Air conditioner

Abstract

The application discloses an air conditioner and a control method thereof, and the air conditioner comprises a shell, a refrigerant circulation loop, an indoor unit, an outdoor unit, a wire controller and a WiFi module, wherein the WiFi module is integrated in the wire controller and is connected with the wire controller through a serial port; the WiFi module is configured to: after the WiFi module is powered on, send an instruction for reading a device address to the indoor unit through the wire controller, and stop sending the instruction for reading the device address until the wire controller receives a state data packet sent by the indoor unit; receive address information returned by the indoor unit through the wire controller; send a control instruction or a state query instruction to the indoor unit through the wire controller, and display state information of the indoor unit after receiving the state data packet returned by the indoor unit, so that the wire controller can control a communication node in networking, the wire controller can be controlled by the WiFi module, OTA upgrading is supported, the cost of setting an independent WiFi module is reduced, the interface of the indoor unit is reduced, and the cost of the air conditioner is reduced.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of air conditioners, in particular to an air conditioner. BACKGROUND

[0002] When smart home is just popular, the common practice of air conditioner manufacturers is to install a separate WiFi module on the indoor unit of the air conditioner, so that the WiFi module can directly control the indoor unit of the air conditioner. At this time, the user needs to install two line controllers, WiFi module and line controller, and needs to handle the logical conflicts between the instructions issued by different controllers through the air conditioner indoor unit program, which not only increases the cost of product development and manufacturing, but also reduces the compatibility of the system. For air conditioner indoor units without OTA function, the function of new air conditioner accessories cannot be used by upgrading the indoor unit program, resulting in the inability to use the advantages of the upgraded version of the mobile phone APP and WiFi module. SUMMARY

[0003] The present application aims to at least solve one of the technical problems existing in the prior art. To this end, the purpose of the present application is to propose an air conditioner.

[0004] The air conditioner proposed by the present application comprises: a refrigerant circulation loop, which makes the refrigerant perform refrigeration cycle in a loop composed of a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve and an evaporator; one of the condenser and the evaporator is an outdoor heat exchanger, and the other is an indoor heat exchanger; an indoor unit, which comprises the indoor heat exchanger and is used for heat exchange between the refrigerant and indoor air; an outdoor unit, which comprises the compressor and the outdoor heat exchanger and is used for heat exchange between the refrigerant and outdoor air; a line controller, which is connected to the indoor unit through a line controller interface and is used for controlling the indoor unit in response to the operation instructions of the user; a WiFi module, which is integrated in the line controller and is connected to the line controller through a serial port; the WiFi module is configured to: after power-on, the WiFi module sends a device address reading instruction to the indoor unit through the line controller, and stops sending the device address reading instruction after the line controller receives a state data packet sent by the indoor unit; the line controller receives the address information returned by the indoor unit; the line controller sends a control instruction or a state query instruction to the indoor unit, and displays the state information of the indoor unit after receiving the state data packet returned by the indoor unit.

[0005] In addition, according to the air conditioner which can be controlled by the mobile terminal such as a mobile phone through the cloud, the following additional technical features can be provided:

[0006] Further, the air conditioner further comprises: an air conditioner accessory connected with the wire controller and the indoor unit respectively, and the air conditioner accessory is configured to forward the communication instructions between the wire controller and the indoor unit.

[0007] Further, after receiving the address information returned by the indoor unit through the wire controller, the WiFi module is further configured to obtain the device information of the air conditioner accessory.

[0008] Further, the indoor unit is configured to: after being powered on, determine whether the air conditioner accessory is connected in the air conditioner; when determining that the air conditioner accessory is connected in the air conditioner, send a handshake instruction to the air conditioner accessory, and after successfully handshaking with the air conditioner accessory, send a handshake instruction to the wire controller to handshake with the wire controller; or when determining that the air conditioner accessory is not connected in the air conditioner, directly send a handshake instruction to the wire controller to handshake with the wire controller; after the indoor unit successfully handshakes with the wire controller, send the status data packet to the wire controller every first preset time.

