JP2010078181A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner capable of accurately specifying a place of a living body such as human with a simple constitution, and suppressing energy consumption while providing sufficient heating/cooling effect by surely performing heating/cooling only to the place where the living body stays. <P>SOLUTION: This air conditioner includes a primary-side refrigerant circuit A constituted by successively connecting a compressor 10, a heat source-side heat exchanger 12, a throttle mechanism 13 and an intermediate heat exchanger 14, a secondary-side refrigerant circuit B connected with the intermediate heat exchanger 14, and constituted by successively connecting a floor heating panel 21 and a fluid pump 22 by piping, a human detecting means 26 disposed on the floor heating panel 21 for detecting vital reaction on the floor heating panel 21, and a control means 40 for controlling opening/closing of a solenoid valve 21a in the floor heating panel 21 on the basis of the information from the human detecting means 26, and the control means 40 opens and closes a solenoid valve 21a to control the supply of a heat transfer medium exchanging heat by the intermediate heat exchanger 14, to the floor heating panel 21. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioner including a floor heating panel.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a heat pump type floor air conditioning air conditioner that cools and heats a building floor has been used. For example, as shown in Patent Document 1 below, this heat pump type floor cooling and heating air conditioner distributes incompressible fluid such as water heat-exchanged by a heat pump into a pipe having only one path routed to an indoor panel. The entire surface of the floor cooling / heating panel is cooled or heated to cool or heat the panel.

In addition, in order to perform more precise control of the floor cooling / heating panel, a human body on a plurality of floor cooling / heating panels is detected, and the operation of the floor cooling / heating panel, that is, the flow of fluid is controlled depending on the presence / absence of human bodies on the floor cooling / heating panel. A floor cooling / heating air conditioner provided with means has also been proposed (see Patent Document 2). In this invention, as a method for detecting the presence or absence of a human body, a method such as using an infrared sensor or reflection of radio waves is employed, and cooling or heating is not performed on a floor cooling / heating panel without a person based on the detection result. Such control is performed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-16858 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-318084

  However, in the case of the invention disclosed in Patent Document 2 described above, a detector for detecting the presence or absence of a human body is provided in an indoor unit attached to an indoor wall or the like. Therefore, the correlation between the position of each floor heating / cooling panel and the position of the person detected by the detector must be determined in advance.

  Furthermore, because the control for supplying fluid to the floor cooling / heating panel or stopping the supply is performed on the heat source unit side, piping for supplying fluid to each floor cooling / heating panel is provided in each floor heating panel. Inconveniences such as a complicated configuration arise.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to accurately identify the location of a living body such as a person with a simple configuration, and reliably cool and heat only the location where the living body exists. It is providing the air conditioner which can suppress energy consumption, providing sufficient air-conditioning effect by this.

  A feature according to the embodiment of the present invention is that, in an air conditioner, a compressor, a heat source side heat exchanger, a throttling mechanism, and an intermediate heat exchanger are sequentially connected to a primary side refrigerant circuit and connected to the intermediate heat exchanger. A secondary side refrigerant circuit in which a floor heating panel and a fluid pump are sequentially connected by piping, a human detection means for detecting a biological reaction on the floor heating panel provided in the floor heating panel, and information from the human detection means The control means for controlling the opening and closing of the solenoid valve in the floor heating panel based on the above, and the control means opens and closes the solenoid valve, thereby supplying the heat transfer medium heat exchanged in the intermediate heat exchanger to the floor heating panel. Control.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to accurately specify the location of a living body such as a person with a simple configuration, and to suppress energy consumption while providing a sufficient cooling / heating effect by reliably cooling and heating only a place where the living body exists. A possible air conditioner can be provided.

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

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is an overall view showing an overall circuit configuration of an air conditioner 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The air conditioner 1 includes a heat source side device M and a usage side device N connected to the heat source side device M. In the heat source side device M, a compressor 10 that sucks and compresses a low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant and discharges the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant, a four-way valve 11 having one end connected to the discharge side of the compressor 10, and the four-way A heat source side heat exchanger 12 including a blower 12a is connected to the other end of the valve 11. A throttle mechanism 13 is further connected to the heat source side heat exchanger 12, and the refrigerant passing through the throttle mechanism 13 passes through the intermediate heat exchanger 14 and enters the compressor 10 through the four-way valve 11 again. The compressor 10, the four-way valve 11, the heat source side heat exchanger 12, the throttle mechanism 13, and the intermediate heat exchanger 14 are connected by a pipe 15 to constitute a primary side refrigerant circuit A.

