JP6370049B2 - Air conditioner indoor unit - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an indoor unit of an air conditioner.

  The indoor unit of an air conditioner adjusts the capacity so that the indoor air temperature approaches a set temperature set by a user using a remote controller, and performs air conditioning. In order to improve energy saving and comfort, this indoor unit is equipped with a human sensor for detecting people, measures the amount of human activity from the sensor information, and changes the set temperature according to the value. There is something. In addition, there is a type in which a radiation temperature sensor for measuring the radiation temperature in a room is mounted and the set temperature is changed according to the value.

  Furthermore, as means for increasing the accuracy of this type of prior art, there are those described in, for example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-240483) and Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-133970).

  Patent Document 1 describes means for detecting a movement amount of a person and correcting the set temperature in consideration of the movement amount in order to detect the amount of activity more accurately. Patent Document 2 describes means for dividing a detection area into a plurality of parts to accurately detect a person's position and correcting the wind speed and the set temperature according to the detected person's position.

JP-A-5-240483 JP 2013-133970 A

  In the thing of the said patent document 1, since it is easy to feel that the person who moves well in air conditioning is hot, for example, when it detects that the amount of activity is large with a human sensor, it lowers preset temperature and air-conditioning capability Strengthen. Conversely, when the amount of activity is small, the set temperature is raised to measure energy saving. However, human sensors cannot be detected unless a person is moving, so there may be many people in the room even if the movement of the person is small and the amount of activity is small. May feel hot.

  Moreover, although the person's position can be grasped | ascertained also about the thing of the said patent document 2 by dividing | segmenting a detection area, the air-conditioning control cannot be performed by detecting the load fluctuation | variation by increase / decrease in the number of people in a room.

  An object of this invention is to obtain the indoor unit of the air conditioner which can control air conditioning appropriately with respect to the fluctuation | variation of the load by increase / decrease in the number of people in a room. For example, when the number of people increases, the ability to quickly raise the capacity to prevent the room temperature from rising will ensure comfort, and when the number of people decreases, the air conditioning will quickly reduce the ability and perform energy-saving operation It is to obtain an indoor unit.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a housing installed on a ceiling in a room, a blower and a heat exchanger provided inside the housing, a suction port for sucking room air into the housing, In an indoor unit of an air conditioner including an air outlet that blows out air sucked from the air inlet into the room by the blower, a radiation temperature sensor that detects a radiation temperature of the air-conditioning target area, and a human body operation in the air-conditioning target area is detected A human sensor, and the radiation temperature sensor detects a temperature change amount greater than or equal to a predetermined value, and if the human sensor detects an activity amount greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the set temperature in the room is corrected, or A signal for changing the rotational speed of a compressor provided outside is transmitted.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the indoor unit of the air conditioner which can control air conditioning appropriately with respect to the fluctuation | variation of the load by increase / decrease in the number of people in a room can be obtained. For example, if the number of people in the air-conditioning area increases, the air conditioning capability can be quickly increased to prevent discomfort due to an increase in room temperature, and if the number of people decreases, the air conditioning capability can be quickly reduced to reduce power consumption. .

It is a figure which shows the amount of activity at the time of the person's entrance to the air-conditioning object area in the room | chamber interior in which the indoor unit in the Example of this invention is attached. It is a figure which shows the load fluctuation | variation at the time of the person's entrance / exit in the Example of this invention. It is an external view which shows the indoor unit in the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the change of the radiation temperature and activity amount which the radiation sensor and the human sensitive sensor in the Example of this invention detect. It is a flowchart which shows the control in the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the person's increase / decrease determination method in the Example of this invention.

  Hereinafter, specific examples of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that, in each drawing, the portions denoted by the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding portions.

  First, with reference to FIG. 1, a case where a large number of people enter the conference room will be described that appropriate air conditioning control cannot be performed with respect to load fluctuations due to the number of people in the room only by the amount of human activity.

Case of entering room FIG. 1 shows a case where a person enters the conference room. There is only one person before entering the room and the amount of activity is small. While entering the room, it can be detected that the amount of activity is large, but if it sits in a seat and stops moving, the amount of activity is detected as small. However, the number of people in the room increases, the temperature of the human body rises due to the heat generated by the human body, and the user who is in the room feels hot during the cooling operation. The operation of the air conditioner is controlled to increase the capacity by detecting it after the room air temperature has risen, so there is a delay until the room temperature actually drops, and it is uncomfortable to feel hot immediately after entering the room. Will be in a certain state for a certain period of time.

Case of leaving the room Next, consider the case where a person leaves the meeting room (not shown). When the person leaves the room, the amount of activity increases because the person moves. The ability should be suppressed to decrease, but there is a risk that the set temperature will be changed in the direction of producing ability according to the high amount of activity detected at this time.

