JP2002267233A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To prevent erroneous notification of fire due to failure of room temperature detecting means, etc.
Further, the present invention provides an air conditioner capable of performing an appropriate fire determination independent of the installation environment of the air conditioner. SOLUTION: A plurality of fire determination set temperatures F1 and F2 are provided (step S110), and a room temperature T detected by room temperature detection means is compared with the fire determination set temperatures F1 and F2, respectively (steps S130 and S131). According to the abnormal situation, another abnormal signal is given (step S140, step S141), and information on whether the room temperature detecting means is out of order (sensor abnormality) or fire is transmitted (step S150).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an air conditioner. More specifically, the present invention relates to an air conditioner having a fire alarm function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional air conditioners of this type include:
For example, there is one described in JP-A-8-173568.

When a room temperature is detected by a room temperature detecting means provided in an indoor unit of an air conditioner, and the detected temperature is equal to or higher than a fire occurrence predicted temperature for predicting a predetermined room fire occurrence. In this method, a fire is determined and a notification is sent to the outside using a modem or the like.

[0004]

However, in the case of the above-mentioned prior art, the judgment of a fire depends only on one predetermined fire judgment set temperature. There is a problem that it is difficult to distinguish between the abnormality of the room temperature detecting means and that of the room temperature detecting means.

[0005] In addition, in the case of an erroneous notification due to the occurrence of a failure in the room temperature detecting means, there is a problem that the user cannot know the details of the abnormality.

Another problem is that when a fire is erroneously determined due to a failure of the room temperature detecting means, the user cannot easily cancel the fire determination of the air conditioner.

[0007] Further, since the fire judgment set temperature used for fire judgment is set in advance, and there is no setting means for arbitrarily setting, the indoor unit of the air conditioner is installed in a special place such as near a stove in a kitchen. When installed in an unusual environment, the room temperature predicted at the time of a fire (fire setting temperature) differs from the room temperature at the time of the actual fire, making it impossible to make an appropriate fire determination and causing false alarms. Was.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems by preventing erroneous notification of a fire due to a failure of a room temperature detecting means, and when the erroneous notification is found, it is possible to cancel the alarm. It is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner capable of performing a fire determination.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an air conditioner of the present invention stores room temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature in a room and a fire judgment set temperature predicted when a fire in the room occurs. Storage means for comparing the temperature detected by the room temperature detecting means with the fire determination set temperature; determining means for determining an abnormal situation based on the result of the comparing means; It has a transmitting means for transmitting, and a notifying means for notifying the user that the abnormal condition has been received, and the fire judgment set temperature is provided with a plurality of fire judgment set temperatures in which different numerical values are set. Also,
A release means for releasing the determination of the abnormal situation and a setting means for setting the fire determination set temperature at an arbitrary value are provided.

[0010] With this configuration, it is possible to prevent erroneous notification of a fire due to a failure of the room temperature detecting means and the like, and to release the erroneous notification when it is found. A possible air conditioner can be provided.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention according to claim 1 is configured by providing a plurality of fire determination set temperatures. With this configuration, it is possible to determine an abnormal situation in which the fire determination and the failure determination such as the failure of the room temperature detecting means are separated.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, an abnormal condition based on a plurality of fire determination set temperatures is displayed on the notification means by different abnormal signals. With this configuration, the user can easily grasp the details of the abnormality.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, a plurality of fire determination set temperatures are set, and the room temperature detected by the room temperature detecting means reaches the plurality of respective fire determination set temperatures in a predetermined order. Thus, even if the detected room temperature at the time of failure of the room temperature detecting means cannot be easily assumed, it is possible to prevent erroneous determination of a fire due to the failure of the room temperature detecting means.

The invention according to claim 4 is provided with a release means for releasing the determination of the abnormal situation. With this configuration, when a fire is erroneously determined due to a failure of the thermistor or the like, the erroneous determination can be easily canceled.

The invention according to claim 5 is provided with a setting means for setting the fire determination set temperature at an arbitrary value. With this configuration, the indoor temperature expected when a fire occurs, that is, the fire determination set temperature can be set according to the environment in which the air conditioner is installed, so that more appropriate fire determination can be performed.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention applied to a multi-room air conditioner will be described with reference to FIGS.

(Embodiment 1) In FIG. 1, A1, A2,
A3 is an indoor unit of the air conditioner, C is an outdoor unit, and B is a refrigerant branch unit that divides refrigerant from the outdoor unit to the indoor units A1, A2, and A3, and the outdoor unit C, the refrigerant branch unit B, and the refrigerant branch unit. B and the indoor units A1, A2, A3 are connected by piping to form a refrigeration cycle.

