JP2023183934A - Heating device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a heating device that can restrain a person or a thing from being unexpectedly exposed to heat from a heating device body remotely operated by communication means.SOLUTION: A heating device comprises a heating device body 1, and a communication device 2 capable of transmitting a control signal to the heating device body 1. The heating device body 1 comprises a control device 5 for controlling heating operation, and presence/absence detection means 22 for detecting the presence/absence of a person or a thing to be detected. When the control signal is transmitted from the communication device 2, the control device 5 cancels the control signal of the communication device 2, or executes restraining control for restraining operation in accordance with the control signal transmitted from the communication device 2, if the presence of a first detection object consisting of the person or the thing has been detected by the presence/absence detection means 22, in a first monitoring region A preset around the heating device body 1 while the heating device body 1 is set as a starting point.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to a heater that can be remotely controlled.

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, heaters that can be remotely controlled using a communication device such as a remote control have been known. Furthermore, in this type of heater, a presence/absence detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a person is provided in the main body of the heater, and only when the presence/absence detection means detects the presence of a person, the communication device transmits the message. There is also known a device that can receive control signals such as the start of operation (see Patent Document 1 below).

With this device, remote control using the communication device can only be performed when the user operating the communication device is near the heater body. As a result, the user who operates the communication device can confirm the existence of items that are not suitable for high temperatures near the heater body before operating the communication device, and can prevent the items from being adversely affected by heating. It can be prevented.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 06-241568

However, in the above-mentioned conventional heater, even if the presence/absence detection means detects the presence of a person different from the user operating the communication device, control is performed based on the control signal received from the communication device. Therefore, if a person other than the user who operated the communication device is in a position close to the heater when a control signal is sent from the communication device, the relatively high temperature heat generated from the heater may be used to operate the communication device. There is a risk that a person other than the user may find the heating uncomfortable.

In view of the above-mentioned points, an object of the present invention is to provide a heating machine that can suppress the heat from the heating machine main body that is remotely controlled by communication means from accidentally hitting people or objects.

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides a heating machine including a heating machine main body and a communication device capable of transmitting a control signal to the heating machine main body, the heating machine main body controlling the heating operation. and a presence/absence detection means for detecting the presence or absence of a person or object as a detection target, and the control device detects the presence/absence of a person or object as a detection target when the control signal is transmitted from the communication device. If the existence of a first detection object consisting of a person or an object is detected by the presence/absence detection means in a first monitoring area preset around the heater main body, the The present invention is characterized in that the control signal is invalidated or suppressive control is executed to suppress driving according to the control signal transmitted from the communication device (first invention).

The first monitoring area in the present invention is an area that starts from the heater body and spreads around it. Specifically, for example, it is an area that is relatively influenced by heat directly received from the heater, and It is set according to the heating capacity (the highest output heat that the heater can generate for heating).

A specific example of the communication device in the present invention is a remote control, but other examples include a smartphone, a tablet, etc., on which application software related to remote control of a heater is installed.

According to the first invention, when the presence/absence detection means detects the first detection object consisting of a person or object existing in the first monitoring area, the control device of the heater main body invalidates the control signal of the communication device. , or execute inhibitory control. Examples of processing in which the control device invalidates the control signal of the communication device include not receiving the control signal from the communication device, or not executing control according to the control signal received from the communication device.

As a result, the first detection object present in the first monitoring area can be prevented from inadvertently receiving heat from the heater, or the influence of the heat from the heater can be suppressed.

In the first invention, the presence/absence detection means is capable of detecting a distance between the heating machine main body and the first detection object, and the control device is configured to detect the heating machine main body when executing the suppression control. and the first detection object (second invention).

According to the second invention, since the operation is performed at a heating intensity suitable for the distance from the heater main body to the first detection object, it is possible to prevent the first detection object from being adversely affected by the heat from the heater main body. .

Furthermore, the presence/absence detecting means in the first or second invention is capable of detecting the presence of a second detection object consisting of a person in a second monitoring area that is preset adjacent to the outside of the first monitoring area. The control device is configured such that when the control signal is transmitted from the communication device, the presence/absence detection means does not detect the presence of the first detection target in the first monitoring area, and , when the presence of the second detection object is detected in the second monitoring area, the operation control is executed according to the control signal received from the communication device (third aspect of the invention). ).

According to the third invention, the heater control device is configured such that there is no person or object (first detection object) in the first monitoring area, and there is no person (second detection object) in the second monitoring area outside the first monitoring area. When a target object) is present, operation is performed based on a control signal transmitted by operating the communication device.

