Air conditioner, and control method and apparatus therefor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11168908-B2
Application number	US-201716767515-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 21, 2017
Priority date	Nov 29, 2017
Publication date	Nov 9, 2021
Grant date	Nov 9, 2021

Abstract

A method for controlling an air conditioner includes obtaining initial indoor ambient temperature and humidity, obtaining an initial dew point temperature according to the initial indoor ambient temperature and humidity, controlling a temperature of an indoor heat exchanger coil to be equal to the initial dew point temperature and maintaining a current operating frequency of a compressor unchanged, obtaining a current indoor ambient temperature, judging whether the current indoor ambient temperature is lower than or equal to a set temperature, if so, obtaining a current indoor ambient humidity and obtaining a current moisture content and a current dew point temperature according to the current indoor ambient temperature and the current indoor ambient humidity, and controlling the air conditioner to perform humidification or dehumidification according to the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger coil, the current moisture content, and the current dew point temperature.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method for controlling an air conditioner comprising:
obtaining an initial indoor ambient temperature and an initial indoor ambient humidity in response to the air conditioner being turned on;
obtaining an initial dew point temperature according to the initial indoor ambient temperature and the initial indoor ambient humidity;
controlling a temperature of an indoor heat exchanger coil of the air conditioner to be equal to the initial dew point temperature, and maintaining a current operating frequency of a compressor of the air conditioner unchanged;
obtaining a current indoor ambient temperature;
judging whether the current indoor ambient temperature is lower than or equal to a set temperature;
in response to the current indoor ambient temperature being lower than or equal to the set temperature:
obtaining a current indoor ambient humidity; and
obtaining a current moisture content and a current dew point temperature according to the current indoor ambient temperature and the current indoor ambient humidity; and

controlling the air conditioner to perform humidification or dehumidification according to the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger coil, the current moisture content, and the current dew point temperature.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
judging, in response to the current indoor ambient temperature being higher than the set temperature, whether the indoor ambient temperature remains unchanged within a preset time; and
controlling, in response to the indoor ambient temperature remaining unchanged within the preset time, to decrease the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger coil.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein controlling the air conditioner to perform humidification or dehumidification according to the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger coil, the current moisture content, and the current dew point temperature includes:
judging the current moisture content, and judging a magnitude relation between the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger coil and the current dew point temperature;
controlling to decrease a rotational speed of an indoor fan of the air conditioner for dehumidification, in response to the current moisture content being greater than a first preset value and the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger coil being higher than the current dew point temperature; and
controlling to increase the rotational speed of the indoor fan of the air conditioner for humidification, in response to the current moisture content being lower than a second preset value and the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger coil being lower than the current dew point temperature, the second preset value being lower than the first preset value.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the air conditioner to perform humidification or dehumidification according to the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger coil, the current moisture content, and the current dew point temperature includes:
judging the current moisture content, and judging a magnitude relation between the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger coil and the current dew point temperature;
controlling to decrease a rotational speed of an indoor fan of the air conditioner for dehumidification, in response to the current moisture content being greater than a first preset value and the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger coil being higher than the current dew point temperature; and
controlling to increase a rotational speed of the indoor fan of the air conditioner for humidification, in response to the current moisture content being lower than a second preset value and the temperature of the indoor heat exchanger coil being lower than the current dew point temperature, the second preset value being lower than the first preset value.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first preset value is a moisture content corresponding to a temperature of 26° C. and a humidity of 60%, and the second preset value is a moisture content corresponding to a temperature of 26° C. and a humidity of 40%.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
obtaining the set temperature and a set humidity while the air conditioner is in a cooling operation;
obtaining a set moisture content according to the set temperature and the set humidity;
obtaining the current indoor ambient temperature, the current indoor ambient humidity, and a current temperature of the indoor heat exchanger coil;
obtaining the current moisture content and the current dew point temperature according to the current indoor ambient temperature and the current indoor ambient humidity;
judging a magnitude relation between the set temperature and the current indoor ambient temperature and judging a magnitude relation between the set moisture content and the current moisture content to obtain judging results; and
controlling temperature and humidity with the air conditioner according to the judging results, the current dew point temperature, and the current temperature of the indoor heat exchanger coil.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein controlling temperature and humidity with the air conditioner according to the judging results, the current dew point temperature, and the current temperature of the indoor heat exchanger coil includes:
controlling the air conditioner to perform cooling and dehumidification in response to the set temperature being lower than or equal to the current indoor ambient temperature and the set moisture content being lower than or equal to the current moisture content;
controlling the air conditioner to perform cooling and humidity retaining in response to the set temperature being lower than or equal to the current indoor ambient temperature and the set moisture content being greater than the current moisture content;
controlling the air conditioner to perform temperature retaining and dehumidification in response to the set temperature being higher than the current indoor ambient temperature and the set moisture content being lower than or equal to the current moisture content; and
controlling the air conditioner to perform temperature retaining and humidity retaining in response to the set temperature being higher than the current indoor ambient temperature and the set moisture content being greater than the current moisture content.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising, before controlling temperature and humidity with the air conditioner:
controlling the compressor of the air conditioner to operate according to rules set based on the current indoor ambient temperature and the set temperature.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein:
controlling the air conditioner to perform cooling and dehumidification includes:
controlling the compressor to operate at an upper limiting frequency, and judging whether the current temperature of the indoor heat exchanger coil is higher than the current dew point temperature while the compressor is operating at the upper limiting frequency;
in response to the current temperature of the indoor heat exchanger coil being higher than the current dew point temperature:
controlling an opening degree of a dehumidification valve of the air conditioner to decrease by a preset opening degree; or
controlling a rotational speed of an indoor fan of the air conditioner to decrease to a minimum rotational speed; and

in response to the current temperature of the indoor heat exchanger coil being lower than or equal to the current dew point temperature, controlling the air conditioner to maintain a current operational state;

controlling the air conditioner to perform cooling and humidity retaining includes:
judging whether the current temperature of the indoor heat exchanger coil is higher

Assignees

• Gd Midea Air Conditioning Equipment Co Ltd
• Midea Group Co Ltd

Inventors

• Xi Zhanli
• Li Jinbo
• Zhang Bobo

Classifications

• F24F2110/10

  Temperature · CPC title

• F24F11/77

  by controlling the speed of ventilators · CPC title

• F24F11/63 Primary

  Electronic processing · CPC title

• F24F2140/30

  Condensation of water from cooled air · CPC title

• F24F2140/20

  Heat-exchange fluid temperature · CPC title