[0009] Further, when sending the status data packet to the wire controller, the indoor unit is configured to: determine whether the air conditioner accessory is connected in the air conditioner; when determining that the air conditioner accessory is connected in the air conditioner, send the status data packet to the air conditioner accessory; when determining that the air conditioner accessory is not connected in the air conditioner, directly send the status data packet to the wire controller.

[0010] Further, the air conditioner accessory is configured to: after receiving the status data packet sent by the indoor unit, add the status information of the air conditioner accessory to the status data packet, and send the status data packet to the wire controller.

[0011] Further, the air conditioner accessory is further configured to: after receiving the control instruction sent by the wire controller, determine whether the control instruction is a control instruction sent to the air conditioner accessory; if the control instruction is determined to be a control instruction sent to the air conditioner accessory, execute the control instruction and no longer forward the control instruction; if the control instruction is determined to be a control instruction not sent to the air conditioner accessory, do not execute the control instruction and forward the control instruction to the indoor unit.

[0012] Further, the wire controller is configured to: if the status data packet sent by the indoor unit or the air conditioner accessory is not correctly received within a second preset time, send a prompt information of communication failure.

[0013] Further, the wire controller is configured to forward the control instruction or the state query instruction sent by the WiFi module to the indoor unit after receiving the state data packet sent by the indoor unit or the air conditioner accessory.

[0014] Further, after stopping sending the read device address instruction, the WiFi module is further configured to receive a network configuration instruction through the wire controller to perform networking.

[0015] According to the air conditioner of the embodiment of the present application, the air conditioner comprises a refrigerant circulation loop, an indoor unit, an outdoor unit, a wire controller and a WiFi module. The refrigerant circulation loop circulates refrigerant in a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve and an evaporator to form a refrigeration cycle, and one of the condenser and the evaporator is an outdoor heat exchanger and the other is an indoor heat exchanger. The indoor unit comprises an indoor heat exchanger for heat exchange between the refrigerant and indoor air. The outdoor unit comprises a compressor and an outdoor heat exchanger for heat exchange between the refrigerant and outdoor air. The wire controller is connected to the indoor unit through a wire controller interface and is configured to control the indoor unit in response to an operation instruction of a user. The WiFi module is integrated in the wire controller and is connected to the wire controller through a serial port. After power-on, the WiFi module sends a read device address instruction to the indoor unit through the wire controller until the wire controller receives a state data packet sent by the indoor unit, and then stops sending the read device address instruction. The wire controller receives address information returned by the indoor unit. The wire controller sends a control instruction or a state query instruction to the indoor unit, and displays state information of the indoor unit after receiving a state data packet returned by the indoor unit. The communication node of the wire controller for network connection can be shortened, the wire controller can be controlled by the WiFi module, OTA upgrade is supported, the cost of setting a separate WiFi module is reduced, the interface of the indoor unit is reduced, and the cost of the air conditioner is reduced.

[0016] Additional aspects and advantages of the present application will be made apparent by the following description and the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0017] The above and / or additional aspects and advantages of the present application will become apparent and be readily understood from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0018] Figure 1 is a structural schematic diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0019] Figure 2 is a structural schematic diagram of an air conditioner according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0020] Figure 3is a communication timing diagram of the wire controller according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 4 is a communication timing diagram of communication between various air conditioner components according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 5 is a flow chart of a handshake between the indoor unit and the wire controller according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 6 is a flow chart of the indoor unit sending a status data packet to the wire controller according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Figure 7 is a flow chart of configuration of air conditioner accessories according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 8 is a communication timing diagram of the air conditioner accessories executing control instructions according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative work fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0027] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer" and the like indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings, and are only for the purpose of facilitating the description of the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation of the present application.

[0028] The terms "first", "second" are only for the purpose of description, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the technical features indicated. Therefore, the features defined with "first", "second" can explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present application, unless otherwise specified, the meaning of "a plurality of" is two or more.

