Cleaning demand detection method for indoor heat exchanger of air conditioner and air conditioner

Abstract

The invention provides a cleaning requirement detection method for an air conditioner indoor heat exchanger and an air conditioner. The air conditioner comprises an indoor shell. An indoor air duct communicating with the indoor air inlet and the indoor air outlet is formed in the indoor shell, and an indoor heat exchanger is arranged in the indoor air duct. The cleaning demand detection method comprises the steps that the air conditioner is controlled to be in a cleaning demand detection state, the air inlet temperature of an indoor air inlet and the air outlet temperature of an indoor air outlet are obtained, the air inlet and outlet temperature difference between the air inlet temperature and the air outlet temperature is calculated, and whether an indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned or not is determined according to the air inlet and outlet temperature difference; whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned or not can be intelligently and accurately judged, then the indoor heat exchanger can be cleaned in time, cleanliness of the indoor heat exchanger is guaranteed, and the heat exchange capacity of the indoor heat exchanger is improved; no sensor is needed, and the structure is simple.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of heat exchangers, and in particular relates to a cleaning requirement detection method for an indoor heat exchanger of an air conditioner and an air conditioner. Background Art

[0002] After the air conditioner has been put into use for a period of time, dust will accumulate in the indoor heat exchanger. When the amount of dust accumulation is large, it will increase wind resistance, reduce the thermal conductivity of the indoor heat exchanger, and cause the air conditioning cooling effect to decrease, energy efficiency to decrease, and cause energy waste; in addition, after a long period of dust accumulation, it will breed bacteria, affecting indoor air quality and user health. Most air conditioners on the current market have a self-cleaning function. Some require users to judge the dirtiness of the indoor heat exchanger by themselves, and then manually operate to enter the self-cleaning function, resulting in untimely cleaning of the indoor heat exchanger and poor indoor heat exchange effect; some use the air conditioner to intelligently judge the dirtiness of the indoor heat exchanger and then enter the self-cleaning function, but it requires reasonable arrangement of sensors, which increases costs. Summary of the invention

[0003] In view of this, the present invention provides a method for detecting the cleaning need of an indoor heat exchanger of an air conditioner and an air conditioner, so as to solve the problems in the prior art that the indoor heat exchanger is not cleaned in time and the heat exchange effect of the indoor heat exchanger is poor when the user judges the dirtiness of the indoor heat exchanger by himself, and the air conditioner intelligently judges the dirtiness of the indoor heat exchanger and needs to arrange additional sensors, resulting in complex structure and high cost.

[0004] According to a first aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a cleaning demand detection method for an indoor heat exchanger of an air conditioner is provided, wherein the air conditioner comprises an indoor shell, a shell wall of the indoor shell is formed with an indoor air inlet and an indoor air outlet, an indoor air duct connecting the indoor air inlet and the indoor air outlet is formed inside the indoor shell, and the indoor heat exchanger is arranged in the indoor air duct; the cleaning demand detection method comprises:

[0005] Controlling the air conditioner to be in a cleaning demand detection state;

[0006] Obtaining the air inlet temperature of the indoor air inlet and the air outlet temperature of the indoor air outlet;

[0007] Calculating the inlet and outlet temperature differences between the inlet and outlet temperatures;

[0008] Determining whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned according to the inlet and outlet air temperature difference;

[0009] Wherein, the operation mode of the air conditioner includes at least one of a cooling mode and a heating mode; when the air conditioner is in a cleaning demand detection state, the air conditioner operates according to parameters related to the operation mode;

[0010] When the air conditioner is in the cooling mode, the inlet and outlet air temperature difference is equal to the inlet air temperature minus the outlet air temperature; when the air conditioner is in the heating mode, the inlet and outlet air temperature difference is equal to the outlet air temperature minus the inlet air temperature.

[0011] By adopting this embodiment, it is possible to intelligently and accurately determine whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned, and then the indoor heat exchanger can be cleaned in time to ensure the cleanliness of the indoor heat exchanger, improve the heat exchange capacity of the indoor heat exchanger, and avoid bacteria on the surface of the indoor heat exchanger; there is no need to set a sensor, the structure is simple, and the cost is not increased;

[0012] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional implementation of the embodiment of the present application, determining whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned according to the inlet and outlet air temperature difference includes:

[0013] Calculating the difference between the inlet and outlet air temperature difference and the preset temperature difference;

[0014] Determining whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned according to the difference between the inlet and outlet air temperature difference and the preset temperature difference;

[0015] The preset temperature difference is determined according to the operation mode of the air conditioner, the indoor ambient temperature and the outdoor ambient temperature before the air conditioner enters the detection state.

[0016] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional implementation of the embodiment of the present application, determining whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned according to the difference between the inlet and outlet air temperature difference and the preset temperature difference includes:

[0017] When the value of the preset temperature difference minus the inlet and outlet air temperature difference is greater than the preset temperature, determining that the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned;

[0018] When the value of the preset temperature difference minus the inlet and outlet air temperature difference is less than or equal to the preset temperature, it is determined that the indoor heat exchanger does not need to be cleaned.

