JP2010216713A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner capable of performing accurate air current control, considering the precise position in the depth direction of a human body detected on a thermal image. <P>SOLUTION: The air conditioner includes: an infrared sensor mounted downwardly to the front face of a body at a predetermined depression angle and scanning a temperature detection target range rightwards/leftwards to detect the temperature of a temperature detection target; and a control unit detecting the presence of a human body and heat generating equipment by the infrared sensor to control the air conditioner. The control unit acquires thermal image data of a room by scanning with the infrared sensor, and determines a precise distance in the depth direction of the human body from the air conditioner, on the basis of the output of the infrared sensor corresponding to the temperature around the feet of the human body erected in the central coordinates of a view angle of the infrared sensor in the depth direction of the room, by a ratio, with respect to the reference, of a difference from an output reference of the infrared sensor corresponding to the temperature around the feet changed in accordance with the standing position of the human body in the depth direction of the room. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioner.

  In an air conditioner, the comfort of the indoor human body can be further improved by controlling the temperature, air volume, and wind direction, for example, by using the position information of the human body in the indoor area detected by the infrared sensor. Air conditioning operation can be performed automatically.

  When detecting the position of a human body in a room using two-dimensional thermal image data detected by an infrared sensor, conventionally, the image data read from the image input device is divided by performing image processing and image recognition. A general method is to obtain each human body position by projecting the human body onto the floor of the indoor area and dividing the position of the human body.

  However, in the above-described conventional indoor human body position detecting device, when the area of the human body is calculated from the two-dimensional thermal image data for each area, there is a problem that the depth position accuracy is low when away from the infrared sensor in the indoor space. there were.

  Therefore, in view of such a conventional problem, in order to provide a human body position information detection device capable of calculating the position of a human body in detail by effectively using the information of the human body in the room, There has been proposed an indoor information detection apparatus including means for calculating a representative point indicating the position of a human body for detecting thermal image information and means for detecting the representative point in detail (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  The indoor information detection apparatus uses the fact that the position of the human body in the room can be easily detected from the threshold value of heat by detecting the thermal image data in the room for the vertical 8 * horizontal 94 with the above configuration. The position of the human body is calculated from the two-dimensional thermal image data, the two-dimensional thermal image is converted, and the position of the human body in the room can be calculated more accurately and easily.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-117836

  However, in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, when the output corresponding to the foot temperature of the human body standing upright at the center coordinates of the infrared sensor viewing angle in the depth direction is used as a reference, it corresponds to the foot temperature that changes depending on the standing position of the human body in the depth direction. There is no mention of a technical idea for obtaining details of the depth distance of the human body based on the ratio of the difference from the output standard to the standard.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and is an air conditioner capable of performing accurate airflow control in consideration of the detailed position of the human body in the depth direction detected on a thermal image. The purpose is to provide.

The air conditioner according to the present invention is
A substantially box-shaped body having a suction port for sucking air in the room and a blow-out port for blowing out conditioned air;
An infrared sensor that is mounted downward on the front surface of the main body at a predetermined depression angle, scans the temperature detection target range left and right, and detects the temperature of the temperature detection target;
The presence of a human body and a heat generating device is detected by an infrared sensor, and a control unit that controls the air conditioner is provided.
The controller scans the infrared sensor to acquire thermal image data of the room, and uses the infrared sensor output corresponding to the foot temperature of the human body standing upright at the center coordinate of the viewing angle of the infrared sensor in the depth direction of the room as a reference. The details of the distance in the depth direction of the human body from the air conditioner are obtained by the ratio of the difference from the reference of the output of the infrared sensor corresponding to the foot temperature that changes depending on the standing position of the human body in the depth direction of the room. is there.

  In the air conditioner according to the present invention, the control unit scans the infrared sensor to acquire the thermal image data of the room, and corresponds to the foot temperature of the human body standing upright at the center coordinate of the viewing angle of the infrared sensor in the depth direction of the room The depth of the human body from the air conditioner is based on the ratio of the difference from the infrared sensor output standard corresponding to the foot temperature that changes depending on the standing position of the human body in the depth direction of the room, based on the output of the infrared sensor. Since the details of the distance in the direction are obtained, it is possible to perform air flow control with high accuracy in consideration of the detailed position in the depth direction of the human body detected on the thermal image.

