Air conditioner and control method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10852010-B2
Application number	US-201815937168-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 27, 2018
Priority date	Jul 21, 2015
Publication date	Dec 1, 2020
Grant date	Dec 1, 2020

Abstract

An air conditioner and a control method thereof perform cooling through an outlet if room temperature or room humidity is high to reduce the room temperature or the room humidity, and closing the outlet to perform cooling at low velocity through an outlet hole if room temperature or room humidity reaches a predetermined value so that a user can little feel the wind velocity of cooling of the air conditioner, while maintaining indoor space at pleasant temperature or humidity. By performing cooling at low velocity through the outlet hole formed in the lower portion of the air conditioner, it is possible to cool the lower area of indoor space at pleasant temperature when a user is asleep.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An air conditioner comprising:
a housing including a front panel;
a heat exchanger configured to heat-exchange air drawn into an inside of the housing of the air conditioner;
a fan configured to move the heat-exchanged air towards an outside of the housing;
an outlet formed on the front panel, the outlet being configured to discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside of the housing;
a plurality of outlet holes formed throughout the front panel with exception of an area of the front panel on which the outlet is disposed, the plurality of outlet holes surrounding the area of the front panel on which the outlet is disposed and being configured to discharge the heat-exchanged air to the outside of the housing while the outlet is closed; and
a controller configured to:
control rotation of the fan so that the heat-exchanged air is discharged through the plurality of outlet holes when occurrence of condensation is determined based on a temperature of the front panel in a state that the outlet is closed and the rotation of the fan is stopped.

2. The air conditioner according to claim 1 , further comprising a temperature sensor configured to sense the temperature of the front panel.

3. The air conditioner according to claim 2 , wherein:
the temperature sensor senses an indoor temperature of an area in which the air conditioner is disposed; and
the controller determines a dew point temperature based on the sensed indoor temperature and the sensed temperature of the front panel.

4. The air conditioner according to claim 3 , wherein, when the sensed temperature of the front panel is lower than or equal to the determined dew point temperature, the controller determines that condensation has occurred.

5. The air conditioner according to claim 1 , wherein:
the outlet is among a plurality of outlets;
the fan is among a plurality of fans corresponding to the plurality of outlets, respectively; and
the controller controls the rotation of the fan so that the heat-exchanged air is discharged through the plurality of outlet holes when, after some of the plurality of outlets are closed and rotation of respective fans among the plurality of fans corresponding to the plurality of outlets closed are stopped, condensation is determined to have occurred.

6. The air conditioner according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to control the fan to rotate at a predetermined interval.

7. The air conditioner according to claim 1 , wherein the controller controls the fan to rotate for a predetermined period.

8. The air conditioner according to claim 1 , wherein the controller determines that condensation has occurred when a predetermined amount of time elapses from a time point at which the outlet is closed and the rotation of the fan is stopped.

9. A method of controlling an air conditioner, the method comprising:
closing an outlet to stop discharge of heat-exchanged air through the outlet, the outlet being formed on a front panel of the air conditioner;
stopping rotation of a fan;
sensing a temperature of the front panel; and
rotating the fan to discharge the heat-exchanged air through a plurality of outlet holes, the plurality of outlet holes being formed throughout the front panel with exception of an area of the front panel on which the outlet is disposed and surrounding the area of the front panel on which the outlet is disposed and the plurality of outlet holes being configured to discharge the heat-exchanged air through the front panel to an outside of the air conditioner while the outlet is closed,
wherein a controller is provided to the air conditioner and the controller is configured to control rotation of the fan so that the heat-exchanged air is discharged through the plurality of outlet holes when occurrence of condensation is determined based on the sensed temperature of the front panel in a state that the outlet is closed and the rotation of the fan is stopped.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein, when the outlet is among a plurality of outlets, and the fan is among a plurality of fans corresponding to the plurality of outlets, respectively,
the rotating of the fan includes rotating the fan so that the heat-exchanged air is discharged through the plurality of outlet holes when determining condensation has occurred after some of the plurality of outlets are closed and rotation of the respective fans among the plurality of fans corresponding to the plurality of outlets closed is stopped.

11. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the rotating of the fan includes rotating the fan at a predetermined interval.

12. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the rotating of the fan includes controlling the fan to rotate for a predetermined period.

13. The method according to claim 9 , wherein:
the sensing of the temperature of the front panel includes sensing an indoor temperature of a region in which the air conditioner is disposed; and
the determining that condensation has occurred includes determining a dew point temperature based on the sensed indoor temperature and the sensed temperature of the front panel.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the determining that the condensation has occurred includes determining that condensation is occurred when the sensed temperature of the front panel is lower than or equal to the determined dew point temperature.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein the determining that the condensation has occurred includes determining that condensation is occurred when a predetermined amount of time elapses from a time point at which the outlet is closed and the rotation of the fan is stopped.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ha Jong Kweon
• Kang Hee-Chan
• Kim Jong Woon
• Kim Tae Woo
• Park Seung Jun
• Ahn Byoung-Ok
• Jun Hong Seok
• Hwang Jun
• Kim Kwon Jin
• Byeon Na Yeong
• Seo Hyeong Joon

Classifications

• F24F11/77

  by controlling the speed of ventilators · CPC title

• F24F11/64

  using pre-stored data · CPC title

• F24F11/52

  Indication arrangements, e.g. displays · CPC title

• F24F11/86

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

• F24F11/84

  using valves · CPC title