JP2006224802A - Vehicular air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner which carries out air-conditioning according to individual windchill factors that vary widely. <P>SOLUTION: A pair of grip sensors working as electrodes are set on the ring portion of a steering wheel of a vehicle. When an occupant grips the sensors with both hands, the sensor detect the body fat ratio of the occupant. The air conditioner regards the occupant as a cold-sensitive person when the detected body fat ratio is lower than a reference body fat ratio, and executes air-conditioning correction to ease a feeling of cooling in summer and to enhance a feeling of heating in winter. In executing the air-conditioning correction, a blowoff mode is corrected to be closer to a FOOT mode or to a FACE mode than a blowoff mode under a normal air-conditioning condition, a blower voltage is corrected to be smaller or larger, and a blowoff temperature (air mix door opening) is corrected to be higher or lower. Likewise, the air conditioner regards the occupant as a heat-sensitive person when the occupant's body fat ratio is higher than the reference body fat ratio, and executes air-conditioning correction to enhance a feeling of cooling in summer and to ease a feeling of heating in winter. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner that performs air conditioning correction in accordance with the sensible temperature of an occupant.
About.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been a vehicle air conditioner that detects the skin temperature of a passenger in a passenger compartment using an infrared sensor or the like, and controls the swing range of a swing louver that changes the blowing direction into the passenger compartment based on the skin temperature. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
JP 2000-225838 A

  However, the skin temperature of the occupant used in the above prior art cannot be determined up to the perceived temperature for each individual. In other words, there are individual differences in the temperature of experience even at the same skin temperature. Qualitatively, this temperature corresponds to the fact that many people who tend to be obese tend to be hot, and those who tend to be lean are many who are cold.

  Therefore, in the air conditioning control based on the skin temperature, it is difficult to carry out fine air conditioning control corresponding to the sensible temperature with individual differences.

  An object of this invention is to perform the air-conditioning control according to the sensible temperature with a big individual difference in view of the said point.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the air conditioning unit (10) for blowing conditioned air into the passenger compartment, the blow mode for blowing air from the air conditioning unit into the passenger compartment, the amount of blown air, and the temperature to blow out are controlled. Air-conditioning control means (30) and body fat percentage detection means (36) for detecting the body fat percentage of the occupant, and the air conditioning control means receives occupant data including the body fat percentage of the occupant from the body fat percentage detection means. If not output, the conditioned air is blown into the passenger compartment in the standard air-conditioning mode based on the preset control law, the air volume and the air temperature, and the occupant data is output from the body fat percentage detecting means. If it is, the standard air conditioning state is corrected according to the occupant data.

  According to the present invention, when the occupant data including the body fat percentage is output from the body fat percentage detecting means, the standard air conditioning state based on the control law set in accordance with the occupant data is corrected. Comfortable air conditioning control can be performed according to the conditions.

  Specifically, as described in claim 2, when the body fat percentage is lower than a preset reference body fat percentage in the occupant data, the air conditioning control means regards that the occupant is cold and is a standard. Air conditioning correction to enhance the feeling of heating from the air conditioning state, and if the body fat percentage is higher than the reference body fat percentage, the passenger can be regarded as hot and the air conditioning correction can be made to enhance the cooling feeling from the standard air conditioning state. .

  Furthermore, as described in claim 3, when the occupant's gender is input to the body fat percentage detecting means, and the occupant's sex is male in the occupant data, the occupant is hot. The air conditioning can be corrected so as to enhance the cooling feeling than the standard air conditioning state.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, when the occupant's age is input to the body fat percentage detection means, and the occupant's age is young among the occupant data, the occupant is hot. Therefore, the air conditioning can be corrected so as to enhance the cooling feeling from the standard air conditioning state.

  In addition, as described in claim 5, the air conditioning correction that enhances the cooling feeling is at least one of making the blowing mode closer to the face, increasing the blown air volume, and lowering the blowing temperature than the standard air conditioning state. One correction can be made.

  In addition, as described in claim 6, the air conditioning correction that enhances the feeling of heating is at least one of shifting the blowing mode closer to the foot, increasing the blown air volume, and raising the blowing temperature than the standard air conditioning state. One correction can be made.

  In addition, as described in claim 7, the body fat percentage detecting means can be attached to the steering wheel (STW) of the vehicle. According to this, since the occupant always holds the steering wheel during driving, the body fat percentage at this time can be detected.

  In addition, the code | symbol in the bracket | parenthesis of each said means shows the correspondence with the specific means as described in embodiment mentioned later.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall system diagram of this embodiment. First, the air conditioning unit 10 mounted in the passenger compartment of the vehicle air conditioner of the embodiment will be described.