Fig. 3 shows the first embodiment, and is a perspective view of the air conditioner 100 viewed from the right front side. FIG. 3 shows the first embodiment, and is a perspective view of the air conditioner 100 viewed from the lower right side. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows Embodiment 1, and is a longitudinal cross-sectional view (AA sectional drawing of FIG. 1) of the air conditioner 100. FIG. FIG. 5 shows the first embodiment and shows the light distribution viewing angles of the infrared sensor 3 and the light receiving element. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the first embodiment, and is a perspective view of a housing 5 that houses the infrared sensor 3. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the first embodiment, and is a perspective view of the vicinity of the infrared sensor 3 ((a) is a state in which the infrared sensor 3 is movable toward the right end, (b) is a state in which the infrared sensor 3 is movable toward the center, and (c) ) Is a state in which the infrared sensor 3 is moved to the left end portion). FIG. 5 shows the first embodiment, and shows a vertical light distribution viewing angle in a vertical section of the infrared sensor 3. The figure which shows Embodiment 1 and is a figure which shows the conditions at the time of center installation at the time of capability 2.2kw. The figure which shows Embodiment 1 and is a figure which shows the positional relationship of the floor surface and wall surface on thermal image data at the time of the capability of 2.2 kw of the air conditioner 100 when the installation position button of a remote control is set to the center. FIG. 5 shows the first embodiment and shows a flow of calculating a room shape based on a human body detection position history. FIG. 5 shows the first embodiment and shows thermal image data when a human body appears in the light distribution of the infrared sensor 3. The figure which shows Embodiment 1 and shows the result of determining the detection of a human body with the threshold value A and the threshold value B, performing the difference with the thermal image data in which a previous background image and a human body exist. FIG. 5 shows the first embodiment, and shows how the area of the region for detecting the foot of the human body changes depending on the standing position of the human body (in the depth direction of the room). FIG. 14 shows the first embodiment, and shows a thermal image corresponding to the standing position of the human body shown in FIG. 13. FIG. 5 shows the first embodiment, and shows a change in the output of the infrared sensor 3 corresponding to the temperature of the human face and feet in the depth direction of the room. FIG. 16 shows the first embodiment and is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 15. In the figure which shows Embodiment 1, the infrared sensor output 89 equivalent to the foot temperature of the human body standing upright at the center coordinate of the infrared sensor viewing angle in the depth direction and the infrared sensor output 88 corresponding to the temperature of the human body face are shown. Figure.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
First, an outline of the present embodiment will be described. The air conditioner is equipped with an infrared sensor that detects the temperature while scanning the temperature detection target range, and performs heat source detection by the infrared sensor to detect the presence of a person or a heat generating device, thereby performing comfortable control. .

  Regardless of the depth detection distance, the correlation between the output of the infrared sensor corresponding to the face temperature of the human body and the output of the infrared sensor corresponding to the foot temperature of the human body is constant, and this correlation is used to expand the depth viewing angle. Accordingly, there is a feature in that the details of the depth distance are obtained with the output fluctuation amount corresponding to the foot temperature that changes depending on the standing position.

  Depth distance based on the ratio of the output corresponding to the foot temperature that changes depending on the standing position of the human body in the depth direction when the output corresponding to the foot temperature of the human body standing upright at the center coordinates of the infrared sensor viewing angle in the depth direction is used as a reference The details are requested.

  As for the viewing angle of the infrared sensor, the area of the viewing angle increases as the depth distance increases, and the area ratio with the area for detecting the foot of the human body changes. If it is close, the output can be obtained by increasing the area of the foot in the viewing angle of the infrared sensor. On the contrary, when the area of the foot of the human body occupying the viewing angle of the infrared sensor is reduced (becomes far), the background temperature other than the foot of the human body is detected and the output is lowered.

