Air conditioner and control method thereof

摘要

An air conditioning system has a controller and a receiver located between an indoor and outdoor units. The receiver serves as an auxiliary reservoir for refrigerant. The controller generates signals to adjust the amount of refrigerant to be stored in this reservoir as a way of adjusting the amount of refrigerant flowing in the system during various modes of operation. By increasing or decreasing the amount of refrigerant in the receiver, the controller may achieve or maintain a desired level of performance and/or efficiency.

主权项

1. An air conditioner comprising:
an outdoor device comprising a compressor and an outdoor heat exchanger; at least one indoor device comprising an indoor heat exchanger; a conduit that couples the outdoor and indoor devices; a receiver to store a portion of refrigerant flowing through the conduit; a first sensor to determine an external temperature; a second sensor to determine a load of the at least one indoor device; and a controller to adjust an amount of refrigerant stored in the receiver based on information from at least one of the first sensor or the second sensor, wherein the controller increases the amount of refrigerant stored in the receiver when the air conditioner is in a first operation mode, the load of the at least one indoor device is greater than a reference load, and the external temperature is equal to or higher than a reference temperature, and wherein the controller increases the amount of refrigerant stored in the receiver when the air conditioner is in a second operation mode, the load of the at least one indoor device is smaller than the reference load, and the external temperature is equal to or higher than the reference temperature.