  As described above, it is impossible to appropriately change the set temperature in accordance with the load variation if only the amount of activity is detected when entering or leaving the room.

  FIG. 2 shows changes in the air conditioning load, the capacity generated by the air conditioner, and the room temperature when a person enters an air conditioning area 1 and leaves the room. When a person enters the room, the air conditioning load increases, the air temperature around the person first increases, and the temperature near the ceiling, that is, the indoor air temperature that can be detected by the air conditioner rises slightly later.

  Therefore, in the prior art, since the indoor unit detects an increase in the indoor air temperature and increases the air conditioning capability, the person feels heat from the time when the person enters the room until the air conditioner increases the capability. In the present invention, when a person enters the room, the air conditioning capability is increased before the room air temperature rises, and the rise in the room air temperature is suppressed to prevent discomfort.

  Similarly, when a person leaves the room, the room air temperature drops a little after the person leaves the room, so the conventional technology uses a wasteful air-conditioning capacity to continue operation without reducing the air-conditioning capacity. Will be. In the present invention, after a person leaves the room, the air-conditioning capability is quickly reduced to reduce power consumption.

  FIG. 2 shows the case of the cooling operation. In the heating operation, on the contrary, the air conditioning capacity is lowered after a person enters the room, and the air conditioning capacity is raised after the person leaves the room. Below, the Example of this invention at the time of air_conditionaing | cooling operation is described.

FIG. 3A shows a detection area 2 of the radiation temperature sensor and the human sensor in the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to the embodiment of the present invention, and the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to the embodiment of the present invention. external view of (C), and is an enlarged view of the mounting position of the radiation temperature sensor and the human body sensor of the indoor unit of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention (B).

  The indoor unit 11 is installed on the ceiling of the room and is attached to a portion exposed to the room in consideration of design, a suction port for sucking indoor air, and an air outlet for blowing air toward the room And are provided. Moreover, although not shown in the housing | casing of the indoor unit 11, the air blower and the heat exchanger which heat-exchanges the air taken in in the housing | casing and a refrigerant | coolant are provided.

  The radiation temperature sensor 12 and the human sensors 13, 14, 15, and 16 are attached to the corner portion of the decorative panel 11. The radiation temperature sensor 12 detects an average value of radiation temperatures emitted by people, floors, and objects in the air-conditioning area. The human sensors 13 to 16 detect the amount of change in infrared rays emitted by a person or an object.

  Moreover, although not shown in figure, the indoor unit 11 is connected to the outdoor unit installed outdoors via refrigerant | coolant piping. The outdoor unit includes a compressor that compresses the refrigerant therein, a heat exchanger that exchanges heat between the outside air and the refrigerant, a blower that blows air to the heat exchanger, a transmission / reception unit that transmits and receives information to and from the indoor unit, a compressor, A control unit that controls the blower.

  In order to explain the contents of the present invention, FIG. 4 shows changes in radiation temperature and activity when a person enters the room. The amount of activity by the human sensors 13 to 16 shows the same reaction when a person enters the room and moves inside the room, and when the person moves toward the exit in order to leave the room. It is not possible to determine whether the user has left the room.

  Here, in the present invention, the person entering and leaving the room are distinguished from the direction of change of the radiation temperature sensor 12. The radiation temperature sensor 12 detects the radiation temperature of people, objects, and floors in the detection area, and the radiation temperature rises when a certain number of people enter the detection area.

  Also, if a person leaves the room, the radiation temperature will drop. This is used to discriminate between entering and leaving a person. Subsequently, the approximate number of people is estimated from the amount of activity in a predetermined period of time before the time when the person's entry is determined.

  FIG. 5 shows a control flow of the present invention. In S <b> 1, the increase / decrease of the person is determined using the amount of change in the radiation temperature measured by the radiation temperature sensor 12.

  FIG. 6 shows details of S1. The radiation temperature sensor 12 measures the radiation temperature at predetermined intervals, for example, every 10 seconds. In FIG. 6, n = 1 indicates 10 seconds. In order to measure the amount of change in the radiation temperature, it is desired to use the radiation temperature T before entering the room-the radiation temperature T after entering the room. However, it is impossible to accurately determine the timing of entering and ending the entrance only by the radiation temperature. Therefore, the time from the start of entry to the end of entry is set to 60 seconds (n = 6), for example, as the time for about 10 to 20 people to finish entering the conference room.

  Assuming that people enter the conference room sequentially, the radiation temperature T gradually increases. Therefore, the difference between the previous value (T (n-1)) and the current value (T (n)). If the amount of change is defined as the amount of change, the amount of change may be small and the threshold may not be caught. Therefore, the previous value is the average value up to 60 seconds before the radiation temperature T, that is, the average of T (n-6) to T (n-1), and the difference B from the current measured value T (n) is the threshold value C. If it exceeds, it is judged that the number of people increased.