  In addition, in the following embodiment, although it demonstrates with the air conditioner using the floor cooling / heating panel which can cool / heat a floor, the floor heater which performs only floor heating may be used. In that case, the four-way valve 11 connected to the discharge side of the compressor 10 can be omitted.

  The intermediate heat exchanger 14 is connected to a secondary side refrigerant circuit B configured by connecting devices constituting the use side device N. In the secondary refrigerant circuit B, a buffer tank 20 is connected to the discharge side of the intermediate heat exchanger 14, and a plurality of floor cooling / heating panels 21 are connected in parallel to the buffer tank 20. Further, a fluid pump 22 for circulating the heat transfer medium in the secondary refrigerant circuit B is connected between the discharge side of the floor cooling / heating panel 21 and the intermediate heat exchanger 14. These components are connected to each other through a pipe 23. The floor cooling / heating panel 21 includes a solenoid valve 21a that governs whether or not the heat transfer medium from the intermediate heat exchanger 14 can be distributed, and a use-side heat exchanger 21b that performs heat exchange indoors when the heat transfer medium flows. The In FIG. 1, three floor cooling / heating panels 21 in FIG. 1 and 16 floor cooling / heating panels 21 in FIG. 2 are connected in parallel to the secondary refrigerant circuit B, but the number to be connected is arbitrary depending on the situation of use. Can be set.

  For example, a refrigerant such as R410 or CO2 is preferably used as the refrigerant that circulates in the primary refrigerant circuit A, and the heat transfer medium that circulates in the secondary refrigerant circuit B includes, for example, incompressible water such as water. A fluid can be preferably used.

  Moreover, the solenoid valves 21a constituting the plurality of floor cooling / heating panels 21 are each connected to the control means 40, and are opened and closed based on instructions from the control means 40 described later.

  Here, for example, a brief description of a refrigeration cycle for heating will be given. First, as shown by a solid line arrow, in the primary refrigerant circuit A, the gaseous refrigerant is pressurized in the compressor 10. Then, the temperature is increased to a high temperature and a high pressure and supplied to the intermediate heat exchanger 14 via the four-way valve 11. On the other hand, in the secondary side refrigerant circuit B, the heat transfer medium is discharged from the fluid pump 22 and sent into the intermediate heat exchanger 14. In the intermediate heat exchanger 14, heat exchange is performed between the refrigerant and the heat transfer medium. That is, the heat of the refrigerant heats the heat transfer medium sent to the intermediate heat exchanger 14 by the fluid pump 22, and the refrigerant is cooled by the heat transfer medium and changes from gas to liquid. The heated heat transfer medium is supplied to the floor cooling / heating panel 21 via the buffer tank 20. The refrigerant that has been deprived of heat by the intermediate heat exchanger 14 and turned into a liquid is turned into gas again by the throttle mechanism 13 and the heat source side heat exchanger 12, and returns to the compressor 10 through the four-way valve 11. Then repeat the previous cycle.

  FIG. 2 is an overall view showing an external configuration of the air conditioner 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the air conditioner 1 is configured by connecting a plurality of floor heating panels 21. In the air conditioner 1 shown in FIG. 2, a total of 16 floor heating panels 21, 4 in length and 4 in width, are connected.

  A plurality of floor cooling / heating panels 21 are connected in parallel in the secondary refrigerant circuit B, and a heat transfer medium flowing in the pipe 23 is supplied and discharged. Specifically, a supply-side header 24 that supplies a heat transfer medium is connected to each floor cooling and heating panel 21, and the heat transfer medium is supplied from the intermediate heat exchanger 14. As shown in FIG. 2, the supply pipe 24a is routed from the supply side header 24 to each floor cooling / heating panel 21, and the temperature of the heat transfer medium from the intermediate heat exchanger 14 is changed as little as possible. Yes. In each floor cooling / heating panel 21, an electromagnetic valve 21 a is provided at the place where the routed supply pipe 24 a enters each floor cooling / heating panel 21, and to each floor cooling / heating panel 21 based on an instruction from the control means 40. The heat transfer medium is supplied. The heat transfer medium circulated in each floor cooling / heating panel 21 is collected to the discharge side header 25 through the discharge pipe 25 a and returns to the fluid pump 22 through the pipe 23.