[0019] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional implementation of the embodiment of the present application, controlling the air conditioner to be in a cleaning demand detection state includes:

[0020] Determining the mode in which the air conditioner last operated;

[0021] Determining operating parameters according to the last operating mode;

[0022] The air conditioner is controlled to be in the last operation mode and to operate with the operation parameters.

[0023] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional implementation of the embodiment of the present application, the air conditioner includes an indoor fan, an outdoor fan, and a compressor, a four-way valve, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttling device, and an outdoor heat exchanger connected in sequence through a refrigerant pipeline; the controlling the air conditioner to be in the last operating mode and controlling the air conditioner to operate with the operating parameters includes:

[0024] When the last operating mode of the air conditioner is the cooling mode, the air conditioner is controlled to be in the cooling mode, and the compressor is controlled to operate at a preset frequency, the four-way valve is in a power-off state, the indoor fan operates at a preset indoor fan speed, the throttling device is in a preset opening, and the outdoor fan operates at a preset outdoor fan speed;

[0025] When the last operating mode of the air conditioner was the heating mode, the air conditioner is controlled to be in the heating mode, and the compressor is controlled to operate at a preset frequency, the four-way valve is in a power-on state, the indoor fan operates at a preset indoor fan speed, the throttling device is at a preset opening, and the outdoor fan operates at a preset outdoor fan speed.

[0026] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional implementation of the embodiment of the present application, before controlling the air conditioner to be in a cleaning demand detection state, the method further includes:

[0027] Determine whether the time from the last time the air conditioner cleaned the indoor heat exchanger is greater than a second preset time;

[0028] When the time from the last time the air conditioner cleaned the indoor heat exchanger is less than or equal to the second preset time, controlling the air conditioner not to perform cleaning demand detection;

[0029] When the time between the air conditioner and the last cleaning of the indoor heat exchanger is greater than the second preset time, determining whether the air conditioner is running;

[0030] The air conditioner is controlled to perform or not perform cleaning requirement detection according to a result of determining whether the air conditioner is running.

[0031] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional implementation of the embodiment of the present application, controlling the air conditioner to perform or not perform cleaning demand detection according to the judgment result of whether the air conditioner is running includes:

[0032] When the air conditioner is running, after the current operation of the air conditioner is finished, controlling the air conditioner to perform cleaning demand detection;

[0033] When the air conditioner is not in operation, the air conditioner is controlled to perform cleaning requirement detection.

[0034] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional implementation of the embodiment of the present application, the cleaning requirement detection method further includes:

[0035] When it is determined that the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned, after the indoor heat exchanger is cleaned, the time from the last time the air conditioner cleaned the indoor heat exchanger is initialized to zero and the timing is restarted;

[0036] When it is determined that the indoor heat exchanger does not need to be cleaned, a new second preset time length is determined to be t'=k*t2, where k is a coefficient that satisfies: 0.4≤k≤0.6;

[0037] Among them, t2 is the second preset duration.

[0038] In combination with the first aspect, in an optional implementation of the embodiment of the present application, there is a preset corresponding relationship between the operation mode of the air conditioner, the magnitude relationship between the indoor ambient temperature and the preset indoor ambient temperature, the magnitude relationship between the outdoor ambient temperature and the preset outdoor ambient temperature, and the preset temperature difference; and a method for determining the preset temperature difference includes:

[0039] Comparing the indoor ambient temperature with a preset indoor ambient temperature, and the outdoor ambient temperature with a preset outdoor ambient temperature;

[0040] Determine the magnitude relationship between the indoor ambient temperature and a preset indoor ambient temperature, and the magnitude relationship between the outdoor ambient temperature and a preset outdoor ambient temperature;

[0041] The preset temperature difference is determined according to the operation mode of the air conditioner, the magnitude relationship between the indoor ambient temperature and the preset indoor ambient temperature, the magnitude relationship between the outdoor ambient temperature and the preset outdoor ambient temperature, and the preset corresponding relationship.

[0042] According to a second aspect of an embodiment of the present application, an air conditioner is provided, comprising an indoor shell, an indoor fan, an outdoor fan, and a compressor, a four-way valve, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttling device, and an outdoor heat exchanger connected in sequence through a refrigerant pipeline; an indoor air inlet and an indoor air outlet are formed on the shell wall of the indoor shell, an indoor air duct connecting the indoor air inlet and the indoor air outlet is formed inside the indoor shell, and the indoor fan and the indoor heat exchanger are arranged in the indoor air duct;

[0043] The air conditioner uses any of the above-mentioned methods for detecting the cleaning requirement of the indoor heat exchanger of the air conditioner to determine whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned;

[0044] By adopting this implementation method, it is possible to intelligently and accurately determine whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned, and then the indoor heat exchanger can be cleaned in time, the heat exchange capacity of the indoor heat exchanger can be improved, and bacteria can be prevented from growing on the surface of the indoor heat exchanger. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0045] In order to more clearly illustrate the implementation methods of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for the implementation methods or the description of the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only exemplary, and for ordinary technicians in this field, other implementation drawings can be derived from the provided drawings without creative work.

