to the rod 9 at regular intervals are swung. In this case, the louver angle θ of the left and right louvers is expressed by the angle formed by the plane perpendicular to the front panel, the angle tilted to the right side in the figure is + θ, and the angle tilted to the left side is −θ. In the example, the left and right louvers 6 are -60 ° <
It swings in the range of θ <+ 60 °.

Next, FIG. 1 is a control block diagram of the indoor unit 1. The control unit 10 applying a microcomputer includes a louver control means 11, a louver position detection means 11a, and an indoor fan control means 12. Including and Of these, the louver control means 11 receives a command signal from the remote controller 13 for remotely operating the upper and lower louvers 5 and the left and right louvers 6, and the upper and lower louver motors 1 to which pulse motors are applied.
5. The louver angle signals for controlling the rotation of the left and right louver motors 17 are given to the upper and lower louver motor drive circuits 14 and 17 respectively. Further, at this time, the louver position detecting means 11a uses the upper and lower louvers 5 and the left and right louvers 6.
The rotation angle (ψ,
θ) as a louver angle signal to the indoor fan control means 12. At this time, the louver angle (ψ, θ) may be stored when the motor is driven, or the position may be directly detected by the photo interrupter and the disk. Indoor fan control means 12
Controls the air volume of the indoor fan based on the louver angle data. In this case, the indoor fan control means 12 corrects the air volume according to the louver angle (ψ, θ) at that time so that the vertical downward component of the wind speed of the warm air becomes constant before and after the change of the louver angle. This air volume is calculated by compensating for the air volume reduction due to the resistance of the upper and lower louvers 5 and the left and right louvers 6, the rotation speed of the indoor fan 4 corresponding to this air volume is determined, and a control signal is output to the fan rotation speed control circuit 18. To do.

The change in wind speed before and after the change in the louver angles of the upper and lower louvers 5 and the left and right louvers 6 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, consider a case where the heating operation is performed with the louver angle of the upper and lower louvers 5 being ψ and the louver angle of the left and right louvers 6 being θ. The warm air blown into the room is guided to the upper and lower louvers 5 and the left and right louvers 6, so that the wind speed can be expressed in polar coordinates using the size V and the louver angles ψ and θ. The velocity of the warm air when the louver angles of the upper and lower louvers 5 and the left and right louvers 6 change to ψ ′ and θ ′, respectively, is represented by (V ′, ψ ′, θ ′). In this case, the velocity component Vx of the velocity V of the warm air in this direction with the x-axis direction in the drawing as the vertically downward direction is Vx = Vcosψcosθ. Similarly, the downward velocity component V ′ of the wind velocity V ′.
Becomes V′x = V′cos ψ′cos θ ′. Here, if the amount of warm air is constant and the resistance of the louvers is ignored, the magnitude of the wind speed does not change before and after the change of the louver angles of the upper and lower louvers 5 and the left and right louvers 6, so the louver angle changes. As a result, the downward component of the warm air velocity is reduced.

Therefore, conversely, the wind speed V ′ after the change of the louver angle has a wind speed of a magnitude obtained by multiplying the magnitude of the wind speed by V (A, (ψ, θ) = cosψcosθ / cosθ'cosψ '). Then, the downward velocity component V′x of the wind velocity V ′ is equal to Vx. The wind speed of warm air is
Proportional to the air volume. Therefore, if the above-mentioned idea is applied and the predetermined air volume is increased or decreased based on the air volume before the change of the louver angle, the downward velocity component of the wind velocity of the warm air at that time is the same downward velocity component. Will have. Next, the processing contents of the control unit 10 during the heating operation will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, when a heating operation command is input from the remote controller 13 in step S1, the process proceeds to step S2 to start the heating operation, and otherwise, waits until the heating operation command is given (step S3). In step S2, the indoor fan control means 12 controls the rotation speed of the fan motor 4 so that the warm air is blown out at a predetermined reference air volume μ. in this case,
When the operation is performed with the reference air volume μ, for example, the louver angles ψ and θ of the upper and lower louvers 5 and the left and right louvers 6 are both initially set to 0 degrees, so that the warm air is supplied to the indoor unit 1
It is designed to be blown out to the floor just below.

When the air near the floor has warmed up in this manner, the process then proceeds to steps 4 and 5 to operate the remote controller 13 to adjust the louver angles of the upper and lower louvers 5 and the left and right louvers 6 to warm the entire room. At this time, the louver control unit 11 outputs a louver angle signal for setting the louver angles to ψ and θ based on the command signal input from the remote controller 13 to the upper and lower louver motor drive circuits 14 and the left and right louver motor drive circuits 16 respectively.
In response to the output pulse of this circuit, the upper and lower louver motors 15 and the left and right louver motors 17 rotate by ψ and θ, respectively. As a result, the louver angles of the upper and lower louvers 5 and the left and right louvers 6 are set to ψ and θ, respectively. In the following step S6, the indoor fan control means 12 reads the louver angle (ψ, θ) from the louver position detection means 11a,
In step S7, based on the louver angle (ψ, θ) data, the air volume for making the vertically downward component of the wind speed constant before and after the change of the louver angle is corrected as described below, and the vertical louver 5 is added to this air volume. , And performs an air volume calculation for compensating for the air volume reduction due to the resistance of the left and right louvers 6.

