JP2011080625A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner capable of performing efficient air conditioning. <P>SOLUTION: In this air conditioner, an indoor unit includes an infrared ray sensor, a living area deducing means for deducing user's main living area on the basis of a result of detection of human body by the infrared ray sensor, and a wall position deducing means for deducing a position of a wall from a result of detection of an article surface temperature by the infrared ray sensor and the living area. In heating, the indoor unit performs temperature shift for lowering a set temperature set by a remote control device remotely controlling the air conditioner, by a prescribed temperature to lower a temperature of the airflow supplied from a supply opening of the indoor unit, when it is determined that a person stays close to the wall on the basis of a result of the detection of human body and the wall position deducing means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a human obstacle detection device that detects the presence and position of a person or an obstacle in an air-conditioned space by detecting the surface temperature of an object (such as a wall, floor, furniture, or person) existing in the indoor unit. It is related with the air conditioner which controlled the wind direction change means provided in the indoor unit based on the detection signal.

  A conventional air conditioner includes a human body detection device having a human body detection sensor such as a pyroelectric infrared sensor and an ultrasonic sensor for detecting a distance to an object in an indoor unit. By detecting the position and distance, the wind direction changing means composed of the upper and lower blades and the left and right blades is controlled to send the conditioned air toward an area where no people are present (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  In addition, in the air conditioner described in Patent Document 1, when there are obstacles such as furniture that prevent the circulation of the conditioned air in the room, and the area where there is no person coincides with the area where the obstacle exists, the conditioned air becomes an obstacle. Since the air conditioning efficiency is reduced by being sent to the indoor unit, the indoor unit is provided with a human position detecting means and an obstacle position detecting means, and the wind direction is determined based on the detection signals of both the human position detecting means and the obstacle position detecting means. There has also been proposed one that improves the air conditioning efficiency by controlling the changing means.

  In this air conditioner, when heating operation starts, it is first determined whether there is a person in the room by the person position detecting means, and if there is no person, whether there is an obstacle by the obstacle position detecting means If there is no obstacle, the wind direction changing means is controlled so that the conditioned air spreads throughout the room.

  In addition, when an obstacle that can be avoided is detected but no person is present, the wind direction changing means is controlled in a direction in which there is no obstacle. On the other hand, if an obstacle that cannot be avoided is detected, air conditioning is performed directly on the obstacle. The wind direction changing means is controlled so that the wind does not hit and the conditioned air spreads throughout the room.

  Furthermore, when there is a person, it is determined whether or not there is an absent area. If there is no absent area, the wind direction changing means is controlled so that the conditioned air spreads throughout the room. Determine whether there is an obstacle in the absence area, and if there is an obstacle, control the wind direction control means in the direction of the obstacle so that the conditioned air does not hit the obstacle strongly, but there is no obstacle In this case, the wind direction control means is controlled in a direction where there is no obstacle (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

JP 63-143449 A Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-72249

  There is always a wall around the living space, and considering the distance from the indoor unit to the wall, warm air tends to stay near the wall when heating is closer, and the room temperature near the wall tends to be higher. is there.

However, in the air conditioner described in Patent Document 1 or 2, the suction temperature of the indoor unit is controlled based on the set temperature, and the suction temperature is controlled according to the measured distance by measuring the distance to the wall. There was still room for improvement in terms of comfort.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art, and improves comfort and energy saving operation by controlling the suction temperature of the indoor unit according to the positional relationship between the wall and the person. It aims to provide a possible air conditioner.

  In order to achieve the above object, one embodiment of the present invention is directed to an indoor unit, an air blower and a blowout port that blows air from the blower into the room, an infrared sensor that detects a human body and detects an object temperature, and an infrared sensor Air conditioning equipped with a living area inference means for estimating the area where the user is mainly living from the human body detection result, and a wall position inference means for inferring the position of the wall from the object surface temperature detection result of the infrared sensor and the living area When heating, the indoor unit is set by a remote control device that remotely controls the air conditioner when it is determined that the person is close to the wall based on the human body detection result and the wall position inference means. A temperature shift is performed to lower the set temperature by a predetermined temperature, and the temperature of the airflow blown from the outlet of the indoor unit is lowered.

