Outdoor unit, indoor unit, and air conditioning system

Abstract

An outdoor unit in an air conditioning system includes: a first control valve; and a control unit that controls the first control valve and that is configured to cause the air conditioning system to operate in a first control mode or a second control mode based on presence or absence of a valve unit that includes a second control valve and that is disposed between the outdoor unit and indoor units of the air conditioning system that are connected in parallel to the outdoor unit. In a case where the valve unit is absent from the air conditioning system, the control unit causes the air conditioning system to operate in the first control mode in which a pressure of a refrigerant to be supplied to the indoor units is adjusted by controlling the first control valve.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An outdoor unit in an air conditioning system, the outdoor unit comprising:
 a first control valve; and   a control unit that controls the first control valve and that is configured to cause the air conditioning system to operate in a first control mode or a second control mode based on presence or absence of a valve unit that comprises a second control valve and that is disposed between the outdoor unit and indoor units of the air conditioning system that are connected in parallel to the outdoor unit, wherein   in a case where the valve unit is absent from the air conditioning system, the control unit causes the air conditioning system to operate in the first control mode in which a pressure of a refrigerant to be supplied to the indoor units is adjusted by controlling the first control valve, and   in a case where the valve unit is present in the air conditioning system, the control unit causes the air conditioning system to operate in the second control mode in which a pressure of a refrigerant to be supplied to the indoor units is adjusted by controlling the second control valve.   
     
     
         2 . An indoor unit in an air conditioning system, the indoor unit comprising:
 a control unit that controls a first control valve of an outdoor unit of the air conditioning system that is connected in parallel to the indoor unit and that is configured to cause the air conditioning system to operate in a first control mode or a second control mode based on presence or absence of a valve unit that comprises a second control valve and that is disposed between the outdoor unit and the indoor unit, wherein   in case where the valve unit is absent from the air conditioning system, the control unit causes the air conditioning system to operate in the first control mode in which a pressure of a refrigerant to be supplied to the indoor unit is adjusted by controlling the first control valve, and   in case where the valve unit is present in the air conditioning system, the control unit causes the air conditioning system to operate in the second control mode in which a pressure of a refrigerant to be supplied to the indoor unit is adjusted by controlling the second control valve.   
     
     
         3 . An air conditioning system comprising:
 a refrigerant circuit that performs a refrigeration cycle;   an outdoor unit and indoor units connected in parallel to the outdoor unit, wherein the outdoor unit comprises a first control valve; and   a control unit configured to cause the air conditioning system to operate in a first control mode or a second control mode based on presence or absence of a valve unit that comprises a second control valve and that is disposed between the indoor units and the outdoor unit in the air conditioning system, wherein   in a case where the valve unit is absent from the air conditioning system, the control unit causes the air conditioning system to operate in the first control mode in which a pressure of a refrigerant to be supplied to the indoor units is adjusted by controlling the first control valve, and   in a case where the valve unit is present in the air conditioning system, the control unit causes the air conditioning system to operate in the second control mode in which a pressure of a refrigerant to be supplied to the indoor units is adjusted by controlling the second control valve.   
     
     
         4 . The air conditioning system according to  claim 3 , wherein in the case where the valve unit is present in the air conditioning system, the control unit automatically selects the second control mode. 
     
     
         5 . The air conditioning system according to  claim 3 , further comprising a selector for manually selecting the first control mode and the second control mode. 
     
     
         6 . The air conditioning system according to  claim 3 , wherein
 in the case where the valve unit is absent from the air conditioning system, the control unit controls the first control valve in the first control mode, and   in the case where the valve unit is present in the air conditioning system, the control unit controls the second control valve in the second control mode.   
     
     
         7 . The air conditioning system according to  claim 3 , wherein in the case where the valve unit is present in the air conditioning system and in a case where a refrigerant leak is detected in one of the indoor units, the second control valve shuts off supply of the refrigerant to the one of the indoor units. 
     
     
         8 . The air conditioning system according to  claim 3 , wherein
 each of the indoor units comprises an indoor control unit that is included in the control unit and that controls operation of the each of the indoor units,   in response to connection of the each of the indoor units to the outdoor unit, information related to the outdoor unit is written to the indoor control unit, and   the indoor control unit controls the each of the indoor units based on the information related to the outdoor unit.