JP2000234783A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it easier to demonstrate to customers an air conditioner in which operation is controlled by using a human-body sensing sensor when the air conditioner is exhibited at a storefront or the like. SOLUTION: The air conditioner is provided with a human-body sensing sensor 31 for sensing a human body motion and a controller 43 for controlling an operation according to an output of the human-body sensing sensor 31, wherein the controller 43 judges absence having a specified delay time according to the output of the human-body sensing sensor 31, representing presence/absence in a room on an indicator, being provided with an operation changing-over switch 48 for changing over to an exhibition mode, releasing the delay time at a time of changing-over to the exhibition mode.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner whose operation is controlled using a human sensor for detecting human body movement.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an air conditioner of this type, an infrared sensor (hereinafter, referred to as a human sensor) for detecting a human body movement is attached to a main body as shown in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-38271. There has been developed a configuration in which driving / stopping can be controlled by detecting the movement of a human hand or the like by the motion sensor.

[0003] The use of such a human sensor makes it possible to automatically control the operation mode of the air conditioner according to the presence or absence of a person in the room or the position of the person.
A more comfortable and efficient air conditioning operation for the user can be realized.

[0004]

When such an air conditioner is to be displayed at a store, the switching of the operation state based on the determination of presence or absence of a room by a human sensor is performed by turning on / off a lamp. And so on.

[0005] However, in order to prevent erroneous determination of absence in a situation where a person does not move very much, the absence determination is usually performed with an appropriate delay time. Therefore, in the case where the presence / absence is displayed at the store by a lamp, it takes time until the presence / absence is detected, and it is rather difficult to appeal the sensitivity of the human sensor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional technical problem. When an air conditioner whose operation is controlled using a human sensor is displayed at a store or the like,
The purpose is to make it easy to appeal to customers.

[0007]

An air conditioner according to the present invention comprises:
A human sensor for detecting human body motion, and a control device for controlling driving based on the output of the human sensor, wherein the control device has a predetermined delay time based on the output of the human sensor. To determine the absence and use the display
In addition to displaying the absence, a display mode is provided. In this display mode, the delay time is canceled.

According to the present invention, in an air conditioner including a human sensor for detecting a human body motion and a control device for controlling driving based on the output of the human sensor, the control device comprises a human sensor. Based on the output, the presence / absence is determined with a predetermined delay time, the presence / absence is displayed on the display, and a display mode is provided. In this display mode, the delay time is released. Therefore, in the display mode, the control device immediately detects the presence / absence of the room based on the output of the motion sensor.
The absence is determined and displayed on the display.

[0009] Thus, when the air conditioner is sold at a store or the like, by setting the display mode, it becomes easy to appeal to the customer the operating status, the sensitivity of the human sensor, and the like. The effect can be remarkably improved.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an air conditioner A to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a front view of the user-side unit A of FIG. In each of the drawings, reference numeral 20 denotes a main body frame which constitutes a main body of a use-side unit A attached to an upper part of a wall surface in a room. The main body frame 20 includes a blower 13, a use-side heat exchanger 8, a drain pan 15, and a vertical flap. 17 and the horizontal flap 18 are accommodated.

A cabinet 21 is mounted on the front side of the body frame 20, and a panel 23 is mounted on the front surface of the cabinet 21. Book cabinet 2
A suction port 24 is formed on the upper surface of 1, a suction port 22 is also formed on a front panel 23, and a blowout port 25 is formed on a lower oblique front side of the cabinet 21. This outlet 2
5 is connected to the air outlet passage 26 inside the main body frame 20,
The outlet passage 26 is used to supply air from the blower 13 to the outlet 2.
Guide to 5.

