JPH09318443A - Daylight sensor, blind controller and illumination controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To detect whether direct sunlight and strong ground reflected light exist or not by a method wherein a plurality of light receiving elements are installed in positions which can sense the direct sunlight, it is arranged that one element is not exposed to the direct sunlight at all and the difference between outputs from the respective elements or the ratio of the outputs is found. SOLUTION: A photoelectric conversion element 2a is arranged so as to be parallel to the glass plane of a window 3, a photoelectric conversion element 2b is arranged so as to face the sky, and the photoelectric conversion elements 2a, 2b are arranged in a direction perpendicular to, and opposite to, the window 3 in such a way that one or more elements which are not exposed to direct sunlight from sunrise up to sunset exist. When strong ground reflected light from other buildings exist, the output across the elements 2a, 2b is changed largely, and the existence of the ground reflected light is discriminated on the basis of it. When the direct sunlight is incident on the inside of a room, one out of the elements 2a to 2d does not receive the direct sunlight, a large difference is generated between their outputs, and the existence of the direct sunlight can be discriminated on the basis of it. On the basis of a discriminated result, a blind control operation and an illumination control operation are performed, and a change due to the direct sunlight can be relaxed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a daylight sensor, a blind controller and a lighting controller.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an example of a conventional technique, by controlling the opening and closing of a blind provided in a window, the amount of daylight incident from the window is increased or decreased to obtain an indoor illuminance, for example, a desk top illuminance of a predetermined value or more. A daylight control device that controls a lighting load in order to secure a value equal to or less than a predetermined value has already been proposed.

That is, FIG. 9 shows the conventional daylight control device described above, which has a box 22 having an opening on its side surface.
A daylight sensor 2 in which a photoelectric conversion element (upper surface is a light-receiving surface) 23 is arranged in a predetermined place inside in a manner similar to the environment of an indoor illuminance measurement point.
4 was used to detect the illuminance of daylight including direct light and diffused light entering through the window, and the blind was opened / closed according to the detected illuminance to control the illumination load.

[0004]

However, the daylight sensor in the above-mentioned conventional daylight control device detects and sets the illuminance level of sunlight without distinguishing diffused light, direct light, and strong feature reflected light. Since the blind opening / closing control was performed in comparison with the illuminance level, when the illuminance level is not so high as in cloudy weather, but there is direct light, there is strong feature reflection from other structures at the illuminance level. In this case, the daylight control device (blind) opens and closes depending on the illuminance level, which causes direct light with strong directivity to enter and make people in the room feel uncomfortable due to glare, and also to open and close the blinds. Since the control is judged only by a certain set illuminance level, the set value may be increased more than necessary in order to avoid glare due to incidence of direct light.

Further, in a state where the blinds are lowered horizontally, direct light enters the room when the sun altitude is low,
The average brightness of the blind surface was increased due to the strong reflected light of the features from other structures, which sometimes caused the occupants to feel dazzling.

In consideration of the above problems of the conventional device, the present invention introduces daylight into the room without causing glare due to the direct light and the reflected light of the feature incident from the window, thereby providing a comfortable indoor view. An object of the present invention is to provide a daylight control device capable of maintaining the environment and reducing the power consumption of lighting equipment by utilizing daylight.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention detects the presence or absence of direct light of daylight or the presence or absence of strong reflected light of a feature to raise or lower a blind provided in a window and control blade angle. , Controls the lighting load of artificial light, introduces daylight into the room without feeling the glare due to the direct light of sunlight entering from the window, and the reflected light of the features, and lighting the artificial light,
An indoor light control device that turns off the lights and adjusts the light to realize a comfortable indoor space and further reduces the lighting power of the lighting equipment. Blinds and lighting loads are controlled by detecting the direct illuminance amount of surface illuminance, the ratio of diffused light amount or the strong reflected amount of features, and the ratio of diffused light amount to realize a comfortable indoor space and power consumption of lighting equipment. It is a daylight control device that leads to the reduction of

As a first solution of the present invention, when a direct light from the sun can be detected, one photoelectric conversion light receiving element which does not receive the direct light is arranged. In addition, when there is strong reflected light of the feature, it has a photoelectric conversion light receiving element which the reflected feature light hits and a light receiving element which does not hit the same, and based on the difference or ratio between the outputs from the photoelectric conversion light receiving elements, direct irradiation is performed. It has a function of detecting the presence or absence of light or the presence or absence of strong reflected light of the feature.

As a second means for solving the problems of the present invention, a function is provided for raising and lowering the blind and controlling the blade angle depending on the presence / absence of direct light from a daylight sensor and the presence / absence of feature reflected light.

