Heat pump device, heat pump system, and method for controlling inverter

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9829234-B2
Application number	US-201114347704-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 30, 2011
Priority date	Sep 30, 2011
Publication date	Nov 28, 2017
Grant date	Nov 28, 2017

Abstract

A heat pump device includes an inverter control unit outputting PWM signals to an inverter; a current detection unit detecting a current value flowing in the inverter and outputting the current value after reducing a current value having a first frequency or higher in detected current value; and a drive-signal stop unit that, when the current value output from the current detection unit is equal to or larger than an interruption level, stops output of PWM signals to the inverter. Particularly, the inverter control unit generates a voltage command value such that the voltage command value becomes a value equal to or larger than a lower limit determined according to the first frequency and generates PWM signals based on generated voltage command value and a carrier signal, thereby causing a voltage output time to the motor to be a predetermined time or longer.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A heat pump device comprising:
a compressor including a compression mechanism that compresses a refrigerant;
a motor that actuates the compression mechanism of the compressor;
an inverter that applies a voltage to the motor;
an inverter control unit that controls the inverter by outputting a drive signal to the inverter; and
a current detection unit that detects a current value flowing in the inverter and includes a filter unit that reduces a component having a predetermined first frequency or higher in the detected current value, wherein
when a current value after reducing the component having the first frequency or higher from the detected current value is equal to or larger than a predetermined current value, an output of a drive signal from the inverter control unit to the inverter is stopped,
the inverter control unit comprises
a voltage-command generation unit that generates and outputs a voltage command value, and
a value of a voltage command value is controlled such that a voltage command value generated by the voltage-command generation unit becomes a value that is equal to or larger than a lower limit determined according to the first frequency.

2. The heat pump device according to claim 1 , wherein
the inverter control unit further comprises a phase switching unit that switches and outputs a phase in synchronization with a reference signal having a predetermined second frequency,
the voltage-command generation unit generates the voltage command value by using a phase output from the phase switching unit and an amplitude value V*, and
the inverter control unit controls the voltage command value to be equal to or larger than the lower limit by controlling the amplitude value V* to be equal to or larger than a first value determined according to the first frequency.

3. The heat pump device according to claim 1 , wherein the inverter control unit controls the value of the voltage command value such that the voltage command value generated by the voltage-command generation unit becomes a value that is equal to or smaller than an upper limit determined according to an amplitude value of a reference signal having a predetermined second frequency.

4. A heat pump device comprising:
a compressor including a compression mechanism that compresses a refrigerant;
a motor that actuates the compression mechanism of the compressor;
an inverter that applies a voltage to the motor; and
an inverter control unit that controls the inverter by outputting a drive signal to the inverter, wherein
a current value flowing in the inverter is detected and a component having a predetermined first frequency or higher in detected current value is reduced,
when the component having the first frequency or higher is equal to or larger than a predetermined current value, an output of a drive signal from the inverter control unit to the inverter is stopped,
the inverter control unit comprises
a voltage-command generation unit that generates and outputs a voltage command value, and a value of the voltage command value is controlled such that the voltage command value generated by the voltage-command generation unit becomes a value that is equal to or larger than a lower limit determined according to the first frequency,

wherein the inverter control unit controls the value of the voltage command value such that the voltage command value generated by the voltage-command generation unit becomes a value that is equal to or smaller than an upper limit determined according to an amplitude value of a reference signal having a predetermined second frequency,
wherein the inverter control unit further comprises a phase switching unit that switches and outputs a voltage phase for generating the voltage command in synchronization with the reference signal,
the voltage-command generation unit generates the voltage command value by using a phase output from the phase switching unit and an amplitude value V*, and
the inverter control unit controls the voltage command value to be equal to or smaller than the upper limit by controlling the amplitude value V* to be equal to or smaller than a second value determined according to an amplitude value of the reference signal.

5. The heat pump device according to claim 4 , wherein
the inverter includes a series connection portion in which two switching elements are connected in series, and does not turn on one of the two switching elements of the series connection portion until a predetermined short-circuit prevention time elapses after another of the two switching elements is turned off, and
the inverter control unit controls the amplitude value V* to be equal to or smaller than the second value determined according to the amplitude value of the reference signal and the short-circuit prevention time.

6. The heat pump device according to claim 2 , wherein
the reference signal is a signal whose top and bottom are capable of being identified, and
the phase switching unit switches the phase at timings of a top and a bottom of the reference signal.

7. The heat pump device according to claim 4 , wherein the phase switching unit switches and outputs the phase in synchronization with the reference signal, while changing a phase angle of a phase to be switched for each predetermined time.

8. The heat pump device according to claim 1 , wherein
the inverter control unit further comprises a heating determination unit that determines whether to perform a heating operation of heating the compressor while a compressing operation of causing the compressor to compress a refrigerant is stopped, and
when the heating determination unit determines that a heating operation is performed, the inverter control unit causes the inverter to generate a high-frequency AC voltage having a frequency higher than an AC voltage generated by the inverter during the compressing operation by outputting each drive signal to the inverter.

9. The heat pump device according to claim 1 , wherein a switching element that constitutes the inverter is made from a wide bandgap semiconductor.

10. The heat pump device according to claim 9 , wherein the wide bandgap semiconductor is made from SiC, GaN, or diamond.

11. The heat pump device according to claim 1 , wherein a switching element that constitutes the inverter is a MOSFET having a super junction structure.

Assignees

• Hatakeyama Kazunori
• Kamiya Syota
• Yuasa Kenta
• Matsushita Shinya
• Kusube Shinsaku
• Makino Tsutomu
• Mitsubishi Electric Corp

Inventors

• Hatakeyama Kazunori
• Kamiya Syota
• Yuasa Kenta
• Matsushita Shinya
• Kusube Shinsaku
• Makino Tsutomu

Classifications

• F25B49/025 Primary

  Motor control arrangements · CPC title

• F25B2500/28

  Means for preventing liquid refrigerant entering into the compressor · CPC title

• F25B13/00

  Compression machines, plants or systems, with reversible cycle (defrosting cycles F25B47/02) · CPC title

• F25B2700/151

  of the compressor motor · CPC title

• F25B2600/024

  by controlling the electric parameters, e.g. current or voltage · CPC title