JP2004189178A - Air conditioner with ion generator for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner with an ion generator for a vehicle, which blows out ions corresponding to the number of sundry germs inside a cabin. <P>SOLUTION: The ion generator 10 is arranged on an air duct 12 introducing conditioned air from an air-conditioning unit 100 to a side vent blowout port 11b. The ion generator 10 generates plus ions and minus ions in a clean mode and generates minus ions in a refresh mode. During operation of the ion generator 10 in the refresh mode, when coughs of an occupant are detected predetermined times n or more by a microphone 33 and a voice recognition circuit 32, the occupant is judged to have a cold and the ion generator 10 is operated in the clean mode for a predetermined time Δt. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicle air conditioner with an ion generator that blows air containing ions into a vehicle cabin.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an ion generator having both a relaxation effect, a disinfecting effect, and a deodorizing effect (for example, see Patent Document 1). This ion generator has two operation modes: a refresh mode that generates negative ions when you want to have a relaxation effect, and a clean mode that generates both positive and negative ions at the same time if you want to get rid of bacteria and deodorization. Switch.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2002-216933 A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, when an occupant who catches a cold coughs in the vehicle, the bacteria (virus) of the cold in the vehicle increase. However, since the ion generator described in the above-mentioned publication does not consider the increase of bacteria due to coughing, if this ion generator is applied to an air conditioner for a vehicle, the cabin cannot be used when an occupant catches a cold. Cannot be properly disinfected.
[0005]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a vehicle air conditioner with an ion generator capable of efficiently removing bacteria from a vehicle interior.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
An air conditioner for a vehicle with an ion generator according to the present invention includes an air conditioning unit that generates air conditioning air, a ventilation path that guides the air conditioning air generated by the air conditioning unit into a vehicle interior, and sterilization ions for obtaining at least a sterilization effect. An ion generating device that generates a cough in the ventilation path, a cough detecting unit that detects an occupant's cough, and a determining unit that determines whether or not to generate sterilization ions according to the number of coughs detected by the cough detecting unit. And ion control means for controlling the ion generator so as to generate sterilization ions when the determination means determines that generation of sterilization ions is necessary.
[0007]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, it is determined whether or not the generation of disinfecting ions is necessary according to the detected number of coughs of the occupant, and if it is determined that the disinfecting ions are required, disinfecting ions are generated in the vehicle interior. As a result, it is possible to efficiently eliminate bacteria such as colds in the vehicle interior.
[0008]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle air conditioner with an ion generator according to an embodiment of the present invention. At the entrance of the duct 3 of the air conditioning unit 100, a blower fan 4 that rotates by driving a blower motor 5 is provided. When the blower fan 4 rotates, the inside air or the outside air is sucked into the duct 3 and passes through the evaporator 1 to be cooled. The cooling air passes through the heater core 2 depending on the opening of the air mixing door 7 and is heated, or bypasses the heater core 2 as it is. The air that has passed through and bypassed the heater core 2 is mixed in the air mix chamber 8 downstream of the heater core 2 to produce conditioned air at a predetermined temperature. The conditioned air is supplied from a center vent outlet provided at the center of the instrument panel, side vent outlets provided at both left and right ends, a foot outlet provided at a lower portion, and a defrost blower provided near the front window. It is blown out of the vehicle from the exit.
[0009]
An ion generator 10 is provided in the air duct 12 connecting the air mix chamber 8 and the side vent outlet 11b on the driver's seat side. The ion generator 10 is a so-called plasma ion generator that generates ions in the air by electric discharge between the electrodes, and mainly includes a mode for relaxing the occupant (refresh mode) and a mode for mainly disinfecting and deodorizing the passenger compartment. The operation mode can be switched between a clean mode and a deodorant mode. For example, negative ions (relaxation ions) are generated in the refresh mode, and negative ions and positive ions (sterilized ions) are simultaneously generated in the clean mode. Such a configuration is known in the field of household air purifiers, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted. In addition, since the ion has a characteristic that it easily disappears when it collides with a wall surface of a duct or the like, it is preferable that the ion generator 10 be disposed as close as possible to the outlet 11b in order to efficiently discharge the ion into the vehicle interior. The operation of the ion generator 10 is controlled by a signal from the ion control circuit 30 as described later.
