JP2016145650A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air conditioner capable of providing more comfortable sleeping environment, as a thermopile cannot accurately detect small movement such as rolling-over during sleeping, so that it cannot control an air conditioner because of the small movement such as rolling-over during sleeping, and cannot realize a comfortable sleeping environment.SOLUTION: An air conditioner includes illuminance detection means for detecting illuminance in an air-conditioned room, a pyroelectric infrared ray sensor for detecting movement of a human body, and air-conditioning control means for controlling air-conditioning to lower a temperature with respect to a set temperature when the indoor illuminance detected by the illuminance detection means is a prescribed value or less, and the movement of a human body is detected by the pyroelectric infrared ray sensor.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioner that can provide a comfortable sleep environment to a user.

  There is known an air conditioner that detects an occupant in a room where an indoor unit is installed and reflects the detection result in air conditioning control.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, a human body is identified from a moving object (moving body) that appears in the difference image by taking a difference between images input over time from the imaging means, and within a predetermined time. Describes a human body activity amount calculation device that calculates an activity feature amount (activity amount) based on the moving area of the human body.

  Further, in Patent Document 2, biological information of a sleeping person is detected (sensing) by a sensor such as a camera or a thermopile, and a sleep state such as a sleep depth is determined based on the detected biological information. Accordingly, an indoor environment control system for setting an air conditioning target for the indoor environment is disclosed.

JP-A-8-178390 JP2013-213642A

  In the human body activity amount calculation device described in Patent Document 1, a human body activity amount is detected using a camera. Since the camera can detect only the visible light band and a part of the near-infrared light band, the movement of the human body cannot be detected when the room is dark.

  On the other hand, according to the thermopile described in Patent Document 2, a human body can be detected even when the room is dark, but the thermopile cannot accurately detect small movements such as turning over during sleep. Therefore, even if the thermopile described in Patent Literature 2 is used, it is impossible to control the air conditioner based on small movements such as turning over during sleep and to realize a comfortable sleep environment.

  Then, an object of this invention is to provide the air conditioner which implement | achieves a more comfortable sleep environment proposal.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an air conditioner according to the present invention is detected by illuminance detection means for detecting the illuminance in the air-conditioned room, a pyroelectric infrared sensor for detecting the movement of the human body, and the illuminance detection means. Air conditioning control means for controlling air conditioning so that the temperature is lower than a preset temperature when the illuminance in the room is equal to or less than a predetermined value and the movement of the human body is detected by a pyroelectric infrared sensor.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the air conditioner which implement | achieves a more comfortable sleep environment proposal can be provided.

1 is a configuration diagram of an air conditioner according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is side surface sectional drawing of the indoor unit which concerns on Example 1. FIG. 1 is a control block diagram of an air conditioner according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a temperature matrix according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a bed position detection diagram according to the first embodiment. 3 is a flowchart of a rest operation according to the first embodiment.

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

  FIG. 1 is a front view of an indoor unit, an outdoor unit, and a remote controller of an air conditioner according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the air conditioner includes an indoor unit 100, an outdoor unit 200, and a remote controller Re. The indoor unit 100 and the outdoor unit 200 are connected by a refrigerant pipe (not shown), and air-conditions the room where the indoor unit 100 is installed by a known refrigerant cycle. The indoor unit 100 and the outdoor unit 200 transmit and receive information to and from each other via a communication cable (not shown).

  The remote controller Re is operated by the user and transmits an infrared signal to the remote controller transmission / reception unit Q of the indoor unit 100. The contents of the infrared signal are commands such as an operation request, a change in set temperature, a timer, an operation mode change, and a stop request. The air conditioner performs air conditioning operations such as a cooling mode, a heating mode, and a dehumidifying mode based on the commands of these infrared signals. Moreover, the indoor unit 100 transmits data such as room temperature information, humidity information, and electricity bill information from the remote control transmission / reception unit Q to the remote control Re.

