Control method and apparatus for an air conditioner using a heat pump

A control method for an air conditioner using a heat pump having;

• a compressor;
• a variable speed electric motor for driving said compressor;
• a four-way valve;
• an expansion device;
• an outdoor heat exchanger;
• an indoor heat exchanger;
• a variable speed blower for said indoor heat exchanger;
• and means for varying an air passage of an outlet of said indoor heat exchanger,
• comprising the steps of;
• detecting the temperature of inlet air drawn into said indoor heat exchanger and presetting the desired temperature of said outlet air;
• detecting the temperature of outlet air blown from said indoor heat exchanger and presetting the desired higher temperature value of said outlet air temperature;
• switching modes between:
• the normal mode in which the r.p.m. of said compressor is controlled so that said inlet air temperature is made equal to the preset value, and
• the hot air blowing mode in which the r.p.m. of said blower for said indoor heat exchanger is controlled while keeping high the r.p.m. of said compressor so that said outlet air temperature is made equal to the preset higher temperature value thereof,
• said operation mode switching being selected according to the degree of comfort based on the temperature in a room to be air conditioned;
• and varying said air passage to set that of said outlet to narrow, thereby blowing hot air over a restricted area in the hot air blowing mode, and to set the air passage of said outlet to wide to thereby disperse warm air throughout the room during normal operation.

A control apparatus for an air conditioner using a heat pump, comprising;

• a compressor;
• a variable speed electric motor for driving said compressor;
• a four-way valve;
• an expansion device;
• an outdoor heat exchanger;
• an indoor heat exchanger;
• a variable speed blower for said indoor heat exchanger;
• means for detecting the temperature of inlet air drawn into said indoor heat exchanger and means for presetting the desired temperature value of said inlet air;
• and means for detecting the temperature of outlet air blown from said indoor heat exchanger and means for presetting the desired higher temperature value of said outlet air temperature;
• means for switching modes between:
• the normal mode in which the r.p.m. of said compressor is controlled so that the temperature of said inlet air is made equal to the preset value, and
• the hot air blowing mode in which the r.p.m. of said blower for said indoor heat exchanger is controlled while keeping the r.p.m. of said compressor high so that said outlet air temperature is made equal to the preset higher temperature value thereof;
• means for detecting the temperature in the room Tai to be air conditioned and means for detecting the temperature of wall Tw inside the room;
• and
• wherein, when the desired wall temperature Two representing comfort in the room is obtained from the following equation:
• Two=f (Tai);
• where f (Tai) is a function of Tai, the modes are switched by comparing Two with the actual wall temperature Tw measured by said wall temperature detecting means, then blowing hot air if Tw<Two, and operating normally if Tw.gtoreq.Two.

A control apparatus for an air conditioner using a heat pump, comprising;

• a compressor;
• a variable speed electric motor for driving said compressor;
• a four-way valve;
• an expansion device;
• an outdoor heat exchanger;
• an indoor heat exchanger;
• a variable speed blower for said indoor heat exchanger;
• means for detecting the temperature of inlet air drawn into said indoor heat exchanger and means for presetting the desired temperature value of said inlet air;
• and means for detecting the temperature of outlet air blown from said indoor heat exchanger and means for presetting the desired higher temperature value of said outlet air temperature;
• means for switching modes between:
• the normal mode in which the r.p.m. of said compressor is controlled so that the temperature of said inlet air is made equal to the preset value, and
• the hot air blowing mode in which the r.p.m. of said blower said indoor heat exchanger is controlled while keeping the r.p.m. of said compressor high so that said outlet air temperature is made equal to the preset higher temperature value thereof;
• means for detecting the temperature of wall Tw inside the room to be air conditioned and means for presetting the desired value Tw' of the wall temperature inside the room;
• and
• wherein the operation modes are switched by comparing wall temperature Tw measured by said wall temperature detecting means with the setting value Tw' thereof, then blowing hot air if Tw<Tw', and operating normally if Tw.gtoreq.Tw'.