Air conditioner and method for controlling same

Abstract

An air conditioner comprises: an exhaust port arranged at the rear of the air conditioner; a fan that dissipates, to the exhaust port, heat generated from a heat exchanger; a temperature sensor arranged at the rear of the air conditioner to detect the temperature at the rear of the air conditioner; at least one memory storing at least one instruction; and at least one processor configured to execute the at least one instruction, to: based on a cooling operation mode being set, control the fan to dissipate the heat generated from the heat exchanger and determine whether to terminate an operation in the cooling operation mode based on the temperature change information, generated using information about temperatures detected by the temperature sensor at specified time intervals.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An air conditioner comprising:
 an exhaust port disposed at a rear side of the air conditioner;   a fan configured to dissipate heat generated in a heat exchanger to the exhaust port;   a temperature sensor disposed at the rear side of the air conditioner and configured to detect a rear temperature of the air conditioner;   at least one memory storing at least one instruction; and   at least one processor, comprising processing circuitry, individually and/or collectively, configured to operate based on the at least one instruction,   wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to cause the air conditioner to:   control the fan to dissipate heat generated in the heat exchanger based on a cooling operation mode being set, and   determine whether to terminate an operation in the cooling operation mode based on temperature change information generated based on temperature information detected by the temperature sensor at a specified time interval.   
     
     
         2 . The air conditioner as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to cause the air conditioner to:
 store a first temperature detected by the temperature sensor in the memory based on an operation execution command for the cooling operation mode being input, and   generate the temperature change information based on a second temperature detected by the temperature sensor after a specified time.   
     
     
         3 . The air conditioner as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to:
 calculate the temperature change information based on a difference value between the first temperature and the second temperature, or   calculate a temperature increase rate at each predetermined time unit as the temperature change information.   
     
     
         4 . The air conditioner as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to generate the temperature change information based on the temperature information detected by the temperature sensor in a specified cycle after the specified time. 
     
     
         5 . The air conditioner as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein the specified cycle ranges from five to thirty seconds. 
     
     
         6 . The air conditioner as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to determine termination of the operation in the cooling operation mode based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor being at or above a specified reference temperature for a specified time or more. 
     
     
         7 . The air conditioner as claimed in  claim 6 , further comprising a communication device comprising communication circuitry configured to receive outdoor weather information,
 wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to set the reference temperature based on the outdoor weather information.   
     
     
         8 . The air conditioner as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising a pipe temperature sensor configured to detect a compressor pipe temperature,
 wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to determine the termination of the operation in the cooling operation mode based on the generated temperature change information based on the temperature detected by the pipe temperature sensor being at or above a specified temperature.   
     
     
         9 . The air conditioner as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising an intake disposed at the rear side of the air conditioner,
 wherein the temperature sensor is disposed in region between the intake and the exhaust port, in upper regions of the intake and the exhaust port.   
     
     
         10 . The air conditioner as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising a display,
 wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to cause the air conditioner to: control the display to display error information based on the operation in the cooling operation mode being terminated based on the temperature change information.   
     
     
         11 . The air conditioner as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising a communication device comprising communication circuitry configured to communicate with a user terminal device,
 wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to control the communication device to transmit error information to the user terminal device based on the operation in the cooling operation mode being terminated based on the temperature change information.   
     
     
         12 . A method for controlling an air conditioner, the method comprising:
 controlling a fan to dissipate heat generated in a heat exchanger to an exhaust port based on a cooling operation mode being set;   detecting a temperature by a temperature sensor disposed at a rear side of the air conditioner at a specified time interval; and   terminating an operation in the cooling operation mode based on temperature change information generated based on temperature information detected at the specified time interval.   
     
     
         13 . The method as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein in the detecting,
 a first temperature detected by the temperature sensor is stored in a memory based on an operation execution command for the cooling operation mode being input, and   the temperature change information is generated based on a second temperature detected by the temperature sensor after a specified time.   
     
     
         14 . The method as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein in the detecting,
 the temperature change information is calculated based on a difference value between the first temperature and the second temperature, or   a temperature increase rate at each specified time unit is calculated as the temperature change information.   
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium including a program which, when executed by at least one processor, comprising processing circuitry, individually and/or collectively, of an air conditioner, causes the air conditioner to perform a method comprising:
 controlling a fan to dissipate heat generated in a heat exchanger to an exhaust port based on a cooling operation mode being set,   detecting a temperature by a temperature sensor disposed at a rear side of the air conditioner at a specified time interval, and   terminating an operation in the cooling operation mode based on temperature change information generated based on temperature information detected at the specified time interval.