  An inside / outside air switching box 11 is disposed on the most upstream side of the air flow of the air conditioning unit 10, and a plate-like inside / outside air switching door 11a is rotatably installed therein. The inside / outside air switching door 11a is driven by an actuator 11b made of a servo motor to switch between the inside air (vehicle compartment air) and the outside air (vehicle compartment outside air).

  A blower 12 is disposed downstream of the inside / outside air switching box 11. The blower 12 includes a centrifugal blower fan 12a and a drive motor 12b, and blows air sucked from the inside / outside air switching box 11 through the ventilation path 10a in the case of the air conditioning unit 10 toward the vehicle interior.

  An evaporator 13 is disposed immediately after the blower 12 in the ventilation path 10 a of the air conditioning unit 10, and a heater core 14 is disposed on the downstream side of the evaporator 13.

  The evaporator 13 forms a heat exchanger for cooling, and is provided in a well-known refrigeration cycle having a compressor 25 driven by a vehicle engine (not shown). The low-pressure refrigerant flowing into the evaporator 13 is blown by the blower 12. The blown air is cooled by absorbing heat from the blown air and evaporating. The compressor 25 is provided with a power interrupting electromagnetic clutch 24 driven by the drive device 23, and the power of the vehicle engine is transmitted to the compressor 25 via the electromagnetic clutch 24.

  The heater core 14 constitutes a heat exchanger for heating, and heats blown air using hot water (cooling water) from a vehicle engine (not shown) as a heat source.

  On the upstream side of the heater core 14, an air mix door 15 that serves as a blown air temperature adjusting means is rotatably provided. The opening degree of the air mix door 15 is adjusted by being driven by an actuator 15a, whereby the ratio of the air passing through the heater core 14 and the air bypassing the heater core 14 is adjusted, and the temperature of the conditioned air blown into the vehicle interior is adjusted. Adjusted.

  At the most downstream of the air conditioning unit 10, a defroster door 17 that opens and closes a defroster outlet 16 for blowing conditioned air toward the front window glass W, a face blow for blowing conditioned air toward the passenger's face and the upper body. A face door 19 that opens and closes the outlet 18 and a foot door 21 that opens and closes a foot outlet 20 for blowing conditioned air toward the feet of the occupant are provided.

  Each of these doors 17, 19, and 21 constitutes an outlet control means, and is opened and closed in conjunction with a common actuator 22 via a link mechanism (not shown). By opening / closing the doors 17, 19, and 21, a known air outlet mode is switched and set.

  Next, the electric control unit of the present embodiment will be described. The air conditioning control device (air conditioner ECU) 30 is a control means including a microcomputer and its peripheral circuits, and is an ignition switch for starting the vehicle engine. As soon as 38 is turned on, the operation starts. The air-conditioning control device 30 controls the operations of the actuators 11b, 15a, 22 and the blower driving motor 12b by arithmetic processing based on a predetermined control program in the microcomputer.

  The air conditioning control device 30 receives signals from various sensors that detect environmental conditions that affect the air conditioning state in the passenger compartment. Specifically, an inside air temperature sensor 31 that detects an air temperature (inside air temperature) Tr in the passenger compartment, an outside air temperature sensor 32 that detects an air temperature (outside air temperature) Tam outside the passenger compartment, and the blown air temperature Te of the evaporator 13. Each signal from the evaporator temperature sensor 33 to be detected, the water temperature sensor 34 to detect the water temperature Tw of the heater core 15, and the solar radiation sensor 35 to detect the solar radiation amount Ts incident on the vehicle interior is input to the air conditioning control device 30. .

  The air conditioning operation panel 39 is disposed in the vicinity of an instrument panel (not shown) in the passenger compartment, and is provided with a plurality of operation members 39a to 39e that are manually operated by a passenger, and the plurality of operation members 39a to 39e. The operation signal 39e is input to the air conditioning control device 30. Specifically, the plurality of operation members include an AUTO switch 39a for setting an automatic control state of the air conditioner, a temperature setting switch 39b for setting the passenger compartment temperature to a set temperature Tset desired by the occupant, and an inside / outside air mode. With the inside / outside air changeover switch 39c to be set, the air outlet mode changeover switch 39d for setting the air outlet mode (face, bi-level, foot, foot differential, defroster), the airflow amount changeover switch 39e for setting the airflow amount of the blower 12, etc. is there.

A body fat percentage detection device 36 is connected to the air conditioning control device 30. As shown in FIG. 2, the body fat percentage detection device 36 is provided at grip sensors 36a and 36b provided at two locations of a ring portion 40a of a steering hole STW which is a vehicle steering device, and at a boss portion 40b of the steering hole. Input panel 37c.

