JP2019060561A - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an air conditioner capable of improving quality of sleep by adjusting deep bodily temperature of a person before going to bed.SOLUTION: A CPU 110 determines whether or not a body surface temperature Tb taken in is threshold temperature Tbh or lower. When the body surface temperature Tb is threshold temperature Tbh or lower, the CPU 110 transmits a signal including new set temperature Tp after adding addition temperature Tα to the current set temperature Tp to outdoor equipment 2. The outdoor equipment 2 receiving a signal including the new set temperature Tp changes rotational frequency of a compressor 21 just for a change of the set temperature Tp, that is, in accordance with the addition temperature Tα. In the case of cooling operation, the outdoor equipment 2 reduces the rotational frequency of the compressor 21 just for the addition temperature Tα. On the other hand, in the case of heating operation, the outdoor equipment 2 increases the rotational frequency of the compressor 21 just for the addition temperature Tα.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioner that performs air conditioning control using biological information of a person.

  BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, an air conditioner has been proposed which detects biological information such as body surface temperature and body movement of a person and utilizes the detected biological information for air conditioning control during sleep of the person. For example, in Patent Document 1, a breathing operation, which is one of biological information, is detected, and the depth of sleep of a person is calculated using this, and the air conditioning operation while sleeping is based on the calculated depth of sleep of the person. It describes about the air conditioner which changes preset temperature of.

JP, 2012-202659, A

  By the way, it is known that the temperature of the deep part of a human body (hereinafter referred to as deep body temperature) rises and falls in the rhythm from evening to morning in the morning to the evening. In addition, it is known that people tend to sleep more as core body temperature gets lower, and in particular, when core body temperature drops rapidly, they get asleep more easily, get a deep sleep, and improve the quality of sleep.

  Therefore, in order for a person to obtain good sleep, raising blood temperature at the core before the person goes to bed improves circulation of the hands and feet of the person to facilitate heat release from the surface of the body and starts going to bed Sometimes core temperature should be lowered rapidly. However, although various conventional air conditioners have been proposed for air conditioning control during bedtime, including those described in Patent Document 1, attention is paid to the body temperature of the person before bedtime to adjust this. There is nothing mentioned about air conditioning control to improve sleep quality.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an air conditioner capable of improving the quality of sleep by adjusting the body temperature of the person before going to bed.

  In order to solve the above problems, an air conditioner according to the present invention includes an outdoor unit, an indoor unit, and a body surface temperature detecting means for detecting a body surface temperature of a person present in a room in which the indoor unit is installed; It has control means for controlling the outdoor unit and the indoor unit. And when the body surface temperature detected by the body surface temperature detection means is lower than a predetermined threshold temperature at a predetermined time before the person's bedtime, the control means sets the temperature at the predetermined time before the bedtime. Add the specified temperature to.

  According to the air conditioner of the present invention configured as described above, it is possible to adjust the core temperature of the person before going to bed. As a result, when starting to go to bed, the core temperature can be lowered rapidly, and the quality of human sleep can be improved.

It is explanatory drawing of the air conditioner in embodiment of this invention, (A) is a refrigerant circuit figure, (B) is a block diagram of an indoor unit control means. It is explanatory drawing regarding the indoor unit in embodiment of this invention, (A) and (B) is a figure explaining arrangement | positioning of the up-down wind direction board and radiation temperature sensor in an indoor unit, (C) installs an indoor unit. It is a figure which shows the scanning range of a radiation temperature sensor when the room which was carried out was seen from the upper surface, (D) is a figure explaining the motion of an up-and-down wind direction board. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process in an indoor unit control means in embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the attached drawings. As an embodiment, an air conditioner in which an outdoor unit and an indoor unit are connected by two refrigerant pipes will be described as an example. The present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

<Configuration of air conditioner>
As shown in FIG. 1 (A), the air conditioner 1 in this embodiment includes an outdoor unit 2 installed outdoors, and an indoor unit installed indoors and connected to the outdoor unit 2 by a liquid pipe 4 and a gas pipe 5. The machine 3 is provided. More specifically, the closing valve 25 of the outdoor unit 2 and the liquid pipe connection portion 33 of the indoor unit 3 are connected by the liquid pipe 4. Further, the closing valve 26 of the outdoor unit 2 and the gas pipe connection portion 34 of the indoor unit 3 are connected by the gas pipe 5. The refrigerant circuit 10 of the air conditioner 1 is configured as described above.

