Humidity control device of air conditioner

• US 5,353,862 A
• Filed: 06/30/1993
• Issued: 10/11/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/1992
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Akiyama, Kazuhiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Wayner, William E.
• Application Number:
  US08/083,540
• Time in Patent Office: 468 Days
• Field of Search: 62/176.6, 62/176.1, 62/176.3, 236/44 A, 236/44 C, 236/44 R, 165/21
• US Class Current: 165/229
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/0008 for air-humidification F24F11/30 takes precedence
• 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 11/56 Remote control
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/65 for selecting an operating mode
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/20 Humidity
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 3/14 by humidification; by dehumidification
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 22/02 characterised by the use of electric means

Abstract

A humidity control device of an air conditioner having an air conditioner body and being capable of controlling a humidity as well as conditioning air during heating, drying and like operations, comprises a target humidity setting unit for setting a target humidity in accordance with operation modes, a humidity sensor for detecting a humidity in a room, a humidity setting element for setting a humidity in the room, a control unit for comparing the humidity detected by the humidity detecting element with the humidity set by the humidity setting unit and controlling the compared humidity, and a humidifier responsive to the control unit to receive an operation command signal from the control unit in accordance with the detected and set humidities to thereby control the humidity in the room. The humidifier is arranged independently from the air conditioner body and the control unit transmits a humidifier control signal to the humidifier through a wireless transmission. A controller is further provided for controlling the air conditioner and a remote controller for controlling the operation of the controller is also provided.

Claims

1. A humidity control device of an air conditioner having an air conditioner body and being capable of controlling a humidity as well as conditioning air during heating, drying and like operations, said humidity control device comprising:

means for detecting a humidity in a room to be subjected to air conditioning operation;

means for manually setting a humidity in the room in a plurality of operation setting modes;

a target humidity setting means for setting a target humidity in accordance with operation modes of the humidity manually setting means;

control means for comparing the humidity detected by the humidity detecting means with the humidity set by the humidity manually setting means and controlling the compared humidity.

2. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 1, further comprising a humidifier responsive to the control means and adapted to receive an operation command signal from the control means in accordance with detected humidity and temperature in the room.

3. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 2, further comprising a heater, means for detection a temperature in the room and an inverter which operate in association with the humidifier.

4. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein said heater and said inverter are not operated at a time when the detected room humidity and room temperature are below the set humidity and temperature to maintain operation stop condition of the air conditioner.

5. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein said inverter is operated and said heater is not operated at a time when the detected room humidity is below the set humidity and the detected room temperature is above the set temperature to thereby carry out the drying operation.

6. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein said heater and inverter are operated in the drying operation mode at a time when the detected room humidity is above the set humidity and the detected room temperature is below the set humidity.

7. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein said inverter and heater are operated in the heating operation mode at a time when the detected room humidity and room temperature are above the set humidity and temperature.

8. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein said humidity detecting means and said control means are arranged in the air conditioner body, said humidifier is arranged independently from the air conditioner body, and wherein said control means transmits a humidifier control signal to the humidifier through a wireless transmission.

9. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 2, further comprising means for transmitting the humidifier control signal to the air conditioner body, said transmitting means is provided for the air conditioner body to be detachable.

10. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 2, further comprising a humidity correcting means provided for the air conditioner body and adapted to correct the set humidity or the detected humidity.

11. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 2, further comprising a controller for controlling air conditioning in the air conditioner body and a remote controller for controlling the operation of the controller and wherein the humidifier into which a humidifier control signal is inputted from the controller through a wireless transmission is arranged independently from the air conditioner body to thereby control the humidity in the room during the heating operation.

12. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 11, wherein said target humidity setting means is arranged in the remote controller.

13. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 11, wherein said target humidity setting means is arranged in the air conditioner body in association with the controller.

14. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 2, further comprising a switching circuit means operatively connected to the target humidity setting means and adapted to switch the operation modes of the air conditioner.

15. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein said air conditioner body includes an indoor unit installed in the room, an indoor side heat exchanger and an indoor side fan are accommodated in the indoor unit, the humidity detecting means is disposed on an upstream side of the indoor side heat exchanger in parallel to an air flow flown into the indoor side heat exchanger.

16. A humidity control device of an air conditioner having an air conditioner body and being capable of controlling a humidity as well as conditioning air during heating, drying and like operation modes, said humidity control device comprising:

a target humidity setting means for setting a target humidity in accordance with operation modes of the air conditioner, the target humidity during the heating and drying operation modes being set so as to be different from each other;

a humidity detecting means for detecting a humidity in a room to be subjected to air conditioning operation; and

a control means for comparing the humidity in the room with the target humidity and controlling the humidity in the room.

17. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 16, further comprising means for manually setting a humidity in the room in a plurality of operation setting modes and means for changing the target humidity in accordance with the humidity set manually.

18. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 16, wherein the control means includes means for transmitting an operation command signal in accordance with the compared humidity between the room humidity and the target humidity, and the humidity control device further comprising a humidifier responsive to the control means and adapted to receive an operation command signal from the control means.

19. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 16, further comprising a heater, means for detecting a temperature in the room and an inverter which operate in association with the heater.

20. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 19, wherein said heater and said inverter are not operated at a time when the detected room humidity and the detected room temperature are below the target humidity and below the temperature to maintain an operation stop condition of the air conditioner, respectively.

21. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 19, wherein said inverter is operated and said heater is not operated at a time when the detected room humidity is below the target humidity and the detected room temperature is above a set temperature to thereby carry out the drying operation.

22. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 19, wherein said heater and inverter are both operated in the drying operation mode at a time when the detected room humidity is above the target humidity and the detected room temperature is below a set temperature.

23. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 19, wherein said inverter and heater are operated in the drying operation mode at a time when the detected room humidity and the detected room temperature are above the target humidity and a set temperature, respectively.

24. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 18, wherein said humidity detecting means and said control means are arranged in the air conditioner body, said humidifier being arranged independently from the air conditioner body and wherein said control means transmits a humidifier control signal to the humidifier through a wireless transmission.

25. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 24, further comprising transmitting means for transmitting the humidifier control signal to the humidifier, said transmitting means detachably connected to the air conditioner body.

26. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 16, further comprising a humidity correcting means provided with the air conditioner body and adapted to correct the target humidity or the detected humidity.

27. A humidity control device of a air conditioner according to claim 18, further comprising a controller for controlling air conditioning in the air conditioner body and a remote controller for controlling the operation of the controller and wherein the humidifier, into which an operation command signal is inputted from the controller through a wireless transmission, is arranged independently from the air conditioner body to thereby control the humidity in the room during the heating operation.

28. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 27, wherein said target humidity setting means is arranged in the remote controller.

29. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 27, wherein said target humidity setting means is arranged in the air conditioner body in association with the controller.

30. A humidity control device of an air conditioner according to claim 16, wherein said air conditioner body includes an indoor unit installed in the room, an indoor side heat exchanger and an indoor side fan accommodated in the indoor unit, the humidity detecting means disposed on an upstream side of the indoor side heat exchanger in parallel to an air flow directed into the indoor side heat exchanger.