[0029] In the description of the present application, it is necessary to point out that unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "mounting", "connection", "linking" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be fixed connection, or detachable connection, or integrally connected; it can be mechanical connection, or electrical connection; it can be directly connected, or indirectly connected through intermediate medium, or internal communication of two elements. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in the present application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0030] In the present application, the air conditioner performs a refrigeration cycle of the air conditioner by using a compressor, a condenser, an electronic expansion valve, and an evaporator. The refrigeration cycle includes a series of processes involving compression, condensation, expansion, and evaporation, and supplies refrigerant to the air that has been adjusted and heat-exchanged.

[0031] The compressor compresses refrigerant gas in a high-temperature and high-pressure state and discharges the compressed refrigerant gas. The discharged refrigerant gas flows into the condenser. The condenser condenses the compressed refrigerant into a liquid phase, and heat is released to the surrounding environment through the condensation process.

[0032] The electronic expansion valve expands the liquid-phase refrigerant in a high-temperature and high-pressure state condensed in the condenser into a low-pressure liquid phase. The evaporator evaporates the refrigerant expanded in the electronic expansion valve and returns the refrigerant gas in a low-temperature and low-pressure state to the compressor. The evaporator can achieve a refrigeration effect by heat-exchanging with a material to be cooled using latent heat of evaporation of the refrigerant. Throughout the cycle, the air conditioner can adjust the temperature of the indoor space.

[0033] The outdoor unit of the air conditioner refers to the part of the refrigeration cycle including the compressor and the outdoor heat exchanger, the indoor unit of the air conditioner includes the indoor heat exchanger, and the electronic expansion valve can be provided in the indoor unit or the outdoor unit. The outdoor unit of the air conditioner further includes an outdoor fan and an outdoor fan, wherein the outdoor fan is used to drive the outdoor fan to rotate, and the outdoor fan is used to drive the outdoor air to pass through the outdoor heat exchanger to heat-exchange with the refrigerant. The indoor unit of the air conditioner further includes an indoor fan and an indoor fan, wherein the indoor fan is used to drive the indoor fan to rotate, and the indoor fan is used to drive the indoor air to pass through the indoor heat exchanger to heat-exchange with the refrigerant.

[0034] The indoor heat exchanger and the outdoor heat exchanger are used as a condenser or an evaporator. When the indoor heat exchanger is used as a condenser, the air conditioner is used as a heater in a heating mode, and when the indoor heat exchanger is used as an evaporator, the air conditioner is used as a cooler in a cooling mode.

[0035] Reference will now be made to Figures 1-8 An air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present application is described.

[0036] Figure 1is a structural schematic diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1 The air conditioner 10 comprises a refrigerant circulation loop 11, an indoor unit 12, an outdoor unit 13, a wire controller 14 and a WiFi module 15. The refrigerant circulation loop 11 makes the refrigerant perform a refrigeration cycle in a loop composed of a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve and an evaporator. One of the condenser and the evaporator is an outdoor heat exchanger, and the other is an indoor heat exchanger. The indoor unit 12 comprises an indoor heat exchanger for exchanging heat between the refrigerant and indoor air. The outdoor unit 13 comprises a compressor and an outdoor heat exchanger for exchanging heat between the refrigerant and outdoor air. The wire controller 14 is connected to the indoor unit 12 through a wire controller interface, and is configured to control the indoor unit 12 in response to an operation instruction of a user. The WiFi module 15 is integrated in the wire controller 14 and is connected to the wire controller 14 through a serial port. The WiFi module 15 is configured to: after being powered on, send an instruction for reading a device address to the indoor unit 12 through the wire controller 14, and stop sending the instruction for reading the device address after receiving a status data packet sent by the indoor unit 12; receive address information returned by the indoor unit 12 through the wire controller 14; send a control instruction or a status query instruction to the indoor unit 12 through the wire controller 14, and display status information of the indoor unit 12 after receiving a status data packet returned by the indoor unit 12.

