JPH05106899A - Controlling device for operation of air conditioning apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a comfortable sleeping environment by a control target temperature correction of an air conditioning apparatus during a sleeping time of a person. CONSTITUTION:An operation control device is provided with an operation control means 10 for use in controlling an operation in response to a target temperature set by a setting means Sw. A body movement sensing means Ir for use in sensing a body movement in response to an input level of infra-red ray, a body movement frequent degree calculation means 51 for calculating a body movement frequent degree in response to a body movement and a sleeping degree assumption means 52 for assuming and calculating a sleeping degree of a person in response to a body movement frequent degree are provided. The target temperature set by the setting means Sw is corrected by a correcting means 53 as the sleeping degree of the body is deep. With such an arrangement, metabolism load of a human body is reduced and a comfortable sleeping environment is provided. A body position during a sleeping time is sensed by an image sensing means such as an image sensor or the like as an image, stored in a storage means, the body movement is detected in reference to a displacement of an image as a specified time elapses and the similar control as above may be carried out.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an operation control device for an air conditioner, and more particularly to measures for improving comfort of air conditioning during sleep of a person.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an air conditioner, as an attempt to improve the comfort of air conditioning during sleep of a person,
The user sets the bedtime, the air conditioner operates when the set time comes, and it is higher than the set temperature in the summer,
A so-called "good night circuit", which is corrected to control the room temperature to be lower than the set temperature in winter, is known as a general technique.

On the other hand, as disclosed in, for example, "Denpa Shimbun, February 13, 1991, 10th surface (household equipment / electrical material / lighting section)", a sensor comprising a piezoelectric element is attached to a human body,
A so-called sleep sensor in which a body movement of a human body is detected by this sensor, and when a person actually enters a sleep state is detected from the frequency of the body movement of the human body is a known technique.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned so-called "good night circuit" as described above, when the bedtime set by the user is reached, the room temperature is suitable for sleeping regardless of whether or not the user actually went to sleep. It is hard to say that it will improve the comfort of air conditioning in order to compensate for the temperature.

Therefore, it is conceivable that the sleep sensor of the above publication is used in an air conditioner to perform air conditioning suitable for sleeping when an actual sleep state is entered.
Here, the sleep sensor in the above publication is based on the fact that there is a correlation between sleep and body movements of the human body at bedtime. For such a correlation, see, for example, "Paper" Research on Natural Sleep " , Home Economics Research, p. 76, 1970
Monthly issue ”. That is, FIG. 8 is an excerpt of a part of the diagram disclosed in the above paper (in addition, the change of the input level of infrared rays with respect to the sleep depth is added), and the sleep progress pattern of a person's night. It is observed by measuring various physiological state quantities by polygraph. As shown in the figure, there is a certain correlation between the heart rate during sleep, EEG sleep depth, and resting duration (body movement). As EEG sleep deepens, the frequency of body movement decreases and heart rate decreases. On the other hand, as the EEG sleep depth decreases, the frequency of body movements increases and the heart rate tends to increase. It is known that the amount of heart rate corresponds to the amount of human metabolism.

Therefore, by detecting the frequency of body movements of the human body during sleep, it is considered possible to infer to some extent information relating to human physiology such as EEG sleep depth and metabolic rate. It is possible to improve comfort by applying it to air conditioner control.

However, the sleep sensor according to the above-mentioned conventional publication is inconvenient to use because the piezoelectric element must be attached to the human body or bedding. In addition, the publication only states that it accurately detects when the person enters sleep, and does not consider the control according to the depth of sleep. In the case of 1, since it is possible to detect even small vibrations such as respiration and heartbeat, it is presumed that sleep depth can be detected but sleep depth cannot be detected. Therefore, there are many obstacles in using this sensor to control the air conditioner during sleep.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to accurately detect a body movement of a human body, measure a sleep depth of a person from the detected value, and measure the sleep depth according to the sleep depth. By controlling the air conditioner, it is intended to improve the comfort of air conditioning.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the means of the invention of claim 1 is, as shown in FIG. 1, a setting means (Sw) for setting a control target temperature, and the setting means. The operation control device of the air conditioner is provided with an operation control means (10) for controlling the operation based on the control target temperature set in (Sw).