<Configuration of outdoor unit>
First, the outdoor unit 2 will be described. The outdoor unit 2 includes a compressor 21, a four-way valve 22, an outdoor heat exchanger 23, an outdoor fan 24, a closing valve 25 to which the liquid pipe 4 is connected, and a closing valve 26 to which the gas pipe 5 is connected. , Expansion valve 27 is provided. Then, the respective devices excluding the outdoor fan 24 are mutually connected by respective refrigerant pipes to be described later, and constitute an outdoor unit refrigerant circuit 10 a which forms a part of the refrigerant circuit 10.

  The compressor 21 is a variable displacement compressor capable of changing the operating capacity by controlling the rotation speed by an inverter (not shown). The refrigerant discharge side of the compressor 21 is connected to a port a of the four-way valve 22 by a discharge pipe 61. The refrigerant suction side of the compressor 21 is connected to a port c of the four-way valve 22 by a suction pipe 66.

  The four-way valve 22 is a valve for switching the flow direction of the refrigerant, and has four ports a, b, c, d. The port a is connected to the refrigerant discharge side of the compressor 21 by the discharge pipe 61 as described above. The port b is connected to one refrigerant inlet / outlet of the outdoor heat exchanger 23 by a refrigerant pipe 62. The port c is connected to the refrigerant suction side of the compressor 21 by the suction pipe 66 as described above. The port d is connected to the closing valve 26 by the outdoor unit gas pipe 64.

  The outdoor heat exchanger 23 exchanges heat between the refrigerant and the outside air taken into the outdoor unit 2 by the rotation of the outdoor fan 24 described later. One refrigerant inlet / outlet of the outdoor heat exchanger 23 is connected to the port b of the four-way valve 22 by the refrigerant pipe 62 as described above, and the other refrigerant inlet / outlet is connected to the closing valve 25 by the outdoor unit liquid pipe 63.

  The expansion valve 27 is, for example, an electronic expansion valve, and is provided to the outdoor unit liquid pipe 63. By adjusting the degree of opening of the expansion valve 27, the amount of refrigerant flowing to the indoor unit 3 is set to an amount according to the cooling capacity or the heating capacity required of the indoor unit 3.

  The outdoor fan 24 is formed of a resin material, and is disposed in the vicinity of the outdoor heat exchanger 23. The outdoor fan 24 is rotated by a fan motor (not shown) to take outside air from the suction port (not shown) of the outdoor unit 2 into the interior of the outdoor unit 2 and exchange heat with refrigerant in the outdoor heat exchanger 23 in the outdoor unit 2. The air is discharged to the outside of the outdoor unit 2 from an air outlet (not shown).

  In addition to the configuration described above, the outdoor unit 2 is provided with various sensors. The discharge pipe 61 is provided with a high pressure sensor 71 for detecting the pressure of the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 21 and a discharge temperature sensor 73 for detecting the temperature of the refrigerant discharged from the compressor 21. The suction pipe 66 is provided with a low pressure sensor 72 for detecting the pressure of the refrigerant drawn into the compressor 21 and a suction temperature sensor 74 for detecting the temperature of the refrigerant drawn into the compressor 21.

  A heat exchange temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of refrigerant flowing out of the outdoor heat exchanger 23 or flowing into the outdoor heat exchanger 23 between the outdoor heat exchanger 23 and the expansion valve 27 in the outdoor unit liquid pipe 63 75 are provided. Then, near the suction port (not shown) of the outdoor unit 2, an outside air temperature sensor 76 is provided which detects the temperature of the outside air flowing into the interior of the outdoor unit 2, that is, the outside air temperature.

<Configuration of indoor unit>
Next, the indoor unit 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown in FIG. 1 (A), the indoor unit 3 includes the indoor heat exchanger 31, the indoor fan 32, the liquid pipe connection portion 33 to which the liquid pipe 4 is connected, and the gas pipe to which the gas pipe 5 is connected. The connection unit 34 and the indoor unit control means 100 are provided. Then, the respective units other than the indoor fan 32 and the indoor unit control means 100 are connected to one another by respective refrigerant pipes described in detail below, and constitute an indoor unit refrigerant circuit 10b forming a part of the refrigerant circuit 10 .