  Thus, by adopting a configuration in which the heat transfer medium to each floor cooling and heating panel 21 is circulated using the supply pipe 24a connected to the supply-side header 24 and the discharge pipe 25a connected to the discharge-side header 25, It becomes possible to simplify piping between the individual floor heating panels 21 and the intermediate heat exchanger 14. Furthermore, by providing the solenoid valve 21 a for each floor cooling / heating panel 21, it becomes possible to finely control the supply of the heat transfer medium for each floor cooling / heating panel 21.

  In the operation of the floor cooling / heating panel 21, a portion that comes into contact with a living body such as a person or an animal is the surface 21c. Human detection means 26 is provided in the vicinity of the surface 21c. The human detection means 26 is a means for detecting the presence of a living body on the floor cooling / heating panel 21, for example, a pressure detection means or a temperature detection means, or a detection for detecting both pressure and temperature. Means. The human detection unit 26 may be any detection unit as long as it can detect the presence of a living body on the floor cooling and heating panel, not the detection unit given as an example.

  In the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 2, the human detection means 26 is provided on the surface 21c, but can detect the presence or absence of a living body on the floor cooling / heating panel 21. If there is, it may be provided at any position of the floor cooling / heating panel 21. Further, the number of human detection means 26 provided in one floor cooling / heating panel 21 can be arbitrarily determined.

  The human detection means 26 is connected to the operation panel 30 and transmits information about the presence / absence of a living body on the detected floor cooling / heating panel 21. The operation panel 30 is a panel for operating the drive of the air conditioner 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the operation panel 30 is provided with a button for instructing the air conditioner 1 to operate or stop, a temperature setting button, a learning button (to be described later), and a map indicating the state of air conditioning. Yes. In this map, for example, the vertical is divided from the A line to the D line, and the horizontal is divided from the first column to the fourth column, and this cell is one of the floor cooling and heating panels 21 constituting the air conditioner 1. One of them is shown.

  Inside the operation panel 30, a control means 40 for controlling the driving of the air conditioner 1 is provided. As is apparent from the configuration block diagram shown in FIG. 3, the control means 40 includes a reception means 41, a confirmation means 42, a storage means 43, a determination means 44, a timing means 45, an instruction creation means 46, and a transmission. And means 47.

  The receiving means 41 receives information related to the presence or absence of a living body on the floor cooling and heating panel 21 detected by the human detection means 26. The confirmation means 42 confirms on which floor cooling / heating panel 21 the living body is present from this information, and transmits the information to the determination means 44. Further, when performing learning control to be described later, the information is transmitted to the storage means 43. The determination unit 44 determines which floor cooling / heating panel 21 is to be operated, and generates an instruction to open / close each electromagnetic valve 21 a based on the determination result to the instruction generation unit 46. The instruction created by the instruction creating means 46 is transmitted to each electromagnetic valve 21a via the transmission means 47, and each electromagnetic valve 21a opens and closes based on the instruction. The time measuring unit 45 provides a time element used as a reference when the determining unit 44 determines whether to open or close each electromagnetic valve 21a.

  Hereinafter, the operation control method of the air conditioner 1 will be described using the block diagram of FIG. 3 and the flowchart of FIG. 4 as an example when the human detection means 26 is a pressure detection means. Note that a number (address) or the like is individually assigned in advance to each of the plurality of floor cooling / heating panels 21 provided in the air conditioner 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. It shall be identified whether there is.

  First, it is determined whether an operation start command is issued to the air conditioner 1 via the operation panel 30 (ST1). The determination means 44 determines whether or not the “driving button” appearing on the operation panel 30 shown in FIG. When the operation start command is issued (Yes in ST1), the setting of which floor cooling / heating panel 21 is to be stopped next is accepted (ST2).