[0037] Specifically, a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone can send a control instruction or a status query instruction to the WiFi module 15 through a cloud. The control instruction is used to control an operation state of the air conditioner 10, and the status query instruction is used to acquire operation state information of the air conditioner 10. Therefore, after being powered on, the WiFi module 15 needs to first send an instruction for reading a device address to the indoor unit 12 through the wire controller 14, and then communicate with the indoor unit 12 through the address of the indoor unit 12 after acquiring the address of the indoor unit 12. That is, the WiFi module 15 is initialized after being powered on to acquire the device address of the indoor unit 12. In a specific embodiment, as shown in Figure 1As shown, the WiFi module 15 is integrated in the line controller 14, the WiFi module 15 is connected with the line controller 14 through a serial port, the WiFi module 15 is a host, and the line controller 14 is a slave. When the WiFi module 15 sends a command for reading a device address to the indoor unit 12, the WiFi module 15 forwards the command through the line controller 14. Specifically, the line controller 14 is connected with the indoor unit 12 through a line controller interface, the line controller 14 and a main control board of the indoor unit are in current loop communication, and when communicating, the indoor unit 12 is a host, and the line controller 14 is a slave. Therefore, after the line controller 14 receives a state data packet sent by the indoor unit 12, the line controller 14 can forward a reading device address command sent by the WiFi module 15. Before the line controller 14 receives the state data packet sent by the indoor unit 12, the WiFi module 15 needs to continuously send a reading device address command. It should be noted that the indoor unit 12 and the WiFi module 15 are hosts of respective communication lines, and after being powered on, the indoor unit 12 and the WiFi module 15 actively send data. The indoor unit 12 sends a handshake command, and after successfully handshake with the line controller 14, sends a state data packet to the line controller 14, so that after the line controller 14 receives the state data packet sent by the indoor unit 12, the indoor unit 12 processes a reading device address command forwarded by the line controller 14. After being powered on, the WiFi module 15 sends a reading device address command to the indoor unit 12 through the line controller 14.

[0038] Further, after receiving the reading device address command forwarded by the line controller 14, the indoor unit 12 returns address information of the indoor unit 12 to the WiFi module 15 through the line controller 14. Then, the WiFi module 15 can send a control command or a state query command to the indoor unit 12 through the line controller 14, and after receiving a state data packet returned by the indoor unit 12, displays state information of the indoor unit 12. It can be understood that the state information of the indoor unit 12 includes an operation mode, a wind speed, a cooling or heating temperature, and the like of the air conditioner 10. The WiFi module 15 can display the state information of the indoor unit 12 on a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone through a cloud.

[0039] In specific embodiments, the indoor unit 12 sends a state data packet to the line controller 14, the line controller 14 starts processing a command sent by the WiFi module 15 after receiving the state data packet of the indoor unit 12, the command is for example a reading device address command, the line controller 14 packs the reading device address command into a data packet in a line controller protocol standard after receiving the reading device address command, sends an address query request to the indoor unit 12, the indoor unit 12 sends address data of the indoor unit 12 to the line controller 14 after receiving the request, and the line controller 14 packs the address data of the indoor unit 12 into a data packet in a WiFi protocol format and sends the data packet to the WiFi module 15. The WiFi module 15 determines that the type of the household appliance is the air conditioner 10 according to the address data of the indoor unit 12, and sends a control command or a state query command to the indoor unit 12 through the line controller 14.

[0040] Thus, the embodiment of the present application integrates the WiFi module in the wire controller, and the control instruction or the state query instruction issued by the WiFi module is received by the wire controller and forwarded to the indoor unit, which can shorten the communication node controlled by the wire controller 14, so that the wire controller can be controlled by the WiFi module 15, support OTA (Over The Air, Over The Air) upgrade, and reduce the cost of setting up a separate WiFi module, while reducing the interface of the indoor unit to reduce the cost of the air conditioner.

[0041] In an embodiment of the present application, the air conditioner further comprises: an air conditioner accessory connected with the wire controller and the indoor unit respectively, the air conditioner accessory being used to forward the communication instruction between the wire controller and the indoor unit.

