Air conditioning system and control method

Abstract

The application discloses an air conditioning system and a control method, wherein the air conditioning system comprises: a plurality of air conditioners; at least one refrigerant detection assembly, each refrigerant detection assembly being connected with at least two air conditioners; a plurality of detection channels being included in the refrigerant detection assembly, and each air conditioner connected with the refrigerant detection assembly being provided with at least one detection channel; the detection channel being used for detecting actual refrigerant data of an environment where the corresponding air conditioner is located; and the refrigerant detection assembly being used for outputting a stop trigger signal to control the corresponding air conditioner to stop when there is actual refrigerant data greater than a first preset data value in the actual refrigerant data of the corresponding air conditioner. The technical scheme is aimed at reducing the manufacturing cost of the air conditioning unit and the difficulty of maintaining the refrigerant detection assembly.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of air conditioner technology, and in particular to an air conditioning system and control method. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, each air conditioner is typically equipped with at least one refrigerant sensor. However, in large air conditioning units, the number of refrigerant sensors increases significantly due to the presence of more than one air conditioner, resulting in higher manufacturing costs for the air conditioning units. Furthermore, since each refrigerant sensor is installed inside the air conditioner, the air conditioner needs to be disassembled if the refrigerant sensor is damaged. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The main objective of this invention is to provide an air conditioning system and control method that aims to reduce the manufacturing cost of air conditioning units and reduce the difficulty of maintaining refrigerant detection components.

[0004] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention proposes an air conditioning system, the air conditioning system comprising:

[0005] Multiple air conditioners;

[0006] At least one refrigerant detection component, each of which is connected to at least two air conditioners; the refrigerant detection component includes multiple detection channels, and each air conditioner connected to the refrigerant detection component is provided with at least one detection channel; the detection channel is used to detect the actual refrigerant data corresponding to the environment in which the air conditioner is located;

[0007] The refrigerant detection component is used to output a shutdown trigger signal to control the corresponding air conditioner to shut down when there is actual refrigerant data in the actual refrigerant data of the corresponding air conditioner that is greater than a first preset data value.

[0008] In some embodiments, the refrigerant detection component further includes:

[0009] The number of output interfaces is consistent with the number of air conditioners connected to the refrigerant detection component, and each output interface corresponds to one air conditioner; the output interface is used to output the shutdown trigger signal to the corresponding air conditioner.

[0010] In some embodiments, the air conditioner includes:

[0011] The controller includes a stop control interface, a power interface, and an input interface, wherein the input interface is connected to the output interface and is used to receive the stop trigger signal.

[0012] A relay includes a first contact and a coil. A first end of the first contact is used to connect to a live wire, and a second end of the first contact is used to connect to the power interface. The coil is connected in series between two pins of the stop control interface.

[0013] The controller is used to control the first contact through the coil when it receives the shutdown trigger signal, so as to disconnect the live wire from the power interface.

[0014] In some embodiments, the refrigerant detection component further includes:

[0015] A first communication interface is connected to at least two corresponding air conditioners, and the first communication interface is used to provide the corresponding actual refrigerant data to the corresponding air conditioner.

[0016] In some embodiments, the air conditioner includes:

[0017] The controller includes a stop control interface, a power interface, a second communication interface, and an input interface; the second communication port is connected to the first communication interface; the input interface is connected to the output interface.

[0018] The relay includes a first contact and a coil. A first end of the first contact is used to connect to a live wire, and a second end of the first contact is electrically connected to the power interface. The coil is connected in series between two pins of the shutdown control interface.

[0019] The controller is used to control the first contact through the coil when the received actual refrigerant data contains actual refrigerant data greater than a second preset value and when the shutdown trigger signal is received, so as to disconnect the live wire from the power interface.

[0020] In some embodiments, the controller is further configured to, when there is no actual refrigerant data greater than a second preset value in the received actual refrigerant data, control the first contact through the coil according to the shutdown trigger signal for a preset period of time to disconnect the live wire from the power interface.

