JPH06117882A - Warmth environment measuring instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely determine a degree of warmth feeling even in an uneven environment by controlling the temperature of a heat generating section so that the surface temperature of the section can become a corrected temperature corresponding to a calculated surface temperature. CONSTITUTION:A CPU 6 decides the electric power supplied from a constant-current power source circuit 5 and sets the deep temperature TB of the simulated body 20 of each part so that the inside deep temperature of a heat generating body 9 can be stabilized at, for example, 36.7 deg.C. Because of the heat radiation from the surface of the simulated bodies, the surface temperatures TB of the simulated bodies 20 are also maintained at a fixed level. The degree of warmth feeling S at each part of a human body is determined from the temperature TS and outputted to an external output device 7 together with the temperatures TB and TS. When, for example, the ambient temperature drops to 20 deg.C in such a state, a temperature sensor 4 detects and outputs the dropped temperature TS'. A CPU 6c estimates a degree of warmth feeling S' from the temperature TS' and outputs the estimated feeling degree S' to the output device 7, calculates a new temperature TB' (corrected temperature) based on the temperature TS', and decides the electric power supplied from the power source circuit 5 by detecting the temperature of the heat generating body 9 so that the temperature of the body 9 can become the temperature TB'. Therefore, the degree of warmth feeling S can be accurately estimated based on the temperature TS detected by the sensor 4 even in an uneven environment.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thermal environment measuring device for determining the thermal state of the environment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an apparatus of this type, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
There is a heat detection device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-86009. This heat detection device is provided with a heating element inside a hollow body, and detects the warm state of the environment based on the magnitude of the heat load required to maintain the heating element at a constant temperature.

[0003]

In the actual human body, the deep body temperature fluctuates according to changes in environmental temperature and the like, and in particular, the deep body temperature fluctuates remarkably in peripheral parts such as the upper and lower limbs of the human body. Is. It is known that the change in the internal deep temperature greatly affects the thermal sensation such as "hot" or "cold". However, in the above-mentioned thermal detection device, since the relationship between the skin temperature of the human body and the deep body temperature (particularly the peripheral region) is unknown, the deep body temperature of the human body is constant and does not change according to the environmental temperature. Based on that. For this reason, it seems that it is useful in a steady and uniform environment, but in a non-steady and non-uniform environment such as the passenger compartment, it has a problem that the thermal sensation of the human body cannot be accurately determined. . Therefore, the present applicant solves the above-mentioned problems by clarifying the relationship between the skin temperature and the deep body temperature by research and simulation, and the purpose thereof is to provide a non-steady state and a non-uniform environment. It is to provide a thermal environment measuring device capable of accurately determining a thermal sensation.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a heat generating portion which receives power and generates heat, power supply means for supplying power to the heat generating portion, and a temperature of the heat generating portion. And a heat transfer section that is provided so that the thermal characteristics thereof substantially match the human body tissue and that is in thermal contact with the heat generating section and the outer surface of which is exposed to the atmosphere of the environment. A surface temperature detecting means for detecting the surface temperature of the heat transfer section, a storage means for storing the relationship between the skin temperature of the human body and the deep temperature inside the body, and based on the relationship between the skin temperature and the deep temperature, A temperature of the heat generating part detected by the deep temperature detecting means, the correction temperature calculating means calculating a correction temperature of the heat generating part corresponding to the surface temperature of the heat transfer part detected by the surface temperature detecting means. Is calculated by the correction temperature calculation means As will be corrected temperature, to adopt technical means and control means for controlling the supply power of the power supply unit.

[0005]

In the thermal environment measuring apparatus of the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration, when the surface temperature of the heat transfer section changes due to the temperature change of the environment, etc., it changes based on the relationship between the skin temperature of the human body and the deep body temperature. The corrected temperature of the heat generating portion corresponding to the surface temperature of the heat transfer portion later is calculated. Then, the power supply of the power supply means is controlled so that the temperature of the heat generating portion detected by the deep temperature detection means becomes the correction temperature. After that, when the temperature of the heat generating portion detected by the deep temperature detecting means reaches the correction temperature, the surface temperature of the heat transfer portion that is in thermal contact with the heat generating portion changes, and a new correction temperature of the heat generating portion is calculated. Then, the supply power of the power supply means is controlled while the temperature of the heat generating portion is detected by the deep temperature detecting means so that the calculated corrected temperature can be obtained by the heat generating portion. In this way, the temperature of the heat generating part also changes as the surface temperature of the heat transferring part changes, but the amount of each change gradually decreases and the surface temperature of the heat transferring part and the temperature of the heat generating part remain constant. Converge to a value.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, one embodiment of the thermal environment measuring apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the thermal environment measurement device. The thermal environment measuring apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes a human body simulator 2 (see FIG. 2) that simulates a human body,
A temperature sensor 3 (deep temperature detection means) that detects the internal temperature (hereinafter referred to as a deep temperature) of the human body simulation body 2, a temperature sensor 4 (surface temperature detection means) that detects the surface temperature of the human body simulation body 2, and a human body simulation. A constant current power supply circuit 5 (power supply means) for controlling the deep temperature of the body 2, a correction amount calculation device 6 (control means) for calculating a correction amount of the deep temperature based on a change in the surface temperature of the human body simulator 2, a human body It is composed of an external output device 7 such as a CRT or a printer that outputs and displays the deep temperature, the surface temperature of the simulated body 2 and the warm feeling of "hot" and "cold".