The indoor unit A1 is provided with a thermistor 1a as room temperature detecting means. The thermistor 1a is converted into a voltage by a 5V power supply and a voltage dividing resistor 1b.
is input to a. Since the thermistor 1a has a negative characteristic and exhibits a lower resistance as the temperature becomes higher, the temperature detected by the thermistor 1a is converted into a range of 0 to 5 V and is input to the microcomputer 2a. A predetermined fire determination set temperature is stored in an E ² PROM (storage means) 2b provided in the control device 2, and is compared with a room temperature detected by the thermistor 1a by a comparison means (not shown) provided in the microcomputer 2a. I do. Indoor unit A
2 and A3 have the same configuration.

The indoor units A1, A2, A3 and the refrigerant branching unit B are provided with communication means 3 for exchanging control information.

A branch control device 5 is provided in the refrigerant branch unit B, and the microcomputer 5a controls the wireless transmission / reception means 4 based on control information obtained by the communication means 3. The wireless transmitting / receiving means 4 performs wireless signal transmission based on control information given from the microcomputer 5a.

On the other hand, a centralized remote controller D provided separately from the air conditioner constituting the refrigeration cycle system includes a wireless transmitting / receiving means 8 capable of communicating with the wireless transmitting / receiving means 4 provided in the refrigerant branching unit B. Have. Further, the centralized remote controller D is provided with an operation switch unit 9 operated by a user, a display unit 7 as a notification unit for displaying control information, and a modem communication unit 10 for communicating with the outside. Is controlled by Remote control device 6
The microcomputer 6a provided in the CPU performs a determination based on information provided by the wireless transmission / reception means 8 and the operation unit 9, displays a determination result or the like on the display unit 7, and transmits information to the air conditioner by the wireless transmission / reception means 8 and the modem. Information is transmitted to the outside via the modem communication means 10 for communicating with the communication device 11.

Next, the specific control contents of the air conditioner having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG.

The control routine shown in FIG. 2 is executed at predetermined time intervals by the microcomputer 2a of the indoor unit A1. In step S100, a flag E indicating a state when an abnormality such as a fire has occurred in the room is reset. Next step S1
10, a plurality of predetermined fire determination set temperatures F1 and F2 from the E ² PROM 2b, and in step S120, the room temperature T detected by the thermistor 1a is the microcomputer 2a.
Is taken in. Here, the fire determination set temperatures F1, F2
Is a predicted indoor temperature which is assumed when a fire occurs in advance, and includes a plurality of numerical values, that is, fire determination set temperatures F1 and F2.
(F1 <F2) is set.

Next step S130, step S131
In this case, the room temperature T is compared with the fire determination set temperatures F1 and F2, and an abnormal signal different depending on the abnormal situation is added to the flag E.

That is, if T <F1, the routine proceeds to step 150. If T ≧ F2, the process proceeds to step S140, and the flag E is set to 1. If F1 ≦ T <F2, the process proceeds to step S141, where the flag E is set to 2, and the process proceeds to step S150. Then, in step S150, flag E data is transmitted to central remote control D. The data is transmitted to the microcomputer 5a of the branch unit B via the communication means 3, and further transmitted from the microcomputer 5a to the central remote controller D by the wireless transmission / reception means 4.

In the microcomputer 6a of the central remote controller D, a control routine shown in FIG. 3 is executed at predetermined time intervals. In step S200, the flag E received by the wireless transmitting / receiving means 8 is taken into the microcomputer 6a. In the next step S210, the flag E is determined, and if the flag E is 0, this routine ends. If the flag E is 1 or 2, the process proceeds to step S211 and further determines whether the flag E is 1. If the flag E is 1, step S
Proceeding to 220, the display unit 7 determines that the thermistor 1a of the indoor unit A1 is abnormal and displays a failure. The flag E
If the value is 2, the process proceeds to step S221 to display a fire on the display unit 7. In the next step S231, a fire occurrence is notified to the outside via the modem communication unit 10.

In this embodiment, when the thermistor 1a is short-circuited, the voltage input to the microcomputer 2a of the indoor unit A1 is 5 V, which is the same input as when the high temperature is detected by the thermistor 1a. If the set temperature F2 is set as the detection temperature at the time of the short-circuit failure of the thermistor 1a, it is determined that the thermistor 1a is out of order, and erroneous detection of a fire and erroneous notification to the outside can be prevented. In addition, since a failure is displayed on the display unit 7, the user can easily know the abnormality of the thermistor 1a.

In this embodiment, the room temperature detecting means uses a thermistor having a negative characteristic as the room temperature detecting means and inputs the voltage to the microcomputer through a voltage dividing resistor. The same effect can be obtained.

Although two values are set as the fire judgment set values, a plurality of fire judgment set temperatures are provided in stages so that a detected temperature assumed due to a failure of the room temperature detecting means can be specified. Even if there is, the same effect can be obtained.