  The grip sensors 36a and 36b are electrodes provided at a so-called 10:10 position of the ring portion 40a. When the occupant grips the grip sensors 36a and 36b with both hands, a weak current is generated between the occupant's hands. To measure the impedance (electrical resistance) of the passenger.

  The input panel 37c is provided with a switch for instructing the operation or non-operation of the air conditioning correction based on the body fat percentage and a plurality of operation members. From the plurality of operation members, height, weight, sex, age, and the like, which are occupant's biological data, are input. The input panel 37c is provided with a display panel for displaying the operating state of the body fat percentage detection device 36 and the measured body fat percentage.

  These input biological data and detection signals of the grip sensors 36a and 36b are input to the air conditioning control device 30 as occupant data.

  The air conditioning control device 30 calculates the body fat percentage of the occupant by a known calculation method (bioimpedance method: BIA method) based on the detection signals from the grip sensors 36a and 36b and the biometric data from the input panel 37c. . In brief, the occupant impedance detected by the grip sensors 36a and 36b and biological data (height, weight, sex, and age) are input to a predetermined regression equation. In other words, this regression equation is set so as to correlate the impedance with the value of the body fat percentage of the whole body measured with an underwater weight scale as a reference in advance, and the numerical value calculated by this regression equation occupies the whole body. It becomes the proportion of fat.

  If the detection signals from the grip sensors 36a and 36b are not input because the passenger is not gripping the steering hall STW, the air conditioning control device 30 determines that there is no passenger data, and the air conditioning control in the standard air conditioning state described below. I do.

  Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. First, since the air conditioning control device 30 realizes the standard air conditioning state by normal automatic air conditioning control, since it is a well-known method, it will be briefly described.

  First, a target blowing temperature TAO, which is a blowing temperature necessary for maintaining the passenger compartment at the set temperature Tset of the temperature setting switch 39b, is calculated based on the following equation (1).

TAO = Kset * Tset-Kr * Tr-Kam * Tam-Ks * Ts + C
... (1)
However, Kset, Kr, Kam, Ks: control gain, C: constant for correction.

  Next, based on this target blowing temperature TAO, the blowing mode corresponding to the control map of FIG. 3 is determined. In this blowout mode, the FACE mode is a mode in which the face door 19 is fully opened and the conditioned air is blown out from the face blowout port 18, and the FOOT mode is a mode in which the foot door 21 is fully opened and the conditioned air is blown out from the foot blowout port 20. . Further, the B / L (bi-level) mode is a mode in which both the face door 19 and the foot door 21 are opened and the conditioned air is blown out from both outlets.

  Next, based on the target blowing temperature TAO, an applied voltage (blower voltage) of the driving motor 12b of the blower 12 corresponding to the control map of FIG.

  Furthermore, the target opening degree θ of the air mix door 15 that determines the blowing temperature of the conditioned air blown into the passenger compartment is calculated by the following equation (2).

θ = (TAO−Te) / (Tw−Te) × 100 (%) (2)
Te is the temperature of the air blown from the evaporator of the evaporator temperature sensor 33, and Tw is the water temperature of the heater core 14 by the water temperature sensor 34.

  Thus, the air conditioning control of the passenger compartment is performed with the blowing mode, the air flow rate and the blowing temperature as the standard air conditioning state determined according to the target blowing temperature TAO.

  The air conditioning correction performed in accordance with the body fat percentage of the occupant in this standard air conditioning state will be described using the control routine shown in FIG. This control routine is started in the air conditioning control device 30 in response to the switch-on of the input panel 37c.

  First, in step S100, detection signals from the grip sensors 36a and 36b are read, and in step S110, occupant biometric data (height, weight, sex, age) is read from the input panel 37c.

  In step S120, the occupant's body fat percentage is calculated based on these sensor values and biometric data, and it is determined whether or not the calculation has been performed without error. If there is a calculation error, the control routine is terminated and the standard air conditioning state is realized and maintained as it is.

  If the body fat percentage is calculated without error, the blowing mode control is corrected and changed from the standard air-conditioning state in step S130 according to the size of the occupant's body fat percentage relative to the reference body fat percentage, and in step S140 The blower control is corrected and changed from the standard air conditioning state, and the blowout temperature control is corrected and changed in step S150.

  Reference body fat percentage is, for example, data published as appropriate body fat percentage, male under 30 years old: 14-20%, male over 30 years old: 17-23%, female under 30 years old: 17-24% , Female 30 years old and over: 20-27% can be used.