[0010]
The driving of the blower motor 5, the inside / outside air switching door 6, the air mix door 7, and the like is controlled by the air conditioning controller 20. For example, when a fan-on signal is input by an occupant operating the air-conditioning panel 21, a control signal is output to the blower motor 5 to drive the blower motor 5, and when a fan-off signal is input, the drive of the blower motor 5 is stopped. Signals from not only the air conditioning panel 21 but also various sensors (vehicle interior temperature sensor, outside air temperature sensor, etc.) for detecting the vehicle state are input to the air conditioning controller 20, and the air conditioning controller 20 controls the blower motor 5 based on these information. , And controls the driving of the inside / outside air switching door 6, the air mixing door 7, and the like.
[0011]
The air-conditioning controller 20, an odor sensor 31 for detecting the odor level in the vehicle compartment, and a voice recognition circuit 32 for recognizing the voice in the vehicle compartment are connected to the ion control circuit 30. The odor sensor 31 is mounted on the driver's seat side instrument panel, for example, facing the interior of the cabin, and reads a change in conductivity due to adsorption of odor substances to detect an odor level. The instrument panel is provided with a microphone 33 for taking in the sound in the vehicle. Based on the sound picked up by the microphone 33, the voice recognition circuit 32 detects whether or not the occupant has cough. The ion control circuit 30 performs the following processing based on these signals, and outputs a control signal to the ion generator 10.
[0012]
FIGS. 2 and 3 are flowcharts illustrating an example of a process performed by the ion control circuit 30. This flowchart is started, for example, by turning on an ignition switch, and is continuously executed at predetermined intervals dt. As shown in FIG. 2, first, in step S1, it is determined whether or not a fan-on signal has been input, that is, whether or not the fan 4 has just started operating. When step S1 is affirmed, the process proceeds to step S2, where the initial clean mode operation time t0 is set to the clean mode operation remaining time t. Here, the operation time t0 is a time required for removing a certain amount of bacteria (for example, N0-N1 in FIG. 4) in the vehicle compartment. In step S3, it is determined whether or not a cough of the occupant has been detected based on a signal from the voice recognition circuit 32.
[0013]
If step S3 is negative, that is, if no occupant cough is detected, the process proceeds to step S4. In step S4, the above-mentioned predetermined interval dt, that is, the time dt required from the previous process to the current process is subtracted from the clean mode operation remaining time t (t-dt), and this is newly added to the clean mode operation remaining time t. Set to. Next, in step S5, it is determined whether or not the remaining operation time t set in step S4 is 0 or less. If step S5 is denied, the process proceeds to step S6, in which a control signal is output to the ion generator 10 to operate the ion generator 10 in the clean mode. If step S5 is affirmed, the process proceeds to step S7, where it is determined from the signal from the odor sensor 31 whether or not the odor level α in the vehicle compartment is equal to or more than a predetermined value α1. Here, the predetermined value α1 is set to a value that an ordinary person feels offensive odor. When step S7 is affirmed, the process proceeds to step S6, and when denied, the process proceeds to step S8. In step S8, a control signal is output to the ion generator 10 to operate the ion generator 10 in the refresh mode. Next, the operation remaining time t is set to 0 in step S9.
[0014]
On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1 that it is not immediately after the input of the fan-on signal, the process proceeds to step S18. In step S18, it is determined whether or not a fan-off signal has been input. If the result is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S19. If the result is negative, the process proceeds to step S3. In step S19, a control signal is output to the ion generator 10, and the operation of the ion generator 10 is stopped.
[0015]
When step S3 is affirmative, that is, when the cough of the occupant is detected, the process proceeds to step S10 in FIG. In step S10, it is determined whether or not the cough timer is operating. If the result is negative, the process proceeds to step S11. If the result is affirmative, the process skips step S11 and proceeds to step S12. In step S11, the operation of the cough timer is started, and in step S12, it is determined whether the cough timer has counted a predetermined time (for example, one minute). If step S12 is denied, the process proceeds to step S13 to update the number of coughs by adding 1, and then proceeds to step S4. When step S12 is affirmative, that is, when it is determined that the cough timer has counted one minute or more, the process proceeds to step S14.
