JP3397413B2 - 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 an operating method thereof, and more particularly to an air conditioner capable of dehumidifying operation in a wide temperature range ranging from cooling to heating and an operating method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional air conditioners mainly use a system in which air cooled by an evaporator is heated again by an electric heater when a dehumidifying operation is performed, or a condensation heat in a refrigeration cycle is used. A method of heating again is known. When comparing these two methods, especially from the viewpoint of energy saving, the former method consumes much power, and the latter method is superior.

Further, as an example of a refrigerating cycle in which the air cooled in the dehumidifying operation is heated again by the refrigerating cycle itself, JP-A-60-181559 and JP-A-2-18.
37376, JP-A-3-31640, and JP-A-51-18059.

In JP-A-60-181559, a compressor, a four-way valve, an outdoor heat exchanger, a throttling device, an indoor heat exchanger, etc. are successively connected by a refrigerant pipe, and an indoor heat exchanger is further connected. Disclosed is a cycle configuration in which a dehumidifying throttle device for dehumidifying operation and a two-way valve bypassing the dehumidifying throttle device are provided in parallel between them. During the dehumidifying operation, the two-way valve is closed to allow the refrigerant to flow through the dehumidifying expansion device, so that the upstream side of the indoor heat exchanger divided into two is a condenser and the downstream side is an evaporator. It allows the dehumidification operation to flow from the condenser to the condenser, cool and dehumidify with the evaporator, and then reheat with the condenser to lower the humidity without lowering the temperature too much.

Further, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-183776, a two-way valve with a small hole is used as a dehumidifying expansion device, and the indoor heat exchanger is divided into upper and lower halves, and the upper indoor heat exchanger is operated during dehumidifying operation. The condenser and lower indoor heat exchanger are used as evaporators, and the indoor air flow is made to flow in parallel to these indoor heat exchangers to prevent overcooling by cooling and dehumidifying with the evaporator and heating with the condenser. However, it enables dehumidifying operation to lower the humidity.

In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-31640, in addition to the cycle configuration of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-181559, flow path switching means consisting of four check valves is further provided to switch the four-way valve to a heating cycle. Even in such a case, the air flow is made to flow from the evaporator to the heater on the indoor side so that a powerful heating-like dehumidifying operation is possible. In addition, the amount of heat radiated in the outdoor heat exchanger is controlled by controlling the rotation speed of the outdoor fan, and the amount of air heated in the indoor heat exchanger is adjusted so that the room temperature reaches the set temperature. In addition, in the publicly known example, it is described that the outdoor fan is operated weakly when the outside air temperature is 22 ° C. or less and weakly operated when the outside air temperature is 22 ° C. or more.

FIG. 30 shows a cycle configuration in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 51-18059, and FIG. 31 shows an operation list of each part. Although the cycle structure of FIG. 30 is provided with two compressors, it is basically the same as the cycle structure described in the above-mentioned JP-A-60-181559. In the operation method shown in FIG. 31, the outdoor fan and the compressor perform control according to the operation function, but do not perform control according to the outdoor temperature and the like. For example, the outdoor fan is operated at a low speed in the cooling dehumidifying operation and is stopped in the heating dehumidifying operation. In addition, the compressor operates at the time of dehumidifying operation.

[0008]

Recently, the dehumidifying operation has been used for various purposes. For example, (1) In the rainy season and autumn rain season, when the temperature is not so high but dehumidification is performed, the dehumidification is performed while maintaining the set room temperature, (2) there is no airflow feeling on a hot and humid night or at dawn, and in a low noise state. , Good night sleep, dehumidifying operation, which allows you to sleep comfortably by lowering the humidity without lowering the temperature too much
(3) Relative humidity is kept at around 50% to prevent the growth of mold and mites, mold and mite prevention dehumidifying operation, (4) Used to dry the laundry hung in the house during the rainy season and autumn rain season. ,
There are laundry dehumidification operation etc. However, the above-mentioned four publicly-known publications do not consider the driving method for the purpose of use (1) to (4).

In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-31640, the rotation speed of the outdoor fan is controlled to adjust the air heating amount in the indoor heat exchanger in the dehumidifying operation. I haven't even touched on it, especially (1) above
It is insufficient to be applied to many purposes such as ~ (4). Further, the outdoor fan is controlled in two steps, ie, a weak operation when the outside air temperature is 22 ° C. or less and a weak operation when the outside air temperature is 22 ° C. or more, but it is insufficient as a control for the outdoor temperature.

In addition, in an air conditioner, in many cases, a cooling operation and a heating operation are performed in addition to the dehumidifying operation. However, if two divided indoor heat exchangers are connected in series as described in the above-mentioned four known publications. In the cooling operation and the heating operation, the refrigerant flow path of the indoor heat exchanger becomes long, and especially in the cooling operation using the two indoor heat exchangers as the evaporator, the pressure loss of the refrigerant flow in the indoor heat exchanger becomes large. Moreover, if the air flow and the refrigerant flow do not become counter flows, or if sufficient subcooling cannot be obtained during the heating operation, the performance of the refrigeration cycle deteriorates. In this case, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-183776 discloses that at least one of the indoor heat exchangers divided into two has two refrigerant passages to reduce the pressure loss, but it is still insufficient. Other known publications do not specifically mention this problem.

Further, in a small air conditioner such as a room air conditioner, the size of an indoor unit (also called an indoor unit) is limited, and under such restricted conditions, the piping structure of the indoor heat exchanger and the air flow are It is necessary to improve the heat transfer performance of the indoor heat exchanger as much as possible in each operation of dehumidification, cooling and heating to keep the performance of the refrigeration cycle sufficiently high by devising the relationship between the above.

Further, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 51-18059, since the outdoor fan is stopped at the time of heating and dehumidifying operation, the temperature of the electric parts on the outdoor unit (also referred to as the outdoor unit) side becomes high and the life becomes short. Will end up. Also, because the outdoor fan is not controlled by the outdoor temperature, the amount of heat radiated from the outdoor heat exchanger (waste heat amount) changes depending on the outdoor temperature, and it is not possible to adequately control the indoor blown air temperature and dehumidification amount, or the compressor operates at a constant speed. Since there is only one unit, the dehumidification amount control based on the difference between the set humidity and the indoor humidity cannot be performed sufficiently.

[0013] The purpose of the present invention, cold tufts, while improving the performance of the heating and dehumidifying operation, people and dehumidifying operation used in the intended use of the temperature and humidity feel comfortable, other other used purpose use of An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner in which dehumidification operation can be selectively designated and performed.

[0014]

[0015]

[0016]

[0017]

To achieve pre-Symbol purpose SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The air conditioner of the present invention, the ability controllable compressor,
An outdoor heat exchanger, an outdoor fan capable of controlling the air flow rate, an indoor heat exchanger having a first indoor heat exchanger and a second indoor heat exchanger, a dehumidifying expansion device that functions as a expansion device during dehumidification operation, An indoor fan capable of controlling the air flow rate is provided, and the compressor, the outdoor heat exchanger, the first indoor heat exchanger, the dehumidifying expansion device, and the second indoor heat exchanger are connected in this order during a dehumidifying operation, and a cooling operation is performed. Sometimes, the compressor, the outdoor heat exchanger, the first indoor heat exchanger, and the second indoor heat exchanger are connected in this order, and during the heating operation, the compressor, the second indoor heat exchanger, and the first indoor In an air conditioner in which a heat exchanger and the outdoor heat exchanger are connected in this order, the refrigerant passages of the first indoor heat exchanger and the second indoor heat exchanger are divided into two or more systems and configured. , One of the indoor heat exchanger refrigerant flow passage Point and the branch point of the refrigerant flow path of the other indoor heat exchanger, the dehumidifying expansion device is connected, the outlet side of the indoor heat exchanger on the downstream side during heating operation is a single-system refrigerant It is composed of a flow path, and as a dehumidifying operation mode,
To realize a dehumidifying operation mode in which the compressor and the outdoor fan are controlled and a function of setting the air volume of the indoor fan is realized so as to realize a comfortable temperature and humidity operation for a person, and an operation for drying laundry is realized. Dehumidifying operation mode in which the compressor and the outdoor fan are controlled as described above, and the air volume of the indoor fan is set to a high air volume set in advance so that the airflow spreads over a wide range, and any of these dehumidifying operation modes is provided. Is configured to be selected and designated. Also before
In order to achieve the above object, the air conditioner of the present invention has
Controllable compressor, outdoor heat exchanger, and control of air flow
Noble outdoor fan, first indoor heat exchanger and second indoor heat exchanger
An indoor heat exchanger having a heat exchanger and a throttle device during dehumidifying operation
Dehumidifying and squeezing device that functions as a unit and an indoor fan that can control the air volume.
And the compressor and the outdoor heat exchange during dehumidifying operation.
Vessel, the first indoor heat exchanger, the dehumidifying squeezing device, the first
Two indoor heat exchangers are connected in order, and the compression is performed during the cooling operation.
Machine, the outdoor heat exchanger, the first indoor heat exchanger, the first
Two indoor heat exchangers are connected in order, and the compression is performed during heating operation.
Machine, the second indoor heat exchanger, the first indoor heat exchanger, front
In the air conditioner connected in order of the outdoor heat exchanger ,
That of the first indoor heat exchanger and the second indoor heat exchanger
Each refrigerant channel is divided into two or more systems, and
One of the indoor heat exchanger's refrigerant passage confluence and the other front
Between the branch point of the refrigerant flow path of the indoor heat exchanger and the dehumidification throttle
The room on the downstream side during heating operation.
The outlet side of the internal heat exchanger is configured with a single refrigerant flow path to dehumidify
As a driving mode, actual temperature and humidity driving
The compressor and the outdoor fan are controlled as shown.
And dehumidification having the function of setting the air volume of the indoor fan
To realize the operation mode and the operation to dry the laundry
The compressor and the outdoor fan are controlled to
In order to spread the air volume of the inner fan over a wide range
With the set high air volume, this indoor fan has a high air volume.
Even if the compressor is operated with the ability to obtain dehumidifying ability,
Wet operation mode and any of these dehumidification operation modes
Is configured to be selected and designated.

[0018]

[0019]

[0020]

[0021]

[0022]

[0023]

[0024]

[0025]

[0026]

[0027]

[0028]

[0029]

[0030]

[0031]

[0032]

[0033]

[0034]

[0035]

[0036]

[0037]

[0038]

[0039]

[0040]

[0041]

[0042]

[0043]

[0044]

[0045]

[0046]

[0047]

[0048]

[0049]

[0050]

[0051]

[0052]

[0053]

[0054]

[0055]

[0056]

[0057]

According to the air conditioner of the present invention of the action To achieve the purpose of the present invention as above mentioned, each of the refrigerant flow path of the first indoor heat exchanger and the second indoor heat exchanger than two systems Since it is configured separately, since it is added to connect the dehumidifying expansion device between the confluence of one of the refrigerant flow paths of the indoor heat exchanger and the branch point of the other refrigerant flow path of the indoor heat exchanger, It is possible to reduce the refrigerant flow pressure loss in each indoor heat exchanger in the cooling, heating and dehumidifying operations. Furthermore, since the outlet side of the indoor heat exchanger, which is the downstream side during heating operation, is configured with a single-system refrigerant flow path, during heating operation, condensation occurs in the two or more systems of refrigerant flow paths. Since the liquid refrigerant flow enters the single-system refrigerant flow path to have a high speed and a high heat transfer coefficient in the pipe, a sufficient subcool can be obtained and heat exchange efficiency can be improved. Further, during the cooling operation, the refrigerant having a low degree of dryness flows in the portion of the refrigerant flow path of one system, so that an increase in pressure loss can be suppressed. On the other hand, since the flow velocity of the refrigerant in this portion is increased, the heat transfer coefficient in the tube is increased and the heat transfer performance can be improved.