[0042] Specifically, the air conditioner accessory 22 includes but is not limited to a partition controller and a 3D panel. The partition controller is used to send the air outlet of the air conditioner into different areas and adjust the air volume of each air outlet, and the 3D panel is used to adjust the air direction of the air outlet of the ducted air conditioner. Figure 2 As shown in the figure, the air conditioner accessory 22 is located between the indoor unit 12 and the wire controller 14. The air conditioner accessory 22 and the wire controller 14 communicate through the current loop, and in the communication process, the air conditioner accessory 22 is the master and the wire controller 14 is the slave, and the communication protocol between the air conditioner accessory 22 and the wire controller 14 is the standard wire controller protocol; the indoor unit 12 and the air conditioner accessory 22 communicate through the current loop, and in the communication process, the indoor unit 12 is the master and the air conditioner accessory 22 is the slave. When the communication instruction is transmitted between the indoor unit 12 and the wire controller 14, it needs to be forwarded through the air conditioner accessory 22. It can be understood that the communication instruction between the wire controller 14 and the indoor unit 12 includes but is not limited to a control instruction or a state query instruction, and the control instruction or the state query instruction corresponds to different data packet types.

[0043] In a specific embodiment, the air conditioner accessory is, for example, a partition controller. As shown in the figure, Figure 3As shown, the positive level represents the data sent by the host, and the negative level represents the data returned by the slave. The partition controller communicates with the indoor unit as a slave and communicates with the wire controller as a host. The indoor unit sends basic data to the wire controller every 1 s, and the basic data includes a state data packet used to indicate the running state of the indoor unit. In this process, the indoor unit first sends the basic data to the partition controller, the partition controller forwards the basic data to the wire controller, and the wire controller displays the running state of the air conditioner in real time after receiving the basic data. At the same time, the wire controller has control instructions sent to the indoor unit, and after the wire controller receives the basic data, the wire controller sends the control instructions to the indoor unit through the partition controller after a delay of 300 ms. After receiving the control instructions, the indoor unit returns the state to the wire controller through the partition controller. It should be noted that the control instructions sent by the wire controller have three control sources. The first source is the key operation of the wire controller itself, the second source is the forwarding of the instructions of the WiFi module after the wire controller receives the control or query instructions of the WiFi module, and the third source is the forwarding of the remote control signal after the wire controller receives the instructions of the remote controller. The wire controller only sends one data packet in one communication period. When a communication period comes, if there are also sending control instruction requests from the WiFi module, the remote controller or the wire controller at the same time, the instructions from the WiFi module are forwarded first, the instructions from the remote controller are forwarded in the next sending period, and finally the operation instructions of the wire controller itself are sent. The indoor unit finally responds to the instructions sent last, that is, the priority of the control instructions corresponding to the key control of the wire controller itself is the highest.

[0044] It should be noted that the communication line of the wire controller in the above embodiment is one or two levels. The first level is the indoor unit-partition controller / 3D panel, and the second level is the partition controller / 3D panel-wire controller. It can also be increased to three levels. Limited by the forwarding mechanism, too many levels will cause sending delay.

[0045] In an embodiment of the present application, after receiving the address information returned by the indoor unit through the wire controller, the WiFi module is further configured to obtain device information of an air conditioner accessory.

[0046] Specifically, the air conditioner accessory is, for example, a partition controller, such as Figure 4As shown, the line controller forwards the address information returned by the indoor unit to the WiFi module after receiving the address information, the WiFi module determines that the type of the household appliance is an air conditioner according to the address information, and sends a read device information instruction to the indoor unit, specifically, the WiFi module first sends the read device information instruction to the line controller, the line controller forwards the read device information instruction to the indoor unit through the partition controller, the indoor unit returns device information to the partition controller after receiving the read device information instruction, the partition controller sends the device information to the line controller after adding its own device information based on the device information returned by the indoor unit, and the line controller sends the device information to the WiFi module. The WiFi module determines the device information of the air conditioner indoor unit and the partition controller accordingly, and sends a control or status query instruction to the air conditioner or air conditioner accessory. Specifically, the device information includes but is not limited to whether the air conditioner has a fresh air system.

[0047] In an embodiment of the present application, as shown in Figure 5 As shown, the indoor unit is configured to: after being powered on, the indoor unit determines whether an air conditioner accessory is connected in the air conditioner; when it is determined that the air conditioner accessory is connected in the air conditioner, a handshake instruction is sent to the air conditioner accessory, and after a successful handshake with the air conditioner accessory, a handshake instruction is sent to the line controller to perform a handshake with the line controller; or when it is determined that the air conditioner accessory is not connected in the air conditioner, a handshake instruction is directly sent to the line controller to perform a handshake with the line controller; after a successful handshake between the indoor unit and the line controller, a status data packet is sent to the line controller at a first preset time interval.

