JP2019048499A - Air conditioning device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an air conditioning device that can accurately estimate temperature of a skin on an inside of clothing and perform comfortable air conditioning.SOLUTION: An air conditioning device 10 includes: a temperature detection part 101 for detecting an outer skin temperature that is a temperature of part exposed to the outside from clothing CL of a skin of an occupant M; and a temperature estimation part 104 for estimating an inner skin temperature that is a temperature of part covered with the clothing CL of the skin of the occupant M based on the outer skin temperature.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present disclosure relates to an air conditioner installed in a vehicle.

  In recent years, in addition to maintaining the temperature in the passenger compartment at a preset target temperature, studies have been advanced on an air conditioner that can perform more detailed control in order to comfortably maintain the thermal sensation of the passenger. There is. For example, in the air conditioner described in Patent Document 1 below, the temperature of the air blown into the vehicle compartment is adjusted using a plurality of pieces of information including the amount of clothes and the like input from the occupant.

Patent No. 3498356 gazette

  When air-conditioning air is applied to the clothes of the occupant, it is preferable to set the temperature of the air-conditioning air to an appropriate temperature according to the temperature of the skin inside the clothes. However, the temperature of the skin inside the clothes can not be directly detected by a thermal imaging camera or the like. Also, as described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, it is conceivable to make the occupant input the amount of clothes and estimate the temperature of the skin based on the amount of clothes, but to make the occupant bothersome. In addition, there is also a problem that accurate information is not always input.

  An object of the present disclosure is to provide an air conditioner capable of accurately estimating the temperature of the skin inside the clothes and performing comfortable air conditioning.

  An air conditioner according to the present disclosure is an air conditioner (10) mounted on a vehicle, and detects an external skin temperature that is a temperature of a portion of the skin of the occupant (M) exposed from the clothes (CL). And a temperature estimation unit (104) for estimating the internal skin temperature which is the temperature of the portion of the skin of the occupant covered with the clothing based on the external skin temperature.

  The external skin temperature, which is the temperature of the portion of the occupant's skin exposed from the clothing, can be detected relatively easily by, for example, a thermal imaging camera. The internal skin temperature, which is the temperature of the portion of the occupant's skin covered with clothing, has some correlation with the above external skin temperature. Therefore, in the air conditioner having the above configuration, the temperature estimation unit estimates the internal skin temperature based on the external skin temperature detected by the temperature detection unit. This makes it possible to estimate internal skin temperatures, which are difficult to detect directly, relatively accurately.

  According to the present disclosure, there is provided an air conditioner capable of accurately estimating the temperature of the skin inside the clothes and performing comfortable air conditioning.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an air conditioner according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a view schematically depicting an occupant present in the vehicle compartment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing executed by the control device.

  Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described with reference to the attached drawings. In order to facilitate understanding of the description, the same constituent elements in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible, and redundant description will be omitted.

  The structure of the air conditioner 10 which concerns on this embodiment is demonstrated, referring FIG. The air conditioner 10 is mounted on a vehicle (not shown), and is a device for performing air conditioning of a vehicle interior of the vehicle. The air conditioner 10 includes a thermal imaging camera 110, an air conditioning mechanism unit 120, and a control device 100.

  The thermal imaging camera 110 is a sensor that detects the surface temperature of an object (including a human body) present in the vehicle compartment based on radiation from the object. The thermal imaging camera 110 can generate an image indicating the temperature distribution of each part in the vehicle compartment, that is, a thermal image, and can transmit the image to the control device 100 described later. The thermal imaging camera 110 is installed at a position where it can capture a thermal image including all the occupants seated in each seat in the vehicle compartment. As such a position, the upper surface of an instrument panel etc. are mentioned, for example.

  The air conditioning mechanism unit 120 is a mechanism portion for performing air conditioning of the vehicle interior. The air conditioning mechanism unit 120 includes a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, an evaporator, a blower for feeding out air, a swing louver for adjusting the direction of the conditioned air to be blown out, etc. which constitute a refrigeration cycle. . In addition, since a well-known thing can be employ | adopted as a structure of such an air-conditioning mechanism part 120, it abbreviate | omits about the specific illustration and description. The operation of the air conditioning mechanism unit 120 is controlled by the control device 100.