[0058]

[0059]

[0060]

[0061]

[0062]

[0063]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, each embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings by taking an air conditioner attached to a building as an example.

An embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a refrigeration cycle and a control system according to this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a flow chart of an operation mode, FIG. It is a flow chart of a driving method. The air conditioner of this embodiment is configured as follows. In FIG. 1, 1 is a compressor, 2 is a four-way valve that is switched when switching operating states such as cooling and heating, 3 is an outdoor heat exchanger, 4 is a main expansion device through which a refrigerant flows during cooling and heating operations, 5 Is a two-way valve that is provided in parallel with the main expansion device 4 for flowing the refrigerant during the dehumidifying operation, 6a and 6b are indoor heat exchangers divided into two, and 7 is between the indoor heat exchangers 6a and 6b. A dehumidifying throttle device which is provided in series and through which the refrigerant flows during the dehumidifying operation, and 8 is a two-way valve which is provided in parallel with the dehumidifying throttle device 7 between the indoor heat exchangers 6a and 6b and which allows the refrigerant to flow during the cooling and heating operations, 9 is an accumulator for preventing liquid from returning to the compressor, 1
Reference numeral 0 is an outdoor fan, 11 is an outdoor fan motor, 12 is an indoor fan, 13 is an indoor fan motor, 14 and 15 are outdoor and arrows indicating the wind direction in the room, 16 is a control unit, and 17 is a temperature sensor for detecting the indoor temperature. Temperature detecting means such as 18
Is a humidity detecting means such as a humidity sensor for detecting indoor humidity, 2
Reference numerals 1, 22, 23, 24, and 25 denote wirings, respectively. Further, the compressor 1 is capable of capacity control, and the outdoor fan 10 and the indoor fan 12 are capable of capacity control, that is, air flow rate control. In particular, recently, the compressor 1 and the fan motors 11 and 13 use a rotation speed control method in which the rotation speed can be continuously changed, and the performance can be finely controlled.

In the above-described cycle structure, during cooling operation, the two-way valve 5 is closed and the two-way valve 8 is opened to circulate the refrigerant as shown by the solid arrow, and the outdoor heat exchanger 3 is connected to the condenser. The indoor heat exchangers 6a and 6b are used as evaporators to cool the room. During the heating operation, the four-way valve 2 is switched, the two-way valve 5 is closed, and the two-way valve 8 is opened to circulate the refrigerant as indicated by a dashed arrow, thereby allowing the indoor heat exchanger 6a to circulate.
And 6b are used as condensers and the outdoor heat exchanger 3 is used as an evaporator to heat the room.

Further, during the dehumidifying operation, the four-way valve 2 is switched in the same manner as during the cooling operation, the two-way valve 5 is opened and the two-way valve 8 is closed, so that the refrigerant is compressed by the compressor 1 and the four-way valve as shown by the one-dot chain line. 2, outdoor heat exchanger 3, two-way valve 5, indoor heat exchanger 6
a, the dehumidifying expansion device 7, the indoor heat exchanger 6b, the four-way valve 2, the accumulator 9, and the compressor 1 are circulated in this order, the outdoor heat exchanger 3 is an upstream condenser, and the indoor heat exchanger 6a is a downstream condenser. The device and the indoor heat exchanger 6b are set to be an evaporator. Then, the indoor air is directed by the indoor fan 12 to the arrow 15
, The air is cooled and dehumidified by the indoor heat exchanger 6b acting as an evaporator, and then the condenser on the downstream side,
That is, it is heated again by the indoor heat exchanger 6a serving as a heater and blown out into the room. In this case, the capacities of the evaporator 6b and the heater 6a can be adjusted by further controlling the capacities of the compressor 1 and the blowing capacities of the indoor fan 12 and the outdoor fan 10, and finally the dehumidifying amount and the blowing amount. The air temperature can be controlled according to the purpose of use.

By the way, as described above, recently, the dehumidifying operation has been used for multiple purposes. For example, (1)
The temperature is not so high due to the rainy season and autumn rain, etc., but the so-called comfortable dehumidifying operation that dehumidifies while maintaining the set temperature when damp, (2) There is no airflow feeling on a hot and humid night or at dawn, and the temperature is low in a low noise state. To reduce the humidity without lowering it so that you can sleep comfortably, good night / wake good dehumidifying operation, (3) Keep relative humidity at around 50% to prevent the growth of mold and mites, so-called mold / mite prevention There are also dehumidification operation, and (4) so-called laundry dehumidification operation, which is used when drying the laundry dried in the house in the rainy season or autumn rain season.

Considering the operating states of the compressor, the indoor fan, and the outdoor fan in the dehumidifying operation for the various purposes described above, in the good night / awakening dehumidifying operation,
In particular, a low air volume dehumidifying operation that does not have a feeling of air flow and has a low noise and a large dehumidifying amount is required. In the laundry dehumidifying operation, a high air amount dehumidifying operation that allows a particularly large airflow and has a high drying capacity is required. In the comfortable dehumidifying operation and the mold / mite preventing dehumidifying operation, it is necessary to properly use the above-described dehumidifying operation with a low air flow and dehumidifying operation with a high air flow. Further, in addition to the dehumidifying operation with a low air volume and the dehumidifying operation with a high air volume, it is necessary to further perform a cooling-like, isothermal-like, or heating-like operation depending on the room temperature.

The dehumidifying operation methods for various purposes described above will be described below with reference to FIG. 2 which is a flow chart of the operation mode. As shown in FIG. 2, when an instruction to start the dehumidifying operation (200) is issued by a forced operation or an automatic operation that detects the temperature and humidity inside and outside the room, a use mode selection (201) in the dehumidifying operation is performed. Dehumidifying operation (210), mildew / mite prevention dehumidifying operation (220), good night / wake up dehumidifying operation (230),
One of the laundry dehumidifying operation (240) and the like is selected. At this time, when the selection mode is not designated, a comfortable dehumidifying operation (210) mode is automatically selected.

First, in the comfortable dehumidifying operation (210), the temperature sensor 17 and the humidity sensor 18 detect the temperature and humidity of the indoor air (211) and set the desired indoor temperature and humidity (212).
Is done. Next, the blowing condition of the indoor fan 12 is set (213), which indicates whether to perform the dehumidifying operation with a low air volume or the high air volume, and based on this setting (213), the low air volume dehumidifying operation (214). Or high air volume dehumidification operation (2
15) is selected. In addition, when performing comfortable dehumidification operation,
It is necessary to set the room temperature and humidity to make people feel comfortable, but PMV (Predicted Mean Vo)
It is designed to be controlled based on a thermal environment evaluation index such as te), which means a predicted average declaration). When controlled based on this thermal environment evaluation index, only the indoor temperature and humidity are used. Instead, it is possible to obtain comfortable conditions of thermal sensation by considering radiation temperature, wind speed, clothing amount, and activity amount, and automatically set temperature and humidity in consideration of season, clothes condition, activity condition, and the like.

In the dehumidifying operation (220) for preventing mold and ticks,
As in the comfortable dehumidification operation (210), the temperature sensor 1
7. The humidity sensor 18 detects the temperature and humidity of indoor air (2
21) The desired indoor temperature and humidity are set (222). Next, whether the dehumidifying operation is performed with a low air volume or the dehumidifying operation is performed with a high air volume is set for the blowing state of the indoor fan 12 (2
23) is performed, and the low air flow dehumidifying operation (224) or the high air flow dehumidifying operation (225) is selected based on this setting (223). It is known that the relative humidity should be set to about 40 to 60% to prevent the reproduction of mold and mite. Therefore, in the dehumidifying operation for preventing mold and mite, for example, the humidity is automatically set to about 50%. It may be fixed and set. By performing such a dehumidifying operation, the dehumidifying operation can be performed in a state where the sensible temperature can be maintained well.

In the good night / remembering dehumidifying operation (230), the temperature sensor 17 and the humidity sensor 18 detect the temperature and humidity of the room air (231) and set the desired room temperature and humidity (232). Next, during sleep, especially at the beginning of bedtime or when waking up in the morning, if the feeling of airflow and noise are high, it is difficult to sleep, so the dehumidifying operation of low air volume (233) in which the blowing capacity of the indoor fan 12 is lowered is performed. In addition, about the comfortable temperature and humidity in the room during sleep, we know the approximate value,
For example, during the rainy season or in the hot and humid summer, it is better to keep the room temperature at a proper level and lower the humidity to create a comfortable and healthy sleeping environment. Therefore, in the good night / desired dehumidifying operation, the room temperature and humidity may be automatically fixed and set to such values. In addition, this operation mode is
It can also be used in an automatic driving mode programmed according to human sleep patterns such as when waking up in the morning.

In the laundry dehumidifying operation (240), the temperature sensor 17 and the humidity sensor 18 detect the temperature and humidity of the indoor air (241), and the desired indoor temperature and humidity are set (242).
Is done. Next, when the laundry is dried, it is necessary for the air flow to spread over a wide range and to have a sufficiently high dehumidifying ability. Therefore, a high air flow dehumidifying operation (24
3) is performed. In addition, the temperature and humidity when the laundry is dried can be set to be approximately constant, unlike the human sensation that slightly changes. Therefore, even in the laundry dehumidifying operation, the room temperature and humidity can be automatically fixed and set.

In the operation modes for each purpose shown in FIG. 2, indoor temperature / humidity detection (211), (221),
(231), (241), indoor temperature and humidity setting (212),
(222), (232), (242), indoor air-blowing state setting (213), (223) do not necessarily need to be performed in this order, and can be set arbitrarily.

In each of the above-mentioned purposes of use, the operation modes are roughly divided into a low air flow dehumidifying operation and a high air flow dehumidifying operation. The air conditioner itself uses these low air volume dehumidification operation and high air volume dehumidification operation for comfortable dehumidification operation, mold and
It can be used according to each purpose mode, such as dehumidifying operation to prevent ticks, good night / awakening dehumidifying operation, and laundry dehumidifying operation.

In the low air flow dehumidifying operation and the high air flow dehumidifying operation described above, when the detected value of room temperature and the set value are different, the temperature difference ΔT (ΔT = detected room temperature−set room temperature) is used. If the detected room temperature is higher and ΔT is positive, cooling is likely to occur, if both are approximately equal and ΔT is near zero, isothermal is felt, and if the detected temperature is lower and ΔT is negative, heating is dehumidified. You need to drive. These operating methods will be described below.

As can be seen from FIG. 3 showing the operation method in the low air flow dehumidifying operation (300), first, the indoor fan is set to the low air flow operation (301). Next, the detected room temperature detected by the temperature sensor 17 in the room is compared with the set room temperature (302).
However, when the temperature difference ΔT is positive, the low air flow cooling / dehumidifying operation (310) is performed. In this case, the compressor 1
Even if the capacity is lowered, sufficient dehumidifying capacity can be obtained. Therefore, in order to set the low capacity operation (311) and perform the air-conditioning operation, the heat dissipation capacity of the outdoor heat exchanger 3 is increased to serve as a heater. It is necessary to reduce the heating capacity of the used indoor heat exchanger 6a for the air flow 15, and for this reason, the blowing capacity of the outdoor fan 10 is increased (312).

When the temperature difference ΔT is substantially zero, a low air flow constant temperature dehumidifying operation (320) is performed. In this operation, the compressor 1 can obtain a sufficient dehumidifying capacity even if the capacity is reduced. Therefore, in order to perform the low capacity operation (321) and further to perform the isothermal operation, the heat dissipation capacity of the outdoor heat exchanger 3 is required. Is set to be medium, and the heating capacity for the air flow 15 by the indoor heat exchanger 6a used as a heater needs to be medium. Therefore, the blowing capacity of the outdoor fan 10 is set to medium (322). .