[0048] Specifically, as described above, the indoor unit actively sends a handshake instruction to the line controller after being powered on, and can send a status data packet to the line controller only after a successful handshake. If the air conditioner accessory is not connected in the air conditioner, a handshake instruction is directly sent to the line controller to perform a handshake with the line controller. If the air conditioner accessory is connected in the air conditioner, the indoor unit first performs a handshake with the air conditioner accessory, and after a successful handshake, the air conditioner accessory sends a handshake instruction to the line controller to perform a handshake with the line controller. In specific embodiments, the air conditioner accessory is, for example, a partition controller, and when the air conditioner accessory is connected in the air conditioner, as shown in Figure 4 As shown, when the indoor unit 12 sends a handshake instruction after being powered on, the indoor unit 12 acts as a master and the partition controller acts as a slave, the partition controller actively performs a handshake with the indoor unit 12 after recognizing the handshake instruction format sent by the indoor unit 12, and sends a handshake instruction to the line controller 14 after a successful handshake. The line controller 14 performs a successful handshake with the partition controller, and the indoor unit 12 sends a status data packet to the line controller 14 at a first preset time interval, for example, 1 second, so that the line controller 14 can display the running state of the air conditioner in real time.

[0049] In an embodiment of the present application, as shown in Figure 6As shown, when sending the state data packet to the wire controller, the indoor unit is configured to: judge whether the air conditioner accessory is connected in the air conditioner; when judging that the air conditioner accessory is connected in the air conditioner, send the state data packet to the air conditioner accessory; when judging that the air conditioner accessory is not connected in the air conditioner, directly send the state data packet to the wire controller.

[0050] Specifically, when responding to the state query instruction of the wire controller, the indoor unit sends the state data packet to the wire controller, if the air conditioner accessory is connected in the air conditioner, the state data packet is first sent to the air conditioner accessory, and after receiving the state data packet sent by the indoor unit, the air conditioner accessory adds the state information of itself to the state data packet and sends it to the wire controller, so that the wire controller can display the running state information of the indoor unit and the air conditioner accessory in real time; if the air conditioner accessory is not connected in the air conditioner, the state data packet is directly sent to the wire controller, so that the wire controller can display the running state information of the indoor unit in real time.

[0051] Further, after receiving the state data packet sent by the indoor unit, the wire controller can also send the state data packet to the WiFi module, and the WiFi module displays the state information of the indoor unit on the mobile terminal such as a mobile phone through the cloud, so that the user can check the state information of the indoor unit at any time and anywhere.

[0052] In an embodiment of the present application, as shown in Figure 7 The air conditioner accessory is also configured to: after receiving the control instruction sent by the wire controller, judge whether the control instruction is the control instruction sent to itself; if the control instruction is the control instruction sent to itself, execute the control instruction and no longer forward the control instruction; if the control instruction is not the control instruction sent to itself, do not execute the control instruction and forward the control instruction to the indoor unit.

[0053] In a specific embodiment, as shown in Figure 8 The air conditioner accessory is, for example, a partition controller, and the positive level in the figure represents the data sent by the master, and the negative level represents the data returned by the slave. The partition controller communicates with the indoor unit as a slave, and communicates with the wire controller as a master. The indoor unit sends basic data to the wire controller every 1s, and the wire controller sends a control instruction to the partition controller after receiving the basic data. The partition controller judges whether the control instruction is the control instruction sent to itself after receiving the control instruction sent by the wire controller, executes the control instruction and returns a state, and no longer forwards the control instruction, so as to realize the control of the air conditioner accessory. It should be noted that the indoor unit and the air conditioner accessory correspond to different data packet types, and the air conditioner accessory judges whether the control instruction is sent to itself or the indoor unit according to the data packet type, so that the control instruction from the wire controller can be correctly distributed to the air conditioner accessory or the indoor unit.