[0021] In some embodiments, the controller further includes a feedback interface;

[0022] The relay further includes a second contact, which is connected in series between two pins of the feedback interface. The controller is used to control the feedback interface to output a corresponding feedback signal by controlling the second contact to turn on or off.

[0023] In some embodiments, the air conditioning system further includes an alarm connected to the refrigerant detection component;

[0024] The refrigerant detection component is also used to control the alarm to output a prompt message when a shutdown trigger signal is output.

[0025] The present invention also proposes a control method for an air conditioning system, applied to the refrigerant detection component of the aforementioned air conditioning system, the control method comprising:

[0026] Detect the actual refrigerant data corresponding to the environment in which the air conditioner is located;

[0027] If there is an actual refrigerant data value greater than the first preset data value in the actual refrigerant data corresponding to the air conditioner, a shutdown trigger signal is output to control the corresponding air conditioner to shut down.

[0028] The present invention also proposes a control method for an air conditioning system, applied to an air conditioner in the aforementioned air conditioning system, the control method comprising:

[0029] Acquire the actual refrigerant data and the shutdown trigger signal output by the refrigerant detection component;

[0030] If, among the received actual refrigerant data, there is actual refrigerant data greater than the second preset value, the first contact is controlled by the coil according to the shutdown trigger signal to disconnect the live wire from the power interface.

[0031] This invention employs a refrigerant detection component with multiple detection channels, each corresponding to at least two air conditioners. Based on the actual refrigerant data collected by each channel, it can determine which air conditioner is leaking, allowing for immediate shutdown. The shared refrigerant detection component reduces the average cost per air conditioner. Furthermore, because the component is shared and not located within any single air conditioner, maintenance of the refrigerant detection component does not require disassembly of the air conditioner, simplifying maintenance. Attached Figure Description

[0032] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on the structures shown in these drawings without creative effort.

[0033] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an embodiment of the air conditioning system of the present invention;

[0034] Figure 2This is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the air conditioning system of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the air conditioning system of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the air conditioning system of the present invention;

[0037] Figure 5 This is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of the air conditioning system of the present invention;

[0038] Figure 6 This is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of the control method of the present invention;

[0039] Figure 7 This is a flowchart illustrating another embodiment of the control method of the present invention.

[0040] Explanation of icon numbers:

[0041] label name label name 100 air conditioner 300 Alarm 110 controller KA coil 120 relay KB1 First contact point 200 Refrigerant detection component KB2 Second contact point

[0042] The realization of the objective, functional features and advantages of the present invention will be further explained in conjunction with the embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings. Detailed Implementation

[0043] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0044] Furthermore, in this invention, descriptions involving "first," "second," etc., are for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying their relative importance or implicitly specifying the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, a feature defined with "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of that feature. Additionally, the technical solutions of the various embodiments can be combined with each other, but only on the basis of being achievable by those skilled in the art. When the combination of technical solutions is contradictory or impossible to implement, such a combination of technical solutions should be considered non-existent and not within the scope of protection claimed by this invention.

[0045] This invention proposes an air conditioning system.

[0046] Reference Figure 1 An air conditioning system, comprising:

[0047] Multiple air conditioners, 100;

[0048] At least one refrigerant detection component 200, each of the refrigerant detection components 200 being connected to at least two air conditioners 100; each refrigerant detection component 200 includes multiple detection channels, and each air conditioner 100 connected to the refrigerant detection component 200 is provided with at least one detection channel; the detection channels are used to detect the actual refrigerant data corresponding to the environment in which the air conditioner 100 is located;

[0049] The refrigerant detection component 200 is used to output a shutdown trigger signal to control the corresponding air conditioner 100 to shut down when there is actual refrigerant data in the actual refrigerant data corresponding to the air conditioner 100 that is greater than a first preset data value.

[0050] In this embodiment, the refrigerant detection component 200 can be a refrigerant detector or other external refrigerant sensing integrated device.