  Control device 100 is a device for controlling the overall operation of air conditioner 10. The control device 100 is configured as a computer system having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. The control device 100 appropriately performs the air conditioning of the vehicle interior by controlling the operation of the air conditioning mechanism unit 120 based on the thermal image taken by the thermal image camera 110. For example, when a thermal image showing that the surface temperature of a part of the occupant is high is obtained, the operation of the air conditioning mechanism 120 is controlled to blow out the low-temperature conditioned air toward the occupant. Do. In the following description, the occupant present in the vehicle compartment will also be referred to as "the occupant M".

  The control device 100 includes, as functional control blocks, a temperature detection unit 101, a blood flow volume estimation unit 102, a perspiration amount estimation unit 103, a temperature estimation unit 104, and an air conditioning control unit 105.

  The temperature detection unit 101 is a portion that detects an external skin temperature that is a temperature of a portion of the skin of the occupant M exposed to the outside from the clothing CL (see FIG. 2). As the external skin temperature, for example, the temperature of the neck and arms of the occupant M is detected. The temperature detection unit 101 in the present embodiment detects the external skin temperature by analyzing the thermal image taken by the thermal imaging camera 110. Instead of such an aspect, the temperature detection unit 101 may detect the external skin temperature based on a signal from a wearable sensor attached to the occupant M. When a plurality of occupants M exist in the vehicle compartment, detection of the external skin temperature by the temperature detection unit 101 is performed for each of the occupants M.

  The blood flow volume estimation unit 102 is a part that estimates the blood flow volume of the occupant M. The blood flow volume estimation unit 102 in the present embodiment estimates the blood flow volume of the occupant M based on the external skin temperature of the occupant M detected by the temperature detection unit 101. For example, it is estimated that the blood flow of the occupant M is larger as the detected external skin temperature is higher. Instead of such an aspect, the blood flow volume estimation unit 102 may estimate the blood flow volume based on a signal from a wearable sensor attached to the occupant M. The estimation of the blood flow volume by the blood flow volume estimation unit 102 may be quantitatively performed as a specific numerical value, but may be performed qualitatively simply as “large” or “small”. When a plurality of occupants M exist in the vehicle compartment, the blood flow volume estimation unit 102 estimates the blood flow volume for each occupant M.

  The perspiration amount estimation unit 103 is a part that estimates the perspiration amount of the occupant M. The perspiration amount estimation unit 103 in the present embodiment is based on the temperature unevenness of the external skin temperature of the occupant M detected by the temperature detection unit 101 (the difference between the maximum temperature and the minimum temperature in the continuous area on the skin). The amount of sweating of the occupant M is estimated. Specifically, it is estimated that the sweating amount of the occupant M is larger as the temperature unevenness of the external skin temperature shown in the thermal image is larger. Instead of such an aspect, the sweat amount estimation unit 103 may estimate the amount of sweat based on a signal from a wearable sensor attached to the occupant M. The perspiration amount estimation unit 103 may estimate the perspiration amount quantitatively as a specific numerical value, but may be qualitatively performed simply as “large” or “small”. When a plurality of occupants M exist in the vehicle compartment, the estimation of the amount of sweating by the perspiration amount estimation unit 103 is performed for each occupant M.

  The temperature estimation unit 104 is a portion that estimates the internal skin temperature, which is the temperature of the portion of the skin of the occupant M covered by the clothing CL, based on the external skin temperature. FIG. 2 shows the upper body of the occupant M who wears the clothes CL. For example, based on the external skin temperature at each of the measurement point P11 at the neck of the occupant M, the measurement point P12 at the right arm of the occupant M, and the measurement point P13 at the left arm of the occupant M, the temperature estimation unit 104 The internal skin temperature at the estimated point P21 at is estimated. The measurement points P11, P12 and P13 are points on the skin which are not covered by the clothes CL and exposed to the outside. The estimated point P21 is a point on the skin covered by the clothing CL. A specific estimation method of the internal skin temperature by the temperature estimation unit 104 will be described later.