The temperature T was taken in once,
A method of averaging a plurality of capture results for the purpose of noise removal or the like may be used.

The air conditioner is a system air conditioner comprising three indoor units, one refrigerant branch unit and one outdoor unit. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The same effect can be obtained with an air conditioner that performs the air conditioning operation while detecting.

Although the display unit provided on the centralized remote controller is used as a means for informing the user, the same effect can be obtained by informing by sound using a sounding body or the like.

(Embodiment 2) Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The configuration of the air conditioner is the same as that of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows a control routine of the microcomputer 2a of the indoor unit A1 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
This is executed by the microcomputer 2a at predetermined time intervals. In step S300, a flag E indicating a state when an abnormality such as a fire has occurred in the room and a flag F indicating a state of taking in the room temperature T are reset.

In the next step S301, the E ² PROM
From step 2b, predetermined fire determination set temperatures F1 and F2 are determined in step S310.
Are taken into the microcomputer 2a. Where F
1, F2 is a predicted indoor temperature assumed when a fire occurs in advance, and F1 <F2.

In the next step S320, the room temperature T is compared with the fire determination set temperature F1, and if T <F1, the flag E is set.
Is not changed and the process proceeds to step S360. If T ≧ F1, the process proceeds to step S330 to determine whether the flag F is 1.

If the flag F is 1, step S
At 340, the room temperature T is compared with the fire determination set temperature F2. If T ≧ F2, 2 is set to the flag E in step S353, and if T <F2, 3 is set to the flag E in step S354. If the flag F is 0, the room temperature T and the fire determination set temperature F2 are set in step S341.
And if T ≧ F2, the process proceeds to step S351 to set 1 to the flag E. If T <F2, the flag F is set to 1 and the process is repeated from step S310.

After the flag E is determined, the process proceeds to step S360,
The flag E data is transmitted to the central remote controller D. The data is transmitted to the microcomputer 5a of the branch unit B via the communication unit 3, and further transmitted from the microcomputer 5a to the central remote controller D by the wireless transmission / reception unit 4.

In the microcomputer 6a of the central remote controller D, FIG.
Is executed at predetermined time intervals. First, in step S400, the flag E received by the wireless transmitting / receiving means 8 is taken into the microcomputer 6a. Next step S41
In step S420 and step S421, the flag E is determined.

If the flag E is 0, this routine ends. If the flag E is 1, the process proceeds to step S430, and the display unit 7 displays that the thermistor 1a of the indoor unit A1 is out of order. If the flag E is 2, step S
Proceeding to 431, a fire is displayed on the display unit 7, and in the next step S441, a fire is notified to the outside via the modem communication means 10. If the flag E is 2, the process proceeds to step S432, and the room temperature in the room to be air-conditioned of the indoor unit A1 is regarded as abnormally high, and a warning display of excessive room temperature is displayed.

In the present embodiment, as is apparent from the above description, a fire is determined only when the room temperature T detects F2 or more after detecting the range of F1 or more and less than F2.
Even when the detected room temperature at the time of failure of the thermistor cannot be easily assumed, it is possible to prevent erroneous determination of a fire due to the failure of the thermistor.

In this embodiment, a thermistor having a negative characteristic is used as the room temperature detecting means, and the temperature is input to the microcomputer by a voltage dividing resistor. However, if the room temperature can be converted and input to the microcomputer by some method, Similar effects can be obtained.

Also, two values are set as the fire judgment setting values, and the condition for judging a fire is only when F2 or more is detected after detecting F1 or more and less than F2, but the present invention is not limited to this. A similar effect can be obtained as long as a plurality of fire determination set temperatures and their detection order are provided in a specific order based on the temperature fluctuation in the room.

The temperature T was taken in once,
A method of averaging a plurality of capture results for the purpose of noise removal or the like may be used.

The air conditioner is a system air conditioner comprising three indoor units, one refrigerant branch unit and one outdoor unit. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The same effect can be obtained if the air conditioner performs the air conditioning operation while detecting the air conditioner.

(Embodiment 3) Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 21 denotes an indoor unit of the air conditioner, 22 denotes an indoor control device for controlling the indoor unit 21, 23 denotes a thermistor for detecting the temperature in the room, 24 denotes an operation switch operated by the user, and 26 denotes an operation switch. A dial SW 25 for selecting an arbitrary three-digit number is a liquid crystal display unit for displaying information held by the control device 22. The temperature information obtained by the thermistor 23 and the input information input from the operation SW 24 and the dial SW 26 as the release means are both input to the indoor control device 22. Further, the indoor control device 22 performs display on the liquid crystal display unit 25 as necessary.

FIG. 7 shows a control routine of the microcomputer 22a of the indoor unit 21 according to the third embodiment of the present invention, which is executed by the microcomputer 22a at predetermined time intervals.

