Air conditioner

• US 10,551,084 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2018
• Issued: 02/04/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Lee, Kwonhyung
• Primary Examiner(s): Everett, Christopher E.
• Application Number:
  US15/920,605
• Publication Number:
  US 20180266720A1
• Time in Patent Office: 692 Days
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 1/46 Component arrangements in separate outdoor units
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/49 ensuring correct operation, e.g. by trial operation or configuration checks
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/56 Remote control
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/65 for selecting an operating mode
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2221/16 mounted on the roof
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 15/02 electric
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/40 Circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

An air conditioner is provided that may include a plurality of units including an outdoor unit and an indoor unit, the plurality of units being distributed at a plurality of layers or levels or stories in a building; and a controller configured to monitor and control the plurality of units. The controller and the plurality of units may include a communication unit configured to transmit/receive data in a wireless communication unit, respectively, and the communication unit may transmit/receive the data using a sub-giga band frequency. The plurality of units may transmit/receive data in a wireless communication scheme so that an indoor unit and an indoor unit, and an indoor unit and an outdoor unit may directly communicate with each other in a wireless scheme, and the indoor unit may directly communicate with the controller.

Claims

1. An air conditioner, comprising:

a plurality of units including an outdoor unit and an indoor unit, the plurality of units being distributed at a plurality of levels in a building; and

a controller configured to monitor and control the plurality of units, wherein the controller and the plurality of units include a communication unit configured to transmit/receive data via a wireless communication unit, respectively, wherein the communication unit transmits/receive the data using a sub-giga band frequency, and wherein the communication unit transmits/receives the data in a wireless scheme using a frequency set corresponding to a length of an antenna, signal loss according to a distance, and interlayer loss according to a number of transmission layers.

2. The air conditioner of claim 1, wherein the communication unit comprises an external omnidirectional antenna.

3. The air conditioner of claim 1, wherein the communication unit communicates using one frequency band from 170 MHz, 200 MHz, 300 MHz, 400 MHz, and 900 MHz.

4. The air conditioner of claim 3, wherein the communication unit communicates using a 400 MHz band frequency.

5. The air conditioner of claim 4, wherein the communication unit communicates using a 447 MHz band frequency.

6. The air conditioner of claim 3, wherein the communication unit communicates using a 900 MHz band frequency.

7. The air conditioner of claim 3, wherein the communication unit communicates using one frequency band signal of 400 MHz and 900 MHz corresponding to installation positions and installation countries of the plurality of units.

8. The air conditioner of claim 1, wherein the communication unit transmits/receives the data between the plurality of units distributed at eight layers among the plurality of layers.

9. The air conditioner of claim 1, wherein the communication unit routes a signal between the plurality of units using one of a distance vector algorithm, an address system based link state algorithm, or a combination of a distance vector and a link state.

10. The air conditioner of claim 1, wherein the communication unit communicates with one of a frequency band for transmitting data of a small output wireless device or an unlicensed frequency band.

11. The air conditioner of claim 1, wherein the plurality of units is operated while configured as groups between units connected with each other by a refrigerant pipe.

12. The air conditioner of claim 1, wherein the communication unit comprises:

a connector connected with the plurality of units or the controller;

an antenna configured to transmit and receive a frequency signal configured in a wireless scheme;

an RF matching circuit configured to match impedance of a signal transmitted to the antenna;

a signal converter configured to convert transmitted/received data and to provide the converted data to the RF matching circuit;

an antenna controller configured to process the transmitted/received data; and

a state display configured to output a communication state.

13. The air conditioner of claim 12, wherein the antenna comprises a helical antenna.

14. An air conditioner for a multi-story building, comprising:

a plurality of outdoor and indoor units, wherein the plurality of outdoor and indoor units are configured to be installed on different floor levels of the multi-story building including the roof and basement; and

a controller configured to monitor and control the plurality of outdoor and indoor units, wherein the controller and the plurality of outdoor and indoor units each include a communication unit configured to transmit/receive data via a wireless communication, respectively, wherein the communication unit transmits/receives the data using a sub-giga band frequency, wherein the communication unit comprises an external omnidirectional antenna, and wherein the communication unit transmits/receives the data in a wireless scheme using a frequency set corresponding to a length of the antenna, signal loss according to a distance, and interlayer loss according to a number of transmission layers.

15. The air conditioner of claim 14, wherein the communication unit comprises:

a connector connected with the plurality of units or the controller;

the antenna configured to transmit and receive a frequency signal configured in a wireless scheme;

an RF matching circuit configured to match impedance of a signal transmitted to the antenna;

a signal converter configured to convert transmitted/received data and to provide the converted data to the RF matching circuit;

an antenna controller configured to process the transmitted/received data; and

a state display configured to output a communication state.

16. The air conditioner of claim 15, wherein the antenna comprises a helical antenna.

17. The air conditioner of claim 14, wherein the communication unit communicates with one of a frequency band for transmitting data of a small output wireless device or an unlicensed frequency band.

18. The air conditioner of claim 14, wherein the plurality of outdoor and indoor units is operated while configured as groups between units connected with each other by a refrigerant pipe.