JPH01296037A - Air blowing direction control device for spot air blower - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely direct the air to a human without being affected by objects other than the human by controlling the air outlet to be oriented to the human upon detecting infrared rays from an infrared ray transmitter worn by the human. CONSTITUTION:When the cooler unit 1 is started, cold air is guided through the main duct 2 and a sub duct 3 to be delivered in a narrow beam from the delivery duct 8. When a control unit is started which is disposed on the outer wall of a housing 4 and has a motor to control the orientation of the delivery duct 8, receiver elements 15A, 15B receive infrared rays transmitted from an infrared ray transmitter 19 on a cap 20 worn by a worker M, and the infrared ray reception sensitivities A, B are compared between the receiver elements 15A, 15B. If the worker M is located directly under the cold air delivery duct 8, the reception sensitivities A, B will be same, and the comparison result will be A B,, whereupon the control unit causes the drive motor to stop. As a result, cold air delivered from the duct 8 can be surely directed to the worker M directly under.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a spot air blower such as a spot cooler that locally cools a building such as a factory. The present invention relates to a wind blowing direction control device.

[Prior Art] Generally, when cooling or heating a large space in a building such as a factory, local cooling or heating that directly blows cold or warm air onto the human body is effective. However, there is a problem in that if the worker deviates from the cold/warm air outlet, the feeling of cooling/heating cannot be obtained.

Also, an automatic swing type spot cooler or spot heater has been proposed in which the direction of the cold/warm air outlet is periodically moved. However, in this case, the time during which the cold/warm air hits the human body only changes periodically, and there is a problem in that sufficient cooling/heating time cannot be ensured.

Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, the applicant first detected the presence of a person using an ultrasonic sensor that detects the human body by emitting ultrasonic waves, and based on the detection signal, the person moves through the cold air blowing duct. We proposed a spot cooler configured to follow the flow of cold air and always accurately hit people with cold air (patent application 1986-
No. 189667).

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, with conventional spot coolers, if there are objects such as machines that reflect ultrasonic waves within the detection area of the ultrasonic sensor, those objects may be mistaken for human bodies. There was a risk of being detected. In this case, the cold air blowing duct blows cold air toward the object, making it impossible to reliably blow cold air toward the human body.

This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a spot wind blower that can reliably apply wind to a human body without being affected by objects other than the human body. An object of the present invention is to provide a direction control device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is provided so as to be rotatable with respect to the main body of the wind blower that generates wind or the duct that guides the wind from the main body, and In a spot wind blower equipped with a wind outlet that blows out wind in spots towards the wind outlet, and an outlet rotation means that rotates the wind outlet, a detection device is provided at the wind outlet and extends toward the wind outlet. A signal detecting means having a region, a signal transmitting means worn on a human body and transmitting a detected signal to be detected by the signal detecting means, and detecting the detected signal based on a detection operation of the detected signal by the signal detecting means. and a blower outlet direction control means for controlling the blower outlet rotation means so as to direct the wind blower outlet in the direction in which the wind blower is directed.

[Function] Therefore, the signal detecting means provided at the wind outlet detects only the detected signal from the signal transmitting means attached to the human body. Therefore, the air outlet direction control means performs a control operation such that the air outlet is directed in the direction in which the signal detection means detects the detected signal, that is, in the direction of the human body wearing the signal emitting means. As a result, the wind outlet is not directed in any direction other than the human body.

〔Example〕

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention implemented in a spot cooler installed in a factory will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 2, a cooler main body l serving as a main body of the air blower is supported and fixed to a ceiling part in a factory, and is configured to generate cold air by a start switch (not shown). One end of a main duct 2 that similarly extends along the ceiling and guides cold air is attached to the Tara main body 1. This main duct 2 has a plurality of subducts 3 branched toward the main duct.