  Each apparatus which comprises the indoor unit 3 mentioned above is stored in the inside of the housing | casing 30a shown in FIG. The housing 30a is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape using a resin material. The housing 30a is provided on the top plate 30f of the housing 30a shown in FIG. 2C and has a suction port 30e for taking in air inside the housing 30a, and a front plate 30b of the housing 30a shown in FIG. 2A. And a blower outlet 30c for blowing air from the housing 30a to the outside. The indoor heat exchanger 23 and the indoor fan 24 are disposed in the housing 30a in the order from the suction port 30e to the blowout port 30c. The indoor unit 3 is installed on the wall of a room 200 (corresponding to the air-conditioned space of the present invention) shown in FIG. 2 (C).

  The indoor heat exchanger 31 exchanges heat between the refrigerant and the indoor air taken into the interior of the indoor unit 3 from the suction port 30 e of the indoor unit 3 by the rotation of the indoor fan 32 described later. As shown in FIG. 1 (A), one refrigerant inlet / outlet of the indoor heat exchanger 31 is connected to the liquid pipe connection 33 and the indoor unit liquid pipe 67, and the other refrigerant inlet / outlet is the gas pipe connection 34 and the indoor unit gas. It is connected by a tube 68. The indoor heat exchanger 31 functions as an evaporator when the indoor unit 3 performs the cooling operation, and functions as a condenser when the indoor unit 3 performs the heating operation. In the liquid pipe connection portion 33 and the gas pipe connection portion 34, respective refrigerant pipes are connected by welding, a flare nut or the like.

  The indoor fan 32 is formed of a resin material and disposed in the vicinity of the indoor heat exchanger 31. The indoor fan 31 takes in indoor air from the suction port 30e of the indoor unit 3 to the inside of the housing 30a of the indoor unit 3 by being rotated by a fan motor (not shown), and exchanges heat with refrigerant in the indoor heat exchanger 31 Air (hereinafter sometimes referred to as conditioned air) is blown out into the room from the air outlet 30c.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 (A), 2 (B) and 2 (C), the air outlet 30c is provided with a vertical wind direction plate 30d for vertically deflecting the air blown out from the air outlet 30c. . The vertical wind direction plate 30d is attached to the air outlet 30c so as to turn as indicated by an arrow Rv shown in FIG. 2D, and has a minimum angle with respect to the wall surface of the room 200 to which the indoor unit 3 is attached. From position Rvmin, it rotates in the range of position Rvmax which becomes a maximum angle to the wall surface of room 200.

  Further, although not shown, to the back (upper side of the housing 30a) than the vertical wind direction plate 30d of the air outlet 30c, the air blown from the air outlet 30c is turned left and right in order to deflect left and right. A wind direction plate is provided. The vertical wind direction plate 30d and the horizontal wind direction plate are the wind direction plate of the present invention.

  In addition to the configuration described above, the indoor unit 3 is provided with various sensors. The indoor unit liquid pipe 67 is provided with a liquid side temperature sensor 77 for detecting the temperature of the refrigerant flowing into the indoor heat exchanger 31 or flowing out from the indoor heat exchanger 31. The indoor unit gas pipe 68 is provided with a gas side temperature sensor 78 for detecting the temperature of the refrigerant flowing out of the indoor heat exchanger 31 or flowing into the indoor heat exchanger 31. Further, as shown in FIGS. 2A to 2C, in the vicinity of the suction port 30e of the indoor unit 3, a suction temperature sensor 79 for detecting the temperature of room air flowing into the interior of the indoor unit 3, that is, room temperature. Is equipped. The room temperature corresponds to the environmental information value of the present invention, and the suction temperature sensor 79 corresponds to the environmental information value detection means of the present invention.

  And as shown to FIG. 2 (A) thru | or FIG. 2 (C), the radiation temperature sensor 80 is arrange | positioned beside the blower outlet 30c in the front plate 30b of the housing | casing 30a of the indoor unit 3. As shown in FIG. The radiation temperature sensor 80 has a rectangular substrate 84, an infrared absorbing portion 81 mounted on the substrate 84, and an ambient temperature sensor 82. The substrate 84 is fixed to a motor shaft 83 of a stepping motor (not shown) stored in the inside of a housing 30a of the indoor unit 3, and the radiation temperature sensor 80 is turned to the left and right by the stepping motor. As shown to (C), the room 200 in which the indoor unit 3 was installed is scanned by visual field angle Rw (for example, 120 degrees). Thereby, the infrared radiation emitted from the person present in the scanning range 300 of the room 200 is detected.