Here, FIGS. 7 and 8 are graphs showing examples of data required for air volume calculation, and the data are stored in advance in the memory. 7 and 8, the curves represented by solid lines are the functions of the louver angles ψ and θ, in this example, μ ′ for the air volume μ ′ corrected for the decrease in the vertically downward component of the wind speed in the reference air volume operation. It is a curve expressed as (ψ, θ) = 1 / cos ψ cos θ. FIG. 7 shows the louver angle ψ of the upper and lower louvers 5 with the louver angle θ of the left and right louvers 6 as a predetermined angle.
Corrected air volume μ when changing from 0 to 90 degrees
8 shows the change of ′, and in FIG.
This shows the change in the corrected air flow rate μ ′ when it is changed in the range of 60 degrees. In this case, the air volume scale of the vertical axis, the reference air volume louver angle operation initial set value ψ _0, θ Vcosψ ₀ cosθ ₀ corresponding vertically downward component of the wind velocity V of _0, (in this case, [psi ₀ , Θ ₀ = 0
The scale of V) is set as the air volume 1. Therefore, when the louver angles of the upper and lower louvers 5 and the left and right louvers 6 are ψ and θ, the value of the corrected air volume μ ′ indicated on the ordinate of the graph corresponds to the magnitude of the wind speed at that time. .. Therefore, the vertical downward component of the wind speed is μ ′ × cos ψcos θ = 1, and the vertical downward component of the wind speed is constant before and after the change of the louver angle. By reading the data of, it is possible to calculate the air volume at which the vertical downward component of the wind speed becomes constant before and after the change of the louver angle. By the way, in actuality, when the indoor fan 4 is operated at this corrected air volume μ ′, the air volume decreases due to the ventilation resistance depending on the positions of the upper and lower louvers 5 and the left and right louvers 6, so this decrease is compensated. Must.

Therefore, regarding the amount of reduction in air volume due to the ventilation resistance of the upper and lower louvers 5, for example, in a general wall-mounted air conditioner with a lower blow-up and upper suction, the vector is shown in FIG. Change as shown. That is, the amount of decrease in the air volume is maximized when the louver angle ψ is 45 degrees, and decreases as indicated by the broken line in the figure. The amount of air flow reduction due to the ventilation resistance of the left and right louvers 6 is also the same,
The amount of air volume reduction by the upper and lower louvers 5 and the left and right louvers 6 changes according to the values of the louver angles ψ and θ. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, the airflow reduction amount ΔC (ψ, θ) is compensated by adding the airflow reduction amount ΔC (ψ, θ) to the corrected airflow μ ′. = Μ '+ ΔC (ψ, θ) (1) gives the air volume that does not change the vertically downward component of the wind speed before and after the change of the louver angle. In this case, the air flow reduction amount ΔC
(Ψ, θ) is previously stored in the memory as data, and the indoor fan control means 12 reads this data and executes the calculation of the equation (1).

Next, in step S8, the indoor fan control means 12 determines, based on the air volume μ ″ calculated in the above step.
A rotation speed control signal corresponding to the air flow rate μ ″ is output to the fan rotation speed control circuit 18. By this, the fan motor 4
The air flow rate is adjusted to μ ″ by increasing / decreasing the number of rotations of the upper and lower louvers 5 and the left and right louvers 6 during the heating operation.
Each time is operated, it is repeatedly executed (step S
9). Therefore, in this embodiment, since the downward velocity component of the warm air does not change even after the louver angles of the upper and lower louvers 5 and the left and right louvers 6 are adjusted by the remote controller 13, the warm air reliably reaches the floor, and You can enjoy a comfortable heating effect without feeling cool. In order to determine the air volume, the air volume μ ″ itself may be stored in advance in the memory as a function μ ″ (ψ, θ) of the louver angle and read out. In this case, the upper and lower louver angles ψ actually used in the lower blowing during heating are about 0 to 45 °,
The left and right louver angles θ are about 60 ° on the left and right due to the structure of the air conditioner, and the number of data is about 130 when the angle step is 5 °, which can be stored in the memory.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described by giving the same reference numerals to the same constituent elements as those in the first embodiment. FIG. 9 is a control block diagram of the indoor unit, and unlike the first embodiment, the control unit 10 is provided on both left and right sides of the front panel 2 of the indoor unit 1 and detects temperatures at room temperatures. The detectors 19 and 20 are connected. The outputs of the left and right temperature detectors 19 and 20 are the temperature comparison means 2.
1, the temperature comparing means 21 gives the detected difference in room temperature to the louver control means 11. The air volume control operation of the indoor fan control means 12 is basically the first
Similar to the first embodiment, it is similar to the first embodiment in that the air volume is compensated so that the velocity components in the vertically downward direction of the wind speed before and after the change in the direction of the wind direction louver are equal, but the flowchart of FIG. The operation of the control unit 10 will be described below.