As shown in FIG. 1(a), a housing cylinder 4 is fixed to the lower end of the subduct 3. As shown in FIG. A pair of support pieces 5 (only one of which is shown) that oppose each other in the radial direction are provided at the lower end of the housing cylinder 4 to protrude downward. Further, a mounting tube 7 is rotatably supported on this support piece 5 via a support shaft 6.

One end of a cold air blowing duct 8, which serves as a wind blowing outlet that blows out cold air in spots in a specific direction, is connected to the mounting tube 7.

Inside the housing cylinder 4, there is a drive motor 9 as a means for rotating the outlet.
is attached via a mounting bracket 10. One end of a drive arm ll is fixed to the output shaft 9a of the drive motor 9. Further, one end of a link member 13 is rotatably connected to the inside of the mounting tube 7 via a connecting piece 12. The open ends of the drive arm 11 and the link member 13 are connected to be relatively rotatable.

Therefore, when the drive motor 9 is driven, the rotational force of the output shaft 9a is transmitted to the mounting tube 7 via the drive arm 11 and the link member 13, and the cold air blowing duct 8 is connected to the first
It is rotated in the left-right direction as shown by the two-dot chain line in Figure (a).

A bellows-shaped connecting tube 14 is provided between the lower end of the housing tube 4 and the upper end of the cold air blowing duct 8 to prevent leakage of cold air between the members 4 and 8.

As shown in FIGS. 1(a) and 2, first and second receiving elements 15A and 15B for receiving infrared rays are attached to the outer wall of the lower end of the cold air blowing duct 8 and facing each other in the radial direction. ing. The re-reception elements 15A and 15B constitute a signal detection means. First and second receiving elements 15A.

15B receives infrared rays as a detected signal. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, re-reception elements 15A, 15
B is a detection area (directivity) Zl extending toward the cold air blowing direction of the cold air blowing duct 8.

Z2, and the detection areas Zl and Z2 are used to receive infrared rays.

Further, on the outer wall of the housing cylinder 4, there is a re-receiving element 15A.

A control unit 16 is provided as an outlet direction control means for controlling the drive motor 9 to direct the cold air blowing duct 8 in the direction in which the infrared rays are received based on the infrared ray receiving operation of the infrared rays 15B.

On the other hand, an infrared transmitter 19 is separately provided as a signal transmitting means for transmitting infrared light to be received by the first and second receiving elements 15A and 15B. In this example,
As shown in FIGS. 1(b) and 2, an infrared transmitter 19 made of an infrared LED is attached to the top of a hat 20 worn by the worker M. This hat 20 is worn by worker M.
The infrared transmitter 19 emits infrared rays as the infrared ray transmitter 19 is worn.

Next, the electrical configuration of the cold air blowing direction control device of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG.

The first and second receiving elements 15A and 15B each have a first
and the output difference extraction circuit 2 via the second amplifiers 21 and 22.
Connected to 3. Further, the output difference extraction circuit 23 is connected to the drive motor 9 via a drive circuit 24. Note that a control unit 16 is constituted by each of the circuits 21 to 24.

The infrared rays received by the first and second receiving elements 15A and 15B are input to the output difference extraction path 23 via each amplifier 21, 22, and the infrared rays received by the first receiving element 1
The receiving sensitivity A at 5A and the receiving sensitivity B at the second receiving element 15B are compared.

At this time, if the receiving sensitivity of the first receiving element 15A is larger than the receiving sensitivity B of the second receiving element 15B (A>B), the drive motor 9 is rotated normally and the cold air blowing duct 8 is
It is rotated to the right in Figure (a).

Further, the receiving sensitivity B of the second receiving element 15B is the same as that of the first receiving element 1.
If the reception sensitivity A to 5 is greater than A (A<8), the drive motor 9 is reversed and the cold air blowing duct 8 is moved to the position shown in FIG.
It is rotated to the left in a).

Furthermore, the receiving sensitivities A and B of the re-receiving elements 15A and 15B
If they are the same (AvB, including no reception sensitivity), the drive motor 9 is stopped and the rotation of the cold air blowing duct 8 is stopped.

