JPH02242036A - Air conditioning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve amenity of a resident by measuring a skin temperature of a face at a plurality of points to control an operation condition of an air conditioning device from the operation results of dispersion and the like of their values. CONSTITUTION:The whole room inside is scanned by an infrared sensor 4 with the use of a human organism tracking mechanism 5 to search a resident of higher temperature than an environment. After a detection direction is found out, the skin temperature of a face is measured. The skin temperature of the face is measured at several points and a computing element 9 makes the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value dispersion to control a wind-directional deflection wing 7 on the basis of the value. As a room temperature increases, a cold sense decreases while the dispersion of the skin temperature of the face lessens to make the wind-directional deflection wing 7 downward to allow blowing-off current to act on the resident so as to obtain an air-conditioning effect. In addition, when the dispersion of the skin temperature lessens to be equal to or lower than a constant value, a human organism is released from cold to guide that it is in a comfortable state.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Industrial applications The present invention relates to control of an air conditioner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventional air conditioners of this type detect the skin temperature of a person indoors and control operating conditions such as the capacity of the air conditioner, the amount of air blown, and the direction of the air based on the absolute value of the skin temperature. (For example, Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 62-91138) Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, with the above configuration, when attempting to detect skin temperature without contact, the face, which has a relatively large area exposed outside the clothing, becomes Although it is considered a detection target, the absolute value of skin temperature on the face is less sensitive to changes in ambient temperature than in other areas, making it difficult to judge temperature sensation.

The present invention solves such conventional problems, and aims to provide a comfortable environment by detecting the temperature sensation of indoor occupants with high precision in a non-contact manner and determining the operating conditions of an air conditioner. do.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, an air conditioner of the present invention includes a temperature sensor that detects the skin surface temperature of a person's face at a plurality of locations, and an operation that calculates a plurality of outputs from the temperature sensor. and a controller that controls operating conditions based on the calculation results of the calculation unit.

Effect: With the above-described configuration, the present invention measures the skin temperature of the face at multiple locations, and calculates operating conditions such as the capacity of the air conditioner, the rotational speed of the blower, and the direction of the wind deflection blade based on the calculation results such as variations in these values. Improve occupant comfort by controlling

Example Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, 1 is the main body of the air conditioner of the present invention,
A heat exchanger 2, blower 3, etc. are installed inside.

An infrared temperature sensor 4 for detecting the facial skin temperature of an indoor occupant and a human body tracking mechanism 5 for directing its field of view toward the occupant are attached to the entire surface of the main body 1. Air outlet 6
is provided with wind direction deflection blades 7 for controlling the wind direction.

FIG. 2 shows the human body tracking mechanism 5, which supports the infrared sensor 4 and includes a first stepping motor 7 for horizontal rotation;
A second stepping motor 8 for vertical rotation is provided.

FIG. 3 shows a control block diagram. The output of the infrared sensor 4 is input to a calculator 9, where a predetermined calculation is performed, and based on the calculation result, a wind deflection blade control device 10
The wind direction deflection blade 7 is controlled by.

A case will be explained taking as an example a case where heating operation is started with the above configuration.

First, the human body tracking mechanism 5 scans the entire room with the infrared sensor 4, searches for occupants whose temperature is higher than the surrounding area, finds the direction to be detected, and then measures the facial skin temperature. in several places (e.g. forehead, cheeks,
The calculation unit 9 calculates the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value to obtain a variation value, and the wind direction deflection blade 7 is controlled based on this value.

Immediately after the start of operation, the indoor temperature is low and the occupants feel cold, but the skin temperature on the face at this time has a wide distribution, and the values measured by the infrared sensor 4 have large variations. At this time, the wind direction deflecting blades 7 are kept horizontal because if the blowing airflow is applied directly to the occupants, the occupants will feel uncomfortable due to the cold air. (Fig. 4A) As the room temperature rises, the feeling of cold decreases and the variation in skin temperature on the face becomes smaller.The wind direction deflection blades 7 are turned downward and the airflow acts on the occupant to heat the occupant. You will be able to get the effect. (Figure 4B) Furthermore, the variation in skin temperature becomes smaller and reaches a certain value (
For example, if the temperature reaches below 2.5℃, you will be freed from the cold,
It is determined that the state has become comfortable. The airflow that was applied to the occupant in order to obtain the chamber effect gradually becomes uncomfortable after the cold is removed, so it is directed further downward so that it does not act directly on the occupant. (
Figure 4C) Figure 5 schematically shows the relationship between temperature sensation and variation in skin temperature. As mentioned above, when you feel cold, the skin temperature on your face has a wide distribution, but becomes nearly uniform when the cold becomes less cold.

In this way, according to the air conditioner of this embodiment, the direction of the blowing air is finely controlled based on the variation in facial skin temperature, which is highly correlated with temperature sensation, so the heating effect of the airflow is maximized without creating a feeling of cold air. This ensures that comfort is not compromised from the start of operation to stability.

Moreover, although the explanation has been given here regarding the heating operation, the above relationship can also be applied to control the operating conditions during the cooling operation.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, a tracking mechanism was provided to direct the field of view of the infrared sensor toward the occupant; however, in other embodiments, if a large number of infrared sensors are used, it is possible to detect the face of the occupant in the room without the need for a tracking mechanism. You can find out the temperature. (Not shown) Effects of the Invention As described above, the air conditioner of the present invention provides the following effects.

(1) Temperature sensation is determined based on the results of detecting skin temperature at multiple locations on the face and calculating those values, so the accuracy of the determination is high even on the face, which is less sensitive to changes in ambient temperature than other areas. The control of operating conditions based on the determination results becomes more detailed for the occupants, resulting in a significant improvement in comfort.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the human body tracking mechanism of the same device, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the control inside the controller, and FIG. FIG. 5, which is an explanatory diagram of the wind direction control in the same device, is a diagram showing the relationship between variations in facial skin temperature and temperature sensation. 1... Air conditioner main body, 4... Infrared sensor, 7... Wind direction deflection blade, 9...
Arithmetic unit, 10...Wind direction deflection blade control device. Name of agent: Patent attorney Shigetaka Awano, 1 person, 1...

Claims (1)

[Claims] Consisting of a temperature sensor that detects the skin surface temperature of a person's face at multiple locations, a computing unit that computes multiple outputs from the temperature sensor, and a controller that controls operating conditions based on the calculation results of the computing unit. Air conditioner.