First, in step S10, when an operation command for heating operation is input from the remote controller 13, the process proceeds to step 12. In this step 12, the left and right temperature detectors 19,
Room temperatures Tl and Tr respectively detected by 20 are read into the temperature comparison means 21. In the following step S13, the average value of the room temperatures Tl and Tr is compared with the set room temperature Ts preset through the remote controller 13 or the like, and if the average value of the room temperatures exceeds the set room temperature Ts (step S14). ), Suspend the operation of the compressor. on the other hand,
In the opposite case, the process proceeds to step S15, and the heating operation is continued until the room temperature reaches the set room temperature Ts. Immediately after the heating operation is started, the louver angle θ of the left and right louvers 6 is initially set to 0 degree, and the warm air is blown directly downward toward the floor with the reference air volume μ. When such a standard air volume operation is performed, the room gradually warms up, but as shown in the temperature distribution at that time in FIG. There is a temperature difference on the right side. Therefore, in order to change the blowing direction of the warm air, the room temperature Tl detected by the left and right temperature detectors 19 and 20,
The process of determining the louver angle θ of the left and right louvers 6 is executed based on Tr. That is, in step S16, the temperature comparison means 21 compares the room temperature Tr on the right side of the indoor unit 1 with the room temperature Tl on the left side, and calculates the difference, Tr-Tl. As a result of the comparison, if the absolute value of this difference is 1 or more, step S1
8, the louver control means 12 changes the louver angle θ by referring to the data necessary for determining the louver angle stored in the memory in advance based on the given temperature difference. The stored data is based on actual measurement data in which the temperature difference and the louver angle θ correspond to each other as shown in FIG. 11, and the room temperature Tr on the right side is high and the temperature difference is positive. When tilting the left and right louvers to the left at a specified angle,
When l is high and the temperature difference is negative, the room temperature difference is reduced by tilting to the right. The louver control means 11 outputs a louver angle signal corresponding to the louver angle θ thus determined to the left and right louver motor drive circuit 16, whereby the left and right louver motors 17 are driven and the left and right louvers 6 are set to the louver angle θ. ..

When the louver angle is changed in this way, a decrease in the air volume occurs due to the vertical downward component of the wind speed and resistance with the same air volume. Therefore, in the next step, a calculation for correcting the air volume according to the louver angle θ is executed, and a control for increasing / decreasing the rotation of the indoor fan is executed based on the calculated air volume μ ″ (steps S20 and S21). The contents are the first
Since it is similar to the embodiment, its description is omitted. The above control is repeatedly executed until there is no difference between the left and right temperatures. During that time, since the downward velocity component of the warm air does not change, a comfortable heating effect can be obtained by the warm air reaching the floor. Moreover, this embodiment is effective for heating a relatively wide room in which a temperature difference easily occurs between the left and right of the indoor unit.

[0017]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, even if the louver angle of the wind direction louver changes, the vertically downward velocity component of the wind velocity is controlled to a substantially constant air volume.
Since the wind reaches the floor in a stable manner, it is possible to comfortably warm your feet during heating and improve the heating effect. Also, by detecting the room temperature on the left and right of the indoor unit,
The louver angle is automatically adjusted to eliminate the temperature difference, and the air volume is controlled in the same manner as described above, so that the comfort of heating can be further improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a control block diagram of an indoor unit controller in the air conditioner according to the first aspect of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of the control unit during heating operation.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of an indoor unit.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the configuration of left and right louvers of the wind direction louvers included in the indoor unit.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship with a change in wind speed when the louver angle of the wind direction louver changes.

FIG. 6 is a vector diagram showing the relationship of the air flow resistance associated with the change in the louver angle of the upper and lower louvers of the wind direction louver.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing an example of data necessary for air volume calculation according to the present invention, and is a graph showing a relationship with air volume data according to changes in louver angles of upper and lower louvers.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing an example of data necessary for air volume calculation according to the present invention, and is a graph showing a relationship with air volume data according to changes in louver angles of left and right louvers.

FIG. 9 is a control block diagram of an indoor unit controller in the air conditioner according to claim 2.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation of the control unit during heating operation.

FIG. 11 is a graph showing data necessary for determining the louver angle according to the difference in room temperature between the left and right indoor units.

FIG. 12 is a view schematically showing a room temperature difference between the left and right indoor units in a room.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Indoor unit 2 Front panel 3 Heat exchanger 4 Indoor fan 5 Upper and lower louvers 6 Left and right louvers 10 Control section 11 Louver control means 11a Louver position detection means 12 Indoor fan control means 13 Remote control 19 Temperature detector 20 Temperature detector 21 Temperature comparison means

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioner equipped with an angle-adjustable wind direction louver and an indoor fan with a variable air volume, and a louver position detecting means for detecting a louver angle of the wind direction louver, and a vertically downward component of wind speed during heating. An air conditioner comprising: an indoor fan control means for controlling the air volume of the indoor fan based on the louver angle data provided from the louver position detection means so as to be constant. 2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, further comprising temperature detectors for detecting room temperatures on both sides of the indoor unit body, respectively.
An air conditioner comprising: temperature comparison means for comparing the outputs of the temperature detectors, and louver control means for changing the louver angle according to the comparison result of the temperature detection means.