  FIG. 1 to FIG. 17 are diagrams showing the first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the air conditioner 100 viewed from the front right side, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the air conditioner 100 viewed from the lower right side, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a view showing the light distribution viewing angles of the infrared sensor 3 and the light receiving element, and FIG. 5 is a housing 5 that houses the infrared sensor 3. FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the vicinity of the infrared sensor 3 ((a) is a state in which the infrared sensor 3 is moved to the right end, (b) is a state in which the infrared sensor 3 is moved to the center, and (c) is FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a vertical light distribution viewing angle in a longitudinal section of the infrared sensor 3, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing conditions during central installation at a capacity of 2.2 kW. 9 is when the capacity of the air conditioner 100 is 2.2 kw and the remote control installation position button is set to the center. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a flow of calculating a room shape based on a human body detection position history, and FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a human body appearing in the light distribution of the infrared sensor 3. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the thermal image data, FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the result of determining the detection of the human body with the threshold A and the threshold B, performing the difference between the immediately preceding background image and the thermal image data in which the human body exists, and FIG. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing how the area of a region for detecting the foot of a human body changes depending on the standing position (the depth direction of the room), FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a thermal image corresponding to the standing position of the human body shown in FIG. 13, and FIG. FIG. 16 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 15 and FIG. 17 is upright at the center coordinate of the viewing angle of the infrared sensor in the depth direction, showing the change in the output of the infrared sensor 3 corresponding to the temperature of the human face and feet in the depth direction. Equivalent to the temperature of the human body An infrared sensor output 89 is a diagram showing an infrared sensor output 88 which corresponds to the temperature of the human body of the face.

  The overall configuration of the air conditioner 100 (indoor unit) will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. 1 and FIG. 2 are external perspective views of the air conditioner 100, but the view angle is different, and FIG. 1 shows that the upper and lower flaps 43 (up and down wind direction control plates, two on the left and right) are closed. FIG. 2 is different from FIG. 2 in that the upper and lower flaps 43 are open and the left and right flaps 44 (left and right wind direction control plates, many) are visible.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the air conditioner 100 (indoor unit) has a suction port 41 for sucking room air on the upper surface of a substantially box-shaped indoor unit housing 40 (defined as a main body).

  Moreover, the blower outlet 42 which blows off conditioned air is formed in the lower part of the front, and the blower outlet 42 is provided with the upper and lower flaps 43 and the left and right flaps 44 for controlling the direction of the blown air. The upper and lower flaps 43 control the up and down direction of the blowing air, and the left and right flaps 44 control the left and right direction of the blowing air.

  The infrared sensor 3 is provided on the outlet 42 in the lower part of the front surface of the indoor unit housing 40. The infrared sensor 3 is attached downward at an depression angle of about 24.5 degrees.

  The depression angle is an angle formed by the central axis of the infrared sensor 3 and the horizontal line. In other words, the infrared sensor 3 is mounted downward at an angle of about 24.5 degrees with respect to the horizon.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the air conditioner 100 (indoor unit) includes a blower 45 inside, and a heat exchanger 46 is disposed so as to surround the blower 45.

  The heat exchanger 46 is connected to a compressor or the like mounted on an outdoor unit (not shown) to form a refrigeration cycle. It operates as an evaporator during cooling operation and as a condenser during heating operation.

  Room air is sucked in by the blower 45 from the suction port 41, heat exchange is performed with the refrigerant of the refrigeration cycle in the heat exchanger 46, passes through the blower 45, and is blown out into the room from the outlet 42.

  At the air outlet 42, the vertical and horizontal flaps 43 and left and right flaps 44 (not shown in FIG. 3) control the vertical and horizontal wind directions. In FIG. 3, the upper and lower flaps 43 are at a horizontal blowing angle.

