JP6937946B2 - Air conditioner control system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a control system for an air conditioner that air-conditions a room.

In the past, there have been research cases in offices, schools, or cram schools where work efficiency depends on the indoor environment. Therefore, there is a technique for increasing the activity of the autonomic nervous system by supplying a stimulating substance to the room and switching between the supply and removal of the stimulating substance to change the thermal environment in the room (for example, patent documents). 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-161164

In Patent Document 1, a stimulating substance is supplied to give a thermal stimulus to a resident in the room for the purpose of enhancing the activity of the autonomic nervous system. In this way, thermal stimulation can enhance the activity of the autonomic nervous system, but it can also give a feeling of comfort to the occupants. However, Patent Document 1 does not study giving a feeling of comfort to a resident by thermal stimulation. In addition, whether or not the occupants feel comfortable is considered to be influenced by the amount of activity of the individual occupants. However, Patent Document 1 does not examine this point either.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a control system for an air conditioner capable of improving comfort by thermal stimulation while considering the amount of activity of a resident. And.

The control system of the air conditioner according to the present invention is a control system of the air conditioner that performs air conditioning so that the room temperature of the air conditioner becomes the target temperature, and is an activity amount for measuring the activity amount of the occupants of the air conditioner space. It is equipped with a sensor and a control device that operates in a fluctuation mode that fluctuates the target temperature, and the control device has a fluctuation width that is a fluctuation range of the target temperature in the fluctuation mode according to the amount of activity measured by the activity amount sensor. and is intended to vary one or both of the fluctuation cycle is the variation period of the target temperature, the fluctuation mode of the cooling operation, the target temperature, to the only fluctuation width than the initial value and the initial value of the target temperature lower temperature , It fluctuates alternately every fluctuation cycle .

According to the present invention, one or both of the fluctuation width and the fluctuation cycle of the target temperature are changed according to the activity amount of the occupant, so that the thermal stimulus can be given according to the activity amount of the occupant. It can contribute to the improvement of comfort.

It is a figure which shows an example of the air-conditioning system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the control device of FIG. It is a figure which shows the table which summarized the fluctuation width and fluctuation period of the target temperature according to the amount of activity in the fluctuation mode of the air conditioning system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the control flowchart of the fluctuation mode in the air-conditioning system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which showed an example of the fluctuation of the target temperature according to the amount of activity in the fluctuation mode in the air conditioning system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the modification 1 of the fluctuation mode in the air-conditioning system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the modification 2 of the fluctuation mode in the air-conditioning system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Further, the various specific setting examples described in the present embodiment are only shown as one example, and are not particularly limited thereto.

In the present embodiment, the communication may be a mixture of wireless communication and wired communication as well as wireless communication and wired communication. For example, wireless communication may be performed in a certain section, and wired communication may be performed in another space. Further, the communication from one device to another device may be performed by wired communication, and the communication from another device to a certain device may be performed by wireless communication.

Embodiment 1.
(Structure of Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an air conditioning system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
The air conditioning system includes an air conditioning device 10 that performs air conditioning so that the room temperature of the air conditioning space becomes a target temperature, and a control system 50 that controls the air conditioning device 10.

The air conditioner 10 includes an indoor unit 20 and an outdoor unit 30. The indoor unit 20 includes an indoor blower 21, an indoor heat exchanger 22, and a room temperature sensor 23 that measures room temperature. The indoor unit 20 air-conditions the room in an operation mode such as cooling, heating, dehumidifying, humidifying, moisturizing, or blowing air.

The outdoor unit 30 includes an outdoor blower 31, an outdoor heat exchanger 32, an expansion valve 33, a four-way valve 34, and a compressor 35. A refrigerant circuit is configured by connecting the compressor 35, the four-way valve 34, the outdoor heat exchanger 32, the expansion valve 33, and the indoor heat exchanger 22 with a refrigerant pipe 40. A heat pump is formed by circulating the refrigerant inside the refrigerant circuit while repeating compression and expansion.

The control system 50 includes an activity amount sensor 60 that measures the activity amount of an occupant in the air-conditioned space, and a control device 70 that controls the entire air conditioning system.