  The infrared absorption unit 81 is, for example, an infrared array sensor, and absorbs infrared radiation emitted from the human body surface present in the scanning range 300 of the room 200. The ambient temperature sensor 82 is, for example, a thermistor, and detects the ambient temperature of the radiation temperature sensor 80. Although not shown, a thermocouple is mounted on the substrate 84, and one end of the thermocouple is disposed in the vicinity of the infrared ray absorbing portion 81 to be a hot junction, and the other end of the thermocouple is Are disposed in the vicinity of the ambient temperature sensor 82 to form a cold junction.

  As the infrared ray absorbing portion 81 absorbs infrared rays, the temperature of the warm contact point arranged in the vicinity of the infrared ray absorbing portion 81 rises, and a potential difference is generated between the hot contact point and the cold contact point by the function of the thermocouple. Do. On the other hand, the ambient temperature sensor 82 of the radiation temperature sensor 80 detects the ambient temperature of the radiation temperature sensor 80. The generated potential difference is converted to a temperature difference, and a temperature difference converted from the potential difference is added to the acquired ambient temperature, whereby the body surface temperature of a person is detected.

  The indoor unit 3 is provided with an indoor unit control means 100. The indoor unit control means 100 is mounted on a control board stored in an electric component box (not shown) disposed inside the housing 30 a of the indoor unit 3. As shown in FIG. 1B, the indoor unit control means 100 includes a CPU 110, a storage unit 120, a communication unit 130, and a sensor input unit 140.

  The storage unit 120 is configured by a ROM and a RAM, and stores a control program of the indoor unit 3, detection values corresponding to detection signals from various sensors, a control state of the indoor fan 32, and the like. The communication unit 130 is an interface for communicating with the outdoor unit control unit (not shown) of the outdoor unit 2. The sensor input unit 140 takes in detection results of various sensors of the indoor unit 3 and outputs the results to the CPU 110.

  The CPU 110 takes in the detection result of each sensor of the indoor unit 3 described above via the sensor input unit 140. The CPU 110 also takes in, via the communication unit 130, a signal related to control transmitted from the outdoor unit 2 or a remote controller (not shown). Further, the CPU 110 performs drive control of the indoor fan 32, the vertical air flow direction plate 30d, and the like based on the captured detection result and control signal.

<Operation of air conditioner>
Next, the flow of the refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit 10 and the operation of each part when the air conditioner 1 of the present embodiment performs the air conditioning operation will be described using FIG. In the following description, first, the case of performing the cooling operation will be described, and then, the case of performing the heating operation will be described. In FIG. 1A, solid arrows indicate the flow of the refrigerant during the cooling operation, and broken arrows indicate the flow of the refrigerant during the heating operation.

<Cooling operation>
When the cooling operation is performed, as shown in FIG. 1A, the four-way valve 22 is shown by a solid line, that is, the port a and the port b of the four-way valve 22 communicate with each other. To be switched. Thus, the refrigerant circulates in the direction indicated by the solid line arrow in the refrigerant circuit 10, and the outdoor heat exchanger 23 functions as a condenser and the indoor heat exchanger 31 functions as an evaporator.

  The high-pressure refrigerant discharged from the compressor 21 flows through the discharge pipe 61 and flows into the four-way valve 22, and flows from the four-way valve 22 through the refrigerant pipe 62 and flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 23. The refrigerant flowing into the outdoor heat exchanger 23 exchanges heat with the outside air taken into the interior of the outdoor unit 2 by the rotation of the outdoor fan 24 and condenses. The refrigerant that has flowed out of the outdoor heat exchanger 23 into the outdoor unit liquid pipe 63 is depressurized when passing through the expansion valve 27 and flows into the liquid pipe 4 via the closing valve 25.

  The refrigerant flowing through the liquid pipe 4 and flowing into the indoor unit 3 through the liquid side connection portion 33 flows through the indoor machine liquid pipe 67 and flows into the indoor heat exchanger 31, and rotation of the indoor fan 32 causes the refrigerant in the indoor unit 3 to It exchanges heat with the room air taken inside and evaporates. Thus, the room in which the indoor unit 3 is installed by blowing out the conditioned air, which has exchanged heat with the refrigerant in the indoor heat exchanger 31, from the outlet 30 c by the indoor heat exchanger 31 functioning as an evaporator. 200 cooling is performed.