[0016]
In step S14, it is determined whether the number of coughs detected per minute is equal to or greater than a predetermined number n. Here, n is a reference value for identifying whether or not the occupant has a cold. When the number of coughs is n or more, it is determined that the occupant has a cold. When step S14 is affirmed, the process proceeds to step S16, and when denied, the process proceeds to step S15. In step S15, the cough timer is reset, and the process proceeds to step S4 in FIG. In step S16, a value obtained by adding a predetermined time Δt to the remaining operation time t is newly set as the remaining operation time t. Next, in step S17, the cough timer is reset, and the process proceeds to step S4 in FIG.
[0017]
Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described more specifically.
When the ignition switch is turned on and a fan-on signal is input (time ta in FIG. 4), inside air or outside air is sucked into the air conditioning unit 100, and the ion generator 10 starts operating in the clean mode (step S6). . As a result, disinfecting ions are generated in the air duct 12 and are blown into the vehicle interior together with the air-conditioned air. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4, the number of germs in the vehicle interior gradually decreases from the value N0 before riding.
[0018]
At this time, if no cough is detected or the number of coughs detected per minute is less than n, it is determined that the occupant is not a cold, and the remaining operation time t is not extended. When a predetermined time t0 has elapsed from the start of the operation of the fan 4 in this state, the remaining operation time t becomes 0, and the number of germs in the vehicle interior decreases to the target value N1 as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 3 (time tb). Thereby, the operation mode of the ion generator 10 is switched from the clean mode to the refresh mode (step S8). As a result, relaxation ions are blown out into the vehicle interior, and the occupant can be relaxed. If the odor level α exceeds the predetermined value α1 while the ion generator 10 is operating in the refresh mode, the ion generator 10 is switched to the clean mode (step S7 → step S6). As a result, sterilization ions are blown into the vehicle interior, and the vehicle interior can be deodorized.
[0019]
On the other hand, if the number of coughs detected per minute becomes n or more (time tc) while the ion generator 10 is operating in the clean mode (time tc), the occupant is determined to have a cold, and the predetermined time Δt is added to the remaining operation time t. It is added (step S16). As a result, the clean mode operation time is extended by the predetermined time Δt, and as shown by the solid line in FIG. 3, the number of bacteria in the vehicle interior that has increased due to coughing can be reduced to the target value N1 (time td).
[0020]
When the number of coughs detected per minute is n or more (time te) while the ion generator 10 is operating in the refresh mode, the occupant is determined to have a cold, and the predetermined time Δt is set as the remaining operation time t. It is set (step S16). As a result, the ion generator 10 is switched from the refresh mode to the clean mode, and the number of cold bacteria in the vehicle can be reduced. When the predetermined time Δt has elapsed (time tf), the ion generator 10 is switched from the clean mode to the refresh mode. During the clean mode operation, if n or more coughs are detected, a predetermined time Δt is added to the clean remaining time t at that time (step S16). Therefore, even if the predetermined time Δt has elapsed, the mode is not switched to the refresh mode, and the clean mode operation is continued until the detection of cough is stopped (for example, time tg).
[0021]
According to the embodiment described above, the following operation and effect can be obtained.
(1) When a cough is detected a predetermined number n or more per minute while the ion generator 10 is operating in the clean mode, the operation time of the ion generator 10 is extended by a predetermined time Δt from the remaining operation time t. did. Thereby, the bacteria of the cold generated during the clean mode operation can be efficiently eliminated, and the passenger can be protected from the virus of the cold.
(2) When cough is detected a predetermined number of times n or more per minute while the ion generator 10 is operating in the refresh mode, the ion generator 10 is operated in the clean mode for a predetermined time Δt. Thereby, even during the refresh mode operation, the bacteria of the cold can be efficiently eliminated.
(3) When the number of coughs is equal to or more than a predetermined number n per minute, it is determined that the occupant has a cold, and sterilization ions are generated. Therefore, it is possible to distinguish between a simple cough and a cold cough. There is no waste. In addition, it is possible to eliminate the germs of the cold generated in the vehicle without detecting the germ state in the vehicle with a sensor or the like, and the configuration is easy.
(4) When the fan-on signal is input, the operation of the ion generator 10 is started in the clean mode, so that the number of germs in the vehicle can be reduced immediately after the occupant gets on the vehicle.
