Air conditioning system and method for controlling the same

Abstract

An air conditioning system including an outdoor unit having at least one compressor, and at least one outdoor heat exchanger; a plurality of indoor units connected to the outdoor unit; a refrigerant guide unit to guide a refrigerant discharged from the at least one compressor to the indoor units through first and/or second routes; and a control unit to simultaneously control a first quantity of the refrigerant discharged from the at least one compressor to at least one of the indoor units operating in a cooling mode through the first route, and a second quantity of the refrigerant discharged from the at least one compressor to a remainder of the indoor units operating in a heating mode through the second route.

1 . An air conditioning system comprising: 
 an outdoor unit comprising:    at least one compressor, and    at least one outdoor heat exchanger;    a plurality of indoor units connected to the outdoor unit;    a refrigerant guide unit to guide a refrigerant discharged from the at least one compressor to the indoor units through first and/or second routes; and    a control unit to simultaneously control a first quantity of the refrigerant discharged from the at least one compressor to at least one of the indoor units operating in a cooling mode through the first route, and a second quantity of the refrigerant discharged from the at least one compressor to a remainder of the indoor units operating in a heating mode through the second route.    
   
   
       2 . The air conditioning system according to  claim 1 , wherein the control unit divisionally supplies the refrigerant discharged from the at least one compressor through the first and second routes in a general cooling mode in which a majority of the indoor units are operating in the cooling mode and the remainder of the indoor units are operating in the heating mode.  
   
   
       3 . The air conditioning system according to  claim 2 , wherein the control unit comprises: 
 indoor control units to control the indoor units; and    an outdoor control unit connected to the indoor control units;    wherein the outdoor control unit sets the general cooling mode in response to a total cooling capacity of the indoor units operating in the cooling mode being larger than a total heating capacity of the indoor units operating in the heating mode.    
   
   
       4 . The air conditioning system according to  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 an on-off valve provided in the second route;    wherein the at least one outdoor heat exchanger is installed on the first route, and the on-off valve guides the second quantity of the refrigerant discharged from the at least one compressor to the indoor units operating in the heating mode without passing through the at least one outdoor heat exchanger.    
   
   
       5 . A method of controlling an air conditioning system which simultaneously performs cooling and heating operations by connecting a plurality of indoor units to an outdoor unit having at least one outdoor heat exchanger, the method comprising: 
 setting an operating mode of the system;    determining whether the set operating mode is a general cooling mode in which a majority of the indoor units are operating in a cooling mode and a remainder of the indoor units are operating in a heating mode;    determining whether the system is operating in a starting mode, which results from the system starting from a stopped state, in response to the determining that the set operating mode is the general cooling mode; and    supplying a first quantity of refrigerant discharged from at least one compressor to the indoor units operating in the cooling mode through a first route, and simultaneously supplying a second quantity of the refrigerant to the indoor units operating in the heating mode through a second route, in response to the determining that the system is operating in the starting mode.    
   
   
       6 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein the general cooling mode is set in response to a total cooling capacity of the indoor units operating in the cooling mode being larger than a total heating capacity of the indoor units operating in the heating mode.  
   
   
       7 . An air conditioning system comprising: 
 an outdoor unit comprising:    at least one compressor,    at least one outdoor heat exchanger,    an outdoor fan, and    a motor-operated outdoor valve;    a plurality of indoor units connected to the outdoor unit;    a plurality of indoor heat exchangers respectively provided to the indoor units;    a refrigerant guide unit to simultaneously guide a refrigerant discharged from the at least one compressor to the indoor units operating in a cooling mode through a first route and to the indoor units operating in a heating mode through a second route; and    a control unit to sequentially perform a starting operation in response to the system being started from a stopped state and a main operation in response to the system being stabilized by the starting operation, and to control the at least one compressor, the outdoor fan, and the motor-operated outdoor valve according to operational characteristics of the starting and main operations.    
   
   
       8 . The air conditioning system according to  claim 7 , wherein the control unit performs the starting and main operations in response to a total cooling capacity of the indoor units operating in the cooling mode being larger than a total heating capacity of the indoor units operating in the heating mode.  
   
   
       9 . A method of controlling an air conditioning system which simultaneously performs cooling and heating operations by connecting a plurality of indoor units to an outdoor unit having at least one outdoor heat exchanger, the method comprising: 
 setting an operating mode of the system;    determining whether the set operating mode is a general cooling mode in which a majority of the indoor units are operating in a cooling mode and a remainder of the indoor units are operating in a heating mode;    sequentially performing a starting operation in response to the system being started from a stopped state and a main operation in response to the system being stabilized by the starting operation; and    controlling at least one compressor, an outdoor fan, and a motor-operated outdoor valve of the outdoor unit according to operational characteristics of the starting and main operations.    
   
   
       10 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein, in the starting operation, an operating capacity of the at least one compressor is set to approximately 50-80% of a total cooling capacity of the indoor units operating in the cooling mode.  
   
   
       11 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein, in the starting operation, an opening degree of the motor-operated outdoor valve is set according to a total cooling capacity of the indoor units operating in the cooling mode.  
   
   
       12 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein, in the starting operation, an operating capacity of the outdoor fan is set according to a difference between a total cooling capacity of the indoor units operating in the cooling mode and a total heating capacity of the indoor units operating in the heating mode, and according to an outdoor temperature.  
   
   
       13 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein, during the sequentially performing the starting and main operation, a pressure sensed by a pressure sensor installed at an outlet of the at least one compressor is compared to a predetermined pressure to determine whether the starting operation is terminated.  
   
   
       14 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein, in the main operation, an operating capacity of the at least one compressor is set according to a total cooling capacity of the indoor units operating in the cooling mode.  
   
   
       15 . The method according to  claim 9 , where, in the main operation, an opening degree of the motor-operated outdoor valve is set according to a ratio of a total heating capacity of the indoor units operating in the heating mode to a total operating capacity obtained by adding a total cooling capacity of the indoor units operating in the cooling mode and the total heating capacity of the indoor units operating in the heating mode.  
   
   
       16 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein the total heating capacity is inversely proportional to the opening degree of the motor-operated outdoor valve.  
   
   
       17 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein a pressure sensor to sense a pressure of refrigerant discharged from the compressors is provided, and, in the main operation, an operating capacity of the outdoor fan is set such that the pressure of the refrigerant sensed by the pressure sensor and supplied to the indoor units operating in the heating mode reaches a set standard pressure.  
   
   
       18 . An air conditioning system comprising: 
 an outdoor unit having at least one compressor; and    a plurality of indoor units connected to the outdoor unit;    wherein at least one of the indoor units receives refrigerant from the at least one compressor through a first route to operate in a heating mode, and a remainder of the indoor units receive the refrigerant from the at least one compressor through a second route to operate in a cooling mode, the refrigerant being simultaneously supplied through both routes from a startup point of the system.    
   
   
       19 . A method of controlling an air conditioning system which simultaneously performs cooling and heating operations in a plurality of indoor units connected to an outdoor unit having at least one compressor, the method comprising: 
 performing a starting operation in which refrigerant is simultaneously provided from the at least one compressor to at least one of the indoor units operating in a heating mode and a remainder of the indoor units operating in a cooling mode; wherein    a first quantity of the refrigerant is provided through a first path to the at least one of the indoor units operating in the heating mode, and a second quantity of the refrigerant is provided through a second path to remainder of the indoor units operating in the cooling mode.