  The refrigerant flowing out of the indoor heat exchanger 31 flows through the indoor unit gas pipe 68 and flows into the gas pipe 5 through the gas side connection portion 34. The refrigerant flowing through the gas pipe 5 and flowing into the outdoor unit 2 through the closing valve 26 flows through the outdoor unit gas pipe 64, the four-way valve 22, and the suction pipe 66 in order, and is drawn into the compressor 21 and compressed again.

<Heating operation>
When the heating operation is performed, as shown in FIG. 1A, the four-way valve 22 is shown by a broken line, that is, the port a and the port d of the four-way valve 22 communicate with each other. To be switched. Thus, the refrigerant circulates in the direction indicated by the broken line arrow in the refrigerant circuit 10, and the outdoor heat exchanger 23 functions as an evaporator and the indoor heat exchanger 31 functions as a condenser.

  The high-pressure refrigerant discharged from the compressor 21 flows through the discharge pipe 61 and flows into the four-way valve 22, flows from the four-way valve 22 through the outdoor unit gas pipe 64, and flows into the gas pipe 5 via the closing valve 26. The refrigerant flowing through the gas pipe 5 flows into the indoor unit 3 through the gas pipe connection portion 34.

  The refrigerant flowing into the indoor unit 3 flows through the indoor unit gas pipe 68, flows into the indoor heat exchanger 31, and exchanges heat with indoor air taken into the interior of the indoor unit 3 by the rotation of the indoor fan 32 to condense. . Thus, the indoor unit 3 is installed by the indoor heat exchanger 31 functioning as a condenser, and the air-conditioned air heat-exchanged with the refrigerant in the indoor heat exchanger 31 being blown out into the room from the outlet 30c. The room 200 is heated.

  The refrigerant flowing out of the indoor heat exchanger 31 flows through the indoor machine liquid pipe 67 and flows into the liquid pipe 4 via the liquid pipe connection portion 33. The refrigerant flowing through the liquid pipe 4 and flowing into the outdoor unit 2 via the closing valve 25 is decompressed when flowing through the outdoor unit liquid pipe 63 and passing through the expansion valve 27.

  The refrigerant passing through the expansion valve 27 and flowing into the outdoor heat exchanger 23 exchanges heat with the outside air taken into the interior of the outdoor unit 2 by the rotation of the outdoor fan 24 and evaporates. The refrigerant that has flowed out of the outdoor heat exchanger 23 into the refrigerant pipe 62 flows through the four-way valve 22 and the suction pipe 66, and is drawn into the compressor 21 and compressed again.

<Air conditioning control before bedtime using detection result of radiation temperature sensor>
Next, processing relating to pre-sleep air conditioning control performed before a person goes to bed will be described using the detection result of the radiation temperature sensor 80 by the air conditioner 1 of the present embodiment with reference to FIG. 3. This pre-sleep air conditioning control is a control that is performed to improve blood circulation of a person's hands and feet and to easily release heat from the body surface at the start of sleep to lower core body temperature.

  In FIG. 3, ST represents a processing step, and the numbers following this represent a step number. In FIG. 3, the processing related to the present invention is mainly described, and other processing, for example, general control of the air conditioner 1 such as control related to the pressure and temperature of the refrigerant circuit 10 mainly performed by the outdoor unit 2 Descriptions of processing related to general control are omitted.

  In the following description, the preset temperature which is the target temperature of the room temperature at the time of air conditioning operation is Tp (unit: ° C), the addition temperature to be added to the preset temperature Tp in bedtime air conditioning control is Tα (unit: ° C), radiation The body surface temperature of a person detected by the temperature sensor 80 is Tb (unit: ° C.), and the threshold temperature of the body surface temperature Tb in the air conditioning control before bedtime is Tbh (unit: ° C.). Moreover, CPU110 of the indoor unit control means 100 demonstrates as what has a timer measurement function.

  First, the CPU 110 determines whether or not it has been detected that a person is “before bedtime” during the air conditioning operation of the air conditioner 1 (ST1). The CPU 110 detects that the person is “before bedtime”, for example, by the method described below.

