Air conditioning apparatus

Abstract

An air conditioning apparatus includes a defrosting flow channel mechanism. The air conditioning apparatus performs an air-warming defrost operation in which refrigerant sent from an indoor heat exchanger to an outdoor heat exchanger is evaporated while defrosting an arbitrarily selected heat exchange path using the defrosting flow channel mechanism. In the defrost operation, the refrigerant sent to the outdoor heat exchanger from the indoor heat exchanger is not channeled into the refrigerant flow diverter but is passed through the arbitrarily selected heat exchange path from the gas-side end to the liquid-side end of the arbitrarily selected heat exchange path, and the refrigerant passed through the arbitrarily selected heat exchange path flows through the refrigerant flow diverter to be passed through other heat exchange paths other than the arbitrarily selected heat exchange path from the liquid-side end to the gas-side end of the other heat exchange paths.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD[0001]The present invention relates to an air conditioning apparatus, and particularly relates to an air conditioning apparatus capable of performing an air-warming operation.BACKGROUND ART[0002]In the past there have been air conditioning apparatuses configured by sequentially connecting a compressor, an indoor heat exchanger, and an outdoor heat exchanger, and capable of performing an air-warming operation of circulating refrigerant in order through the compressor, the indoor heat exchanger, the outdoor heat exchanger, and the compressor. When frost forms on the outdoor heat exchanger in such an air conditioning apparatus, a reverse cycle defrosting operation is performed in which a switch is made by a four-way switching valve or the like so that the refrigerant is circulated in order through the compressor, the outdoor heat exchanger, the indoor heat exchanger, and the compressor to defrost the outdoor heat exchanger. Therefore, in this air conditioning apparatus, ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is about improving air conditioning systems that use outdoor heat exchangers. The invention allows for better defrosting of the heat exchanger without reducing the system's ability to warm air. The invention achieves this by using a special flow channel to send refrigerant to the heat exchanger and use it for air warming while also defrosting it. The invention also prevents drain water from refreezing and expelling it quickly from the bottom of the heat exchanger. Overall, the invention results in improved system efficiency and performance.

Problems solved by technology

However, in the defrosting system of Patent Literature 1, the frost (ice) does not melt when the temperature of the outdoor air is 0° C. or less, and the system therefore has a problem in that the outdoor heat exchanger cannot be defrosted in weather conditions of an outside air temperature of 0° C. or less in which a large air-warming load is required.

Defrosting requires time to melt frost using outdoor air having a small difference in temperature with the frost, and as a result, only a short time is needed to perform only the air-warming operation, and the system has a problem in that the integral air-warming capability cannot be increased.

In the defrosting system in Patent Literature 2, because some of the refrigerant sent to the indoor heat exchanger and used in air warming is used to defrost the outdoor heat exchanger, the system has a problem in that the air-warming capability during defrosting is severely reduced.

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