U.S. patent application number 16/957486 was filed with the patent office on 2021-03-11 for control method for air conditioner.
This patent application is currently assigned to Qingdao Haier Air-conditioning Electronic Co., Ltd. The applicant listed for this patent is Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd., Qingdao Haier Air-conditioning Electronic Co., Ltd. Invention is credited to Chao AN, Chao GU.
Application Number | 20210071924 16/957486 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005235944 |
Filed Date | 2021-03-11 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20210071924 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
AN; Chao ; et al. |
March 11, 2021 |
CONTROL METHOD FOR AIR CONDITIONER
Abstract
The air conditioner includes a compressor and an indoor unit.
The method includes: obtaining a coil temperature of the indoor
unit and selectively adjusting the frequency of the compressor
according to the coil temperature of the indoor unit. According to
the method, the operating frequency of the compressor is adjusted
by determining a temperature interval in which the coil temperature
of the indoor unit is, so as to avoid the icing of the indoor unit
of the air conditioner, thereby effectively solving the icing
problem of the indoor unit of the air conditioner, and also
improving the operation stability and reliability of the air
conditioner.
Inventors: |
AN; Chao; (Qingdao, CN)
; GU; Chao; (Qingdao, CN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Qingdao Haier Air-conditioning Electronic Co., Ltd
Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd. |
Qingdao, Shandong
Qingdao, Shandong |
|
CN
CN |
|
|
Assignee: |
Qingdao Haier Air-conditioning
Electronic Co., Ltd
Qingdao, Shandong
CN
Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd.
Qingdao, Shandong
CN
|
Family ID: |
1000005235944 |
Appl. No.: |
16/957486 |
Filed: |
October 18, 2018 |
PCT Filed: |
October 18, 2018 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/CN2018/110793 |
371 Date: |
June 24, 2020 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F25B 2700/21157
20130101; F25B 2600/024 20130101; F25B 2500/27 20130101; F25B
49/022 20130101 |
International
Class: |
F25B 49/02 20060101
F25B049/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 25, 2017 |
CN |
201711425104.7 |
Claims
1-6. (canceled)
7. A control method for an air conditioner, the air conditioner
including a compressor and an indoor unit, the control method
comprising: acquiring coil temperature of the indoor unit; and
selectively adjusting frequency of the compressor according to the
coil temperature of the indoor unit.
8. The control method according to claim 7, wherein selectively
adjusting frequency of the compressor according to the coil
temperature of the indoor unit comprises: operating the compressor
at a decreased frequency if the coil temperature of the indoor unit
is lower than a first preset temperature.
9. The control method according to claim 8, wherein "selectively
adjusting frequency of the compressor according to the coil
temperature of the indoor unit further comprises: maintaining the
operating frequency of the compressor unchanged if the coil
temperature of the indoor unit is higher than or equal to the first
preset temperature and lower than or equal to a second preset
temperature, wherein the first preset temperature is lower than the
second preset temperature.
10. The control method according to claim 9, wherein selectively
adjusting frequency of the compressor according to the coil
temperature of the indoor unit further comprises: operating the
compressor at an increased frequency if the coil temperature of the
indoor unit is higher than the second preset temperature and lower
than or equal to a third preset temperature, wherein the second
preset temperature is lower than the third preset temperature.
11. The control method according to claim 7, further comprising:
after the compressor has been operated for a first preset duration,
if the coil temperature of the indoor unit is lower than a fourth
preset temperature for a second preset duration, stopping operation
of the compressor for a third preset duration.
12. The control method according to claim 11, further comprising:
after stopping the operation, if the coil temperature of the indoor
unit becomes higher than or equal to a fifth preset temperature,
resuming the operation of the compressor, wherein the fourth preset
temperature is lower than the fifth preset temperature.
