Air conditioning apparatus and control method thereof
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorsJe-Myoung Moon, Jong-Youb Kim, Dong-Kue Lee, Il-Yong Cho
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An air conditioning apparatus and control method thereof is provided, in which two-stage variable-capacity compressors are connected in parallel with each other to control capacities of the two stage variable-capacity compressors according to indoor air conditioning loads. A pair of two-stage variable-capacity compressors are used in the air conditioning apparatus to be cost competitive and can obtain an effect in which the pair of two-stage variable-capacity compressors are controlled as if a large-scale variable-capacity compressor with a capacity the same as a total capacity of the two compressors were linearly controlled.
Claims23
An air conditioning apparatus, comprising:
- a first compressor controlled to operate at one of a non-zero first minimum capacity and a first maximum capacity;
- a second compressor connected in parallel with the first compressor and controlled to operate at one of a non-zero second minimum capacity and a second maximum capacity;
- and
- a control unit controlling the first and second compressors such that a total capacity of the first and second compressors is controlled in multiple stages according to indoor air conditioning loads.
An air conditioning apparatus, comprising:
- a plurality of indoor units;
- and
- an outdoor unit connected to the plurality of indoor units, comprising,
- a first compressor controlled to operate at one of a non-zero first minimum capacity and a first maximum capacity,
- a second compressor connected in parallel with the first compressor and controlled to operate at one of a non-zero second minimum capacity and a second maximum capacity, and
- an outdoor control unit controlling the first and second compressors such that a total capacity of the first and second compressors is controlled in multiple stages according to indoor air conditioning loads required by the plurality of the indoor units.
A method of controlling an air conditioning apparatus, the air conditioning apparatus having a plurality of indoor units connected to an outdoor unit comprising a first compressor operating at one of a first minimum capacity and a first maximum capacity, and a second compressor operating at one of a second minimum capacity and a second maximum capacity, the method comprising:
- calculating an air conditioning capacity required by corresponding indoor units;
- and
- controlling capacities of the first and second compressors such that a total capacity of the first and second compressors is controlled in multiple stages according to the calculated air conditioning capacity,
- wherein the first maximum capacity of the first compressor is substantially equal to the second minimum capacity of the second compressor, and the second maximum capacity of the second compressor is about two times or more the second minimum capacity of the second compressor.
An air conditioning apparatus, comprising:
- a first compressor operated at one of a non-zero first capacity and a non-zero second capacity;
- a second compressor connected in parallel with the first compressor and operated at one of a non-zero third capacity and a non-zero fourth capacity;
- and
- a control unit to control the first and second compressors such that a total capacity of the first and second compressors is varied in plural stages according to indoor air conditioning loads.
An air conditioning apparatus, comprising:
- a plurality of indoor units;
- and
- an outdoor unit connected to the plurality of indoor units, comprising,
- a first compressor controlled to operate at one of a first capacity and a second capacity;
- a second compressor connected in parallel with the first compressor and controlled to operate at one of a third capacity and a fourth capacity;
- and
- an outdoor control unit controlling the first and second compressors such that a total capacity of the first and second compressors is controlled in plural stages by setting the capacity of the first compressor at a higher capacity of the first capacity and the second capacity, while not exceeding a total capacity for supply of the indoor air conditioning loads and setting the capacity of the second compressor at a higher capacity of the third capacity and the fourth capacity, while not exceeding a difference between the total capacity for supply of the indoor air conditioning loads and the set capacity of the first compressor.
A method of controlling an air conditioning apparatus, the air conditioning apparatus having a plurality of indoor units connected to an outdoor unit comprising a first compressor operating at one of a first capacity and a second capacity, and a second compressor operating at one of a third capacity and a fourth capacity, the second capacity of the first compressor being substantially equal to the third capacity of the second compressor, and the fourth capacity of the second compressor being about two times or more the third capacity of the second compressor, the method comprising:
- calculating an air conditioning capacity according to indoor air conditioning loads;
- and
- controlling capacities of the first and second compressors such that a total capacity of the first and second compressors is varied in plural stages according to the calculated air conditioning capacity.
A controller for controlling an air conditioning apparatus having a first compressor and a second compressor, comprising:
- a control unit controlling the first compressor to operate at one of a non-zero minimum capacity and a maximum capacity and the second compressor, which is connected in parallel with the first compressor, to operate at one of a non-zero second minimum capacity and a second maximum capacity, and the control unit controls the first and second compressors by varying a total capacity of the first and second compressors in plural stages according to indoor air conditioning loads.
A machine readable storage medium for controlling a computer to operate an air conditioning apparatus having a plurality of indoor units connected to an outdoor unit comprising a first compressor operating at one of a first capacity and a second capacity, and a second compressor operating at one of a third capacity and a fourth capacity, the second capacity of the first compressor being substantially equal to the third capacity of the second compressor, and the fourth capacity of the second compressor being about two times or more the third capacity of the second compressor, the machine readable storage medium storing a program to execute:
- calculating an air conditioning capacity according to indoor air conditioning loads;
- and
- controlling capacities of the first and second compressors such that a total capacity of the first and second compressors is varied in plural stages according to the calculated air conditioning capacity.
An air conditioning apparatus, comprising:
- at least three or more compressors connected in parallel and each operated at one of two different non-zero capacities;
- a control unit to control the at least three or more compressors such that a total capacity of the at least three or more compressors is varied in plural stages according to indoor air conditioning loads and produces a total capacity operating characteristic which is piece-wise linear.
An air conditioning apparatus, comprising:
- a first compressor controlled to operate at one of a first minimum capacity and a first maximum capacity;
- a second compressor connected in parallel with the first compressor and controlled to operate at one of a second minimum capacity and a second maximum capacity;
- and
- a control unit controlling the first and second compressors such that a total capacity of the first and second compressors is controlled in multiple stages according to indoor air conditioning loads, wherein each of the first and second compressors has two compressing rooms therein and operates at a maximum capacity if the first and second compressors rotates in a forward direction by performing compression in all of the compressing rooms, and operates at a minimum capacity if the first and second compressors rotates in a reverse direction by performing compression in one of the compressing rooms of each of the first and second compressors.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.