The activity sensor 60 is composed of, for example, an infrared sensor or a wearable sensor. When the activity amount sensor 60 is composed of an infrared sensor, the activity amount is calculated by acquiring a state in which the occupant is standing, sitting, or moving from the heat distribution in the room. When the activity sensor 60 is a wearable sensor, for example, a watch-type sensor that is attached to the wrist, an accelerometer or the like built-in and having a function as an activity meter may be used. Then, the activity amount measured by the activity amount sensor 60 is sent to the control device 70 by communication.

The amount of activity is specifically the amount of metabolism [met]. The amount of metabolism 1 [met] represents the amount of heat of 58.2 [W] per ^{body surface 1 [m 2].} This amount of heat [W] is the case of the average Japanese body surface of 1.7 [m ² ]. The amount of metabolism changes greatly from rest to exercise by 10 times or more. For example, it is 1.0 [met] at rest. It is 1.2 [met] when standing. When walking slowly, it is 2.0 [met]. If you walk a little faster, it is 3.0 [met]. A marathon speed of 10 km / h is about 10 [met] (Source: Society of Air Conditioning and Sanitary Engineering "Mechanism of Comfortable Thermal Environment").

The control device 70 operates in each operation mode. In the heating operation and the cooling operation, a normal mode in which the room temperature is maintained at the target temperature and a fluctuation mode in which the occupants are given a thermal stimulus are selectively performed. The fluctuation mode is a control that fluctuates the target temperature according to the amount of activity measured by the activity amount sensor 60, and is a control aimed at improving the comfort of the occupants by thermal stimulation. The fluctuation mode will be described in detail again.

The control device 70 is composed of, for example, a microcomputer, includes a CPU, RAM, ROM, and the like, and the ROM stores programs and the like corresponding to the flowcharts described later. Although FIG. 1 shows an example in which the control device 70 is configured separately from the air conditioner 10, it may be incorporated in the air conditioner 10.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the control device of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 70 includes a frequency determination unit 71, an operation control unit 72, and a storage unit 73. The frequency determination unit 71 determines the frequency of the compressor 35 according to the temperature difference between the room temperature measured by the room temperature sensor 23 and the target room temperature. The operation control unit 72 controls the compressor 35 based on the compressor frequency determined by the frequency determination unit 71. The storage unit 73 stores the control program of the air conditioning system, various data required in the fluctuation mode, and the like. The connections between the parts may be wired or wireless, and control commands, device information, and the like may be transmitted to each other. Note that FIG. 2 illustrates only the portion related to the first embodiment.

(Relationship between thermal stimulation and comfort)
According to the research results so far, it has been found that the concept of controlling the operation of air conditioning by the biological rhythm, for example, the operation control of 1 / f fluctuation, may give a feeling of comfort to the living body. In the first embodiment, this kind of fluctuation mode is adopted for adjusting the room temperature to improve the comfort of the occupants. The fluctuation mode of the first embodiment is a fluctuation mode different from the 1 / f fluctuation, and will be described below.

(Fluctuation mode)
In the fluctuation mode, the fluctuation width and the fluctuation cycle of the target temperature of the air conditioner 10 are automatically adjusted according to the activity amount of the occupants measured by the activity amount sensor 60. The fluctuation width is the fluctuation range of the target temperature. The fluctuation cycle is the fluctuation cycle of the target temperature. Hereinafter, the fluctuation mode will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. The fluctuation mode during the cooling operation will be described below.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a table summarizing the fluctuation width and fluctuation period of the target temperature according to the amount of activity in the fluctuation mode of the air conditioning system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
In the first embodiment, the amount of activity is divided into four ranges according to the threshold values A to C. Specifically, in "rest", the amount of activity is 0 [met] ≤ the amount of activity <1 [met]. Further, in "light exercise", the amount of activity is 1 [met] ≤ the amount of activity <3 [met]. Further, in "moderate exercise", the amount of activity is 3 [met] ≤ the amount of activity <5 [met]. In "heavy exercise", the amount of activity is 5 [met] ≤ the amount of activity. It should be noted that this division method is an example and is not limited to this division method.

