JP2003148784A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce any harsh grating feeling of the noise specific to the model such as a rotational noise generated from an impeller of a fan and intermittent abnormal noise generated when the ventilation resistance is increased. SOLUTION: A sound generating means such as a speaker 15 capable of generating the sound of arbitrary frequency is provided in an indoor unit 1, the frequency range of the noise specific to the model is specified in advance, and the noise of the frequency in the vicinity of the specified frequency range is generated from the speaker 15. The noise is masked thereby to improve the real listening feeling.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner that cools or heats a room, and more particularly to an air conditioner that masks noise generated from the indoor unit to improve a real listening feeling.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an air conditioner that cools or heats a room, the sound of blowing air (the sound of cutting the wind) during operation of the indoor unit is harsh and you can enjoy sound effects that are close to nature in order to remedy the drawbacks. Such an air conditioner is described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-35827.

This air conditioner, as shown in FIG.
A sound effect kit 22 that emits a sound effect on the front of the indoor unit 21.
Is added. The sound effect kit 22 includes a main switch 22a, a select switch 22b, a volume switch 22c, and a speaker 22d on the front surface, and a Nanbu iron wind chime,
It has a built-in IC circuit that produces sound effects such as shellfish wind chimes, insect sounds, and river murmuring that are more natural and intermittent. This allows the main switch 22a to be turned on and the select switch 2 to be turned on in a cool room, for example.
2b to select and, if necessary, volume switch 2
When 2c is adjusted, the sound of a wind chime made by Nanbu Iron Co., Ltd. occasionally flows from the speaker 22d, and it feels even cooler.

[0004]

However, the sound effect close to the natural sound generated by the sound effect kit 22 as described above is a rotating sound of a specific frequency generated from the blower fan or an abnormal sound generated intermittently. It has almost no effect as a sound countermeasure. Therefore, it has been a problem to reduce the harshness caused by such noise.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention as set forth in claim 1 is an air conditioner equipped with an indoor unit for blowing air by an impeller having a plurality of blades. In addition, a sound wave generating means capable of generating a sound wave of an arbitrary frequency is provided, and the frequency range of model-specific noise such as rotating sound generated from the impeller or intermittent abnormal sound generated when ventilation resistance increases is specified in advance. However, in an operating situation where the noise is generated, it is characterized in that it is configured to generate a sound wave of a frequency range near the specified frequency range by the sound wave generating means, in the frequency range near the noise. By masking by adding sound, it is possible to reduce noise and reduce harshness.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the air conditioner according to the first aspect, the frequency range corresponding to the rotational speed of the impeller is specified, which depends on the rotational speed of the impeller. You can effectively mask the rotating sound.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the air conditioner according to the first aspect, the sound wave generating means generates a sound wave corresponding to the duration and cycle of the intermittent abnormal sound. It can effectively mask intermittent abnormal sounds.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the air conditioner according to any one of the first to third aspects, a thin piezoelectric element is used for the diaphragm of the speaker of the sound wave generating means. Therefore, it is possible to avoid an increase in the size of the indoor unit due to the provision of the speaker.

According to a fifth aspect of the invention, in the air conditioner according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the speaker of the sound wave generating means is arranged on the side of the indoor unit. In many cases, the electrical equipment is mounted on the side of the indoor unit. Therefore, by arranging the speaker on the side using the structure, it is possible to easily route the wiring. It may be arranged on the left side, the right side, or both sides depending on the mounting position of the electrical component, but by arranging the speakers on both sides, a higher masking effect can be obtained.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, in the air conditioner according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the speaker of the sound wave generating means is arranged above the blowout portion of the indoor unit. However, in the indoor unit in which the electric component is arranged on the upper part of the blowout portion, by arranging the speaker in the vicinity of the electric component, the wiring can be easily routed. Further, by arranging a plurality of speakers on the balloon, it is possible to obtain a higher masking effect.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an α of the indoor unit of FIG.
-It is an α sectional view.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the indoor unit 1 is provided with a front grill 2 and an outlet 3 on the front surface of the main body, and a dust collecting filter 4 along the front grill 2 is provided inside.
A plurality of heat exchangers 5 and a cross flow fan 6 for blowing, which is an impeller having a plurality of blades, are provided, and an air flow direction changing device 7 is provided in the outlet 3. Then, the rotation of the cross flow fan 6 sucks the air in the living room from the front grill 2, removes dust with the dust collecting filter 4, exchanges heat with the heat exchanger 5, and then blows out from the outlet 3. ing.

As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 8 for controlling the operation of the indoor unit / outdoor unit 1'is mainly composed of a microcomputer, and has an outside air temperature sensor 9, an indoor temperature sensor 10, and a humidity sensor 1.
1, the dew condensation sensor 12 and the like are connected, and the remote controller 1
It is programmed to control the operation of the outdoor unit / indoor unit 1 ', while accepting an operation by 3 or the like and referring to the data from each sensor.

The indoor unit 1 is characterized in that a speaker 15 which is connected to the control unit 8 via an amplifier 14 is provided on the side of the blow-out port 3, and a voice electric signal from the control unit 8 is used as a basis. The point is that it is configured to be able to generate sound waves of any frequency.

