JP2000111128A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner wherein control methods of different type such as a centralized control on the side of a supervisor based on a centralized controller, a control on the side of a user by means of a remote controller can be selectively set. SOLUTION: The order of priority, whether or not the control of a centralized controller 1 for controlling a plurality of air conditioning elements 7-1-7-4 and 5-1-5-11 connected through a communication line 3 takes precedence over the control on the side of a room by means of a wireless remote controller 13, can be set by a rewriting operation of a memory of a control means mounted on each of the air conditioning elements. On the side of a device which has received the order of priority contained in communication data on the line 3, the order of priority is compared with the order of priority set in the device so that the device is operated according to the control contents having higher order of priority.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner in an office building or the like in which each floor of an air conditioner is integrally controlled by a centralized control device. The present invention relates to an operation control system for an air conditioner, which is capable of performing operation control in which management is prioritized and suitable for performing air conditioning more effectively according to the actual conditions of operation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, in a large-scale air conditioning system installed in a large store or an office building, various operation controls performed on an air conditioner in each room, that is, cooling / cooling operations are performed.
ON / OFF to start or stop heating operation
Control, timer operation for operating for a fixed time at bedtime, switching between cooling / heating operation, and the like are performed.

Command forms for performing these operation controls include operation switches provided on the indoor unit body of each room,
Control terminal (referred to as HA terminal) for remote control by receiving a control signal transmitted using a remote control device or a telephone line attached to the indoor unit. Forced driving device,
Furthermore, there is a centralized controller or the like effective for efficiently managing a plurality of indoor units.

[0004]

However, in the case where the air conditioner has a plurality of operation management functions of permitting operation in various command systems, operation efficiency and usability are sufficiently exhibited. It is convenient to find such an optimal command system. Therefore, it is necessary to set a priority order and establish a management rule for that purpose.

Conventionally, these priorities and management rules are:
It was decided at the stage of designing the equipment.

However, if the priorities and management rules are set in the greatest common denominator as described above, it may be difficult to respond to the demands of individual customers. That is, for example, even when a stop is requested from the centralized controller, it is sometimes preferable to give priority to the building manager, that is, the centralized control. Sometimes it is more convenient to give priority to driving.

[0007] Even in the same building, there is a case where a room or a floor is given priority to remote control, and a room or another floor is given priority to centralized control. Thus, it is difficult to respond to various individual requests. That is the background.

In order to cope with the problem, a property (building) in which a control device (such as a memory chip) for executing another type of control is designed, and an air conditioner incorporating the control device is delivered (installed). There is a problem in that production is performed separately for each product, which is unproductive and results in high costs.

The present invention has been made in view of these circumstances.
An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner that can solve these problems and can meet user demands and can operate efficiently.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention comprises a plurality of air conditioning elements composed of an outdoor unit and an indoor unit, and an operation control command is transmitted from each of the plurality of controllers to each air conditioning element. In the air conditioner which is issued and whose operation is controlled, a priority is set for each air conditioning element, and the operation control command includes a control content signal for controlling the operation of each air conditioning element and a priority signal, and The element is characterized in that the operation is performed based on the control content signal when a priority signal higher than the priority set for itself is received.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an air conditioning system according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an outdoor unit and an outdoor unit. In these figures, a solid line indicates a refrigerant circuit, and a dashed line indicates a control and communication circuit.

First, the configuration of the air conditioner will be described. Reference numerals 7-1, 7-2, 7-3, and 7-4 denote four outdoor units installed outdoors, and a heat source for cooling / heating. Heat source machine. These outdoor units 7-1, 7-2, 7-
A gas refrigerant or a liquid refrigerant as a heat source is supplied to a plurality of indoor units 5-1 to 5-11 from the refrigerant circuits 3, 7-4 by a refrigerant circuit branched into a plurality. In addition, the air conditioning system of the present embodiment includes the indoor units 5 via the nonpolar two-wire communication line 3.
-1 to 5-11 and the outdoor units 7-1 to 7-4 are connected.

Here, the indoor units 5-5 to 5-11
Are installed on the second floor of a building, for example, and the indoor units 5-1 to 5-4 are installed on the first floor below.

