JP7463310B2 - Air conditioners - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to an air conditioner.

Conventionally, in this type of air conditioner, the indoor unit is usually installed on a high wall of the room, but it may be installed approximately in the center of the wall in the left-right direction, or it may be installed close to the wall on the right or left side as viewed from the indoor unit. When the indoor unit is installed close to the wall on the right or left side as viewed from the indoor unit, if the movable louver provided at the air outlet of the indoor unit is swung left and right, hot air will hit the wall close to the indoor unit during heating, and cold air will hit the wall close to the indoor unit during cooling, causing deterioration of the wall and condensation to occur, so it was necessary to determine whether there is a wall near the indoor unit.
Therefore, a thermopile sensor is installed in the indoor unit that generates a thermoelectromotive force according to the amount of incident energy when it receives infrared rays radiated from an object.This thermopile sensor is moved left and right by a motor, and the thermal image obtained by the thermopile sensor is used to determine whether a wall is nearby.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-113472

However, in this conventional system, when using a thermopile sensor, a mechanism to move the sensor is required compared to when using a pyroelectric sensor, which makes the control more complex and increases the amount of processing required by the microcontroller, necessitating the use of a microcontroller with high functionality.

In order to solve the above problem, claim 1 of the present invention provides an air conditioner equipped with an infrared sensor installed in an indoor unit that detects heat movement in the room, left and right air deflectors that move left and right to change the air direction, and a control unit that determines that someone is present when the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeds a threshold value. The control unit performs a heating operation and swings the left and right air deflectors left and right, and performs wall-side installation determination control to determine that there is a side wall near either the left or right side of the indoor unit when the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeds the threshold value once during one swing of the left and right air deflectors and the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeds the threshold value at the same timing during one swing of the left and right air deflectors reaches a predetermined number of times in succession.

In claim 2, a timer is provided for measuring time, and the control unit always keeps the left and right vanes facing in the same direction before starting one swing of the left and right vanes, and starts counting the timer at the same time as starting the swing motion. When the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeds a threshold value after starting the swing motion, the timer stops counting and stores the counted time. When the previous stored time and the current stored time are compared and found to be the same, it is determined that the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeded the threshold value at the same timing during one swing of the left and right vanes.

In claim 3, when the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeds a threshold value at the same timing during one full swing of the left and right air deflectors in the wall installation determination control, the control unit determines the direction of the wall based on the time counted by the timer from the start of one full swing of the left and right air deflectors to the time when the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeds the threshold value, and restricts the swing operation of the left and right air deflectors in a direction in which a wall is determined to exist during the swing operation of the left and right air deflectors during normal operation.

According to claim 1 of the present invention, in an air conditioner equipped with an infrared sensor installed in an indoor unit that detects heat transfer in the room, left and right air deflectors that move left and right to change the air direction, and a control unit that determines that a person is present when the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeds a threshold value, the control unit performs a heating operation and swings the left and right air deflectors left and right, and when the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeds the threshold value once during one swing of the left and right air deflectors and the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeds the threshold value at the same timing during one swing of the left and right air deflectors reaches a predetermined number of times in succession, performs wall installation determination control to determine that there is a side wall near either the left or right side of the indoor unit, so that it is possible to easily determine that there is a wall near either the left or right side of the indoor unit.

In addition, if the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeds the threshold value two or more times during one swing of the left and right air deflectors, it is assumed that something other than a wall is also detected, and a wall installation judgment error is generated, and a wall is not erroneously judged to be a wall. Also, when a person moves, the detection value of the infrared sensor does not exceed the threshold value at different times during one swing of the left and right air deflectors, and the detection value of the infrared sensor does not exceed the threshold value at the same time during one swing of the left and right air deflectors consecutively, so it is possible to prevent the person from being mistakenly judged to be a wall. Also, if the detection value of the infrared sensor does not exceed the threshold value during one swing of the left and right air deflectors, it is judged that there is no person present and that there are no walls near the left or right of the indoor unit, and it is possible to reliably judge that there is no person present and that there are no walls near the left or right of the indoor unit.