[0046] The structures, proportions, sizes, etc. illustrated in this specification are only used to match the contents disclosed in the specification so as to facilitate understanding and reading by persons familiar with the technology. They are not used to limit the conditions under which the present invention can be implemented, and therefore have no substantial technical significance. Any structural modification, change in proportion or adjustment of size shall still fall within the scope of the technical contents disclosed in the present invention without affecting the effects and purposes that can be achieved by the present invention.

[0047] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of an air conditioner embodiment provided by the present invention;

[0048] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of an embodiment of an air conditioner indoor unit provided by the present invention;

[0049] Figure 3 A schematic flow chart of a first embodiment of a method for detecting a cleaning requirement of an indoor heat exchanger of an air conditioner provided by the present invention;

[0050] Figure 4 A schematic flow chart of Example 4 of a method for detecting the cleaning requirement of an indoor heat exchanger of an air conditioner provided by the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0051] The following is a description of the implementation of the present invention by specific embodiments. People familiar with the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present invention from the contents disclosed in this specification. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0052] The terms used in the embodiments of the present invention are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. The singular forms "a", "said" and "the" used in the embodiments of the present invention and the appended claims are also intended to include plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates other meanings, and "multiple" generally includes at least two, but does not exclude the inclusion of at least one.

[0053] It should be understood that the term "and / or" used in this article is only a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " in this article generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0054] It should also be noted that the terms "include", "comprises" or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a product or system including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such a product or system. In the absence of more restrictions, the elements defined by the sentence "comprises a ..." do not exclude the existence of other identical elements in the product or system including the elements.

[0055] Among the existing air conditioners with self-cleaning function, some require users to judge the dirtiness of the indoor heat exchanger by themselves, and then manually operate to enter the self-cleaning function, resulting in untimely cleaning of the indoor heat exchanger and poor heat exchange effect of the indoor heat exchanger; some use the air conditioner to intelligently judge the dirtiness of the indoor heat exchanger and then enter the self-cleaning function, but it requires reasonable arrangement of sensors, which increases costs;

[0056] The present invention creatively provides a cleaning demand detection method for an indoor heat exchanger of an air conditioner, wherein an indoor air inlet and an indoor air outlet are formed on a shell wall of an indoor shell, and an indoor air duct connecting the indoor air inlet and the indoor air outlet is formed inside the indoor shell; an indoor heat exchanger is arranged in the indoor air duct; the cleaning demand detection method comprises: controlling the air conditioner to be in a cleaning demand detection state, obtaining an inlet air temperature of an indoor air inlet and an outlet air temperature of an indoor air outlet, calculating an inlet and outlet air temperature difference between an inlet air temperature and an outlet air temperature, and determining whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned according to the inlet and outlet air temperature difference;

[0057] It can intelligently and accurately determine whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned, and then clean the indoor heat exchanger in time to ensure the cleanliness of the indoor heat exchanger and improve the heat exchange capacity of the indoor heat exchanger.

[0058] Example 1

[0059] like Figures 1 to 3As shown, this embodiment proposes a cleaning demand detection method for an indoor heat exchanger of an air conditioner, the air conditioner includes an indoor unit and an outdoor unit, the indoor unit includes an indoor shell, an indoor fan (referred to as the indoor fan) and an indoor heat exchanger, the outdoor unit includes an outdoor shell, an outdoor fan (referred to as the outdoor fan), a throttling device (referred to as EEV1) and an outdoor heat exchanger, the compressor, the four-way valve, the indoor heat exchanger, the throttling device and the outdoor heat exchanger are connected in sequence through a refrigerant pipeline; the shell wall of the indoor shell includes a top wall and a bottom wall, the top wall of the indoor shell forms an indoor air inlet, the bottom wall of the indoor shell forms an indoor air outlet, the indoor shell forms an indoor air duct between the indoor air inlet and the indoor air outlet, and the indoor heat exchanger The indoor heat exchanger and the indoor fan are both arranged in the indoor air duct, and the indoor heat exchanger is located upstream of the indoor fan; under the action of the indoor fan, the indoor air enters the indoor air duct through the indoor air inlet, and the air exchanges heat with the indoor heat exchanger when passing through the indoor heat exchanger, and then is discharged to the room through the indoor air outlet; the left side wall or the right side wall of the outdoor shell is formed with an outdoor air inlet, the front side wall of the outdoor shell is formed with an outdoor air outlet, the outdoor shell forms an outdoor air duct between the outdoor air inlet and the outdoor air outlet, and the outdoor heat exchanger is located upstream of the outdoor fan; under the action of the outdoor fan, the outdoor air enters the outdoor air duct through the outdoor air inlet, and the air exchanges heat with the outdoor heat exchanger when passing through the outdoor heat exchanger, and then is discharged to the outside through the outdoor air outlet;

[0060] The operation modes of the air conditioner include cooling mode and heating mode. When the air conditioner operation mode is cooling mode, the flow path of the refrigerant is: compressor-four-way valve first valve path-outdoor heat exchanger (condenser)-throttling device-indoor heat exchanger (evaporator)-four-way valve second valve path-compressor;

[0061] When the air conditioner operation mode is heating mode, the flow path of the refrigerant is: compressor-four-way valve third valve path-indoor heat exchanger-throttling device-outdoor heat exchanger-four-way valve fourth valve path-compressor; when the refrigerant flows through the outdoor heat exchanger, it exchanges heat with the air flowing through the outdoor heat exchanger, and when the refrigerant flows through the indoor heat exchanger, it exchanges heat with the air flowing through the indoor heat exchanger.