[0051] During normal operation of the air conditioning system, the refrigerant detection component 200 performs real-time refrigerant detection on the multiple connected air conditioners 100 through its multiple detection channels. In one embodiment, the refrigerant detection component 200 pre-stores information about the air conditioner 100 corresponding to each detection channel. Therefore, after collecting multiple actual refrigerant data, the refrigerant detection component 200 can determine whether each air conditioner 100 is leaking refrigerant based on the actual refrigerant data. When actual refrigerant data exceeding a first preset data value is detected, a shutdown trigger signal can be immediately output to the corresponding air conditioner 100. The first preset data value represents the warning refrigerant concentration in the environment where the air conditioner 100 is located. It is determined by taking the remainder of the refrigerant critical value at which the air conditioner 100 may explode, and is pre-stored in the refrigerant detection component 200.

[0052] In another embodiment, the refrigerant detection component 200 internally stores the planar position information corresponding to each detection channel. Taking the detection of the first air conditioner 100 and the second air conditioner 100 by one refrigerant detection component 200 as an example, the following explanation will be provided:

[0053] The refrigerant detection component 200 has multiple detection channels spaced between the first air conditioner 100 and the second air conditioner 100. After collecting multiple actual refrigerant data, if it detects actual refrigerant data greater than a first preset data value, the refrigerant detection component 200 determines the refrigerant distribution of the first air conditioner 100 and the second air conditioner 100 through the planar position information. When the refrigerant concentration decreases from the first air conditioner 100 to the surrounding area, it immediately outputs a shutdown trigger signal to the first air conditioner 100; when the refrigerant concentration decreases from the second air conditioner 100 to the surrounding area, it outputs a shutdown trigger signal to the second air conditioner 100; when the refrigerant concentration decreases from both the first air conditioner 100 and the second air conditioner 100 to the surrounding area, it simultaneously outputs shutdown trigger signals to both the first air conditioner 100 and the second air conditioner 100.

[0054] The technical solution of this invention employs a refrigerant detection component 200 comprising multiple detection channels, with each detection channel corresponding to at least two air conditioners 100. Based on the actual refrigerant data collected by each detection channel, it is possible to determine which specific air conditioner 100 is leaking, and thus take shutdown measures. The shared refrigerant detection component 200 reduces the average cost of each air conditioner 100. Furthermore, because the refrigerant detection component 200 is shared, it is not installed inside any single air conditioner 100, eliminating the need to disassemble the air conditioner 100 during maintenance, thus reducing the difficulty of maintaining the refrigerant detection component 200.

[0055] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2 In one embodiment, the refrigerant detection component 200 further includes:

[0056] The number of output interfaces is the same as the number of air conditioners 100 connected to the refrigerant detection component 200, and each output interface is connected to one air conditioner 100; the output interface is used to output the shutdown trigger signal to the corresponding air conditioner 100.

[0057] In this embodiment, the multiple output interfaces of the refrigerant detection component 200 are respectively connected to at least two air conditioners 100 in a one-to-one correspondence. When the refrigerant detection component 200 determines that the air conditioner 100 is leaking based on the actual refrigerant data collected, the refrigerant detection component 200 can adjust the level of the output interface connected to the air conditioner 100 to the first level representing the shutdown trigger signal to trigger the air conditioner 100 to perform a shutdown operation.

[0058] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2 In one embodiment, the air conditioner 100 includes:

[0059] The controller 110 includes a stop control interface, a power interface, and an input interface. The input interface is connected to the output interface and is used to receive the stop trigger signal.

[0060] The relay 120 includes a first contact KB1 and a coil KA. The first end of the first contact KB1 is used to connect to the live wire, and the second end of the first contact KB1 is used to connect to the power interface. The coil KA is connected in series between the two pins of the stop control interface.

[0061] The controller 110 is used to control the first contact KB1 through the coil KA when it receives the shutdown trigger signal, so as to disconnect the live wire from the power interface.