  In addition, an imaging unit 121 and a temperature detection unit 141 (a human body / object surface temperature detection unit) are installed on the same straight line in the longitudinal direction at the center lower portion of the indoor unit 100, and further on the lower right side of the indoor unit 100. Are arranged with infrared human detection means 161 (infrared human detection means). The temperature detection 141 is installed on the same plane as the installation surface of the imaging unit 121, thereby preventing a shadow from appearing in the image captured by the imaging unit 121. The imaging unit 121 is arranged to capture an image of the air-conditioned room. On the other hand, the infrared detecting means 161 is arranged so as to monitor the movement of the heat source (human movement) in the air-conditioned room.

  The arrangement of the temperature detection unit 141, the imaging unit 121, and the human detection unit 161 may be set according to the image detection method and the detection target, the specifications of the imaging unit 121, the infrared human detection unit 161, and the like. In the present embodiment, the infrared human detection means 161 is arranged to be mounted at one place of the indoor unit 100. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the infrared human detection means 161 may be disposed at a plurality of locations in the indoor unit 100.

  FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the indoor unit 100. As shown in FIG. 2, the housing base 101 of the indoor unit 100 houses internal structures such as the indoor heat exchanger 102, the blower fan 103, and the filter 108.

  The indoor heat exchanger 102 has a plurality of heat transfer tubes 102a. The indoor heat exchanger 102 is configured to heat or cool the air that has been taken into the indoor unit 100 by the blower fan 103 with the refrigerant that flows through the heat transfer tube 102a. The heat transfer tube 102a communicates with a refrigerant pipe (not shown) and constitutes a part of a known refrigerant cycle (not shown).

  The left and right wind direction plates 104 are rotated by a left and right wind direction plate motor (not shown) with a pivot shaft (not shown) provided at the bottom as a fulcrum according to an instruction from a main microcomputer (not shown) of the indoor unit 100. Moved.

  In accordance with an instruction from the main microcomputer of the indoor unit 100, the vertical wind direction plate 105 is rotated by a vertical wind direction plate motor (not shown) with pivot shafts (not shown) provided at both ends as fulcrums.

  The front panel 106 is installed so as to cover the front surface of the indoor unit 100, and is configured to be rotatable by a front panel motor (not shown) with the lower end as an axis. The front panel 106 is not limited to this configuration, and may be configured to be fixed to the lower end.

  As the blower fan 103 rotates, the room air is taken in through the air suction port 107 and the filter 108, and the air heat-exchanged by the indoor heat exchanger 102 is guided to the blowout air passage 109a. The air guided to the blowout air passage 109a is adjusted in air direction by the left and right airflow direction plates 104 and the vertical airflow direction plate 105, and is sent to the outside from the air blowout port 109b. The air sent to the outside from the air outlet 109b air-conditions the room.

  The imaging means 121 is attached in the vicinity of the air outlet 109b. The imaging means 121 is installed so as to face downward by a predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal direction from its own mounting position. Thereby, it is possible to appropriately capture the room in which the indoor unit 100 is installed. However, the mounting position of the imaging unit 121 and the installation angle thereof may be set in accordance with the specifications and application of the air conditioner, and the configuration is not limited.

  The structure of the air conditioner of this embodiment is an example to the last, and this invention is applicable also about the form of all the air conditioners.

  FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of the air conditioner. The control unit 130 of the air conditioner includes an image detection unit 131, a storage unit 135, an arithmetic processing unit 136, and a drive control unit 137. The control unit 130 drives the load 150 based on each detection information of the environment detection unit 120.

  The environment detection unit 120 includes an imaging unit 121 and an A / D conversion unit 124, a person detection unit 161 and an A / D conversion unit 162 for detecting a resident, and a temperature detection unit 141 near the occupant. Is done. Here, the other sensor 129 is, for example, a room temperature detection sensor or a humidity detection sensor.