The greater the amount of activity, the higher the thermal sensitivity of the human body. On the contrary, when the amount of metabolism decreases, such as during sleep, the thermal sensitivity of the human body decreases accordingly. Therefore, in the fluctuation mode, as shown in FIG. 3, as the amount of activity increases, the fluctuation width is increased as H1 <H2 <H3, while the fluctuation period is shortened as ΔT1> ΔT2> ΔT3. .. The specific numerical values of the fluctuation width and the fluctuation period shown in FIG. 3 are merely examples, and they may be appropriately set according to actual usage conditions and the like.

When the amount of activity detected by the activity amount sensor 60 is in the range of "rest", the target temperature does not fluctuate and the room temperature is controlled to maintain the initial value described below. Then, when the amount of activity detected by the activity amount sensor 60 is in the range of, for example, "moderate movement", the fluctuation width is set to H2 and the fluctuation period is set to ΔT2, as described in the specific example of FIG. That is, since the cooling operation is performed here, the control is performed so that the target temperature is changed for each ΔT2 from the initial value and the temperature lower than the initial value by H2.

Further, in the fluctuation mode of the first embodiment, control for reducing power consumption is also performed while maintaining the comfort of the occupants. Specifically, when the amount of activity is in the range of "moderate exercise", for example, the target temperature is not kept constant from the initial value to the temperature H2 lower than the initial value, but alternates between the initial value and the temperature H2 lower than the initial value. Fluctuate. As a result, the power consumption can be reduced as compared with the case where the target temperature is kept constant from the initial value to a temperature lower than H2.

Here, a method of determining the fluctuation width of the target temperature according to the amount of activity will be described. The fluctuation width of the target temperature is determined using, for example, PMV (Predict Mean Vote), which is a thermal environment evaluation index indicating comfort. PMV is an index in which 0 is a neutral value of comfort and can be evaluated with the + side as the warm side and the-side as the cold side. If the PMV is within ± 0.5, it is a comfortable environment. PMV is expressed by the following equation (1) using a plurality of parameters that affect the feeling of warmth and coldness of human beings.

PMV = f (T, RH, v, MRT, MET, clo) ... (1)
here,
T [° C]: Room temperature RHA [%]: Relative humidity v [m / s]: Wind speed MRT [° C]: Average radiation temperature MET [met]: Metabolic equivalent clo [clo]: Clothes

Of the above six variables, values are fixed except for room temperature T and metabolic amount MET. For the relative humidity RH, the wind speed v, and the average radiation temperature MRT, the values prepared as the default values at the time of cooling may be used. Here, the average radiation temperature is a temperature obtained by averaging the heat radiation received from all directions of the surroundings.

Substitute the metabolic amount indicating the amount of activity at "rest", specifically, for example, the central value of the activity range of "rest" into the metabolic amount MET of equation (1), and use the neutral value of comfort for PMV. Substitute a certain 0 to calculate the room temperature T. The room temperature T calculated in this way is a temperature at which the occupant feels comfortable when he / she is in a “resting” state. This temperature is used as the initial value.

Then, by substituting the median value of each activity range of "light exercise", "moderate exercise" and "heavy exercise" into the metabolic amount MET of equation (1), comfort according to each activity amount. Calculate the room temperature. The temperature difference between the calculated room temperature and the initial value is the fluctuation width according to the amount of activity.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a fluctuation mode control flowchart in the air conditioning system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The control device 70 performs the process of FIG. 4 at a preset control interval, for example, every minute, until the end of the fluctuation mode is instructed.
When the fluctuation mode is selected in the cooling operation, the control device 70 acquires the activity amount measured by the activity amount sensor 60 (step S1), and the activity amount is within any of the four predetermined ranges. Check if it is (step S2). Then, the air conditioning control is performed according to the corresponding range (steps S3 to S10).

That is, when the activity amount measured by the activity amount sensor 60 is within the range of 0 [met] ≤ activity amount <A [met] (step S3), the control device 70 is an air conditioner that keeps the target room temperature constant at the initial value. Control is performed (step S4). Specifically, the frequency determination unit 71 of the control device 70 determines the frequency of the compressor 35 according to the temperature difference between the room temperature and the initial value measured by the room temperature sensor 23, and the operation control unit 71 is based on the determined frequency. 72 controls the compressor 35.