  The air conditioning control unit 105 is a part that controls the operation of the air conditioning mechanism unit 120 based on the internal skin temperature estimated by the temperature estimation unit 104. For example, when the internal skin temperature at a specific point of the occupant M is estimated as a higher temperature, the air conditioning control unit 105 operates the air conditioning mechanism unit 120 so as to blow a low temperature conditioned air toward the point. Control. Thereby, the thermal sensation of the occupant M can be made more comfortable.

  In performing such control, it is necessary to estimate the internal skin temperature which is difficult to measure directly as accurately as possible. A specific flow of processing performed by the control device 100 to estimate the internal skin temperature will be described with reference to FIG. A series of processes shown in FIG. 3 are repeatedly executed by the control device 100 each time a predetermined cycle elapses in a period in which the air conditioning system 10 is performing air conditioning.

  In the first step S01, processing of acquiring a thermal image in the vehicle compartment by the thermal imaging camera 110 is performed. As already stated, the thermal image shows the distribution of the surface temperature of each occupant M present in the vehicle compartment.

  In step S02 following step S01, the temperature detection unit 101 performs a process of detecting the external skin temperature. The temperature detection unit 101 detects the external skin temperature at a plurality of locations of the occupant M by analyzing the thermal image taken by the thermal imaging camera 110.

  The temperature detection unit 101 determines that the portion where the temperature changes discontinuously in the thermal image is the boundary between the portion covered by the clothing CL and the portion not covered. After the determination, the temperature detection unit 101 detects, as the external skin temperature, the temperature in the vicinity of the clothing CL in the skin of the occupant M exposed from the clothing CL. For example, the temperature detection unit 101 detects each of the temperatures at three measurement points P11, P12, and P13 shown in FIG. 2 as the external skin temperature. As described above, the temperature detection unit 101 detects the external skin temperature at a plurality of locations sandwiching the clothing part (the part covered by the clothing CL).

  The detection of the external skin temperature by the temperature detection unit 101 is performed on the part near the clothing CL as described above, but is more preferably performed on the part of the skin with a small amount of sweating. . For this reason, the external skin temperature by the temperature detection unit 101 at a position avoiding a position where temperature is locally low in the thermal image (that is, a position at which perspiration occurs) in a portion where the skin is exposed. Preferably, the detection of

  In step S03 following step S02, the temperature estimation unit 104 performs a process of estimating the internal skin temperature based on the plurality of external skin temperatures acquired in step S02. Here, the internal skin temperature at each point of the portion covered by the clothing CL is estimated individually. As a result, the distribution of the internal skin temperature over the entire portion covered by the clothing CL can be obtained. That is, the estimated point P21 shown in FIG. 2 is one of a plurality of estimated points.

  Here, the internal skin temperature at the estimation point is estimated based on the external skin temperatures of the plurality of measurement points sandwiching the estimation point. For example, the internal skin temperature at the estimation point P21 in FIG. 2 is estimated based on the external skin temperature at each of the measurement points P11, P12, and P13 sandwiching the estimation point P21. Specifically, the average value of the external skin temperature at each of the measurement points P11, P12, and P13 is calculated as an estimated value of the internal skin temperature at the estimation point P21. Furthermore, a value obtained by correcting the average value calculated as described above so as to be weighted according to the distance to each measurement point may be calculated as the estimated value of the internal skin temperature. For example, the estimated value of the internal skin temperature at the estimation point may be corrected so that the temperature approaches the external skin temperature at the measurement point P11.

  The plurality of measurement points of the external skin temperature used to estimate the internal skin temperature may be changed each time according to the position of the estimation point. At this time, it is preferable that the plurality of measurement points of the external skin temperature include, among the skin exposed outside the clothing CL, a point at a position closest to the estimation point for estimating the internal skin temperature. For example, among the exposed skins, the plurality of measurement points used to estimate the internal skin temperature at the estimation point P21 in FIG. 2 include the measurement point P11 closest to the estimation point P21. preferable.

