JP2002188844A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner which improves the efficiency of housework and correctly informs the residents of a room of the outdoor environmental information. SOLUTION: An outdoor unit 2 is provided with a pollen sensor 21, ultraviolet ray sensor 22, dust sensor 23, humidity sensor 24 and pressure sensor 25. The outdoor environmental information detected by the pollen sensor 24, ultraviolet ray sensor 22, dust sensor 23, humidity sensor 24 and pressure sensor 25 is transmitted to a receiving part 11 of an indoor unit 1 from a transmitting part 26 of the outdoor unit 2 through communicating wiring 3. Thereafter, the information is transmitted to a remote controller 4 from a transmitting part 13 for the remote controller through a determining part 12. The remote controller 4 displays the outdoor environmental information on a monitor 5 thereof on the basis of the signals from the transmitting part 13.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an air conditioner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an air conditioner has been composed of an indoor unit and an outdoor unit having a temperature sensor. The outdoor temperature detected by the temperature sensor is displayed on a monitor of a remote controller of the indoor unit. There is something that I did.

[0003]

By the way, in the above-mentioned conventional air conditioner, since the outdoor unit is equipped with a temperature sensor, the outdoor temperature can be known. However, so-called environmental information, such as the amount of pollen scatter, etc. , Indoor resident can not grasp. Therefore, when the resident tries to dry the laundry or the futon, he has to go out of the room to check the amount of pollen scattered outdoors. Therefore, there is a problem that a resident who is doing housework must temporarily stop the housework, and cannot perform housework efficiently.

[0004] Further, even if the resident goes out of the house to grasp the amount of pollen scattered outdoors,
There is a problem that only a rough pollen scattering amount is known, and the pollen scattering amount cannot be accurately grasped. Further, even if a resident who does not have hay fever goes outside, it is difficult to tell whether pollen is scattered.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner that can improve the efficiency of housework and accurately notify outdoor occupants of indoor environmental information.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an air conditioner having an indoor unit and an outdoor unit, the air conditioner being mounted on the outdoor unit.
An environment sensor for detecting outdoor environment information, a communication unit for transmitting a signal corresponding to the outdoor environment information to a room, and a notification unit for notifying a resident of the room of the outdoor environment information. Features.

According to the air conditioner of the first aspect of the invention, the outdoor environment information detected by the environment sensor is sent indoors by the communication means, and is notified to the occupants of the room by the notification means. Thus, for example, a resident who is doing housework does not have to open a window or go out of the house to know outdoor environmental information. That is, the resident can know the outdoor environmental information while staying indoors. Therefore, housework does not need to be temporarily interrupted in order to know outdoor environmental information, and housework can be performed efficiently.

In addition, since the outdoor environment information serves as a reference for performing housework, the resident can perform housework more efficiently.

Further, since the outdoor environment information is detected by the environment sensor, the occupant can know the outdoor environment information more accurately than the occupant senses.

[0010] The air conditioner according to the second aspect of the present invention is the first aspect.
In the air conditioner of the present invention, a plurality of the environment sensors are provided, and the environment sensors detect different environment information.

According to the air conditioner of the second aspect of the present invention, the environment sensor detects different outdoor environment information, so that the indoor resident can know a plurality of different environmental information while staying indoors. Can be. Therefore, the resident can perform housework more efficiently.

An air conditioner according to a third aspect of the present invention is the first aspect.
Alternatively, in the air conditioner of the second aspect, the environmental sensor is a pollen sensor.

According to the air conditioner of the third aspect of the present invention, since the environment sensor is a pollen sensor, the resident can know the amount of pollen scattered outdoors while staying indoors.

An air conditioner according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the air conditioner according to the first aspect.
In any one of the air conditioners according to any one of the first to third aspects, the environmental sensor is an ultraviolet sensor.

According to the air conditioner of the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the upper environment sensor is an ultraviolet ray sensor, the resident can know the amount of ultraviolet rays outdoors while staying indoors.

An air conditioner according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the first aspect of the present invention.
In any one of the air conditioners of (1) to (4), the environmental sensor is a dust sensor.

According to the air conditioner of the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the environment sensor is a dust sensor, the resident can know the amount of dust outside, that is, the amount of dust and dust while staying indoors. .

An air conditioner according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the first aspect.
In any one of the air conditioners of any one of Items 1 to 5, the environmental sensor is a humidity sensor.

