WO2020258633A1 - Air conditioner and cleaning and sterilization method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of air conditioner technologies, and in particular, to an air conditioner and a cleaning and sterilization method therefor. The present invention aims to solve the problem that elements need to be added in order to achieve both the cleaning function and the sterilization function of the existing air conditioners. To this end, the cleaning and sterilization method of the present invention comprises: maintaining the surface temperature of an indoor heat exchanger above a preset temperature; after a first preset time, reversely rotating an indoor fan; and performing a self-cleaning operation of the indoor heat exchanger. As the high temperature can completely cover each corner in an indoor unit, such a high-temperature sterilization method does not need to add other sterilization components, and can also effectively eliminate all bacteria in the indoor unit; thereafter, in the present invention, the indoor fan is controlled to rotate reversely, so that dust, impurities and bacteria residues are attached to the surface of the indoor heat exchanger, and then a self-cleaning operation of the indoor heat exchanger is performed, so that the sterilization function and the cleaning function of the indoor unit are effectively achieved without adding any element.

Description

Air conditioner and its cleaning and sterilizing method Technical field

The invention belongs to the technical field of air conditioners, and specifically relates to an air conditioner and a cleaning and sterilizing method thereof.

Background technique

With the continuous improvement of people's living standards, people have put forward higher and higher requirements for the living environment. In order to maintain a comfortable ambient temperature, the air conditioner has become an essential device in people's lives. In recent years, users have also put forward higher and higher requirements for the comprehensive performance of air conditioners. Taking cleaning function and sterilization function as examples, most existing air conditioners only have the self-cleaning function of outdoor units, while indoor units mainly rely on users. Self-cleaning; Of course, most of the existing air conditioners still have a sterilization function. The existing air conditioners usually achieve the sterilization function through ultraviolet sterilization or ozone sterilization. However, these sterilization methods require additional sterilization components, so This leads to an increase in the cost of the air conditioner; at the same time, the use of ultraviolet rays for sterilization is likely to have some corners that cannot be irradiated by ultraviolet rays, so no dead corner sterilization can be achieved. To peculiar smell, and even endanger the health of users. In addition, this sterilization method cannot achieve the cleaning function at the same time, resulting in a reduced user experience.

Accordingly, the art needs a new air conditioner and its cleaning and sterilization method to solve the above-mentioned problems.

Summary of the invention

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, that is, in order to solve the problem that the cleaning function and the sterilization function of the existing air conditioner need additional components to be realized, the present invention provides a cleaning and sterilization method for an air conditioner. The indoor unit includes an indoor unit, and the indoor unit includes an indoor heat exchanger and an indoor fan. The cleaning and sterilizing method includes: maintaining the surface temperature of the indoor heat exchanger above a preset temperature; after a first preset time, Reverse rotation of the indoor fan; perform the self-cleaning operation of the indoor heat exchanger.

In the above-mentioned preferred technical solution of the cleaning and sterilization method for air conditioners, the indoor unit further includes a wind deflector, and before the step of "maintaining the surface temperature of the indoor heat exchanger above a preset temperature", The cleaning and sterilization method further includes: closing the wind deflector.

In the above-mentioned preferred technical solution of the cleaning and sterilizing method for an air conditioner, the preset temperature is any value between 60°C and 70°C.

In the above preferred technical solution of the cleaning and sterilization method for an air conditioner, the first preset time is any value between 30 minutes and 40 minutes.

In the above-mentioned preferred technical solution of the cleaning and sterilization method for air conditioners, the step of "reversely rotating the fan" specifically includes: making the fan reversely rotate at a preset speed.

In the above-mentioned preferred technical solution of the cleaning and sterilization method for air conditioners, the step of "reversely rotating the fan at a preset speed" specifically includes: making the fan reversely rotate at the preset speed and a second preset speed. Set time.

In the preferred technical solution for the cleaning and sterilization method for air conditioners, the step of "performing the self-cleaning operation of the indoor heat exchanger" specifically includes: frosting the indoor heat exchanger; When the frost degree reaches the preset frost degree, the indoor heat exchanger is defrosted.