  As described above, the temperature detection unit 101 in the present embodiment is configured to at least detect the temperature of the portion closest to the portion where the internal skin temperature is estimated among the skin of the occupant M exposed from the clothing CL. ing.

  In step S04 subsequent to step S03, a process of estimating the blood flow volume of the occupant M is performed by the blood flow volume estimation unit 102. The blood flow volume estimation method by the blood flow volume estimation unit 102 is as described above.

  In step S05 subsequent to step S04, the process of estimating the amount of sweat of the occupant M is performed by the sweat amount estimation unit 103. The method of estimating the amount of sweating by the sweating amount estimation unit 103 is as described above.

  In step S06 following step S05, processing is performed to correct the internal skin temperature of each part estimated in step S03 based on the blood flow volume estimated in step S04 and the amount of sweating estimated in step S05. . Specifically, the internal skin temperature of each part is corrected to be a higher value as the blood flow volume estimated in step S04 becomes larger. If the estimated blood flow rate is small, the internal skin temperature of each part may be corrected to a value lower than the initial value. Further, as the amount of sweating estimated in step S05 increases, the internal skin temperature of each part is corrected to be a lower value. The relationship between the blood flow rate and the correction amount, and the relationship between the sweat rate and the correction amount are prepared in advance as a map, and stored in a control device (not shown) of the control device 100. The internal skin temperature that has been corrected in step S06 is an estimate of the final internal skin temperature.

  In step S07 following step S06, a process of adjusting the operation of the air conditioning mechanism unit 120 is performed based on the estimated value of the internal skin temperature obtained in the process up to step S06.

  As described above, in the air conditioner 10 according to the present embodiment, the internal skin temperature that is difficult to detect directly is estimated based on the external skin temperature of the occupant M, the blood flow rate, and the amount of sweating. Since it is not necessary to input information such as the amount of clothes by the occupant M, it is possible to estimate the internal skin temperature relatively accurately, and perform comfortable air conditioning based on this.

  The present embodiment has been described above with reference to the specific example. However, the present disclosure is not limited to these specific examples. Those appropriately modified in design by those skilled in the art are also included in the scope of the present disclosure as long as the features of the present disclosure are included. The elements included in the above-described specific examples, and the arrangement, conditions, and shapes thereof are not limited to those illustrated, but can be appropriately modified. The elements included in the above-described specific examples can be appropriately changed in combination as long as no technical contradiction arises.

10: air conditioner 101: temperature detection unit 104: temperature estimation unit CL: clothing M: occupant

Claims (9)

An air conditioner (10) mounted on a vehicle,
A temperature detection unit (101) for detecting an external skin temperature which is a temperature of a portion of the skin of the occupant (M) exposed from the clothes (CL);
A temperature estimation unit (104) for estimating an internal skin temperature, which is a temperature of a portion of the skin of the occupant covered with clothing, based on the external skin temperature.   The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the temperature detection unit detects the external skin temperature at a plurality of places sandwiching a clothing portion.   The air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein the temperature detection unit detects at least a temperature of a portion closest to a portion where the internal skin temperature is estimated among skins of the occupant exposed from clothes. The temperature detection unit is
The temperature in the vicinity part of the said clothes among the skins of the said passenger | crew who are exposed from clothes is detected based on the thermal image produced | generated by the thermal imaging camera (110). Air conditioner as described in. And a blood flow volume estimation unit (102) for estimating the blood flow volume of the occupant.
The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the temperature estimation unit estimates the internal skin temperature also based on the blood flow rate.   The air conditioner according to claim 5, wherein the internal skin temperature estimated by the temperature estimation unit becomes higher as the blood flow rate becomes larger. And a perspiration amount estimation unit (103) for estimating the perspiration amount of the occupant.
The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the temperature estimation unit estimates the internal skin temperature based also on the amount of sweating.   The air conditioner according to claim 7, wherein the internal skin temperature estimated by the temperature estimation unit decreases as the amount of sweating increases. The sweat rate estimation unit
The air conditioner according to claim 7, wherein the amount of sweating is estimated based on temperature unevenness of the external skin temperature.

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