Furthermore, according to claim 2, a timer is provided for measuring time, and the control unit always keeps the left and right vanes facing in the same direction before starting one swing of the left and right vanes, and at the same time starts the timer counting, and when the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeds a threshold value after starting the swing motion, the timer counting is stopped and the counted time is stored, and when the previous stored time and the current stored time are compared and found to be the same, it is determined that the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeded the threshold value at the same timing during one swing of the left and right vanes, so that if a wall is nearby, the detection value of the infrared sensor will always exceed the threshold value at the same timing during one swing of the left and right vanes, thereby enabling reliable detection of a wall.

Furthermore, according to claim 3, when the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeds a threshold value at the same timing during one full swing of the left and right air deflectors in the wall installation determination control, the control unit determines the direction of the wall based on the time from when one full swing of the left and right air deflectors begins to when the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeds a threshold value, and restricts the swing movement of the left and right air deflectors in a direction in which a wall is determined to exist during the swing movement of the left and right air deflectors during normal operation. Therefore, during normal operation, warm air during heating and cold air during cooling do not hit the wall or a window in the wall, which prevents deterioration of the wall or wallpaper, and prevents condensation from forming on the wall or a window in the wall.

1 is a perspective view of a case of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the case shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged perspective view of the case shown in FIG. 1 . 2 is a partially enlarged perspective view of the case shown in FIG. 1 with a blower port side case body removed; 2 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view in the vertical direction illustrating a structure near a human presence sensor in the case shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged schematic diagram illustrating a structure near a human presence sensor in the case shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 is a control block diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing wall-side installation determination control according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing wall-side installation determination control according to an embodiment of the present invention.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the attached drawings. In the description, the front and rear refer to the direction protruding from the wall on which the case is hung, and the wall itself. In the drawings, Fr indicates the front, Rr indicates the rear, Le indicates the left, Ri indicates the right, Up indicates the top, and Dn indicates the bottom.
Next, a combustion device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Reference numeral 1 denotes an indoor unit installed on a wall surface inside a room, and is composed of a box-shaped case 10. The case 10 has an intake port 21 provided on the top surface for sucking in air, a blower fan 22 for taking in indoor air into the case 10 and blowing it into the room, a plurality of heat exchangers 23 for exchanging heat with the air taken in by the blower fan 22, an air outlet 24 for blowing air that has passed through the outer periphery of these heat exchangers 23, up and down louvers 25 installed at the air outlet 24 as up and down air direction plates for changing the direction of air blown into the room up and down, and a pair of louvers 25 installed at the air outlet 24 as up and down air direction plates for changing the direction of air blown into the room up and down. The case 10 has left and right louvers 26 which are left and right air direction plates that change the direction of air being blown into the room to the left and right, a filter unit 30 which is disposed above the heat exchanger 23 and prevents dust from entering the case 10, a cleaning unit 40 which cleans the filter 31 provided in the filter unit 30, a holding portion 12 which temporarily holds the filter 31 cleaned by the cleaning unit 40, a collection box 13 which is attached to the case 10 and collects dust, and a metal support plate 14 which is provided on the rear surface of the case 10 and fixed to the wall Wa.

The case 10 is composed of a rear case body 50 supported by the support plate 14, a central case body 51 supported by the rear case body 50 and covering the rear of the indoor fan 33, a front case body 52 supported by the central case body 51 and covering the front of the filter unit 30, and an air outlet side case body 53 located below the front case body 52 to the right of the air outlet 24. A lens hole 54 is formed in the air outlet side case body 53, and the hemispherical portion 62a of the human presence sensor 60 described later is located in the lens hole 54.