As a third means of solving the problems of the present invention, the difference between the output from the photoelectric conversion light receiving element on the surface exposed to the direct light and the output from the photoelectric conversion light receiving element on the surface not exposed to the direct light is determined by direct sunlight exposure. The output of the element that does not hit is the diffused light quantity, and the output from the photoelectric conversion light receiving element on the surface on which strong feature reflection light hits and the output from the photoelectric conversion light receiving element on the surface that does not hit strong feature reflection light It has a function of making the difference the amount of reflected light of a strong feature.

As a fourth solution of the present invention, the position of the sun according to the latitude, longitude, year, month, day, hour, minute, direct light amount of daylight from a daylight sensor, diffuse light amount, and strong feature reflected light amount. From this, the brightness of the blind surface is calculated, and the blade angle of the blind is controlled so that the brightness of the blind surface becomes a certain value or less.

As a fifth solution of the present invention, the position of the sun depending on the latitude, longitude, year, month, day, hour and minute, the direct light amount and diffused light amount of daylight from the daylight sensor, or the strong reflected light amount of features. Calculate the indoor illuminance distribution by daylight after passing through the blind from the diffused light amount, the elevation of the blind, and the blade angle control signal,
The illumination load is controlled by comparing the indoor illuminance setting level with the lighting, extinguishing, and dimming amount.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a daylight sensor according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a daylight sensor, 2a to 2d are four photoelectric conversion light receiving elements arranged near a window so that direct light can be detected,
3 is a window. (A) is a side view from the window side, (b) is a front view from the window side. Hereinafter, the photoelectric conversion light receiving element will be referred to as an element. The elements 2c and 2d are arranged in the vicinity of the window 3 so that there is at least one element which is not exposed to direct light from sunrise to sunset, and the light receiving surfaces of the two elements are perpendicular to the window and opposite to each other. Are arranged so that 2a is parallel to the surface of the window glass, and 2b is arranged so that the sky is desired. Reference numeral 4 is an antireflection plate made of a material having a low reflectance in order to remove the influence of light from inside the room, blinds, and reflected light from the window.

The present inventor has proposed this basic structure in Japanese Patent Application No. 06-
In 198303 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-64017), an application is made as a daylight sensor in which each surface of a hexahedron is arranged in parallel or perpendicular to a window, but in order to detect strong feature reflected light,
The top surface is tilted toward the window overlooking the sky.

FIG. 2 shows the relationship between the ratio of the outputs of the elements 2a and 2b and the time when the daylight sensor of FIG. 1 is arranged in the window facing west. (A) is a sunny day with no strong reflected light, (b) is a cloudy day with no direct light all day long (c) is a sunny day and has a strong reflected light Is shown. On a clear day, since the window is facing west in the morning of T0 to T1, direct light does not enter the window surface. Therefore, the relationship shown by the solid line in (a) is present, but other buildings are in front of the window. In this case, the direct light from the sun hits the building and strong reflected light is incident on the window surface. Since this strong reflected light mainly enters the element 2a, the ratio of the element 2a / the element 2b becomes a higher value than the time zone in which the direct light of T1 to T2 strikes, or the same time zone on a cloudy day. ing. The ratio of the element 2a to the element 2b is almost constant on a cloudy day, and changes gently depending on the sun altitude on a clear day. However, T0 to T1 in FIG.
As can be seen from (c), when there is strong feature reflection light from another building, the relationship between the element 2a and the element 2b is greatly broken. With this, the presence or absence of the reflected light of the feature is determined.

Further, when direct light enters the room, there is an element to which direct light does not necessarily enter and an element to enter one surface depending on the time zone among the elements 2a, 2c, and 2d.
A large difference occurs in the output from each element. When the direct light does not enter the window surface, there is no great difference in the outputs from the elements 2b to 2d. This determines the presence or absence of direct light.

It should be noted that these outputs may be outputs that become lower as the amount of light increases. Further, when there is direct light or reflected light of the feature, a difference occurs in the outputs from the elements 2a, 2c, and 2d. From this, the presence or absence of the direct light and the reflected light of the feature may be determined. However, in this case, it is not possible to distinguish between the direct light and the reflected light of the feature. Therefore, the position of the sun may be calculated based on the latitude, longitude, and date and time to determine whether there is direct light or whether there is reflected light from the feature. In addition, there is a large difference between the output level of the direct light and the output level of the reflected light of the feature, and the element 2
Since the sky portions desired by the elements a, the element 2b, and the element 2c are greatly different, it may be difficult to discriminate between the level difference due to the sky luminance distribution and the level difference due to the feature reflected light. Element 2
Since the difference in the sky luminance distribution between a and the element 2b is the smallest among the four elements, the presence or absence of the reflected light of the feature in these two elements has the least influence on the sky luminance distribution and the discrimination accuracy is high.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the blind control device. The parts with the same numbers as in FIG. 1 are the same parts.
Is direct light, 6 is a blind drive unit, 7 is a blind, 8
Indicates a room, and 9 indicates a control unit such as a main operation panel and a computer.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the signal processing of the blind control device. The same parts as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals, 10 is an AD converter, 11 is an illuminance level calculating means for each surface after solid angle correction, 12 is a direct light detecting means based on an output difference from three elements, Reference numeral 13 is a feature reflected light detection means based on the output ratio from the two elements, and 14 is a blind control means.