  For example, it is not necessary to cool or heat the floor cooling / heating panel 21 on which furniture such as a chiffon or a table is placed. The operation stop setting is set to always stop the operation for the floor cooling / heating panel 21 in which furniture and the like are installed in this way. Therefore, the user of the air conditioner 1 can be set in advance before the operation of the air conditioner 1. This operation stop setting is set, for example, by pushing down the corresponding floor cooling / heating panel 21 in the map shown on the operation panel 30. In the following description, it is assumed that the floor cooling / heating panel 21 that is the target of the operation stop setting is “b”.

  However, this operation stop setting step is not necessarily provided. As will be described later, in the operation control method of the air conditioner 1, a step of determining the presence or absence of a living body on the floor cooling and heating panel 21 is provided, and a floor cooling and heating panel in which no living body exists based on the determination result. This is because it is possible to stop the operation to 21.

  Then, the setting of the target temperature Xg of the floor cooling / heating panel 21 (heat transfer medium) is accepted (ST3). The user of the air conditioner 1 sets a desired temperature by operating the temperature setting button on the operation panel 30. The set temperature is displayed on the operation panel 30. When the cooling or heating temperature is set, the compressor 10, the blower 12a, and the fluid pump 22 are activated and the operation of the air conditioner 1 is actually started (ST4).

  The control means 40 instructs each human detection means (pressure detection means) 26 to transmit a result of detection as to whether or not a living body is present in the floor cooling / heating panel 21 in which each is installed. . The information sent from the pressure detection means 26a includes information on the number assigned to each floor cooling / heating panel indicating which floor cooling / heating panel 21 is the information from the pressure detection means 26a. . In the control means 40, the confirmation means 42 first confirms the floor cooling / heating panel to which “n = 0” is assigned as the number of the floor cooling / heating panel 21, etc., and sequentially confirms the presence / absence of a living body (ST5). .

  When the judging means 44 is not the “number b” in which the operation stop setting is set in advance for the “number n” of the floor cooling and heating panel 21 (No in ST6), the floor to which the number n is given by the instruction creating means 46 An instruction is sent to the pressure detection means 26a provided in the air conditioning panel 21 to transmit information on the detected pressure (detected pressure) Pn to the control means 40.

  Based on this instruction, the pressure detection means 26a detects the pressure applied to the floor cooling / heating panel 21 (ST7), and sends the detected pressure to the control means 40 as the detected pressure Pn. In the control means 40, the receiving means 41 receives this information, and the confirmation means 42 confirms from which floor cooling / heating panel 21 the information sent is. When this confirmation is completed, the determination unit 44 compares the pressure value stored (set) in advance in the storage unit 43 with the value of the detected pressure Pn sent from the pressure detection unit 26a (ST8). If the detected pressure Pn is larger than the set pressure as a result of the comparison, it can be determined that a living body such as a person or an animal is present on the floor cooling / heating panel 21.

  Then, in order to measure the time Tn during which the detected pressure Pn is detected, the judging means 44 instructs the time measuring means 45 to start the measurement (ST9). The detection time is measured to prevent erroneous detection. For example, when a living body crosses the floor cooling / heating panel 21 and then there is no living body on the floor cooling / heating panel 21, the floor is detected. This is to prevent the cooling / heating panel 21 from being cooled or heated. By incorporating such a procedure into the control of the air conditioner 1, more detailed operation control can be performed, which contributes to energy saving. The minimum set time compared with the time measured can be arbitrarily set according to the situation of the floor cooling / heating panel 21 to be used, but generally about 10 seconds is appropriate.

  The determination means 44 determines whether or not the measurement time Tn exceeds the set minimum set time (ST10), and determines that the state where the detected pressure Pn is larger than the set pressure exceeds the minimum set time. In other words, when it is determined that a living body is present on the floor cooling / heating panel 21, the instruction creating means 46 creates an instruction to open the solenoid valve 21a in order to open the solenoid valve 21a. To the electromagnetic valve 21a. Based on this instruction, the electromagnetic valve 21a of the nth floor cooling / heating panel 21 is opened (ST11). When the electromagnetic valve 21a is opened, for example, in the case of heating, the heat transfer medium heated to a high temperature by the intermediate heat exchanger 14 flows through the use side heat exchanger 21b, and the floor cooling / heating panel 21 is moved indoors. Indoor air conditioning is performed such as heating. At this time, the heat transfer medium flows in the use side heat exchanger 21 b, flows into the discharge side header 25 from the discharge pipe 25 a after heat exchange, and returns to the fluid pump 22 through the pipe 23.