The air outlet 24 is composed of an air outlet bottom surface 24a constituting the bottom surface and an air outlet side panel 24b constituting the side surface, and the air outlet bottom surface 24a and the air outlet side panel 24b are screwed to the central case body 51 with screws. The air outlet side panel 24b is formed with a vertical through hole 27 through which a vertical support shaft 25a that supports the vertical louvers 25, which are vertical air direction plates, so that they can move in the vertical direction, and a left-right through hole 28 through which a left-right support shaft 26a that supports the left-right louvers 26, which are left-right air direction plates, so that they can move in the horizontal direction.

The vertical support shaft 25a has one end connected to the vertical louvers 25 and the other end supported by a vertical louver motor 91 that moves the vertical louvers 25 in the vertical direction. The left-right support shaft 26a has one end connected to the left-right louvers 26 and the other end supported by a left-right louver motor 92 that moves the left-right louvers 26 in the horizontal direction. Therefore, when a drive start command is issued by the control unit 90, the vertical louver motor 91 and the left-right louver motor 92 are driven, and the vertical louvers 25 and the left-right louvers 26 move in their respective directions.

Reference numeral 55 denotes a case substrate made of a plastic resin molded product that is located inside the case 10 to the right of the air outlet 24 and on which electronic components such as a control board are attached. The case substrate 55 is formed with a substrate holder 56 to which a substrate 70 on which a human presence sensor 60 consisting of an infrared sensor is attached and fixed.
The human presence sensor 60 comprises a photodetector 61 which is fixed to a substrate 70 with solder and senses infrared rays to detect whether there has been a thermal change due to the movement of an object with a temperature above a certain level, and a lens 62 which covers the photodetector 61 and is made of a resin material.
The lens 62 is composed of a hemispherical portion 62a that abuts against the edge of the lens hole 54, and a cylindrical portion 62b that is located at the lower end of the hemispherical portion 62a from the contact surface with the substrate 70. The lens 62 covers the periphery of the light receiving element 61.

The light receiving element 61 is mounted on the substrate 70 so that the range in which it detects thermal changes spreads out in a fan shape toward the front as indicated by the dotted line, and the detection range is inside the outer periphery of the hemispherical portion 62a. The light receiving element 61 detects thermal changes within the detection range to determine the presence or absence of a person in the room. The lens hole 54 is recessed in a cone shape from the surface of the air outlet side case body 53 toward the internal space In so as not to obstruct the range in which the light receiving element 61 detects thermal changes.

63 is an insulating material installed to cover the cylindrical portion 62b of the lens 62, which prevents the temperature of the cylindrical portion 62b from increasing due to heating, thereby preventing the temperature of the hemispherical portion 62a from increasing, and thus preventing the light receiving element 61 from detecting a thermal change in the hemispherical portion 62a and mistakenly detecting that a person is present in the room.

The heat insulating material 63 is made of a foamed resin such as urethane foam, and is formed in a doughnut shape that abuts against and covers the entire outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion 62b. The heat insulating material 63 is installed by fitting the heat insulating material 63 over the lens 62, and fitting the air outlet side case body 53 with the heat insulating material 63 abutting against the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion 62b, so that the heat insulating material 63 is sandwiched between the air outlet side case body 53 and the substrate 70. This fills the gap between the lens hole 54 and the lens 62, so that it is possible to prevent hot air from leaking out of the gap between the lens hole 54 and the lens 62 during heating operation, and it is possible to prevent the light receiving element 61 from detecting a thermal change due to the hemispherical portion 62a being heated and the temperature rising, and therefore to erroneously detect the presence of a person. In addition, since it is not necessary to adhere the heat insulating material 63 to the periphery of the cylindrical portion 62b using an adhesive or the like, the heat insulating material 63 can be easily fixed in a state of being in close contact with the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical portion 62b.