  Moreover, the other aspect of this invention is based on the human body detection result of an air blower which blows off the air from an air blower and an air blower in an indoor unit, an infrared sensor which detects a human body and detects an object surface temperature, and an indoor unit. An air conditioner equipped with a living area inference means for estimating an area where a user mainly lives and a wall position inference means for inferring the position of a wall from the object surface temperature detection result of the infrared sensor and the living area. During cooling, the indoor unit sets the set temperature set by the remote control device that remotely controls the air conditioner when it is determined that the person and the wall are close to each other based on the human body detection result and the wall position inference means. The temperature is shifted to a predetermined temperature, and the temperature of the airflow blown out from the outlet of the indoor unit is increased.

  According to the present invention, when it is determined that there is a wall in the obstacle position determination area belonging to the person position determination area determined to have a person, the set temperature set by the remote control device is set at the predetermined temperature heating time. Since the temperature is lowered and the temperature is increased during cooling, comfort is improved and energy saving can be achieved. This enables efficient air conditioning.

The front view of the indoor unit of the air conditioner which concerns on this invention The control block diagram which shows the outline of the control apparatus of the air conditioner which concerns on this invention Sensing operation explanatory diagram of the human body detection / object temperature detection sensor according to the present invention Image diagram of thermal image data obtained by sensing of human body detection / object temperature detection sensor of air conditioner according to the present invention Schematic diagram showing a living area discrimination area detected by a human body detection / object temperature detection sensor provided in the indoor unit of FIG. Image of thermal image data divided into areas shown in Fig. 5 Schematic plan view of a residence where the indoor unit of FIG. 1 is installed The figure which shows the situation of the count of the human body detection data after progress for a fixed time from the installation in the residence of FIG. The figure which shows the inferred wall position in the residence of FIG. 6 shows an example of the inferred wall position and human body position on FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Overall configuration of air conditioner>
An air conditioner used in a general household is composed of an outdoor unit and an indoor unit that are usually connected to each other by refrigerant piping, and FIG. 1 shows the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to the present invention.

  The indoor unit has a main body 2 and a movable front panel (hereinafter simply referred to as a front panel) 4 that can freely open and close the front opening 2a of the main body 2, and the front panel 4 is the main body 2 when the air conditioner is stopped. The front panel 4 moves in a direction away from the main body 2 to open the front panel opening during operation of the air conditioner. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the front panel 4 closes the front opening.

  As shown in FIG. 1, at the bottom of the main body 2, an upper and lower blade 12 that opens and closes an air outlet that blows out air that has been heat-exchanged for cooling or heating and changes the air blowing direction up and down, and air Left and right blades 14 that change the blowing direction to left and right, and a suction temperature sensor 101 that detects the temperature of the air sucked into the main body 2.

  Further, the upper part of the front panel 4 is connected to the upper part of the main body 2 via two arms provided at both ends thereof, and by driving and controlling a drive motor (not shown) connected to the arms, During the operation of the air conditioner, the front panel 4 moves forward and obliquely upward from the position when the air conditioner is stopped (closed position of the front opening).

  Furthermore, the upper and lower blades 12 are connected to a drive source (for example, a stepping motor), and are angle-controlled by a control device built in the indoor unit.

  In addition, the left and right blades 14 are configured by a total of 10 blades arranged five by left and right from the center of the indoor unit, and are respectively swingably attached to the lower portion of the main body 2. The left and right five blades are connected to separate drive sources (for example, stepping motors) as a unit, and the left and right five blades are independently angle-controlled by a control device built in the indoor unit. .

<Configuration of human body detection / object temperature detection device>
As shown in FIG. 1, a human body / object temperature detection sensor 102 (referred to as an infrared sensor) that detects infrared rays is provided on the upper portion of the front panel 4. In the illustrated example, the human body detection / object temperature detection sensor 102 is disposed at the center upper portion of the indoor unit body 2, but may be disposed at a position other than the center upper portion of the indoor unit body 2. The human body detection / object temperature detection sensor 102 has one or a plurality of elements, and preferably moves the entire element left and right as shown in FIG. 3 to acquire a two-dimensional thermal image.