[0054] In one embodiment of the present application, the wire controller is configured to send a prompt message of communication failure if the status data packet sent by the indoor unit or the air conditioner accessory is not correctly received within the second preset time.

[0055] Specifically, as described above, when the air conditioner accessory is connected in the air conditioner, the status information of the indoor unit and the air conditioner accessory is sent to the wire controller every first preset time. In a specific embodiment, if the status data packet sent by the indoor unit or the air conditioner accessory is not correctly received within the second preset time, for example, 10 seconds, a prompt message of communication failure is sent, for example, "send communication failure, please check in time".

[0056] In one embodiment of the present application, the wire controller is configured to forward the control instruction or the status query instruction sent by the WiFi module to the indoor unit after the third preset time when the status data packet sent by the indoor unit or the air conditioner accessory is received.

[0057] Specifically, the status data packet includes the type of the indoor unit, when the wire controller receives the status data packet sent by the indoor unit or the air conditioner accessory, it is judged whether the indoor unit accepts the WiFi instruction control according to the status data packet, if the indoor unit does not support the WiFi instruction control, the wire controller does not forward the WiFi instruction, at this time, the wire controller only analyzes and responds to the basic WiFi control (such as on-off, mode, temperature and wind speed control), if the indoor unit supports the WiFi instruction control, the control instruction or the status query instruction sent by the WiFi module to the indoor unit is forwarded after the third preset time. Exemplarily, the third preset time is 300 ms.

[0058] In one embodiment of the present application, after stopping sending the instruction of reading the device address, the WiFi module is further configured to receive the network configuration instruction through the wire controller to connect the network.

[0059] Specifically, the wire controller increases the network configuration mark on the wire controller display screen when forwarding the WiFi information replied by the communication host of the wire controller after receiving the key operation, and commands the WiFi module to configure the network. In other embodiments, the system can also be connected through the remote controller, specifically, when the indoor unit receives and judges the remote controller instruction, and replies the WiFi instruction forwarded by the communication slave of the wire controller, the network configuration mark is added to be forwarded to the WiFi module by the wire controller to command the WiFi module to configure the network, so that after the WiFi module is connected to the network, the mobile terminal such as a mobile phone can send the control instruction or the status query instruction to the WiFi module through the cloud, and after sending the status data packet to the WiFi module, the WiFi module can display the status information of the indoor unit on the mobile terminal such as a mobile phone through the cloud, so that the user can control the air conditioner and check the status information of the indoor unit at any time and anywhere through the mobile terminal.

[0060] According to the air conditioner of the embodiment of the present application, the air conditioner comprises: a refrigerant circulation loop, an indoor unit, an outdoor unit, a wire controller and a WiFi module. The refrigerant circulation loop makes refrigerant perform a refrigeration cycle in a loop composed of a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve and an evaporator, one of the condenser and the evaporator being an outdoor heat exchanger and the other being an indoor heat exchanger. The indoor unit comprises an indoor heat exchanger for making the refrigerant exchange heat with indoor air. The outdoor unit comprises a compressor and an outdoor heat exchanger for making the refrigerant exchange heat with outdoor air. The wire controller is connected to the indoor unit through a wire controller interface and is used to control the indoor unit in response to an operation instruction of a user. The WiFi module is integrated in the wire controller and is connected to the wire controller through a serial port. The WiFi module is configured to: after being powered on, send an instruction for reading a device address to the indoor unit through the wire controller, stop sending the instruction for reading the device address after the wire controller receives a status data packet sent by the indoor unit, receive address information returned by the indoor unit through the wire controller, send a control instruction or a status query instruction to the indoor unit through the wire controller, and display status information of the indoor unit after receiving the status data packet returned by the indoor unit. This can shorten communication nodes for controlling networking of the wire controller, enable the wire controller to be controlled by the WiFi module, support OTA upgrade, reduce the cost of setting a separate WiFi module, and reduce interfaces of the indoor unit to reduce the cost of the air conditioner.

[0061] In the description of the present specification, the description of the terms "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "exemplary embodiment", "example", "specific example", or "some examples" and the like means that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in connection with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present application. In the present specification, the exemplary description of the above terms does not necessarily mean the same embodiment or example.

