Air conditioning apparatus for distributing primarily-conditioned air to rooms

An air conditioning apparatus for distributing primarily-conditioned air to a plurality of rooms, comprising:

• a heat source for discharging the primarily-conditioned air;
• an air duct for distributing the primarily-conditioned air which has been discharged from the heat source;
• a plurality of air passages, each diverging from the air duct into a corresponding one of the rooms;
• a plurality of dampers, each disposed in a corresponding one of the air passages, each for adjusting an amount of the primarily-conditioned air distributed into the corresponding one of the rooms by varying an opening degree;
• opening degree-limiting means for limiting the opening degree of each damper to a corresponding value which is not less than a corresponding allowable minimum value;
• first detection means for detecting a thermal load in each room;
• second detection means for detecting a required flow of the primarily-conditioned air in each room on the basis of the thermal loads detected by the first detection means;
• first control means for controlling the opening degree of each damper on the basis of the required flow detected by the second detection means;
• a compressor, disposed in the heat source, for compressing, and discharging a refrigerant;
• an outdoor heat exchanger, disposed in the heat source, for performing heat exchange between the refrigerant and outdoor air;
• an indoor heat exchanger, disposed in the heat source, for performing heat exchange between the refrigerant and indoor air, the indoor heat exchanger being connected with the compressor and the outdoor heat exchanger, thereby forming a refrigeration cycle;
• a plurality of air heat exchangers, each disposed in one of the air passages, each for performing temperature adjustments and heat exchange between the refrigerant and the primarily-conditioned air distributed to the corresponding one of the rooms;
• the air heat exchangers being connected in parallel with the indoor heat exchanger;
• second control means for returning the refrigerant discharged by the compressor, back to the compressor via the outdoor heat exchanger and the indoor heat exchanger, thereby performing a cooling operation;
• third control means for controlling the refrigerant discharged by the compressor, thereby causing the refrigerant to flow into the air heat exchangers, and for controlling the refrigerant flow through the air heat exchangers so as to form a refrigerant flow toward the indoor heat exchanger when the open degree of at least one of the dampers is at the corresponding allowable minimum value during the cooling operation and a corresponding one of the thermal loads detected by the first detection means is in an excessive reduction state;
• pressure-reducing means for reducing a pressure of the refrigerant discharged by the compressor during a heating operation;
• fourth control means for returning the refrigerant discharged by the compressor, back to the compressor via the indoor heat exchanger, the pressure-reducing means, and the outdoor heat exchanger, thereby performing the heating operation;
• fifth control means for controlling the refrigerant via the indoor heat exchanger so as to cause the refrigerant to flow into the air heat exchangers, and for controlling the refrigerant via the air heat exchangers so as to cause the refrigerant to return to the compressor when the open degree of at least one of the dampers is at the corresponding allowable minimum value during the heating operation and a corresponding one of the thermal loads detected by the first detection means is in the excessive reduction state;
• and
• sixth control means for controlling an amount of the refrigerant flowing through the air heat exchangers so that the thermal loads detected by the first detection means are zero during one of the heating operation and the cooling operation.