As shown in FIG. 4, the speaker 15 is a lightweight frame 16 to which a vibration plate 17 using a piezoelectric element and a damper 18 are attached, and has a thickness of about 2 mm. One of the advantages of such a speaker 15 is that it can be reasonably stored in a narrow space of the indoor unit 1 and is particularly effective when the depth dimension is restricted. It is also possible to use a speaker that requires a closed space on the back surface, such as a speaker.

The reason why the speaker 15 is provided on the side of the outlet 3 is that the electrical components are often mounted on the left side or the right side of the indoor unit 1, and the wiring of the speaker 15 can be easily routed. . In the illustrated example, the indoor unit 1
Since the electrical components are mounted on the right side of the
A speaker 15 is provided on the right side of the.

Noise peculiar to the model generated in the indoor unit 1 will be described. FIG. 5 is a frequency analysis diagram of the rotation sound depending on (the number of blades × rotation number) of the cross flow fan 6. The harshness of the rotating sound at the number of rotations used here is based on the fact that the sound in a narrow frequency range is more prominent than the surroundings (the portion painted in black).

FIG. 6 is a frequency analysis of the intermittent abnormal sound generated when the heat exchanger 5 is loaded with dew condensation (also when dust is accumulated on the dust collecting filter 4) and the ventilation resistance becomes large. It is a figure. This intermittent abnormal sound is based on that the generated sound transits between a low level shown by a broken line and a high level shown by a solid line. The generation cycle is 0.2 seconds, 0.4 seconds, 0.6 seconds, ... As shown in FIG.

Therefore, with respect to the annoying rotating sound of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 8, the frequency range (near 500 Hz) of the blackened portion is specified. Then, a frequency range in the vicinity of the specified frequency range, for example, a frequency range (here, 300 Hz to 2 kHz) including several hundred Hz on both sides of the specified frequency range is selected so as to blur the rotation sound. . Further, for the selected frequency range, the sound intensity in the vicinity of the sound in the specified frequency range (that is, a sound including an equivalent level, a slightly high level, and a slightly low level based on the sound in the specified frequency range). Level), the strength of the sound to be added is selected (hatched portion). Then, the control unit 8 is set to cause the speaker 15 to generate a sound in the selected frequency range and intensity during the operation at the rotation speed. As a result, the sound in the shaded portion is generated at the same time as the unpleasant rotating sound, so that the unpleasant rotating sound is hidden, and the feeling of actual hearing is improved.

For the intermittent abnormal sound of FIG. 6, the frequency range in which the level change is large is specified. Then, in order to blur this intermittent abnormal sound, as shown by the hatched portion in FIG. 9,
The frequency range near the specified frequency range (here, 25
0 Hz to 4 kHz) is selected. Further, the sound intensity in the vicinity of the sound in the specified frequency range (that is, the sound level including the equivalent level, the slightly higher level, and the slightly lower level with reference to the high level described above) is selected (hatched portion). ).
Then, the sound intensity to be added to achieve the selected sound intensity is determined. Then, the controller 8 is selected during the operation in which an intermittent abnormal sound is generated (for example, from the time when the cooling / light wind operation is started or the time when the dew condensation sensor detects dew condensation). Frequency range
The sound of the determined strength is generated with a shorter cycle than the intermittent abnormal sound.
For example, it is set to be generated by the speaker 15 at a cycle of 1/10. As a result, the set sound is generated in small intervals during the intermittent abnormal sound, the intermittent abnormal sound is hidden, and the actual hearing feeling is improved. (Second Embodiment) An air conditioner according to a second embodiment of the present invention is different from the air conditioner according to the first embodiment described above in that a plurality of rotation speeds (hereinafter, low rotation speed, medium rotation speed, high rotation speed) are used. This is a point at which a sound is generated from the speaker 15 in response to an annoying rotation sound generated at the number of rotations).

That is, with respect to the low rotational speed, the frequency range of the annoying rotational sound (black-painted part: near 300 Hz) is specified as shown in FIG. 10, and the frequency range near the specified frequency range (hatched part). ) Sound is added to the control unit 8.

As for the middle rotation speed, the frequency range of the annoying rotation sound (black-painted part: near 500 Hz) is specified as shown in FIG. 11, and the frequency range near the specified frequency range (hatched part). To add the sound of
It is set in the control unit 8.

As for the high rotational speed, the frequency range of the offensive rotational sound (black-painted part: near 800 Hz) is specified as shown in FIG. 12, and the frequency range near the specified frequency range (hatched part). To add the sound of
It is set in the control unit 8.

As a result, the sound in the frequency range of each shaded portion is automatically added during the operation at each rotation speed,
The annoying rotating sound is hidden, and the actual hearing feeling is further improved. (Third Embodiment) An air conditioner according to a third embodiment of the present invention is different from the air conditioner according to the first embodiment described above in that a speaker 15 as described in the first embodiment is used. In response to requests from people, the function of playing announcements of the operating condition of the air conditioner, indoor and outdoor environments, etc. and natural sounds such as sound of waves, sound of rivers, sound of wind, sound of bellworms, etc. are added. It is a point.