Reference numeral 90 denotes a control unit formed of a microcomputer, which sets the air volume to large or small in response to the operation of an air volume change switch provided on the remote control 100, and sets the rotation speed of the blower fan 22 to a rotation speed corresponding to the set air volume. Also, in response to the operation of an air direction change switch (not shown) provided on the remote control 100, an up/down louver motor 91 and a left/right louver motor 92 are driven, and the up/down louvers 25 serving as up/down air direction plates and the left/right louvers 26 serving as left/right air direction plates are set to any angle within a predetermined range.
Furthermore, wall-side installation determination control is performed in response to the operation of a wall-side installation determination switch (not shown) provided on the remote control 100. Note that wall-side installation determination control may be performed automatically during the first operation after the air conditioner is installed.

91 is a timer that starts counting and timing according to instructions from the control unit 90, and also stops counting and timing according to instructions from the control unit 90, and outputs the counted time at the time timing is stopped to the control unit 90.

Next, the operation of the wall-side installation determination control of this air conditioner will be described with reference to FIG.
First, when the wall-side installation determination switch provided on the remote control 100 is turned on (S1), the control unit 90 starts the heating operation (S2).
Then, the control unit 90 increases the sensitivity of the human sensor 60 to make it easier to detect the wall (S3).

Next, the control unit 90 checks whether the left and right louvers 26 are facing forward (S4), and if they are not facing forward, drives the left and right louver motor 92 to face the left and right louvers 26 forward (S5).
Then, with the left and right louvers 26 facing forward, the control unit 90 causes the left and right louvers 26 to swing back and forth once (S6).

Then, the control unit 90 determines whether the output of the human sensor 60 exceeded the threshold value once during one left-right swing (S7), and if the output of the human sensor 60 did not exceed the threshold value once, it next determines whether the output of the human sensor 60 exceeded the threshold value zero times (S8), and if the output of the human sensor 60 exceeded the threshold value zero times, it determines that the human sensor 60 is not installed next to a wall (S9), and proceeds to (S35).

In addition, if the output of the human presence sensor 60 has not exceeded the threshold value 0 times in (S8), it means that the output of the human presence sensor 60 has exceeded the threshold value two or more times. In this case, it is determined that something other than a wall located nearby, such as a person, has also been detected, and the number of multiple detections A is set to A+1 (S10), and the number of multiple detections A is compared with a predetermined number of detections a (S11). If the number of multiple detections A is less than the predetermined number of detections a, the process returns to (S4); if the number of multiple detections A is equal to or greater than the predetermined number of detections a, it is determined that a wall cannot be detected, and a wall installation determination error occurs (S12), and then the process proceeds to (S35).

Next, when the output of the human sensor 60 exceeds the threshold value once during one reciprocating left and right swing motion in (S7), the control unit 90 checks whether the left and right louvers 26 are facing forward (S13), and if they are not facing forward, drives the left and right louver motor 92 again to face the left and right louvers 26 forward (S14).
Then, with the left and right louvers 26 facing forward, the control unit 90 starts counting the timer 91 to start timing (S15) and causes the left and right louvers 26 to swing back and forth once (S16).

When the output of the human sensor 60 exceeds the threshold value during one reciprocating left and right swing motion from the start to the end (S17), the control unit 90 stops the counting of the timer 91 (S18) and stores the count time t output from the timer 91 at the time when the timekeeping was stopped (S19).
Also, in (S17), if the output of the human sensor 60 does not exceed the threshold value between the start and end of one back and forth swing, the control unit 90 stops the count of the timer 91 when the count of the timer 91 reaches the time required for one back and forth swing, which in this embodiment is 28 seconds (S21). Although in (S7), the output of the human sensor 60 exceeded the threshold value once during one back and forth swing, this time the output of the human sensor 60 did not exceed the threshold value during one back and forth swing, so it determines that a wall detection error has occurred, meaning that a wall cannot be detected, and sets the number of wall detection errors B = B + 1 (S22). The number of wall detection errors B is compared with a predetermined number of times b (S23). If the number of wall detection errors B is less than the predetermined number of times b, the process returns to (S4). If the number of wall detection errors B is equal to or greater than the predetermined number of times b, it determines that a wall cannot be detected and proceeds to (S12).