[0062] In this embodiment, when the input interface level of the controller 110 changes from the initial second level to the first level, the shutdown function of the controller 110 is triggered, stopping the power supply to the relay 120. At this time, no current flows through the coil KA of the relay 120, and the contacts no longer close, thereby disconnecting the connection between the live wire and the power interface of the controller 110, and controlling the air conditioner 100 to stop. The first level is different from the second level.

[0063] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 3 In one embodiment, the refrigerant detection component 200 further includes:

[0064] A first communication interface is connected to at least two corresponding air conditioners 100, and the first communication interface is used to provide the corresponding actual refrigerant data to the corresponding air conditioner 100.

[0065] Considering that a sudden shutdown may cause the internal temperature of the air conditioner 100 to become too high due to residual heat not dissipating, potentially damaging some components, in this embodiment, the refrigerant detection component 200 is also provided with a first communication interface. By pre-storing the communication addresses of the connected air conditioners 100 internally, the actual refrigerant data corresponding to different air conditioners 100 is packaged together with the communication addresses and output to the corresponding air conditioners 100 respectively. The correspondence between the actual refrigerant data and the air conditioners 100 can be obtained by dividing according to preset channel position information, or by directly binding different detection channels with the corresponding air conditioner 100 addresses.

[0066] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 3 In one embodiment, the air conditioner 100 includes:

[0067] Controller 110, the controller 110 includes a stop control interface, a power interface, a second communication interface and an input interface; the second communication port is connected to the first communication interface; the input interface is connected to the output interface;

[0068] The relay 120 includes a first contact KB1 and a coil KA. The first end of the first contact KB1 is used to connect to a live wire, and the second end of the first contact KB1 is electrically connected to the power interface. The coil KA is connected in series between the two pins of the shutdown control interface.

[0069] The controller 110 is used to control the first contact KB1 through the coil KA when there is actual refrigerant data greater than a second preset value in the received actual refrigerant data and when the shutdown trigger signal is received, so as to disconnect the live wire from the power interface.

[0070] In this embodiment, the specific shutdown action of the air conditioner 100 is determined by both the shutdown trigger signal and the received actual refrigerant data. A second preset value is pre-stored in the controller 110. The second preset value is greater than the first preset value, which represents the explosion warning value of refrigerant leakage in the air conditioner 100. When the controller 110 receives the shutdown trigger signal, if the received actual refrigerant data reaches the second preset value, it indicates that the refrigerant leakage of the air conditioner 100 is high, resulting in an excessively high concentration of flammable and toxic substances in the surrounding environment. The power supply must be cut off immediately to prevent the equipment from exploding and causing safety problems to the surrounding area. Therefore, the controller 110 immediately stops supplying power to the relay 120 and controls the live wire to disconnect from the power interface to immediately shut down the air conditioner 100.

[0071] Furthermore, such as Figure 4 As shown, the air conditioning system also includes an alarm 300, which is connected to the refrigerant detection component 200; the refrigerant detection component 200 is also used to control the alarm 300 to output a prompt message when a shutdown trigger signal is output.

[0072] When the controller 110 receives a shutdown trigger signal, if the actual refrigerant data received at this time reaches the second preset value, the audible and visual alarm 300 on the refrigerant detection component 200 will be activated to warn the people present.

[0073] In another embodiment, the controller 110 is further configured to, when there is no actual refrigerant data greater than a second preset value in the received actual refrigerant data, control the first contact KB1 through the coil KA according to the shutdown trigger signal for a preset period of time, thereby disconnecting the live wire from the power interface.

[0074] In this embodiment, when the controller 110 receives the shutdown trigger signal, if the actual refrigerant data received at this time does not reach the second preset value, it indicates that the air conditioner 100 has not reached a high level of leakage. Therefore, the controller 110 can delay according to the preset time period. After the delay ends, the controller controls the live wire to disconnect from the power interface to delay the shutdown of the air conditioner 100, so as to avoid the residual heat inside the air conditioner not being dissipated, which could cause some components of the equipment to be damaged by high temperature.