That is, the control unit 8 shown in FIG. 3 is programmed so as to take out data from various sensors and data stored in the control unit 8 and convert the data into a sound electrical signal to output to the speaker 15. .

Therefore, in response to an instruction of "environment" notification from the remote controller 13 as shown in FIG. 13, for example, "indoor temperature 29 ° C., outdoor temperature 33
Announcements such as "° C, humidity 55%" are made. In addition, in response to the instruction of the “driving status”, the speaker 15 displays “set temperature 29 ° C., air volume 10 m ³ / min, wind direction downward 5
An announcement such as "0 degree" is made. In addition, in response to the instruction of the “time” notification, the speaker 15 “19:30
A minute-like announcement is made. By these,
The user can easily know the current situation and get a sense of security. In addition, the sound of the wave is made to flow from the speaker 15 in accordance with the instruction of “the sound of the wave”, and an active comfortable sound space is created.

By combining these functions with the timer function provided in the control unit 8, it is possible to play a desired notification or natural sound at a desired time. Therefore, it is possible to make it function as an alarm. (Embodiment 4) The air conditioner according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention differs from the air conditioner according to Embodiment 1 described above in that both sides of the indoor unit 1, here, the right side and the left side of the blowout port 3. That is, the speaker 15 is disposed in the. According to such arrangement of the speaker 15, the sound from the speaker 15 is evenly propagated to the entire living room space, and thus the masking effect is promoted. (Fifth Embodiment) An air conditioner according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention is different from the air conditioner according to the above-described first embodiment in that the air conditioner is located above the air outlet 3 of the indoor unit 1 in the longitudinal direction of the air outlet 3. That is, a plurality of speakers 15 are arranged along the line. Such arrangement of the speaker 15 makes it easy to route the wiring of the speaker 15 in a configuration in which electrical components are arranged above the outlet 3, and the noise generated from the outlet 3 is emitted from the speaker 15 above it. Effectively masking with sound.

In the first embodiment described above, both the rotational speed and the intermittent abnormal sound are masked.
You may comprise so that only either one may be masked. However, as a matter of course, by masking both the rotation speed and the intermittent abnormal sound, and further by combining the configurations described in the other embodiments, it is possible to further improve the real listening feeling.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, the speaker is mounted on the indoor unit to generate the sound wave in the frequency range near the noise peculiar to the model, so that the harshness is reduced and the actual hearing feeling is reduced. Can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an α-α sectional view of the indoor unit of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system of the air conditioner of FIG.

4 is a block diagram of a speaker provided in the indoor unit of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a frequency analysis diagram of rotating sound generated in the indoor unit of FIG.

6 is a frequency analysis diagram of intermittent abnormal sound generated in the indoor unit of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing the generation period and sound intensity of intermittent abnormal sound generated in the indoor unit of FIG.

8 is a frequency analysis diagram when a sound for masking the rotation sound generated in the indoor unit in FIG. 1 is added.

9 is a frequency analysis diagram when a sound masking an intermittent abnormal sound generated in the indoor unit of FIG. 1 is added.

FIG. 10 is a frequency analysis diagram when a sound for masking a rotation sound generated at low rotation is added in the indoor unit of the air-conditioning apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a frequency analysis diagram when a sound for masking a rotation sound generated during middle rotation is added in the indoor unit of the air-conditioning apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a frequency analysis diagram when a sound for masking the rotation sound generated at the time of high rotation is added in the indoor unit of the air-conditioning apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of an indoor unit for an air conditioner according to a third embodiment of the present invention, which is provided with a function of transmitting an announcement of the operating status of the air conditioner in response to a request from a user. Figure

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, in which speakers are arranged on both sides of a blowing portion.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention, in which a speaker is arranged above a blowing portion.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of an indoor unit of a conventional air conditioner, the indoor unit including a kit for producing a sound effect.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Indoor unit 3 outlet 6 cross flow fan 15 speakers 17 diaphragm

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Koji Maekawa             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Junji Okuda             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3L051 BJ10                 3L060 AA05 CC19 DD08 EE01

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An air conditioner including an indoor unit that blows air with an impeller having a plurality of blades, wherein the indoor unit is provided with a sound wave generating unit capable of generating sound waves of an arbitrary frequency. The frequency range of model-specific noise such as intermittent noise that occurs when rotating noise or ventilation resistance increases is specified in advance, and in operating conditions where the noise occurs, the frequency range near the specified frequency range An air conditioner configured to generate the sound wave of (1) by the sound wave generating means. 2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the frequency range is specified according to the rotation speed of the impeller. 3. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the sound wave generating means generates a sound wave corresponding to the duration and cycle of the intermittent abnormal sound. 4. The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a thin piezoelectric element is used for the diaphragm of the speaker of the sound wave generating means. 5. The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the speaker of the sound wave generating means is arranged on a side portion of the indoor unit. 6. The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the speaker of the sound wave generating means is arranged above the blowing unit of the indoor unit.