As shown in FIG. 2 (overall view of the human body simulation body 2), the human body simulation body 2 is divided into a plurality of parts of the human body (head, body, upper arm, forearm, thigh, lower limb). Part simulated body 20 (head 20a, body 20b, upper arm 20c, forearm 20)
d, thigh 20e, lower leg 20f). The part simulating body 20 includes a heat generating body 9 (heat generating portion) that covers the outer periphery of the cylindrical heat insulating material 8 in a film shape, and a heat transfer body 10 (heat transfer body) provided on the outer periphery of the heat generating body 9 with a constant thickness. Part) and is provided in a cylindrical shape as a whole. In addition, each part simulated body 20
The diameter of the heat insulating material 8 and the wall thickness of the heat transfer body 10 are set for each part so that the thermal characteristics corresponding to each part of the human body can be obtained. The heating element 9 is made of a conductive material such as nichrome wire, aluminum or copper, and is supplied with power from the constant current power supply circuit 5. The heat transfer body 10 is made of a material (for example, chloroprene rubber) whose thermal characteristics substantially match those of human body tissue, and is provided in thermal contact with the heating element 9. Further, the outer surface of the heat transfer body 10 is exposed to the environment atmosphere, and the surface temperature of the heat transfer body 10 changes according to the temperature change of the environment.

The temperature sensor 3 is attached to the heating element 9 of each part simulating body 20 and detects the temperature of the heating element 9 as a change in voltage. The temperature sensor 4 is attached to the outer surface of the heat transfer body 10 of each part simulation body 20, and detects the surface temperature of the heat transfer body 10 as a change in voltage. Constant current power supply circuit 5
Controls the temperature (heat generation amount) of the heating element 9 by causing the current determined by the correction amount calculation device 6 to flow through the heating element 9 of each part simulation body 20. The correction amount calculation device 6 includes an A / D conversion circuit 6a, a memory 6b (storage means), and a CPU 6c.
The microcomputer is composed of (correction temperature calculation means). The A / D conversion circuit 6a converts the voltage detected by the temperature sensor 3 and the temperature sensor 4 into a digital signal. The memory 6b stores the program procedure (see FIG. 5) in the CPU 6c, and also relates to the relationship between the human skin temperature TS and the thermal sensation S obtained by the following equation, and the human skin temperature TS obtained by the following equation. Deep body temperature TB
Remember the relationship with. The relationship between the skin temperature TS of the human body and the thermal sensation S shown in the equation is obtained by measuring each part of the human body, and FIG. 3 shows an example of a part of the human body. Also, skin temperature TS and internal body temperature TB shown in the equation
The relationship with is obtained as a result of research and simulation (simulated experiment), and the experimental result is shown in FIG.

[0009]

## EQU1 ## S = K1.times.TS + K0 ............ where K1 and K0 are constants preset for each part of the human body.

## EQU2 ## TB = L1.times.TS + L0 ... where L1 and L0 are constants preset for each part of the human body.

The CPU 6c uses the deep temperature TB (the temperature of the heating element 9) and the surface temperature TS (the surface temperature of the heat transfer body 10) of each part simulating body 20 input via the A / D conversion circuit 6a. , The correction temperature of the heating element 9 is calculated according to the program processing procedure of the memory 6b, and the supplied power (current) of the constant current power supply circuit 5 is determined so that the calculated correction temperature is obtained by the heating element 9. Also, the CPU 6
The thermal sensation S obtained by the above formula based on the deep temperature TB (internal body temperature), the surface temperature TS (skin temperature), and the surface temperature TS of each body part simulated body 20 input to c is output to the external output device 7. Output.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described based on the processing procedure of the CPU 6c. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the CPU 6c. First, each part simulated body 20
The initial value of the deep temperature TB of is set (step 10
0). For example, at a so-called room temperature where the ambient temperature is 25 ° C. and the humidity is 50%, the human internal temperature TB is about 36.7 ° C. Therefore, each temperature sensor 3 is used to simulate each part 20.
Temperature of the heating element 9 is 3
The supply current of the constant current power supply circuit 5 is determined by the CPU 6c so as to be stable at 6.7 ° C. When the heat generating element 9 generates heat, the heat of the heat generating element 9 is transmitted to the surface of each part simulating body 20 (the surface of the heat transmitting element 10) through the heat transfer element 10, and is radiated to the ambient air, The surface temperature TS of each part simulation body 20 is also maintained at a constant temperature. The CPU 6c determines the thermal sensation S for each part of the human body from the surface temperature Ts of each part simulation body 20 by using the temperature sensation characteristic shown in the above equation, and the external output device 7 together with the surface temperature Ts and the deep temperature TB. Output to.