According to the air conditioner of the sixth aspect of the present invention, since the environment sensor is a humidity sensor, the occupant can know the outdoor humidity while staying indoors.

An air conditioner according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is the air conditioner according to the first aspect.
In any one of the air conditioners of any one of Items 6 to 6, the environment sensor is a barometric pressure sensor.

According to the air conditioner of the present invention, since the environmental sensor is a barometric pressure sensor, the occupant can know the outdoor barometric pressure while staying indoors.

Further, the weather after several hours can be determined by, for example, processing the outdoor air pressure detected by the air pressure sensor and the outdoor humidity detected by the humidity sensor by, for example, weather forecasting means.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an air conditioner of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, this air conditioner includes an indoor unit 1, an outdoor unit 2, and a connection wiring 3 connecting the indoor unit 1 and the outdoor unit 2. Further, the indoor unit 1 receives a signal from the remote controller 4 by a remote control receiver (not shown). The remote controller 4 has a monitor (display device) 5 as notification means for displaying information according to a signal transmitted from the indoor unit 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the outdoor unit 2 includes a pollen sensor 21, an ultraviolet sensor 22, a dust sensor 23, a humidity sensor 24, and a pressure sensor 25 as environment sensors.
And a transmission unit 26 for transmitting signals from these to the room. On the other hand, the indoor unit 1 receives a signal from the transmission unit 26 of the outdoor unit 2 via the communication wiring 3.
1, a determining unit 12 for determining the level of the signal received by the receiving unit 11, and a remote control transmitting unit 13 for transmitting a signal indicating the result of the determination by the determining unit 12 to the remote controller 4. Here, the transmitting unit 26, the receiving unit 11, and the communication wiring 3 constitute a communication unit. Although not shown, the determination unit 12 has a memory in which a weather forecast program as weather forecast means is stored.

A case where the air conditioner having the above configuration is used to notify the indoor resident of the pollen scattering amount as outdoor environment information will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 3, the processing is started,
The pollen scattering amount is measured by the pollen sensor 21 and the signal corresponding to the pollen scattering amount is sent to the transmitting unit 26 (S301).

Next, information is transmitted from the transmission unit 26 of the outdoor unit 2 to the indoor side. Specifically, the transmission unit 26 of the outdoor unit 2 transmits a signal corresponding to the amount of pollen scattered outdoors to the reception unit 11 of the indoor unit 1 via the communication wiring 3 (S302).

Next, the determining unit 12 which has received the signal from the receiving unit 11 of the indoor unit 1 determines the level of the signal.
That is, the determination unit 12 determines the level of the amount of pollen scattered outdoors based on the signal from the reception unit 11. Then, the result of the level determination is sent to the remote control transmitter 13 (S303).

Finally, the monitor 5 of the remote controller 4
The information on the amount of pollen scattered outdoors is displayed, and the process ends.
Specifically, a signal indicating the result of the level determination of the pollen scattering amount is transmitted from the remote control transmission unit 13 to the remote controller 4, and information corresponding to the outdoor pollen scattering level determination is displayed on the monitor 5 of the remote controller 4. Is displayed, and the process ends (S304).

FIG. 4A is a display image diagram of the monitor 5 for displaying the pollen scattering amount outdoors. FIG.
By being displayed on the monitor as shown in (a), the resident who is indoors can look at the monitor 5 of the remote controller 4 to open the window or go out of the way to know the amount of pollen scattered outdoors. You may. That is, the resident can know the amount of pollen scattered outdoors while staying indoors. Therefore, the resident does not need to temporarily stop housework in order to know the amount of pollen scattering outside, and can perform housework efficiently.

Also, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), the amount of pollen scattered outdoors can be used for drying clothes, drying futons, and performing window opening ventilation. And the window opening ventilation can be performed more efficiently.

The amount of pollen scattered outdoors is measured by the pollen sensor 21.
Since it is detected by, rather than judge by the resident's sense,
Residents can accurately know the amount of pollen scattered outdoors.

Even if the dust sensor 23 is used in place of the pollen sensor 21, the resident can efficiently perform laundry drying, futon drying, and window opening ventilation. In this case, the dust sensor 23 detects the amount of dust as outdoor environment information.

Next, a case where the amount of ultraviolet rays as outdoor environment information is notified to indoor occupants using the air conditioner having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 5, the processing is started,
The ultraviolet ray amount of the outdoor is measured by the ultraviolet ray sensor 22 and a signal corresponding to the outdoor ultraviolet ray is sent to the transmitting unit 26 (S
501).