When the temperature difference ΔT is negative, the low air flow heating dehumidifying operation (330) is performed. In this operation, it is necessary to reduce the heat radiation amount in the outdoor heat exchanger 3 and increase the heating capacity for the air flow 15 by the indoor heat exchanger 6a used as a heater. For this purpose, the outdoor fan 10
The air-blowing capacity is reduced as much as possible, and the outdoor fan is stopped (332) if necessary. Further, the compressor 1 can obtain a sufficient dehumidifying capacity even if the capacity is reduced, but as the capacity of the compressor 1 is increased, the capacity of the heater 6a is increased, and the compressor 1 can be more heated. Therefore, the capacity of the compressor 1 increases (331) according to the degree of heating.

Here, as a specific operation example of the low air flow dehumidifying operation, for example, the standard cooling capacity is 2.8 k under the conditions of indoor temperature and humidity of 24 ° C. and 60% and outdoor temperature and humidity of 24 ° C. and 80%.
When a room air conditioner of W is used and the outdoor air volume is sufficiently reduced and the indoor air volume is set to about 2 m ³ / min, if the theoretical displacement of the compressor is set to 0.98 m ³ / h, the outlet temperature tends to be about 21 ° C. When the operation and the theoretical displacement amount of the compressor are set to 1.5 m ³ / h, it is possible to perform a heating-like operation in which the blowout temperature is about 27 ° C. That is, the temperature of the air blown out from the indoor unit is room temperature-
It is possible to perform a cooling dehumidifying operation at 3 ° C and a heating dehumidifying operation up to room temperature + 3 ° C.

In the low air volume dehumidifying operation described above, the capacity of the compressor 1 is set low because the dehumidifying quantity is sufficient, but the capacity of the compressor is not limited to this, and the capacity of the compressor may be increased. The input is significantly increased in this case, but the dehumidification capacity gradually increases.

Next, referring to FIG. 4, a high air flow dehumidifying operation (350)
The driving method of is explained. First, the indoor fan 12 is set to high air volume operation (351). Next, the detected room temperature detected by the temperature sensor 17 in the room is compared with the set room temperature (35
2) Then, when the temperature difference ΔT is positive, a high air flow cooling / dehumidifying operation (360) is performed. In this operation, since the indoor fan 12 is in high air volume operation, the compressor 1 is operated in high capacity to lower the evaporation temperature of the indoor heat exchanger 6b acting as an evaporator and obtain sufficient dehumidifying capacity (361). West,
In order to perform cooling-like operation further, the indoor heat exchanger 6a which increases the heat radiation capacity of the outdoor heat exchanger 3 and acts as a heater
It is necessary to reduce the heating capacity for the air flow 15 due to. For this reason, the blowing capacity of the outdoor fan 10 is increased (3
62) Allow.

When the temperature difference ΔT is substantially zero, the high air volume isothermal dehumidifying operation (370) is performed. In this operation, the compressor 1 is set to the high capacity operation (371) for the same reason as the above-mentioned cooling operation. For further isothermal operation, the heat dissipation capacity of the outdoor heat exchanger 3 is set to a medium level and the air flow 15 by the indoor heat exchanger 6a acting as a heater is increased.
It is necessary to have a medium heating capacity for. For this reason, the blowing capacity of the outdoor fan 10 is set to a medium level (372). When the temperature difference ΔT is negative, the high air volume heating dehumidifying operation (380) is performed. In this operation, the compressor 1
Is set to the high capacity operation (381) for the same reason as the above-mentioned cooling operation or isothermal operation. Further, in order to perform the heating-like operation, it is necessary to reduce the heat radiation amount in the outdoor heat exchanger 3 and increase the heating capacity for the air flow 15 by the indoor heat exchanger 6a acting as a heater. Therefore, the blowing capacity of the outdoor fan 10 is reduced as much as possible, and the outdoor fan 10 is stopped (382) if necessary.

Here, as a specific operation example of the high air volume dehumidifying operation, for example, a room air conditioner having a standard cooling capacity of 2.8 kW under conditions of indoor temperature and humidity of 24 ° C. and 60% and outdoor temperature and humidity of 24 ° C. and 80%. When the outdoor air volume is sufficiently reduced and the indoor air volume is set to about 6 m ³ / min, and the theoretical pushing amount of the compressor is set to 1.9 m ³ / h, the blowing temperature is about 26.5 ° C can do. That is, the temperature of the air blown out from the indoor unit can be heated to room temperature + 3 ° C.

By the way, in the high air flow dehumidifying operation described above, the input becomes large because the compressor 1 is set to the high capacity operation. FIG. 5 shows a side sectional view showing the structure of the indoor unit that can solve the problem of large input, and FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of the high air flow dehumidifying operation method in this case.

In FIG. 5, reference numerals 6a, 6b and 12 respectively have the same cycle configurations as those shown in FIG. 1, and are respectively the leeward indoor heat exchanger, the leeward indoor heat exchanger,
It is an indoor fan. In addition, 31 is a suction grill, 32
Is a casing on the back side forming an air passage, 33 is a dew tray for receiving condensed water, 34 is an openable / closable damper, and 35 is an air passage provided above the casing 32. With such a configuration, during the dehumidifying operation, the indoor heat exchanger 6b serves as an evaporator and the indoor heat exchanger 6a serves as a heater, and the indoor fan 12 is operated to move the indoor air from the air flow 36 as indicated by an arrow. By flowing like the air flow 37, the air flow 36 passes through the suction grill 31 and is cooled by the evaporator 6b.
After being dehumidified, the indoor fan 1 is heated by the heater 6a.
It is blown out through 2 in the direction of the arrow. Also, the evaporator 6
After the condensed water generated in b is once received by the dew tray 33,
It is discharged outdoors.

Next, a method of high air flow dehumidifying operation using the indoor unit shown in FIG. 5 will be described below with reference to the cycle configuration shown in FIG. 1 with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG.

When the high air volume dehumidifying operation mode is selected (400), first, the suction damper 34 is opened as shown at 34a (401), and the indoor fan 12 is operated in a high air volume state (402). Next, the detected room temperature detected by the temperature sensor 17 shown in FIG. 1 is compared with the set room temperature (403), and the temperature difference Δ
If T is positive, high air volume cooling dehumidifying operation (41
0) is performed. In this operation, the indoor fan 12 operates at a high air volume, and this air volume is the sum of the air volume passing through the ventilation passage 35 and the air volume passing through the indoor heat exchangers 6b and 6a. The amount of air passing through becomes small, and even if the compressor 1 is operated at a low capacity (411), the evaporation temperature of the evaporator 6b is lowered and a sufficient dehumidifying capacity is obtained. Further, in order to perform cooling-like operation, the air flow 3 by the indoor heat exchanger 6a which functions as a heater by increasing the heat radiation capacity of the outdoor heat exchanger 3
It is necessary to lower the heating capacity for 6. For this reason, the blowing capacity of the outdoor fan 10 is increased to the limit (412).

When the temperature difference ΔT is almost zero, the high air flow isothermal dehumidifying operation (420) is performed. In this operation, the compressor 1 is set to the low capacity operation (421) for the same reason as the above-described cooling operation. Further, in this isothermal operation, it is necessary to set the heat radiation capacity of the outdoor heat exchanger 3 to be medium and the heating capacity for the air flow 36 by the indoor heat exchanger 6a acting as a heater to be medium. For this reason, the blowing capacity of the outdoor fan 10 is set to the middle level (422).

If the temperature difference ΔT is negative, a high air volume heating dehumidifying operation (430) is performed. Even in this operation, the compressor 1 is set to the low capacity operation (431) for the same reason as the above-described cooling operation or isothermal operation. Further, in order to perform this heating-like operation, it is necessary to reduce the heat radiation amount in the outdoor heat exchanger 3 and increase the heating capacity for the air flow 36 by the indoor heat exchanger 6a acting as a heater.
For this reason, the blowing capacity of the outdoor fan 10 is reduced as much as possible,
The outdoor fan 10 is stopped (432) if necessary.

In FIG. 5, the dehumidifying operation with a low air flow is
By closing the damper 34, the same operation method as shown in FIG. 3 can be performed. Also, in FIG.
Although 4 is a damper that can be opened and closed by rotation, the damper is not limited to this and may be any structure that can be opened and closed. Further, in the above description, the detection of the room temperature and humidity is performed by the procedure described with reference to FIG. 2, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the comparison between the detected room temperature and the set room temperature in FIG. 3, FIG. 4 and FIG. Thirty
It is also possible to perform before 2), (352), and (403).

Another embodiment according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing an outdoor portion of the cycle of the present embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a method of adjusting the heat radiation amount of the outdoor heat exchanger 3.

The outdoor portion of the cycle shown in FIG. 7 is as shown in FIG.
In the cycle configuration shown in FIG. 1, the outdoor heat exchanger 3 is bypassed and the bypass pipe 42 is provided via the two-way valve 41.
Further, in FIG. 7, those having the same numbers as in FIG.
The same part is shown.

In the air conditioner of the present embodiment having the cycle configuration shown in FIG. 7, the operating method is almost the same as in the case of the cycle configuration shown in FIG. 1, but the low air flow heating dehumidifying operation shown in FIG. In step 332 in (330), in step 382 in the high air volume heating dehumidifying operation shown in FIG. 4 and in in the high air volume heating dehumidifying operation (430) shown in FIG. 6 corresponding to the structure of the indoor unit shown in FIG. The method of adjusting the heat radiation capacity of the outdoor heat exchanger 3 in step 432 is different as follows.

In the heating dehumidifying operation, the indoor heat exchanger 6a which functions as a heater in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is first prepared by the heat radiation amount adjusting method of the outdoor heat exchanger 3 shown in FIG.
In order to increase the heating capacity of the outdoor fan 10, the blowing capacity of the outdoor fan 10 is reduced as much as possible, or the outdoor fan 10 is stopped (50
1) Do. Next, the room temperature is detected again and compared with the set room temperature (5
02) and if the detected room temperature is lower than the set room temperature, the two-way valve 41
Open (503). If the detected room temperature is not lower than the set room temperature, the setting is finished (504). As a result, when the two-way valve 41 is opened in step 503, most of the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant flow discharged from the compressor 1 does not pass through the outdoor heat exchanger 3 and acts as a heater.
When the two-way valve 41 is closed and the outdoor fan 10 is stopped, the amount of heat radiated to the outside air by natural convection is also carried to the indoor heat exchanger 6a, which acts as a heater. In 6a, the heating amount is further increased, and the dehumidifying operation more like heating can be performed.

In the cycle configuration of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the case of dehumidifying operation has been described so far, but cycle performance and heat exchange in the indoor heat exchangers 6a, 6b are also performed for each operation of cooling and heating. It is necessary to ensure performance and operate efficiently. Hereinafter, this method will be described.

First, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, since the indoor heat exchanger is divided into 6a and 6b and these are connected in series via the two-way valve 8, cooling operation and heating operation, especially In the cooling operation, both the indoor heat exchangers 6a and 6b are at a low pressure, and since the evaporator has a large specific volume of the gas refrigerant and a large volume flow rate, the pressure loss in the indoor heat exchanger increases and the cycle performance increases. Is reduced.

An embodiment capable of solving this problem is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. The embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 is different from the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 in that the indoor side portion 90 surrounded by the alternate long and short dash line.
10 is a front view seen from the direction of arrow P in FIG. 9. 9 and 10, 51a and 51b are 6a and 6b shown in FIG. 1, respectively.
The indoor heat exchanger 51a is a two-divided indoor heat exchanger, and the indoor heat exchanger 51a is divided into two lines of refrigerant pipes, a refrigerant pipe 52 and a refrigerant pipe 53, at point A, and then merges again into one system at point B. The indoor heat exchanger 51b similarly has a piping configuration
At a point, the refrigerant pipe 54 and the refrigerant pipe 55 are divided into two systems of refrigerant pipes, and then at a point D, they are joined again into one system. Further, reference numeral 56 is a radiation fin. Other Figure 1
The same numbers as in the above indicate the same parts.

