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Simultaneous cooling-heating multiple type air conditioner

Simultaneous cooling-heating multiple type air conditioner description/claims

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2006-0101754, filed on Oct. 19, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a multiple type air conditioner, and more particularly to a simultaneous cooling-heating multiple type air conditioner configured to simultaneously cool and heat.

2. Discussion of Related Art

Generally, an air conditioner is an appliance for cooling and heating an indoor space, such as a residential interior space, a restaurant and an office. In order to effectively cool and heat an indoor space divided into a plurality of rooms, multiple type air conditioners, which can cool and heat respective rooms independently have been developed. In particular, a multiple type air conditioner is configured in such a manner that a plurality of indoor units are connected to a single outdoor unit, and the indoor units are installed in respective rooms. Each indoor unit operates in either a cooling mode or a heating mode, and conditions air of an indoor space.

However, the conventional multiple type air conditioners are controlled to either cool or heat all the rooms in one indoor space at the same time, and as such they can not meet the demand of independently conditioning the respective rooms differently.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simultaneous cooling-heating multiple type air conditioner that is configured to be controlled steadily in a simultaneous cooling and heating operation period.

In order to achieve the above objects and advantageous effects, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a simultaneous cooling-heating multiple type air conditioner controlled with an operation domain including a plurality of operation zones which are divided based on a refrigerant suction pressure and a refrigerant discharge pressure of a compressor, in which the operation domain includes a first operation zone in which a cooling-initiative simultaneous cooling and heating operation mode is switched to a heating-initiative simultaneous cooling and heating operation mode, a second operation zone in which a mode switching between the cooling-initiative simultaneous cooling and heating operation mode and the heating-initiative simultaneous cooling and heating operation mode does not occur, and a third operation zone in which the heating-initiative simultaneous cooling and heating operation mode is switched to the cooling-initiative simultaneous cooling and heating operation mode.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a simultaneous cooling-heating multiple type air conditioner including a plurality of cooling-heating combined-use indoor units, each having an indoor heat exchanger, a cooling-heating combined-use outdoor unit including a compressor, an outdoor heat exchanger, and a refrigerant switching part installed at a discharge side of the compressor for switching flow of refrigerant based on operation conditions such as cooling-only operation, heating-only operation, cooling-initiative simultaneous cooling and heating operation, and heating-initiative simultaneous cooling and heating operation, and a distributor installed between the cooling-heating combined-use indoor units and the cooling-heating combined-use outdoor unit for distributing the refrigerant into passages of the cooling-heating combined-use indoor units based on the operation conditions such as cooling-only operation, heating-only operation, cooling-initiative simultaneous cooling and heating operation, and heating-initiative simultaneous cooling and heating operation, wherein the air conditioner is controlled with an operation domain including a plurality of operation zones which are divided according to a refrigerant suction pressure and a refrigerant discharge pressure of the compressor, in which the operation zone domain comprises a first operation zone in which a cooling-initiative simultaneous cooling and heating operation mode is switched to a heating-initiative simultaneous cooling and heating operation mode, a second operation zone in which a mode switching between the cooling-initiative simultaneous cooling and heating operation mode and the heating-initiative simultaneous cooling and heating operation does not occur, and a third operation zone in which the heating-initiative simultaneous cooling and heating operation mode is switched to the cooling-initiative simultaneous cooling and heating operation mode.

The suction pressure of the compressor is less than a first suction pressure, a discharge pressure of the compressor is less than a first discharge pressure in the first operation zone; the suction pressure of the compressor ranges from the first suction pressure to a second suction pressure wherein the second suction pressure is greater than the first suction pressure and the discharge pressure of the compressor ranges from the first discharge pressure to a second discharge pressure wherein the second discharge pressure is greater than the first discharge pressure in the second operation zone; and the suction pressure of the compressor may be greater than the second suction pressure and the discharge pressure of the compressor may be greater than the second discharge pressure. In this instance, the air conditioner operating in the first operation zone and the third operation zone can be controlled to move to the second operation zone by varying discharge flow rate of refrigerant discharged from the compressor or the number of revolutions of the outdoor fan.

The distributor may include a liquid header, a low pressure gas header, and a high pressure gas header. The simultaneous cooling-heating multi-air conditioner according to the present invention may further include a liquid refrigerant pipe for connecting the cooling-heating outdoor unit to the liquid header, a low pressure gas pipe for connecting the cooling-heating outdoor unit to the low pressure gas header, and a high pressure gas pipe for connecting the cooling-heating outdoor unit to the high pressure gas header.

Since the simultaneous cooling-heating multiple type air conditioner according to the present invention switches its operation modes in an operation domain divided into a plurality of operation zones based on the refrigerant suction pressure and the refrigerant discharge pressure of the compressor, it can be steadily operated and controlled during the simultaneous cooling and heating operation period.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a simultaneous cooling-heating multiple type air conditioner according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating the operation status of the simultaneous cooling-heating multiple type air conditioner shown in FIG. 1, which operates in a cooling-only operation mode;

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating the operation status of the simultaneous cooling-heating multiple type air conditioner shown in FIG. 1, which operates in a heating-only operation mode;

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating the operation status of the simultaneous cooling-heating multiple type air conditioner shown in FIG. 1, which operates in a cooling-initiative simultaneous cooling-heating operation mode;

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating the operation status of the simultaneous cooling-heating multiple type air conditioner shown in FIG. 1, which operates in a heating-initiative simultaneous cooling-heating operation mode; and

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating an operation domain of the simultaneous cooling-heating multiple type air conditioner shown in FIG. 1, which is controlled to perform a simultaneous cooling-heating operation.

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