In the preferred technical solution of the cleaning and sterilization method for air conditioners, the step of "performing the self-cleaning operation of the indoor heat exchanger" specifically includes: spraying water on the surface of the indoor heat exchanger.

The present invention also provides an air conditioner, which includes a controller, and the controller can execute the cleaning and sterilization method described in any one of the above-mentioned preferred technical solutions.

In the preferred technical solution of the above air conditioner, the filter screen and/or the air duct and/or the fan and/or the air guide plate of the indoor unit of the air conditioner are provided with a nano coating.

Those skilled in the art can understand that in the technical solution of the present invention, the air conditioner of the present invention includes an indoor unit, the indoor unit includes an indoor heat exchanger and an indoor fan, and the cleaning and sterilization method of the present invention includes: The surface temperature of the indoor heat exchanger is maintained above the preset temperature; after the first preset time, the indoor fan is rotated in the reverse direction; and the indoor heat exchanger is self-cleaning operation. The present invention first maintains the surface temperature of the indoor heat exchanger above the preset temperature for the first preset time, so that the interior of the indoor unit can always be maintained during the first preset time In a high-temperature environment, because the high temperature can cover every corner of the entire indoor unit, the use of this high-temperature sterilization method not only does not require additional sterilization components, but also can effectively eliminate bacteria in every corner of the indoor unit; When the bacteria in the indoor unit have been eliminated by high temperature, the air conditioner controls the indoor fan to rotate in reverse so that the indoor fan can blow dust, impurities, and bacterial residues in the indoor unit to The surface of the indoor heat exchanger; finally, the self-cleaning operation of the indoor heat exchanger is performed to clean all the dust, impurities and bacterial residues attached to the indoor heat exchanger, so that no additional components are required. On this basis, the sterilization and cleaning functions of the indoor unit are effectively realized.

Further, in the preferred technical solution of the present invention, before the step of "maintaining the surface temperature of the indoor heat exchanger above a preset temperature", the cleaning and sterilization method further includes: closing the air deflector , So that a relatively closed sterilization and cleaning space can be formed inside the indoor unit, thereby effectively ensuring the sterilization and cleaning effect of the indoor unit.

Furthermore, in the preferred technical solution of the present invention, the preset temperature is any value between 60°C and 70°C. It should be noted that through repeated experiments, it has been found that the sterilization effect of maintaining the surface temperature of the indoor heat exchanger above 60°C is very significant; especially when the preset temperature is 68°C, this high-temperature sterilization method The bactericidal effect is the most significant. At the same time, in order to effectively avoid high temperature damage to other components in the indoor unit, the preset temperature needs to be controlled below 70°C as much as possible, so as to effectively ensure the sterilization effect while also effectively preventing other components in the indoor unit from being damaged by high temperature. problem. In addition, the applicant also found through repeated experiments that maintaining high temperature sterilization for more than 30 minutes can basically eliminate all bacteria in the indoor unit. Of course, in order to effectively take into account the sterilization efficiency, the first preset time needs to be controlled within 40 minutes as much as possible , In order to effectively ensure the sterilization effect while also taking into account the sterilization efficiency.

Further, in a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the air conditioner can control the rotation of the fan by controlling the rotation speed and rotation time of the fan, so that dust, impurities and bacteria remain in the indoor unit. Objects and the like can be accurately blown to the surface of the indoor heat exchanger, so that the air conditioner only needs to clean the indoor heat exchanger to achieve the effect of cleaning the entire indoor unit.

Further, in the preferred technical solution of the present invention, the air conditioner can control the indoor heat exchanger to form frost, and when the degree of frosting of the indoor heat exchanger reaches a preset degree of frosting, The indoor heat exchanger is defrosted, so that the water formed by the defrost can clean the surface of the indoor heat exchanger, so as to achieve the effect of self-cleaning of the indoor heat exchanger.

Further, in a preferred technical solution of the present invention, the air conditioner can also spray water to the surface of the indoor heat exchanger through a water spray member, so as to achieve the effect of self-cleaning of the indoor heat exchanger.