In the air conditioner configured as described above, the refrigerant flows in two systems in the indoor heat exchangers 51a and 51b by opening the two-way valve 8 during the cooling operation and the heating operation. , The flow rate of the refrigerant flowing through each system is halved, and the indoor heat exchangers 51a and 5a
Since the refrigerant flow pressure loss in 1b is reduced, it is possible to prevent performance deterioration.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 and 10,
Although the case where the refrigerant pipes of the indoor heat exchangers 51a and 51b are divided into two systems is shown, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to divide into more systems, and in this case also the indoor heat exchanger 51a. It is possible to reduce the pressure loss of the refrigerant flow at 51 and 51b and prevent the performance from deteriorating. However, if the refrigerant flow is too multi-system, the pressure loss of the refrigerant flow will decrease, but the heat transfer coefficient will decrease significantly, and the overall performance of the air conditioner, such as the cooling capacity and coefficient of operation, will decrease. It is necessary to set the number of systems, and this number of systems is determined by the inner diameter of the refrigerant pipe.

Next, in the heating operation, in order to improve the performance such as the heating capacity and the coefficient of operation, in the indoor heat exchanger acting as a condenser, the heat exchanger in which the high temperature gas refrigerant flow flows at the inlet thereof. The part is heat-exchanged with the air flow at a position where there is no heat-exchanger part on the leeward side, and the heat-exchanger part, which is the outlet of the refrigerant flow, is sufficiently subcooled so that the part is relatively cool on the windward side. Need to exchange heat with the air flow. An example of such a configuration is shown in FIG.
Shown in. In FIG. 11, reference numeral 60a denotes an indoor heat exchanger including two systems of refrigerant pipes 61 and 62 connected at points E and F,
60b is an indoor heat exchanger consisting of two systems of refrigerant pipes 63 and 64 connected at the G point, 60c is a refrigerant flow upstream of the indoor heat exchanger 60b during heating operation, and the air flow 15 is the indoor heat exchanger 60b. An indoor heat exchanger consisting of two systems of refrigerant pipes 66, 67 connected at a point H provided at a position on the leeward side after passing, 60d is a refrigerant flow at the downstream side of the indoor heat exchanger 60a during heating operation, and An indoor heat exchanger having a refrigerant pipe 65 in which the air flow 15 is directly contacted and is located above the indoor heat exchanger 60b and which has a single refrigerant flow system. Basically, the embodiment shown in FIG. On the other hand, the indoor heat exchangers 60c and 60d are further provided.

In the structure constructed as described above,
During heating operation, the refrigerant flows through the two-way valve 8 through the indoor heat exchanger in the order of 60c, 60b, 60a, 60d, and as shown by the broken arrow, the high-temperature gas refrigerant flow is generated by the indoor heat exchanger 6
Air flow 15 after heat exchange with the indoor heat exchanger 60b at 0c
a, heat exchange with the air flow 15 having a relatively low temperature in the indoor heat exchanger 60b, and heat exchange with the air flow 15a after heat exchange with the indoor heat exchanger 60b in the indoor heat exchanger 60a. As a result, the heat is dissipated and cooled, and it is sufficiently condensed at the outlet of the indoor heat exchanger 60a. Next, the condensed liquid refrigerant flow flows into the indoor heat exchanger 60d of one system to have a high speed, the heat transfer coefficient in the pipe is sufficiently high, and the heat exchange is performed with the air flow 15 having a relatively low temperature to generate a subcool. Will be fully removed. In this case, the refrigerant flow from the indoor heat exchangers 60c to 60b is the air flow 15 and the air flow 15
The refrigerant flow that is a counter flow to a and that flows from the indoor heat exchanger 60a to the indoor heat exchanger 60d is also the air flows 15 and 15a.
And a counter flow, and in each case, the heat exchange state is efficient.

During the cooling operation, the refrigerant is the indoor heat exchanger 60d and the indoor heat exchanger 60 as indicated by the solid line arrow.
a, two-way valve 8, indoor heat exchanger 60b, indoor heat exchanger 60
Flowing in the order of c, all of these indoor heat exchangers act as an evaporator.

During the dehumidifying operation, the refrigerant is the indoor heat exchanger 60d and the indoor heat exchanger 60 as indicated by the one-dot chain line arrow.
a, the dehumidifying / humidifying expansion device 7, the indoor heat exchanger 60b, and the indoor heat exchanger 60c in this order, and the indoor heat exchanger 60d and the indoor heat exchanger 60a serve as heaters, and the indoor heat exchanger 60b and the indoor heat exchanger 60c are used. Acts as a cooler / dehumidifier. In this case, the indoor heat exchanger 60c acting as a cooling / dehumidifier
Is located below the indoor heat exchanger 60a acting as a heater, the dehumidified water generated in the indoor heat exchanger 60c is
It is not heated by the indoor heat exchanger 60a and evaporated again. Further, since the indoor heat exchanger 60d that functions as a heater is located above the indoor heat exchanger 60b that serves as a cooling / dehumidifying device, the dehumidified water generated in the indoor heat exchanger 60b is absorbed in the indoor heat exchanger 60d. It will not be heated and evaporated again.

As can be seen from the above description, in FIG. 11, the indoor heat exchanger 60c does not necessarily have to be under the indoor heat exchanger 60a, and is located at the position indicated by the alternate long and short dash line 68, and the indoor heat Below the exchanger 60b or 6
The indoor heat exchanger 60a at the position indicated by the alternate long and short dash line 8a
Including the leeward side, etc., if the dehumidified water generated in the indoor heat exchanger 60c during the dehumidifying operation at a position where there is no indoor heat exchanger part on the leeward side does not drip into the indoor heat exchanger that is the heater, Can be placed in position. In addition, the indoor heat exchanger 60
d does not necessarily have to be on the indoor heat exchanger 60b, and is the position indicated by the two-dot chain line 69 and is the indoor heat exchanger 6
0a or a position indicated by a chain double-dashed line of 69a, including the front of the indoor heat exchanger 60b, is placed at an arbitrary position as long as the relatively low temperature air flow 15 directly hits the dehumidifying water during the dehumidifying operation. be able to.

Further, in FIG. 11, both the indoor heat exchanger 60c is provided on the inlet high temperature gas area side of the refrigerant flow and the indoor heat exchanger 60d is provided on the outlet subcool area side during the heating operation, but this is not a limitation. Either way, in this case,
The effects of the respective actions of the indoor heat exchangers 60c and 60d can be obtained.

More specifically, in FIG. 9, the indoor heat exchangers 51a and 51b are used as two-system refrigerant passages, or in FIG. 11, the indoor heat exchangers 60a and 60b are used.
Although b and 60c are two-system refrigerant flow paths and the indoor heat exchanger 60d is one-system refrigerant flow path, the present invention is not limited to this, and each indoor heat exchanger 51a, 51b or 60a, 60b, 60c,
The refrigerant flow path of 60d can be made into one system or multiple systems by judging from the flow rate of the refrigerant, the simplicity of the configuration, and the like. For example, when the flow rate of the refrigerant is relatively large, the indoor heat exchanger mixed with the gas flow becomes 51a, 51b in FIG. 9 or FIG.
In order to reduce the pressure loss, 60a, 60b, and 60c of No. 1 are better to be the refrigerant flow paths of plural systems, and the indoor heat exchanger 60d of FIG.
Then, in order to increase the flow velocity in the pipe and improve the heat transfer performance, it is better to use a single-system refrigerant flow path. When the flow rate of the refrigerant is relatively small, the indoor heat exchanger having a relatively low refrigerant dryness on the upstream side during the cooling operation becomes 51a in FIG. 9 or 60a in FIG.
Even if the refrigerant flow path is a single system (not shown), the pressure loss here is relatively small and the deterioration of the performance is hardly a problem, and the piping configuration is simple. Further, when the refrigerant flow rate is small, all indoor heat exchangers (51a in FIG. 9,
51b or 60a, 60b, 60c, 60 of FIG.
Even if d) is a single-system refrigerant pipe (not shown), performance degradation does not pose a problem, and the pipe configuration is further simplified.

By the way, in a room air conditioner or the like which is a small air conditioner, the structure of the indoor heat exchanger is limited and is almost fixed, and the degree of freedom of the piping configuration is small. Hereinafter, with respect to such a case, a specific example will be described by taking the indoor heat exchanger in the case where the pipe rows are two in the embodiment shown in FIG. 11 as an example.

In FIG. 12, there are two rows of pipes and the number of stages of the pipes is 9
It is a side view of the indoor heat exchanger 70 when it is configured in a tier,
The structural example of the piping around the indoor heat exchanger 7 is also shown. In FIG. 12, what is indicated by a circle is a heat transfer tube 7 provided so as to penetrate a plurality of heat radiation fins 71.
3, those indicated by broken lines and solid lines are connection pipes, and 7 and 8 are dehumidifying throttle devices and two-way valves, respectively, as in FIG. 1 or FIG. Further, the indoor heat exchanger 70 is separated into two L-shaped heat exchangers 70a and 70b by cutting the radiating fin 71 at the portion indicated by the line 72, and the heat transfer tube 7
3a and 73b have a one-system refrigerant flow, and the other heat transfer tubes are arranged so as to have a two-system refrigerant flow with the dehumidifying throttle device 7 and the two-way valve 8 interposed therebetween.

With the above structure, the refrigerant flow in the cooling, heating, and dehumidifying operations flows in the directions of the solid line arrow, broken line arrow, and dashed line arrow, respectively. For this reason, all the heat transfer tubes become low-pressure evaporators during the cooling operation, but since all the heat transfer tubes except 73a and 73b become the two-system refrigerant flow, the pressure loss is small and there is no problem. Also, during heating operation, the hot gas refrigerant flow is
On the inlet side of the indoor heat exchanger 70, the heat transfer tubes 73c and 73d flow to the heat transfer tubes 73e and 73f on the downstream side, respectively, and become a counterflow with the air flow 15, so that an efficient heat exchange state can be realized and the outlet side. In the heat transfer tubes 73b, 73a, which are the heat transfer tubes of No. 3, heat is exchanged on the windward side with the air flow 15 having a relatively low temperature, and since the refrigerant flow is one system, the speed is high and the heat transfer performance in the tubes is improved. , Can take enough subcool. During the dehumidification operation, the indoor heat exchanger 70b serves as a cooling / dehumidifier (ie, an evaporator) on the windward side, and the indoor heat exchanger 70a serves as a heater (ie, a condenser) on the leeward side with respect to the air flow 15. After cooling and dehumidifying No. 15, it is heated again. In this case, since the indoor heat exchanger 70a having a high temperature and the indoor heat exchanger 70b having a low temperature are separated from each other by the cut 72, there is no heat loss because the heat exchangers do not directly interfere with each other, Efficient dehumidification operation can be performed. In addition, the indoor heat exchanger 70 that functions as a heater
a is an indoor heat exchanger 70b that functions as a cooling / dehumidifier
The dehumidified water that flows above and does not evaporate again due to being heated.