Here, for example, when the environmental temperature is 25 ° C. to 2 °
Consider the case where the temperature drops to 0 ° C. As human physiological function,
When the environmental temperature decreases, the function of suppressing the blood flow flowing to human peripheral parts (arms, lower limbs) and the like and reducing the amount of heat released from the human body surface works. As a result, since the blood flow is relatively maintained in the trunk regions such as the head and the abdomen, the deep body temperature TB
Is maintained at about 36.7 ° C., but the deep body temperature TB is lowered at the peripheral part. Therefore, in the human body simulation body 2, when the environmental temperature drops to 20 ° C., the amount of heat radiation from the surface of each body portion simulation body 20 increases, and the surface temperature T
S will decrease. Then, the change of the surface temperature TS is detected by the temperature sensor 4 (step 10
1), output to the CPU 6c. The CPU 6c estimates a new thermal sensation S'from the detected surface temperature TS '(step 102) and outputs it to the external output device 7. Next,
A new deep temperature TB '(correction temperature) is calculated on the basis of the changed surface temperature TS' (step 103), and the temperature sensor 3 is adjusted so that the temperature of the heating element 9 becomes the calculated deep temperature TB '.
Constant current power supply circuit 5 that supplies the heat to the heating element 9 while detecting with
Supply current is determined (step 104).

After that, the heat flow passing through the heat transfer body 10 slightly decreases as the temperature of the heat generating body 9 decreases, but this effect (reduction of heat flow) is unsteady for a certain time (interval time).
Is transferred to the surface of the heat transfer body 10, and the surface temperature of the heat transfer body 10 is slightly lower than TS '. Therefore, after executing step 104, a predetermined interval time (step 105) is provided, and steps 100 to 1 are executed again.
Repeat 05. As a result, the amounts of change in the temperature of the heating element 9 and the surface temperature of the heat transfer element 10 gradually decrease,
It will converge to a constant value. In this way, by changing the deep temperature TB in the same manner as the physiological function of the peripheral part of the human body according to the change of environment, the characteristics substantially matching the human skin temperature characteristics shown in the above equation and FIG. 4 are obtained. Obtainable. Therefore, even in a non-steady and non-uniform environment such as a vehicle interior, the thermal sensation S can be accurately evaluated based on the surface temperature TS of each body part simulation body 20 detected by the temperature sensor 4. . Further, by applying the thermal environment measuring device 1 to a vehicle air conditioner, it is possible to accurately judge the thermal sensation of the occupant and perform appropriate air conditioning control. In particular, when performing air conditioning in winter, it is possible to accurately determine "coolness" of the lower half of the body.

In this embodiment, the human body simulation body 2 is composed of the cylindrical portion-shaped body simulation bodies 20, but a mannequin simulating an actual human shape may be used. Further, although the deep temperature and the surface temperature are measured one by one for each part of the body simulation 20, a plurality of measurement points for each part of the body simulation 20 are set to improve the accuracy. good.

[0015]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION The thermal environment measuring apparatus of the present invention can determine an accurate thermal sensation even in a steady and non-uniform environment based on the relationship between the skin temperature of the human body and the deep temperature of the body.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a thermal environment measuring device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an overall view of a human body simulation object according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing a relationship between a human skin temperature and a thermal sensation.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between the skin temperature of the human body and the deep body temperature.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a CPU according to the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Thermal Environment Measuring Device 3 Temperature Sensor (Deep Temperature Detection Means) 4 Temperature Sensor (Surface Temperature Detection Means) 5 Constant Current Power Supply Circuit (Power Supply Means) 6 Correction Amount Calculation Device (Control Means) 6b Memory (Memory Means) 6c CPU (Correction temperature calculation means) 9 Heat generating element (heat generating section) 10 Heat transfer element (heat transfer section)

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claims: 1. A) a heat-generating part that generates heat when supplied with electric power, b) power supply means for supplying electric power to the heat-generating part, and c) deep temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the heat-generating part. d) a heat transfer part which is provided so as to have a thermal characteristic that is substantially the same as the human body tissue, is in thermal contact with the heat generating part, and has an outer surface exposed to the atmosphere of the environment; and e) this heat transfer. Surface temperature detection means for detecting the surface temperature of the body, f) storage means for storing the relationship between the skin temperature of the human body and the deep temperature in the body, and the surface temperature detection based on the relationship between the skin temperature and the deep temperature A correction temperature calculating means for calculating a correction temperature of the heat generating portion corresponding to the surface temperature of the heat transfer portion detected by means, and the temperature of the heat generating portion detected by the deep temperature detecting means is the correction temperature. To obtain the corrected temperature calculated by the calculation means, Thermal environment measurement and control means for controlling the supply power of the serial power supply means.