JP2594144B2 - Air conditioner operation control device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an operation control device of an air conditioner suitable for being applied to an air conditioner arranged indoors, especially on a floor surface of an exhibition hall or the like.

B. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an air conditioner placed on a floor in a room requires a wider installation space than an air conditioner of a ceiling installation type or a wall-mounted type.

Therefore, in order to make the installation space as small as possible, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 45-21498 discloses an air conditioning system in which the lower cross-sectional area of the housing is made smaller than the upper cross-sectional area so that the entire housing has a substantially T-shaped structure. Machine is shown.

When such an air conditioner is installed on the floor, the installation space is reduced, but the place where the air conditioner is installed becomes a space having no added (utilized) value.

In particular, when such an air conditioner is installed in a place with a high land price, such as a hall or a hall of a building, this problem becomes serious.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2 to FIG.
Make a part of the space where the air conditioner is located a space of added value (use), and make sure that even if a person approaches this space, it will not be affected by the air discharged or sucked from this air conditioner. (Japanese Patent Application No. 63-51993). Hereinafter, this prior art will be described.

In FIG. 2, 1 is an indoor heat exchange unit of the separation type air conditioner placed on the floor 3 of the room 2, and 4 is an outdoor heat exchange unit placed on the outdoor 5 and embedded in the floor 3. These units 1 and 4 are connected by a refrigerant pipe 6.

The outdoor heat exchange unit 4 houses a compressor and an outdoor heat exchanger (not shown). The exterior shape 1 of the side surface of the indoor heat exchange unit 1 is substantially T-shaped,
The lower part 7 near the floor 3 has a circular cross section and the upper part 9 near the ceiling 8
Has a square cross section (see FIGS. 3 and 4).

10 is a discharge port provided around this upper part 9 (square), 11
Is a suction port provided around the lower part, and 12 is a recess provided above the suction port 11, and a steel pipe 13 is disposed as a support at the center of the recess 12.

The recess 12 can accommodate an exhibit (article) 14 such as a cassette tape recorder. Reference numeral 15 denotes an acrylic transparent cover that covers the recess 12. The cover 15 is removably fitted around the recess.

Here, the dimensions of the indoor heat exchange unit 1 are, for example, a height A of 2 m50 cm, a dimension B from the floor surface to the lower surface 16 of the recess 12 is 90 cm, a width C of the recess 12 is 60 cm, and an upper portion thereof. Width D of 22 cm, height B of recess 12 (90 cm) should be less than the height of a person's height (average human height 1 m 70 cm), and height of discharge port 10 (about 2 m 40 cm) should be The height is set higher than the height (1m70cm).

 FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the indoor unit 1.

FIG. 6 shows the internal structure of the indoor heat exchange unit 1, in which 17 is an indoor heat exchanger arranged in a substantially C shape,
Is a propeller fan located below this heat exchanger.
Due to the rotation of the fan, the room air is sucked through the suction port 11 in the lower part 7 of the housing and is guided upward through the hollow part 19 of the pipe 13. The room air thus guided upward is subjected to a cooling or heating action in the heat exchanger 17 and thereafter discharged from the discharge port 10.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a lighting device which is mounted downward, below the propeller fan, and illuminates an exhibit 14 placed in the recess 12 from above.

When the indoor heat exchange unit 1 is installed at the approximate center of a relatively large space such as a hall, for example, the lower part 7 of the heat exchange unit 1 is a column, and the lower part 7 looks like a pillar of a hall. The heat exchange unit 1 is adapted to melt into the hall without discomfort. In addition, discharge port 10
Are provided on the four surfaces of the upper part 9 of the heat exchange unit 1 (see FIG. 3), and the air discharged from the discharge port 10 is near the ceiling in the room (height: about 2 m40 cm). The entire hall can be wrapped around, and the entire hall can be air-conditioned evenly.

In addition, since the air discharged from the discharge port 10 is blown out from a place higher than the height of a person (2 m 40 cm), the heat exchange unit 1 The cold and hot air are prevented from directly hitting the people gathered in the replacement unit 1.

C. [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, once the operator operates the air conditioner described above, the air conditioner continues to operate unless the next stop operation is performed. However, in the case of an air conditioner placed in an exhibition hall, there are times when there are no visitors visiting the exhibition, so the air conditioner continues to operate during this time and air conditioning in that area is performed. Continuing can be uneconomical.

The present invention addresses such a situation. When there is no visitor looking at the exhibits stored in the air conditioner of the present invention, this is automatically detected and the air conditioner is switched on during that period. It is an object of the present invention to provide an operation control device for an air conditioner that can be stopped.

D. [Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention relates to a vertically long box arranged on a floor in a room, in which a heat exchanger blower and the like are stored, and an article is placed in a position lower than the height of a human in this box. An air conditioner having a recess for storage and an air-conditioning gas outlet at a position higher than the height is provided with the following first detection means and second detection means. The present invention relates to an operation control device for an air conditioner that operates an air conditioner based on both detection outputs from a second detection unit.