  Next, the infrared sensor 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 4, the infrared sensor 3 has eight light receiving elements (not shown) arranged in a row in the vertical direction inside the metal can 1. On the upper surface of the metal can 1, there are provided lens windows (not shown) for passing infrared rays through the eight light receiving elements. The light distribution viewing angle 2 of each light receiving element is 7 degrees in the vertical direction and 8 degrees in the horizontal direction. In addition, although the light distribution viewing angle 2 of each light receiving element showed 7 degrees of vertical directions and 8 degrees of horizontal directions, it is not limited to 7 degrees of vertical directions and 8 degrees of horizontal directions. The number of light receiving elements changes according to the light distribution viewing angle 2 of each light receiving element. For example, the product of the vertical light distribution viewing angle of one light receiving element and the number of light receiving elements may be made constant.

  FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the vicinity of the infrared sensor 3 as seen from the back side (from the inside of the air conditioner 100). As shown in FIG. 5, the infrared sensor 3 is housed in the housing 5. A stepping motor 6 that drives the infrared sensor 3 is provided above the housing 5. The infrared sensor 3 is attached to the air conditioner 100 by fixing the mounting portion 7 integrated with the housing 5 to the lower front portion of the air conditioner 100. In a state where the infrared sensor 3 is attached to the air conditioner 100, the stepping motor 6 and the housing 5 are vertical. And the infrared sensor 3 is attached inside the housing | casing 5 downward with the depression angle of about 24.5 degree | times.

  The infrared sensor 3 rotationally drives a predetermined angle range in the left-right direction by the stepping motor 6 (this rotational driving is expressed here as being movable), but the right end portion (a) as shown in FIG. From the center to the left end (c) via the center (b), and when it reaches the left end (c), it is reversed and moved in the reverse direction. This operation is repeated. The infrared sensor 3 detects the temperature of the temperature detection target while scanning the room temperature detection target range from side to side.

  Here, a method for acquiring thermal image data of the wall or floor of the room by the infrared sensor 3 will be described. The infrared sensor 3 and the like are controlled by a microcomputer programmed with a predetermined operation. A microcomputer programmed with a predetermined operation is defined as a control unit. In the following description, a description that each control is performed by the control unit (a microcomputer programmed with a predetermined operation) is omitted.

  When acquiring thermal image data of the walls and floors of the room, the infrared sensor 3 is moved in the left-right direction by the stepping motor 6, and the stepping motor 6 has a movable angle (rotational drive angle of the infrared sensor 3) every 1.6 degrees. The infrared sensor 3 is stopped at a position for a predetermined time (0.1 to 0.2 seconds).

  After the infrared sensor 3 is stopped, it waits for a predetermined time (a time shorter than 0.1 to 0.2 seconds), and the detection results (thermal image data) of the eight light receiving elements of the infrared sensor 3 are captured.

  After capturing the detection results of the infrared sensor 3, the stepping motor 6 is again driven (moving angle 1.6 degrees) and then stopped, and the detection results (thermal image data) of the eight light receiving elements of the infrared sensor 3 are the same operation. ).

  The above operation is repeated, and thermal image data in the detection area is calculated based on the detection results of 94 infrared sensors 3 in the left-right direction.

  Since the infrared sensor 3 is stopped at 94 positions every 1.6 degrees of the movable angle of the stepping motor 6 and the thermal image data is captured, the movable range of the infrared sensor 3 in the left-right direction (angle range for rotational driving in the left-right direction) is It is about 150.4 degrees.

  When the infrared sensor 3 is moved in the left-right direction by the stepping motor 6 to acquire thermal image data of the wall or floor of the room, the direction of the upper and lower flaps 43 of the air conditioner 100 is fixed horizontally. The left and right flaps 44 acquire room thermal image data for two cases of tilting to the right and maximizing to the left.

  FIG. 7 shows a vertical light distribution viewing angle in a vertical cross section of the infrared sensor 3 in which eight light receiving elements are vertically arranged in a row with the air conditioner 100 installed at a height of 1800 mm from the floor of the room. .

  The angle 7 ° shown in FIG. 7 is the vertical light distribution viewing angle of one light receiving element.