Further, a position which is a corner formed by the front surface and the lower surface of the use side unit A, that is, the air outlet 25 and the panel 23
A storage section 26 is formed at the center of the cabinet 21 in the width direction.
The display unit 27 is mounted in the inside 6 by engagement.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the display unit 27 has a horizontally long case 28, a sensor board 29 provided in the case 28, and a human body mounted on a central portion of the sensor board 29. A sensor 31, a total of four indicators 32 to 35 composed of LEDs mounted on left and right sensor boards 29, and an illuminance (light and dark) at a predetermined angle in front mounted on a left end of the sensor board 29 facing the sensor board 29. ), A receiver 37 attached to the right end as viewed from the front, and a cover 38 covering the front surface of the case 28.

The human sensor 31 detects the presence or absence of a room by a human body movement such as human movement or hand movement. It comprises a pyroelectric element (infrared or thermal sensor) 42 as a sensor disposed at the inner rear part. The storage section 26 is opened obliquely downward, and the display unit 27 is also inserted and engaged obliquely from the lower front. As a result, the Fresnel lens F of the human sensor 31 is arranged obliquely downward and forward with respect to the vertical direction of the use side unit A.

With this configuration, the center axis L1 of the Fresnel lens F is also directed downward from the horizontal (indicated by L2 in FIG. 7), and the detection range (P1 + P
The upper limit of 2) (shown by L3 in FIGS. 8 and 10) is lower than the horizontal L2. Then, the lower limit of the detection range (FIG. 8, FIG. 10)
L4) is substantially vertical.

As a result, the detection range of the human sensor 31 covers substantially the entire area of the room in the horizontal direction as shown by the broken line in FIG. 11, and the detection range of the use side unit A in the vertical direction as shown by the broken line in FIG. The area lower than the height of the use side unit A from immediately below is covered. Therefore, it is possible to sufficiently cover substantially the entire area below the human sensor 31 in which a person is present, and it is possible to perform operation control based on efficient human body motion detection (detection of presence and absence of a room). Become.

The tip of the Fresnel lens F is flush with the outer surface of the cabinet 21 as shown in FIG. Therefore, since the Fresnel lens F does not protrude from the cabinet 21, breakage of the Fresnel lens F hardly occurs.

Further, the displays 32 to 35 and the human sensor 3
1. Since the optical sensor 36 and the like are integrally arranged on the sensor substrate 29, the cost can be reduced by reducing the number of substrates, and the motion sensors 31 and the light When displaying the control by the sensor 29 as will be described later, the indicators 32 to 35 are present near the Fresnel lens F, so that the user can easily understand the operation status.

Furthermore, the optical sensor 36 and the human sensor 31
Are arranged integrally on the sensor substrate 29, so that the light sensor
6 can be realized, and the comfort can be further improved.

Next, FIG. 3 shows a refrigerant circuit of the air conditioner AC. The air conditioner AC according to the embodiment includes the wall-mounted use side unit A installed indoors and the heat source side unit B installed outdoors, and both are connected by a refrigerant pipe 1.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 2 denotes a so-called inverter compressor (variable capacity type compressor, hereinafter referred to as a compressor) whose frequency is controlled by an inverter. As means for varying the capacity of the compressor, there are other methods such as voltage control when a DC motor is used or discharge amount control when a capacity variable valve is used. 3 is a four-way switching valve for switching the flow of the refrigerant during the cooling / heating operation, 4 is a heat source side heat exchanger (outdoor heat exchanger), 5 is a capillary tube, 7 is an electromagnetic switching valve as an expansion valve, 8 is The use side heat exchanger (indoor heat exchanger), 9 is an electromagnetic on-off valve as an expansion valve, 10 is an accumulator, and 11 is a check valve.

The refrigerant discharged from the compressor 2 is subjected to a cooling operation (indicated by a solid-line arrow) and a heating operation (indicated by an alternate long and short dash line) in accordance with the switching position of the four-way switching valve 3 and the opening and closing of the solenoid valves 7 and 9. ), Dry operation (indicated by dashed arrows)
The flow direction is determined according to the three modes.

