Air conditioner and control method thereof

Abstract

The present application relates to an air conditioner and a control method thereof, the control method comprising the steps of: judging whether the current drainage pump has a risk of abnormal operation, if so, controlling the drainage pump to operate intermittently until the water level in the sump reaches the detection level 3; then controlling the drainage pump to operate normally and detecting the operating power of the drainage pump, if the operating power is within the standard range, determining that the drainage pump has no risk of abnormal operation, otherwise the drainage pump operates normally until the water level is detected to reach the detection level 1, and controlling the drainage pump to stop operating. The present application can handle the hardening of the drainage pump or drainage pipe to prevent the hardened sludge from affecting the drainage effect or damaging the drainage pump heating.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of air conditioning drainage, and in particular to an air conditioner and a control method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Duct air conditioners and ceiling air conditioners have been widely used in people's work and life. Due to the installation method, duct air conditioners and ceiling air conditioners often need to discharge the water accumulated in the sump through a drainage pump.

[0003] Due to the air conditioner not being cleaned in time or the use environment, dust is easily accumulated on the indoor heat exchanger, and the dust accumulated on the indoor heat exchanger flows into the water collection tank along with the condensed water produced on the heat exchanger. Over time, a large amount of dust will accumulate in the water collection tank and then form sludge, which will migrate to the drainage pump and drainage pipe during the drainage process.

[0004] When the air conditioner is not used for a long time, the sludge deposited in the sump, drain pump or drainage pipe may harden. The hardened sludge will affect the drainage effect of the drain pump, thereby affecting the drainage effect. In severe cases, it may cause the drain pump to burn out and drainage to fail.

[0005] The drainage control of the air conditioner in the prior art does not take the above problems into consideration. Summary of the invention

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner and a control method thereof, which can control a drainage pump, thereby effectively eliminating the adverse effects that may be caused by sludge deposition in the sump, drainage pump or drainage pipe.

[0007] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0008] An air conditioner control method, characterized in that it comprises the following steps:

[0009] S1, after receiving the start signal of the air conditioner, detecting the current operation mode according to the operation information set by the user;

[0010] S2, operate according to the set operation mode and receive information from the water level sensor. If the water level in the sump reaches the second detection level, control the drainage pump to start operating;

[0011] S3, determining whether the current drainage pump has a risk of abnormal operation, if so, executing step S4, otherwise executing step S6;

[0012] S4, controlling the drainage pump to operate intermittently until the water level in the sump reaches a third detection level;

[0013] S5, controlling the normal operation of the drainage pump and detecting the operating power of the drainage pump. If the operating power is within the standard range, it is determined that the drainage pump is not operating.

[0014] Abnormal risk, execute step S6, otherwise execute step S7;

[0015] S6, the drainage pump operates normally until it is detected that the water level reaches the first detection position, and the drainage pump is controlled to stop operating;

[0016] S7, determining that the drainage pump is draining abnormally, and issuing an abnormal prompt to remind the user to clean manually.

[0017] The purpose of the present application is also to provide an air conditioner for implementing the above-mentioned air conditioner control method.

[0018] The present invention adopts the above-mentioned technical scheme. When it is detected that the current drainage pump has a risk of abnormal operation and the water level in the sump reaches the preset second detection position of the drainage position, the drainage pump starts to operate intermittently. The drainage pump is turned on for a short time and then stops for a period of time to discharge a small amount of water in the sump to the drainage pump and the drainage pipe. The small amount of water discharged is used to soften the sludge deposited in the drainage pump and the drainage pipe. The amount of water reduced from drainage level 2 to drainage level 3 is the amount of water discharged to the drainage pump and the drainage pipe for softening the sludge, and the drainage pump runs intermittently to leave time for sludge softening. Through the above-mentioned treatment, it can be avoided that when there is hardened sludge in the drainage pump and the drainage pipe, the drainage pump will not run for a long time, resulting in a large load on the drainage pump, causing the water pump to burn out or drainage to be poor. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of the air conditioner in this application;

[0020] Figure 2 This is a control logic diagram of the drainage pump in this application;

[0021] Figure 3 This is a diagram of the value range of the correction parameter α in this application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] The embodiments of the present application are further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0023] Embodiment 1:

[0024] This embodiment relates to a method for controlling an air conditioner, comprising the following steps:

[0025] S1, after receiving the start signal of the air conditioner, detecting the current operation mode according to the operation information set by the user;

[0026] S2, operate according to the set operation mode and receive information from the water level sensor. If the water level in the sump reaches the second detection level, control the drainage pump to start operating;

[0027] S3, determining whether the current drainage pump has a risk of abnormal operation, if so, executing step S4, otherwise executing step S6;

[0028] S4, controlling the drainage pump to operate intermittently until the water level in the sump reaches a third detection level;

[0029] S5, controlling the normal operation of the drainage pump and detecting the operating power of the drainage pump. If the operating power is within the standard range, it is determined that the drainage pump has no risk of abnormal operation, and step S6 is executed; otherwise, step S7 is executed;

[0030] S6, determining that the drainage pump is abnormal, and issuing an abnormality prompt to remind the user to clean manually;

[0031] S7, the drainage pump operates normally until it is detected that the water level reaches the first detection position, and the drainage pump is controlled to stop operating.

[0032] In the above method, when it is detected that the current drainage pump has a risk of abnormal operation and the water level in the sump reaches the second detection position of the preset drainage position, the drainage pump starts to operate intermittently. The drainage pump is turned on for a short time and then stopped for a period of time to discharge a small amount of water in the sump into the drainage pump and the drainage pipe. The small amount of water discharged is used to soften the sludge deposited in the drainage pump and the drainage pipe. The amount of water reduced from drainage level 2 to drainage level 3 is the amount of water discharged into the drainage pump and the drainage pipe for softening the sludge, and the drainage pump is operated intermittently to leave time for softening the sludge. Through the above processing, it can be avoided that when there is hardened sludge in the drainage pump and the drainage pipe, the drainage pump will not run for a long time, resulting in a large load on the drainage pump, causing the water pump to burn out or poor drainage.

[0033] The above method further includes the step of: turning off the air conditioner when a shutdown signal is received.

[0034] Wherein, judging whether the current drainage pump has a risk of abnormal operation in step S3 includes:

[0035] Determine whether the currently set mode is a cooling or dehumidification operation mode. If so, obtain the time interval △T from the previous operation. If the interval time △T is not less than the preset threshold, it is considered that the drainage pump has a risk of abnormal operation.

[0036] In a specific embodiment, determining whether the interval time ΔT is not less than a preset threshold includes:

[0037] Determine whether the operating mode during the previous operation of the air conditioner is the cooling or dehumidifying mode. If so, the preset threshold is preset threshold a; otherwise, the preset threshold is preset threshold b, where b < a.

[0038] Since the air conditioner does not generate condensed water on the surface of the air conditioner heat exchanger during the heating or ventilation operation mode (non-cooling or non-dehumidifying mode), it is easier for the deposited sludge to harden. Therefore, in actual control, different preset thresholds a and preset thresholds b are set respectively in combination with whether the previous operation of the air conditioner is the cooling or dehumidifying operation mode, and b < a, so as to better conform to the actual operation situation.

[0039] In the specific implementation manner, the obtaining of the time interval ΔT from the previous operation includes:

[0040] Obtain the current time T” at startup and the time T’ recorded at the previous shutdown. ΔT = T” - T’, and the calculation result of ΔT is calculated in units of days. Wherein, if T’ does not exist, it is determined that the air conditioner is operating for the first time, and ΔT = 0. By recording the shutdown time of the air conditioner each time it operates, the time interval between two operations of the air conditioner can be simply calculated.

[0041] As a preferred implementation manner, in the non-cooling or non-dehumidifying mode, obtain the heating operation duration Tha and the time interval ΔT from the previous operation of this operation. Based on the relationship between the above Tha and ΔT and the preset threshold γ, determine whether there is a risk of abnormal operation of the drain pump, where the operation duration in the ventilation operation mode can be converted into the heating operation duration.

[0042] Since the air conditioner does not generate condensed water during operation in the non-cooling or non-dehumidifying mode, the accumulated water in the water collection tank and / or drain pipe in the non-cooling or non-dehumidifying mode will evaporate into the air. Therefore, the heating operation duration needs to be considered during calculation to make the abnormal judgment of the drain pump more accurate.