  The air conditioner shown in FIG. 1 includes a control device that controls each part of the air conditioner. Here, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the control device. In FIG. 2, the control device is composed of a human body detection means 103 using an infrared sensor, an object temperature detection means 104, a living area inference means 105, and a wall position inference means 106. The room temperature is controlled by the changing means 107, the left / right air direction changing means 108, the air blowing capacity changing means 109, and the compression function force changing means 110. The control device is constituted by a microcomputer (microcomputer). The control operation is performed by the microcomputer executing a program stored in the microcomputer.

<Human position estimation by human body detection / object temperature detection device>
The human body detection / object temperature detection sensor 102 attached to the front panel 4 reciprocates left and right as shown in FIG. 3, and acquires thermal image data of the room (see FIG. 4) for each operation. This thermal image data is sent to the human body detection means 103 and the object temperature detection means 104 as the presence position of the person in the room and the state of the object surface temperature.

  Further, the entire area detectable by the human body detection / object temperature detection sensor 102 is divided into predetermined small areas, for example, a total of 15 areas A1 to G2 as shown in FIG. Each area is assigned a human body detection counter (not shown) that increments the count by 1 for each human presence detection. Such a human body detection counter is provided in the control device.

  The human body detection method will be briefly described. In the thermal image data, when there is a pixel of 30 ° C. to 36 ° C. that can be regarded as the body surface temperature, it is determined that there is a possibility that a human body exposed part such as a face or a limb is captured. However, since the temperature of the pixel that captures the exothermic material other than the human body may coincide with the body surface temperature, it is determined that it is not the human body if the same temperature appears on the same pixel for a certain period of time. And eliminate. Accordingly, it is possible to identify a pixel capturing the human body and detect the human body position.

<Estimation of living area>
Next, inferring the living area. Assume that the layout of the room is as shown in FIG. 7, for example. The room is furnished with furniture, TV, table, etc. As a result of detection by the human body detection / object temperature detection sensor 102, the place where the person is mainly located is near the table of the hatched portion (C2, D1 portion), and the counter value of the human body detection also shows a high value at that location. .

  On the other hand, the place where there is a chest or wall (G1, G2, etc.) does not detect the presence of a person, so the human body detection counter value always maintains a low value. Other places (A2, A3, etc.) can be said to be places where the presence of a person is detected at a certain level, although the counter value for detecting the human body is not as large as the place in the table.

For example, the target area is classified into a living area and a non-living area, which is neither a neutral area, based on the count value of human body detection. As shown in FIG. 8, the distinction method is determined by the magnitude of the count value, and Area (a) and Area (b) (Area (a) ≧ Area (b)) are defined as threshold values.
(1) Area (a) ≦ If the count value of each area, the area is a living area.
(2) If Area (b) ≦ count value of each area <Area (a), the area is a neutral area.
(3) When the count value of each area <Area (b), it is determined as a non-living area.

  When the living area is inferred according to the above definition, the location (C2, D1 portion) where the hatched portion table in FIG. 7 is located is determined to be a living area because the human body detection count exceeds the threshold Area (a). Is done.

  Also, places with chests and walls (G1, G2, etc.) are determined to be non-living areas because the human body detection count is below the threshold Area (b).

  Further, if the human body detection count is greater than or equal to Area (b) and less than Area (a), it is determined as a neutral area (A2, A3, etc.) that is neither.

<Estimation of wall position>
Next, the wall position is inferred from the living area.

  From the above description, the wall is considered to exist in the non-living area. Here, since the wall surrounds the outer periphery of the room, it is considered that the wall exists outside the living area or the neutral area. Therefore, the corresponding living area is determined to be a wall.

  FIG. 9 is an example in which the area corresponding to the wall is specified according to the above inference in the area diagram of FIG. 7, and is an area inferred that the area surrounded by hatching in the figure is a wall.