That is, during the cooling operation, as indicated by the solid arrows in FIG. 3, the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant discharged from the compressor 2 is supplied to the four-way switching valve 3, the heat source side heat exchanger 4, the check valve 11,
The electromagnetic on-off valve 7, the pipe 8A inside the use side heat exchanger 8, the electromagnetic on-off valve 9, the pipe 8B outside the use side heat exchanger 8, the four-way switching valve 3, and the accumulator 10 circulate in this order, and the heat on the heat source side The exchanger 4 functions as a condenser, the electromagnetic on-off valve 7 functions as a pressure reducing device, and the use side heat exchanger 8 functions as an evaporator. At this time, the solenoid on-off valve 9 is open (fully open).

Next, during the heating operation, the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant discharged from the compressor 2 is supplied to the four-way switching valve 3 and the outside of the use-side heat exchanger 8 as indicated by a dashed line arrow in FIG. The pipe 8B, the electromagnetic on / off valve 9, the pipe 8A inside the use side heat exchanger 8, the electromagnetic on / off valve 7, the capillary tube 5, the heat source side heat exchanger 4, the four-way switching valve 3, and the accumulator 10 are circulated in this order and used. The side heat exchanger 8 functions as a condenser, and the heat source side heat exchanger 4 functions as an evaporator. At this time, the solenoid valves 7 and 9 are open.

Next, during the dry operation, the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant discharged from the compressor 2 is supplied to the four-way switching valve 3, the heat source side heat exchanger 4, and the check valve, as indicated by broken arrows in FIG. 1
1. Electromagnetic on-off valve 7, piping 8 inside use side heat exchanger 8
A, solenoid on-off valve 9, piping 8 outside use side heat exchanger 8
B, the four-way switching valve 3 and the accumulator 10 are circulated in this order, the heat source side heat exchanger 4 is a condenser, the electromagnetic on-off valve 7 is open (fully open), and the pipe 8A inside the use side heat exchanger 8 is a condenser. The solenoid on-off valve 9 functions as a pressure reducing device, and the pipe 8B outside the use side heat exchanger 8 functions as an evaporator. by this,
In the use-side heat exchanger 8, a dehumidifying effect is achieved by the heating action by the pipe 8A and the cooling action by the pipe 8B.

Next, FIGS. 12 and 13 show an electric circuit of the use side unit A of the air conditioner AC. In each of the figures, reference numeral 43 denotes a controller (control board) as a control device composed of a general-purpose microcomputer. The controller 43 includes a room temperature sensor 44 for detecting an indoor temperature (suction air temperature), A heat exchange temperature sensor 46 for detecting the temperature of the exchanger 8 is connected.

The controller 43 is connected to a vertical / left / right flap motor 47 for driving the horizontal flap 18 and the vertical flap 17 to adjust the wind direction, and a fan motor 13M for driving the blower 13 is connected. Further, the sensor substrate 29 is also connected. Further, the controller 43 has an operation changeover switch (“DE
"MO", "test run", "run", "stop") 48, and automatic switch 49 ("hide-me", "stop") 49 are attached, and each is provided in use side unit A. I have.

The controller 43 is electrically connected from the terminal board 50 to a control board (controller) (not shown) of the heat source side unit B via a cable.

Here, the structure of the sensor substrate 29 is shown in FIG.
Outlined in Section 3. The receiver 37 which receives infrared rays from a remote controller R described later on the sensor board 29,
The indicators 32 to 35, the optical sensor 36, and the pyroelectric element 42 of the human sensor 31 are attached to form a predetermined circuit.

The display 32 has green and red LEs.
D, which functions as a lamp for displaying the cooling operation by emitting green light and the heating operation by emitting red light. The display 33 functions as a lamp for displaying the timer operation. Further, the display 34 is also composed of green and red LEDs, and functions as a normal human lamp with green light emission and as a human standby lamp with red light emission. Further, when both LEDs are turned on, the LED emits amber light, and the lamp becomes a human sleep sound lamp (three-color light emission). Furthermore, the display 35 functions as a lamp for displaying the silent operation.