On the other hand, an infrared transmitter 19 attached to the hat 20 is connected to a modulation circuit 26 via a drive circuit 25. The signal modulated by the modulation circuit 26 is input to the infrared transmitter 19 via the drive circuit 25, and is transmitted from the transmitter 19 as an infrared signal. Note that each of the circuits 25 and 26 is incorporated inside the hat 20.

Next, the operation of the cold air blowing direction control device configured as described above will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 4.

In FIG. 2, when the Tara main body 1 is started and generates cold air, the cold air is guided through the main duct 2 and the sub-duct 3, and the cold air is blown downward from the cold air blowing duct 8 in spots.

Then, when the control unit 16 is started in this state, and the worker M puts on the hat 20 and starts the infrared transmitter 19, the control unit 16 starts receiving signals from the first and second receiving elements 15A and 15B. Based on this, perform the following operations.

First, in step IO1, the control unit 16 executes infrared reception using the re-receiving elements 15A and 15B. Thereby, the re-receiving elements 15A and 15B receive the infrared rays emitted from the infrared transmitter 19 of the hat 20 worn by the worker M.

Subsequently, in step 102, the control unit 16 compares and calculates the infrared reception sensitivities A and B in the re-receiving elements 15A and 15B.

At this time, for example, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 2, when the worker M is located directly below the cold air blowing duct 8, the receiving sensitivities Δ and B in the re-receiving elements 15A and 15B are the same. Therefore, the result of the comparison calculation becomes A#B, and the control unit 16 moves to S3 to control the drive motor 9.
Stop driving.

As a result, the cold air blowing duct 8 is held in the state shown by the solid line in FIG. 2, and the cold air blown from the duct 8 is reliably blown toward the worker M directly below it.

On the other hand, when worker M moves from the solid line position in FIG.
becomes. Therefore, the control unit 16 moves from step 102 to step 104 and rotates the drive motor 9 in the normal direction. As a result, the cold air blowing duct 8 begins to be rotated to the right in FIG. And step 101,1
After the series of processing operations in step 02.104 are repeated, when the cold air blowing duct 8 eventually reaches the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG.
The comparison result after 2 is 8-B. Therefore, the control unit 16 moves from step 102 to step 103 and stops driving the drive motor 9.

As a result, the rotation of the cold air blowing duct 8 is stopped at the position indicated by the two-dot chain line, that is, at the position where the cold air blowing direction faces the worker M. Therefore, the cold air blown out from the cold air blowing duct 8 is reliably blown out toward the worker M after moving.

Further, when the worker M moves from the solid line position in FIG.
The comparison operation result after 02 is A x B. Therefore,
The control unit 16 moves from step 102 to step 105 and reverses the drive motor 9, thereby starting to rotate the cold air blowing duct 8 to the left in FIG. 2.

Then, after a series of processing operations in steps 101, 102, and 105 are repeated, when the cold air blowing direction of the cold air blowing duct 8 eventually faces the worker M, the comparison calculation after steps iot and i02 of the control unit 16 The result is A-B. Therefore, control unit 1
6, the process moves from step 102 to step 103, and the drive motor 9 is stopped.

As a result, the rotation of the cold air blowing duct 8 is stopped at a position where its cold air blowing direction faces the worker M, and the cold air blown from the duct 8 is reliably blown toward the worker M after moving. Ru.

As described above, in this embodiment, the cold air blowing duct 8 is provided with a pair of receiving elements 15A and 15B, and the re-receiving element 15A receives infrared rays emitted from the infrared transmitter 19 attached to the hat 2o worn by the worker M.

15B and compare the re-reception sensitivities A and B. Based on the comparison of the reception sensitivities A and H,
The position of the infrared transmitter 19, that is, the position of the worker M is determined, and the direction of rotation of the cold air blowing duct 8 is controlled so that the worker M is always exposed to cold air. That is, depending on the correspondence between the re-receiving elements 15A, 15B and the infrared transmitter 19, the direction in which the cold air is blown out from the cold air duct 8 is controlled.