[0062] Cleaning needs detection methods include:

[0063] S1. Control the air conditioner to be in a cleaning demand detection state;

[0064] S2. Obtaining the air inlet temperature of the indoor air inlet and the air outlet temperature of the indoor air outlet;

[0065] S3, calculating the inlet and outlet temperature difference between the inlet and outlet air temperatures;

[0066] S4. Determine whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned according to the inlet and outlet air temperature difference ΔT;

[0067] When the air conditioner is in cooling mode, the difference between the inlet and outlet air temperatures is equal to the inlet air temperature minus the outlet air temperature; when the air conditioner is in heating mode, the difference between the inlet and outlet air temperatures is equal to the outlet air temperature minus the inlet air temperature; determining whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned is to determine the amount of dust on the surface of the indoor heat exchanger;

[0068] When the air conditioner is in the detection state of the cleaning demand, the air conditioner operates according to the parameters related to the operation mode; specifically, when the air conditioner is in the cooling mode, the compressor is controlled to operate at a preset frequency, the four-way valve is in a power-off state, the indoor fan operates at a preset indoor fan speed, the throttling device is in a preset opening, and the outdoor fan operates at a preset outdoor fan speed; when the air conditioner is in the heating mode, the compressor is controlled to operate at a preset frequency, the four-way valve is in a power-on state, the indoor fan operates at a preset indoor fan speed, the throttling device is in a preset opening, and the outdoor fan operates at a preset outdoor fan speed; the throttling device is an electronic expansion valve; the preset frequency is f, the preset indoor fan speed is v1, the preset outdoor fan speed is v2, and the preset opening is p, satisfying: 40Hz≤f≤60Hz, 900rpm≤v1≤1100rpm, 400rpm≤v2≤600rpm, 200step≤p≤300step;

[0069] To summarize, the air conditioner is controlled to be in a detection state of cleaning demand, and whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned is determined according to the inlet and outlet air temperature difference ΔT; it can intelligently and accurately determine whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned, and then the indoor heat exchanger can be cleaned in time to ensure the cleanliness of the indoor heat exchanger and improve the heat exchange capacity of the indoor heat exchanger; there is no need to set up sensors, the structure is simple, and the cost is not increased; it solves the problem in the prior art that the indoor heat exchanger is not cleaned in time and the indoor heat exchange effect is poor when the user judges the dirtiness of the indoor heat exchanger by himself, and the problem that the air conditioner needs to arrange additional sensors when intelligently judging the dirtiness of the indoor heat exchanger, resulting in complex structure and high cost.

[0070] Example 2

[0071] On the basis of Example 1, in this embodiment, the air conditioner is controlled to perform cleaning demand detection according to the time since the air conditioner last cleaned the indoor heat exchanger and whether the air conditioner is running, rather than performing the cleaning demand detection in real time, thereby improving the control accuracy of the air conditioner in performing the cleaning demand detection, accurately and timely judging whether the cleaning demand detection needs to be performed, and avoiding energy waste; specifically,

[0072] Before S1, it also included:

[0073] S01, determining whether the time since the air conditioner last cleaned the indoor heat exchanger is greater than a second preset time;

[0074] S02, when the time from the last time the air conditioner cleaned the indoor heat exchanger is less than or equal to the second preset time, controlling the air conditioner not to perform cleaning demand detection;

[0075] S03, when the time from the last time the air conditioner cleaned the indoor heat exchanger is greater than a second preset time, determining whether the air conditioner is running;

[0076] S04. Based on the result of determining whether the air conditioner is running, controlling the air conditioner to perform or not perform cleaning demand detection.

[0077] Further, S04 includes:

[0078] S041. When the air conditioner is running, after the current operation of the air conditioner is finished, control the air conditioner to perform a cleaning demand detection;

[0079] S042, when the air conditioner is not running, controlling the air conditioner to perform cleaning demand detection;

[0080] The second preset time is t2, which satisfies: 160 days ≤ t2 ≤ 200 days;

[0081] Preferably, t2 = 180 days.

