Air conditioner with multiple fans and related control method
AssigneeMitsubishi Electric Corporation
InventorsShota Hosomi, Koji Yamaguchi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An air conditioner includes an outdoor unit, and a plurality of indoor units connected with a refrigerant pipe through which a refrigerant sent from the outdoor unit flows. Each indoor unit includes a refrigerant circuit in which at least an indoor heat exchanger is connected to the refrigerant pipe, an operation controller configured to control the refrigerant circuit according to an operating state, a sensor configured to measure an indoor environment, and a plurality of indoor fans configured to blow air to the indoor heat exchanger. Further, during a dehumidifying operation, the operation controller is configured to control the plurality of indoor fans respectively at different rotation speeds based on a result of the measurement by the sensor.
Claims18
An air conditioner comprising:
- a humidity sensor configured to measure an indoor humidity;
- one outdoor unit;
- at least two indoor units connected with a refrigerant pipe through which a refrigerant sent from the one outdoor unit flows;
- and
- a temperature sensor configured to measure an indoor temperature,
- wherein each of the at least two indoor units comprises:
- a refrigerant circuit in which at least an evaporator is connected to the refrigerant pipe;
- an operation controller configured to control the refrigerant circuit according to an operating state;
- and
- at least two indoor fans configured to blow air to the evaporator,
- wherein each of the operation controllers is configured to
- determine whether the indoor humidity measured by the humidity sensor is equal to or lower than a first preset humidity threshold,
- determine whether the indoor humidity measured by the humidity sensor is equal to or lower than a second preset humidity threshold lower than the first preset humidity threshold,
- during a dehumidifying operation, when the indoor humidity measured by the humidity sensor is equal to or lower than the second preset humidity threshold, perform a first controlling operation to control at least one indoor fan among a corresponding at least two indoor fans to not rotate, and
- during the dehumidifying operation, when the indoor humidity measured by the humidity sensor is equal to or lower than the first preset humidity threshold and higher than the second preset humidity threshold, perform a second controlling operation to control at least one indoor fan among the corresponding at least two indoor fans to not rotate,
- during the dehumidifying operation, when the indoor humidity measured by the humidity sensor is higher than the first preset humidity threshold, perform a third controlling operation to control the corresponding at least two indoor fans to rotate, and
- wherein each of the operation controllers is configured to
- determine whether the indoor temperature measured by the temperature sensor is equal to or lower than a second preset temperature threshold,
- perform the first, second, and third controlling operations only when the indoor temperature is equal to or lower than the second preset temperature threshold.
A control method for an air conditioner comprising one outdoor unit and at least two indoor units, each of the at least two indoor units comprising at least two indoor fans, the control method comprising:
- determining using an operation controller of one of the at least two indoor units, whether an indoor humidity is equal to or lower than a first preset humidity threshold,
- determining, using the operation controller whether the indoor humidity is equal to or lower than a second preset humidity threshold lower than the first preset humidity threshold,
- performing a first controlling operation to control at least one indoor fan among a corresponding at least two indoor fans in one of the at least two indoor units to not rotate in response to the operation controller determining that the indoor humidity is equal to or lower than the second preset humidity threshold during a dehumidifying operation,
- wherein
- a first preset temperature threshold and a second preset temperature threshold lower than the first preset temperature threshold are preset,
- the corresponding at least two indoor fans are divided into a first group of indoor fans and a second group of indoor fans, the first group of indoor fans including at least one first indoor fan from the corresponding at least two indoor fans, and second group of indoor fans including at least one second indoor fan from the corresponding at least two indoor fans,
- the first controlling operation is performed only when an indoor temperature is equal to or lower than the second preset temperature threshold, and
- the control method further comprises:
- performing a fourth controlling operation to control each of the corresponding at least two indoor fans to rotate at a first rotation speed in response to the indoor temperature being higher than the first preset temperature threshold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.