  Until the measurement time Tn exceeds the set minimum set time (No in ST10), the pressure detection means 26a detects the pressure applied to the floor cooling / heating panel 21 again, and the comparison with the set pressure (ST8) is repeated. . Then, the measurement time Tn is reset to 0 and the time measuring means 45 is stopped (ST12).

  In step 6, when the number of the floor cooling / heating panel 21 is “b” (Yes in ST6), the floor cooling / heating panel 21 has been set to stop operation, so “number b” is given. The solenoid valve 21a of the floor cooling / heating panel 21 is closed (ST13), and the pressure detection in step 8 is not performed. In addition, when the state of the electromagnetic valve 21a is the “closed” state, an instruction to maintain the state is issued.

  Further, when the detected pressure Pn is lower than the set pressure (No in ST8), an instruction to close the solenoid valve 21a is issued (ST13). This is because it can be determined that there is no living body on the floor cooling / heating panel 21 that has detected the pressure.

  Then, the number n of the floor cooling / heating panel 21 that has performed pressure detection is set to a number obtained by adding 1 to the number n (ST14), and the number “n + 1” corresponds to the total number of floor cooling / heating panels provided in the air conditioner 1. If not (No in ST15), the process returns to step 7 to detect the pressure applied to the floor cooling / heating panel 21 having the number “n + 1”, and the above-described series of pressure detection and processing is performed.

  When the detection of the pressure applied to all the floor cooling / heating panels 21 is completed (Yes in ST15), the temperature X of the secondary medium is detected again (ST16). Although temperature detection means is used for detecting the temperature X, the temperature detection means is omitted and not shown in FIGS. Here, the temperature X of the secondary medium is detected because it is necessary to refer to the operation of the air conditioner 1 in order to ensure the temperature set by the user.

  When the temperature X is detected, the difference between the temperature X detected by the determination means 44 and the set temperature Xg is taken, and based on the result, the rotational speed of the compressor 10, the air flow rate of the blower 12 a, the throttle mechanism 13, The flow rate of the fluid pump 22 is controlled (ST17).

  Thus, the operation of the floor cooling / heating panel 21 is controlled, and the operation is continued unless an operation stop command is issued. When the operation stop command is issued (Yes in ST18), the driving of the compressor 10, the blower 12a, and the fluid pump 22 is stopped (ST19), and the operation of the air conditioner 1 is ended.

  When the operation stop command is not issued (No in ST18), the process returns to step 5 and the human detection in each floor cooling / heating panel 21 is repeated again. For this reason, even when a person moves from the specific floor cooling / heating panel 21 to another floor cooling / heating panel 21, there is a slight time delay, but the floor cooling / heating panel 21 on which the human body is riding is accompanied by the movement of the human body. Only the heat transfer medium will circulate, and the floor cooling / heating panel 21 on which no person is riding will not be air-conditioned and energy saving can be achieved.

  Adopting the configuration as described above and performing operation control, the location of a living body such as a person can be accurately identified with a simple configuration, and sufficient cooling and heating can be performed by reliably cooling and heating only the place where the living body exists An air conditioner capable of suppressing energy consumption while providing an effect can be provided.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the following embodiments, the same components as those described in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description of the same components is omitted because it is duplicated.

  In 1st Embodiment mentioned above, it demonstrated that the operation stop setting could be performed previously with respect to the floor cooling / heating panel 21 in which furniture etc. were installed. However, depending on the type of furniture or the like, the living body may exist simultaneously with the furniture or the like. For example, in the case of furniture such as chairs and bags, there are cases where a living body does not exist and when it exists. In such a state, if the operation of the floor cooling / heating panel 21 in which furniture or the like is installed is set to be constantly stopped, the comfort of air conditioning cannot be enjoyed when a living body is present at that location.

  Therefore, in the second embodiment, for example, a “learn button” is provided on the operation panel 30. The user depresses the “learning button” when all the floor heating panels 21 are not present, and the state of the floor cooling / heating panel 21 on which furniture is installed is determined (detected). The flow control of the heat transfer medium to the floor heating panel 21 is performed using the pressure value as an initial value.

  Specifically, this will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 5 is a learning step using the learning button, and FIG. 6 is an operation control method when the air conditioner 1 is operated through the learning step.