  The control unit 130 comprehensively controls the operation of the air conditioner according to image information input from the imaging unit 121, command signals input from the remote controller Re, sensor outputs input from various sensors, and the like. The image detection unit 131 of the control unit 130 performs various types of image processing on the image data captured by the imaging unit 121 and obtains information such as the position and activity amount of the occupant and information such as the shape, position, and distance of the object. To detect. Detection data detected by the image detection unit 131 is transmitted to the arithmetic processing unit 136.

  The storage unit 135 includes, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. And the program memorize | stored in ROM is read by the control microcomputer, expand | deployed to RAM, and is performed. When the control microcomputer is divided into two for camera and operation control, it is desirable that the ROM and RAM are also divided.

  The arithmetic processing unit 136 calculates a comfortable driving state based on each information of the environment detection means, the image detection information, and the stored information in addition to the set operation setting of the air conditioning operation. Based on the result, each load is driven via the arithmetic drive control unit 137 to realize a comfortable air conditioning environment.

  For example, the load 150 is installed in the compressor motor 151 included in the outdoor unit 200, the blower fan motor 152 included in the indoor unit 100, the left / right wind direction motor 153 installed in the left / right wind direction plate 104, and the up / down wind direction plate 105. And a vertical wind direction plate motor 154.

FIG. 4 shows a temperature matrix 142 stored in advance in the storage unit 135. The temperature detection means 141 according to the present embodiment outputs temperature data for 8 parts in the vertical direction and 5 degrees in the horizontal direction. The detection means is rotated 30 times every 5 °, and the temperature of the entire room is detected by detecting the temperature of 150 ° in total. Further, the direction of the temperature detection means 141 is overlapped with a part of the detection range within a predetermined range. May be detected more finely by changing the number of times. When the temperature matrix 142 detects temperatures close to the human body temperature in a wide range, the frequency of human body detection is increased.
When the temperature matrix 142 detects a temperature equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature, temperature detection is performed again in that direction.

  When the temperature matrix 142 detects a temperature close to the temperature of the human body in a wide range, the temperature matrix in the same direction is detected again. The position of each heat source in the air-conditioned room can be grasped by the method described above.

  FIG. 5 shows a detection method of the infrared human detection sensor. The infrared human detection means 161 of the present embodiment is one obtained by dividing the left and right direction of the entire room into 10 parts and dividing the depth direction into 6 parts. The infrared human detection sensor detects the amount of activity of each part of the divided air-conditioned room, and grasps the position and the amount of activity of the occupants in the air-conditioned room. The position and temperature of the occupant can be accurately detected even in the dark from the activity information and the temperature information described in the previous term. This control makes it possible to detect the position of the bed in the bedroom, and by using a learning function, a plurality of bed position information can be stored in a storage unit prepared in advance and reflected in the air conditioning control.

  For example, the temperature of the air-conditioned room is detected by the temperature detection means after the start of the holiday operation, and the place where the temperature is high is estimated as the skin position (face) of the person exposed from the futon. Since the bed is used during sleep, the skin position (face) is set as the bed position. Record the estimated bed position as the latest coordinates. Periodically check the bed position and store multiple data. When the rest operation is started, it is possible to select whether to use the latest data or the average data from the plurality of stored bed positions.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a rest operation. When the rest operation is started by the remote controller Re, control is performed by the control unit toward the bed position estimated from the learning function, and the activity amount is monitored by the human detection means. If the amount of activity is less than the predetermined value, monitoring is performed again. When the amount of activity is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, it is determined that the user has turned upside down, and the temperature at the place where the activity has occurred is detected by a temperature matrix by the temperature detecting means. If the temperature detected position is the same as the learning position at the start of operation, comfortable air conditioning control is performed according to the current air conditioning status (set temperature, room temperature, humidity, etc.) and the amount of activity without changing the control direction. To do. When the temperature detected position is different from the learning position when the operation is started, the comfortable air conditioning control is performed toward the new place as described above, and the new position is stored in the storage unit. By repeating these controls, a comfortable air-conditioning state can be maintained.