When the activity amount measured by the activity amount sensor 60 is in the range of A [met] ≤ activity amount <B [met] (step S5), the control device 70 sets the target room temperature to H1 rather than the initial value and the initial value. Air conditioning control that fluctuates every ΔT1 at a low temperature is performed (step S6). When the activity amount measured by the activity amount sensor 60 is in the range of B [met] ≤ activity amount <C [met] (step S7), the control device 70 sets the target room temperature to H2 rather than the initial value and the initial value. Air conditioning control that fluctuates every ΔT2 at a low temperature is performed (step S8). When the activity amount measured by the activity amount sensor 60 is C or more (step S9), the control device 70 performs air conditioning control in which the target room temperature fluctuates every ΔT3 between the initial value and the temperature H3 lower than the initial value. (Step S10).

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of fluctuation of the target temperature according to the amount of activity in the fluctuation mode in the air conditioning system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the fluctuation mode will be described using the specific numerical values shown in FIG. Here, the initial value is 27 ° C.
In the example of FIG. 5, the amount of activity is in the range of "rest" at the initial t0 of the start of the fluctuation mode, but as the time progresses to time t1, time t2, and time t3, the amount of activity becomes "light exercise" and "moderate". It has risen to "exercise" and "heavy exercise". As the amount of activity increases in this way, the fluctuation width of the target temperature expands to 1 ° C., 1.5 ° C., and 2 ° C., while the fluctuation cycle shortens to 4 minutes, 3 minutes, and 2 minutes. Then, at time t4, as the amount of activity decreased from "heavy exercise" to "light exercise", the fluctuation width of the target room temperature decreased from 2 ° C to 1 ° C, while the fluctuation cycle changed from 2 minutes to 4 minutes. It's getting longer. Then, at t5, the amount of activity increased from "moderate exercise" to "heavy exercise" again, and along with this, the fluctuation width of the target room temperature increased from 1 ° C to 2 ° C, while the fluctuation cycle was 4 to 2 minutes. It has become shorter.

From time t1 to time t2, fluctuation control according to "light exercise" at time t1, that is, control of changing the target temperature to 26 ° C, which is obtained by subtracting 1 ° C from 27 ° C, and the initial value of 27 ° C every 4 minutes. Is started. From time t1 to 4 minutes, the operation is performed with the target temperature set to 26 ° C. In the next 4 minutes, the operation with the target temperature as the initial value is performed. However, in this example, since the fluctuation control is changed every minute according to the amount of activity, the amount of activity is "light exercise" at time t2 4 minutes before the start of the operation with the target temperature as the initial value. ”Has changed to“ moderate exercise ”. Along with this change in the amount of activity, fluctuation control according to "moderate exercise" is started before the lapse of 4 minutes.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, since the fluctuation width and the fluctuation cycle of the target room temperature are changed according to the amount of activity, an appropriate thermal stimulus is given according to the amount of activity of the occupants. Can improve comfort.

Further, in the first embodiment, when the target room temperature is fluctuated according to the amount of activity, the temperature is not constantly controlled from the initial value to a temperature lower by the fluctuation width according to the amount of activity, but fluctuates from the initial value and the initial value. The temperature was changed alternately with a temperature lower by the width. As a result, the power consumption can be reduced as compared with the case where the target temperature is kept constant at a temperature lower than the initial value by the fluctuation width.

In the fluctuation mode, the fluctuation width is increased as the amount of activity increases. Also, in the fluctuation mode, the fluctuation cycle is shortened as the amount of activity increases. In this way, the fluctuation width and the fluctuation cycle can be changed according to the amount of activity.

Further, in the first embodiment, the activity amount is divided into a plurality of ranges, and the fluctuation width and the fluctuation cycle are set in each range. Among the plurality of ranges, the activity amount measured by the activity amount sensor 60. The fluctuation mode is now performed with the fluctuation width and fluctuation cycle set in the range including. In this way, the amount of activity can be divided into a plurality of ranges, and a fluctuation mode corresponding to each range can be realized.

The initial value in the fluctuation mode is determined so that the thermal environment evaluation index PMV calculated by using a plurality of parameters including at least the amount of activity at rest becomes 0. Further, the fluctuation width of each of the plurality of ranges in which the activity amount is divided is the temperature determined so that the thermal environment evaluation index PMV calculated by using a plurality of parameters including at least the activity amount in each range becomes 0. And the temperature difference from the initial value. In this way, since the initial value and the fluctuation width are set so that the thermal environment evaluation index PMV becomes 0, the air conditioning control at room temperature at which the thermal environment evaluation index PMV becomes comfortable is performed, and the comfort is further improved. Can be improved.