[0062] Although the embodiments of the present application have been shown and described, those skilled in the art can understand that various changes, modifications, replacements and variations can be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present application, and the scope of the present application is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An air conditioner, characterized in that, include: The refrigerant circulation loop allows the refrigerant to circulate in a loop consisting of a compressor, condenser, expansion valve, and evaporator. One of the condensers and the other of the evaporator is an outdoor heat exchanger and the other is an indoor heat exchanger. An indoor unit, the indoor unit including the indoor heat exchanger, is used to exchange heat between the refrigerant and the indoor air; An outdoor unit, comprising the compressor and the outdoor heat exchanger, for exchanging heat between the refrigerant and the outdoor air; A wired controller, connected to the indoor unit via a wired controller interface, is used to respond to user operation commands and control the indoor unit; The WiFi module is integrated into the wired controller and is connected to the wired controller via a serial port. Air conditioning optional accessories are connected to the wired controller and the indoor unit respectively. The air conditioning optional accessories are used to forward communication commands between the wired controller and the indoor unit. The air conditioning optional accessories include a zone controller, which is used to send the air from the air conditioning outlet to different zones and adjust the air volume of each outlet. The WiFi module is configured such that, after being powered on, the WiFi module sends a command to the indoor unit to read the device address via the wired controller until the wired controller receives the status data packet sent by the indoor unit, at which point it stops sending the command to read the device address. The address information returned by the indoor unit is received through the wired controller; The wired controller sends control commands or status query commands to the indoor unit, and displays the status information of the indoor unit after receiving the status data packet returned by the indoor unit.

2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, characterized in that, After receiving the address information returned by the indoor unit via the wired controller, the WiFi module is further configured to: Obtain the equipment information of the air conditioner optional accessories.

3. The air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The indoor unit is configured as follows: After the indoor unit is powered on, it determines whether the air conditioner accessory is connected to the air conditioner. When it is determined that the air conditioner is connected to the air conditioner accessory, a handshake command is sent to the air conditioner accessory. After the handshake with the air conditioner accessory is successful, a handshake command is sent to the wired controller to perform a handshake with the wired controller. or, When it is determined that the air conditioner accessory is not connected to the air conditioner, a handshake command is sent directly to the wired controller to establish a handshake with the wired controller; After the indoor unit successfully hands with the wired controller, it sends the status data packet to the wired controller every first preset time interval.

4. The air conditioner according to claim 3, characterized in that, When sending a status data packet to the wired controller, the indoor unit is configured as follows: Determine whether the air conditioner accessory is connected to the air conditioner; When it is determined that the air conditioner accessory is connected to the air conditioner, the status data packet is sent to the air conditioner accessory. When it is determined that the air conditioner accessory is not connected to the air conditioner, the status data packet is sent directly to the wired controller.

5. The air conditioner according to claim 4, characterized in that, The air conditioning option is configured as follows: After receiving the status data packet sent by the indoor unit, it adds its own status information to the status data packet and sends it to the wired controller.

6. The air conditioner according to claim 4, characterized in that, The air conditioning option is also configured as follows: After receiving the control command sent by the wired controller, determine whether the control command is a control command sent to itself; If it is determined that the control command is a control command sent to itself, then the control command is executed and the control command is no longer forwarded; If it is determined that the control command is not a control command sent to itself, then the control command is not executed, and the control command is forwarded to the indoor unit.

7. The air conditioner according to claim 5, characterized in that, The wired controller is configured to: If the status data packet sent by the indoor unit or the air conditioner accessory is not correctly received within the second preset time, a communication failure prompt message will be issued.

8. The air conditioner according to claim 5, characterized in that, The wired controller is configured to: When the status data packet sent by the indoor unit or the air conditioner accessory is received, after a third preset time, the control command or status query command sent by the WiFi module to the indoor unit is forwarded.

9. The air conditioner according to claim 1, characterized in that, After ceasing to send the instruction to read the device address, the WiFi module is further configured to: The wired controller receives network distribution commands to establish a network connection.

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