  The learning step is performed in a state where furniture or the like is installed on the floor cooling / heating panel 21. Furniture or the like is installed on the floor cooling / heating panel 21, and the user pushes down a “learning button” provided on the operation panel 30 (see the operation panel 30 in FIG. 2). Then, the determination means 44 of the control means 40 accepts that the learning button has been depressed (ST31), and the learning step is started.

  The control means 40 detects the load applied to all installed floor cooling / heating panels 21. First, the confirmation means 42 confirms the floor cooling / heating panel 21 to which “number 0” is assigned (ST32), and sequentially detects the pressure of each floor cooling / heating panel 21. The pressure detection means 26a provided in the floor cooling / heating panel 21 detects the pressure loaded on the floor cooling / heating panel 21 (ST33), and transmits the detected pressure Pn to the control means 40. In the control means 40 that has received the information on the detected pressure Pn, the confirmation means 42 confirms the number of the floor cooling / heating panel 21 again and stores the detected pressure Pn in the storage means 43 as the initial pressure Pn * (ST34).

  Then, the number of the floor cooling / heating panel 21 is incremented by 1 so that “n = n + 1” (ST35), and the process returns to step 33 to detect the pressure applied to the floor cooling / heating panel 21 to which that number is assigned. To do. When the number of floor cooling / heating panels 21 exceeds the number of installed floor cooling / heating panels (Yes in ST36), it can be determined that the detection and setting of the pressure has been completed for all floor cooling / heating panels 21. This completes the learning step.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the general flow from when the air conditioner 1 receives an operation start command (ST1) until the pressure detection means 26a detects the pressure applied to each floor cooling / heating panel 21 (ST7) is as follows. This is the same as the operation control method of the air conditioner 1 in the first embodiment described above. The operation control method after the learning step is to compare the detected pressure Pn with the initial pressure Pn * stored in the storage means 43 in the learning step after the pressure applied to the floor cooling / heating panel 21 is detected. There is a feature (ST41).

  That is, the initial pressure Pn * stored in the storage unit 43 at the time of the learning step indicates the pressure when furniture or the like is installed on the floor cooling / heating panel 21. Therefore, the difference between the detected pressure Pn and the initial pressure Pn * is taken, and if the derived value exceeds a preset pressure, it is determined that a living body is present on the floor cooling / heating panel 21. Can do. Therefore, in that case (Yes in ST41), the operation of the corresponding floor cooling / heating panel 21 needs to be performed, so that the solenoid valve 21a is controlled to be opened (ST11).

  On the other hand, when the derived value is equal to or lower than the set pressure (No in ST41), it can be determined that there is no living body on the floor cooling / heating panel 21 that has detected the pressure. Closed "controlled.

  The subsequent operation control method of the air conditioner 1 is substantially the same as the operation control method described in the first embodiment.

  In this way, by performing operation control of the air conditioner 1 through the learning step in advance, it is possible to more appropriately air-condition the floor cooling / heating panel 21 in which furniture and the like are installed, and a person with a simple configuration. Thus, it is possible to provide an air conditioner capable of accurately locating a living body such as a living body and capable of suppressing energy consumption while providing a sufficient cooling and heating effect by reliably performing cooling and heating only in a place where the living body exists. .

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the following embodiments, the same components as those described in the first or second embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description of the same components is omitted because it is duplicated. .

  The third embodiment is characterized in that the human detection means is a temperature detection means. As shown in FIG. 7, the rough flow from when the air conditioner 1 receives an operation start command (ST1) to when the confirmation means 42 sets 0 to the number n of the floor cooling and heating panel 21 (ST5) is described above. This is the same as the operation control method of the air conditioner 1 in the first embodiment.

  After the confirmation by the confirmation means 42, it is the temperature detection means 26b that detects whether or not a living body is present on the floor cooling / heating panel 21, in the third embodiment. The temperature detection means 26b is composed of a sensor that detects the surface temperature of the floor cooling / heating panel 21. When the temperature detection means 26b detects the temperature θn of the surface of the floor cooling / heating panel 21 (ST51), this information is sent to the control means 40, and the determination means 44 has its floor cooling / heating panel preset in the storage means 43. The set temperature 21 is compared with the detected temperature θn (ST52).