[0043] In the specific implementation manner, the determining whether there is a risk of abnormal operation of the drain pump based on the relationship between Tha and ΔT and the preset threshold γ includes:

[0044] Pre-set the corresponding relationship between Tha, ΔT and the correction coefficient α, such as Figure 3 , and determine the corresponding correction coefficient α according to the current Tha and ΔT;

[0045] Compare the product of Tha, ΔT and the correction coefficient α with the preset threshold γ. If Tha × ΔT × α ≤ γ, it is determined that there is no risk of abnormal operation of the drain pump, and step S7 is executed; otherwise, step S6 is executed.

[0046] In a specific embodiment, an abnormal flag X is set. If the drainage pump is determined to have no abnormal operation risk, X = 0 is set, otherwise, X = 1. Setting the abnormal flag is used to identify whether the current drainage pump has an operation risk, which makes it easier to implement judgment control in the control process.

[0047] The obtaining of the heating operation duration Tha comprises:

[0048] When the air conditioner is in cooling or dehumidification mode and there is no risk of abnormal operation of the drain pump, set Tha=0;

[0049] When the air conditioner is detected to be in heating or ventilation mode, the operation time T is recorded. If it is currently in dehumidification mode, T = βT, where β is a preset conversion coefficient;

[0050] Update heating operation duration Tha=Tha+T.

[0051] The operation time T is cleared before each shutdown to prevent interference with the calculation of Tha in the next heating or ventilation operation mode. The heating operation time can be updated in real time, or the heating operation time can be updated after receiving a shutdown signal or a mode switching signal from the air conditioner to switch to the cooling or dehumidification mode.

[0052] Preferably, step S4 comprises:

[0053] Set the intermittent operation times of the drainage pump to 0, control the intermittent operation of the drainage pump, and when the intermittent operation times of the drainage pump reaches the preset times, detect whether the water level in the sump reaches the third detection position, if so, execute step S5, otherwise, repeat step S4.

[0054] In this solution, when the number of intermittent operations reaches the preset number, the water pump is tried to operate at the target speed, which can protect the water pump and prevent the deposition of silt and the like, and the water pump from burning due to excessive resistance when draining water.

[0055] The overall execution logic of the above air conditioner control method is as follows: Figure 2 shown.

[0056] In the control method of the air conditioner, the hardening of the drainage pump or the drainage pipe can be processed to prevent the hardened sludge from affecting the drainage effect or causing the drainage pump to be damaged.

[0057] Embodiment 2:

[0058] This embodiment relates to an air conditioner, which is used to implement the air conditioner control method in Embodiment 1.

[0059] like Figure 1As shown, the air conditioner 1 includes a control mechanism 11, an indoor heat exchanger 12, a water collection tank 13, a water level sensor 14, a drainage pump 15, a drainage pipe 16 and a corresponding power cable. The air conditioner is specifically an indoor unit of an air conditioner, which has four operating modes: cooling, dehumidification, heating, and ventilation. When the air conditioner is running, condensed water will be generated on the surface of the indoor heat exchanger 12, and the generated condensed water will be collected in the water collection tank 13, and the accumulated water in the water collection tank 13 will be discharged through the drainage pipe 16 by the drainage pump 15. Therefore, the present application proposes a control method for an air conditioner for controlling its drainage. In the actual operation of the air conditioner, condensed water will only be generated when the air conditioner is in the cooling or dehumidification operation mode, and no condensed water will be generated in the heating and ventilation operation modes. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish the operation modes of the air conditioner for drainage control.

[0060] The water level sensor 14 is arranged in the water collection tank for detecting the water level information in the water collection tank 13. The control mechanism controls the opening or closing of the drainage pump 15 in combination with the water level in the water collection tank to control drainage. At the same time, the control mechanism also controls the start and stop operation of the drainage pump 15 in combination with the operation load of the drainage pump 15.

[0061] As a preferred solution, the water level sensor can detect three water levels: the first detection position, the second detection position and the third detection position; the first detection position is the detection position where the drainage pump stops draining; the second detection position is the detection position where the drainage pump starts draining under normal working conditions; the third detection position is the detection position where the drainage pump starts draining when it is determined that the drainage pump may have abnormal operation. Specifically, the drainage pump starts draining when the drainage pump has not been cooled for a long time or has been in cooling operation again after a certain period of heating operation.