[0082] Additionally, the S1 includes:

[0083] S11, determining the last operating mode of the air conditioner;

[0084] S12, determining operating parameters according to the last operating mode;

[0085] S13, controlling the air conditioner to be in the last operation mode and controlling the air conditioner to operate with the operation parameters;

[0086] Further, S13 includes:

[0087] S131, when the last operating mode of the air conditioner was the cooling mode, controlling the air conditioner to be in the cooling mode, controlling the compressor to operate at a preset frequency, the four-way valve to be in a power-off state, the indoor fan to operate at a preset indoor fan speed, the throttling device to be in a preset opening, and the outdoor fan to operate at a preset outdoor fan speed;

[0088] S132, when the last operating mode of the air conditioner was the heating mode, controlling the air conditioner to be in the heating mode, controlling the compressor to operate at a preset frequency, controlling the four-way valve to be in a power-on state, controlling the indoor fan to operate at a preset indoor fan speed, controlling the throttling device to be in a preset opening, and controlling the outdoor fan to operate at a preset outdoor fan speed;

[0089] Among them, the preset frequency is f, the preset indoor fan speed is v1, the preset outdoor fan speed is v2, the preset opening is p, and f, v1, v2 and p satisfy: 40Hz≤f≤60Hz, 900rpm≤v1≤1100rpm, 400rpm≤v2≤600rpm, 200step≤p≤300step;

[0090] Preferably, f = 50 Hz, v1 = 1000 rpm, v2 = 500 rpm, p = 250 steps;

[0091] It should be noted that in S2, when the air conditioner is in the detection state of cleaning needs and lasts for the first preset time, the air inlet temperature of the indoor air inlet and the air outlet temperature of the indoor air outlet are obtained; wherein, the first preset time is t1, t1 satisfies: 3min≤t1≤7min, preferably, t1=5min.

[0092] S4 includes:

[0093] S41, calculating the difference between the inlet and outlet air temperature difference ΔT and the preset temperature difference ΔT0;

[0094] S42, determining whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned according to the difference between the inlet and outlet air temperature difference ΔT and the preset temperature difference ΔT0;

[0095] The preset temperature difference ΔT0 is determined according to the operation mode of the air conditioner, the indoor ambient temperature and the outdoor ambient temperature before the air conditioner enters the detection state;

[0096] The air conditioner is controlled to be in a cleaning detection state. When there is no dust accumulation on the surface of the indoor heat exchanger, the heat exchange effect of the indoor heat exchanger is good and the temperature difference between the inlet and outlet air is large; when there is a lot of dust accumulation on the surface of the indoor heat exchanger, the heat exchange effect of the indoor heat exchanger is poor and the temperature difference between the inlet and outlet air is small.

[0097] Specifically, S42 includes:

[0098] S421, when the value of the preset temperature difference minus the inlet and outlet air temperature difference is greater than the preset temperature, it is determined that the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned;

[0099] S422: When the value of the preset temperature difference minus the inlet and outlet air temperature difference is less than or equal to the preset temperature, it is determined that the indoor heat exchanger does not need to be cleaned;

[0100] Among them, the preset temperature is T, and T satisfies: 2°C≤T≤5°C, preferably, 3°C≤T≤4°C.

[0101] There is a preset corresponding relationship between the operation mode of the air conditioner, the relationship between the indoor ambient temperature and the preset indoor ambient temperature, the relationship between the outdoor ambient temperature and the preset outdoor ambient temperature, and the preset temperature difference; the method for determining the preset temperature difference includes:

[0102] Before controlling the air conditioner to be in a cleaning demand detection state, obtaining the indoor ambient temperature and the outdoor ambient temperature;

[0103] Comparing the indoor ambient temperature with the preset indoor ambient temperature and the outdoor ambient temperature with the preset outdoor ambient temperature;

[0104] Determine the magnitude relationship between the indoor ambient temperature and the preset indoor ambient temperature, and the magnitude relationship between the outdoor ambient temperature and the preset outdoor ambient temperature;

[0105] Determine the preset temperature difference according to the operation mode of the air conditioner, the size relationship between the indoor ambient temperature and the preset indoor ambient temperature, the size relationship between the outdoor ambient temperature and the preset outdoor ambient temperature, and the preset corresponding relationship;

[0106] The magnitude relationship between the indoor ambient temperature and the preset indoor ambient temperature includes a first magnitude relationship and a second magnitude relationship, the first magnitude relationship being that the indoor ambient temperature is less than the preset indoor ambient temperature, and the second magnitude relationship being that the indoor ambient temperature is greater than or equal to the preset indoor ambient temperature; the magnitude relationship between the outdoor ambient temperature and the preset outdoor ambient temperature includes a third magnitude relationship and a fourth magnitude relationship, the third magnitude relationship being that the outdoor ambient temperature is less than the preset outdoor ambient temperature, and the fourth magnitude relationship being that the outdoor ambient temperature is greater than or equal to the preset outdoor ambient temperature;

[0107] Specifically, the preset corresponding relationships are shown in Table 1 and Table 2. Table 1 is a preset corresponding table of the size relationship between the indoor ambient temperature and the preset indoor ambient temperature, the size relationship between the outdoor ambient temperature and the preset outdoor ambient temperature, and the preset temperature difference when the operation mode of the air conditioner is the cooling mode. Table 2 is a preset corresponding table of the size relationship between the indoor ambient temperature and the preset indoor ambient temperature, the size relationship between the outdoor ambient temperature and the preset outdoor ambient temperature, and the preset temperature difference when the operation mode of the air conditioner is the heating mode. In Table 1 and Table 2, T 外环 is the outdoor ambient temperature, T 预设外环 is the preset outdoor ambient temperature, T 内环 is the indoor ambient temperature, T 预设内环 To preset the indoor ambient temperature;