Next, information is transmitted from the transmission unit 26 of the outdoor unit 2 to the indoor side. Specifically, the transmission unit 26 of the outdoor unit 2 transmits a signal corresponding to the amount of outdoor ultraviolet rays to the reception unit 11 of the indoor unit 1 via the communication wiring 3 (S502).

Next, the determining unit 12 which has received the signal from the receiving unit 11 of the indoor unit 1 determines the level of the signal.
That is, the determination unit 12 determines the level of the amount of ultraviolet light outdoors based on the signal from the reception unit 11. Then, the result of the level determination is sent to the remote control transmitter 13 (S503).

Finally, on the monitor 5 of the remote controller 4,
The information on the amount of ultraviolet rays outdoors is displayed, and the process ends. Specifically, a signal indicating the result of the level determination of the ultraviolet ray amount is transmitted from the remote control transmitting unit 13 to the remote controller 4, and information corresponding to the outdoor ultraviolet ray level determination is displayed on the monitor 5 of the remote controller 4. Then, the process ends (S504).

FIG. 6A shows a display image diagram of the monitor 5 for displaying the amount of ultraviolet rays outdoors. FIG. 6 (a)
When the resident in the room looks at the monitor 5 of the remote controller 4, it is not necessary to open the window or go out of the way to know the amount of ultraviolet rays outdoors, as shown in FIG. That is, the resident can know the amount of ultraviolet rays outdoors while staying indoors. Therefore, the resident can perform housework efficiently without having to temporarily stop housework in order to know the amount of ultraviolet rays outdoors.

As shown in FIG. 6 (b), if the amount of ultraviolet light outdoors is large, the resident applies sunscreen,
Go out with a parasol. Thus, the display on the monitor 5 of the remote controller 4 can be used as a reference material for measures against ultraviolet rays.

Further, since the amount of ultraviolet rays outdoors is detected by the ultraviolet pollen sensor 21, the resident can know the amount of pollen scattered outdoors more accurately than the resident can determine.

Next, a case where the weather as outdoor environment information is notified to indoor occupants using the air conditioner having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 7, the processing is started.
The atmospheric pressure sensor 25 measures the outdoor pressure, and the humidity sensor 24 measures the outdoor humidity. And
A signal corresponding to the atmospheric pressure and the humidity is sent to the transmitting unit 26 (S701).

Next, information is transmitted from the transmitter 26 of the outdoor unit 2 to the indoor side. Specifically, the transmission unit 26 of the outdoor unit 2 transmits a signal corresponding to each of the outdoor atmospheric pressure and humidity to the reception unit 11 of the indoor unit 1 via the communication wiring 3 (S70).
2).

Next, the judging section 12 which has received the signal from the receiving section 11 of the indoor unit 1 judges a change in weather. That is, the determination unit 12 determines a change in weather by processing outdoor pressure data and outdoor humidity data with a weather forecast program. Then, the result of the determination is sent to the remote control transmitter 13 (S703).

Finally, the monitor 5 of the remote controller 4
The information of the weather forecast is displayed, and the process ends. More specifically, a signal indicating the result of determining a change in weather is transmitted from the remote control transmitter 13 to the remote controller 4, whereby information corresponding to the weather forecast is displayed on the monitor 5 of the remote controller 4, and processing is performed. The process ends (S704).

FIG. 8 (a) shows a display image diagram of the monitor 5 for displaying the weather forecast. Since the monitor is displayed as shown in FIG. 8 (a), the resident in the room looks at the monitor 5 of the remote controller 4 and opens the window or goes out of the way to avoid looking at the sky. Also,
You can know the weather several hours later while you are indoors. Therefore, the resident does not need to interrupt housework to know the weather several hours later, and can perform housework efficiently.

As shown in FIG. 8B, if the weather is going down, the resident goes out with an umbrella. As described above, the display on the monitor 5 of the remote controller 4 serves as a reference for things to be carried when going out.

Since the weather change is determined by the weather forecast program on the basis of the humidity and pressure detected by the humidity sensor 24 and the pressure sensor 25, the resident is more likely to make a judgment than the resident's feeling. We can know weather change exactly.

