Air conditioning apparatus and control method thereof
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorsJe-Myoung Moon, Jong-Youb Kim, Dong-Kue Lee, Il-Yong Cho
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Abstract
An air conditioning apparatus and control method thereof includes an inverter-type compressor and a two-stage variable-capacity compressor connected in parallel with their respective capacities controlled according to indoor air conditioning loads. Thus, the present invention is cost-competitive due to a capacity of the inverter-type compressor being lower than that of the two-stage variable-capacity compressor.
Claims17
An air conditioning apparatus, comprising:
- a first compressor having a variable capacity;
- a second compressor connected in parallel with the first compressor and controlled to operate at one of a non-zero first capacity and a non-zero second capacity;
- and
- a control unit to control the first and second compressors so that a total capacity of the first and second compressors is linearly controlled according to indoor air conditioning loads.
An air conditioning apparatus, comprising:
- a first compressor having a variable capacity;
- a second compressor connected in parallel with the first compressor and controlled to operate at one of a first capacity and a second capacity;
- a control unit to control the first and second compressors so that a total capacity of the first and second compressors is linearly controlled according to indoor air conditioning loads;
- and
- an oil equalization device to keep oil supplied to the first and second compressors stable, wherein the oil equalization device comprises:
- an oil separator to separate refrigerant and the oil,
- an oil sensor disposed between the first compressor and the oil separator to sense an amount of the oil of the first compressor,
- a valve disposed between an outflow side of the first compressor and the oil separator to intercept an outflow of the oil to the oil separator;
- and
- at least one capillary tube disposed between an outflow side of the second compressor and the oil separator.
An air conditioning apparatus, comprising:
- a plurality of indoor units;
- and
- an outdoor unit connected to the plurality of indoor units, the outdoor unit including:
- a first compressor having a variable capacity;
- a second compressor connected in parallel with the first compressor and controlled to operate at one of a non-zero first capacity and a non-zero second capacity;
- and
- an outdoor control unit to control the first and second compressors so that a total capacity of the first and second compressors is linearly controlled according to indoor air conditioning loads required by 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, which includes a first compressor having a capacity thereof controlled according to a frequency of an inverter circuit, and a second compressor to operate at one of a first capacity and a second capacity, the method comprising:
- calculating an air conditioning capacity required by the corresponding indoor units;
- and
- controlling the first and second compressors so that a total capacity of the first and second compressors is linearly controlled according to the calculated air conditioning capacity,
- wherein a maximum capacity of the first compressor is equal to the first capacity of the second compressor, and the second capacity of the second compressor is two or more times greater than the first capacity of the second compressor.
A storage medium storing data to perform a process related to controlling an air conditioning apparatus, the air conditioning apparatus having a plurality of indoor units connected to an outdoor unit, which includes a first compressor having a capacity thereof controlled according to a frequency of an inverter circuit, and a second compressor to operate at one of a first capacity and a second capacity, the process comprising:
- calculating an air conditioning capacity required by the corresponding indoor units;
- and
- controlling the first and second compressors so that a total capacity of the first and second compressors is linearly controlled according to the calculated air conditioning capacity,
- wherein a maximum capacity of the first compressor is equal to the first capacity of the second compressor, and the second capacity of the second compressor is two or more times greater than the first capacity of the second compressor.
An air conditioning apparatus including first and second compressor connected in parallel and operating at different capacities from each other, the air conditioning apparatus comprising:
- an oil equalization device to stabilize an oil supply to the first and second compressors by sensing an amount of the oil in the first compressor and comprising:
- an oil separator to separate refrigerant and the oil,
- a valve disposed between an outflow side of the first compressor and the oil separator to intercept an outflow of the oil to the oil separator;
- and
- at least one capillary tube disposed between an outflow side of the second compressor and the oil separator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.