Although it is the value of threshold C , the measured value of the radiation temperature sensor 12 has a hunting of, for example, about 0.3 ° C. even when there is no increase / decrease in the number of people. It is misjudged that there is. Therefore, the threshold value C is set to 0.4 in the embodiment.

As described above, it is determined that the number of people in the room has increased or decreased when the radiation temperature sensor 12 detects a temperature change amount that is equal to or greater than a predetermined value that is equal to or greater than the threshold value C.

  Next, in S2, the approximate number of people is estimated from the amount of activity of the human sensors 13-16. The number of people in the room is estimated based on the amount of activity of the human sensors 13-16. In the present invention, a plurality of human sensors 13 to 16 are used in order to estimate a value closer to the actual number of people. For example, in the present embodiment, four human sensors 13 to 16 are used, and each of the four human sensors individually estimates the number of persons from the amount of activity. Thereby, it is possible to reduce misjudgment that measures the same person many times.

  Furthermore, as shown in Table 1, as the number of people to be judged increases, the possibility of measuring the same person many times increases, so it is difficult to judge the number of people by raising the threshold of the amount of activity for judging one person. To do. For example, the determination of the second person is performed when the activity amount is “large” and detected three times, but the determination of the third person is not performed unless detected four times. In addition, the way of raising the threshold value of the number of times with the increase in the number of people increases the smaller amount of activity than the larger amount of activity.

  In S3, a set temperature correction value is calculated based on the number of people determined in S2. The set temperature correction value needs to be determined in accordance with the number of people, that is, the magnitude of load fluctuation in order to keep the room temperature at an appropriate temperature. For example, the set temperature correction is 1 ° C. for 10 people and 2 ° C. for 20 people.

  However, this is the case of an air conditioner with a certain rated capacity, and it is necessary to change the relationship between the number of persons determined to have different rated capacities and the set temperature correction value. In the present invention, when the set temperature is changed by 1 ° C., for example, the air conditioning capacity is changed by about 10% of the rated capacity. For example, for an air conditioner with a rated capacity of 14kW, if the set temperature is corrected by 1 ° C, the air conditioning capacity changes by 1.4kW.

  Here, the amount of heat generated by a person is generally 0.1 kW. That is, the set temperature may be changed by 1 ° C. when the amount of heat generated by the person reaches 1.4 kW. In order to reach a human calorific value of 1.4 kW, 1.4 (kW) ÷ 0.1 (kw) = 14 (person), and when 14 people are detected, the set temperature of 1 ° C is corrected. With this method, an appropriate set temperature correction value can be given even for air conditioners with different rated capacities.

  In S4, it is determined whether or not to update the set temperature correction value calculated in S3. For example, if the set temperature correction value calculated this time has the same sign as the previous time and the absolute value of the current value is larger, it is considered that the number of people has further increased or decreased, so that it is updated to the current value.

  When the sign changes between the previous time and this time, it is considered that the number of people has decreased from the state where the number of people has increased. Therefore, it is necessary to change the air conditioning capacity by the difference, so this value is added. When the calculated set temperature correction is 0, or when the absolute value of the current value is smaller, no update is performed.

  For example, when the set temperature is 25 ° C. during the cooling operation, when a person enters the room and −1 ° C. is calculated as a correction value, the set temperature is updated to 24 ° C. After that, when there is a further person entering the room and -2 ° C having the same sign as the previous value and a large absolute value is calculated as the correction value, the set temperature is updated to 23 ° C by the current value. Subsequently, when there is a person leaving the room and + 1 ° C., which is different from the previous time, is calculated as the correction value, it is added to the set temperature and updated to 24 ° C.

  In the case of the first correction, if the set temperature correction is not 0, the correction is performed as it is. As described above, the radiation temperature sensor 12 determines that there is an increase or decrease in the number of people by detecting the temperature change amount greater than or equal to the predetermined value in S1, and the presence sensors 13 to 16 also detect the amount of activity greater than or equal to the predetermined value in S2. As a result, a necessary set temperature correction value is calculated in S3, and the set temperature is corrected.

  Next, in S6, it is determined whether or not the set temperature correction value is cleared. In the determination method, if the room temperature has changed in the direction in which the set temperature is corrected after the lapse of a predetermined time, the set temperature correction is cleared assuming that this control is effective.

  For example, when the set temperature is corrected to the minus side at the set temperature of 27 ° C. during cooling, the set temperature correction is cleared if the room temperature is lower than 27 ° C. If the set temperature has not changed in the corrected direction, it is considered that the control is not effective, so the capacity correction operation is continued. Further, when a predetermined time has elapsed, the set temperature correction is cleared regardless of the change in the room temperature.