Next, the structure of the remote controller R will be described with reference to FIGS.
The operation of C will be described. The remote controller R is made of a hard synthetic resin so as to be gripped by a hand, and a liquid crystal display unit 52 as a display unit is provided at an upper front part of the main body 51. Below the liquid crystal display 52, a one-hour timer switch 53 as a main operation switch and temperature setting switches 54 and 56 are juxtaposed.

When the one-hour timer switch 53 is operated, "1H" is displayed on the liquid crystal display 52, and the controller 43 stops the operation of the air conditioner AC one hour after the time. (If operated during stoppage, the operation starts automatically and stops after 1 hour). The set temperature is displayed on the liquid crystal display section 52, and the set temperature is indicated by the temperature setting switches 54 and 56.
Can be set up / down by the operation.

The switches 53, 54, 56
On the upper side, a horizontally long run / stop switch 57 also serving as a main operation switch and an automatic switch 58 are provided. Based on the operation of the start / stop switch 57, the controller 43 starts / stops the air conditioner AC. Incidentally, reference numeral 59 denotes an infrared light emitting portion provided on the upper surface of the main body 51.

The controller 43 receives the infrared signal from the remote controller R by the receiver 37 of the sensor board 29, and sets the data such as the set temperature based on the received signal or the data provided in the use side unit A itself. The operation of the fan motor 13M and the flap motor 47 of the blower 13 is controlled based on the setting data by each switch and the output of each sensor 44, 46, and a control signal is transmitted from the terminal plate 50 to the heat source side unit B for compression. By controlling the machine 2 and the four-way switching valve 3, the room temperature is adjusted to the set temperature.

The liquid crystal display 52 and the switches 53,
54, 56, 57 and 58 are exposed at the front of the main body 51 of the remote controller R, but the front of the main body 51 below them is lowered by one step, and the detailed setting section 61
The detailed setting unit 61 includes a cover 60
It can be opened and closed freely.

The detailed setting unit 61 includes an air conditioner AC
There are provided various switches for setting the operating state of the device in detail. In each figure, reference numeral 62 denotes an operation changeover switch.
The operation changeover switch 62 switches the air conditioner AC between the cooling operation, the heating operation, and the dry operation.
The display of each operation state is performed by the liquid crystal display unit 52.

Reference numeral 63 designates the flap motor 47 as O
When the flap motor 47 is turned on by the wind direction switch 63, the vertical flap 17 and the horizontal flap 18 perform an operation of automatically distributing the discharged air vertically and horizontally. This display is also displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 52.

Reference numeral 64 denotes an air volume switch for setting the speed of the fan motor 13M of the air blower 13. The air volume switch 64 allows the air volume of the air blower 13 to be "automatic".
You can switch between "strong", "medium" and "weak". The amount of air is also displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 52.

Reference numeral 65 denotes a silent switch for instructing a silent operation, and 66 denotes a group of switches for setting a timer reservation operation. Reference numeral 67 denotes a sleep sleep switch. When sleep sleep operation is selected by the sleep sleep switch 67, sleep sleep operation for changing the set temperature by, for example, 1 ° C. higher during the cooling operation and 3 ° C. lower during the heating operation after 1 hour, for example, is executed. Is done. As a result, the driving suitable for going to bed is performed, and the driving noise is suppressed.

Next, referring to FIGS. 16 to 19, a description will be given of the automatic operation based on the motion sensor 31 and the optical sensor 36, which is executed when the automatic switch 58 is operated. It is assumed that the operation changeover switch 48 provided on the use side unit A is in the "operation" position. Further, since the automatic switch 58 is provided in the remote controller R, the usability of the user is extremely good.

The controller 43 has an automatic switch 58
In the case of the automatic driving, the presence or absence of the room is determined based on the detection operation of the human sensor 31 and the optical sensor 36
Is determined based on the detection operation of "Normal", "Stop", "Hikaeme",
Automatically switches to the four driving modes of "sleeping good".