In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a wired remote controller for stopping and starting the cooling / heating operation, setting the cooling / heating temperature of the room,
The user performs operations such as adjusting the degree of blowing of the cool air and the warm air. Reference numeral 13 denotes a wireless remote controller capable of performing the same operation as the wired remote controller 11.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a centralized control device, whose control commands are transmitted via the communication line 3 to the outdoor units 7-1 to 7-4 and 1
The information is transmitted to and controlled by the indoor units 5-1 to 5-11 on the first and second floors. Further, a certain indoor unit, that is, the indoor unit 5-2, has an HA terminal 8 which is a receiving unit provided to enable operation ON / OFF, temperature setting, and the like via a telephone line or the like.

In the outdoor units 7-1 to 7-4, the indoor units 5-1 to 5-11, and the central control device 1, unique addresses used for communication on the communication line 3 are set. . Transmission / reception of communication signals including the source address, destination address, and control command between the outdoor units 7-1 to 7-4, the indoor units 5-1 to 5-11, and the central control device 1 is performed via the communication line 3. Done on

As shown in FIG. 2, an indoor heat exchanger 21, an electric fan 23, an electric expansion valve 25, an electric heater 27, and the like are installed on the indoor units 5-1 to 5-11. . The compressor 31, the electromagnetic four-way valve 33, the outdoor heat exchanger 35, the electric fan 37, and the accumulator are provided on the outdoor units 7-1 and 7-2 and the outdoor units 7-3 and 7-4 (not shown), respectively. 39 etc. are installed. The equipment constituting the refrigerant circuit is connected by refrigerant pipes 41a to 41g that are used to distribute gas refrigerant or liquid refrigerant. In the figure, reference numeral 51 denotes a gas engine, which drives the compressor 31 via a flexible coupling 53.

Reference numeral 61 denotes each of the indoor units 5-1 to 5-11.
An indoor side control unit (hereinafter, referred to as an indoor side ECU) as a control means installed in the inside of the vehicle.
U, an input / output interface, a communication interface, a timing control circuit, a RAM, and the like.

The indoor ECU 61 includes a communication line 3, an electric fan 23, an electric expansion valve 25, an electric heater 27, a room temperature sensor 63 for detecting a room temperature Tr, and a cooling operation of the indoor heat exchanger 21 during the cooling operation. First and second refrigerant temperature sensors 65 and 67 for detecting the refrigerant temperatures Tfi and Tfo on the inlet side and the outlet side, the remote control unit 11 and the like are connected.

Similarly, in the outdoor units 7-1 and 7-2, an outdoor control unit (hereinafter referred to as an outdoor unit), which is a control means and includes a CPU, an input / output interface, a communication interface, a timing control circuit, and a RAM. ECU 71) is provided. In addition to the communication line 3, the four-way valve 33, the electric fan 37, the gas engine 51, a pressure sensor 73 for detecting the discharge-side refrigerant pressure Pd of the compressor 31, and an outside air temperature sensor for detecting the outside air temperature Ta, the outdoor ECU 71. 75 and the like are connected.

The control command signals output from the centralized control device 1, the wired remote controller 11, the wireless remote controller 13, and the like, and the control command signal received at the HA terminal 8 are transmitted via the communication line 3 to a required air conditioning element. (Outdoor units 7-1 to 7-4, indoor units 5-1 to 5-
11), and the required control is performed.

In this case, according to the present invention, in the air conditioning element to be controlled, which control command from a large number of controllers (centralized controller 1, wired remote controller 11, wireless remote controller 13, etc.) is prioritized, and its priority order , That is, by transmitting a control command with a priority command added, etc., to operate in accordance with the higher priority control command, so that the user can receive more useful and effective air conditioning. In addition to making settings and easy changes, in the event of an abnormal situation (fire, earthquake, etc.)
A thorough management system, such as forcibly stopping any air conditioning element, has been constructed. Next, those controls will be described.

First, various controllers, such as the centralized controller 1 and the wireless remote controller 13, which issue control commands to the air conditioning elements, and the outdoor units 7-1 to 7-4 on the receiving side thereof.
And which of the indoor units 5-1 to 5-11 receives a control command from which controller is preferentially received, and which of the plurality of outdoor units and indoor units is processed preferentially. For example, a priority (priority) is set for a control command and a plurality of devices (outdoor units, indoor units).

If the priority level is changed from L1 to L
There are 16 steps up to 16. Here, it is assumed that L1 is set as the highest order and L16 is set as the lowest order.

Then, for example, the indoor unit 5-4 is set to L5, and the indoor unit 5-5 is set to L7, and the operation command signal from the centralized controller 1 includes the priority signal of L6. .

Then, when the indoor unit 5-4 and the indoor unit 5-5 receive an operation stop signal from the centralized controller 1 while operating, each of the indoor units 5-4 and 5-5 becomes its own. Control unit, that is, the CPU, compares its own priority level with the priority level of the received data (control command).