Further, in the preferred technical solution of the present invention, the filter screen and/or the air duct and/or the fan and/or the wind deflector of the indoor unit of the air conditioner of the present invention are provided with a nano-coating for daily use In the process, the problem of easy absorption of dust by these components is effectively reduced, thereby effectively improving the daily cleanliness of the surface of the components.

Description of the drawings

Figure 1 is a flow chart of the main steps of the cleaning and sterilization method of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a step flow chart of a preferred embodiment of the cleaning and sterilization method of the present invention.

Detailed ways

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Those skilled in the art should understand that these embodiments are only used to explain the technical principles of the present invention and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention. For example, although the various steps of the method of the present invention are described in a specific order in this application, these orders are not limitative, and those skilled in the art can follow a different order without departing from the basic principles of the present invention. Perform the steps described.

Based on the background art, most of the existing air conditioners only have the self-cleaning function of the outdoor unit, while the indoor unit is mainly cleaned by the user; of course, most of the existing air conditioners still have the sterilization function. The sterilization function is achieved through ultraviolet sterilization or ozone sterilization. However, these sterilization methods require additional sterilization components, which leads to an increase in the cost of the air conditioner, and this sterilization method cannot achieve the cleaning function at the same time, which leads to user experience reduce. In order to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, the present invention provides a cleaning and sterilization method including: maintaining the surface temperature of the indoor heat exchanger above a preset temperature; after a first preset time, the indoor The fan rotates in the reverse direction; the self-cleaning operation of the indoor heat exchanger is performed; so that the sterilization and cleaning functions of the indoor unit can be effectively realized without adding any additional components.

Specifically, the air conditioner includes an indoor unit, an outdoor unit, and a main circulation circuit arranged between the indoor unit and the outdoor unit, and the air conditioner realizes heat exchange through the refrigerant in the main circulation circuit, So as to achieve the effect of cooling or heating. An indoor heat exchanger is provided on the main circulation loop, the indoor heat exchanger is provided in the indoor unit; and an indoor fan is also provided in the indoor unit, and the indoor fan is provided in the indoor heat exchange In the vicinity of the heat exchanger in order to effectively increase the heat exchange speed between the indoor heat exchanger and the indoor air. The indoor fan can rotate forward or reverse. When the indoor fan rotates forward, the indoor fan can send air to the room to accelerate the heat exchange between the indoor heat exchanger and the indoor air; When the indoor fan is reversed, the indoor fan can blow toward the indoor heat exchanger so as to blow impurities in the indoor unit onto the indoor heat exchanger. In addition, the indoor unit further includes a wind deflector which is arranged at the air outlet of the indoor unit to guide the direction of air supply. When the wind deflector is closed, the air outlet of the indoor unit Can be obscured. A filter screen is also arranged on the inner side of the wind deflector to prevent impurities in the air conditioner from blowing out. In this preferred embodiment, the filter screen, air duct, indoor fan, and wind deflector of the indoor unit are all provided with nano-coating to effectively prevent the problem of dust and impurities being easily attached to these components. It should be noted that although the filter screen, air duct, indoor fan, and wind deflector described in this preferred embodiment are all provided with nano-coatings, the technicians can obviously also only apply nano-coatings to some components according to actual requirements. Nano coating is also available.

Further, the air conditioner further includes an indoor heat exchanger surface temperature sensor and a controller, wherein the indoor heat exchanger surface temperature sensor can detect the surface temperature of the indoor heat exchanger, and the controller can obtain The detection result of the surface temperature sensor of the indoor heat exchanger, and the controller can also control the operation of the air conditioner, for example, control the operation mode of the air conditioner, the opening and closing state of the wind deflector, etc. In addition, those skilled in the art can understand that the present invention does not impose any restrictions on the specific structure and model of the controller, and the controller can be the original controller of the air conditioner, or it can be used to implement the controller. For the invented cleaning and sterilization method with a separate controller, technicians can set the specific structure and model of the controller according to actual use requirements.