  Further, an angle 37.5 ° in FIG. 7 indicates an angle from a wall to which the air conditioner 100 in a region that does not enter the vertical field region of the infrared sensor 3 is attached. If the depression angle of the infrared sensor 3 is 0 °, this angle is 90 ° −4 (the number of light receiving elements below the horizontal) × 7 ° (vertical light distribution viewing angle of one light receiving element) = 62 °. Become. In the infrared sensor 3 of the present embodiment, the depression angle is 24.5 °, so that 62 ° -24.5 ° = 37.5 °.

  In this Embodiment, let the direction orthogonal to the wall surface of the air conditioner 100 installation side of the thermal image acquired by the said structure be a y-axis of orthogonal coordinates. In addition, a direction parallel to the wall surface on the air conditioner 100 installation side of the thermal image is set as an x-axis of orthogonal coordinates.

  The left-right direction in the present embodiment is the left-right direction when viewed from the air conditioner 100.

  FIG. 8 shows the conditions for central installation when the capacity is 2.2 kW. As shown in FIG. 8, the initial lateral distance intermediate point is set as the origin of the air conditioner 100. The origin of the air conditioner 100 is the positional relationship of the center (1.8 m from the side) of the room 3.5 m long and wide.

  FIG. 9 shows the positional relationship between the floor surface and the wall surface on the thermal image data when the remote control installation position button is set at the center when the air conditioner 100 has a capacity of 2.2 kw. It can be seen that the left wall 16, the front wall 19, the right wall 17, and the floor 18 are shown on the thermal image data as viewed from the infrared sensor 3 side. The floor surface dimensions of the capacity of 2.2 kW at the initial setting are as shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the left wall surface 16, the front wall 19, and the right wall surface 17 are collectively referred to as a wall surface.

  Next, calculation of the room shape obtained from the human body detection position history will be described. FIG. 10 shows a flow of calculating the room shape based on the human body detection position history. The human body detection unit 61 uses the output of the infrared sensor drive unit 51 that drives the infrared sensor 3 as the thermal image data generated by the infrared image acquisition unit 52 as the thermal image data of 8 * 94 horizontal, and the previous thermal image data. It is characterized by determining the position of the human body by taking the difference between.

  Then, on the thermal image data, the coordinate point (X, Y) of each element is converted as a floor surface coordinate point by the floor surface coordinate conversion unit 55 and projected onto the floor surface 18.

  Further, the human body position history accumulation unit 62 accumulates the human body position history via the floor coordinate conversion unit 55 based on the foot position coordinates (X, Y) of the human body obtained from the difference of the thermal image data.

  Based on the human body detection position history information from the human body position history storage unit 62, the wall surface determination unit 58 obtains the floor surface 18 and wall surfaces (left wall surface 16, right wall surface 17, front wall 19) that are room shapes.

  The human body detection unit 61 that detects the presence / absence of the human body and the position of the human body, when taking the difference between the thermal image data, a threshold A that enables the difference detection of the vicinity of the head of the human body having a relatively high surface temperature, and a slight surface temperature. It is characterized by individually having a threshold value B that enables differential detection of a lower foot portion.

  When a human body appears in the light distribution of the infrared sensor 3, a thermal image as shown in FIG. 11 is obtained, and a floor coordinate projected human thermal image 80 is displayed at a substantially central portion of the thermal image.

  When detecting a human body using FIG. 9 and FIG. 11, the difference between FIG. 11 and FIG. 9 is performed, and the detection of the human body is determined when the difference occurs.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 12, the difference between the immediately preceding background image and the thermal image data in which the human body exists is performed, and the detection of the human body is determined based on the threshold A and the threshold B. The difference area of the thermal image data exceeding the threshold value A is determined to be near the human head, and the thermal image difference area exceeding the threshold value B adjacent to the area determined by the threshold value A is obtained. At this time, it is assumed that the difference area obtained from the threshold B is adjacent to the difference area obtained from the threshold A. That is, the difference area that only exceeds the threshold B is not determined to be a human body. The difference threshold relationship between the thermal image data indicates that threshold A> threshold B.