  When the detected temperature θn is higher than the set temperature, it can be determined that a living body is present on the floor cooling / heating panel 21, but the detected temperature θn is higher than the set temperature continuously for a predetermined time to prevent erroneous detection. After confirming this (ST9, ST10), an instruction for performing an opening operation is transmitted to the solenoid valve 21a (ST11).

  In addition, since the surface temperature at the time of heating of the floor heating panel 21 is normally set to around 30 ° C., which is lower than the body temperature of the human body, when the human body gets on the panel 21, the body temperature is warmed and the temperature is It becomes higher than 30 ° C. Therefore, if the set temperature is set to about 32 ° C., the presence or absence of a human body on the panel 21 can be detected.

  The subsequent operation control method of the air conditioner 1 is substantially the same as the operation control method described in the first embodiment.

  Thus, even when the temperature detection means is used as the human detection means for detecting whether or not a living body is present on the floor cooling / heating panel, the location of the living body such as a person can be accurately specified with a simple configuration. It is possible to provide an air conditioner capable of suppressing energy consumption while providing a sufficient cooling / heating effect by reliably cooling / heating only a place where a living body exists.

(Fourth embodiment)
Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the following embodiments, the same components as those described in the first to third embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description of the same components is omitted because it is duplicated. .

  The fourth embodiment is characterized in that two detection means, that is, a pressure detection means and a temperature detection means are used in combination as human detection means. The operation control method of the air conditioner 1 is a combination of a part of the operation control methods (FIGS. 1 and 7) described in the first embodiment and the third embodiment described above. It incorporates controls that prevent false detection with the human body that occurs when electric furniture is present.

  That is, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8, from the time when the air conditioner 1 receives an operation start command (ST1) until the confirmation means 42 sets 0 to the number n of the floor cooling / heating panel 21 (ST5). The rough flow is the same as the operation control method of the air conditioner 1 in the first or third embodiment described above.

  Next, it is detected whether or not a living body is present on the floor cooling / heating panel 21. In the fourth embodiment, both the pressure (detected pressure Pn) and the surface temperature (detected temperature θn) applied to the floor cooling / heating panel 21 to detect the presence or absence of a living body are detected. In the flowchart shown in FIG. 8, the temperature is detected after the pressure is detected, but the order of detection may be any first.

  The detected pressure Pn detected by the pressure detecting means 26a (ST7) is transmitted to the control means 40 and compared with the set pressure (ST8). When the detected pressure Pn is smaller than the set pressure, the solenoid valve 21a is “closed” control (ST13). When the detected pressure Pn exceeds the set pressure (Yes in ST8), the temperature detection means 26b detects the temperature θn of the surface of the floor cooling / heating panel 21 (ST51). The detected temperature information is sent to the control means 40, and the judging means 44 compares the set temperature of the floor cooling / heating panel 21 preset in the storage means 43 with the detected temperature θn (ST52).

  When the detected pressure Pn exceeds the set pressure and the detected temperature θn is higher than the set temperature, it can be determined that there is a high possibility that a living body is present on the floor cooling / heating panel 21, and therefore the determination means 44 is a time measurement means. It is confirmed whether or not 45 is performing a timing operation (ST70). If the time measuring means 45 is in a time measuring operation (Yes in ST70), the process proceeds to step 10. If the time measuring means 45 is not in a time measuring operation (No in ST70), the time measuring operation is started (ST9). The determination means 44 determines whether or not the measurement time Tn exceeds the set minimum setting time (ST10), the detected pressure Pn is larger than the set pressure, and the panel temperature θ is higher than the set temperature. When it is determined that the state has exceeded the minimum set time, that is, when it is determined that a living body is present on the floor cooling / heating panel 21, an instruction for performing an opening operation is transmitted to the electromagnetic valve 21a (ST11). ).

  Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the measurement time Tn exceeds the maximum set time (ST120). If the measurement time Tn exceeds the maximum set time as a result of the determination (Yes in ST120), the process proceeds to ST1 and the solenoid valve is controlled to be closed. Here, the maximum set time is set to about 2 to 3 hours. This is intended to prevent the pressure and temperature from being indistinguishable from the human body when an electric heating tool or the like is placed on the panel.