(5) The operation mode is changed from the clean mode to the refresh mode when a predetermined time t0 elapses from the start of the operation of the ion generator 10; in other words, relaxation ions are generated when the generation of sterilization ions is not required. As a result, a relaxation effect can be exerted on the occupant while the interior of the vehicle is sterilized.
(6) Since the ion generator 10 is operated and stopped with the operation and stop of the blower fan 4, the ion generator 10 can be operated efficiently.
[0022]
It should be noted that the extension time or generation time of the eradication ions when n or more coughs are detected in one minute may be changed according to the number of coughs, instead of the constant value Δt. In this case, the longer the number of coughs, the longer the time Δt may be. In the above embodiment, the ion generator 10 having the clean mode and the refresh mode is used. However, the refresh mode may not be provided if at least the clean mode is provided. At the start of the operation of the fan 4, the ion generator 10 is operated for a certain time t0. However, the number of bacteria in the vehicle compartment is detected by a sensor or the like, and when the detected value is equal to or more than a predetermined value (for example, N0), the ion generation is performed. The device 10 may be operated for a predetermined time t0. In this case as well, when the cough is detected, the clean mode operation remaining time t may be extended as described above. Further, the ion generator 10 may be operated by a manual operation. The predetermined number n, which is a threshold for determining whether or not the generation of sterilization ions is necessary, may be manually changed. In this case, when a person who has a large number of coughs is occupant, n may be set to be large.
[0023]
In the above description, the ion generator 10 is provided in the ventilation duct 12, but the ion generator 10 may be provided in another ventilation path. Although the cough of the occupant is detected by the microphone 33 and the voice recognition circuit 32, the cough detecting means may be configured by another configuration. The necessity of generation of disinfecting ions is determined based on whether or not a predetermined number n or more of coughs are detected within a fixed time (1 minute). May be determined. If it is determined that generation of disinfecting ions is necessary by detection of cough, the disinfecting ions need not be separated by time if the disinfecting ions are generated. May control the ion generator 10 in any manner. That is, as long as the features and functions of the present invention can be realized, the present invention is not limited to the vehicle air conditioner with the ion generator of the embodiment.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle air conditioner with an ion generator according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart (part 1) illustrating an example of processing related to operation control of the ion generator of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart (part 2) illustrating an example of processing related to operation control of the ion generator of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of operating characteristics of the vehicle air conditioner with the ion generator according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
Reference Signs List 4 blower fan 10 ion generator 11b side vent outlet 12 wind guide duct 20 air conditioning unit 30 ion control circuit 32 voice recognition circuit 33 microphone 100 air conditioning unit

Claims (5)

An air conditioning unit for generating air conditioning air;
A ventilation path for guiding the conditioned air generated by the air conditioning unit into the vehicle interior;
An ion generator for generating at least sterilization ions in the ventilation path to obtain a sterilization effect,
Cough detection means for detecting a cough of the occupant;
Determining means for determining whether or not generation of the disinfecting ions is necessary according to the number of coughs detected by the cough detecting means;
A vehicle equipped with an ion generator, comprising: an ion controller that controls the ion generator so as to generate the sterilizing ion when the determining unit determines that generation of the sterilizing ion is necessary. Air conditioner. The vehicle air conditioner with the ion generator according to claim 1,
The air conditioner for a vehicle with an ion generator, wherein the determining means determines that generation of the disinfecting ions is necessary when the number of coughs detected within a predetermined time by the cough detecting means exceeds a predetermined number. The vehicle air conditioner with an ion generator according to claim 1 or 2,
The ion control means, when it is determined by the determination means that the generation of the disinfecting ions is necessary, controls the ion generating device to generate the disinfecting ions for at least a predetermined time from the determination. A vehicle air conditioner with an ion generator. The vehicle air conditioner with the ion generator according to claim 3,
The ion control means controls the ion generator so as to generate the disinfecting ions for a predetermined initial time at the start of operation of the air conditioning unit, and the disinfection by the determination means before the initial time elapses. If it is determined that the generation of ions is necessary, the air conditioner with the ion generator is controlled so that the generation time of the sterilization ions is extended by the predetermined time. The vehicle air conditioner with the ion generator according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The ion generator can separately generate sterilization ions and relaxation ions for obtaining a relaxation effect, and the ion control unit determines that generation of the sterilization ions is unnecessary by the determination unit. And controlling the ion generator so as to generate the relaxation ions.

Images