The controller 43 does not execute the determination operation for, for example, one minute after the power is turned on to stabilize the circuit.
Further, in this determination, when the human sensor 31 detects the human body operation from the absence state, the controller 43 immediately determines that the human body is occupied, but the human sensor 31 does not detect the human body operation from the occupied state. In this case, for example, a delay time of 15 minutes is provided.

That is, only when the human sensor 31 does not detect a human body motion for 15 minutes continuously from the occupancy state, the controller 43 determines that no human body is present. This prevents erroneous determination that a person is absent in a situation where a person does not move very much.

The controller 43 also provides a delay time of, for example, two minutes when the light sensor 36 detects that the light state has changed from a bright state to a dark state and from a dark state to a bright state. That is, the controller 43 determines that the image is bright or dark only when the image is continuously bright or dark for two minutes.
This prevents an erroneous determination when the room temporarily becomes bright or dark.

At the start of the automatic operation, the controller 43 first enters the normal mode. In the normal mode, the controller 43 executes the cooling / heating / dry operation set by the operation changeover switch 62 at the set temperature set by the temperature setting switches 54 and 56 as described above. In addition, the display 34 emits green light, and the normal human feeling lamp is turned on. At this time, since the display 34 is provided on the sensor substrate 29 integrally with the motion sensor 31, the operation state is very easy to understand.

In this state, for example, when a person goes out while the room is bright and it is determined that the controller 43 is not present, a mode (stop) as shown by a horizontal arrow in FIG. 16 or a hiding mode (an energy saving mode) ). In this case, whether to enter the stop mode or the hidden mode is set by the automatic switch 49 (two positions of “Hikame” and “Stop”) 49 provided in the use side unit A.

When the stop mode is set, the compressor 2 and the blower 13 are stopped after 3 minutes have elapsed, the display 34 emits red light, and the motion standby lamp is turned on. When the mode is set to the shrink mode, the set temperature becomes, for example, 13 ° C. during the heating operation, and the set temperature becomes, for example, 30 ° C. during the cooling / dry operation, and the energy saving operation is performed. Then, the display 34 emits red light in the same manner.

Here, in the case of an air conditioner whose operation is controlled only by an optical sensor, normal operation is performed if the room is bright even if the user goes out in the daytime. Even if is bright, the compressor 2 and the blower 13 are automatically stopped when the user is absent, or the operation is energy-saving, so that waste of power is prevented.

Further, whether the operation mode in the absence is set to stop the compressor 2 and the blower 13 or to set the operation mode to energy saving operation is determined by an automatic switch 49 provided in the use side unit A. Select the optimal operating state for the user, for example, stop mode when going out for a relatively long period of time, and hibernate mode when going out for a short time to suppress temperature fluctuations. become able to.

On the other hand, in the normal mode, the lighting of the room is turned off at night and the user goes to bed, and if the room becomes dark and the controller 43 determines that the room is dark, the sleep mode is set as shown by the downward arrow in FIG. Transition. In this sleep mode, the same operation as the sleep driving is performed. In addition, the display 34 emits the amber light, and the human sleep sound lamp is turned on.

Here, in the case of an air conditioner whose operation is controlled only by a human sensor, there is a danger that it is determined that the user is absent when the user goes to bed at night and the operation is stopped. In this case, when the user goes to sleep and the room darkens, the sleep operation is automatically performed, so that the optimal and comfortable driving for the user at the time of sleep is automatically continued.

On the other hand, if the interior of the room is darkened from the stop mode, and the controller 43 determines that the room is dark, the stop mode continues as shown by a downward arrow in FIG. Here, if the sleep mode is set simply when it becomes dark, the sleep mode is suddenly executed at night even when the user is absent. However, in the case of the embodiment, such inconvenience does not occur.

When the user returns home from the daytime stop mode, the controller 43 returns to the normal mode as shown by a horizontal arrow in FIG. 17 when the controller 43 determines that the room is present.