  In other words, it is impossible for the human body to move from the same panel for several hours, so when such a state is detected, it is determined that an object such as an electric appliance is present on the panel instead of the human body. Stop heating the panel. In the case of cooling, this control may be removed. In the first embodiment, the user manually performs the setting for excluding the panel on which such furniture is placed from the cooling and heating in advance, but it is possible to eliminate troublesome operations by incorporating this control. it can.

  On the other hand, when the detected pressure Pn is lower than the set pressure (No in ST8) or the detected temperature θn is lower than the set temperature (No in ST52), the electromagnetic valve 21a is controlled to be “closed” (ST13), and the human body Air conditioning is not performed on panels that are absent. Subsequently, the measurement time Tn is reset (ST80), and the process proceeds to detection of the next panel (ST14). The subsequent operation control method of the air conditioner 1 is substantially the same as the operation control method described in the first or third embodiment.

  As described above, in combination with the pressure detection means and the temperature detection means in detecting whether or not a living body is present on the floor cooling / heating panel, it becomes possible to perform finer control, and with a simple configuration. Providing an air conditioner capable of accurately identifying the location of a living body such as a person and suppressing energy consumption while providing a sufficient cooling and heating effect by reliably performing cooling and heating only in a place where the living body exists it can.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment as it is, and can be embodied by modifying the constituent elements without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. For example, on the premise that the relationship between the detected temperature and the comfortable temperature is predetermined, the floor cooling / heating panel that the user feels comfortable based on the temperature detected by the temperature detecting means of the panel where no human body exists The air conditioning setting temperature Xg may be determined. Further, in the above embodiment, the control means are concentrated to perform the human body detection of each panel and the opening / closing control of the electromagnetic valve. However, each panel is set to independently control the human body detection and the opening / closing of the electromagnetic valve. May be. In this case, the control means on the main body side of the air conditioner only performs operation / stop and temperature control of the heat transfer medium (secondary medium).

  Various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the above embodiments. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, you may combine the component covering different embodiment suitably.

1 is an overall view showing an overall circuit configuration of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the whole figure which showed the external appearance structure of the air conditioner which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the control means which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement flow of the air conditioner which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the learning step of the air conditioner which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement flow of the air conditioner which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement flow of the air conditioner which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement flow of the air conditioner which concerns on the 4th Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Air conditioner, 10 ... Compressor, 11 ... Four-way valve, 12 ... Heat source side heat exchanger, 13 ... Throttle mechanism, 14 ... Intermediate heat exchanger, 15 ... Primary side refrigerant | coolant piping, 21 ... Floor cooling / heating panel, 21a ... Solenoid valve 21a ... Use side heat exchanger, 21c ... Surface, 22 ... Fluid pump, 23 ... Pipe, 24 ... Supply side header, 24a ... Supply pipe, 25 ... Discharge side header, 25a ... Discharge pipe, 26 ... People Sense detection means, 26a ... pressure detection means, 26b ... temperature detection means, 30 ... operation panel, 40 ... control means, 41 ... reception means, 42 ... confirmation means, 43 ... storage means, 44 ... judgment means, 45 ... timing means , 46 ... Instruction creating means, 47 ... Transmitting means, A ... Primary refrigerant circuit, B ... Secondary refrigerant circuit, M ... Heat source equipment, N ... User equipment

Claims (6)

A primary refrigerant circuit in which a compressor, a heat source side heat exchanger, a throttling mechanism, and an intermediate heat exchanger are sequentially connected by piping;
A secondary refrigerant circuit that is connected to the intermediate heat exchanger and has a floor heating panel and a fluid pump sequentially connected by piping;
Human detection means for detecting a biological reaction on the floor heating panel provided in the floor heating panel;
Control means for controlling opening and closing of a solenoid valve in the floor heating panel based on information from the human detection means;
The air conditioner characterized in that the control means controls the supply of the heat transfer medium heat-exchanged in the intermediate heat exchanger to the floor heating panel by opening and closing the electromagnetic valve.   The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the floor heating panels are connected to the secondary refrigerant circuit in parallel.   The air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the human detection means is a pressure detection means.   The air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the human detection means is a temperature detection means.   The air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the human detection means detects pressure and temperature.   The control means opens and closes the solenoid valve based on a change between a learning pressure value defined in advance for the floor heating panel and a detected pressure value detected by the human detection means. The air conditioner according to claim 3 or 5.

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