As a result, in the indoor unit 5-5, since the priority level is L7 and the centralized controller 1 having the priority level 6 has a higher priority, the operation stop signal issued from the centralized controller 1 is transmitted. Then, the indoor unit 5-5 stops operating.

On the other hand, the indoor unit 5-4 has a higher priority than the centralized controller 1 having the priority level L5 and the priority level 6, so that the operation stop issued from the centralized controller 1 is stopped. Do not obey the signal, indoor unit 5-4
Will continue driving as it is. In this case, for example, the air conditioning control from the room side by the wireless remote controller 13 is preferentially executed.

If the priority order is set for the plurality of indoor units 5-1 to 5-11 to be controlled, for example, the indoor unit 5-4 on the first floor side is not controlled by the centralized controller 1. You can use it like that.

Further, as an application example in which the above-described priority relationship is developed, the following setting is also possible. In other words, when an emergency stop signal is transmitted from the centralized controller 1, at that time, only the signal of the centralized controller 1 is set to be handled as the highest level 1 (L1), whereby the above-described operation is performed. In the example, the indoor unit 5-5 and the indoor unit 5-4, as well as all of the indoor units on the first and second floors, are forcibly stopped regardless of the operation state. be able to

Incidentally, the control signal for executing the above-mentioned control can be made in a signal form in which a priority command is added to a control command command as schematically shown in FIG. That is, assuming that a control signal of operation stop is issued from the centralized controller, the control signal includes control content data indicating a control instruction of operation stop and priority data indicating priority of level L6 of the centralized controller. Emitted as an added form. Therefore, inside the control means, there is provided communication data forming means for generating communication data of such a form on the communication line.

The above-mentioned priorities (priorities)
In order to execute the control based on the air conditioner concretely, the outdoor unit constituting each air conditioning system device and each CP of the indoor unit
It can be set in a storage device such as a PROM mounted on the U at the time of collection at a factory, or set by a switch or a personal computer during construction work. That is, the priorities of the centralized controller, the outdoor unit, and the indoor unit can be set using a switch, a personal computer, or the like as a priority setting unit.

The priority data set as described above is always carried on the communication data between the devices for communication. When the current operation involves a change, each device sets the current priority and the priority of the transmitted data,
The device with the higher priority (priority) compared with the control means mounted on each device is adopted.

For those having the same priority,
Taking the operation with the remote control as an example, the priority setting for the first push and the last push is performed. In this way, for example, when the stop signal arrives, in the former setting method, the indoor units of the room in the state of driving by pushing first continue to operate, and the indoor units of the other rooms are stopped. In the latter setting method, the indoor unit is temporarily stopped, and thereafter,
The indoor unit of the room whose operation switch is pressed by the remote controller or the like restarts operation. By performing such a setting, each device can determine an operation state according to the rule, perform efficient operation and management thereof, and further perform control by a manager or control by a user. Alternatively, the convenience that the desired control method can be selected can be obtained.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, the priority of control can be set relatively higher and lower among a plurality of air conditioning elements and controllers. Is not controlled by the centralized controller, and the user can select a control which is more convenient for the user and can be controlled by a room-side air-conditioning controller such as a remote controller. by this,
Each air conditioner can be operated under the most advantageous conditions based on a comprehensive evaluation of operation efficiency, operation cost, ease of operation management, and the like.

The priority set for each device is transmitted over the communication data to each device, and each device compares the received data with the priority of each device. Since a control system has been constructed in which the operation state is automatically determined according to the control command, the specified control operation can be performed with high reliability without setting up an extraordinarily sophisticated control line or data line. Air conditioner can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an air conditioning system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an outdoor unit and an indoor unit.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of communication data on which the priority data is added to a communication line and rides;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Centralized controller 3 Communication line 5-1 to 5-11 Indoor unit (air-conditioning element) 7-1, 7-2, 7-3, 7-4 Outdoor unit (air-conditioning element) 13 Wireless remote control 61 Indoor ECU (control) Means) 71 Outdoor ECU (control means)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioner comprising a plurality of air conditioning elements composed of an outdoor unit and an indoor unit, wherein operation is controlled by issuing an operation control command from a plurality of controllers to each air conditioning element. Priority is set, and the operation control command includes a control content signal for controlling the operation of each air conditioning element and a priority signal, and each air conditioning element outputs a priority signal equal to or higher than the priority set for itself. An air conditioner that operates based on a control content signal when received.