US 10,852,010 B2Granted

Air conditioner and control method thereof

AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

InventorsJong Kweon Ha, Hee-Chan Kang, Jong Woon Kim, Tae Woo Kim, Seung Jun Park, Byoung-Ok Ahn, Hong Seok Jun, Jun Hwang, Kwon Jin Kim, Na Yeong Byeon, Hyeong Joon Seo

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

patentgrep

Loading patent…

Abstract

An air conditioner and a control method thereof perform cooling through an outlet if room temperature or room humidity is high to reduce the room temperature or the room humidity, and closing the outlet to perform cooling at low velocity through an outlet hole if room temperature or room humidity reaches a predetermined value so that a user can little feel the wind velocity of cooling of the air conditioner, while maintaining indoor space at pleasant temperature or humidity. By performing cooling at low velocity through the outlet hole formed in the lower portion of the air conditioner, it is possible to cool the lower area of indoor space at pleasant temperature when a user is asleep.

Claims15

Dependent claims

An air conditioner comprising:

a housing including a front panel;
a heat exchanger configured to heat-exchange air drawn into an inside of the housing of the air conditioner;
a fan configured to move the heat-exchanged air towards an outside of the housing;
an outlet formed on the front panel, the outlet being configured to discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside of the housing;
a plurality of outlet holes formed throughout the front panel with exception of an area of the front panel on which the outlet is disposed, the plurality of outlet holes surrounding the area of the front panel on which the outlet is disposed and being configured to discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside of the housing while the outlet is closed;
and
a controller configured to:
control rotation of the fan so that the heat-exchanged air is discharged through the plurality of outlet holes when occurrence of condensation is determined based on a temperature of the front panel in a state that the outlet is closed and the rotation of the fan is stopped.

5 more elements

A method of controlling an air conditioner, the method comprising:

closing an outlet to stop discharge of heat-exchanged air through the outlet, the outlet being formed on a front panel of the air conditioner;
stopping rotation of a fan;
sensing a temperature of the front panel;
and
rotating the fan to discharge the heat-exchanged air through a plurality of outlet holes, the plurality of outlet holes being formed throughout the front panel with exception of an area of the front panel on which the outlet is disposed and surrounding the area of the front panel on which the outlet is disposed and the plurality of outlet holes being configured to discharge the heat-exchanged air through the front panel to an outside of the air conditioner while the outlet is closed,
wherein a controller is provided to the air conditioner and the controller is configured to control rotation of the fan so that the heat-exchanged air is discharged through the plurality of outlet holes when occurrence of condensation is determined based on the sensed temperature of the front panel in a state that the outlet is closed and the rotation of the fan is stopped.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 15/937,168Filed 27 Mar 2018 · continuation
Priority: KR 10-2015-010314721 Jul 2015
Published: US 2018/0209668 A126 Jul 2018
Granted: 1 Dec 2020
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification18 codes

F24F 1/0014
Characterised by air outlets: having two or more outlet openings
F24F 1/0003
Room units for air-conditioning, e.g. separate or self-contained units or units receiving primary air from a central station: characterised by a…
F24F 1/005
Characterised by mounting arrangements: mounted on the floor; standing on the floor
F24F 11/46
For purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring: improving electric energy efficiency or saving

Family

Application15/214,766Parent of this continuation · filed 20 Jul 2016
US 2018/0209668 A1Pre-grant publication · published 26 Jul 2018
US 11,193,677 B2Related patent
US 2017/0023264 A1Published application
US 10,852,010 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.