In the above embodiment, the pollen sensor 21, the ultraviolet sensor 22, the dust sensor 23, the humidity sensor 24, and the atmospheric pressure sensor 25 are used as environment sensors. 23, the humidity sensor 24 and the atmospheric pressure sensor 25 are not limited. Other environmental sensors include, for example, a rain sensor and a gas sensor. When this rain sensor is used, the resident can know whether or not it is raining while indoors. On the other hand, when the gas sensor is used, the resident can know the amount of NOx outdoors while indoors.

Although the outdoor environment information is displayed on the monitor 5 of the remote controller 4, for example, an indoor unit may be provided with a display unit to display the outdoor environment information on the display unit.

Although the outdoor environment information is displayed on the monitor 5 of the remote controller 4 to notify the indoor resident, the outdoor environment information may be notified to the indoor resident by voice. In this case, the sound for notifying the outdoor environment information may be output from the indoor unit 1 or may be output from the remote controller 4.

Further, the communication between the receiving unit 11 of the indoor unit 1 and the transmitting unit 26 of the outdoor unit 2 is performed using the communication wiring 3, that is, the communication is performed by wire, but is performed by wireless. Is also good.

The weather forecast of the destination may be displayed on the monitor 5 of the remote controller 4 via the Internet by connecting the indoor unit 1 to an Internet line.

[0056]

As is clear from the above, according to the air conditioner of the first aspect of the present invention, the outdoor environment information detected by the environment sensor is notified to the indoor occupants by the notification means. The user can know the outdoor environment information while staying indoors, and can perform housework efficiently.

Further, since the outdoor environment information serves as a reference for performing housework, the resident can perform housework more efficiently.

According to the air conditioner of the second aspect of the present invention, since the environment sensors detect different outdoor environment information, the indoor resident can know a plurality of different environmental information while staying indoors. Yes, residents can do housework more efficiently.

In the air conditioner according to the third aspect of the present invention, since the environment sensor is a pollen sensor, the resident can know the amount of pollen scattered outdoors while staying indoors.

In the air conditioner according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the upper environment sensor is an ultraviolet sensor, the resident can know the amount of ultraviolet light outdoors while staying indoors.

[0061] In the air conditioner according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the environmental sensor is a dust sensor, the resident can know the amount of dust outside, that is, the amount of dust and dust while staying indoors.

In the air conditioner according to the invention of claim 6, since the environmental sensor is a humidity sensor, the resident can know the outdoor humidity while staying indoors.

In the air conditioner according to the present invention, since the environment sensor is a barometric pressure sensor, the occupant can know the barometric pressure outdoors while staying indoors.

Further, by processing the outdoor atmospheric pressure detected by the atmospheric pressure sensor and the outdoor humidity detected by the humidity sensor by, for example, weather forecast means, it is possible to determine the weather several hours later.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the air conditioner.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating notification of the amount of pollen scattered outdoors by the air conditioner.

FIG. 4 (a) is a display image diagram of the amount of pollen scattered outdoors, and FIG. 4 (b) is an image diagram of an example of use of the air conditioner.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a notification of an outdoor ultraviolet ray amount by the air conditioner.

FIG. 6A is a display image diagram of the amount of ultraviolet rays outdoors, and FIG. 6B is an image diagram of an example of use of the air conditioner.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining notification of a weather forecast by the air conditioner.

FIG. 8A is a display image diagram of a weather forecast, and FIG. 8B is an image diagram of an example of use of the air conditioner.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 indoor unit 2 outdoor unit 3 connection wiring 5 monitor 11 reception unit 26 transmission unit

Claims (7)

[Claims] An air conditioner having an indoor unit (1) and an outdoor unit (2), wherein an environmental sensor (21, 22, 23, 23) mounted on the outdoor unit (2) and detecting outdoor environment information. 24, 25), communication means (3, 11, 26) for transmitting a signal corresponding to the outdoor environment information to the room, and notification means (5) for notifying the indoor resident of the outdoor environment information. An air conditioner comprising: 2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the environment sensors (21, 22, 23, 24, 25) are provided, and the environment sensors (21, 22, 23, 24, 25) are provided.
An air conditioner characterized by detecting different environmental information. 3. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the environment sensor is a pollen sensor. 4. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the environment sensor is an ultraviolet sensor. Air conditioner. 5. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the environment sensor is a dust sensor. Air conditioner. 6. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the environment sensor is a humidity sensor. Air conditioner. 7. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the environment sensor (21, 22, 23, 24, 25) is a pressure sensor (25). Air conditioner.