As a result, it is confirmed that there are no people or objects in the first monitoring area that is relatively close to the heater main body, and unless it is confirmed that there is a person who can monitor the first monitoring area in the second monitoring area, no communication will be made. Since remote control by the device is not possible, it is possible to prevent the heat from the heater body from inadvertently hitting the first detection object.

Further, in any one of the first to third aspects of the invention, the heating machine main body has temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the first monitoring area, and the control device controls the operation control by the heating machine main body. The heating apparatus is characterized in that when the temperature detecting means detects a temperature equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature, the operation of the heater main body is stopped (fourth invention).

According to the fourth aspect, it is possible to detect a temperature rise that may lead to abnormal overheating in the first monitoring area and stop the operation of the heater main body. This prevents, for example, abnormal overheating of the floor due to the heat from the heater itself, or abnormal overheating of articles, etc. in the unlikely event that the presence/absence detection means fails to detect it by stopping the operation of the heater itself. be able to.

Further, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the heating machine main body detects a communication device in a communication device monitoring area preset around the heating machine main body starting from the heating machine main body. The control device includes a communication device detection means, and when the control signal is transmitted from the communication device, the presence/absence detection means detects the presence of the first detection target in the first monitoring area, and When the communication device is detected by the communication device detection means, operational control is executed in accordance with the control signal received from the communication device (fifth invention).

According to the fifth invention, when the presence/absence detection means detects a first detection target consisting of a person or an object in the first monitoring area, and the communication device detection means detects a communication device in the communication device monitoring area, , it can be estimated that the user operating the communication device is present around the heater body. Therefore, it is thought that the user operating the communication device can easily grasp the surrounding situation of the heater body, so that the operation control according to the control signal received from the communication device can be executed without any problem. can.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a heater according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows typically the structure of the heating machine main body. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a first monitoring area and a second monitoring area in plan view. 5 is a flowchart showing a first example of the operation of the control device. 7 is a flowchart showing a second example of the operation of the control device. 7 is a flowchart showing a third example of the operation of the control device. 7 is a flowchart showing a fourth example of the operation of the control device.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. The heater of this embodiment is a so-called gas fan heater, and as shown in FIG. 1, includes a heater main body 1 and a remote controller 2 that is a communication device for remotely controlling the heater main body 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the heater main body 1 is placed on the floor in a space to be heated such as an indoor room of a house, and includes a gas burner 3 and a convection fan 4 that forcibly sends out air heated by the gas burner 3. , and a control device 5 that controls heating operation.

A main body side operation panel 6, which will be described later, is provided on the upper surface of the heater main body 1. An air intake port 7 is formed on the back side of the heater body 1 to take in air sucked in by the operation of the convection fan 4 into the heater body 1. A room temperature sensor 8 such as a thermistor is attached near the air intake port 7 to detect room temperature.

Further, a hot air outlet 9 is formed at the lower front of the heater main body 1 to direct the air (warm air) sent out by the convection fan 4 forward. The hot air outlet 9 is provided with a louver 10 for determining the wind direction.

A portion of the air taken in from the air intake port 7 by the operation of the convection fan 4 is supplied to the gas burner 3 as combustion air. Fuel gas is supplied to the gas burner 3 from a gas supply path (not shown).

The combustion exhaust gas generated by the gas burner 3 is mixed with other air taken in from the air intake port 7, and is sent into the room from the hot air outlet 9 as warm air for heating.

Note that the amount of fuel gas supplied to the gas burner 3 is controlled by the control device 5 via a flow rate adjustment valve such as a gas proportional valve provided in a gas supply path (not shown). The amount of fuel gas supplied to the gas burner 3 is proportional to the combustion amount of the gas burner 3.

Further, the amount of combustion air supplied to the gas burner 3 can be increased or decreased depending on the rotation speed of the convection fan 4. The convection fan 4 is rotationally driven by an electric motor (not shown), and the rotation speed of the convection fan 4 is controlled by the control device 5 via the electric motor.

The control device 5 is composed of an electronic circuit unit including a CPU, RAM, ROM, an interface circuit, and the like. The control device 5 controls the combustion of the gas burner 3 and the operation of the convection fan 4 based on operations from the main body side operation panel 6.

As shown in FIG. 1, the main unit operation panel 6 includes a main unit operation switch 11 for starting and stopping the heating unit 1, a main unit up switch 12 for adjusting the heating temperature, and a main unit side up switch 12 for adjusting the heating temperature. A down switch 13 is provided. The main body side up switch 12 and the main body side down switch 13 are used not only to adjust the heating temperature but also to change the timer time and the like.