[0108] When the air conditioner is in cooling mode, T 内环 <T 预设内环 And T 外环 <T 预设外环时 , then the preset temperature difference ΔT0 is a00; T 内环 <T 预设内环 And T 外环 ≥T 预设外环时 , then the preset temperature difference ΔT0 is a01; T 内环 ≥T预设内环 And T 外环 <T 预设外环时 , then the preset temperature difference ΔT0 is a10; T 内环 ≥T 预设内环 And T 外环 ≥T 预设外环时 , then the preset temperature difference ΔT0 is a11; wherein, a00>a01, a10>a11, a10>a00;

[0109] When the air conditioner is in heating mode, T 内环 <T 预设内环 And T 外环 <T 预设外环时 , then the preset temperature difference ΔT0 is b00; T 内环 <T 预设内环 And T 外环 ≥T 预设外环时 , then the preset temperature difference ΔT0 is b01; T 内环 ≥T 预设内环 And T 外环 <T 预设外环时 , then the preset temperature difference ΔT0 is b10; T 内环 ≥T 预设内环 And T 外环 ≥T 预设外环时 , then the preset temperature difference ΔT0 is b11; where b00 <b01,b10<b11,b10<b00;

[0110] Table 1 Determination table of preset temperature difference ΔT0 in cooling mode

[0111]

[0112] Table 2 Determination table of preset temperature difference ΔT0 in heating mode

[0113]

[0114] In addition, cleaning needs detection methods also include:

[0115] When it is determined that the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned, the air conditioner is controlled to execute a procedure for cleaning the indoor heat exchanger;

[0116] When the program for cleaning the indoor heat exchanger is finished, the time from the last time the air conditioner cleaned the indoor heat exchanger is initialized to zero, and the timing starts again;

[0117] When it is determined that the indoor heat exchanger does not need to be cleaned, a new second preset time length is determined to be t'=k*t2, where k is a coefficient satisfying: 0.4≤k≤0.6; preferably, k=0.5;

[0118] Wherein, t2 is the second preset duration;

[0119] First, determine whether the time between the last cleaning of the indoor heat exchanger by the air conditioner is greater than the second preset time, and after the cleaning demand detection is completed, determine whether the time between the last cleaning of the indoor heat exchanger by the air conditioner is greater than the second preset time; if the cleaning demand detection is performed once every second preset time, and the result is that the indoor heat exchanger does not need to be cleaned, considering that the interval between the next cleaning demand detection is too long, the surface may be particularly dirty; therefore, determine the new second preset time to be t'=k*t2;

[0120] The process of cleaning the indoor heat exchanger mainly includes three stages: condensation, frosting and defrosting of the outdoor unit.

[0121] To summarize, the air conditioner is controlled to be in a detection state of cleaning demand, and whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned is determined according to the inlet and outlet air temperature difference ΔT; it can intelligently and accurately determine whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned, and then the indoor heat exchanger can be cleaned in time to ensure the cleanliness of the indoor heat exchanger and improve the heat exchange capacity of the indoor heat exchanger; there is no need to set up sensors, the structure is simple, and the cost is not increased; it solves the problem in the prior art that the indoor heat exchanger is not cleaned in time and the indoor heat exchange effect is poor when the user judges the dirtiness of the indoor heat exchanger by himself, and the problem that the air conditioner needs to arrange additional sensors when intelligently judging the dirtiness of the indoor heat exchanger, resulting in complex structure and high cost.

[0122] Example 3

[0123] The present embodiment provides an air conditioner, comprising an indoor shell, an indoor fan, an outdoor fan, and a compressor, a four-way valve, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttling device, and an outdoor heat exchanger connected in sequence through a refrigerant pipeline; the shell wall of the indoor shell is formed with an indoor air inlet and an indoor air outlet, the interior of the indoor shell is formed with an indoor air duct connecting the indoor air inlet and the indoor air outlet, and the indoor fan and the indoor heat exchanger are arranged in the indoor air duct;

[0124] The air conditioner adopts the cleaning requirement detection method of the air conditioner indoor heat exchanger described in any one of Embodiments 1 or 2 to determine whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned.

[0125] Example 4

[0126] like Figure 4 As shown, this embodiment provides a method for detecting the cleaning demand of an indoor heat exchanger of an air conditioner, specifically: first, determine whether the time from the last cleaning of the indoor heat exchanger of the air conditioner (referred to as the cleaning interval time) is greater than 180 days, if not greater than 180 days, wait and do not perform the cleaning demand detection of the indoor heat exchanger; if greater than 180 days, determine whether the air conditioner is running; if the air conditioner is running, it is necessary to wait until the current operation of the air conditioner ends before performing the cleaning demand detection of the indoor heat exchanger; if the air conditioner is not running, perform the cleaning demand detection of the indoor heat exchanger;

[0127] After the cleaning demand detection of the indoor heat exchanger is started, the air conditioner is controlled to be in the cleaning demand detection state; after the air conditioner is in the cleaning demand detection state, the air inlet temperature of the indoor air inlet and the air outlet temperature of the indoor air outlet can be detected, and then the inlet and outlet temperature difference ΔT of the inlet and outlet temperatures can be calculated;