[0075] Reference Figures 1 to 4 In one embodiment, the controller 110 further includes a feedback interface;

[0076] The relay 120 further includes a second contact KB2. The relay 120 is connected in series between two pins of the feedback interface. The controller 110 is used to control the feedback interface to output a corresponding feedback signal by controlling the second contact KB2 to turn on or off.

[0077] In this embodiment, the air conditioning unit of the present invention can be used in conjunction with an external central control room. The detection port of the central control room has two pins connected in parallel to the two ends of the second contact KB2. When the air conditioner 100 is working normally, since the second contact KB2 is not disconnected, the two pins of the detection port are short-circuited, and the collected differential signal is low level. When the combustible concentration value is too high, the two air conditioners perform shutdown protection. At this time, the coil KA of the relay 120 is de-energized and no longer engages the second contact KB2, causing the two pins of the feedback interface to disconnect. At this time, the differential voltage collected by the two pins is high level. Thus, the shutdown status is fed back to the central control room through the differential voltage detected by the detection port of the central control room. After the owner obtains this status, he / she can immediately go to the site to troubleshoot the fault.

[0078] In addition, such as Figure 5 As shown, the central control room can also output a remote start signal to the controller 110, so that when there is no fault, the owner can remotely start the two air conditioners without having to go to the site to start them.

[0079] like Figure 6 As shown, the present invention also proposes a control method for an air conditioning system, applied to the refrigerant detection component of the aforementioned air conditioning system, the control method comprising:

[0080] S410. Detect the actual refrigerant data corresponding to the environment in which the air conditioner is located;

[0081] S420. When there is actual refrigerant data in the actual refrigerant data corresponding to the air conditioner that is greater than the first preset data value, a shutdown trigger signal is output to control the corresponding air conditioner to shut down.

[0082] In this embodiment, the refrigerant detection component can be a refrigerant detector or other external refrigerant sensing integrated device.

[0083] During normal operation of the air conditioning system, the refrigerant detection component performs real-time refrigerant detection on multiple connected air conditioners through its multiple detection channels. The component pre-stores information about the air conditioner corresponding to each detection channel, or pre-stores planar position information for each channel. Therefore, after collecting multiple actual refrigerant data points, the component can determine whether each air conditioner is leaking refrigerant. When it detects actual refrigerant data exceeding a first preset data value, it immediately outputs a shutdown trigger signal to the corresponding air conditioner. The first preset data value represents the warning refrigerant concentration in the environment where the air conditioner is located. It is determined by taking the margin down from the refrigerant threshold value that could cause an explosion in the air conditioner and is pre-stored in the refrigerant detection component.

[0084] like Figure 7 As shown, the present invention also proposes a control method for an air conditioning system, applied to the air conditioner of the aforementioned air conditioning system, the control method comprising:

[0085] S510. Obtain the actual refrigerant data and the shutdown trigger signal output by the refrigerant detection component;

[0086] S520. When the received actual refrigerant data contains actual refrigerant data greater than the second preset value, the first contact is controlled by the coil according to the shutdown trigger signal to disconnect the live wire from the power interface.

[0087] In this embodiment, the specific shutdown action of the air conditioner is determined by both the shutdown trigger signal and the received actual refrigerant data. A second preset value is pre-stored in the controller. The second preset value is greater than the first preset value, which represents the explosion warning value of refrigerant leakage in the air conditioner. When the controller receives the shutdown trigger signal, if the received actual refrigerant data reaches the second preset value, it indicates that the refrigerant leakage of the air conditioner is high, resulting in an excessively high concentration of flammable and toxic substances in the surrounding environment. The power supply must be cut off immediately to prevent the equipment from exploding and causing safety problems to the surrounding area. Therefore, the controller immediately stops supplying power to the relay and controls the live wire to disconnect from the power interface to shut down the air conditioner immediately.