  That is, when the calculated body fat percentage is higher than the numerical range of the appropriate body fat percentage, the body fat percentage is “high”, and when it is within the numerical range of the appropriate body fat percentage, the body fat percentage is “medium” The cases where the fat percentage is smaller than the numerical range are determined as “low”.

  More specifically, the air conditioning correction according to the size of the body fat percentage is performed based on the control map illustrated in FIG. In the control map, “NORMAL” indicates a standard air conditioning state. In summer or winter, a period is set in advance, and the current day season (summer or winter) can be determined based on calendar information of a navigation device (not shown).

  To explain in order, in the summer season, passengers with a low body fat percentage are generally judged to have low sensible temperature and cold, so the blowing mode is closer to FOOT, that is, the opening degree of the foot door 21 is lower than the standard air conditioning state. Is increased by a predetermined amount to increase the blown air volume ratio from the foot outlet 20.

  In the blower control, the blower voltage is decreased by a predetermined amount to reduce the air volume compared to the standard air conditioning state. Further, in the blowout temperature control, the blowout temperature is increased by increasing the air mix door opening θ by a predetermined amount from the value in the standard air-conditioning state calculated by Equation (2).

  Thereby, the cooling feeling in the summer can be relieved, and comfortable air conditioning can be realized for a passenger with a low body fat percentage, which is regarded as cold.

  Further, in the summer, an occupant with a high body fat percentage is generally judged to have a high body temperature and to be hot, so air conditioning correction that enhances the air conditioning feeling is performed. That is, the blow mode is closer to FACE than the standard air-conditioning state, that is, the opening degree of the face door 19 is increased by a predetermined amount to increase the blown air volume ratio from the face air outlet 18. In the case where the blowing mode is already the FACE mode in the standard air conditioning state, the blowing mode is not corrected.

  In the blower control, the blower voltage is increased by a predetermined amount from the standard air conditioning state to increase the air volume. Further, in the blowout temperature control, the blowout temperature is lowered by making the air mix door opening θ smaller by a predetermined amount than the value in the standard air conditioning state calculated by the formula (2).

  Thereby, the cooling feeling in the summer can be enhanced, and comfortable air conditioning can be realized for an occupant with a high body fat percentage regarded as hot.

  On the other hand, in winter, air conditioning correction that enhances the feeling of heating is performed for passengers with a low body fat percentage. That is, the blowing mode is set closer to FOOT, that is, the opening degree of the foot door 21 is increased by a predetermined amount from the standard air-conditioning state, and the blowing air volume ratio from the foot outlet 20 is increased. In the case where the blowing mode is already the FOOT mode in the standard air conditioning state, the blowing mode is not corrected.

  In the blower control, the blower voltage is increased by a predetermined amount to increase the air volume as compared with the standard air conditioning state. Further, in the blowout temperature control, the blowout temperature is increased by increasing the air mix door opening θ by a predetermined amount from the value in the standard air-conditioning state calculated by Equation (2).

  Thereby, the feeling of heating in winter can be enhanced, and comfortable air conditioning can be realized for a passenger with a low body fat rate, which is regarded as cold.

  In winter, air conditioning control is performed to alleviate the feeling of heating for passengers with a high body fat percentage. That is, the blow mode is closer to FACE than the standard air-conditioning state, that is, the opening degree of the face door 19 is increased by a predetermined amount to increase the blown air volume ratio from the face air outlet 18. In the blower control, the blower voltage is decreased by a predetermined amount from the standard air conditioning state to reduce the air volume. Further, in the blowout temperature control, the blowout temperature is lowered by making the air mix door opening θ smaller by a predetermined amount than the value in the standard air conditioning state calculated by the formula (2). Thereby, the feeling of heating in winter can be relieved, and comfortable air conditioning can be realized for a passenger with a high body fat percentage regarded as hot.

  Note that the air conditioning correction is not performed for the passenger with the body fat percentage of “medium” regardless of summer and winter, and the standard air conditioning state is maintained. However, when the occupant performs a switch operation for “cold correction” or “hot correction” from the input panel 37c, the body fat percentage is “low” and the body fat percentage is “high” in the control table of FIG. The air conditioning correction may be performed.

(Other embodiments)
In the said embodiment, although the example which performs an air-conditioning correction | amendment according to the magnitude | size of a body fat rate as passenger | crew data was shown, it is not restricted to this. That is, an example of air conditioning correction according to gender or age among biometric data used when calculating body fat percentage as occupant data will be described.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of the control table. The control routine is the same as that shown in FIG.