(A) A continuous pattern such as a checkered pattern is formed on the floor of a predetermined section in which the box of the air conditioner is arranged, and one or a plurality of image sensors for monitoring the continuous pattern from above are provided. A first detecting means which is provided at an appropriate position of the box so that when the continuous pattern on the floor surface is disturbed by a predetermined area or more, a detection signal is output by the image sensor.

(B) One or a plurality of infrared sensors are provided at appropriate places on the box, and when there is a person entering the field of view of the infrared sensor, infrared rays generated by the entering person are detected by the infrared sensor. The second is to output the detection signal by
Detection means.

Further, in the air conditioner of the present invention, it is preferable that the recess of the box is covered with a transparent cover.

E. [Operation] Since the air conditioner of the present invention is provided with two detection means for detecting an image and detecting infrared light, when a visitor arrives at a venue such as an exhibition hall where the air conditioner is installed. Only when this is detected, the air conditioner is operated and the operation control is automatically performed so as to stop the air conditioner when there are no visitors.

F. EXAMPLES The present invention will be specifically described below based on an example shown in FIG. In the figure, the same components as those in FIGS. 2 to 6 are denoted by the same reference numerals. Reference numeral 21 denotes a detection pattern formed of a continuous pattern such as a checkered pattern drawn over a predetermined area around the same unit on the floor on which the indoor heat exchange unit is arranged. E ₁ and E ₂ are the first or multiple (two in this embodiment) image sensors and the like.
The detection means is provided at an appropriate position above the box constituting the heat exchange unit, monitors the entry of a person from above, and detects when a predetermined number of areas of the pattern 21 are disturbed by the entry. A detection signal is output. S ₁ , S
Reference numeral ₂ denotes a second detecting means comprising one or a plurality of (two in the embodiment) infrared sensors and the like, which is disposed at an appropriate position of the box constituting the heat exchange unit 1 and intrudes into the vicinity of the box. It detects infrared rays generated by the human being and generates a detection signal.

X is a controller, and a heat exchanger unit 1 is provided at an appropriate position (for example,
(Inside the box), receives the detection signals from the first and second detection means, and controls the air conditioner to operate only when there is a signal from both.

Since the operation control device of the air conditioner of the present invention is configured as described above, for example, a person 22 such as a visitor (the same applies to an operator), as shown in FIG. When the vehicle enters the neighboring area, the first detecting means E ₁
Both the _first and second detection means S1 detect this and send a detection signal to the controller X, so that the controller X drives the air conditioner.

However, when there is no intruder such as a visitor, or when a predetermined detection area is not reached, each detection means E ₁ , E ₂ ;
S _1, the controller X because there is no or both detection signals both from one S ₂ does not operate, therefore, the air conditioner is not driven.

G. [Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, the first and second detection means are provided as described above, and the presence or absence of an intruder such as a visitor is constantly detected to automatically control the operation of the air conditioner. Therefore, there is an excellent effect that this type of air conditioner disposed in an exhibition hall or the like can be operated efficiently.

In particular, in the present invention, since the disturbance of the pattern on the floor surface is detected by the first detection means, the infrared sensor as the second detection means can detect the disturbance from the floor surface or the like caused by the long sunshine or the reflected light of the illumination. In this case, even if the infrared ray of the intruder is erroneously detected as the infrared ray generated by the intruder, the AND condition with the first detecting means is not satisfied, and the intruder can be accurately distinguished from the intruder. It is.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2 to 6 show a conventional example (prior art), FIG. 2 is a side view of a heat exchange unit (air conditioner), FIG. 3 is a diagram of FIG.
II-II sectional view, FIG. 4 is a III-III sectional view of FIG. 2, and FIG.
The figure is a perspective view of this heat exchange unit, and FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the internal structure of the unit. 1: indoor heat exchanger unit 10: discharge port 12: recess 15: cover E _1, E _2: first detecting means (image sensor) S _1, S _2: second detection means (an infrared sensor) X: Controller

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A heat exchanger, a blower and the like are housed in a vertically long box placed on the floor in a room, and a recess for storing articles is provided in the box at a position lower than the height of a human. An air conditioner provided with an air-conditioning gas outlet at a position higher than the height of the air conditioner, the air conditioner including the following first detecting means and second detecting means, wherein both the first detecting means and the second detecting means are provided. An operation control device for an air conditioner, wherein the air conditioner is operated based on the detection output of the air conditioner. (A) A continuous pattern such as a checkered pattern is formed on the floor of a predetermined section in which the box of the air conditioner is arranged, and one or a plurality of image sensors for monitoring the continuous pattern from above are provided. A first detecting means which is provided at an appropriate position of the box so as to output a detection signal by the image sensor when the continuous pattern on the floor surface is disturbed by a certain area or more. (B) One or a plurality of infrared sensors are provided at appropriate places on the box, and when there is a person entering the field of view of the infrared sensor, infrared rays generated by the entering person are detected by the infrared sensor. The second is to output the detection signal by
Detection means. 2. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the recess of the box is covered with a transparent cover.