(1) The start time of the night sleep operation is set by the user, and when the night sleep start time is the bedtime time, the user operates the remote control (not shown) to control the pre-sleep air conditioning control at the time before bedtime time The CPU 110 detects that the instruction has been issued. In the nighttime operation, the set temperature is set to a temperature different from that during normal air conditioning operation, the conditioned air is not blown out toward people, the air volume is weakened, and the blowing noise of the conditioned air is reduced, etc. , Air conditioning operation suitable for people going to bed.
(2) The CPU 110 detects that the time which is a predetermined time before the bedtime in (1) above is reached. Here, the predetermined time is a time which is stored in advance in the storage unit 120 of the indoor unit 3 at the time of shipping of the air conditioner 1, or a time which a person operates in advance by operating the remote control, for example, one hour is there.
(3) The CPU 110 uses the operation history of the user within a predetermined period (for example, one month), for example, the start time of the above-mentioned night driving within the predetermined period to estimate the bedtime of a person, The CPU 110 detects that the time before the predetermined time has come. Here, the analogy of bedtime may be divided, for example, on weekdays / festival days.

  When it is not detected that “before bedtime” is detected (ST1-No), the CPU 110 returns the process to ST1. When it is detected that “before bedtime” is detected (ST1-Yes), the CPU 110 takes in the body surface temperature Tb of the person detected by the radiation temperature sensor 80 via the sensor input unit 140 (ST2). In addition, CPU110 takes in body surface temperature Tb regularly (for example, every 30 seconds), overwrites and memorizes body part temperature Tb taken in on storage part 120, and memorizes.

  Next, the CPU 110 determines whether the body surface temperature Tb acquired in ST2 is equal to or lower than the threshold temperature Tbh (ST3). Here, the threshold temperature Tbh is predetermined and stored in the storage unit 120, and if the body surface temperature Tb is equal to or lower than the threshold temperature Tbh, a person feels cold, that is, the body surface of the person There is a possibility that the core body temperature may become low due to a large amount of heat radiation from the The threshold temperature Tbh corresponds to the threshold value of the biological information value of the present invention, and is 30 ° C., for example.

  If body surface temperature Tb is not below threshold temperature Tbh (ST3-No), CPU110 advances processing to ST5. If the body surface temperature Tb is equal to or lower than the threshold temperature Tbh (ST3-Yes), the CPU 110 adds the addition temperature Tα to the current set temperature Tp (ST4). As described above, if the body surface temperature Tb is equal to or lower than the threshold temperature Tbh, a person feels cold, that is, the heat radiation amount from the person's body surface is large and the deep body temperature is low. Regardless of the operation or heating operation, the set temperature Tp is raised to raise the deep body temperature of the person. If a person changes the set temperature Tp, or if the threshold temperature Tbh is added, the new set temperature Tp is overwritten and stored in the storage unit 120. The addition temperature Tα is predetermined and stored in the storage unit 120, and is, for example, 1 ° C.

  Next, the CPU 110 determines whether the current operation is the cooling operation (ST5). If the current operation is the cooling operation (ST5-Yes), the CPU 110 sets the position of the upper and lower air flow direction plate 30d as Rvmax shown in FIG. 2D (ST6), and advances the process to ST7.

  When the cold conditioned air blown out from the outlet 30c directly hits a person during the cooling operation, there is a possibility that the body surface temperature Tb of the person decreases and the deep body temperature of the person also decreases. In particular, when the cold conditioned air hits a person directly when the set temperature Tp is raised by the addition temperature Tα to raise the deep body temperature of the person in the processing of ST3 to ST4, the effect is reduced. Therefore, when performing air conditioning control before bedtime at the time of cooling operation, the position of the vertical air flow direction plate 30d is Rvmax, and the conditioned air is blown substantially horizontally from the blowout port 30c so that cold conditioned air does not hit people. .

  In ST5, if the current operation is not the cooling operation (ST5-Yes), that is, if the current operation is the heating operation, the CPU 110 sets the position of the upper and lower air flow direction plate 30d as Rvmin shown in FIG. The process proceeds to ST8) and ST7.

  The warm conditioned air blown out from the outlet 30c during the heating operation rises above the room 200 and stays there. For this reason, there is a possibility that the ambient temperature of the person in the room 200 and the temperature of the floor of the room 200 may be lower than above the room 200, and the ambient temperature of the person is lower and the person is in contact with the cold floor There is a risk that the body surface temperature Tb of the person may be lowered and the deep body temperature of the person may be lowered. Further, if warm conditioned air stays above the room 200 when the set temperature Tp is increased by the addition temperature Tα to raise the deep body temperature of the person in the processing of ST3 to ST4, the effect is reduced. Therefore, when performing air conditioning control before bedtime at the time of heating operation, the position of the vertical wind direction plate 30d is Rvmin, that is, the conditioned air is blown out from the blowout port 30c to almost directly below the indoor unit 3 to warm the conditioned air. Delivered around people and also warm the floor of room 200.