Therefore, the re-receiving elements 15A and 15B are the infrared transmitters 19.
It is only sensitive to infrared rays from the sun and not to any other signals. Therefore, unlike conventional spot coolers that are configured to detect the human body using an ultrasonic sensor, the detection using an ultrasonic sensor It is not sensitive to objects such as machines that exist within its area. As a result, it is possible to prevent these objects from being mistakenly detected as the worker M, and it is also possible to reliably blow cold air to the worker M. That is, the cold air can be reliably applied to the worker M without being affected by objects other than the worker M.

Further, since the cold air blowing duct 8 can be rotated following the movement of the worker M, the cold air can always be applied to the worker M even if the worker M moves within a predetermined range.

Therefore, the feeling of cooling can be improved.

Note that this invention is not limited to the above embodiments,
The present invention can be implemented as follows by changing a part of the structure as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the invention.

(1) In the embodiment described above, the infrared transmitter 19 is attached to the hat 20 worn by the worker M, but the infrared transmitter 19 may be attached to work clothes other than the hat 2°. In short, any configuration is sufficient as long as the infrared transmitter 19 is attached to the worker M.

(2) In the above embodiment, the cold air blowing duct 8 is rotatably provided to the subduct 3 of the main duct 2 extending from the cooler main body l attached to the ceiling, so that cold air is blown from above the worker M. However, it is also possible to configure the cooler main body 1 to be floor-standing and to provide the cold air blowing duct 8 rotatably with respect to the cooler main body 1 so that the cold air is blown from the side of the worker M. good.

(3) In the embodiment, a pair of receiving elements 15A.

15B is provided to receive the infrared rays from the infrared transmitter 19.
However, the infrared rays from the infrared transmitter 19 may be received by one receiver (ε element).

(4) In the embodiment, the infrared transmitter 19 and the transmitter 1
Although the first and second receiving elements 15A and 15B which receive the infrared rays emitted from the infrared rays are provided in combination, it is also possible to provide a combination of a transmitter and a receiver which emit and receive signals other than infrared rays. good.

(5) In the embodiments described above, a spot cooler is used to blow out cold air in spots, but the invention may also be implemented in a spot heater or the like that blows out warm air in spots.

[Effects of the Invention] As described in detail above, the present invention provides an excellent effect in that wind can be reliably applied to the human body without being affected by objects other than the human body.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1(a) is a partially cutaway side view showing the main parts of a wind blowing direction control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
) is a perspective view of a hat with an infrared transmitter attached, FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the wind blowing direction control device,
FIG. 3 is a block circuit diagram showing the electrical configuration of the wind blowing direction control device, and FIG. 4 is a flow chart explaining the operation of the wind blowing direction control device. In the figure, 1 is the cooler body as the main body of the wind blower, 2 is the main duct, 8 is the cold air blowing duct as the wind outlet, 9
15A is a first receiving element, 15I3 is a second receiving element (15A and 15B constitute a signal detection means), and 16 is a control unit as an outlet direction control means. , 19 is an infrared transmitter as a signal light eε means, and Zl and Z2 are detection areas.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A wind outlet that is rotatably provided with respect to the main body of the wind blower that generates wind or a duct that guides the wind from the main body, and blows out wind in spots in a specific direction; A spot wind blower equipped with a blower outlet rotating means for rotating the wind blower outlet, the signal detecting means being provided at the wind blower outlet and having a detection area extending in the wind blowing direction; a signal transmitting means for transmitting a detected signal detected by the signal detecting means; and a signal transmitting means for directing the wind outlet in a direction in which the detected signal is detected based on the detection operation of the detected signal by the signal detecting means. A wind outlet direction control device for a spot wind blower, comprising an outlet direction control means for controlling the outlet rotating means.