Further, FIG. 13 is a modification of the embodiment of the indoor heat exchanger shown in FIG. 12 in which the heat transfer tubes are arranged in two rows and in nine stages. Compared with the embodiment shown in FIG. 12, heating operation is performed. At times, in order to take a subcool at the outlet side of the refrigerant flow, the heat transfer tubes 74a and 74b that are arranged so that the refrigerant flow is in one system are shifted to the upper side by one step, and the inlet heat transfer tube into which the refrigerant flow of the high temperature gas flows is the air flow. The pipe structure has a heat transfer pipe 74c on the windward side and a heat transfer pipe 74d on the leeward side with respect to 15, and is divided into two by a cutting line indicated by 96. In this piping configuration, the heat transfer tubes 74c in the high-temperature gas region and the heat transfer tubes 74e, 74f in the condensation region on the leeward side of the pipes do not form a counter flow with the air flow 15 during the heating operation, but after cooling and dehumidifying during the dehumidifying operation. The height h ₂ of the heat exchanger portion to be heated again is longer than the height h ₁ shown in FIG. 12, and a larger amount of dehumidification can be obtained than in the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 shows still another modification of the indoor heat exchanger shown in FIG. 12 in which the heat transfer tubes are arranged in two rows and nine stages.
During the heating operation, the heat transfer tubes 75a and 75b in which the refrigerant flow is made into one system for taking subcool on the outlet side of the refrigerant flow are arranged in the uppermost two rows, and the inlet heat transfer tube into which the refrigerant flow of the high temperature gas flows is set to the air flow 15 On the other hand, both are heat transfer tubes 75c, 7 on the windward side.
The indoor heat exchanger 88 is divided into two parts, 88a and 88b, at a position indicated by 89. With this piping configuration, the inlet heat transfer tubes 75c, 75d in the high temperature gas region and the heat transfer tubes 75b, 75e, 75f, 75g having a lower temperature on the leeward side thereof during the heating operation do not flow counter to the air flow 15, but during the dehumidification operation. The height h ₃ of the heat exchanger portion that is cooled and dehumidified and then reheated can be made longer than that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 13, and a greater amount of dehumidification can be taken.

FIG. 15 is a side view of an embodiment of the indoor heat exchanger 80 in which the heat transfer pipes are arranged in two rows and arranged in 10 stages, and the piping configuration around the indoor heat exchanger 80 is also shown. .
Similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 12, the circles in FIG. 15 indicate heat transfer tubes provided so as to penetrate a plurality of heat radiation fins 81, the broken lines and solid lines indicate connection pipes, 7,
Reference numeral 8 is a dehumidifying throttle device and a two-way valve, respectively. Further, the indoor heat exchanger 80 is separated into two L-shaped heat exchangers 80a and 80b by cutting the radiating fin 81 at a portion indicated by a separation line 82, and the heat transfer tubes 83a, 8
3b is a refrigerant flow of one system, and the other heat transfer pipes are arranged so as to be a refrigerant flow of two systems with the dehumidifying expansion device 7 and the two-way valve 8 interposed therebetween. Further, the L-shaped heat exchanger 80b has a two-system refrigerant piping configuration of a system shown by an arrow 84 and a system shown by an arrow 85 between the branching I point and J point. Since the number of heat transfer tubes (two in this case) is smaller than that of the system piping indicated by 85, the heat transfer tubes 83c and J in the system piping indicated by 84 and J are arranged so that the flow resistance of the refrigerant flow becomes the same. A resistance tube 86 is provided between the points.

With the above-described structure, the refrigerant flows in the cooling, heating, and dehumidifying operations by the arrows indicated by solid lines,
Flow in the direction of the arrow indicated by the broken line, the arrow indicated by the alternate long and short dash line, the refrigerant flow state of low pressure loss in the cooling operation, the heat exchange state by the counter flow of the inlet high temperature gas refrigerant flow and the air flow in the heating operation, and the outlet portion Sufficient subcooling with one system of refrigerant flow, cooling for air flow 15 in dehumidification operation,
The operations of dehumidification and reheating can be performed efficiently and without any problem as in the embodiment shown in FIG.

The resistance tube 86 may be provided anywhere between points I and J in the piping of the system indicated by 84. Further, it may be applied that a resistance tube is provided in one of the plurality of channels having a smaller flow resistance to equalize the flow resistance of each flow path. For example, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 or FIG.
The present invention can be applied to a case where a resistance tube is provided in a flow path having a small flow resistance to make the flow resistance equal and the refrigerant flows in a well-balanced manner.

FIG. 16 is a modification of the indoor heat exchanger shown in FIG. 15 in which the heat transfer tubes are arranged in two rows and in ten stages. During the heating operation, the refrigerant flow is changed to take subcool on the outlet side of the refrigerant flow. 87a, 87b, 8 heat transfer tubes designed to be one system
7i, and the inlet heat transfer tubes into which the refrigerant flow of the high temperature gas flows are both windward side heat transfer tubes 87 with respect to the air flow 15.
The pipes are configured to be c and 87d, and similarly cut at 97. In this piping configuration, during the heating operation, the heat transfer tubes 87c, 87d in the high temperature gas region and the heat transfer tubes 87e, 87f, 87g, 8g having a lower temperature on the leeward side thereof are provided.
7h does not become a counter flow to the air flow 15, but during the dehumidification operation, the height h ₅ of the heat exchanger part for cooling and dehumidifying and then reheating becomes longer than h _{4 in} FIG. 15, and more Dehumidifying amount can be taken. Further, the refrigerant flow between the point K and the point L is a two-system flow, but the lengths of the heat transfer tubes of each system are set to be the same, and the resistance tube 86 as in the embodiment shown in FIG. It becomes unnecessary to provide.

In the embodiments shown in FIGS. 12, 13, 14, and 16, the number of heat transfer tubes serving as heaters during dehumidification operation is set to be larger than the number of heat transfer tubes serving as cooling / dehumidifiers. This is because this is effective in performing the dehumidifying operation with a slight heating effect described in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 3, 4, 6, and 8. That is, in the dehumidifying operation, cooling /
Since the capacity of the dehumidifier can be made lower and the capacity of the heater can be made higher, the dehumidifying operation that tends to be heating becomes easier.

Here, in the indoor heat exchanger shown in FIGS. 12 to 16, both of the two heat exchangers divided into two parts constitute the refrigerant passages of the two systems. This is the embodiment shown in FIG. As described above, it is suitable as a piping configuration of an air conditioner having a relatively large refrigerant flow rate. When the flow rate of the refrigerant is relatively low, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 12 to 16, it becomes the evaporator on the upstream side during the cooling operation (for example, FIG.
2 is 70a, and 80a in FIG. 15) can be used as a single-system refrigerant flow path, and when the refrigerant flow rate is low, it can be used as a downstream evaporator during cooling operation. An operating indoor heat exchanger (for example, 70b in FIG. 12 and 80b in FIG. 15)
Can also be a single-system refrigerant flow path.

As an example, FIG. 17 will be described as an example corresponding to the example shown in FIG. 12 and having a piping structure for a relatively small refrigerant flow rate. Here, FIG. 17 shows the heat exchanger 70a shown in FIG. 12 as a single-system refrigerant flow path. In FIG. 17, reference numeral 98 denotes a heat exchanger 98a which is divided into two parts by a cutting line 72 and which has a refrigerant flow path serving as an evaporator on the upstream side during the cooling operation in one system and a refrigerant which serves as an evaporator on the downstream side during the cooling operation. Heat exchanger 98 with two channels
b (the same as 70b shown in FIG. 12). Further, in FIG. 17, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 12 indicate the same parts.

In the case of the above configuration, the refrigerant flows in the directions of the arrow shown by the solid line, the arrow shown by the broken line, and the arrow shown by the alternate long and short dash line in each operation of cooling, heating and dehumidifying. Both the indoor heat exchangers 98a and 98b are low-pressure evaporators during the cooling operation, but since the refrigerant flow rate is relatively small, the upstream evaporator 98a having a low degree of dryness causes a pressure loss even with a single refrigerant flow path. It is comparatively small, and conversely, the refrigerant flow velocity is higher than that in the embodiment shown in FIG. 12, so that the heat transfer coefficient in the pipe is large. In the evaporator 73b on the downstream side,
Although the dryness is high, the refrigerant flow rate is sufficiently low and the pressure loss is small because the refrigerant flow path has two systems.

Further, during the heating operation, in the indoor heat exchanger 98, because the refrigerant flow has a high pressure, the specific volume of the gas refrigerant becomes small and the flow velocity becomes slow. Enters the indoor heat exchanger 98b of the system and condenses,
Since the refrigerant flow path enters the indoor heat exchanger 98a of one system after the degree of dryness of the refrigerant becomes sufficiently low, a problematic pressure loss does not occur. Therefore, when the refrigerant flow rate is relatively small, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 17, there is no performance problem in both the cooling and heating operations, and the refrigerant flow path of the indoor heat exchanger 98a is a single system. The configuration is simple. The heat exchange state between the indoor heat exchanger 98 and the airflow 15 during the cooling operation, the heating operation, and the dehumidifying operation is the same as that of the embodiment shown in FIG.

Here, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 12 to 16, the indoor heat exchanger is completely divided into two by the cutting line 72 shown in FIG. 12 and the cutting line 89 shown in FIG. The heat transfer between the exchangers is sufficiently cut off, enabling sufficient cooling / dehumidification and heating during dehumidification operation.
However, on the other hand, there is a problem that the assembly of the heat exchanger becomes complicated, and in order to solve this, it is preferable that the heat radiation fin before the heat transfer tube is incorporated is configured as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19.

The radiation fin 91 shown in FIG. 18 has a structure in which an intermittent slit 92 is provided at a position corresponding to the cutting line 72 shown in FIG. As a result of this configuration,
Due to the slit 92, the heat insulation performance is slightly inferior to that of the cutting line 72 shown in FIG.
Heat transfer between the b side can be blocked, and the heat radiation fin 9
Since the 1a side and the 91b side are connected, this assembly can be facilitated when assembling the heat exchanger.

The radiation fin 93 shown in FIG. 19 is similar to that shown in FIG.
4 has a structure in which an intermittent slit 94 is provided at a position corresponding to the cutting line 89 shown in FIG. Also in this case, FIG.
Similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the slit 94 can block heat transfer between the 93a side and the 93b side of the heat radiation fin 93, and the 93a side and the 93b side of the heat radiation fin are connected, so that the heat exchanger is assembled. Sometimes this assembly can be facilitated.

In the above-described embodiments, the case where a single refrigerant such as HCFC22 (abbreviation of hydrochlorofluorocarbon 22) which is often used in air conditioners is used has been described. However, recently, from the viewpoint of ozone layer depletion and global warming, research on alternative refrigerants to replace HCFC22 has become active. Further, as an alternative refrigerant, use of not only a single refrigerant but also a mixed refrigerant is being considered. Of these, the single refrigerant has the same pressure level as the refrigeration cycle, but the characteristics thereof are the same as those of the HCFC22, and even in the case of the mixed refrigerant, the embodiment shown in FIGS. The cycle configuration, the indoor unit structure, the operation control method, the piping configuration of the indoor heat exchanger, and the like described above can be applied, and similar effects can be obtained.

In the case of using a mixed refrigerant, it is generally possible to obtain an indoor heat exchanger in the case of using a single refrigerant in the cooling operation by using the piping configuration shown in FIGS. 11 to 17. The following effects are obtained.

FIG. 21 shows a modeled temperature-entropy diagram of the refrigeration cycle when a single refrigerant and a mixed refrigerant are used. In this temperature-entropy diagram, for example, when the cooling operation is performed in the piping configuration shown in FIG. 11, in the indoor heat exchanger acting as an evaporator, in the case of a single refrigerant, pressure loss occurs due to pressure loss. The evaporation temperature decreases from the inlet to the outlet, as shown from Ta point to Pa point in FIG. 21, and the indoor heat exchanger 6
Since 0a is an evaporator on the high temperature side and 60b is an evaporator on the low temperature side, the refrigerant flow and the air flow 15 do not become counter flows. On the other hand, in the case of the mixed refrigerant, the composition ratio of the mixed refrigerant in the gas phase and the liquid phase generally changes in the evaporation process, and as a result, as shown from point T to point P in FIG. The evaporation temperature rises from the inlet to the outlet of the heat exchanger. As a result, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 11, the indoor heat exchanger 6
Since the evaporation temperature of 0a is lower than the evaporation temperature of the indoor heat exchanger 60b, the refrigerant flow and the air flow 15 are in a counterflow state, and the heat exchange state is more efficient than in the case of a single refrigerant. .