Further, the main body side operation panel 6 is provided with a display section 14. The display unit 14 displays various information such as the set heating temperature, the current room temperature, and errors depending on the situation.

In addition, the main body side operation panel 6 is equipped with a large number of switches for setting and changing the operation mode of the heater main body 1, but the explanation thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, the remote control 2 is configured to be able to communicate with the heater main body 1 via wireless communication. In this embodiment, an infrared communication method is adopted as a communication method between the remote control 2 and the heater main body 1.

The remote control 2 includes a remote control side operation panel 15 including a plurality of switches. The remote control side operation panel 15 is mainly provided with a remote control side operation ON switch 16, a remote control side operation OFF switch 17, a remote control side up switch 18, and a remote control side down switch 19.

The remote control side operation ON switch 16 is pressed to start the operation of the heater main body 1, and the remote control side operation OFF switch 17 is pressed to stop the operation of the heater main body 1. The remote control side up switch 18 and the remote control side down switch 19 adjust the heating temperature.

The control device 5 is electrically connected to the operating section 6 and also to an infrared receiving section 21 for receiving signals transmitted from the infrared transmitting section 20 of the remote controller 2 . The infrared receiving section 21 is exposed and disposed at the upper front surface of the heater main body 1.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, an infrared temperature sensor 22 and an ultrasonic distance sensor 23 are provided on the front surface of the heater main body 1 as means for detecting presence/absence. The infrared temperature sensor 22 is used as a human sensor or a non-contact temperature sensor, and also serves as the temperature detection means of the present invention. The ultrasonic distance sensor 23 detects the distance to a person or object. An infrared temperature sensor 22 and an ultrasonic distance sensor 23 are electrically connected to the control device 5.

Based on the signal output by the infrared temperature sensor 22 and the signal output by the ultrasonic distance sensor 23, the control device 5 controls the person or object (the first detection The presence or absence of a target object) and the presence or absence of a person (second detection target object) in the second monitoring area B are detected.

The first monitoring area A is an area preset around (near) the heater body 1 with the heater body 1 as its starting point, and is a region where the heat of the warm air is reduced by directly hitting the warm air blown from the heater body 1. This is an area where the impact is relatively large. The first monitoring area A is set according to the capacity of the heater (maximum output of the heater), and is set to have a substantially fan shape in plan view extending forward from the heater main body 1.

The second monitoring area B is an outer area adjacent to the first monitoring area A, and is set in an area where a person can be detected by the infrared temperature sensor 22. Therefore, the second monitoring area B is further away from the heater body 1 than the first monitoring area A, and is an area where the influence of the heat of the warm air blown from the heater body 1 is smaller than the first monitoring area A.

The control device 5 also has a communication device detection means as a function. The function of the control device 5 as a communication device detection means is to determine whether the remote controller 2 is present in the remote control monitoring area C based on the strength of the signal from the infrared transmitter 20 of the remote controller 2 received by the infrared receiver 21. To detect. The remote control monitoring area C is set in the same area as the first monitoring area A in this embodiment.

Next, the operation of the control device 5 according to the gist of the present invention using the heater configured as described above will be explained. First, to explain a first example of the operation of the control device 5, as shown in FIG. YES"), when the operation start signal (control signal) is transmitted in STEP 2, the control device 5 of the heater main body 1, which was stopped in STEP 3, proceeds to STEP 4 and receives the operation start signal from the remote control 2. Proceed to STEP 5.

Proceeding to STEP 5, the control device 5 determines the presence or absence of the first detection target (person or object) in the first monitoring area A based on the signals obtained from the infrared temperature sensor 22 and the ultrasonic distance sensor 23. If the first detection target (person or object) is detected in the first monitoring area A ("YES" in STEP 5), proceed to STEP 6, and detecting the first detection target (person or object) in the first monitoring area A. ) is not detected (“NO” in STEP 5), the process proceeds to STEP 7. The first object to be detected is a person or an object, and examples of the object here include cushions, pets, and the like.

When the control device 5 proceeds to STEP 6, it determines the presence or absence of the remote control 2 in the remote control monitoring area C based on the strength of the signal transmitted from the remote control 2, and if the remote control 2 in the remote control monitoring area C is detected (STEP 6 (“YES”), proceed to STEP 7. If the remote controller 2 in the remote control monitoring area C is detected in STEP 6, the user operating the remote controller 2 is in the vicinity of the heater body 1, and therefore the situation around the heater body 1 is known by the user. It can be considered.