13. A control method for an air conditioner, the air conditioner
including a compressor and an indoor unit, the control method
comprising: acquiring coil temperature of the indoor unit;
operating the compressor at a decreased frequency, if the coil
temperature of the indoor unit is lower than a first preset
temperature; maintaining an operating frequency of the compressor
unchanged if the coil temperature of the indoor unit is higher than
or equal to the first preset temperature and lower than or equal to
a second preset temperature which is higher than the first preset
temperature; operating the compressor at an increased frequency if
the coil temperature of the indoor unit is higher than the second
preset temperature and lower than or equal to a third preset
temperature which is higher than the second preset temperature;
after the compressor has been operated for a first preset duration,
if the coil temperature of the indoor unit is lower than a fourth
preset temperature for a second preset duration, stopping operation
of the compressor for a third preset duration; and after stopping
the operation, if the coil temperature of the indoor unit becomes
higher than or equal to a fifth preset temperature which is higher
than the fourth preset temperature, resuming the operation of the
compressor.
Description
FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure belongs to the technical field of air
conditioners, and in particular relates to a control method for an
air conditioner.
BACKGROUND
[0002] An air conditioner is an apparatus that is capable of
cooling or heating an indoor environment. During the cooling
operation of the air conditioner, an indoor unit may freeze due to
various reasons such as low indoor and outdoor ambient
temperatures, long piping connection, and lack of freon, which in
turn causes undesired phenomena such as poor cooling effect, water
leakage, and pipe cracks, thus seriously affecting the user
experience.
[0003] Therefore, there is a need in the art for a new control
method for an air conditioner to solve the above problems.
SUMMARY
[0004] In order to solve the above problem in the related art, that
is, to solve the problem that an indoor unit of the air conditioner
may easily freeze to cause phenomena such as poor cooling effect of
the air conditioner, water leakage of the air conditioner or pipe
cracks, the present disclosure provides a control method for an air
conditioner, wherein the air conditioner includes a compressor and
an indoor unit, and the control method includes: acquiring a coil
temperature of the indoor unit; and selectively adjusting the
frequency of the compressor according to the coil temperature of
the indoor unit.
[0005] In a preferred technical solution of the above control
method, the step of "selectively adjusting the frequency of the
compressor according to the coil temperature of the indoor unit"
includes: operating the compressor at a decreased frequency, if the
coil temperature of the indoor unit is lower than a first preset
temperature.
[0006] In a preferred technical solution of the above control
method, the step of "selectively adjusting the frequency of the
compressor according to the coil temperature of the indoor unit"
further includes: maintaining the operating frequency of the
compressor unchanged, if the coil temperature of the indoor unit is
higher than or equal to the first preset temperature and lower than
or equal to a second preset temperature, the first preset
temperature being lower than the second preset temperature.
[0007] In a preferred technical solution of the above control
method, the step of "selectively adjusting the frequency of the
compressor according to the coil temperature of the indoor unit"
further includes: operating the compressor at an increased
frequency, if the coil temperature of the indoor unit is higher
than the second preset temperature and lower than or equal to a
third preset temperature, the second preset temperature being lower
than the third preset temperature.
[0008] In a preferred technical solution of the above control
method, the control method further includes: after the compressor
has been operated for a first preset duration, if the coil
temperature of the indoor unit is lower than a fourth preset
temperature for a second preset duration, stopping the operation of
the compressor for a third preset duration.
[0009] In a preferred technical solution of the above control
method, the control method further includes: after stopping the
operation, if the coil temperature of the indoor unit becomes
higher than or equal to a fifth preset temperature, resuming the
operation of the compressor, the fourth preset temperature being
lower than the fifth preset temperature.
