Outdoor unit of air conditioner and air conditioner

Abstract

An outdoor unit of an air conditioner includes: an outdoor heat exchanger provided with a plurality of refrigerant paths including a flow rate-variable refrigerant path; an ambient air temperature detector that detects an ambient air temperature; and a controller that decreases a flow rate of a refrigerant flowing into the flow rate-variable refrigerant path in a case where the ambient air temperature detected by the ambient air temperature detector is equal to or higher than a threshold ambient air temperature as compared to a case where the ambient air temperature is lower than the threshold ambient air temperature, when the outdoor heat exchanger serves as an evaporator.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An outdoor unit of an air conditioner, comprising:
 an outdoor heat exchanger provided with a plurality of refrigerant paths including a flow rate-variable refrigerant path;   an ambient air temperature detector that detects an ambient air temperature; and   a controller that decreases a flow rate of a refrigerant flowing into the flow rate-variable refrigerant path in a case where the ambient air temperature detected by the ambient air temperature detector is equal to or higher than a threshold ambient air temperature as compared to a case where the ambient air temperature is lower than the threshold ambient air temperature, when the outdoor heat exchanger serves as an evaporator.   
     
     
         2 . The outdoor unit of the air conditioner according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the controller regulates the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into the flow rate-variable refrigerant path in the case where the ambient air temperature is equal to or higher than the threshold ambient air temperature, when the outdoor heat exchanger serves as an evaporator, and   the controller does not regulate the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into the flow rate-variable refrigerant path in the case where the ambient air temperature is lower than the threshold ambient air temperature, when the outdoor heat exchanger serves as an evaporator.   
     
     
         3 . The outdoor unit of the air conditioner according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the flow rate-variable refrigerant path is the refrigerant path with a flow rate balancer, and   the controller uses the flow rate balancer to regulate the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into the flow rate-variable refrigerant path.   
     
     
         4 . The outdoor unit of the air conditioner according to  claim 3 , wherein
 the flow rate balancer includes a flow rate regulator that regulates the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into the flow rate-variable refrigerant path, a bypass pipe that bypasses the flow rate regulator, and an open/close device that allows passage of the refrigerant through the bypass pipe when being opened and that shuts off the passage of the refrigerant through the bypass pipe when being closed,   the controller opens the open/close device in the case where the ambient air temperature is lower than the threshold ambient air temperature, when the outdoor heat exchanger serves as an evaporator, and   the controller closes the open/close device in the case where the ambient air temperature is equal to or higher than the threshold ambient air temperature, when the outdoor heat exchanger serves as an evaporator.   
     
     
         5 . The outdoor unit of the air conditioner according to  claim 4 , comprising
 a plurality of the flow rate-variable refrigerant paths, wherein   flow passage resistance of the flow rate regulator of the flow rate balancer included in each of the flow rate-variable refrigerant paths is selected such that the regulated amount of the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into each of the plurality of flow rate-variable refrigerant paths becomes uneven.   
     
     
         6 . The outdoor unit of the air conditioner according to  claim 3 , wherein
 the flow rate balancer is a flow rate adjustment valve,   the controller fully opens the flow rate adjustment valve in the case where the ambient air temperature is lower than the threshold ambient air temperature, when the outdoor heat exchanger serves as an evaporator, and   the controller sets the degree of opening of the flow rate adjustment valve to a predetermined value in the case where the ambient air temperature is equal to or higher than the threshold ambient air temperature, when the outdoor heat exchanger serves as an evaporator.   
     
     
         7 . The outdoor unit of the air conditioner according to  claim 6 , comprising
 a plurality of the flow rate-variable refrigerant paths, wherein   the controller controls the degree of opening of the flow rate adjustment valve such that the regulated amount of the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing into each of the plurality of flow rate-variable refrigerant paths becomes uneven.   
     
     
         8 . The outdoor unit of an air conditioner according to  claim 1 , wherein
 in the outdoor heat exchanger, the plurality of refrigerant paths is disposed vertically in parallel, the flow rate-variable refrigerant path being disposed in at least the bottom of the plurality of refrigerant paths.   
     
     
         9 . An air conditioner comprising:
 the outdoor unit according to  claim 1 ;   an indoor unit; and   a pipe that couples the outdoor unit and the indoor unit.