  In the air conditioner according to the present embodiment, the illuminance detecting means for detecting the illuminance in the air-conditioned room, the pyroelectric infrared sensor 161 for detecting the movement of the human body, and the illuminance in the room detected by the illuminance detecting means are predetermined values. In the following, and when the movement of the human body is detected by the pyroelectric infrared sensor 161, the air conditioning operation control means controls the air conditioning so that the temperature becomes lower than the set temperature.

  In addition, human body position detecting means for detecting the position of the human body is further provided, and the air conditioning operation control means has the indoor illuminance detected by the illuminance detecting means being equal to or less than a predetermined value, and the movement of the human body is detected by the pyroelectric infrared sensor 161. When detected, the wind direction may be controlled based on the position of the human body detected by the human body position detecting means 161.

  Here, a storage unit that stores the position of the human body detected by the human body position detection unit when the indoor illuminance detected by the illuminance detection unit is equal to or less than a predetermined value is provided, and the air conditioning operation control unit is stored in the storage unit. The wind direction may be controlled based on the position of the human body.

  In the present embodiment, the temperature detecting means (thermopile) 141 is used as the human body position detecting means, but other sensors may be used.

  In this embodiment, the image sensor of the imaging unit 121 is used as the illuminance detection unit, but another sensor such as a solar radiation sensor may be used.

A Air conditioner Re Remote control Q Remote control transmission / reception unit 100 Indoor unit 103 Blower fan 104 Left and right wind direction plate 105 Upper and lower wind direction plate 106 Front panel 107 Air inlet 109b Air outlet 120 Environment detection unit 121 Imaging unit 124 A / D conversion unit 129 Others Sensor 130 Control unit 131 Image detection unit 135 Storage unit 136 Arithmetic processing unit (air conditioning operation control unit)
137 Drive control unit (air conditioning operation control means)
141 Temperature detection means (thermopile)
142 Temperature Matrix 150 Load 151 Compressor Motor 152 Blower Fan Motor 153 Left / Right Wind Direction Plate Motor 154 Up / Down Wind Direction Plate Motor 161 Pyroelectric Infrared Sensor 162 A / D Converter 200 Outdoor Unit

Claims (6)

Illuminance detection means for detecting the illuminance in the air-conditioned room;
A pyroelectric infrared sensor for detecting the movement of the human body;
Air-conditioning operation control means for controlling air-conditioning so that the temperature is lower than a set temperature when the indoor illuminance detected by the illuminance detection means is less than a predetermined value and the movement of the human body is detected by the pyroelectric infrared sensor. And an air conditioner. Illuminance detection means for detecting the illuminance in the air-conditioned room;
A pyroelectric infrared sensor for detecting the movement of the human body;
Human body position detecting means for detecting the position of the human body;
Based on the position of the human body detected by the human body position detecting means when the indoor illuminance detected by the illuminance detecting means is below a predetermined value and the movement of the human body is detected by the pyroelectric infrared sensor. An air conditioner comprising air conditioning operation control means for controlling the air direction. Illuminance detection means for detecting the illuminance in the air-conditioned room;
A pyroelectric infrared sensor for detecting the movement of the human body;
Human body position detecting means for detecting the position of the human body;
A storage unit that stores the position of the human body detected by the human body position detection unit when the illuminance in the room detected by the illuminance detection unit is equal to or less than a predetermined value;
When the indoor illuminance detected by the illuminance detection means is less than a predetermined value and the movement of the human body is detected by the pyroelectric infrared sensor, the wind direction is determined based on the position of the human body stored in the storage unit. An air conditioner comprising air conditioning operation control means for controlling.   The air conditioner according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the human body position detecting means is constituted by a thermopile. An imaging means for imaging the air-conditioned room,
The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the illuminance detection means is constituted by an image pickup device of the image pickup means.   The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the illuminance detection means includes a solar radiation sensor.