First, in step S500, the thermistor 2
The indoor temperature T is taken in by step 3 and the next step S5
At 10, the number set by the dial SW 26 is taken in as the fire determination set temperature F1. In the next step S520, the detected room temperature T is compared with the fire determination set temperature F1. If T ≦ F1, this routine ends.

If T> F1, the flow advances to step S530 to display a fire on the liquid crystal display unit 25. Next step S5
At 40, it is determined whether or not the operation SW 24 has been operated. If no operation has been performed, the process returns to step S530, and is repeated until the operation SW 24 is operated. When the operation SW 24 is operated, the process proceeds to the next step S550,
After terminating the fire display, the routine is terminated.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the judgment can be canceled by the operation SW after the judgment of the fire is made. Therefore, when the fire is mistakenly judged due to the failure of the thermistor, the cancellation by the user is performed. It is possible.

Since the fire determination set temperature F1 can be arbitrarily set by the dial SW26, the indoor temperature expected when a fire occurs should be set according to the environment in which the air conditioner is installed. Thus, more appropriate fire detection can be performed.

In the present embodiment, the processing after the fire determination is performed by displaying the fire on the liquid crystal. However, notification by sound from a sounding body or notification to the outside using a modem or the like may be used.

Although the thermistor is used as the room temperature detecting means, the present invention is not limited to this method as long as the indoor temperature is taken into the control device.

Although the abnormality is released by the operation switch provided in the indoor unit body, the same effect can be obtained as long as the user can easily operate the remote controller or the like.

Although the dial SW is used as a means for setting the fire judgment set temperature, the same effect can be obtained as long as the method can be easily set by the user.

[0057]

The present invention is embodied in the form described above, and has the following effects.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, by providing a plurality of fire determination set temperatures, it is possible to determine an abnormal situation separately from fire determination and failure determination such as failure of the room temperature detecting means.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the abnormal condition based on the plurality of fire determination set temperatures is displayed on the notification means by different abnormal signals, so that the user can easily grasp the contents of the abnormal condition. be able to.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, when a plurality of fire determination set temperatures are set and the room temperature detected by the room temperature detecting means reaches each of the fire determination set temperatures in a predetermined order, a fire determination is made. This makes it possible to prevent erroneous determination of a fire due to the failure of the room temperature detecting means even when the detected room temperature at the time of the failure of the room temperature detecting means cannot be easily assumed.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the release means for releasing the determination of the abnormal situation is provided, so that when the fire is erroneously determined due to the failure of the thermistor or the like, the erroneous determination can be easily released. it can.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the provision of the setting means for setting the fire judgment set temperature at an arbitrary value provides a room temperature expected when a fire occurs, that is, the fire judgment set temperature. Can be set in accordance with the environment in which the air conditioner is installed, so that more appropriate fire determination can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an air conditioner showing a first embodiment and a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control flowchart according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a control flowchart of the centralized remote controller according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a control flowchart according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a control flowchart of the centralized remote controller according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of an air-conditioning apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a control flowchart according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

A1, A3, A3 indoor unit B refrigerant branch unit C outdoor unit D central remote controller 1a, 23 a thermistor (RT detecting means) 1b dividing resistors 2,22 indoor control unit 2a, 5a, 22a microcomputer 2b E ² PROM (storage means) Reference Signs List 3 communication means 4, 8 wireless transmission / reception means 5 branch control device 6 communication means 7 display unit (notification means) 10 modem communication means (transmission means) 21 indoor unit 24 operation SW (release means) 25 liquid crystal display unit (notification means) 26 Dial SW (setting means)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshikazu Nishihara 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture F-term in Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. CA32 DA10 DA21 DA24 EA27

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. Room temperature detecting means for detecting a temperature in a room;
Storage means for storing a fire determination set temperature predicted at the time of the occurrence of a fire in the room; comparison means for comparing the temperature detected by the room temperature detection means with the fire determination set temperature; and a result of the comparison means. Determining means for determining an abnormal condition; transmitting means for transmitting a result of the determination by the determining means to the outside; and notifying means for notifying a user that the abnormal condition has been received, wherein the fire determination set temperature is different. An air conditioner configured with a plurality of fire judgment set temperatures for which numerical values are set. 2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein an abnormal condition based on the plurality of fire determination set temperatures is transmitted to the notifying means by different abnormal signals and displayed. 3. A method for determining a fire when a plurality of fire determination set temperatures are set and the room temperature detected by the room temperature detecting means reaches the plurality of respective fire determination set temperatures in a predetermined order. The air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2, which is configured. 4. The air-conditioning apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a release unit for releasing the determination of the abnormal situation. 5. The air conditioner according to claim 1, further comprising a setting unit for setting the fire determination set temperature at an arbitrary value.