Position of the human body, although the pixel of the lowest that caused the difference can be detected in the depth direction of the air conditioner (Y-axis), for example, as shown in FIG. 13, the human body is in a region of the Y ₄ Think about the case. When standing position of the human body is Z1 (front side of Y ₄ area) in FIG. 13, the infrared sensor 3 acquires a thermal image data, such as Z1 (the front side of the Y ₄ in the area) shown in FIG. 14.

Also, standing position of the human body when the Z2 (central Y ₄ area) in FIG. 13, the infrared sensor 3 acquires a thermal image data such as Z2 (central Y ₄ in the area) shown in FIG. 14.

Also, if the standing position of the human body is Z3 (back side of the Y ₄ area) in FIG. 13, the infrared sensor 3 acquires a thermal image data such as Z3 (back side of the Y ₄ in the area) shown in FIG. 14 To do.

  In the thermal image data shown in FIG. 14, the color intensity is substantially proportional to the output of the infrared sensor 3 corresponding to the temperature.

  Comparing the three thermal image data of FIG. 14, the output of the infrared sensor 3 corresponding to the temperature of the face is substantially equal in the three thermal image data.

On the other hand, the output of the infrared sensor 3 corresponding to the foot is different in the three thermal image data and has the following relationship.
Sensor output corresponding to the temperature of Z1> Sensor output corresponding to the temperature of Z2> Sensor output corresponding to the temperature of Z3

  This is because the area of the viewing angle of the infrared sensor 3 increases as the depth distance increases, and the area ratio with the area where the foot of the human body is detected changes. If it is close, an output can be obtained by increasing the area of the foot in the viewing angle of the infrared sensor 3. On the contrary, when the area of the foot of the human body that occupies the viewing angle of the infrared sensor 3 is reduced, the background temperature (usually lower than the human body temperature) other than the foot of the human body is detected and the output decreases.

  This is shown in a graph as shown in FIG. In FIG. 15, the horizontal axis represents the distance in the depth direction of the room (Y axis), and the vertical axis represents the output of the infrared sensor 3 corresponding to the temperature. An infrared sensor output 81 corresponding to the temperature of the face of the human body and an infrared sensor output 82 corresponding to the temperature of the foot of the human body are shown. The G part shown with the broken line of FIG. 15 has shown the infrared sensor output 81 equivalent to the temperature of the face of the human body in one light distribution, and the infrared sensor output 82 equivalent to the temperature of the foot of a human body.

  Further, FIG. 16 is an enlarged view of a portion G indicated by a broken line in FIG. In FIG. 16, G1 part is an infrared sensor output 81 corresponding to the temperature of the human body face when the human body is in front of a certain area (within a certain light distribution) and an infrared sensor output corresponding to the temperature of the foot of the human body. 82 is shown.

  In addition, the G2 portion has an infrared sensor output 81 corresponding to the temperature of the human body face when the human body is in front of a certain region (within a certain light distribution) and an infrared sensor output 82 corresponding to the temperature of the foot of the human body. Show.

  Further, the G3 section has an infrared sensor output 81 corresponding to the temperature of the human face when the human body is in front of a certain region (within a certain light distribution) and an infrared sensor output 82 corresponding to the temperature of the foot of the human body. Show.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an infrared sensor output 89 corresponding to the foot temperature of the human body upright at the center coordinates of the infrared sensor viewing angle in the depth direction, and an infrared sensor output 88 corresponding to the temperature of the human face. The M part in FIG. 17 indicates the near side in the depth direction of the room, the M ′ part indicates the far side in the depth direction of the room, and the foot temperature of the human body standing upright at the center coordinate of the viewing angle of the infrared sensor in the depth direction at each position. An infrared sensor output 89 corresponding to the above and an infrared sensor output 88 corresponding to the temperature of the face of the human body are shown.

  As shown in FIG. 17, the infrared sensor output 88 corresponding to the temperature of the face of the human body in the M section on the near side in the depth direction of the room is Hh, which corresponds to the foot temperature of the human body standing upright at the center coordinates of the infrared sensor viewing angle. The infrared sensor output 89 to be performed is Hf.