In the heating operation, on the condensation side,
As shown in FIG. 21 as point Qa to point Ra and point Sa, point Q to point R and point S, the refrigerant temperature decreases from the inlet to the outlet of the indoor heat exchanger for both the single refrigerant and the mixed refrigerant. The temperature relationship between the refrigerant flow and the air flow in the indoor heat exchanger has the same temperature relationship between the single refrigerant and the mixed refrigerant.

Up to now, the description has been made assuming the structure in which the indoor heat exchangers 6a and 6b divided into two are arranged in series (front and rear) with respect to the air flow 15 as shown in FIG. Not limited to this, even if the indoor heat exchanger divided into two is arranged in parallel (upper and lower) with respect to the air flow, the same action and effect can be obtained during the dehumidifying operation. FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a refrigerating cycle and a control system according to this embodiment. In FIG. 22, reference numerals 110a and 110b denote indoor heat exchangers divided into two and arranged in parallel (up and down) with respect to the air flow 15. 1 is the same as that in FIG. 1 except that the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 represent the same parts. The compressor 1 is capable of capacity control, and the outdoor fan 10 and the indoor fan 12 are capacity control, that is, air flow rate control. Is possible.

Here, the indoor fan 12 shows the case where air flows in parallel to the indoor heat exchangers 6a and 6b. However, the indoor heat exchangers 6a and 6b are bent in a dogleg shape. The indoor fan 12 can be arranged so that air is first allowed to flow in the indoor heat exchanger 6b and then air is allowed to flow in the indoor heat exchanger 6a. With such a structure, inflow and outflow of air Easy to form a passage.

In the cycle configuration of FIG. 22 as well, similar to the cycle configuration of FIG. 1, during cooling operation, the two-way valve 5 is closed and the two-way valve 8 is opened to circulate the refrigerant as indicated by the solid arrow. The outdoor heat exchanger 3 is used as a condenser, and the indoor heat exchangers 6a and 6b are used as evaporators to cool the room. During heating operation, the four-way valve 2 is switched, the two-way valve 5 is closed, and the two-way valve 8
By opening, the refrigerant is circulated as indicated by the dashed arrow, and the indoor heat exchangers 6a and 6b are used as condensers and the outdoor heat exchanger 10 is used as an evaporator to heat the room.

During the dehumidifying operation, the four-way valve 2 is switched in the same manner as in the cooling operation, the two-way valve 5 is opened and the two-way valve 8 is closed, so that the refrigerant is compressed by the compressor 1 and the four-way valve as shown by the one-dot chain line. 2, outdoor heat exchanger 3, two-way valve 5, indoor heat exchanger 11
0a, the dehumidification expansion device 7, the indoor heat exchanger 110b, the four-way valve 2, the accumulator 9, and the compressor 1 in this order, the outdoor heat exchanger 3 is condensed on the upstream side, and the indoor heat exchanger 6a is condensed on the downstream side. The container and the indoor heat exchanger 6b are used as an evaporator. Then, when the indoor air is made to flow by the indoor fan 12 as indicated by the arrow 15, a part of the air flow becomes the evaporator, and the indoor heat exchanger 11
While being cooled and dehumidified at 0b, the remaining air flow is heated by the indoor heat exchanger 110a that serves as a heater in the condenser and blown out into the room. In this case, the capacities of the evaporator 110b and the heater 110a can be adjusted by controlling the capacities of the compressor 1 and the blowing capacities of the indoor fan 12 and the outdoor fan 10, and finally the dehumidifying amount and the blown air temperature. Can be controlled according to the purpose of use.

Therefore, in the dehumidifying operation, the indoor heat exchanger 110a divided into two parts with respect to the air flow 15 as shown in FIG.
And 110b arranged in parallel (upper and lower), the same various operations as in the case where the indoor heat exchangers 6a and 6b divided into two with respect to the air flow 15 are arranged in series (front and rear) as shown in FIG. The same operating method as in FIGS. 2 to 4 can be performed, and the same effect can be obtained. That is, FIG.
Dehumidifying operation according to various purposes such as comfortable dehumidifying operation, good night / wake up dehumidifying operation, mold / tick preventing dehumidifying operation, laundry dehumidifying operation, etc., which are described in the examples It is possible to selectively use the low air volume dehumidifying operation and the high air volume dehumidifying operation, and perform the cooling, isothermal or heating dehumidifying operation depending on the room temperature.

By the way, in the high air volume dehumidifying operation described above, since the compressor is set to the high capacity operation, the input becomes large. An embodiment capable of solving this problem is shown in FIG. FIG. 23 is a view showing a side cross section of the indoor unit when the indoor heat exchanger is divided into upper and lower parts, as compared with the embodiment of FIG.
Reference numerals a, 110b, and 12 are the same as those described in the cycle configuration of FIG. 22, and are an upper indoor heat exchanger, a lower indoor heat exchanger, and an indoor fan, respectively. Further, the same parts as those in FIG. 5 are designated by the same reference numerals.

With the above construction, during the dehumidifying operation, the indoor heat exchanger 6b serves as an evaporator and the indoor heat exchanger 6a serves as a heater, and the indoor fan 12 is operated to flow indoor air as indicated by arrows 36 to 37. The airflow 36 passes through the suction grill 31, part of which is cooled and dehumidified by the evaporator 6b, part of which is heated by the heater 6a, and is further blown through the indoor fan 12 in the direction of arrow 37. . Further, the condensed water generated in the evaporator 6b is once received by the dew tray 33 and then discharged outside the room.

The various operating methods using the indoor unit shown in FIG. 23 are the same as those of the indoor unit shown in FIG. 5 described above, and the high air flow dehumidifying operation method is shown in the flow chart shown in FIG. Thus, it is possible to obtain the same effect as that of the embodiment of FIG.

Also in the case of FIG. 22, it is apparent that the same effect can be obtained by applying the embodiment of FIG. 7 as in the case of FIG. That is, the portion 40 surrounded by the alternate long and two short dashes line in FIG. 22 is configured as shown in FIG. 7 and the heat radiation amount in the outdoor heat exchanger 3 is adjusted by the heating dehumidifying operation method shown in FIG. It is possible to perform a dehumidifying operation slightly more like heating than in the case.

Note that FIGS. 2, 3, 4, and 6 described above
The operating method during the dehumidifying operation shown in FIG. 8 has been described by assuming the cycle configuration shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 7 or FIG. 22, but not limited to this, the indoor heat exchanger is divided into two and dehumidifying is performed between them. For an air conditioner that has a throttle device and has a cycle configuration in which the upstream side of the refrigerant flow of the indoor heat exchanger divided into two is a heater and the downstream side is a cooling / dehumidifier during dehumidifying operation, As described above, it is commonly applied when the indoor heat exchangers are arranged in front and back and the air flow is made to flow through these indoor heat exchangers in sequence, or when the indoor heat exchangers are arranged vertically and the air flow is made to flow in parallel to these heat exchangers. It is possible to obtain the same effect.

By the way, the case of the dehumidifying operation has been described with respect to the cycle configuration of the embodiment shown in FIG. Indoor heat exchangers 110a, 110
It is necessary to ensure the heat exchange performance in b and operate efficiently. This method will be described below. First, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 22, the indoor heat exchanger is divided into 110a and 110b, and in the cooling operation and the heating operation, these are connected in series via the two-way valve 8. In the above, both the indoor heat exchangers 110a and 110b are evaporators in which the specific volume of the gas refrigerant is large and the volume flow rate is large at low pressure, resulting in a large pressure loss in the indoor heat exchanger and a reduction in cycle performance.

FIG. 24 shows an embodiment capable of solving this problem. This embodiment corresponds to the heat exchanger portion of the indoor side portion 111 surrounded by the alternate long and short dash line in the embodiment shown in FIG. 24, 100a and 100b are indoor heat exchangers divided into two parts corresponding to 110a and 110b in FIG. 22, respectively, and the indoor heat exchanger 100a is P
At the point, the indoor heat exchanger 100b similarly has a two-system refrigerant pipe divided into two systems of 101 and 102 and then merges into one system at the Q point. The pipe configuration is such that after it is divided into two, it joins again into the system at point S. Further, the same parts as those in FIG. 22 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In the above structure, the indoor heat exchanger 1 is opened by opening the two-way valve 8 during the cooling operation and the heating operation.
Since the refrigerant flows in two systems in each of 00a and 100b, the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing in each system is halved, the refrigerant flow pressure loss in the indoor heat exchangers 100a and 100b is reduced, and the deterioration of the performance can be prevented.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 24, the refrigerant pipes of the indoor heat exchangers 100a and 100b are divided into two systems, but not limited to this, it is possible to divide into more systems, and in this case as well. Indoor heat exchangers 100a and 100b
It is possible to reduce the pressure loss of the refrigerant flow in the above and prevent the deterioration of the performance. However, if the refrigerant flow is made too multi-system, the pressure loss of the refrigerant flow will decrease, but the heat transfer coefficient will decrease too much, and the overall performance such as cooling capacity and coefficient of operation will decrease. And this value changes depending on the inner diameter of the refrigerant pipe.

Further, in the heating operation, in order to improve the performance such as the heating capacity and the coefficient of operation, in the indoor heat exchanger serving as the condenser, it is necessary to obtain sufficient subcool in the heat exchanger portion corresponding to the refrigerant outlet. is there. FIG. 25 shows an embodiment capable of realizing this. In FIG. 25, reference numeral 100c is an indoor heat exchanger that is on the downstream side of the refrigerant flow during the heating operation, which is composed of two lines of refrigerant pipes 106 and 107 that are connected to the one line of refrigerant pipe 105 at a point T.
The same number as 4 indicates the same part. That is, in the embodiment of FIG. 25, the indoor heat exchanger 100a having two systems of refrigerant pipes in FIG. 24 is replaced with an indoor heat exchanger 100c having a combination of one system of refrigerant pipes and two systems of refrigerant pipes.

In the above structure, during the heating operation, the refrigerant flows in the order of the indoor heat exchanger 100b, the two-way valve 8 and the indoor heat exchanger 100c. In this case, the high temperature gas refrigerant entered as indicated by the broken line arrow. The stream exchanges heat with the air stream 15,
Two-system indoor heat exchanger 10 with refrigerant pipes 103 and 104
0b to the refrigerant pipes of the indoor heat exchanger 100c are 106, 1
It is fully condensed in the two system part of 07. Next, the condensed liquid refrigerant flow enters the refrigerant pipe 105 of the one system of the indoor heat exchanger 100c to have a high speed, and the heat transfer coefficient in the pipe is sufficiently high, so that a sufficient subcool is obtained. As a result, an efficient heat exchange state is achieved.

During the cooling operation, as shown by the solid line arrow, the refrigerant flows from the refrigerant pipe 105 of one system of the indoor heat exchanger 100c to the refrigerant pipes 106 and 107 of two systems, the two-way valve 8, the indoor heat exchanger. 100b two-system refrigerant pipe 103,
Flows in the order of 104, but in this case, one line of the refrigerant pipe 1
In No. 05, the pressure loss is not so large because the dryness of the refrigerant flow is low. Furthermore, one system of refrigerant piping 1
In No. 05, since the flow velocity of the refrigerant flow is increased, there is also an effect that the heat transfer coefficient in the tube is increased and the heat transfer performance is improved.