[0128] When performing the cleaning demand detection of the indoor heat exchanger, the air conditioner needs to operate in the following state; taking the last operating mode of the air conditioner as a reference, when the air conditioner last operated in the cooling mode, the four-way valve is controlled to be powered off, the compressor operates at a frequency of f (for example, 50 Hz), the outdoor fan operates at a speed of v2 (for example, 500 rpm), the opening of the electronic expansion valve is adjusted to p (for example, 250 steps), and the indoor unit operates at a speed of v1 (for example, 1000 rpm); after being in this state and operating continuously for a period of time (for example, 5 minutes), the inlet air temperature of the indoor air inlet and the outlet air temperature of the indoor air outlet are recorded, and the inlet and outlet air temperature difference ΔT of the inlet air temperature and the outlet air temperature is calculated; wherein, in the cooling mode, the inlet and outlet air temperature difference ΔT = inlet air temperature - outlet air temperature;

[0129] When the air conditioner was in heating mode last time, the four-way valve was controlled to be powered on, the compressor was operated at a frequency of f (e.g., 50 Hz), the indoor unit was operated at a speed of v1 (e.g., 1000 rpm), the opening of the electronic expansion valve was adjusted to p (e.g., 250 steps), and the outdoor fan was operated at a speed of v2 (e.g., 500 rpm); after being in this state and running for a period of time (e.g., 5 minutes), the inlet air temperature of the indoor air inlet and the outlet air temperature of the indoor air outlet were recorded, and the inlet and outlet air temperature difference ΔT of the inlet air temperature and the outlet air temperature was calculated; wherein, in the heating mode, the inlet and outlet air temperature difference ΔT = outlet air temperature - inlet air temperature;

[0130] Before entering the cleaning demand detection state, record the indoor ambient temperature and outdoor ambient temperature. Combining Table 1 and Table 2, the preset temperature difference ΔT0 in the cooling mode and the heating mode can be obtained;

[0131] After obtaining the inlet and outlet temperature difference ΔT and the preset temperature difference ΔT0, a judgment is made. If the preset temperature difference ΔT0-inlet and outlet temperature difference ΔT is greater than the preset temperature T, it is determined that the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned, and the self-cleaning mode for cleaning the indoor heat exchanger needs to be run; after the self-cleaning mode is finished, the time from the last time the air conditioner cleaned the indoor heat exchanger is initialized to zero; the timing is restarted and the cycle continues; wherein the preset temperature is T, and T satisfies: 3℃≤T≤4℃;

[0132] If the preset temperature difference ΔT0-the inlet and outlet temperature difference ΔT is less than or equal to the preset temperature T, the new second preset time length is determined to be 90 days; the timing continues, and the cycle continues.

[0133] It should be noted that when the cleaning need of the indoor heat exchanger is detected, the preset frequency of the compressor, the preset state of the four-way valve, the preset indoor fan speed of the indoor fan, the preset opening of the throttling device and the preset outdoor fan speed of the outdoor fan are all fixed values; while when the air conditioner is operating in cooling mode or heating mode, the frequency of the compressor, the state of the four-way valve, the speed of the indoor fan, the opening of the throttling device and the speed of the outdoor fan are not fixed values.

[0134] The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are specifically shown and described above. It should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the detailed structures, configurations or implementations described herein; on the contrary, the present disclosure is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent configurations included in the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for detecting a cleaning demand of an indoor heat exchanger of an air conditioner, wherein the air conditioner comprises an indoor shell, a shell wall of the indoor shell is formed with an indoor air inlet and an indoor air outlet, an indoor air duct connecting the indoor air inlet and the indoor air outlet is formed inside the indoor shell, and the indoor heat exchanger is arranged in the indoor air duct; characterized in that: The cleaning demand detection method comprises: Controlling the air conditioner to be in a cleaning demand detection state; Obtaining the air inlet temperature of the indoor air inlet and the air outlet temperature of the indoor air outlet; Calculating the inlet and outlet temperature differences between the inlet and outlet temperatures; Determining whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned according to the inlet and outlet air temperature difference; Wherein, the operation mode of the air conditioner includes at least one of a cooling mode and a heating mode; when the air conditioner is in a cleaning demand detection state, the air conditioner operates according to parameters related to the operation mode; When the air conditioner is in the cooling mode, the inlet and outlet air temperature difference is equal to the inlet air temperature minus the outlet air temperature; when the air conditioner is in the heating mode, the inlet and outlet air temperature difference is equal to the outlet air temperature minus the inlet air temperature.

2. The cleaning requirement detection method for an indoor heat exchanger of an air conditioner according to claim 1, characterized in that: The determining whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned according to the inlet and outlet air temperature difference comprises: Calculating the difference between the inlet and outlet air temperature difference and the preset temperature difference; Determining whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned according to the difference between the inlet and outlet air temperature difference and the preset temperature difference; The preset temperature difference is determined according to the operation mode of the air conditioner, the indoor ambient temperature and the outdoor ambient temperature before the air conditioner enters the detection state.

