AIR CONDITIONER AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME
First Claim
1. An air conditioner including an indoor unit having an indoor power supply unit and an indoor communication unit and an outdoor unit having an outdoor power supply unit and an outdoor communication unit, and the indoor power supply unit and the outdoor power supply unit being connected to an external power supply unit to supply driving power thereto, the air conditioner comprising:
- a plurality of switches to connect a communication line to at least one of the indoor power supply unit and the indoor communication unit and at least one of the outdoor power supply unit and the outdoor communication unit to establish a path between the indoor unit and the outdoor unit;
a power cut-off unit to connect or disconnect the external power supply unit and at least one of the indoor unit and outdoor unit; and
a control unit to determine whether the air conditioner has a standby operation condition and to control the plurality of switches and the power cut-off unit according to a result of the determination.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An air conditioner and a method of controlling the same, which is capable of minimizing power consumed in an indoor unit and an outdoor unit by cutting off external power supplied to the outdoor unit in a standby mode when it is determined that the air conditioner has a standby operation condition. When a standby operation state is switched to a normal operation state, power is supplied from an indoor power supply unit to an outdoor power supply unit via a communication line to perform an initial operation of an outdoor unit of the air conditioner. Accordingly, external power supplied to the outdoor control board is completely cut off in the standby operation state and only an indoor unit is in a standby state, thereby minimizing standby power consumed in the air conditioner.
24 Citations
23 Claims
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1. An air conditioner including an indoor unit having an indoor power supply unit and an indoor communication unit and an outdoor unit having an outdoor power supply unit and an outdoor communication unit, and the indoor power supply unit and the outdoor power supply unit being connected to an external power supply unit to supply driving power thereto, the air conditioner comprising:
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a plurality of switches to connect a communication line to at least one of the indoor power supply unit and the indoor communication unit and at least one of the outdoor power supply unit and the outdoor communication unit to establish a path between the indoor unit and the outdoor unit; a power cut-off unit to connect or disconnect the external power supply unit and at least one of the indoor unit and outdoor unit; and a control unit to determine whether the air conditioner has a standby operation condition and to control the plurality of switches and the power cut-off unit according to a result of the determination. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of controlling an air conditioner which includes an indoor unit having an indoor power supply unit and an indoor communication unit and an outdoor unit having an outdoor power supply unit and an outdoor communication unit, the indoor power supply unit and the outdoor power supply unit being connected to an external power supply unit to supply driving power thereto, the method comprising:
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determining whether the air conditioner has a standby operation condition controlling the external power supply unit to be connected to or disconnected from the outdoor power supply unit according to a result of the determining operation; and controlling a communication line to be connected to at least one of the indoor power supply unit and the indoor communication unit and at least one of the outdoor power supply unit and the outdoor communication unit to establish a path between the indoor unit and the outdoor unit according to the result of the determining operation. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An air conditioner usable with an external power supply unit, the air conditioner comprising:
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an indoor unit; an outdoor unit; a power cut-off unit disposed between the outdoor unit and the external power supply unit to selectively connect and disconnect the outdoor unit and the external power supply; and a control unit disposed in at least one of the indoor unit and the outdoor unit to communicate with the power cut-off unit to place the air conditioner in one of a normal operation state and a standby operation state; wherein the power cut-off unit disconnects the external power supply unit from the outdoor unit to prevent power from being supplied to the outdoor unit in response to a communication from the control unit to place the air conditioner in the standby operation state. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23)
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Specification