Air conditioning system and method for controlling the same

• US 20050257540A1
• Filed: 02/03/2005
• Published: 11/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Lee, Ju Youn, Choi, Ho Seon, Yum, Kwan Ho
• Application Number:
  US11/048,740
• Publication Number:
  US 20050257540A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 62/180
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/62 characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/77 by controlling the speed of ventilators
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/50 Air quality properties
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/60 Odour
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/64 Airborne particle content
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/66 Volatile organic compounds [VOC]
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2120/14 Activity of occupants
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 8/192 by electrical means, e.g. by applying electrostatic fields or high voltages
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 8/30 by ionisation
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1917 using digital means
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 50/20 Air quality improvement or preservation, e.g. vehicle emission control or emission reduction by using catalytic converters
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 30/70 Efficient control or regulation technologies, e.g. for control of refrigerant flow, motor or heating

Abstract

Air conditioning system including a temperature sensor for sensing a room temperature, an MET (metabolic) sensor for sensing an activity amount of people in a room, a dust sensor for sensing a dust amount, a gas sensor for sensing an intensity of smell, a VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) sensor for sensing a compound amount, a fan driving unit for controlling an air flow rate, a heater for raising a room temperature, an anion generating unit for generating anion, and a control unit for controlling the fan driving unit and the heater according to an operation condition preset with reference to a sensed room temperature and the activity amount of people in the room, and controlling the fan driving unit and the anion generating unit according to an operation condition preset with reference to a sensed dust amount, the intensity of smell, and the VOC amount, thereby enhancing comfortability, and performing effective cleaning function, and displaying room cleanliness in real time on a screen, to improve a product reliability.

Claims

1. An air conditioning system comprising:

a temperature sensor for sensing a room temperature;

an MET (metabolic) sensor for sensing an activity amount of people in a room;

a dust sensor for sensing a dust amount;

a gas sensor for sensing an intensity of smell;

a VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) sensor for sensing a compound amount;

a fan driving unit for controlling an air flow rate;

a heater for raising a room temperature;

an anion generating unit for generating anion; and

a control unit for controlling the fan driving unit and the heater according to an operation condition preset with reference to a sensed room temperature and the activity amount of people in the room, and controlling the fan driving unit and the anion generating unit according to an operation condition preset with reference to a sensed dust amount, the intensity of smell, and the VOC amount.

2. The air conditioning system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heater is a PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient) heater.

3. The air conditioning system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control unit includes;

a PMV control unit for controlling the fan driving unit and the heater according to an operation condition preset with reference to outputs of the temperature sensor and the MET sensor, and

an air cleanliness control unit for controlling the fan driving unit and the anion generating unit according to an operation condition preset with reference to outputs of the dust sensor, the gas sensor, and the VOC sensor.

4. The air conditioning system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the PMV control unit has a lookup table therein, having operation conditions defined thereon with reference to outputs of the temperature sensor and the MET sensor.

5. The air conditioning system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the air cleanliness control unit has a lookup table therein, having operation conditions defined thereon with reference to outputs of the dust sensor, the gas sensor, and the VOC sensor.

6. The air conditioning system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control unit further includes a cleanliness calculating unit for calculating an air cleanliness index with reference to outputs of the dust sensor, the gas sensor, and the VOC sensor.

7. The air conditioning system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the control unit further includes a display unit for displaying the cleanliness index calculated at the cleanliness index calculating unit.

8. A method for controlling an air conditioning system, comprising the steps of:

sensing a room temperature, an activity amount of people in a room, a smell intensity, a dust amount, and a VOC amount;

controlling an air flow rate of an air conditioning fan, and a temperature according to an operation condition preset with reference the sensed room temperature, and the activity amount of the people in the room;

determining levels of smell, dust, and VOC with reference to the sensed smell intensity, the dust amount, and the VOC amount; and

controlling the air flow rate of the air conditioning fan, and generation of anion according to an operation condition preset with reference to the levels determined in above step.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the step of controlling an air flow rate of an air conditioning fan, and a temperature includes the steps of;

defining temperature ranges with at least two set temperatures, defining activity amount levels for each of the temperature ranges, and picking up an operation condition for the sensed room temperature, and the activity amount of people in the room from a lookup table having operation conditions defined thereon for respective activity levels, and

controlling the air flow rate and the temperature according to the picked up operation condition.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the at least two set temperatures are set with reference to the amount of clothes people in a room put on defined in an ISO standard.

11. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the activity level is set with reference to an ISO standard.

12. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the step of determining levels of smell, dust, and VOC includes the step of,

reading a lookup table for the sensed smell intensity, the dust amount, and the VOC amount, the lookup table having levels for at least two ranges of each of the smell intensity, the dust amount, and the VOC amount defined in pertinent units thereon.

13. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the step of controlling the air flow rate of the air conditioning fan, and generation of anion includes the steps of;

picking up an operation condition for levels of smell, dust, and VOC from a lookup table, the lookup table having operation conditions for cases of levels of the smell, the dust, and the VOC; and

controlling the air flow rate and the anion generation according to the operation condition picked up.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the operation condition on the lookup table is defined to raise the air flow rate if at least any one of the levels of the smell, the dust, and the VOC is at the highest level.

15. The method as claimed in claim 13, wherein the operation condition on the lookup table is defined to generate anion if at least one of the levels of the smell, the dust, and the VOC is not at the highest level.

16. The method as claimed in claim 8, further comprising the step of calculating a cleanliness index with reference to the sensed smell intensity, the dust amount, and the VOC amount, and displaying the calculated cleanliness index.

17. The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein the step of calculating a cleanliness index includes the steps of,

summing weighted values of levels of the smell, dust, VOC determined presently, to calculated the cleanliness, and

dividing the calculated cleanliness by a sum of weighted values of the lowest levels of the smell, dust, and VOC, and converting the divided value into a percentage.

18. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the weighted value is defined as a smell level*‘

a’

, dust level*‘

b’

, and a VOC level*‘

c’

, and ‘

a’

, ‘

b’

, and ‘

c’

satisfy a condition of a>

b>

c.