Air conditioner units and methods of operation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10520213-B2
Application number	US-201715795465-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 27, 2017
Priority date	Oct 27, 2017
Publication date	Dec 31, 2019
Grant date	Dec 31, 2019

Abstract

Air conditioner units, including methods of operation, are provided herein. The air conditioner unit may include an indoor portion, an outdoor portion, and a compressor in fluid communication between the indoor portion and the outdoor portion. The method may include setting an operating temperature of the indoor portion based on a primary temperature target, determining a humidity value at the indoor portion, comparing the determined humidity value to a humidity threshold, resetting the operating temperature as a temporary temperature target when the determined humidity value is above the humidity threshold and the primary temperature target is reached at the indoor portion of the air conditioner, and directing refrigerant compression at the compressor based on the operating temperature.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for operating a packaged terminal air conditioner unit comprising an indoor portion, an outdoor portion, and a compressor in fluid communication between the indoor portion and the outdoor portion, the method comprising:
setting an operating temperature of the indoor portion based on a primary temperature target;
determining a humidity value at the indoor portion;
comparing the determined humidity value to a humidity threshold;
resetting the operating temperature as a temporary temperature target when the determined humidity value is above the humidity threshold and the primary temperature target is reached at the indoor portion of the air conditioner; and
directing refrigerant compression at the compressor based on the operating temperature.

2. The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:
maintaining the operating temperature as the primary temperature target when the determined humidity value is at or below the humidity threshold.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the primary temperature target comprises a primary upper limit and a primary lower limit.

4. The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:
determining a temperature value; and
comparing the temperature value to the primary temperature target.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the temporary temperature target is less than the primary temperature target when the determined temperature value is less than the primary temperature target.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the primary temperature target comprises a primary upper limit and a primary lower limit, and wherein the temporary temperature target comprises a temporary upper limit and a temporary lower limit, the temporary upper limit being less than the primary upper limit, and the temporary lower limit being less than the temporary lower limit.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the temporary temperature target is equal to the primary temperature target when the determined temperature value is greater than or equal to the primary temperature target.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the primary temperature target comprises a primary upper limit and a primary lower limit, and wherein the temporary temperature target comprises a temporary upper limit and a temporary lower limit, the temporary upper limit being equal to the primary upper limit, and the temporary lower limit being equal to the temporary lower limit.

9. The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:
determining a new humidity value after the determining the humidity value;
comparing the new humidity value to the humidity threshold; and
returning the operating temperature target to the primary temperature target when the new humidity value is at or below the humidity threshold.

10. The method of claim 9 , the method further comprising:
maintaining the operating temperature target as the temporary temperature target when the new humidity value is above the humidity threshold.

11. An air conditioner unit for conditioning an indoor space, comprising:
an outdoor heat exchanger assembly disposed in an outdoor portion and comprising an outdoor heat exchanger and an outdoor fan;
an indoor heat exchanger assembly disposed in an indoor portion and comprising an indoor heat exchanger and an indoor fan;
a compressor in fluid communication with the outdoor heat exchanger and the indoor heat exchanger to circulate a refrigerant between the outdoor heat exchanger and the indoor heat exchanger;
a bulkhead disposed between the outdoor heat exchanger and the indoor heat exchanger along a transverse direction, the bulkhead defining the indoor portion and the outdoor portion;
a vent aperture defined in the bulkhead;
a humidity sensor disposed within the indoor portion;
a temperature sensor disposed within the indoor portion; and
a controller operably coupled to the compressor, the controller being configured to initiate a conditioning cycle comprising
setting an operating temperature of the indoor portion based on a primary temperature target,
determining a humidity value at the indoor portion based on a signal received from the humidity sensor,
comparing the determined humidity value to a humidity threshold,
resetting the operating temperature as a temporary temperature target when the determined humidity value is above the humidity threshold and the primary temperature target is reached at the indoor portion, and
directing refrigerant compression at the compressor based on the operating temperature.

12. The air conditioner unit of claim 11 , wherein the conditioning cycle further comprises
maintaining the operating temperature as the primary temperature target when the determined humidity value is at or below the humidity threshold.

13. The air conditioner unit of claim 11 , wherein the primary temperature target comprises a primary upper limit and a primary lower limit.

14. The air conditioner unit of claim 11 , wherein the conditioning cycle further comprises
determining a temperature value based on a temperature signal received from the temperature sensor, and
comparing the determined temperature value to the primary temperature target.

15. The air conditioner unit of claim 14 , wherein the temporary temperature target is less than the primary temperature target when the determined temperature value is less than the primary temperature target.

16. The air conditioner unit of claim 15 , wherein the primary temperature target comprises a primary upper limit and a primary lower limit, and wherein the temporary temperature target comprises a temporary upper limit and a temporary lower limit, the temporary upper limit being less than the primary upper limit, and the temporary lower limit being less than the temporary lower limit.

17. The air conditioner unit of claim 14 , wherein the temporary temperature target is equal to the primary temperature target when the determined temperature value is greater than or equal to the primary temperature target.

18. The air conditioner unit of claim 17 , wherein the primary temperature target comprises a primary upper limit and a primary lower limit, and wherein the temporary temperature target comprises a temporary upper limit and a temporary lower limit, the temporary upper limit being equal to the primary upper limit, and the temporary lower limit being equal to the temporary lower limit.

19. The air conditioner unit of claim 11 , wherein the conditioning cycle further comprises
determining a new humidity value after the determining the humidity value, the new humidity value being based on a new humidity signal received from the humidity sensor,
comparing the new humidity value to the humidity threshold, and
returning the operating temperature target to the primary temperature target when the new humidity value is at or below the humidity threshold.

20. The air conditioner unit of claim 19 , wherein the conditioning cycle further comprises
maintaining the operating temperature target as the temporary temperature target when the new humidity value is above the humidity threshold.

Assignees

• Haier Us Appliance Solutions Inc

Inventors

• D'Souza Bryan Isaac
• Henderson Richard Dustin

Classifications

• F24F11/86

  by controlling compressors within refrigeration or heat pump circuits · CPC title

• F24F11/89

  Arrangement or mounting of control or safety devices · CPC title

• F24F11/62

  characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values · CPC title

• F24F11/64

  using pre-stored data · CPC title

• F24F11/58

  using Internet communication · CPC title