  The CPU 110 requests the outdoor unit 2 to set the number of rotations of the compressor 21 corresponding to the new set temperature Tp obtained by adding the addition temperature Tα to the current set temperature Tp through the communication unit 130. To send. Specifically, a table (not shown) in which the number of revolutions of the compressor 21 requested according to the temperature difference between the set temperature Tp and the room temperature is stored in the storage unit 120 in advance for each cooling operation / heating operation. Using this table, the rotation number of the compressor 21 corresponding to the temperature difference between the set temperature Tp and the room temperature is extracted, and a signal requesting this is transmitted through the communication unit 130. The outdoor unit 2 having received this signal changes the rotational speed of the compressor 21 in accordance with the change of the set temperature Tp, that is, according to the addition temperature Tα. In the case of the cooling operation, the outdoor unit 2 reduces the number of revolutions of the compressor 21 by the addition temperature Tα. On the other hand, in the case of the heating operation, the outdoor unit 2 raises the rotational speed of the compressor 21 by an amount corresponding to the addition temperature Tα.

  The CPU 110 that has finished the processing of ST6 or ST8 determines whether the current time is the bedtime of a person (ST7). In addition, when the detection of “before bedtime” is due to the operation of a person in ST 1, the time of bedtime is a time after a predetermined time (for example, one hour) from the time when the operation of this person was Become. In addition, when the detection of “before bedtime” is based on the back calculation from the start time of the nighttime operation, the start time of the nighttime operation is the bedtime time. Furthermore, when the detection of “before bedtime” is based on the analogy of the bedtime time of the person who used the operation history, the estimated time is the bedtime time.

  If the current time is not the bedtime (ST7-No), the CPU 110 returns the process to ST7 and continues the air conditioning operation under the current conditions (the conditions determined in ST2 to ST6 or ST8) until the bedtime is reached. If the current time is the bedtime (ST7-Yes), the CPU 110 ends the pre-sleep air conditioning control. It should be noted that although the air conditioning control at bedtime such as a night sleep operation, which is separately set, is performed after finishing the air conditioning control before bedtime, the air conditioning control at bedtime may be the control conventionally proposed, and the detailed description is omitted. Do.

  In the air conditioning control before bedtime described above, the case where the position of the vertical wind direction plate 30d is set to either Rvmax or Rvmin has been described, but the radiation temperature sensor 80 specifies the position of a person in the room 200 and performs heating operation In this case, the position of the vertical wind direction plate 30d may be adjusted so that the conditioned air is blown out toward the position of the specified person. Alternatively, when the cooling operation is performed, the position of the up and down wind direction plate 30d may be adjusted so that the conditioned air is not blown out toward the position of the specified person.

  In addition, when the current time is not the bedtime in the process of ST7 (ST7-No), the process is returned to ST7, and it has been described that the air conditioning operation is continued under the current conditions until the bedtime. Instead of this, when the current time is not bedtime in the process of ST7 (ST7-No), the process may be returned to ST2. By performing the process in this way, the process of ST4 is performed again even if the human body surface temperature Tb is equal to or lower than the threshold temperature Tbh despite the fact that the set temperature Tp is initially increased by the addition temperature Tα in ST4. Since the set temperature Tp can be further raised by the addition temperature Tα, the body surface temperature Tb can be raised to raise the core temperature. However, in the case where the set temperature Tp is raised a plurality of times as described above, if the set temperature Tp reaches the upper limit value defined by the air conditioner 1 (for example, 30 ° C. in both the cooling operation and the heating operation) Thereafter, the air conditioning operation is continued by maintaining the set temperature Tp at the upper limit value until the bedtime.

  As described above, the air conditioner 1 of the present invention performs pre-sleep air conditioning control before a person goes to bed, thereby improving blood circulation of the hands and feet of the person and releasing heat from the surface of the body at bed time. Make it easy. As a result, when the user starts going to bed, the person's core temperature drops rapidly, and the person can improve their sleep quality.