More specifically, in FIG. 24, the indoor heat exchangers 100a and 100b are used as two systems of refrigerant flow paths, or in FIG. 25, the indoor heat exchanger 100b is used.
As a two-way refrigerant flow path and the indoor heat exchanger 100c
Has a flow path configuration in which a single-system refrigerant flow path and a dual-system refrigerant flow path are combined, but the present invention is not limited to this, and each indoor heat exchanger 100
The refrigerant flow path a, 100b, or 100c can be made into one system or multiple systems by judging from the refrigerant flow rate, the simplicity of the configuration, and the like. For example, when the flow rate of the refrigerant is relatively large, the indoor heat exchanger mixed with the gas flow becomes 1 in FIG.
00a, 100b or 100c, 100b in FIG.
In order to reduce the pressure loss, it is better to use a plurality of systems of refrigerant flow paths (the indoor heat exchanger 100c in FIG. 25 may be a combination of one system and a plurality of systems). When the refrigerant flow rate is relatively low, 100a in FIG. 24 or 100c in FIG. 25 becomes an indoor heat exchanger having a relatively low refrigerant dryness on the upstream side during the cooling operation.
Even if the refrigerant flow path is a single system (not shown), the pressure loss here is relatively small and the deterioration of the performance is hardly a problem, and the piping configuration is simple. When the refrigerant flow rate is lower, all indoor heat exchangers (100 in FIG.
Even if (a, 100b or 100c, 100b in FIG. 25) is used as a single-system refrigerant pipe (not shown), the deterioration in performance does not pose a problem and the pipe configuration is further simplified.

Regarding the type of the refrigerant flowing in the refrigeration cycle shown in FIG. 22, as in the case of the embodiment shown in FIG.
For the single refrigerant such as FC22 or various mixed refrigerants, the cycle configuration, indoor unit structure, operation control method, indoor heat exchanger piping configuration, etc. described above can be applied and similar effects can be obtained. It is clear that it will be done.

By the way, as a method of controlling the capacity of the compressor, the indoor fan, and the outdoor fan in the cycle configurations shown in FIGS. 1 and 22 described above, a method of controlling the rotation speed using a typical inverter or DC motor will be described. However, various methods other than this are conceivable. For example, various methods such as a method of mechanically controlling the capacity of the compressor, a method of switching the taps of the AC motor, a method of narrowing the ventilation passage, and a method of increasing the ventilation resistance can be used for the blower. Further, the high air volume of the indoor fan in the dehumidifying operation which has been used so far is generally equal to or less than the air volume in the cooling operation or the heating operation.

Also, FIGS. 1, 9, 11, 12, and 1 are shown.
3, FIG. 14, FIG. 15, FIG. 16, FIG. 17, FIG. 22, and FIG.
4, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 25, as described above, as the main expansion device 4 or the dehumidification expansion device 7,
Not only a fixed throttle device such as a capillary tube but also a variable throttle device such as an expansion valve or an electric expansion valve can be used. In this case, finer control can be performed. In particular, when an electrically driven expansion valve having a small flow resistance and capable of being fully opened is used, the two-way valve 5 or the two-way valve 8 becomes unnecessary, and for example, as shown by the broken lines in FIGS. 1 and 22. In addition, the parts 45 and 46 of the throttle device 4 and the two-way valve 5 and the throttle device 7 and the two-way valve 8 which are provided in parallel can be replaced only by the fully openable electric expansion valve 95 as shown in FIG.

Although the refrigeration cycle capable of operating in three cooling, heating, and dehumidifying states has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and other refrigeration cycles have been described so far. The operating method and the configuration of the indoor heat exchanger can be applied. For example, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 or 22, the four-way valve 2 is removed and the compressor 1 and the accumulator 9 are connected in series with the indoor heat exchanger 6b or 110b, the accumulator 9, the compressor 1, and the outdoor heat exchanger 3. When connected as shown in the figure (not shown),
The refrigeration cycle enables the cooling operation of the refrigerant flow indicated by the solid arrow and the dehumidifying operation of the refrigerant flow indicated by the alternate long and short dash line. In the dehumidifying operation of such a refrigeration cycle, as shown in FIGS.
The same effect can be obtained by performing the operating method shown in FIG. 4, the operating method shown in FIG. 6 in the indoor unit structure shown in FIG. 5 or 23, or the operating method shown in FIG. 8 in the embodiment shown in FIG. it can.

Further, in the refrigerating cycle structure shown in FIGS. 1 and 22, an accumulator is not always necessary, and a refrigerating cycle structure without an accumulator may be used depending on the type of compressor used, the type of main expansion device and the control method. be able to.

Next, one embodiment of a more specific operation method centering on the dehumidifying operation according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 26, 27, 28 and 29.

FIG. 26 shows a cycle system diagram and temperature sensors (representative ones are thermistors) and humidity detecting means (representative ones are humidity sensors) of respective parts, and also when estimated from temperature by calculation. FIG. During the dehumidifying operation, the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 201 passes through a four-way valve 202, an outdoor heat exchanger 203, a bypass two-way valve (a typical one is a solenoid valve) 206, and is supplied to an indoor heat exchanger 208 serving as a heater. After entering, it is further decompressed by the dehumidifying expansion device 219, passes through the indoor heat exchanger 209 serving as an evaporator, and returns to the compressor 201 again. Further, the outdoor unit has an outdoor air temperature sensor 215 that detects the outdoor air temperature, the indoor unit has a humidity sensor 216 that detects the humidity, an indoor intake temperature sensor 217 that detects the intake air temperature, and an indoor air temperature sensor that detects the blown air temperature. An outlet temperature sensor 218 is provided. These temperature sensor and humidity sensor are connected to a control unit (not shown).

An embodiment of the control method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 27 and 28.

FIG. 27 shows a method of controlling the outdoor fan 211 with respect to the temperature detected by the outside air temperature sensor 215. When the outdoor temperature becomes low, the amount of heat radiated by the outdoor heat exchanger 203 becomes large, the heating amount at the time of the dehumidifying operation becomes small, and the indoor blown air temperature becomes low. Therefore, when the outdoor temperature decreases, the outdoor fan It is possible to prevent the temperature of the indoor blown air from decreasing by decreasing the rotation speed of 211. In addition, in the outdoor unit having the structure in which the outdoor unit side is equipped with electrical components and the outdoor fan 211 is operated to prevent the temperature rise of the outdoor unit electrical components, when the outdoor temperature rises, the outdoor unit side Since the temperature rise of electrical products will also be large, the outdoor fan 2
The number of rotations of 11 is increased to reduce the temperature rise of the electrical components.

The method of controlling the outdoor temperature and the rotation speed of the outdoor fan 211 is patterned or stored in the control unit as an arithmetic expression, and the control unit detects the outdoor temperature detected by the outdoor air temperature sensor 215 in advance. The outdoor fan 211 is controlled using the patterns and arithmetic expressions stored in the above.
Further, at this time, the same effect can be obtained not only by changing the rotation speed of the outdoor fan 211 depending on the outdoor temperature but also by performing intermittent operation of ON-OFF and changing the ratio of the ON-OFF time according to the outdoor temperature. can get.

According to this control method, the indoor blown air temperature does not decrease even when the outdoor temperature decreases, and not only the comfort is improved, but also when the outdoor temperature increases,
By increasing the number of rotations of the outdoor fan 211, it is possible to suppress the temperature rise of the electric components provided on the outdoor unit side, and it is possible to secure the reliability of the electric components.

FIG. 28 shows a method of controlling the compressor 1 with respect to the humidity detected by the humidity sensor 216. When the indoor humidity is high, the number of rotations of the compressor 201 is increased to increase the refrigerant circulation amount in the refrigeration cycle to perform the operation with a large amount of dehumidification,
Quickly reduce indoor humidity. Further, when the indoor humidity is low, the number of rotations of the compressor 201 is reduced to perform the operation, and the operation is performed efficiently. The indoor humidity and the control method of the compressor 201 are stored in the control unit as a pattern or an arithmetic expression, and with respect to the indoor humidity detected by the humidity sensor 216,
The number of rotations of the compressor 201 is controlled.

As described above, a comfortable and efficient dehumidifying operation is performed by controlling the operating patterns of the rotational speeds of the outdoor fan 211 and the compressor 201 by the detected outdoor temperature and indoor humidity.

According to this control method, when the humidity in the room is high, for example, at the start of operation, the number of rotations of the compressor 201 is maximized to perform a dehumidifying operation with a large dehumidifying capacity, and the humidity in the room is quickly changed to an arbitrary humidity. Falls to. Further, when the indoor humidity decreases to an arbitrary humidity, the rotation speed of the compressor 201 is decreased to perform a highly efficient operation with a relatively small amount of dehumidification. With these control methods, more comfortable and efficient dehumidification operation can be performed.

Another control method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

One is a method of controlling the number of revolutions of the outdoor fan 211 and the compressor 201 by the difference between the temperatures detected by the indoor outlet temperature sensor 218 and the indoor inlet temperature sensor 217. The indoor outlet air temperature is higher than the indoor inlet air temperature. When the temperature decreases, the rotation speed of the outdoor fan 211 is decreased to reduce the heat radiation amount on the outdoor unit side, thereby increasing the indoor blown air temperature. Further, the temperature of the indoor blown air can be changed by changing (increasing or decreasing) the rotation speed of the compressor 201. Regarding the increase or decrease of the rotation speed of the compressor 201, the indoor heat exchanger 209, the heating heat exchanger 208, and the outdoor heat exchanger 20 of the refrigeration cycle are used.
It depends on the size ratio of 3. (Compressor 20
The control method of the number of rotations of 1 becomes like a solid line or a dashed line)
Further, in the case where the temperature difference between the indoor blown air temperature and the indoor suction air temperature is determined by the difference between the indoor temperature and the arbitrarily set temperature (desired temperature of the person in the room), for example, the indoor temperature is arbitrarily set. When the temperature is higher than the set temperature, the control is performed such that the indoor blown air temperature−the indoor suction air temperature ≦ 0, the outdoor fan 211 is set to a relatively high rotation speed, and the compressor 201 is appropriately controlled and operated. If the room temperature is lower than the set temperature, the room blown air temperature-the room intake air temperature>
The control is set to 0, the outdoor fan 211 is operated at a low rotation speed, and the compressor 201 is appropriately controlled and operated.

In these cases, not only the outdoor fan 211 is continuously operated but also the ON-OFF intermittent operation is performed, and the ON-OFF time ratio is determined from the difference between the indoor blown air temperature and the indoor sucked air temperature. Therefore, it is more effective. The difference between the indoor blown air temperature and the indoor sucked air temperature and the operation patterns of the outdoor fan 211 and the compressor 201.
The pattern is converted into a pattern or an arithmetic expression is stored in the control unit in advance.

With these control methods, the comfort during dehumidifying operation can be further improved.

FIG. 32 shows an example of an operation pattern for patterning the outdoor fan 211 and the compressor 201, which is stored in the control unit when controlling by the temperature difference between the indoor temperature and the set temperature. Show. In addition, not only the dehumidifying operation mode but also the modes of the cooling operation and the heating operation are described in each block of FIG. 32, and the operation modes of the cooling operation, the dehumidification operation, and the heating operation are appropriate according to the range of the outdoor temperature and the indoor temperature. Therefore, comfortable driving can be performed over a wider range of the outdoor temperature and the indoor temperature.

In FIG. 32, the horizontal axis represents the outdoor temperature, and the vertical axis represents the indoor temperature (indoor intake air temperature can be used).
The outdoor temperature range is divided into four, and the indoor temperature range is divided into five, and the blocks are divided into blocks in a grid pattern of to make constant operating conditions for each block. The constant operating conditions are:
Dehumidification / heating operation mode, outdoor fan operation pattern,
The operation pattern of the compressor and the like. Of these, outdoor fan 2
As the operation pattern of 11, the continuous operation at a certain rotation speed in the stepwise rotation speed shown in FIG. 27 or 29, O
There are various operation patterns such as intermittent operation in which the N-OFF time ratio is appropriately changed, and further a combination of continuous operation and intermittent operation. Also regarding the operation pattern of the compressor 201, continuous operation at the rotation speed at the stepwise rotation speed shown in FIG. 28 and FIG. 29, intermittent operation in which the ON-OFF time ratio is appropriately changed, and further continuous operation There are various driving patterns such as intermittent driving. Even when the number of revolutions of an outdoor fan or compressor can be changed only by a few types, continuous operation and O
Many operation patterns can be set by changing the N-OFF time ratio variously.