  In addition, the infrared sensor output 88 corresponding to the temperature of the face of the human body in the M ′ portion on the far side in the depth direction of the room is Hh ′, and the infrared sensor corresponding to the foot temperature of the human body standing upright at the center coordinates of the infrared sensor viewing angle. The output 89 is set to Hf ′.

  Many test results prove that Hh / Hf≈Hh ′ / Hf ′. That is, regardless of the depth detection distance, the correlation between the infrared sensor output 88 corresponding to the temperature of the human face and the infrared sensor output 89 corresponding to the foot temperature of the human body is substantially constant.

  Using this correlation, the depth distance can be determined in detail with the output fluctuation amount corresponding to the foot temperature that changes depending on the standing position as the depth viewing angle increases.

  That is, when the output corresponding to the foot temperature of the human body standing upright at the center coordinate of the viewing angle of the infrared sensor in the depth direction is used as a reference, the difference from the output reference corresponding to the foot temperature that changes depending on the standing position of the human body in the depth direction The details of the depth distance are obtained by the ratio to the reference.

Hereinafter, calculation formulas for obtaining in detail the foot position coordinates of the human body in the depth direction of the room will be described. First, symbols used in the calculation formula are defined.
MODEL: Foot temperature reference value SENSOR: Foot temperature measurement value HEAD_P: Face coefficient = Infrared sensor output corresponding to face temperature / Infrared sensor output corresponding to foot temperature Y_Detail: Details of human foot in Y direction (room depth direction) Coordinate

  The face coefficient HEAD_P is Hh / Hf and Hh ′ / Hf ′ shown in FIG. 17 and is substantially constant regardless of the depth detection distance. The face coefficient HEAD_P is a certain value larger than 1.

The foot temperature reference value MODEL can be obtained from the infrared sensor output corresponding to the face temperature, which is the maximum value in the human body region (see FIG. 12), and the face coefficient HEAD_P by the following equation.
MODEL = Infrared sensor output corresponding to face temperature / HEAD_P

The foot temperature reference value MODEL is a foot temperature at the center in a certain region (Y _n ). Here, n = 1, 2, 3,... Note that n = 8 is a detection region of the light receiving element located at the top of the infrared sensor arranged in a line in the vertical direction, and corresponds to the infrared sensor output 88 corresponding to the temperature of the human face and the foot temperature of the human body. Since the corresponding infrared sensor output 89 cannot be obtained separately, it is not applicable.

  The foot temperature measurement value SENSOR is the maximum value (see FIG. 12) at the lowermost end in the human body region and is an actual measurement value.

From the foot temperature measurement value SENSOR, the foot temperature reference value MODEL determines where the foot of the human body is in a certain region (y _n ). As a precondition, it is assumed that the distance in the depth direction in a certain region (Y _n ) and the foot temperature have a linear function relationship.

When the width (distance) in the Y-axis direction of a certain region (Y _n ) is ΔY _n , the position of the foot temperature measurement value SENSOR in the certain region (Y _n ) of the human body is the certain region (Y _n ). The distance from the center of the human body region (Y _n ) is
ΔY _n × (MODEL-SENSOR) / MODEL
It can be expressed as
here,
−0.5 ≦ 1-SENSOR / MODEL <0.5

When ΔY _n × (MODEL−SENSOR) / MODEL has a negative value, the position of the human body is closer to the front side (air conditioner 100 side) than the center of the region (Y _n ), ΔY _n × (MODEL−SENSOR) / MODEL Is zero, the position of the human body is the center of the region (Y _n ), and when ΔY _n × (MODEL-SENSOR) / MODEL is a positive value, the position of the human body is behind the center of the region (Y _n ). It will be in.

The Y coordinate of the center of a certain region (Y _n ) is Y _n + ΔY _n × 0.5. Thus, _Y n _detail a human Y-coordinate of the foot temperature measurements SENSOR is
Since a Y _n _detail = distance from the center of the area center of the Y-coordinate + body region of _{(Y n) (Y n)} ,
_{Y n _Detail = Y n + ΔY} n × 0.5 + ΔY n × (MODEL-SENSOR) / MODEL
It becomes.

