Split air conditioning system with a single outdoor unit

A split air conditioning system for conditioning a plurality of zones within the same interior room of a building, the split air conditioning system comprising:

• a single outdoor unit comprising:
• a housing with a compressor;
• a condenser;
• and a condenser fan positioned within the housing wherein the condenser fan is associated with the condenser and configured to move air to cool the condenser and the compressor is a dual suction, variable speed compressor capable of and configured to deliver full cooling capacity to both a first evaporator and a second evaporator;
• a refrigerant flow pathway comprised of a plurality of refrigerant conduits having a common refrigerant flow path portion and at least two divergent flow path portions, a first divergent flow path that delivers refrigerant to the first evaporator wherein the first evaporator is configured to operate at a first evaporator pressure and a second divergent flow path that delivers refrigerant to the second evaporator wherein the second evaporator is configured to operate at a second evaporator pressure and the first evaporator and second evaporator are in parallel with one another;
• at least two throttling devices wherein a first throttling device is positioned along the first divergent flow path to receive refrigerant fluid prior to the first evaporator and a second throttling device is positioned along the second divergent flow path to receive refrigerant fluid prior to the second evaporator;
• a first variable speed fan configured to move air across the first evaporator;
• a second variable speed fan configured to move air across the second evaporator;
• a portioning device configured to selectively and proportionately regulate the flow of a refrigerant fluid to the first evaporator and the second evaporator, respectively;
• wherein the compressor is configured to be capable of simultaneously driving both the first evaporator and the second evaporator at their full cooling capacity and wherein the plurality of refrigerant conduits making up the refrigerant flow path are free of any check valves, and wherein the first evaporator is a disjointed evaporator and the second evaporator is a disjointed evaporator such that each indoor air unit is configured to control the ratio of the latent to sensible cooling capacity of the evaporator, fan speed, and proportional flow of refrigerant to different evaporator sections of the disjointed evaporators.

A method of conditioning the air within two zones of the same living area within an interior of a building comprising the steps of:

• providing a single outdoor unit comprising:
• a compressor;
• a condenser;
• and
• a condenser fan associated with the condenser that moves air to cool the condenser;
• a refrigerant flow pathway comprised of a plurality of refrigerant conduits having a common refrigerant flow path portion and at least two divergent flow path portions, a first divergent flow path that delivers refrigerant to a first evaporator configured to operate at a first evaporator pressure and a second divergent flow path that delivers refrigerant to a second evaporator such that the first evaporator and second evaporator are in parallel with one another;
• at least one throttling device wherein a throttling device is positioned along the common refrigerant flow path portion when a single throttling device is used and a first throttling device is positioned along the first divergent flow path and a second throttling device is positioned along the second divergent flow path when two or more throttling devices are employed;
• a portioning device configured to selectively and proportionately regulate the flow of a refrigerant fluid to the first evaporator and the second evaporator, respectively;
• wherein the compressor is configured to be capable of simultaneously driving both the first evaporator and the second evaporator at their full cooling capacity and wherein the first evaporator is positioned within a housing of a first indoor air unit positioned within a single living area of the building and the second evaporator is positioned within a housing of a second indoor air unit and both the first and second indoor air units each further comprise a fan configured to drive air across the first evaporator of the first indoor air unit and across the second evaporator of the second indoor air unit;
• adjusting the refrigerant flow through the first divergent flow path and the second divergent flow path using the portioning device, the compressor or both to independently change a cooling capacity of the first evaporator and the second evaporator;
• adjusting a first variable speed fan to create and adjust a first zone size and a temperature within a first zone based upon user input into a controller or information received by the controller indicating the presence of a person within the first zone;
• and
• adjusting a second variable speed fan to create and adjust a second zone size and a temperature within a second zone based upon user input into the controller or information received by the controller indicating the presence of a person within the second zone, wherein the size of the first zone and the size of the second zone are substantially changed by changing the relative volume of air being moved by the first variable speed fan and the second variable speed fan.