[0088] When the controller receives the shutdown trigger signal, if the actual refrigerant data received at this time does not reach the second preset value, it means that the air conditioner has not reached a high level of leakage. Therefore, the controller can delay according to the preset time period. After the delay ends, the controller controls the live wire to disconnect from the power interface to delay the shutdown of the air conditioner and avoid the residual heat inside the air conditioner from not dissipating, which could cause some components of the equipment to be damaged by high temperature.

[0089] The above description is merely an optional embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the patent scope of the present invention. All equivalent structural transformations made using the contents of the present invention's specification and drawings under the inventive concept of the present invention, or direct / indirect applications in other related technical fields, are included within the patent protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An air conditioning system, characterized in that, The air conditioning system includes: Multiple air conditioners; At least one refrigerant detection component, each of which is connected to at least two air conditioners; the refrigerant detection component includes multiple detection channels, and each air conditioner connected to the refrigerant detection component is provided with at least one detection channel; the detection channel is used to detect the actual refrigerant data corresponding to the environment in which the air conditioner is located; The refrigerant detection component is used to output a shutdown trigger signal to control the corresponding air conditioner to shut down when there is actual refrigerant data in the actual refrigerant data of the corresponding air conditioner that is greater than a first preset data value. The refrigerant detection component further includes an output interface, the number of which is consistent with the number of air conditioners connected to the refrigerant detection component, and each output interface is connected to one air conditioner; the output interface is used to output the shutdown trigger signal to the corresponding air conditioner. The air conditioner includes: The controller includes a stop control interface, a power interface, and an input interface, wherein the input interface is connected to the output interface and is used to receive the stop trigger signal. A relay includes a first contact and a coil. A first end of the first contact is used to connect to a live wire, and a second end of the first contact is used to connect to the power interface. The coil is connected in series between two pins of the stop control interface. The controller is used to control the first contact through the coil when it receives the shutdown trigger signal, so as to disconnect the live wire from the power interface.

2. The air conditioning system as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The refrigerant detection component also includes: A first communication interface is connected to at least two corresponding air conditioners, and the first communication interface is used to provide the corresponding actual refrigerant data to the corresponding air conditioner.

3. The air conditioning system as described in claim 2, characterized in that, The air conditioner also includes: The controller further includes a second communication interface; the second communication interface is connected to the first communication interface.

4. The air conditioning system as described in claim 3, characterized in that, The controller is also configured to, when there is no actual refrigerant data greater than the second preset value in the received actual refrigerant data, control the first contact through the coil according to the shutdown trigger signal for a preset period of time, thereby disconnecting the live wire from the power interface.

5. The air conditioning system as described in claim 3 or 4, characterized in that, The controller also includes a feedback interface; The relay further includes a second contact, which is connected in series between two pins of the feedback interface. The controller is used to control the feedback interface to output a corresponding feedback signal by controlling the second contact to turn on or off.

6. The air conditioning system as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The air conditioning system also includes an alarm, which is connected to the refrigerant detection component; The refrigerant detection component is also used to control the alarm to output a prompt message when a shutdown trigger signal is output.

7. A control method for an air conditioning system, characterized in that, The control method for the refrigerant detection component applied to the air conditioning system as described in any one of claims 1-6 includes: Detect the actual refrigerant data corresponding to the environment in which the air conditioner is located; If there is an actual refrigerant data value greater than the first preset data value in the actual refrigerant data corresponding to the air conditioner, a shutdown trigger signal is output to control the corresponding air conditioner to shut down.

8. A control method for an air conditioning system, characterized in that, The control method, applied to the air conditioning system as described in claim 3, includes: Acquire the actual refrigerant data and the shutdown trigger signal output by the refrigerant detection component; If, among the received actual refrigerant data, there is actual refrigerant data greater than the second preset value, the first contact is controlled by the coil according to the shutdown trigger signal to disconnect the live wire from the power interface.

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