Next, if the user turns off the room lighting at night and goes to sleep as described above, the controller 43 determines that the user is absent from the state of the sleep mode as described above.
Then, the sleep mode is continuously executed as shown by the horizontal arrow. Here, if the user simply goes to the absence mode, the operation mode (or energy saving) is stopped because the user hardly moves when going to bed. Does not cause such inconvenience.

When the room becomes bright in the morning from the sleep mode and the controller 43 determines that the room is bright,
The sleep mode is continuously executed as indicated by the upward arrow in FIG. Here, if the mode is set to simply stop (hidden) mode when the user is absent and bright, driving (or energy saving) stops in the morning while the user is sleeping, but in the case of the embodiment, Such inconvenience does not occur.

In the case where the sleep mode has been continued for, for example, 25 hours or more in the automatic driving mode, the controller 43 shifts to the stop mode as shown in FIG. This prevents unnecessary power consumption. Then, the mode that stops when the room is bright and the room is present is released, and the normal mode is set.

Next, in the case where only the indoor unit A is exhibited and operated in a store or the like, the operation changeover switch 48 is switched to the "DEMO" position. In this case, the controller 43 is set to the display mode, the demonstration is performed by operating the blower 13 of the use side unit A and the like, and the automatic operation is selected by the automatic switch 58 of the remote controller R in this state. The delay time (15 minutes) for judging presence / absence of a room based on detection of a human body operation by the sense sensor 31 is released.

That is, in this case, the occupancy is immediately detected when the motion sensor 31 detects a human body motion (absence → occupancy) or no longer detects (occupancy → absence). Alternatively, it is determined that the user is absent, and the light emission color of the display 34 is switched between green (normal mode) and red (stop / reverse mode).

Thus, when the air conditioner AC is exhibited at a store or the like, the display color of the display 34 is immediately switched when explaining the operation status of the human sensor 31 to the customer. And make it easier to appeal.

[0060]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, there is provided an air conditioner including a human sensor for detecting a human body motion, and a control device for controlling operation based on the output of the human sensor. The control device is based on the output of the motion sensor,
The presence / absence is determined with a predetermined delay time, the presence / absence of the room is displayed on the display, and a display mode is provided. In this display mode, the delay time is canceled. In the mode for use, the control device immediately determines the presence / absence of the room based on the output of the human sensor and displays it on the display.

Thus, when the air conditioner is sold at a store or the like, by setting the display mode, the operating condition and the sensitivity of the human sensor can be easily appealed to the customer. The effect can be remarkably improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a use side unit of an air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a use side unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a refrigerant circuit diagram of the air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged front view of a display unit of the use side unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a front view of the display unit of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the display unit of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the use side unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a side view of the user-side unit.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a Fresnel lens of the motion sensor of the use side unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a vertical detection range of a human sensor of the use side unit of FIG. 1;

11 is a diagram showing a detection range in the horizontal direction of the motion sensor of the use side unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is an electric circuit diagram of the use side unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 13 is an electric circuit diagram of the sensor substrate of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a front view of a remote controller of the air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a front view of the air conditioner of the present invention with the cover of the remote controller opened.

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining operation mode switching during the automatic operation of the air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a view for explaining operation mode switching during the automatic operation of the air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating the operation mode switching during the automatic operation of the air conditioner of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating the operation mode switching during the automatic operation of the air conditioner of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 2 Compressor 4 Heat source side heat exchanger 8 User side heat exchanger 13 Blower 21 Cabinet 22, 24 Suction port 23 Panel 25 Blowout port 26 Storage unit 27 Display unit 29 Sensor board 31 Human sensor 32 to 35 Display 36 Optical sensor 42 Pyroelectric element 43 Controller 48 Operation changeover switch 49, 58 Automatic switch A User side unit AC Air conditioner B Heat source side unit F Fresnel lens R Remote controller

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A human body sensor for detecting a human body movement,
In the air conditioner including a control device that controls operation based on the output of the motion sensor, the control device determines absence with a predetermined delay time based on the output of the motion sensor, An air conditioner that displays presence / absence on a display and has a display mode, in which the delay time is canceled in the display mode.