The solid angle correction in the illuminance level calculation means 11 is to add the correction before the level comparison, because the solid angles of the light receiving surfaces of the respective elements that are desired to look at the sky are different.

The solid angle correction and the output comparison that desire the sky may be performed by an algorithmic software or by an IC such as an amplifier circuit or a comparator.

When the blind control means 14 receives a signal with direct light from the direct light detection means 12, or receives a signal with feature reflected light from the feature reflected light detection means 13, the blind control means 14 lowers the blinds or the room interior. Outputs a signal for controlling the blind wing angle to the blind drive unit 6 so that the outside cannot be seen.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, direct light is detected, or strong feature reflected light is detected,
It is possible to reduce the light with strong directivity, which is dazzling to the occupants. Furthermore, when direct light is detected, the blade angle of the blind is controlled by the position of the sun.When feature reflected light is detected, the blade angle of the blind is controlled so as to mitigate the light from the front. Outside light can be introduced into the room to the maximum without direct light and strong reflected light of features.

In order to reduce the direct light or the strong reflected light of the feature, opening / closing control of the light attenuating material by a curtain other than the blind may be used.

A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 5 shows a configuration diagram of an illumination control device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
15 is a lighting load control terminal, 16 is a lighting fixture,
Reference numeral 17 denotes a control unit such as a main operation panel or a computer.

FIG. 6 shows the relationship between the illuminance level signal from the element a and the average brightness of the blind when the wing angle of the blind is horizontal when there is strong westward reflected light. The vertical axis represents illuminance and brightness, the horizontal axis represents time, (a) is the illuminance level from the element a, and (b) is the average brightness of the blind. In FIG. 6, there is no direct light between T0 and T1 and strong feature reflected light is incident on the window surface, and T1 and T2 are cases where direct light is incident on the window surface. As described above, the illuminance level received by the window surface is low, but the average brightness of the blind is high when there is strong reflected light of the feature. From this, when predicting the brightness of the blind, unless the brightness of the blind due to the strong reflected light of the feature is calculated in addition to the direct light amount and the diffused light amount,
It is not possible to control the blind brightness below a certain value.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the signal processing of the blind control device. The same parts as those in FIG. 4 are designated by the same reference numerals. Reference numeral 18 is a direct light quantity, diffused light quantity, feature reflection light quantity calculation means, 19 is a sun position calculation means for calculating the altitude and azimuth of the sun based on latitude, longitude, and date and time, 20 is a blade angle determination means, and 21 is a lift. , Blind control means for outputting an output for controlling the blade angle.

The direct light amount, diffused light amount, and feature reflected light amount calculating means 18 are means for calculating the absolute value amount of each light amount. When an output with direct light is received from the direct light detecting means 12, the output of the illuminance level calculating means 11 having the lowest level among the outputs 2b to 2d is defined as the diffused light amount level output and the difference from the output of 2a. When the output without direct light is received, the output of the illuminance level calculation means 12 is used as the diffused light level output. Further, when the output with the feature reflected light is received from the feature reflected light detection unit 13, the output from the illuminance level calculation unit 11 is set to 2b as the diffused light amount level, the difference from the output of 2a is obtained, and this difference is strengthened. The output level of the reflected light quantity of the feature. When the output with the reflected light of the feature is received, 2c and 2d from the illuminance level calculation means 11 may be used as the diffused light amount level. Since strong feature reflected light is generated under the condition that direct light does not enter the room, it is determined that there is no strong feature reflected light when there is direct light. Further, the reflected light of the feature always enters 2a. Therefore, if it is determined that there is no strong feature reflected light, 10% of the output of 2a may be used as the feature reflected light amount.

