Air conditioner unit with selective cooling of an indoor fan motor
AssigneeHaier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
InventorsRichard Dustin Henderson, Richard Michael Phillips
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An air conditioner unit is provided that includes features for selectively cooling an indoor fan motor of the unit based at least in part on the outdoor temperature. Methods for selectively cooling indoor fan motors of air conditioner units are also provided.
Claims19
An air conditioner unit, comprising:
- a bulkhead defining an indoor portion and an outdoor portion;
- an indoor fan disposed within the indoor portion for circulating an airflow through the indoor portion;
- an indoor motor operatively coupled with and configured for driving the indoor fan, the indoor motor disposed within the outdoor portion;
- an outdoor fan disposed within the outdoor portion for circulating an airflow through the outdoor portion;
- an outdoor motor operatively coupled with and configured for driving the outdoor fan;
- a temperature sensor for sensing an outdoor temperature;
- a controller communicatively coupled with the temperature sensor and the outdoor motor, the controller configured to:
- receive a signal indicative of the outdoor temperature generated by the temperature sensor;
- determine whether the outdoor temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature threshold;
- and
- activate the outdoor motor to drive the outdoor fan to flow a cooling airflow over the indoor motor if the outdoor temperature exceeds the predetermined temperature threshold.
A method of cooling an indoor fan of an air conditioner unit, the air conditioner unit comprising a bulkhead defining an indoor portion and an outdoor portion, the indoor fan disposed within the indoor portion, the air conditioner unit further comprising an indoor motor disposed within the outdoor portion and operatively configured to drive the indoor fan, an outdoor fan disposed within the outdoor portion, and an outdoor motor operatively configured to drive the outdoor fan, the method comprising:
- receiving a signal indicative of an outdoor temperature;
- determining whether the outdoor temperature exceeds a predetermined temperature threshold;
- and
- operating the outdoor motor at a target motor speed to drive the outdoor fan to flow a cooling airflow over the indoor motor if the outdoor temperature exceeds the predetermined temperature threshold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.