[0010] It can be understood by those skilled in the art that in the
preferred technical solutions of the present disclosure, the coil
temperature of the indoor unit is acquired; that is, when the coil
temperature of the indoor unit is lower than the first preset
temperature, the compressor is operated at a decreased frequency;
when the coil temperature of the indoor unit is higher than or
equal to the first preset temperature and lower than or equal to
the second preset temperature, the operating frequency of the
compressor is maintained unchanged; and when the coil temperature
of the indoor unit is higher than the second preset temperature and
lower than or equal to the third preset temperature, the compressor
is operated at an increased frequency. With these arrangements,
that is, by setting values of the first preset temperature, the
second preset temperature and the third preset temperature, the
frequency of the compressor is adjusted for different temperature
intervals. By adopting the above described control method of the
present disclosure, the frequency of the compressor can be adjusted
according to the coil temperature of the indoor unit in practical
applications, thereby ensuring that the indoor unit does not freeze
and further effectively realizing anti-freezing protection for the
air conditioner during the cooling operation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a control method for an
air conditioner of the present disclosure;
[0012] FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a first embodiment of the
control method for the air conditioner of the present disclosure;
and
[0013] FIG. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a second embodiment of
the control method for the air conditioner of the present
disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0014] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure
will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It
should be understood by those skilled in the art that these
embodiments are only used to explain the technical principles of
the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scope of
protection of the present disclosure.
[0015] It should be noted that in the description of the present
disclosure, terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth" and "fifth"
are used for descriptive purpose only, and should not be
interpreted as indicating or implying relative importance.
[0016] In view of the problem pointed out in the "BACKGROUND OF THE
INVENTION" that the indoor units of existing air conditioners may
easily freeze to cause phenomena such as poor cooling effect of the
air conditioner, water leakage of the air conditioner or pipe
cracks, the present disclosure provides a control method for an air
conditioner, which aims to avoid the freezing of the indoor unit of
the air conditioner, and thus effectively solve the problem that
the indoor unit is easy to freeze.
[0017] Specifically, reference is made to FIG. 1, which is a
schematic flowchart of a control method for an air conditioner of
the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1, the present disclosure
provides a control method for an air conditioner, wherein the air
conditioner includes a compressor and an indoor unit, and the
control method includes: acquiring a coil temperature of the indoor
unit; and selectively adjusting the frequency of the compressor
according to the coil temperature of the indoor unit.
[0018] In the present disclosure, with the operation of the air
conditioner, the coil temperature of the indoor unit will also
change accordingly. According to the different coil temperatures of
the indoor unit, the frequency of the compressor can be controlled
differently. In practical applications, the coil temperature of the
indoor unit can be detected in real time by an indoor unit coil
sensor. Of course, the coil temperature of the indoor unit may also
be an experimental value obtained by those skilled in the art based
on experiments under specific working conditions, or an empirical
value obtained from experience. That is, those skilled in the art
can choose any method to obtain the coil temperature of the indoor
unit according to the actual situation, as long as the operating
frequency of the compressor can be adjusted according to the change
of the coil temperature of the indoor unit. By adjusting the
frequency of the compressor, the compressor can be always operated
within a suitable frequency range, which not only can ensure the
cooling effect, but also can prevent the indoor unit of the air
conditioner from freezing.
[0019] Preferably, the step of "selectively adjusting the frequency
of the compressor according to the coil temperature of the indoor
unit" includes: operating the compressor at a decreased frequency,
if the coil temperature of the indoor unit is lower than a first
preset temperature. That is, according to the setting of the first
preset temperature, an initial conclusion of operating the
compressor at a decreased frequency can be given. Those skilled in
the art can flexibly set the specific value of the first preset
temperature in practical applications, as long as the boundary
point determined by the first preset temperature can give the
conclusion that the compressor needs to be operated at a decreased
frequency, and the indoor unit of the air conditioner will not
freeze after the adjustment of the operating frequency of the
compressor.