First, refer to Figure 1, which is a flowchart of the main steps of the cleaning and sterilizing method of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, based on the air conditioner described in the above embodiment, the cleaning and sterilizing method of the present invention mainly includes the following steps:

S1: Maintain the surface temperature of the indoor heat exchanger above the preset temperature;

S2: After the first preset time, the indoor fan rotates in reverse;

S3: Perform the self-cleaning operation of the indoor heat exchanger.

Further, in step S1, the controller can control the indoor heat exchanger to be used as a condenser, and circulate the refrigerant through the main circulation loop, and at the same time detect the indoor heat exchanger by the indoor heat exchanger surface temperature sensor. The surface temperature of the heat exchanger is controlled so that the surface temperature of the indoor heat exchanger can always be maintained above the preset temperature; it should be noted that the technicians can set the preset temperature by themselves according to actual needs. accurate value. Then, in step S2, after the surface temperature of the indoor heat exchanger is maintained above the preset temperature for the first preset time, the controller can control the indoor fan to rotate in reverse; It is noted that the technician can set the specific value of the first preset time by himself according to actual use requirements. Finally, in step S3, the controller can control the air conditioner to perform a self-cleaning operation of the indoor heat exchanger, so as to remove dust and other impurities attached to the indoor heat exchanger. Those skilled in the art can understand that the technical personnel can set the specific operation steps of the self-cleaning operation of the indoor heat exchanger according to actual use requirements, as long as the indoor heat exchanger can be cleaned; for example, the technician can The effect of cleaning the surface of the indoor heat exchanger is achieved by arranging a water spray member in the indoor unit, and by controlling the water spray member to spray water on the surface of the indoor heat exchanger.

Next, refer to FIG. 2, which is a flowchart of the steps of the preferred embodiment of the cleaning and sterilizing method of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, based on the air conditioner described in the above embodiment, a preferred embodiment of the cleaning and sterilizing method of the present invention specifically includes the following steps:

S101: Close the wind deflector;

S102: Maintain the surface temperature of the indoor heat exchanger above the preset temperature;

S103: After the first preset time has elapsed, make the indoor fan rotate reversely at the preset speed for a second preset time;

S104: Frost the indoor heat exchanger;

S105: When the frosting degree of the indoor heat exchanger reaches the preset frosting degree, defrost the indoor heat exchanger.

Further, in step S101, the controller can control the air deflector to close so as to close the air outlet of the indoor unit, so that a relatively closed sterilization and clean space can be formed inside the indoor unit, and then The sterilization and cleaning effect of the indoor unit is effectively guaranteed. Of course, step S101 is not a necessary step, that is, before step S102 is performed, step S101 may not be performed, that is, step S102 can be directly used as the first step of the method.

Further, in step S102, after the air deflector is closed, the controller can control the indoor heat exchanger to be used as a condenser, and to circulate the refrigerant through the main circulation loop, and at the same time through the indoor heat exchanger The heat exchanger surface temperature sensor detects the surface temperature of the indoor heat exchanger, so as to control the surface temperature of the indoor heat exchanger to be always maintained above the preset temperature, thereby effectively achieving a sterilization effect. It should be noted that the technician can set the specific value of the preset temperature by himself according to actual use requirements; preferably, the preset temperature is any value between 60°C and 70°C, so as to effectively ensure the indoor The sterilization effect of the machine.

Further, in step S103, after the surface temperature of the indoor heat exchanger is maintained above the preset temperature for the first preset time, the controller can control the indoor fan to use the preset temperature It is assumed that the rotation speed is reversely rotated for the second preset time; it should be noted that the technician can set the specific value of the first preset time according to actual use requirements; preferably, the first preset time is Any value between 30min and 40min, so as to effectively ensure the sterilization effect of the indoor unit. In addition, it should be noted that technicians can also set the specific values of the preset rotation speed and the second preset time according to actual use requirements, as long as the indoor fan is reversed at the preset rotation speed. After rotating the second preset time, the dust, impurities, and bacterial residues attached to the air duct, fan, and wind deflector of the indoor unit can be blown to the surface of the indoor heat exchanger.