When there is direct light, the blade angle determining means 20 calculates the blade angle of a brand in which direct light does not enter the room depending on the sun altitude and direction, and when there is strong feature reflected light,
It is calculated that the feather angle is added according to the level output of the reflected light amount of the feature. Furthermore, the average brightness of the blinds with only the direct light is calculated from the direct light amount and the blade angle of the blinds, the average brightness of the blinds with the diffuse light only is calculated from the diffuse light amount and the blade angles of the blinds, and the strong intensity from the strong feature reflected light amount and the blind blade angles is calculated. By calculating the average brightness of the blind of only the reflected light of the feature and adding these, the more accurate average brightness of the blind is calculated, and the feather angle is calculated so that the brightness of the blind is below a certain value. Output to control means.

As described above, the amount of light received by the window surface is defined as the direct light amount,
Separate the diffused light quantity and the reflected light quantity of the feature, calculate the average brightness of the blinds by each light quantity, and add the average brightness of the blinds by each light quantity to obtain a more accurate average brightness of the blind than the conventional one It can be: As a result, it is possible to reduce the glare due to the high brightness of the entire blind surface and realize an indoor vision environment in which the sensitivity of the eyes of the person in the room is not lowered too much. Since the sensitivity of the human eye is lower in a high illuminance environment than in a low illuminance environment, the visual target may be difficult to see unless the luminance ratio between the visual target and the background is increased. Therefore, when there is a window surface in the background of the CRT in an office or the like, if the window surface has high brightness, the screen becomes difficult to see and the screen brightness may be increased. Therefore, the visibility can be secured within a certain range by setting the blind luminance to a certain value or less.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the signal processing of the lighting control device. The same parts as those in FIGS. 5 and 7 are designated by the same reference numerals. Reference numeral 22 is an indoor illuminance distribution calculation means, and 23 is a dimming level determination means. The indoor illuminance distribution calculating unit 22 outputs the direct light amount, the diffused light amount, each light amount level from the feature reflected light amount calculating unit 18, the sun altitude from the sun position calculating unit 19, the azimuth output, and the wing angle output from the wing angle determining unit 20. From the above, the indoor illuminance distribution after passing through the blind or after passing through the window glass for each light amount is calculated and added. Reference numeral 23 compares the indoor illuminance set level with the indoor illuminance due to the external light and calculates the dimming amount corresponding to the difference.

By performing blind control and lighting control by the daylight sensor of the present embodiment, fluctuations due to direct light are alleviated, the occupants of the room are not uncomfortable, and daylight is maximized. It is possible to provide a highly efficient energy-saving lighting control device.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a comfortable indoor visual environment in which natural light and artificial light are used so as not to make humans feel uncomfortable and to reduce the amount of illumination power. enable.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a daylight sensor of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of signal processing of the daylight sensor.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a blind control device using the daylight sensor.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing signal processing of the blind control device.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a lighting control device using the daylight sensor and the blind control device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a relationship between an illuminance level of a light receiving element 2a of the daylight sensor and an average brightness of a blind.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing signal processing of the blind control device.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing signal processing of the lighting control device.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram showing a daylight sensor of a conventional lighting control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Daylight sensor 2 Light receiving element 3 Window 4 Antireflection plate

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of photoelectric conversion light receiving elements which are arranged at positions where direct light from the sun can be sensed, and where there is direct light, one photoelectric conversion light receiving element is not exposed. A daylight sensor that detects the presence or absence of direct light or the presence or absence of reflected light of a feature based on the difference or ratio between outputs from a light receiving element. 2. A blind control device for raising and lowering a blind and controlling a blade angle according to the presence / absence of direct light and reflected light of a feature, which is obtained by the daylight sensor according to claim 1. 3. A direct light amount of daylight is defined as a difference between an output from a photoelectric conversion light receiving element on a surface which is exposed to direct light and an output from a photoelectric conversion light receiving element on a surface which is not exposed to direct light. Is the diffused light quantity, and the difference between the output from the photoelectric conversion light receiving element on the surface where strong feature reflected light hits and the output from the photoelectric conversion light receiving element on the surface where strong feature reflected light does not hit is the strong feature reflected light quantity. The daylight sensor according to claim 1. 4. The brightness of the blind surface is calculated based on the position of the sun according to latitude, longitude, year / month / day / hour / minute, direct light amount and diffused light amount of daylight, or strong feature reflected light amount and diffused light amount. The blind control device having a daylight sensor according to claim 3, which calculates and controls the blade angle of the blind so that the brightness of the blind surface becomes a certain value or less. 5. From the position of the sun according to latitude, longitude, date and time, direct light amount and diffused light amount of daylight, or strong feature reflected light amount and diffused light amount, blind elevation, blade angle control output The daylight sensor according to claim 3, wherein the indoor illuminance distribution by daylight after passing through the blind is calculated, compared with the indoor illuminance set level, and the lighting load is controlled by determining lighting, extinction, or dimming amount. Lighting control device.