Then, the body movement detecting means (I) for detecting the body movement of the human body based on the input level of infrared rays at regular intervals.
r) and a body movement frequency calculating means (5) for calculating the frequency of body movement based on the body movement of the human body detected by the body movement detecting means (Ir).
1) and an output of the body movement frequency calculation means (51), and a sleep depth estimation means (52) for estimating sleep depth based on the frequency of body movement of a human body, and the sleep depth estimation means (52) The correction means (53) for correcting the target temperature of the indoor temperature set by the setting means (Sw) to be higher as the sleeping depth is increased is provided.

The means taken by the invention of claim 2 is, as shown in FIG. 6, a setting means (Sw) for setting a control target temperature.
And an operation control device (10) for controlling the operation based on the control target temperature set by the setting device (Sw), the operation control device of the air conditioner is further targeted. Image detecting means (Ccd) for detecting a position as an image, storage means (11) for storing an image of a human body detected by the image detecting means (Ccd), and human body detected by the image detecting means (Ccd) The image of the storage means (1
Body movement frequency calculating means (5) for calculating the frequency of body movement of the human body based on the deviation in comparison with the previous image stored in 1).
1) and an output of the body movement frequency calculating means (51), and a sleep depth estimating means (52) for estimating a sleep depth based on the frequency of body movement of a human body, and the sleep depth estimating means (52). A correction means (53) for correcting the target temperature of the indoor temperature set by the setting means (Sw) to increase as the detected sleep depth increases.

[0012]

With the above construction, in the invention of claim 1, when the body movement detecting means (Ir) detects the body movement of the human body, the body movement frequency calculating means (51) calculates the frequency of the body movement. ,
Further, the sleep depth estimating means (52) estimates and calculates the sleep depth from the body movement frequency of the human body. Then, the correction means (5
3) is corrected so that the deeper the sleep depth is, the higher the control target temperature is, and the operation control means (10) controls the indoor temperature based on the corrected control target temperature. The metabolic load is reduced according to the decrease in the metabolic rate.

At this time, the body movement detecting means (Ir)
Since the body movement of the human body is detected based on the input level of infrared rays, the body movement of the human body can be detected accurately without contact. Therefore, the metabolic load is reduced without affecting the human body, and a comfortable sleeping environment can be obtained.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the image detecting means (Cc
When the image of the human body is detected in d), the image is stored in the storage means (11), and the body movement frequency calculation means (51) calculates the body movement frequency from the change of the image at regular time intervals. Sleep depth estimation means (52) and correction means (5
According to 3), the same operation as that of the invention of claim 1 is performed. In that case, the position of the human body is detected with high accuracy by the image detection means (Ccd), and the body movement frequency is obtained based on the position, so that the comfort of sleep is further improved.

[0015]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below.

First, a first embodiment according to the invention of claim 1 will be described. FIG. 2 shows an example in which the air conditioner of the present invention is attached to a bedroom (1), and a pyroelectric infrared sensor (I) is provided on a ceiling surface directly above a bed (2) set in the bedroom (1).
r) is attached. The pyroelectric infrared sensor (I
r) is for detecting the amount of activity of the human body from the change in the received level of infrared rays. In this embodiment, infrared rays from the circular detection area (3) including the bed (2) are not shown in the front surface. Infrared sensor (I
It is designed to focus on r). The signal from the infrared sensor (Ir) is input to the controller (10) of the air conditioner. The controller (10) has a storage device (11) as storage means for storing data necessary for operation, and setting means for setting a preset temperature of room temperature which is a control target temperature by the user to issue an operation command. As a remote control device (Sw) is built in or attached.
Then, the controller (10) controls the operation of the air conditioner, and the conditioned air is supplied into the bedroom (1) from the air conditioning unit (4) installed on the side wall of the bedroom (1).