Further, in step S104, after the indoor fan rotates reversely at the preset speed for the second preset time, the controller can control the indoor heat exchanger to be used as an evaporator and pass the The main circulation loop circulates the refrigerant to make the surface of the indoor heat exchanger begin to frost; it should be noted that the technician can set the air conditioner according to the different structure of the air conditioner and the use area of the air conditioner. The operating parameters of the air conditioner are described so that the surface of the indoor heat exchanger can quickly form frost.

Further, in step S105, when the frosting degree of the indoor heat exchanger reaches a preset frosting degree, for example, when the frosting thickness of the indoor heat exchanger reaches a preset frosting thickness, the control The controller controls the indoor heat exchanger to perform defrosting operation. It should be noted that, in order to melt the frost on the surface of the indoor heat exchanger, the controller may control the indoor heat exchanger to act as a condenser again for refrigerant circulation. Of course, the controller may also control the refrigerant to stop. Circulation, so that the frost on the surface of the indoor heat exchanger will naturally melt. The present invention does not impose any limitation on this, as long as the frost on the surface of the indoor heat exchanger can be melted to clean the surface of the indoor heat exchanger. . In addition, those skilled in the art can understand that the present invention does not impose any restriction on the specific value of the preset frosting degree, and the technician can set it according to actual cleaning needs, and the technician can choose the frosting thickness as a measure. The standard for the degree of frosting of the indoor heat exchanger can also be selected as the frosting area as a standard for measuring the degree of frosting of the indoor heat exchanger. Changes in these specific setting standards do not deviate from the basic principles of the present invention and belong to the present invention. The scope of protection of the invention.

Finally, it should be noted that the above-mentioned examples are all preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the protection scope of the present invention. When using the present invention in practice, those skilled in the art may appropriately add or delete a part of the steps as needed, or exchange the order between different steps. This change does not go beyond the basic principle of the present invention and belongs to the protection scope of the present invention.

So far, the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, those skilled in the art will readily understand that the protection scope of the present invention is obviously not limited to these specific embodiments. Without departing from the principle of the present invention, those skilled in the art can make equivalent changes or substitutions to the relevant technical features, and the technical solutions after these changes or substitutions will fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (10)

1. A cleaning and sterilizing method for an air conditioner, the air conditioner comprising an indoor unit, the indoor unit comprising an indoor heat exchanger and an indoor fan, wherein the cleaning and sterilizing method includes:

   Maintaining the surface temperature of the indoor heat exchanger above a preset temperature;

   After the first preset time, the indoor fan rotates in reverse;

   Perform the self-cleaning operation of the indoor heat exchanger.
2. The cleaning and sterilization method according to claim 1, wherein the indoor unit further comprises a wind deflector, and before the step of "maintaining the surface temperature of the indoor heat exchanger above a preset temperature", the Cleaning and sterilization methods also include:

   Close the wind deflector.
3. The cleaning and sterilization method according to claim 1, wherein the preset temperature is any value between 60°C and 70°C.
4. The cleaning and sterilization method according to claim 1, wherein the first preset time is any value between 30 minutes and 40 minutes.
5. The cleaning and sterilizing method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the step of "reversely rotating the fan" specifically includes:

   The fan rotates in reverse at a preset speed.
6. The cleaning and sterilization method according to claim 5, wherein the step of "reversely rotating the fan at a preset speed" specifically includes:

   Reverse rotation of the fan at the preset speed for a second preset time.
7. The cleaning and sterilization method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the step of "performing an indoor heat exchanger self-cleaning operation" specifically includes:

   Frost the indoor heat exchanger;

   When the degree of frosting of the indoor heat exchanger reaches a preset degree of frosting, the indoor heat exchanger is defrosted.
8. The cleaning and sterilization method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the step of "performing an indoor heat exchanger self-cleaning operation" specifically includes:

   Spray water on the surface of the indoor heat exchanger.
9. An air conditioner, characterized in that the air conditioner comprises a controller, and the controller can execute the cleaning and sterilizing method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.
10. The air conditioner according to claim 9, characterized in that the filter screen and/or the air duct and/or the fan and/or the air guide plate of the indoor unit of the air conditioner are provided with a nano coating.

Images