Search

US-12627524-B2 - Air treatment apparatus

US12627524B2US 12627524 B2US12627524 B2US 12627524B2US-12627524-B2

Abstract

An air treatment apparatus for conditioning air or providing ventilation of air includes: a casing of an apparatus main body; a first sensor disposed outside the casing and configured to output a signal in conformity with a first communication standard; a conversion unit configured to convert the signal output from the first sensor into a signal conforming to a second communication standard higher in tolerance to noise than the first communication standard and to output the signal thus converted; and a main control unit disposed in the casing and configured to receive the signal output from the conversion unit.

Inventors

  • Hiroaki Jinno
  • Takafumi Ito
  • Mitsuya Uchida

Assignees

  • DAIKIN INDUSTRIES, LTD.

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20230510
Priority Date
20201224

Claims (10)

  1. 1 . An air treatment apparatus for conditioning air or providing ventilation of air, the air treatment apparatus comprising: a casing of an apparatus main body; a first sensor disposed outside the casing and configured to output a signal in conformity with a first communication standard; a conversion unit configured to convert the signal output from the first sensor into a signal conforming to a second communication standard higher in tolerance to noise than the first communication standard and to output the signal thus converted; and a main control unit disposed in the casing and configured to receive the signal output from the conversion unit, wherein the conversion unit includes a first conversion circuit configured to convert the signal conforming to the first communication standard into a signal conforming to a third communication standard that is different from the first communication standard and the second communication standard, and a second conversion circuit configured to convert the signal conforming to the third communication standard into the signal conforming to the second communication standard.
  2. 2 . The air treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a second communication line from the conversion unit to the main control unit is longer in length than a first communication line from the first sensor to the conversion unit.
  3. 3 . The air treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the conversion unit includes a microcomputer and converts, with the microcomputer, the signal conforming to the first communication standard into the signal conforming to the second communication standard.
  4. 4 . The air treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the main control unit includes an input port for the second communication standard and receives, through the input port, the signal output from the conversion unit.
  5. 5 . The air treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a second sensor disposed on or in the casing and configured to output a signal in conformity with the first communication standard, wherein the main control unit includes an input port to be connected to the second sensor.
  6. 6 . The air treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the conversion unit and the first sensor constitute a single sensor unit.
  7. 7 . The air treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a third sensor connected to the conversion unit in parallel with the first sensor and configured to output a signal in conformity with the first communication standard.
  8. 8 . The air treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first conversion circuit is configured by solely of a hardware circuitry, and the second conversion circuit is configured by solely of a hardware circuitry.
  9. 9 . The air treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first conversion circuit is configured by solely of a hardware circuitry, and the second conversion circuit is configured by a microcomputer.
  10. 10 . The air treatment apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the conversion unit converts, with a hardware circuit, the signal conforming to the first communication standard into the signal conforming to the second communication standard.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a Continuation of PCT International Application No. PCT/JP2021/037269, filed on Oct. 8, 2021, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a) to Patent Application No. 2020-215117, filed in Japan on Dec. 24, 2020, all of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference into the present application. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to sensor connections in an air treatment apparatus. The term “air treatment apparatus” as used herein generally refers to an apparatus configured to condition air or to provide ventilation of air. BACKGROUND ART Operations of an air conditioner are controlled based on, for example, a temperature and a humidity in a space to be subjected to air conditioning, a temperature of outside air, and information from various sensors. With regard to, for example, an indoor unit for business use, every component is not necessarily accommodated in a casing that forms an outer appearance of the indoor unit. For example, some sensors are provided outside the casing. A communication line (a cable) between the casing and a sensor outside the casing is considerably longer in length than that between the casing and a sensor in the casing, depending on installation sites. At present, an inter-integrated circuit (I2C) is generally in the mainstream as to a communication standard for transmitting an output from a sensor; however, other standards are also used. A control board which is a main control unit of the air conditioner needs to be designed in accordance with different communication standards for the sensors. Meanwhile, it is preferred that the control board be standardized from the viewpoint of improvements in production efficiency and reliability (see Patent Literature 1). CITATION LIST Patent Literature PATENT LITERATURE 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2017-180996 SUMMARY An air treatment apparatus for conditioning air or providing ventilation of air, the air treatment apparatus including: a casing of an apparatus main body; a first sensor disposed outside the casing and configured to output a signal in conformity with a first communication standard; a conversion unit configured to convert the signal output from the first sensor into a signal conforming to a second communication standard higher in tolerance to noise than the first communication standard and to output the signal thus converted; and a main control unit disposed in the casing and configured to receive the signal output from the conversion unit. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a connection diagram illustrating a first embodiment of an air treatment apparatus from the viewpoint of sensor connections. FIG. 2 is a more specific diagram of the connection diagram of FIG. 1 and illustrates a first example. FIG. 3 is a more specific diagram of the connection diagram of FIG. 1 and illustrates a second example. FIG. 4 is a connection diagram illustrating a second embodiment of an air treatment apparatus from the viewpoint of sensor connections. FIG. 5 is a connection diagram illustrating a third embodiment of an air treatment apparatus from the viewpoint of sensor connections. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary refrigerant circuit of an air conditioner. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below. First, a description will be given of an outline of a configuration of an air conditioner which is an example of an air treatment apparatus and includes a refrigerant circuit. Refrigerant Circuit FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary refrigerant circuit of an air conditioner 100. As illustrated in FIG. 6, an outdoor unit 200 which is a heat source-side unit includes a compressor 201, a four-way switching valve 202, an accumulator 203, a heat exchanger 204, a fan 205, an expansion valve 206, a liquid-side interruption valve 207, and a gas-side interruption valve 208. An indoor unit 1 which is a utilization-side unit includes a heat exchanger 101, a fan 102, and an expansion valve 103. The outdoor unit 200 and the indoor unit 1 are connected to each other with refrigerant pipes PL and PG to constitute a refrigerant circuit as illustrated in FIG. 6. Each of the valves 207 and 208 is an electric valve. For example, each of the valves 207 and 208 may be an electronic expansion valve. During a cooling operation, the four-way switching valve 202 forms an internal flow path indicated by a solid line. A refrigerant discharged from the compressor 201 thus passes through the four-way switching valve 202, the heat exchanger 204, the expansion valve 206, the open interruption valve 207, the expansion valve 103, the heat exchanger 101, the open interruption valve 208, the four-way switching valve 202, and the accumulator 203, and then returns to the compressor 201. At this time, the heat exchanger 204 of the outdoor unit 200 functions as a condenser while the heat exchanger 101 of the indoor unit 1 fun