[0020] Further, the step of "selectively adjusting the frequency of
the compressor according to the coil temperature of the indoor
unit" further includes: maintaining the operating frequency of the
compressor unchanged, if the coil temperature of the indoor unit is
higher than or equal to the first preset temperature and lower than
or equal to a second preset temperature, the first preset
temperature being lower than the second preset temperature. Similar
to the first preset temperature, those skilled in the art can
flexibly set the specific value of the second preset temperature in
practical applications, as long as the boundary points determined
by the first preset temperature and the second preset temperature
can give the conclusion that the current operating frequency of the
compressor needs to be maintained unchanged, and the indoor unit of
the air conditioner will not freeze.
[0021] Still further, the step of "selectively adjusting the
frequency of the compressor according to the coil temperature of
the indoor unit" further includes: operating the compressor at an
increased frequency, if the coil temperature of the indoor unit is
higher than the second preset temperature and lower than or equal
to a third preset temperature, the second preset temperature being
lower than the third preset temperature. Similar to the first
preset temperature and the second preset temperature, those skilled
in the art can flexibly set the specific value of the third preset
temperature in practical applications, as long as the boundary
point determined by the third preset temperature can give the
conclusion that the compressor needs to be operated at an increased
frequency, and the indoor unit of the air conditioner will not
freeze after the adjustment of the operating frequency of the
compressor.
[0022] By setting the first preset temperature, the second preset
temperature and the third preset temperature as described above,
the coil temperature of the indoor unit can be divided into
different temperature intervals, and the compressor can be adjusted
accordingly within each temperature interval and the compressor can
be operated at the most suitable frequency. This method is more
advantageous for the adjustment of the compressor frequency. At the
same time, by detecting the coil temperature of the indoor unit in
real time and adjusting the compressor frequency in real time, a
situation that the operating frequency of the compressor is too
high or too low can be effectively avoided, thereby preventing the
indoor unit of the air conditioner from freezing.
[0023] It should be noted that in the above technical solution of
the present disclosure, the temperature intervals divided according
to the first preset temperature, the second preset temperature and
the third preset temperature may be further divided. For example,
when the coil temperature of the indoor unit is higher than the
first preset temperature and lower than or equal to the second
preset temperature, the temperature interval between the first
preset temperature and the second preset temperature may be
re-divided into multiple temperature sub-intervals, and different
adjustment strategies for the compressor frequency are set within
the temperature sub-intervals. Those skilled in the art may set the
same or different ways of adjusting the compressor frequency
according to different temperature intervals in practical
applications, so that the air conditioner can be operated stably in
different environments and the indoor unit can be effectively
prevented from freezing.
[0024] In addition, it should also be noted that when controlling
the compressor frequency to increase/decrease, the compressor
frequency may be controlled to increase/decrease slowly, or the
compressor frequency may be controlled to increase/decrease fast.
In practice, those skilled in the art may flexibly set the
adjustment speed of increasing/decreasing the compressor frequency,
as long as the speed setting enables the compressor frequency to
smoothly increase/decrease.
[0025] In a preferred embodiment, after the compressor has been
operated for a first preset duration, if the coil temperature of
the indoor unit is lower than a fourth preset temperature for a
second preset duration, the operation of the compressor is stopped
for a third preset duration. In practical applications, the fourth
preset temperature may be set to be lower than the above first
preset temperature. The fourth preset temperature may be an
experimental temperature value obtained by those skilled in the art
based on experiments under specific working conditions, or may be
an empirical temperature value obtained from experience. Those
skilled in the art can flexibly set the specific temperature value
of the fourth preset temperature in practical applications, as long
as the boundary point determined by the fourth preset temperature
can give the conclusion that the operation of the compressor needs
to be stopped, and the operating mode of the compressor and the
anti-freezing function of the air conditioner can be optimized. In
addition, the first preset duration, the second preset duration and
the third preset duration can be flexibly adjusted and set
according to actual conditions, as long as the boundary points
determined by the above-mentioned first preset duration, the second
preset duration, and the third preset duration can optimize the
anti-freezing function of the air conditioner.
[0026] Further, the control method further includes: after stopping
the operation of the compressor, if the coil temperature of the
indoor unit becomes higher than or equal to a fifth preset
temperature, resuming the operation of the compressor, the fourth
preset temperature being lower than the fifth preset temperature.