FIG. 3 shows the stored contents of the storage device (11) incorporated in the controller (10). The change patterns P1 and P2 are set values of the sleep depth and the room temperature during the cooling operation and the heating operation, respectively. It is a figure which shows the relationship with. That is, during the cooling operation, the set temperature Tsc is set based on the following equation (1) Tsc = Toc + (ΔTcool / 6) (1) (where Toc is the room temperature set temperature before sleep and ΔTcool is the set temperature at the sleep depth 6). Correction amount, which is, for example, a value of about 2 ° C.). Further, during heating operation, the set temperature Tsh is set based on the following formula (2) Tsh = Toh + (Δheet / 6) (2) (where Toh is the room temperature set temperature before sleep and ΔTheet is the set temperature at the sleep depth 6). Correction amount, which is, for example, a value of about 5 ° C.). In the figure,
Tcl is the upper limit temperature during the cooling operation, and Thl is the lower limit temperature during the heating operation.

FIG. 4 shows the control contents of the controller (10). In step ST1, it is judged whether or not a sleep switch (not shown) which is activated when the timer set time set by the user comes on, and the user is turned on. Only when the sleep switch is input from, the following sleep control is performed.
That is, in step ST2, the set temperature Toc (or Toh) of the room temperature before sleep set by the user is input from the remote control device (Sw), and in step ST3, the infrared input level detected by the infrared sensor (Ir) is input. The frequency of body movement of the human body sleeping on the bed (2) is detected by utilizing the change of the. Then, in step ST4, the body movement frequency in step ST3 is detected until 30 minutes have passed,
Every 30 minutes, the process proceeds to step ST5, and the sleep depth is estimated from the body movement frequency based on the relationship shown in FIG.

Then, in step ST6, T in FIG.
According to the change pattern of sc (or Tsh), change the set temperature Toc (or Toh) input in step ST2,
In step ST7, the control returns to step ST3 to perform the above control until the sleep switch is turned off by the end of the set time of the timer, and when the sleep switch is turned off, the control of the air conditioner is terminated.

In the above flow, the body movement frequency calculating means (51) according to the invention of claim 1 or 2 is constituted by the control of step ST3, and the control of step ST5
Sleep depth estimation means (52) according to the invention of claim 1 or 2.
The correction means (53) according to the invention of claim 1 or 2 is configured by the control of step ST6.

Therefore, in the first embodiment, while the person is sleeping, the set temperature Tsc (or Tsh) of the room temperature is corrected to be higher as the person's sleep depth is deeper. Here, (b) and (c) of FIG. 5 represent the data of FIG. 8 as a relationship between the EEG sleep depth S of the person, the heart rate F, and the body movement frequency Mf. Has a clear correlation that both the heart rate F and the body movement frequency Mf decrease as the electroencephalographic sleep depth S increases. That is, it can be understood that comfortable air conditioning in accordance with the sleep state cannot be performed by simply changing the set value of the room temperature during sleep and before sleep as in the above-mentioned conventional “good night circuit”.

On the other hand, in the first embodiment, the larger the sleep depth S, the smaller the metabolism of the human body. Therefore, the body movement frequency calculating means (51) detects the body movement from the body movement detected by the infrared sensor (Ir). The movement frequency F is calculated, the sleep depth estimation means (52) estimates the sleep depth F from the body movement frequency F, and the correction means (53) sets the room temperature set temperature Toc (set by the remote control device (Sw). Or, Toh) is corrected to Tsc (or Tsh) based on the above formula (1) or formula (2), and the higher the sleep depth, the higher the correction (see (a) in FIG. 5). Therefore, the metabolic load of the human body is reduced according to the reduction of the metabolic rate of the human body, and a comfortable sleeping environment is realized.

In that case, it is possible to use the sleep sensor utilizing the piezoelectric sensor of the above-mentioned conventional literature as the body motion detecting means, but there are obstacles such as inconvenience in use and lack of detection accuracy as described above. On the other hand, as shown in the bottom row of FIG. 8, there is a large correlation between the activity of the human body (or stillness) and the change in the input level of infrared rays.
When the infrared sensor (Ir) is used as in the first embodiment, the effect is large in that the sleep depth S can be detected.

Next, a second embodiment according to the invention of claim 2 will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the arrangement of the air conditioner in the indoor space (1) in the second embodiment, in which an image sensor (Ccd) as an image detecting means is attached to the ceiling just above the bed (2). ing. The image sensor (Ccd) is connected to the controller (10) by a signal line, and the controller (10) controls the operation of the air conditioner as described below.

