Power circuit, and computer-readable recording medium storing a control program for power circuits

• US 8,988,836 B2
• Filed: 03/18/2010
• Issued: 03/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Daikin Industries Ltd
• Original Assignee: Daikin Industries Ltd
• Inventors: Saruwatari, Hirotaka, Yagi, Satoshi, Shimatani, Keisuke, Nakashita, Yuuko, Hiraoka, Nobuyasu, Doi, Hirotaka
• Primary Examiner(s): Santana, Eduardo Colon
• Assistant Examiner(s): AGARED, GABRIEL T
• Application Number:
  US13/264,639
• Publication Number:
  US 20120033334A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,832 Days
• Field of Search: 361/22, 361/31, 318/432, 318/433, 318/434
• US Class Current: 361/22
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/00 Control or safety arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/32 Responding to malfunctions or emergencies
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/83 by controlling the supply of heat-exchange fluids to heat-exchangers
• CPC Class Codes: F25B 2600/021 Inverters therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H02P 27/06 using dc to ac converters or inverters H02P27/05 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02P 29/02 Providing protection against overload without automatic interruption of supply protection against faults of stepper motors H02P8/36
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 30/70 Efficient control or regulation technologies, e.g. for control of refrigerant flow, motor or heating

Abstract

When an abnormality occurs in a refrigeration cycle, the inverter motor provided in the air conditioner is stopped reliably and contacts of the main relay are prevented from degradation and fusion. A power circuit 1 of the air conditioner includes a rectifier circuit RC, a capacitor C (smoothing unit), a main relay 10 provided on a current path between the rectifier circuit RC and the capacitor C, an inverter circuit 30, a microcomputer 100, and a delay circuit 40. The microcomputer 100 has an inverter circuit control unit 110, a main relay opening/closing control unit 120, a waveform forced cut-off unit 130, and a cut-off signal output unit 140. Where a high-pressure switch 200 (abnormality detection unit) detects a high-pressure abnormality and outputs a high-pressure abnormality signal to the waveform forced cut-off unit 130 when the main relay 10 is in a closed state, the waveform forced cut-off unit 130 electrically cuts off the inverter circuit control unit 110, and the cut-off signal output unit 140 outputs a cut-off signal, which sets the main relay 10 to the open state, to the main relay 10 via the delay circuit 40.

Claims

1. A power circuit for an air conditioner in which a refrigeration cycle is executed by circulating a refrigerant in a refrigerant circuit where a compressor, a heat-source-side heat exchanger, an expansion valve, and a utility-side heat exchanger are connected by piping,

the power circuit comprising:

a rectifier circuit that rectifies alternating current power supplied from an external power source;

a smoothing unit that smoothes output power of the rectifier circuit;

a main relay provided on a current path between the rectifier circuit and the smoothing unit;

an inverter circuit connected between the smoothing unit and an inverter motor which is a load and generating alternating current power to be supplied to the inverter motor;

a microcomputer having a main relay opening/closing control unit that outputs an opening/closing control signal which provides opening/closing direction to the main relay, an inverter circuit control unit outputting a drive signal to the inverter circuit, a waveform forced cut-off unit that is hardware that receives input of an abnormality signal outputted when an abnormality detection unit, which detects an abnormality of the air conditioner, detects the abnormality, and that automatically sets the drive signal output to a high impedance to thereby electrically cut off the inverter circuit control unit when the abnormality signal is inputted, and a cut-off signal output unit that, separately from the main relay opening/closing control unit, outputs a cut-off signal that is a control signal setting the main relay to an open state to the main relay when the abnormality signal is inputted to the waveform forced cut-off unit, and moreover the microcomputer controlling opening/closing operation of the main relay and operation of the inverter circuit; and

a delay circuit that is provided on a line connecting the cut-off signal output unit and the main relay and that receives input of the cut-off signal and outputs the cut-off signal to the main relay after a predetermined time elapses since the input, wherein

when the main relay is in a closed state and the abnormality signal has been inputted to the waveform forced cut-off unit, the waveform forced cut-off unit electrically cuts off the inverter circuit control unit, the cut-off signal outputted from the cut-off signal output unit is inputted to the main relay via the delay circuit, and the main relay is set to the open state by the input of the cut-off signal.

2. The power circuit according to claim 1, wherein the inverter motor to which the inverter circuit is connected is the inverter motor that drives the compressor.

3. The power circuit according to claim 2, wherein

the abnormality detection unit is a high-pressure switch that detects an abnormal rise in the high pressure of the refrigeration cycle;

and

the abnormality signal is a high-pressure abnormality signal outputted by the high-pressure switch when the high pressure of the refrigeration cycle rises abnormally.

4. A power circuit for an air conditioner in which a refrigeration cycle is executed by circulating a refrigerant in a refrigerant circuit where a compressor, a heat-source-side heat exchanger, an expansion valve, and a utility-side heat exchanger are connected by piping,

the power circuit comprising:

a rectifier circuit that rectifies alternating current power supplied from an external power source;

a smoothing unit that smoothes output power of the rectifier circuit;

a main relay provided on a current path between the rectifier circuit and the smoothing unit;

an inverter circuit connected between the smoothing unit and an inverter motor which is a load and generating alternating current power to be supplied to the inverter motor; and

a control unit that controls opening/closing operation of the main relay and operation of the inverter circuit, wherein

the control unit is provided with;

a main relay opening/closing control unit that outputs a control signal which provides an opening/closing direction to the main relay;

an inverter circuit control unit that outputs a drive signal to the inverter circuit; and

an abnormality signal reception unit that receives a high-pressure cut-off signal that is outputted by a high-pressure switch when a high-pressure of the refrigeration cycle rises abnormally and that sets the main relay to an open state, and

the power circuit further comprises a delay circuit that receives the high-pressure cut-off signal outputted from the high-pressure switch, and outputs the high-pressure cut-off signal to the main relay after delaying the high-pressure cut-off signal for a predetermined time,

when the abnormality signal reception unit receives the high-pressure cut-off signal, the inverter circuit control unit outputs a drive signal that stops the inverter circuit and, after a predetermined first delay time elapses since the output, the main relay opening/closing control unit outputs a control signal that sets the main relay to the open state, and

when the high-pressure cut-off signal is inputted, the delay circuit outputs the high-pressure cut-off signal to the main relay after a second delay time as the predetermined time elapses since the input, the second delay time being longer than the first delay time.

5. The power circuit according to claim 4, wherein the inverter motor to which the inverter circuit is connected is the inverter motor that drives the compressor.