After storing the count time t output from the timer 91 at the time when the time measurement was stopped in (S19), if the previous count time t is stored next (S24), the previous count time t is compared with the current count time t to see if they are the same (S25).
If the previous count time t has not been stored in step S24, it is determined that the current count time t is the first one stored, and the process returns to step S4.

Also, if the previous count time t and the current count time t are the same in (S25), it means that the output of the human sensor 60 exceeds the threshold at the same timing during one round trip of the left and right swing of the left and right louvers 26, and it is determined that the same object was detected consecutively both last time and this time, so the number of consecutive matches N = N + 1 is set (S26), and the number of consecutive matches N is compared with the predetermined number n (S27). If the number of consecutive matches N is less than the predetermined number n, the process returns to (S4), and if the number of consecutive matches N is equal to or greater than the predetermined number n, it is determined that a wall has been detected near the indoor unit, and it is determined that the indoor unit is installed near a wall. (S28)

Also, if the previous count time t and the current count time t are not the same in (S25), it is determined that the same object has not been detected consecutively between the previous and current times, and the number of consecutive matches N is reset to 0 (S29), and the reset number R is set to R+1 (S30). If the reset number R is less than the predetermined number r, the process returns to (S4); if the reset number R is equal to or greater than the predetermined number r, it is determined that a wall cannot be detected, and the process proceeds to (S12). (S31)

If it is determined in the above (S28) that the indoor unit 1 is installed close to a wall, it is next determined whether the wall is on the left or right side of the indoor unit 1 by first determining whether the stored count time t is within the time it takes to swing to the maximum in one direction from the front at the start of one reciprocating left and right swing operation; in this embodiment, the time it takes to swing to the left from the front at the start of one reciprocating left and right swing operation is 7 seconds, so it is determined whether the stored count time t is 7 seconds or less (S32); if the stored count time t is 7 seconds or less, it is determined that the wall is near the left side of the indoor unit 1 (S33), and the left and right louvers 26 are restricted so as not to face to the left during normal left and right swing operation (S34).
Then, the control unit 90 lowers the sensitivity of the human sensor 60 back to the normal sensitivity (S35), stops the heating operation (S36), and ends the wall-side installation determination (S37).

If the count time t stored in (S32) is not 7 seconds or less, it is checked whether the wall is in the opposite direction to the direction it initially faces at the start of one reciprocating left and right swing motion, by checking whether the count time t stored is within the time it takes to turn from the front at the start of one reciprocating left and right swing motion to the maximum in one direction, return to the front, and then turn to the maximum in the opposite direction after returning to the front. In this embodiment, it takes 7 seconds for the wall to swing to the left from the front at the start of one reciprocating left and right swing motion, and 7 seconds for it to return to the front from that state, and then 7 seconds for it to swing to the maximum in the opposite direction to the right after returning to the front. Therefore, it is checked whether the count time t stored is 14 seconds or more and 21 seconds or less (S38). If the count time t stored is 14 seconds or more and 21 seconds or less, it is determined that the wall is near the right side of the indoor unit 1 (S39), and the left and right louvers 26 are restricted so as not to face to the right during normal left and right swing operation (S40), and the process proceeds to (S35).
If the count time t stored in (S38) is not between 14 seconds and 21 seconds, it is determined that the wall has not been detected accurately, and the process proceeds to (S12).

As described above, in an air conditioner equipped with a human presence sensor 60 consisting of an infrared sensor installed in the indoor unit 1 that detects heat movement in the room, left and right louvers 26 that are left and right air direction vanes that move left and right to change the direction of air, and a control unit 90 that determines that a person is present when the detection value of the human presence sensor 60 exceeds a threshold value, the control unit 90 performs a heating operation and swings the left and right louvers 26 left and right, and performs wall installation determination control to determine that there is a side wall near either the left or right side of the indoor unit 1 when the detection value of the human presence sensor 60 exceeds the threshold value once during one swing of the left and right louvers 26 and the detection value of the human presence sensor 60 exceeds the threshold value at the same timing during one swing of the left and right louvers 26 reaches a predetermined number of times in succession, so that it is possible to easily determine that there is a wall near either the left or right side of the indoor unit 1.