The operation patterns of these outdoor fans or compressors and the cooling / dehumidifying / heating operation modes are set for each block in FIG. 32 according to the outdoor temperature and the indoor temperature corresponding to this block. As a result, in the actual operation, when the temperature sensor detects the outside air temperature and the indoor temperature, the operation mode (cooling / dehumidifying / heating) according to the block of FIG. 32 including the detected temperature, the outdoor The operation is performed according to the operation pattern of the fan and the operation pattern of the compressor. As a result, comfortable driving can be performed.

It is not always necessary to divide the outdoor temperature and the indoor temperature as shown in FIG. 32, and one or more can be appropriately divided as needed.

The temperature difference between the room temperature and the set temperature or the temperature difference between the room blown air temperature and the room suction air temperature,
When the relation between the outdoor fan 211 and the operation pattern of the compressor 201 is calculated and stored in the control unit,
It enables finer control, and this control method
This is especially effective when the capabilities of the outdoor fan and compressor can be continuously controlled.

It is also possible to determine the set value of the room temperature or the room humidity based on, for example, the above-mentioned thermal environment evaluation method such as PMV. In this case, more comfortable driving is automatically performed. I can do it. By performing such a dehumidifying operation, a dehumidifying operation with a good sensible temperature can be performed.

Up to now, the description has been made assuming the humidity sensor as the humidity detecting means, but since the humidity sensor is relatively expensive, the humidity can be easily estimated by using an inexpensive temperature sensor such as a thermistor. Is also done. In particular, there is a correlation between the indoor temperature, the evaporation temperature of the heat exchanger, and the indoor humidity. It is possible to obtain this relationship experimentally in advance and obtain the humidity from the indoor temperature and the evaporation temperature (although the accuracy may drop). it can. Further, this relationship can be effectively used when the operation is stopped when the humidity drops to the target value. From the experience so far, for example, between the indoor temperature T ₁ and the evaporation temperature T ₂ when the indoor humidity becomes about 50%, A,
There is the following relationship with B as a constant.

T ₂ = A × T ₁ -B Therefore, the room temperature and the evaporation temperature are detected by the temperature sensor, and the evaporation temperature corresponds to the room temperature T ₁ and the room humidity is 50%.
When the temperature T _{2 at} that time is reached, the humidity can be controlled so that the operation is stopped. In this case, the suitable humidity is said to be around 50%, and it is not as sensitive as temperature, so that such humidity control is sufficiently practical. In addition, it can be realized at a lower cost than when using a humidity sensor.

[0173]

Although all of the embodiments described so far have been described on the assumption of an air conditioner used in a general building, the present invention is not limited to this, and other applications requiring dehumidifying operation are also possible. It is also applicable to the device. In such a case, generally, the indoor heat exchanger can be called the use side heat exchanger, the outdoor heat exchanger can be called the heat source side heat exchanger, the indoor fan can be called the use side fan, and the outdoor fan can be called the heat source side fan.

[0175]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Improve the performance of cooling, heating and dehumidifying operation while making the temperature and humidity comfortable for humans. Dehumidifying operation to be used for the purpose of use and other dehumidifying operation to be used for other purposes can be easily specified. An air conditioner can be provided.

[0176]

[0177]

[0178]

[0179]

[0180]

[0181]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an air conditioner that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an operating method of dehumidifying operation for various purposes.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a method of operating a compressor and a fan in a low air flow dehumidifying operation.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a method of operating a compressor and a fan in a high air volume dehumidifying operation.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing an indoor unit structure of the air conditioner.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a method of operating a compressor and a fan in a high air volume dehumidifying operation.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a heat source side portion of an air conditioner that is another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation method of a heat source side portion corresponding to a heating dehumidifying operation.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a piping system of a utilization side heat exchanger.

FIG. 10 is a front view of a utilization side heat exchanger.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a piping system of a utilization side heat exchanger.

FIG. 12 is a side view showing a piping configuration of a utilization side heat exchanger.

FIG. 13 is a side view showing a piping configuration of a utilization side heat exchanger.

FIG. 14 is a side view showing a piping configuration of a utilization side heat exchanger.

FIG. 15 is a side view showing a piping configuration of a utilization side heat exchanger.

FIG. 16 is a side view showing a piping configuration of a utilization side heat exchanger.

FIG. 17 is a side view showing a piping configuration of a utilization side heat exchanger.

FIG. 18 is a side view of the radiation fins of the utilization side heat exchanger.

FIG. 19 is a side view of the radiation fins of the utilization side heat exchanger.

FIG. 20 is a configuration diagram of a diaphragm device portion.

FIG. 21 is a temperature entropy diagram of the refrigeration cycle.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing the configuration of an air conditioner that is yet another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a side sectional view showing another indoor unit structure of the air conditioner.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a piping system of a utilization side heat exchanger.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a piping system of a utilization side heat exchanger.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a configuration of an air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing a method of controlling the outdoor fan.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a method of controlling the compressor.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a method of controlling the outdoor fan-compressor.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing a configuration of an air conditioner according to a conventional technique.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing a conventional control method.

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing an example of an operation pattern according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 201 ... Compressor, 2, 202 ... Four-way valve, 3, 203
... Outdoor heat exchanger, 4 ... Main throttling device, 5,8,41 ... Two-way valve, 6a, 6b, 51a, 51b, 60a, 60b, 6
0c, 60d, 68, 68 ', 69, 69', 70, 7
0a, 70b, 80, 80a, 80b, 88, 88a,
88b98, 98a, 98b, 100a, 100b, 1
00c, 110a, 110b, 208, 209 ... Indoor heat exchanger, 7, 210 ... Dehumidifying expansion device, 10, 211 ... Outdoor fan, 11, 212 ... Outdoor fan motor, 12, 2
13 ... Indoor fan, 13, 214 ... Indoor fan motor,
16 ... Control part, 17, 216 ... Temperature sensor, 18, 21
6 ... Humidity detecting means, 34 ... Opening / closing damper, 35 ... Ventilation path,
52, 53, 54, 55, 61, 62, 63, 64, 6
5, 66, 67, 101, 102, 103, 104, 1
05, 106, 10 ... Refrigerant piping, 56, 71, 81, 9
1, 91a, 91b, 93, 93a, 93b ... Radiating fins, 72, 82, 89, 96, 97 ... Cutting line, 73a,
73b, 73c, 73d, 73e, 73f, 74a, 7
4b, 74c, 74d, 74e, 74f, 75a, 75
b, 75c, 75d, 75e, 75f, 75g, 83
a, 83b, 83c, 87a, 87b, 87c, 87
d, 87e, 87f, 87g, 87h ... Heat transfer tube, 86 ...
Resistance tube, 92, 94 ... Slit, 95 ... Electric expansion valve, 2
04 ... Heating throttle device, 205 ... Cooling and heating throttle device, 2
06 ... By-pass solenoid valve, 207 ... Check valve, 210 ... Dehumidifying expansion device, 215 ... Outside air temperature sensor, 217 ... Indoor suction temperature sensor, 218 ... Indoor blowout temperature sensor.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Sosei Morimoto 800 Tomita, Ohira-cho, Shimotsuga-gun, Tochigi Prefecture Living Equipment Division, Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Innovator Hironobu Kawamura 502, Kachimachi, Tsuchiura-shi, Ibaraki Hitachi Co., Ltd.Mechanical Research Laboratory (72) Inventor Kazuya Matsuo 502 Jinrachicho, Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture Hitachi Co., Ltd.Mechanical Research Laboratory (72) Inventor Hiroshi Kogure 800 Tomita, Ohira Town, Tochigi Prefecture Hitachi Ltd. Living Equipment Division (72) Inventor Tetsunobu Okamura 800 Tomita, Ohira-machi, Shimotsuga-gun, Tochigi 800 Hitachi, Ltd. Living Equipment Division (72) Inventor Shoichi Ozodo Oita-cho, Shimoda-ga, Tochigi 800 Address Hitachi, Ltd. Living Equipment Division (56) References Flat 3-55730 (JP, B2) (58 ) investigated the field (Int.Cl. ^7, DB name) F25B 29/00 411 F24F 11/02 102 F28D 1/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] And 1. A capacity controllable compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an outdoor fan which can blow amount control, an indoor heat exchanger having a first indoor heat exchanger and the second chamber within the heat exchanger A dehumidifying throttle device that functions as a throttle device during the dehumidifying operation, and an indoor fan capable of controlling the air volume, and during the dehumidifying operation, the compressor, the outdoor heat exchanger, the first indoor heat exchanger, the dehumidifying throttle device, The second indoor heat exchanger is connected in this order to cool the
During compressor operation, the compressor, the outdoor heat exchanger, the first chamber
The internal heat exchanger and the second indoor heat exchanger are connected in this order, and
The compressor, the second indoor heat exchanger, the second
In an air conditioner in which one indoor heat exchanger and the outdoor heat exchanger are connected in that order, the first indoor heat exchanger and the second indoor heat exchanger
Each of the refrigerant passages is configured by dividing it into two or more systems, and the confluence of the refrigerant passages of one of the indoor heat exchangers and the other front
Between the branch point of the refrigerant flow path of the indoor heat exchanger and the dehumidification throttle
Ri connect the device, the outlet of the indoor heat exchanger of the person who is on the downstream side in the heating operation
The side is configured with a single-system refrigerant flow path, and the compressor and the outdoor fan are controlled and the air volume of the indoor fan is set so as to realize a temperature and humidity operation that makes a person feel comfortable in a dehumidifying operation mode. The compressor and the outdoor fan are controlled so as to realize a dehumidifying operation mode having a function and an operation for drying the laundry, and a preset high value is set so that the air flow of the indoor fan is spread over a wide range. An air conditioner comprising: a dehumidifying operation mode in which the air volume is set, and any one of these dehumidifying operation modes is selected and designated. 2. A capacity controllable compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, an outdoor fan which can blow amount control, an indoor heat exchanger having a first indoor heat exchanger and the second chamber within the heat exchanger A dehumidifying throttle device that functions as a throttle device during the dehumidifying operation, and an indoor fan capable of controlling the air volume, and during the dehumidifying operation, the compressor, the outdoor heat exchanger, the first indoor heat exchanger, the dehumidifying throttle device, The second indoor heat exchanger is connected in this order to cool the
During compressor operation, the compressor, the outdoor heat exchanger, the first chamber
The internal heat exchanger and the second indoor heat exchanger are connected in this order, and
The compressor, the second indoor heat exchanger, the second
In an air conditioner in which one indoor heat exchanger and the outdoor heat exchanger are connected in that order, the first indoor heat exchanger and the second indoor heat exchanger
Each of the refrigerant passages is configured by dividing it into two or more systems, and the confluence of the refrigerant passages of one of the indoor heat exchangers and the other front
Between the branch point of the refrigerant flow path of the indoor heat exchanger and the dehumidification throttle
Ri connect the device, the outlet of the indoor heat exchanger of the person who is on the downstream side in the heating operation
The side is composed of a single-system refrigerant flow path, and the pressure is adjusted so that people can comfortably operate in temperature and humidity.
A compressor and the outdoor fan are controlled and the indoor fan
A drying mode having a function of setting the air volume of the compressor及to the laundry to realize the operation of drying
And the outdoor fan is controlled and the air volume of the indoor fan is controlled.
High winds that are preset to allow the airflow to spread over a wide range
Even if this indoor fan has a high air volume, the dehumidifying capacity is
An air conditioner comprising: a dehumidifying operation mode in which the compressor is operated with the obtained capacity, and one of these dehumidifying operation modes is selectively designated.