3. The cleaning requirement detection method for an indoor heat exchanger of an air conditioner according to claim 2, characterized in that: The step of determining whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned according to the difference between the inlet and outlet air temperature difference and the preset temperature difference includes: When the value of the preset temperature difference minus the inlet and outlet air temperature difference is greater than the preset temperature, determining that the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned; When the value of the preset temperature difference minus the inlet and outlet air temperature difference is less than or equal to the preset temperature, it is determined that the indoor heat exchanger does not need to be cleaned.

4. The cleaning requirement detection method for an indoor heat exchanger of an air conditioner according to claim 1, characterized in that: The controlling the air conditioner to be in a cleaning demand detection state includes: Determining the mode in which the air conditioner last operated; Determining operating parameters according to the last operating mode; The air conditioner is controlled to be in the last operation mode and to operate with the operation parameters.

5. The cleaning requirement detection method for an indoor heat exchanger of an air conditioner according to claim 4, characterized in that: The air conditioner includes an indoor fan, an outdoor fan, and a compressor, a four-way valve, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttling device, and an outdoor heat exchanger connected in sequence through a refrigerant pipeline; the controlling the air conditioner to be in the last operation mode and controlling the air conditioner to operate with the operation parameters includes: When the last operating mode of the air conditioner is the cooling mode, the air conditioner is controlled to be in the cooling mode, and the compressor is controlled to operate at a preset frequency, the four-way valve is in a power-off state, the indoor fan operates at a preset indoor fan speed, the throttling device is in a preset opening, and the outdoor fan operates at a preset outdoor fan speed; When the last operating mode of the air conditioner was the heating mode, the air conditioner is controlled to be in the heating mode, and the compressor is controlled to operate at a preset frequency, the four-way valve is in a power-on state, the indoor fan operates at a preset indoor fan speed, the throttling device is at a preset opening, and the outdoor fan operates at a preset outdoor fan speed.

6. The cleaning requirement detection method for an indoor heat exchanger of an air conditioner according to claim 1, characterized in that: Before controlling the air conditioner to be in a cleaning demand detection state, the method further includes: Determine whether the time from the last time the air conditioner cleaned the indoor heat exchanger is greater than a second preset time; When the time from the last time the air conditioner cleaned the indoor heat exchanger is less than or equal to the second preset time, controlling the air conditioner not to perform cleaning demand detection; When the time between the air conditioner and the last cleaning of the indoor heat exchanger is greater than the second preset time, determining whether the air conditioner is running; The air conditioner is controlled to perform or not perform cleaning requirement detection according to a result of determining whether the air conditioner is running.

7. The cleaning requirement detection method for an indoor heat exchanger of an air conditioner according to claim 6, characterized in that: According to the result of determining whether the air conditioner is running, controlling the air conditioner to perform or not perform cleaning demand detection includes: When the air conditioner is running, after the current operation of the air conditioner is finished, controlling the air conditioner to perform cleaning demand detection; When the air conditioner is not in operation, the air conditioner is controlled to perform cleaning requirement detection.

8. The cleaning requirement detection method for an indoor heat exchanger of an air conditioner according to claim 6, characterized in that: The cleaning demand detection method also includes: When it is determined that the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned, after the indoor heat exchanger is cleaned, the time from the last time the air conditioner cleaned the indoor heat exchanger is initialized to zero and the timing is restarted; When it is determined that the indoor heat exchanger does not need to be cleaned, a new second preset time length is determined to be t'=k*t2, where k is a coefficient that satisfies: 0.4≤k≤0.6; Among them, t2 is the second preset duration.

9. The cleaning requirement detection method for an indoor heat exchanger of an air conditioner according to claim 2, characterized in that: There is a preset corresponding relationship between the operation mode of the air conditioner, the magnitude relationship between the indoor ambient temperature and the preset indoor ambient temperature, the magnitude relationship between the outdoor ambient temperature and the preset outdoor ambient temperature, and the preset temperature difference; The method for determining the preset temperature difference includes: Comparing the indoor ambient temperature with a preset indoor ambient temperature, and the outdoor ambient temperature with a preset outdoor ambient temperature; Determine the magnitude relationship between the indoor ambient temperature and a preset indoor ambient temperature, and the magnitude relationship between the outdoor ambient temperature and a preset outdoor ambient temperature; The preset temperature difference is determined according to the operation mode of the air conditioner, the magnitude relationship between the indoor ambient temperature and the preset indoor ambient temperature, the magnitude relationship between the outdoor ambient temperature and the preset outdoor ambient temperature, and the preset corresponding relationship.

10. An air conditioner, characterized in that: It includes an indoor shell, an indoor fan, an outdoor fan, and a compressor, a four-way valve, an indoor heat exchanger, a throttling device, and an outdoor heat exchanger connected in sequence through a refrigerant pipeline; the shell wall of the indoor shell is formed with an indoor air inlet and an indoor air outlet, the interior of the indoor shell is formed with an indoor air duct connecting the indoor air inlet and the indoor air outlet, and the indoor fan and the indoor heat exchanger are arranged in the indoor air duct; The air conditioner adopts the cleaning requirement detection method of the air conditioner indoor heat exchanger according to any one of claims 1 to 9 to determine whether the indoor heat exchanger needs to be cleaned.

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