Then, the control device 5 proceeds to STEP 7 and starts heating operation. The heating intensity at this time is based on the set temperature set by the user during the previous heating operation, and the set temperature is stored in a memory (not shown) of the control device 5.

On the other hand, if the controller 5 does not detect the remote controller 2 in the remote controller monitoring area C in STEP 6 (NO in STEP 6), the controller 5 proceeds to STEP 8 and continues to stop the operation of the heater main body 1 (operation from the remote controller 2 start signal is disabled). Alternatively, in STEP 8, the heating intensity may be set to "weak" and operation may be started (suppression control). When continuing to stop the operation of the heater main body 1, the operation start signal received from the remote controller 2 at this point is discarded. In this embodiment, the heating intensity is adjusted depending on the strength of the air volume blown out from the hot air outlet 9.

As described above, when the first detection object (person or object) is present in the first monitoring area A and the first detection object is not the user operating the remote control 2, the operation of the heater main body 1 is stopped. is continued, or even if heating operation is started, it is limited to "weak" operation, so it is possible to prevent the first detection object from being adversely affected by the heat of the warm air from the heater main body 1.

Next, a second example of the operation of the control device 5 will be described with reference to FIG. In the second example, as shown in FIG. 5, STEP1 to STEP7 are the same as in the first example (see FIG. 4) described above, so the description of STEP1 to STEP7 will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 5, if the remote control 2 in the remote control monitoring area C is not detected in STEP 6 ("NO" in STEP 6), the control device 5 proceeds to STEP 9. In STEP 9, the distance to the first detection object (person or object) detected in STEP 5 is measured by the ultrasonic distance sensor 23, and when the measurement result is smaller than a preset distance (1 m in this embodiment) ( ("YES" in STEP 9), proceed to STEP 10 and start operation with the heating intensity set to "Low". Further, when the measurement result in STEP 9 is greater than or equal to the preset distance (“NO” in STEP 9), the process proceeds to STEP 11, where the heating intensity is set to “medium” and operation is started. Note that when proceeding to STEP 11, if the heating intensity during the previous operation stored in the control device 5 is "weak", the operation is started with the heating intensity set to "weak".

In this way, by providing STEP 9 to STEP 11, the first detection target (person or object) existing in the first monitoring area A is operated with heating intensity according to the distance from the heater main body 1. This makes it possible to prevent excessive heating of the first detection object while performing heating.

Next, a third example of the operation of the control device 5 will be described with reference to FIG. 6. In the third example, as shown in FIG. 6, STEP1 to STEP8 are the same as the first example (see FIG. 4), but the difference is that STEP12 and STEP13 are provided between STEP5 and STEP7. ing.

That is, as shown in FIG. 6, when the first detection object (person or object) is not detected in the first monitoring area A in STEP 5 ("NO" in STEP 5), the control device 5 proceeds to STEP 12.

Proceeding to STEP 12, the control device 5 determines the presence or absence of the second detection target (person) in the second monitoring area B based on the signals obtained from the infrared temperature sensor 22 and the ultrasonic distance sensor 23, and detects the second detection target (person) in the second monitoring area B. 2 If the second detection target (person) is detected in the second monitoring area B (“YES” in STEP 12), proceed to STEP 7, and the second detection target (person) is not detected in the second monitoring area B. If so (“NO” in STEP 12), proceed to STEP 13. Proceeding to STEP 13, the control device 5 continues to stop the operation of the heater main body 1 and discards the operation start signal received from the remote controller 2.

According to this, heating operation is possible when there is a person in a place where at least the heater body 1 can be monitored (for example, in the same room as the heater body 1), so in the unlikely event of an unexpected situation, Appropriate measures can be taken against the situation, and the convenience of remote control is improved.

Next, a fourth example of the operation of the control device 5 will be described with reference to FIG. 7. In the fourth example, as shown in FIG. 7, STEP 14 and STEP 15 are provided downstream of the aforementioned second example (see FIG. 5). STEP1 to STEP11 are the same as in the second example (see FIG. 5), so their explanation will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 7, the control device 5 proceeds to any one of STEP7, STEP10, and STEP11, and then proceeds to STEP14. After proceeding to STEP 14, when the detected temperature detected by the infrared temperature sensor 22 becomes 40° C. or higher (“YES” in SETP 14), the control device 5 proceeds to STEP 15 to force the heating operation of the heater body 1. (error stop).