  In the embodiment described above, the case where the wind direction is also adjusted by the vertical wind direction plate 30c in addition to the adjustment of the set temperature Tp at the time of execution of the air conditioning control before going to bed has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and only adjustment of the set temperature Tp may be performed when executing the pre-sleep air conditioning control. Further, when adjusting the wind direction, in addition to the vertical wind direction plate 30c, a not-shown left and right wind direction plate may be rotated. By rotating the left and right wind direction plates in addition to the vertical wind direction plate 30c, the conditioned air can be more reliably applied to the person or not, and the deep body temperature of the person can be raised more effectively.

  Further, in addition to the adjustment of the set temperature Tp and the adjustment of the wind direction by the vertical wind direction plate 30c, the air volume of the conditioned air blown out from the outlet 30c may be adjusted by adjusting the rotational speed of the indoor fan 32. Specifically, when performing air conditioning control before bedtime at the time of cooling operation, the air flow rate is smaller than that at the time of normal cooling operation, and by preventing cold conditioned air from hitting people more reliably, deep body temperature of a person is obtained. It can be raised more effectively. In addition, when performing air conditioning control before bedtime at the time of heating operation, more warm air-conditioning air is delivered to the surroundings of the person and the floor of the room 200 by making the air volume more than at the time of normal heating operation. It can be raised more effectively.

  In the embodiment described above, the case of adjusting the set temperature Tp at the time of execution of the pre-sleep air conditioning control has been described, but instead of the set temperature Tp, the wall temperature or floor temperature of the room 200 is detected by the radiation temperature sensor 80 The rotational speed of the compressor 21 may be controlled so that the detected wall surface temperature and floor temperature rise above the temperatures detected before execution of the pre-sleep air conditioning control. In this case, the radiation temperature sensor 80 serves as the biological information value detection means of the present invention and the environmental information value detection means. The wall surface temperature and the floor temperature of the room 200 detected by the radiation temperature sensor 80 correspond to the environmental information value of the present invention.

  As described above, in the case of raising the wall temperature or floor temperature of the room 200, the up / down air direction plate 30d or the left / right air direction plate is rotated, and in the case of the cooling operation, the conditioned air directly strikes the wall or floor of the room 200. In the case of heating operation, the air conditioning air is made to directly hit the wall and floor of the room 200. As a result, the temperature of the entire room 200, including the room temperature of the room 200, rises, so the body surface temperature Tb of the person rises, and the deep body temperature of the person can be raised more effectively.

Reference Signs List 1 air conditioner 2 outdoor unit 3 indoor unit 10 refrigerant circuit 30 c outlet 30 d up / down air direction plate 32 indoor fan 80 radiation temperature sensor 100 indoor unit control means 110 CPU
120 storage unit 130 communication unit 140 sensor input unit 200 room Tb body surface temperature Tbh threshold temperature Tp set temperature Tα addition temperature Tb body surface temperature of person

Claims (5)

It has an outdoor unit, an indoor unit, body surface temperature detecting means for detecting the body surface temperature of a person present in a room where the indoor unit is installed, and control means for controlling the outdoor unit and the indoor unit,
The control means is configured to, at a time prior to a person's bedtime by a predetermined time,
When the body surface temperature detected by the body surface temperature detecting means is lower than a predetermined threshold temperature, the predetermined temperature is added to the set temperature at the time which is a predetermined time before the bedtime.
An air conditioner characterized by It has environmental information value detecting means for detecting an environmental information value related to environmental information of a room in which the indoor unit is installed,
When the control means operates the air conditioner by adding the predetermined temperature to the set temperature,
The outdoor unit and the indoor unit are controlled such that the environmental information value detected by the environmental information value detection means is higher than the environmental information value detected before performing the pre-sleep air conditioning control.
The air conditioner according to claim 1, characterized in that. The environmental information value is a temperature of a floor of a room in which the indoor unit is installed.
The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that: The indoor unit has a wind direction plate rotatably disposed at an outlet for blowing out the conditioned air,
The control means
During the cooling operation, turn the wind direction plate so that the conditioned air does not hit people.
When the heating operation is being performed, the wind direction plate is rotated so that the conditioned air may hit people.
The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The indoor unit has a blower fan with variable rotational speed,
The control means
When the cooling operation is being performed, the number of rotations of the blower fan is made lower than the number of rotations of the blower fan at a predetermined time before the bedtime time,
When the heating operation is being performed, the number of rotations of the blower fan is made higher than the number of rotations of the blower fan at a predetermined time before the bedtime.
The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that:

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