That is, after the operation of the compressor has been stopped for
the third preset duration, if the coil temperature of the indoor
unit rises to or above the fifth preset temperature, the operation
of the compressor needs to be resumed. In practical applications,
the fifth preset temperature may be set to be equal to the
above-mentioned third preset temperature. Of course, this is not
limiting, and the fifth preset temperature may also be other
temperature values. In practical applications, those skilled in the
art may flexibly set the specific temperature value of the fifth
preset temperature, as long as the boundary point determined by the
fifth preset temperature can give the conclusion that the operation
of the compressor needs to be resumed, and the operating mode of
the compressor and the anti-freezing function of the air
conditioner can be optimized.
[0027] In a preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the above
control method includes the following steps s1 to s4.
[0028] Step s1, operating the air conditioner in a cooling mode at
the maximum capacity.
[0029] Step s2: acquiring the coil temperature of the indoor
unit.
[0030] wherein the coil temperature of the indoor unit may be
directly detected by the temperature sensor, or it may be an
experimental temperature value obtained by those skilled in the art
based on experiments under specific working conditions, or an
empirical temperature value obtained from experience.
[0031] Step s3, dividing the temperature interval of the value of
the coil temperature of the indoor unit.
[0032] wherein the temperature interval of the coil temperature of
the indoor unit may be divided according to the indoor temperature,
or may be divided according to the outdoor ambient temperature, as
long as the range determined by the temperature interval enables
the operating frequency of the compressor to be adjusted and can
prevent the air conditioner from freezing.
[0033] Step s4: selectively adjusting the frequency of the
compressor according to the temperature interval of the coil
temperature of the indoor unit.
[0034] In the above method, steps s1 and s2 may be executed
sequentially or simultaneously. Those skilled in the art may
flexibly set the execution of steps s1 and s2 in practical
applications, as long as the coil temperature of the indoor unit
can be acquired through the setting.
[0035] The technical solution of the present disclosure is further
explained below in combination with specific embodiments:
[0036] In a possible situation, as shown in FIG. 3, after the air
conditioner is started, or while the air conditioner is started,
the coil temperature TM of the indoor unit is detected by the
indoor unit coil temperature sensor disposed on the air
conditioner. The first preset temperature is set to 6.degree. C.,
the second preset temperature is set to 8.degree. C., and the third
preset temperature is set to 10.degree. C. The operating frequency
of the compressor is adjusted by judging the temperature interval
of the indoor unit coil temperature TM. If TM<6.degree. C., the
frequency of the compressor is decreased at a constant rate of 1
Hz/10 s; if 6.degree. C..ltoreq.TM.ltoreq.8.degree. C., the
frequency of the compressor is maintained unchanged; and if
8.degree. C.<TM.ltoreq.10.degree. C., the frequency of the
compressor is increased at a constant rate of 1 Hz/10 s.
[0037] During the operation of the compressor, the operation
duration thereof is recorded. After the compressor has been
operated for 6 minutes, if TM<2.degree. C. for 10 seconds, the
operation of the compressor is stopped for a minimum duration of 5
minutes and a maximum duration of 9 minutes; when TM rises above
10.degree. C., the normal operation of the compressor is
resumed.
[0038] It should be understood that the specific values of the
above parameters do not serve as limitations, but are only used to
help understand the solutions.
[0039] Hitherto, the technical solutions of the present disclosure
have been described in conjunction with the preferred embodiments
shown in the accompanying drawings, but it is easily understood by
those skilled in the art that the scope of protection of the
present disclosure is obviously not limited to these specific
embodiments. Without departing from the principle of the present
disclosure, those skilled in the art can make equivalent changes or
replacements to relevant technical features, and the technical
solutions after these changes or replacements will fall within the
scope of protection of the present disclosure.
* * * * *