In addition, if the detection value of the human sensor 60 exceeds the threshold value two or more times during one swing of the left and right louvers 26, it is assumed that something other than a wall is also detected, and a wall installation judgment error is not made erroneously. Also, when a person moves, the detection value of the infrared sensor does not exceed the threshold value at different times during one swing of the left and right louvers 26, and the detection value of the human sensor 60 does not exceed the threshold value at the same time during one swing of the left and right louvers 26, so it is possible to prevent a person from being mistakenly judged as a wall. Also, if the detection value of the human sensor 60 does not exceed the threshold value during one swing of the left and right louvers 26, it is judged that there is no person and there is no wall near the left or right of the indoor unit 1, and it is possible to reliably judge that there is no person and there is no wall near the left or right of the indoor unit 1.

The control unit 90 also includes a timer 91 for measuring time. The control unit 90 always keeps the left and right louvers 26 facing in the same direction before starting one swing of the left and right louvers 26, and at the same time starts the timer 91 to count. When the detection value of the human sensor 60 exceeds the threshold value after starting the swing motion, the timer 91 stops counting and stores the counted time. When the previous stored time and the current stored time are compared and found to be the same, it is determined that the detection value of the human sensor 60 exceeded the threshold value at the same timing during one swing of the left and right louvers 26. Therefore, if a wall is nearby, the detection value of the human sensor 60 will always exceed the threshold value at the same timing during one swing of the left and right louvers 26, thereby ensuring that a wall is present.

In addition, when the detection value of the human presence sensor 60 consisting of the infrared sensor exceeds a threshold value at the same timing during one full swing of the swing motion of the left and right louvers 26, which are the left and right air direction plates, in the wall installation determination control, the control unit 90 determines the direction of the wall based on the time from when one full swing of the swing motion of the left and right louvers 26 begins to when the detection value of the human presence sensor 60 exceeds the threshold value, and restricts the swing motion of the left and right louvers 26 in a direction in which it is determined that there is a wall during the swing motion of the left and right louvers 26 during normal operation. Therefore, during normal operation, warm air during heating and cold air during cooling do not hit the wall or a window in the wall, which prevents deterioration of the wall, wallpaper, etc., and prevents condensation from forming on the wall or a window in the wall.

1 Indoor unit 26 Left and right louvers 60 Human presence sensor 90 Control unit

Claims (3)

In an air conditioner equipped with an infrared sensor installed in an indoor unit that detects heat transfer in the room, left and right air deflectors that move left and right to change the air direction, and a control unit that determines that someone is present when the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeds a threshold value, the control unit performs a heating operation and swings the left and right air deflectors left and right, and performs wall-side installation determination control to determine that there is a side wall near either the left or right side of the indoor unit when the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeds the threshold value once during one swing of the left and right air deflectors and the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeds the threshold value at the same timing during one swing of the left and right air deflectors reaches a predetermined number of times in succession. The air conditioner according to claim 1, further comprising a timer for measuring time, wherein the control unit always keeps the left and right air deflectors facing in the same direction before starting one swing of the left and right air deflectors, and starts counting the timer at the same time as the swing motion starts, and when the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeds a threshold value after the swing motion starts, stops counting the timer and stores the counted time, and when the previously stored time and the currently stored time are compared and found to be the same, determines that the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeded the threshold value at the same timing during one swing of the left and right air deflectors. The air conditioner according to claim 2, characterized in that, in the wall-side installation determination control, when the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeds the threshold value at the same timing during one full swing of the left and right air deflectors, the control unit determines the direction of the wall based on the time counted by the timer from the start of one full swing of the left and right air deflectors to the time when the detection value of the infrared sensor exceeds the threshold value, and restricts the swing operation of the left and right air deflectors in a direction in which a wall is determined to exist during the swing operation of the left and right air deflectors during normal operation.

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