Air conditioner and method for controlling the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11454408-B2
Application number	US-202016780474-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 3, 2020
Priority date	Mar 28, 2019
Publication date	Sep 27, 2022
Grant date	Sep 27, 2022

Abstract

An air conditioner includes a humidifying assembly and a control unit to control the humidifying assembly. The humidifying assembly includes a humidifying-receiving unit including a water tank configured to receive water and a humidifying-sterilizing unit configured to irradiate light to sterilize water received in the water tank. The control unit is configured to control a driving time of the humidifying-sterilizing unit based on an amount of water received in the water tank.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An air conditioner comprising:
a case that defines an inlet and an outlet;
a fan configured to generate air flow from the inlet to the outlet;
a filter assembly disposed inside the case and configured to allow air introduced through the inlet to pass therethrough;
a humidifying assembly disposed inside the case and configured to humidify filtered air to be discharged through the outlet, the humidifying assembly comprising:
a humidifying-receiving unit comprising a water tank configured to receive water,
a humidifying-producing unit configured to generate water vapor from water supplied from the humidifying-receiving unit,
a humidifying-supplying unit configured to receive the water vapor produced from the humidifying-producing unit and supply the water vapor to the outlet, and
a humidifying-sterilizing unit configured to irradiate light to water received in the water tank; and

a control unit configured to control the fan and the humidifying assembly,
wherein the control unit is configured to:
based on a remaining amount of water in the water tank, control a driving time of the humidifying-sterilizing unit corresponding to a sterilizing duration for water in the water tank,
based on the remaining amount of water being greater than or equal to a first reference value that is preset, determine the sterilizing duration to be inversely proportional to the remaining amount of water; and
based on the remaining amount of water being less than the first reference value, determine the sterilizing duration to be proportional to the remaining amount of water.

2. The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the first reference value corresponds to an amount of water corresponding to a maximum sterilizing duration.

3. The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to:
determine the remaining amount of water based on an irradiation distance between the humidifying-sterilizing unit and water in the water tank; and
based on the remaining amount of water being greater than or equal to the first reference value, increase the sterilizing duration in response to a decrease of the remaining amount of water.

4. The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to:
based on the remaining amount of water being less than the first reference value, decrease the sterilizing duration in response to a decrease of the remaining amount of water in the water tank.

5. The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to stop driving of the humidifying-sterilizing unit based on the remaining amount of water being less than the first reference value and a second reference value that is preset.

6. The air conditioner of claim 1 , further comprising:
a residual water sensor configured to measure the remaining amount of water,
wherein the humidifying-sterilizing unit and the residual water sensor are positioned at an upper portion of the water tank.

7. The air conditioner of claim 6 , wherein the water tank defines a water inlet at a top surface of the water tank,
wherein the humidifying-receiving unit is configured to be rotatably installed inside the case and to rotate relative to the case to thereby expose the water inlet to an outside of the case, and
wherein the humidifying-sterilizing unit and the residual water sensor are positioned at an upper portion of the water inlet in a state in which the humidifying-receiving unit is installed inside the case.

8. The air conditioner of claim 7 , wherein the case comprises:
a cabinet; and
a door movably coupled to a front surface of the cabinet and configured to move to one side of the cabinet to thereby expose the humidifying-receiving unit to the outside of the case, and
wherein the humidifying-receiving unit is configured to, based on the door moving to the one side of the cabinet, rotate from an inside of the cabinet to the front surface of the cabinet to thereby expose the water inlet to the outside of the case.

9. The air conditioner of claim 8 , wherein the control unit is configured to, based on the remaining amount of water being less than a second reference value that is preset, control the humidifying-receiving unit to rotate relative to the case to thereby expose the water inlet to the outside of the case.

10. The air conditioner of claim 8 , wherein the door is configured to move to another side of the cabinet to thereby cover the humidifying-receiving unit based on the humidifying-receiving unit rotating from the front surface of the cabinet to the inside of the cabinet.

11. The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the outlet comprises:
a first outlet defined at a front surface of the case; and
a second outlet defined at a side surface of the case, and
wherein the humidifying-supplying unit is configured to supply the water vapor to the second outlet.

12. The air conditioner of claim 11 , wherein the fan comprises:
a first fan configured to blow air to the first outlet; and
a second fan configured to blow air to the second outlet, and
wherein the first fan and the second fan are arranged along a vertical direction in the case.

13. The air conditioner of claim 12 , wherein the control unit is configured to generate air flow from the inlet to at least one of the first outlet or the second outlet by operating at least one of the first fan or the second fan.

14. The air conditioner of claim 12 , wherein the control unit is configured to, based on operating both of the second fan and the humidifying-producing unit, discharge the water vapor produced from the humidifying-producing unit through the second outlet.

15. The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the humidifying-receiving unit comprises:
a housing that is detachably installed inside the water tank; and
a water filter received in the housing.

16. The air conditioner of claim 15 , wherein the housing defines:
a first flowing port that faces an inner surface of the water tank and that is configured to introduce water in the water tank to the water filter; and
a second flowing port that faces a bottom surface of the water tank and that is configured to discharge water passing through the water filter.

17. The air conditioner of claim 16 , wherein the water tank defines a water outlet that is disposed at the bottom surface of the water tank and that is configured to receive water discharged through the second flowing port.

18. The air conditioner of claim 15 , wherein the water tank defines a groove recessed from a bottom surface of the water tank, and
wherein the housing comprises a protrusion that protrudes from a bottom surface of the housing toward the bottom surface of the water tank and that is configured to be accommodated in the groove of the water tank.

19. The air conditioner of claim 1 , wherein the case comprises:
an upper cabinet that receives the filter assembly and that defines the inlet;
a lower cabinet that is disposed vertically below the upper cabinet and that receives the humidifying assembly; and
a door disposed forward of the upper cabinet and the lower cabinet and configured to cover front surfaces of the upper cabinet and the lower cabinet.

20. An air conditioner comprising:
a case that defines an inlet and an outlet;
a fan configured to generate air flow from the inlet to the outlet;
a filter assembly disposed inside the case and configured to allow air introduced through the inlet to pass therethrough;
a humidifying assembly disposed inside the case and configured to h

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Kim Yongmin
• Moon Sunyoung
• Kim Hoojin

Classifications

• C02F2209/42

  Liquid level · CPC title

• C02F2303/04

  Disinfection · CPC title

• F24F1/0087 Primary

  with humidification means · CPC title

• F24F2006/008

  Air-humidifier with water reservoir · CPC title

• C02F1/001

  Processes for the treatment of water whereby the filtration technique is of importance (C02F1/44 takes precedence; construction of filters in general B01D24/00 - B01D41/00) · CPC title