Air conditioner and control program

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016265801-A1
Application number	US-201415033209-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 11, 2014
Priority date	Feb 13, 2014
Publication date	Sep 15, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A storage unit stores threshold data indicating first and second thresholds. A heater control determination unit reads the threshold data from the storage unit, enables a heater control when an outdoor air temperature is equal to or lower than the first threshold, and disables the heater control when the outdoor air temperature is equal to or higher than the second threshold. A heater operation control unit sets a heater operation to be always-off when the heater control is disabled, and ON/OFF controls the heater operation based on a relation between an indoor temperature and a set temperature when the heater control is enabled. A reception unit receives a threshold designation signal input by a user and designating at least one of the first and second thresholds. A threshold setting unit sets, based on designation by the received threshold designation signal, the threshold data stored in the storage unit.

First claim

1 . An air conditioner comprising:
an indoor unit; an outdoor unit to detect an outdoor air temperature; and a control device mounted on the indoor unit and performing operation controls of the indoor unit and a heater placed indoor, wherein the control device comprises: a storage unit to store therein threshold data indicating a first threshold and a second threshold; a heater control determination unit to read the threshold data from the storage unit, to enable a control of the heater when the outdoor air temperature is equal to or lower than the first threshold, and to disable the control of the heater when the outdoor air temperature is equal to or higher than the second threshold; a heater operation control unit to set an operation of the heater to be always-off when the control of the heater is disabled, and to ON/OFF control the operation of the heater based on a relation between an indoor temperature and a set temperature when the control of the heater is enabled; a reception unit to receive a threshold designation signal input by a user and designating at least one of the first threshold and the second threshold; and a threshold setting unit to set, based on designation by the received threshold designation signal, the threshold data stored in the storage unit.

2 . The air conditioner according to claim 1 ,
wherein the first threshold is lower than the second threshold.

3 . The air conditioner according to claim 2 ,
wherein if the first threshold becomes equal to or higher than the second threshold as a result of the designation by the received threshold designation signal, the threshold setting unit corrects the designation such that the first threshold becomes lower than the second threshold and then sets the threshold data stored in the storage unit in accordance with the corrected designation.

4 . The air conditioner according to claim 2 ,
wherein if the first threshold becomes equal to or higher than the second threshold as a result of the designation by the received threshold designation signal, the threshold setting unit outputs an alarm.

5 . The air conditioner according to claim 1 ,
wherein when the control of the heater is enabled, the heater operation control unit turns ON the operation of the heater when the indoor temperature is lower than the set temperature and turns OFF the operation of the heater when the indoor temperature is higher than the set temperature.

6 . The air conditioner according to claim 1 ,
wherein the heater operation control unit ON/OFF controls the operation of the heater by switching a relay connected between the heater and a power supply, and the heater operation control unit prohibits ON/OFF switching of the operation of the heater for a certain period of time after performing ON/OFF switching of the operation of the heater.

7 . The air conditioner according to claim 1 ,
wherein the heater operation control unit ON/OFF controls a circulator in conjunction with ON/OFF of the operation of the heater.

8 . A non-transitory recording medium on which a control program for an air conditioner is recorded,
wherein the air conditioner comprises: an indoor unit; an outdoor unit to detect an outdoor air temperature; and a computer mounted on the indoor unit and performing operation controls of the indoor unit and a heater placed indoor, wherein the control program causes the computer to execute steps of: reading threshold data indicating a first threshold and a second threshold from a storage unit storing therein the threshold data; enabling a control of the heater when the outdoor air temperature is equal to or lower than the first threshold; disabling the control of the heater when the outdoor air temperature is equal to or higher than the second threshold; setting an operation of the heater to be always-off when the control of the heater is disabled; ON/OFF controlling the operation of the heater based on a relation between an indoor temperature and a set temperature when the control of the heater is enabled; receiving a threshold designation signal input by a user and designating at least one of the first threshold and the second threshold; and setting, based on designation by the received threshold designation signal, the threshold data stored in the storage unit.

Assignees

• Mitsubishi Electric Corp

Inventors

• Iijima Hirokazu

Classifications

• G05B15/02

  electric · CPC title

• F24F11/63

  Electronic processing · CPC title

• F24F2110/10

  Temperature · 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

• F24F2221/34

  Heater, e.g. gas burner, electric air heater · CPC title