Organizing the above Y _n _Detail
_{Y n _Detail = Y n + ΔY} n × (0.5+ (1-SENSOR / MODEL))
It becomes.

In this embodiment, since the infrared sensor 3 has eight light receiving elements arranged in a line in the vertical direction inside the metal can 1, n = 1, 2,... The number is not limited to eight. _Accordingly, the general formula of Y n _detail is a formula shown below.
_{Y n _Detail = Y n + ΔY} n × (0.5+ (1-SENSOR / MODEL))
However, -0.5 <= (MODEL-SENSOR) / MODEL <0.5, n is a natural number.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the correlation between the output of the infrared sensor corresponding to the face temperature of the human body and the output of the infrared sensor corresponding to the foot temperature of the human body is constant regardless of the depth detection distance. By using this correlation and obtaining the details of the depth distance with the output fluctuation amount corresponding to the foot temperature that changes depending on the standing position with the expansion of the depth viewing angle, it is possible to perform fine air flow control.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Metal can, 2 Light distribution viewing angle, 3 Infrared sensor, 5 Case, 6 Stepping motor, 7 Mounting part, 16 Left wall surface, 17 Right wall surface, 18 Floor surface, 19 Front wall, 40 Indoor unit housing, 41 Air inlet , 42 air outlet, 43 upper and lower flaps, 44 left and right flaps, 45 blower, 46 heat exchanger, 51 infrared sensor drive unit, 52 infrared image acquisition unit, 55 floor surface coordinate conversion unit, 58 wall position determination unit, 61 human body detection unit 62 Human body position history accumulating section, 80 floor coordinate projection human thermal image, 81 infrared sensor output corresponding to human body temperature, 82 infrared sensor output corresponding to human foot temperature, 88 human body temperature Corresponding infrared sensor output, 89 Infrared sensor output corresponding to the foot temperature of the human body, 100 Air conditioner.

Claims (4)

A substantially box-shaped body having a suction port for sucking air in the room and a blow-out port for blowing out conditioned air;
An infrared sensor that is attached downward to the front surface of the main body at a predetermined depression angle and that detects the temperature of the temperature detection target by scanning the temperature detection target range from side to side;
Detecting the presence of a human body and a heat generating device by the infrared sensor, and comprising a control unit for controlling the air conditioner,
The controller scans the infrared sensor to acquire thermal image data of the room, and the infrared sensor corresponding to the foot temperature of the human body standing upright at the center coordinate of the viewing angle of the infrared sensor in the depth direction of the room. When the output is used as a reference, the depth of the human body from the air conditioner depends on the ratio of the difference from the reference of the output of the infrared sensor corresponding to the foot temperature that changes depending on the standing position of the human body in the depth direction of the room to the reference. An air conditioner characterized by obtaining details of a distance in a direction. The controller is
An infrared sensor driving unit for driving the infrared sensor;
An infrared image acquisition unit for generating thermal image data from the output of the infrared sensor drive unit;
2. A human body detection unit that determines a position of a human body by taking a difference between the thermal image data generated by the infrared image acquisition unit and the previous thermal image data. The air conditioner described.   The air conditioning according to claim 2, wherein the control unit includes a floor surface coordinate conversion unit that converts the position of the human body as a floor surface coordinate point in the room on the thermal image data, and projects the result onto the floor surface. Machine. Details Y _n _Detail of the distance in the depth direction of the human body,
_{Y n _Detail = Y n + ΔY} n × (0.5+ (1-SENSOR / MODEL))
−0.5 ≦ 1-SENSOR / MODEL <0.5
here,
Y _n : coordinate in the depth direction of the room ΔY _n = Y _{n + 1} −Y _n
SENSOR: Foot temperature measurement value MODEL: Foot temperature reference value (infrared sensor output corresponding to face temperature / HEAD_P)
HEAD_P: Face coefficient (infrared sensor output corresponding to face temperature / infrared sensor output corresponding to foot temperature)
The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein n is a natural number.