According to this, it is possible to avoid a situation in which people or objects in front of the heater main body 1 are excessively heated by the heat of the hot air from the heater main body 1. Moreover, excessive heating of the first object to be detected can be prevented in the event that a detection failure occurs in STEP5.

As another example of the operation of the control device 5, although not shown, the control device 5 of the heater main body 1 controls the infrared temperature at predetermined intervals (for example, every few minutes) even when the heating operation is stopped. The sensor 22 performs a detection operation of the first detection target in the first monitoring area A, and when the first detection target exists in the first monitoring area A, the operation start signal (control signal) transmitted from the remote controller 2 is detected. ) (disable the operation start signal from the remote controller 2).

Further, in the above embodiment, an example is shown in which the infrared temperature sensor 22 and the ultrasonic distance sensor 23 are used as the presence/absence detection means, but the present invention is not limited to this. and an image processing device may be employed. In this case, the image processing device extracts detection information of people and objects from the image taken by the camera and outputs it to the control device 5. Information on the detection of a person or object by the image processing device can include information on the distance to the person or object and information on the temperature of the person or object. Furthermore, the infrared temperature sensor 22 serving as the temperature detection means may employ, for example, a thermography. Further, the ultrasonic distance sensor 23 may be an optical type, radio wave type, infrared type distance sensor, or the like.

Further, in the above embodiment, a gas fan heater is used as the heater, but the heater is not limited to this, and may be a stove, an electric fan heater, a kerosene fan heater, or the like. Alternatively, it may be a heater that has additional functions such as a cooling function and an air purifying function.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the operation start signal was explained as an example of the control signal transmitted from the remote control 2, but the control signal is not limited to this, and the control signal can be used to change the strength of the heating intensity, change the set temperature, etc. It may also be a control signal.

Further, in the above embodiment, the remote control 2 is used as the communication device, but a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or a tablet may also be used. Further, in the embodiment described above, an example is shown in which infrared rays are used for communication between the remote controller 2 and the heater main body 1, but communication using Bluetooth (registered trademark) or other radio waves may also be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, an example was shown in which the heating intensity is adjusted by adjusting the strength of the air volume blown from the hot air outlet 9, but the heating intensity may be adjusted by adjusting the heating power of the gas burner 3.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Heater main body, 2... Remote control (communication device), 5... Control device, 22... Infrared temperature sensor (presence/absence detection means, temperature detection means), 23... Ultrasonic distance sensor (presence/presence detection means), A... First Monitoring area, B...Second monitoring area, C...Remote control monitoring area (communication device monitoring area).

Claims (5)

A heating machine comprising a heating machine main body and a communication device capable of transmitting a control signal to the heating machine main body,
The heating machine main body has a control device that controls heating operation, and a presence/absence detection means that detects the presence or absence of a person or object as a detection target,
When the control signal is transmitted from the communication device, the control device detects whether a person or When the presence of a first detection object consisting of an object is detected, the control signal of the communication device is invalidated, or the driving is suppressed according to the control signal transmitted from the communication device. A heating machine characterized by executing suppression control. The heater according to claim 1,
The presence/absence detection means is capable of detecting a distance between the heater main body and the first detection object,
The heating machine, wherein the control device operates at a heating intensity that corresponds to a distance between the heating machine main body and the first detection object when executing the suppression control. The heater according to claim 1,
The presence/absence detection means is capable of detecting the presence of a second detection target consisting of a person in a second monitoring area that is preset adjacent to the outside of the first monitoring area,
The control device is configured such that when the control signal is transmitted from the communication device, the presence/absence detection means does not detect the presence of the first detection target in the first monitoring area, and the second monitoring area A heating machine characterized in that, when the presence of the second detection target object is detected in the area, operation control is executed according to the control signal received from the communication device. The heater according to claim 1,
The heater main body has a temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the first monitoring area,
The heating device is characterized in that the control device stops the operation of the heating device when a temperature equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature is detected by the temperature detection means during operation control by the heating device main body. In the heating machine according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The heating machine main body includes communication device detection means for detecting communication devices in a communication device monitoring area preset around the heating machine main body starting from the heating machine main body,
The control device is configured such that when the control signal is transmitted from the communication device, the presence/absence detection means detects the presence of the first detection target in the first monitoring area, and the communication device detection means detects the presence of the first detection object in the first monitoring area. A heating machine characterized in that, when a communication device is detected, operation control is executed according to the control signal received from the communication device.

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