[0062] In the above arrangement, the water level detection sensor also detects whether the water level has reached the third detection position, and performs drainage control in combination with possible abnormalities in the drainage pump, thereby making the control of the drainage pump more refined and preventing the drainage effect from being affected or the drainage pump from being damaged due to hardening of silt in the sump 13, the drainage pump 15 or the drainage pipe 16.

Claims

1. An air conditioner control method, characterized in that: The steps include: S1, after receiving the start signal of the air conditioner, detecting the current operation mode according to the operation information set by the user; S2, operates according to the set operation mode and receives information from the water level sensor. If the water level in the sump reaches detection level 2, the drainage pump is controlled to start operating; S3, determining whether the current drainage pump has a risk of abnormal operation, if so, executing step S4, otherwise executing step S6; S4, controlling the drainage pump to operate intermittently until the water level in the sump reaches detection level 3; S5, controlling the normal operation of the drainage pump and detecting the operating power of the drainage pump. If the operating power is within the standard range, it is determined that the drainage pump has no risk of abnormal operation, and step S6 is executed; otherwise, step S7 is executed; S6, the drainage pump operates normally until the water level is detected to reach detection level 1, and the drainage pump is controlled to stop running; S7, determining that the drainage pump is abnormal, and issuing an abnormality prompt to remind the user to clean manually; Wherein, judging whether the current drainage pump has a risk of abnormal operation in step S3 includes: Determine whether the currently set mode is a cooling or dehumidification operation mode. If so, obtain the time interval △T from the previous operation. If the interval time △T is not less than the preset threshold, it is considered that the drainage pump has a risk of abnormal operation. In non-cooling or dehumidification mode, the heating operation duration Tha and the time interval △T between the current operation and the previous operation are obtained. Based on the relationship between the above Tha and △T and the preset threshold value γ, it is determined whether the drainage pump has the risk of abnormal operation. The operation time in the ventilation operation mode can be converted into the heating operation time.

2. The air conditioner control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: Determining whether the interval time △T is not less than a preset threshold includes: Determine whether the operation mode of the air conditioner during the previous operation was the cooling or dehumidification mode. If so, the preset threshold is the preset threshold a. Otherwise, the preset threshold is the preset threshold b. <a。 3. The air conditioner control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step of obtaining the time interval ΔT from the last operation includes: The current time T" when the air conditioner is turned on and the time T' recorded when the air conditioner was last turned off are obtained, △T = T" - T', and the calculation result of △T is calculated in days; if T' does not exist, it is determined that the air conditioner is running for the first time, and △T = 0.

4. The air conditioner control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The determining whether the drainage pump has a risk of abnormal operation based on the relationship between Tha and ΔT and a preset threshold value γ includes: The corresponding relationship between Tha, △T and correction coefficient α is preset, and the corresponding modification coefficient α is determined according to the current Tha and △T; The product of Tha, △T correction coefficient α and the preset threshold γ are compared. If Tha×△T×α≤γ, it is determined that the drainage pump has no risk of abnormal operation and step S7 is executed; otherwise, step S6 is executed.

5. The air conditioner control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The obtaining of the heating operation duration Tha comprises: When the air conditioner is in cooling or dehumidification mode and there is no risk of abnormal operation of the drain pump, set Tha=0; When the air conditioner is detected to be in heating or ventilation mode, the operation time T is recorded. If it is currently in dehumidification mode, T = βT, where β is a preset conversion coefficient; Update heating operation duration Tha=Tha+T.

6. The air conditioner control method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The step S4 comprises: Set the intermittent operation times of the drainage pump to 0, control the intermittent operation of the drainage pump, and when the intermittent operation times of the drainage pump reaches the preset times, detect whether the water level in the sump reaches the detection position 3, if so, execute step S5, otherwise, repeat step S4.

7. An air conditioner, characterized in that: Used to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. An air conditioner according to claim 7, characterized in that: The air conditioner includes a control mechanism, an indoor heat exchanger, a water collection tank, a water level sensor, a drainage pump and a drainage pipe. Condensed water generated when the indoor heat exchanger is in operation is collected in the water collection tank. The water collection tank is connected to the drainage pump and the drainage pipe. The drainage pump is operated to discharge the water in the water collection tank to the outside of the air conditioner through the drainage pipe.

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