That is, although the flow chart is omitted,
The image sensor (Ccd) detects an image of the human body at regular intervals, and the detected image of the human body is stored in the storage device (1
1), the body movement is detected from the shift between the current image and the previously detected image (corresponding to steps ST3 and ST4 in the control flow of the first embodiment), and then step ST5 of the flow. The set temperature Toc (or Toh) initially set is corrected by the control corresponding to the following, and the operation of the air conditioner is controlled by using the corrected value Tsc (or Tsh) as a control target value. There is.

Therefore, in the second embodiment as well, the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained, and the body motion of the human body is detected directly and non-contact by the image sensor (Ccd). There is an advantage that the body motion of the human body can be detected more accurately.

Although the infrared sensor (Ir) or the image sensor (Ccd) is mounted on the ceiling surface in each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the body motion of the human body can be detected by directly mounting it on the air conditioning unit (4). .. However, a high detection accuracy can be obtained by mounting it on the ceiling surface.

[0028]

As described above, according to the invention of claim 1, as the operation control device of the air conditioner, the body movement of the human body during sleep is detected based on the input level of infrared rays, and the detected value is used. Since the frequency of body movement of the human body and further the sleep depth are calculated and the control target temperature is corrected to be higher as the sleep depth is deeper, the body movement of the human body can be controlled without affecting the human body by mounting the sensor. It is possible to detect with high accuracy and reduce the metabolic load according to the decrease in the metabolic rate of the human body accompanying sleep, thus providing a comfortable sleeping environment.

According to the invention of claim 2, as the operation control device of the air conditioner, the position of the human body during sleep is detected as an image at regular intervals, the image is stored, and the human body detected this time is detected. Image of the human body is compared with the previously detected image, the body movement of the human body is detected from the deviation, and the frequency of the body movement of the human body and the sleep depth are calculated from the body movement, and the deeper the sleep depth, the control target Since the temperature is corrected to be high, the same effect as that of the invention of claim 1 can be obtained, and in particular, the accuracy of detecting the human body movement can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the invention of claim 1.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing how the air conditioner according to the first embodiment is attached to the indoor space.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a relationship between a sleep depth and a correction value of a target temperature.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the control contents of the controller.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing changes in target temperature, heart rate, and body movement frequency with respect to sleep depth.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the invention of claim 2;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the attachment of the air conditioner according to the second embodiment to the indoor space.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an overnight sleep progress pattern.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 controller (driving control means) 11 storage device (storage means) 51 body movement frequency calculation means 52 sleep depth estimation means 53 correction means Ir infrared sensor (body movement detection means) Sw remote control device (setting means) Ccd image sensor (image detection) means)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A setting means (S) for setting a control target temperature.
w) and an operation control device for an air conditioner comprising an operation control means (10) for controlling the operation based on the control target temperature set by the setting means (Sw), the infrared input being performed at regular intervals. Body movement detecting means (Ir) for detecting the body movement of the human body based on the level, and body movement frequency calculating means (for calculating the frequency of the body movement based on the body movement of the human body detected by the body movement detecting means (Ir) ( 51) and the output of the body movement frequency calculating means (51), and the sleep depth estimating means (52) for estimating the sleep depth based on the frequency of body movement of the human body, and the sleep depth estimating means (52). The operation control device for an air conditioner, comprising: a correction unit (53) that corrects the target temperature of the indoor temperature set by the setting unit (Sw) to increase as the sleeping depth is increased. .. 2. Setting means (S) for setting a control target temperature
w) and an operation control device of an air conditioner including an operation control means (10) for controlling the operation based on the target temperature set by the setting means (Sw), the position of the human body is imaged at regular intervals. An image detecting means (Ccd) for detecting the image, a storage means (11) for storing an image of the human body detected by the image detecting means (Ccd), and an image of the human body detected by the image detecting means (Ccd). Body movement frequency calculation means (51) for calculating the frequency of body movement of the human body based on the deviation compared with the previous image stored in the storage means (11), and the body movement frequency calculation means (51) Sleep depth estimating means (52) for estimating the sleep depth based on the frequency of body movement of the human body, and the sleep depth estimating means (5).
An air conditioner comprising: a correction unit (53) that corrects the target temperature of the indoor temperature set by the setting unit (Sw) to be higher as the sleep depth detected in 2) is larger. Operation control device.