<Human wall proximity control>
When a person and a wall exist in the same area, the person is surely located closer to the indoor unit than the wall and close to the wall, and during heating, hot air tends to stay near the wall. The room temperature in the vicinity tends to be higher than the room temperature in other parts. During cooling, cold air tends to stay near the wall, and the room temperature in the vicinity of the wall tends to be lower than the room temperature in other parts. Therefore, human wall proximity control is performed.

  Further details will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram in which area sections are assigned to the thermal image of FIG. 6, and the pixels of the area portion inferred as the wall are hatched and shown as a wall area.

  In FIG. 10, when a human body is detected in the pixel portion in the wall area, the human wall proximity control described later is entered.

  In FIG. 10, pixels near the indoor unit adjacent to the wall area are shaded and displayed as an adjacent zone. When a human body is detected in the pixels in the zone, a person described later is displayed. Enter wall proximity control.

  When entering the human wall proximity control in this way, a temperature setting lower than the setting temperature set by the remote controller is set during heating, and a temperature setting higher than the setting temperature set by the remote control is set during cooling. I do.

Hereinafter, the human wall proximity control will be specifically described by taking heating as an example.
A. When a person is in a short-distance area or a medium-distance area (A1 to D2 area) The short-distance area and the medium-distance area are close to the indoor unit, and the area area is small, so the degree of increase in room temperature is high. Therefore, the set temperature set by the remote controller is set to a low level by a first predetermined temperature (for example, 2 ° C.).

B. When a person is in a long-distance area (E1-G2 area) The long-distance area is far from the indoor unit and the area area is large, so the degree of increase in room temperature is lower than the short-distance area or medium-distance area The set temperature set by the remote controller is set to a low level by a second predetermined temperature (for example, 1 ° C.) lower than the first predetermined temperature.

  The air conditioner according to the present invention can prevent erroneous detection by the upper and lower blades of the indoor unit and can quickly perform the air-conditioning operation immediately after the operation instruction of the air conditioner. It is useful as various air conditioners, including air conditioners for general households, because it can quickly respond to changes in the air-conditioned space due to opening / closing of the air conditioner and perform efficient air conditioning.

2 indoor unit main body, 2b upper surface opening, 4 movable front panel, 10 air outlet,
12 upper and lower blades, 14 left and right blades,
101 Suction temperature sensor, human body detection / object temperature detection sensor 102
103 human body detection means, 104 object temperature detection means, 105 living area inference means,
106 wall position reasoning means, 107 vertical wind direction changing means, 108 left and right wind direction changing means,
109 air blowing capacity changing means, 110 compression function power changing means.

Claims (2)

The indoor unit has a blower and a blowout port for blowing the air from the blower into the room, an infrared sensor that detects the human body and the surface temperature of the object, and the user mainly lives from the human body detection result of the infrared sensor. A living area inference means for estimating an area, and an air conditioner comprising a wall position inference means for inferring the position of the wall from the object surface temperature detection result of the infrared sensor and the living area,
During heating, the indoor unit is set by a remote control device that remotely operates the air conditioner when it is determined that the person and the wall are close to each other based on the human body detection result and the wall position inference means. An air conditioner characterized by performing a temperature shift for lowering the temperature by a predetermined temperature and lowering the temperature of the airflow blown from the outlet of the indoor unit. The indoor unit has a blower and a blowout port for blowing the air from the blower into the room, an infrared sensor that detects the human body and the surface temperature of the object, and the user mainly lives from the human body detection result of the infrared sensor. A living area inference means for estimating an area, and an air conditioner comprising a wall position inference means for inferring the position of the wall from the object surface temperature detection result of the infrared sensor and the living area,
During cooling, the indoor unit is set by a remote control device that remotely operates the air conditioner when it is determined that the person and the wall are close to each other based on the human body detection result and the wall position inference means. An air conditioner characterized by performing a temperature shift to raise the temperature by a predetermined temperature and raising the temperature of the airflow blown from the outlet of the indoor unit.