  As described above, in S6, the set temperature correction is cleared by the method of returning to the set temperature before correction when the room temperature changes in the corrected direction of the set temperature and the method of returning to the set temperature before correction after a predetermined time has elapsed. To do.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the set temperature is corrected when the radiation temperature sensor 12 detects a temperature change amount greater than or equal to a predetermined value and the human sensors 13 to 16 detect an activity amount greater than or equal to the predetermined value. Thus, air conditioning control can be performed early and appropriately with respect to the increase or decrease of the number of people in the room due to entering and leaving the room.

  Here, in this embodiment, the air conditioning capacity is increased or decreased by correcting the set temperature, but a signal for changing the rotation speed of the compressor provided in the outdoor unit may be directly transmitted. Specifically, when the amount of temperature change detected by the radiation temperature sensor 12 during cooling operation is positive, a signal for increasing the rotational speed of the compressor is transmitted, and when it is negative, a signal for decreasing the rotational speed is transmitted. On the contrary, when the temperature change detected by the radiation temperature sensor 12 is positive, a signal for decreasing the rotational speed of the compressor is transmitted, and when it is negative, a signal for increasing the rotational speed is transmitted.

  The above-described embodiments have been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Air-conditioning area 2 ... Radiation temperature sensor and human sensor detection area 11 ... Indoor unit (decorative panel)
12 ... Radiation temperature sensor 13-16 ... Human sensor

Claims (10)

A housing installed on the ceiling of the room, a blower and a heat exchanger provided inside the housing, a suction port for sucking indoor air into the housing, and the air sucked from the suction port. In the indoor unit of the air conditioner comprising a blowout port that blows out into the room by
A radiation temperature sensor for detecting the radiation temperature in the air-conditioning target area, and a human sensor for detecting human body movement in the air-conditioning target area,
Based on the amount of temperature change detected by the radiation temperature sensor, the increase or decrease of the person is determined, and the number of persons who have changed based on the amount of activity detected by the human sensor is estimated. in the case of,
An indoor unit of an air conditioner that transmits a signal for correcting a set temperature in a room or changing a rotation speed of a compressor provided outside. In the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 1,
When cooling operation is performed,
When the temperature change amount is positive, the set temperature is corrected to a negative value, or a signal for increasing the rotational speed of a compressor provided outside is transmitted,
An indoor unit of an air conditioner, wherein when the temperature change amount is negative, the set temperature is corrected to be positive, or a signal for reducing the rotational speed of a compressor provided outside is transmitted. In the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 1,
If heating operation is being performed,
When the temperature change amount is positive, the set temperature is corrected to a negative value, or a signal for reducing the rotational speed of a compressor provided outside is transmitted,
An indoor unit for an air conditioner, wherein when the temperature change amount is negative, the set temperature is corrected to be positive, or a signal for increasing the rotational speed of a compressor provided outside is transmitted. In the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 2 or 3,
A suction temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the indoor air is provided, and after correcting the set temperature, if the suction temperature detected by the suction temperature sensor changes in the corrected direction, the corrected set temperature becomes the set temperature before correction. An indoor unit of an air conditioner characterized by being returned. In the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 2 or 3,
An indoor unit for an air conditioner, wherein after the set temperature is corrected, the corrected set temperature is returned to the set temperature before the correction when a predetermined time elapses. In the indoor unit of an air conditioner according to claim 2 or claim 3,
An indoor unit for an air conditioner, wherein a correction value for a set temperature is determined based on an amount of activity detected by the human sensor. The indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 6,
A plurality of human sensors each having a different detection range,
The indoor unit of an air conditioner, wherein the activity amount is detected individually by the plurality of human sensors. In the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 2 or 3,
An indoor unit of an air conditioner, wherein the correction value of the set temperature based on the rated estimated performance of occupancy human number and the air conditioner which is estimated from the detected amount of activity of the human sensor is determined. In the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 2 or 3,
After the set temperature is corrected, when the radiation temperature sensor detects a temperature change amount that is greater than or equal to a predetermined value and the human sensor detects an activity amount that is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the current correction value is An indoor unit for an air conditioner characterized in that when the absolute value is greater than the previous value, the indoor unit of the air conditioner is updated to the set temperature corrected by the current correction value. In the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 2 or 3,
After the set temperature is corrected, when the radiation temperature sensor detects a temperature change amount that is greater than or equal to a predetermined value and the human sensor detects an activity amount that is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the current correction value is An indoor unit of an air conditioner characterized in that when it is an inverse sign, the current correction value is added to the previously corrected set temperature.