  When the occupant's gender is “female”, the air conditioning correction for reducing the cooling feeling is performed in the same manner as the air conditioning correction when the body fat percentage is “low” in the summer. When the occupant's gender is “male”, the air conditioning correction for enhancing the cooling feeling is performed in the same manner as the air conditioning correction when the body fat percentage is “high” in the summer.

  In addition, for example, if the age is 60 years old or older, the younger age is 25 years old or younger, and the age of the occupant is in the range of “old age”, the same air conditioning correction as in the case of the above “sex” When the occupant's age is in the range of “young”, the same air conditioning control as in the case of the sex “male” can be performed. Thereby, comfortable air conditioning according to a passenger's sex or age group can be realized.

  Further, the air conditioning correction method in the control table shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 is an example, and at least one correction of the blowing mode correction, the blower correction, and the blowing temperature correction may be performed. For example, in the case of air conditioning correction that relieves the feeling of heating, it is possible to correct the blowout mode correction to “close to FOOT” or not to perform the blowout mode correction.

  Furthermore, the air conditioning correction according to the body fat percentage and the air conditioning correction according to gender and age can be used in appropriate combination.

  In the above embodiment, the body fat percentage detection device is mounted on the steering wheel, but it is also possible to detect the body fat percentage when the knob is attached to and touches the knob when opening and closing the door of the vehicle, for example. Alternatively, in the case of a key that is operated to relock the door of the vehicle, a body fat percentage detection device is attached to the key so that the body fat percentage detection device is touched when the key is operated, and wireless The body fat percentage may be input to the ECU 30.

It is a figure which shows the whole system of the vehicle air conditioner of embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of a body fat percentage detection apparatus. It is a control map which determines the blowing mode in a standard air-conditioning state. It is a control map which determines the blower voltage in a standard air-conditioning state. It is a flowchart which shows the control routine of the air-conditioning correction | amendment performed with an air-conditioning control apparatus. It is a control map which determines the control characteristic of the air-conditioning correction | amendment according to the magnitude | size of a body fat percentage. It is a control map in other embodiments.

Explanation of symbols

12 ... Blower, 13 ... Evaporator, 14 ... Heater core, 15 ... Air mix door,
19 ... Face door, 21 ... Foot door, 36 ... Body fat percentage detection device,
36a, 36b ... grip sensor, 37c ... input panel.

Claims (7)

An air conditioning unit (10) for blowing conditioned air into the passenger compartment;
Air-conditioning control means (30) for controlling the blow-out mode for blowing out from the air-conditioning unit into the vehicle interior, the amount of air to be blown out, and the temperature to be blown out;
Body fat percentage detecting means (36) for detecting the body fat percentage of the occupant,
When the occupant data including the body fat percentage of the occupant is not output from the body fat percentage detecting means, the air conditioning control means is configured to output the blowing mode, the blown air volume, and the blowing in the standard air conditioning state based on a preset control law. The vehicle is characterized in that air-conditioned air is blown into the vehicle interior at a temperature, and when the occupant data is output from the body fat percentage detection means, the standard air-conditioning state is corrected according to the occupant data. Air conditioner. The air conditioning control means corrects the air conditioning so that a feeling of heating is enhanced from the standard air conditioning state when the body fat percentage is lower than a preset reference body fat percentage in the occupant data, and the body fat percentage is calculated from the reference body fat percentage. 2. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein when the fat percentage is higher than the fat percentage, the air conditioning is corrected so as to enhance the cooling feeling than the standard air conditioning state. The occupant's gender is input to the body fat percentage detection means,
2. The vehicle air conditioning according to claim 1, wherein when the occupant's gender is male in the occupant data, the air conditioning control unit corrects the air conditioning so as to enhance a cooling feeling than the standard air conditioning state. apparatus. The occupant's age is input to the body fat percentage detection means,
The vehicle air-conditioning control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the air-conditioning control unit corrects the air-conditioning so that the cooling feeling is enhanced from the standard air-conditioning state when the age of the occupant is young in the occupant data. Air conditioner. The air conditioning correction that enhances the cooling sensation is at least one of the correction of making the blowing mode closer to the face, increasing the blowing air volume, and lowering the blowing temperature than the standard air conditioning state. The vehicle air conditioner according to any one of claims 2 to 4. The air conditioning correction that enhances the feeling of heating is at least one of the correction of making the blowing mode closer to the foot, increasing the blowing air volume, and raising the blowing temperature than the standard air conditioning state. The vehicle air conditioner according to claim 2. The vehicle air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the body fat percentage detecting means is mounted on a steering wheel (STW) of the vehicle.

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