In the first embodiment, both the fluctuation width and the fluctuation cycle of the target temperature are changed according to the amount of activity, but either one may be changed. Hereinafter, a specific description will be given.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a modified example 1 of the fluctuation mode in the air conditioning system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
In the modified example of FIG. 6, the fluctuation width of the target temperature is constant, and the fluctuation cycle is changed according to the amount of activity.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a modification 2 of the fluctuation mode in the air conditioning system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
In the modified example of FIG. 7, the fluctuation width of the target temperature is changed according to the amount of activity, and the fluctuation cycle is kept constant.

As described above, comfort can be improved even as a control for varying one of the fluctuation width and the fluctuation cycle of the target temperature.

In the first embodiment, the initial value and the fluctuation width are determined by using the thermal environment evaluation index PMV, but the present invention is not limited to this. The initial value may be, for example, a set temperature set by the user.

Further, in the first embodiment, the example of the fluctuation mode in the cooling operation has been described, but the fluctuation mode can be similarly applied in the heating operation. In the case of heating operation, the fluctuation of the target room temperature may be changed between the initial value and the temperature which is higher than the initial value by the fluctuation width.

10 Air conditioner, 20 Indoor unit, 21 Indoor blower, 22 Indoor heat exchanger, 23 Room temperature sensor, 30 Outdoor unit, 31 Outdoor blower, 32 Outdoor heat exchanger, 33 Expansion valve, 34 Four-way valve, 35 Compressor, 40 Refrigerant piping, 50 control system, 60 activity sensor, 70 control device, 71 frequency determination unit, 72 operation control unit, 73 storage unit.

Claims (7)

A control system for an air conditioner that air-conditions so that the room temperature in the air-conditioned space becomes the target temperature.
An activity sensor that measures the activity of the occupants of the air-conditioned space,
It is equipped with a control device that operates in a fluctuation mode that fluctuates the target temperature.
The control device performs one or both of the fluctuation width which is the fluctuation width of the target temperature and the fluctuation cycle which is the fluctuation cycle of the target temperature in the fluctuation mode according to the activity amount measured by the activity amount sensor. In the fluctuation mode during the cooling operation, the target temperature is alternately changed for each fluctuation cycle to an initial value of the target temperature and a temperature lower than the initial value by the fluctuation width. Control system for air conditioners. A control system for an air conditioner that air-conditions so that the room temperature in the air-conditioned space becomes the target temperature.
An activity sensor that measures the activity of the occupants of the air-conditioned space,
It is equipped with a control device that operates in a fluctuation mode that fluctuates the target temperature.
The control device performs one or both of the fluctuation width which is the fluctuation width of the target temperature and the fluctuation cycle which is the fluctuation cycle of the target temperature in the fluctuation mode according to the activity amount measured by the activity amount sensor. In the fluctuation mode during heating operation, the target temperature is alternately changed for each fluctuation cycle to an initial value of the target temperature and a temperature higher than the initial value by the fluctuation width. Control system for air conditioners. The control system for an air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the fluctuation width is increased as the amount of activity measured by the amount of activity sensor increases. The control system for an air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control device shortens the fluctuation cycle as the amount of activity measured by the activity amount sensor increases. The amount of activity is divided into a plurality of ranges, and the fluctuation width and the fluctuation cycle are set in each range.
Any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the fluctuation mode is performed in the fluctuation width and the fluctuation cycle set in the range including the activity amount measured by the activity amount sensor among the plurality of ranges. The control system for the air conditioner described in. The initial value corresponds to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the thermal environment evaluation index PMV calculated by using a plurality of parameters including at least the amount of activity at rest is determined to be 0. The control system for the air conditioner described. The fluctuation width of each of the plurality of ranges is the temperature determined so that the thermal environment evaluation index PMV calculated by using a plurality of parameters including at least the amount of activity in each range becomes 0, and the initial value. The control system for an air conditioner according to claim 5 or 6, which is a temperature difference between the two and the air conditioner.

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