JPS60142134A - Operation of air conditioner intended for room of intermittent use - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To begin the operation of the titled air conditioner when the number of personnel who enter a room is many even in case it is before a scheduled time of using the room in order not to loose the comfortable property of the room by a method wherein the number of personnel who enter into the room is counted before the predetermined time of the scheduled beginning time of using and the operation of the air conditioner is started when some entry rate has been achieved. CONSTITUTION:When the temperature difference DELTAT between the atmopsheric temperature Tou and set temperature T becomes a value within a given range, the rate alpha1 of personnel entering the room and the rate alpha2 of personnel remaining in the room are set automatically by temperature detectors 5, 13. The number of personnel who enter the room is counted by a photoelectric switch device 12 from a time before a given time t1 of the scheduled beginning time t2 of using the room and when the value of counting has become higher than the rate alpha1, the air conditioner is started to operate. On the other hand, upon stopping the operation of the air conditioner, the number of personnel who exit the room is counted automatically by the photoelectric switch device 12 from the scheduled finishing time t3 of using the room and when the value of the counting has become lower than the rate alpha2 or when a given time t2 has elapsed from the scheduled finishing time t0 of using, the operation of the air conditioner is stopped.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention provides an air conditioner for use in rooms that are used intermittently and that have set usage times and that accommodate multiple people, such as university classrooms, lecture halls, and conference rooms. Regarding driving methods.

[Background of the invention]

In the conventional air conditioner operating method, the timing for starting and stopping the air conditioner was determined based on the set usage time of the room. A typical example of this conventional example will be explained below.

(1) First, there is a method that determines when to start and when to stop the operation of an air conditioner based on the set usage time of the room, the warming time required for the air conditioner, and the remaining operating time. Since this method does not take into account external conditions such as room temperature and outside air temperature that change depending on the day, the timing of starting and stopping the operation is constant regardless of the day.

(2) Next, decide when to start and stop the operation of the air conditioner, taking into consideration the usage time set for that room, the warming time and residual operating time required for that air conditioner, and external conditions such as indoor temperature. There is a way to decide. An example of this method will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, the outside air temperature T and the indoor temperature Tr are higher than the ideal set temperature T, indicating that the air conditioner is operating in the summer. In order for the temperature of the room to reach the set temperature T at the scheduled start time t of the room, the air conditioner operation start time is set at t', taking into consideration the warming time of the air conditioner. Since the operating curve a of the air conditioner has a constant curve, the air conditioner operation start timing t' is determined based on this curve a. If the operation start time is too early, such as t'', the temperature of the room at the scheduled room use start time t, will be too low, and if the operation start time is too late, such as tlI, the temperature of the room at the scheduled room use start time t5 will be too low. The temperature is still not low enough.

The conventional methods (1) and (2) explained above were carried out using a microcomputer 1 as shown in FIG. Calculations and commands regarding the start and stop of the air conditioner are performed by the microcomputer 1, and in response to this command, the process input/output device 2 sets the air conditioner 3 to 0N.
It outputs an OFF command. This air conditioner 3 blows cold air into the room 4 in the summer and hot air in the winter. A temperature detector 5 provided in the room 4 feeds back a temperature signal of the room to the microcomputer 1.

[Problems with background technology]

The conventional air conditioner operation method described above mainly determines when to start and stop the air conditioner based on the set usage time of the room. If a large number of people enter the room before the scheduled start time, the comfort of the room will be impaired and the service will be degraded for these early enterers. This is particularly true in cases where university classrooms (particularly special classrooms such as large classrooms), lecture halls, and conference rooms are used intermittently and it is possible to freely enter and exit the room before and after the set usage time. That was a problem.

■A similar problem occurs when there are people who remain in the room even after the scheduled end time of the room, and the number of people remaining in the room becomes large.

■Also, contrary to the problem in ■, if the number of people entering the room is small even after the scheduled start time of the room, the air conditioner will continue to operate unnecessarily.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and even when there are many people who enter the room early or when there are many people who remain, the present invention does not impair the comfort of the room and also allows the scheduled start time of the room to be set. To provide an automatic air conditioner operation method that is useful for energy saving without unnecessary operation of the air conditioner even when there are few people entering the room.

[Summary of the invention]

The method of operating an air conditioner for rooms that are used intermittently according to the present invention is as follows: First, at the start of operation, the number of people entering the room is automatically counted from a certain time (tl) before the scheduled start time of the room, and the number of people entering the room is automatically counted. Operation is started when the number of people exceeds a certain occupancy ratio (αl). As a result, even if there are many people who enter the room early, even before the scheduled start time, the air conditioner will start operating and the comfort of the room will not be compromised. Conversely, if there are few people entering the room even after the scheduled start time, the air conditioner will not be operated unnecessarily.

Next, when the operation is stopped, the number of people leaving the room is automatically counted from the scheduled end time of use of the room, and when the number of people remaining in the room becomes less than the residue ratio (α2), or after a certain period of time (tl) from the scheduled end time of use. ) is reached, the operation will be stopped. As a result, even if the scheduled end time of the room has passed,
If there are many people remaining in the room, the air conditioner continues to operate and the comfort of the room is not impaired.

The values of the two fixed times (tx) (tz), entrance ratio (αI), and residue ratio (α2) are automatically set according to the external conditions at the time of waiting. The external conditions include, for example, outdoor temperature, indoor temperature, weather conditions such as wind and rain, and illuminance conditions. As a result, the following actions will be taken.

That is, the worse the outdoor environment is, such as when the outside air temperature is too high in the summer, the more people will enter the room early. Conversely, when the outdoor environment is good, the number of people remaining in the room is small. Therefore, when the outdoor environment is bad, for example, the air conditioner can be started earlier by extending a certain period of time (tl) before the scheduled start time of the room.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 9.

FIG. 3 shows the system configuration of this embodiment, which corresponds to the system configuration of the conventional operating method shown in FIG. Note that parts corresponding to those in FIG. 2 are given the same numbers and the same explanations will be omitted. The microcomputer 1 not only performs calculations related to the operation and stop of the air conditioner and issues instructions to the process input/output device 2, but also has a timer function. A keyboard 11 is connected to the microcomputer 1, and the use time of the room and the number of users of the room are set using the keyboard 11. Connected to the process input/output device 2 are a photoelectric switch device 12 that detects the number of people entering the room and the number of people leaving the room, and a temperature detector 5.13 that detects the temperature of the room or the outside temperature.

Next, referring to FIG. 4, the photoelectric switch device 12 for detecting the number of people entering the room and the number of people leaving the room will be explained in detail. At the entrance of the room 40 that is the object of the present invention, 20 light emitting elements 14 and 15 are arranged along the wall along the direction in which people enter and leave the room.

Two photoelectric switches 16.17 are provided on the opposite wall at positions corresponding to the two light emitting elements 14.15. Signals from the photoelectric switches 16 and 17 are sent to the process input/output device 2 described above and further input into the microcomputer 1.

Next, the operation of the photoelectric switches 16 and 17 will be explained. Now, when the person 20 enters the room 4, the person 20 moves from point A to point B. At this time, the first photoelectric switch 16 closes because the light is blocked by the person 20, and then the other photoelectric switch 17 closes in the same way. When leaving the room, the photoelectric switches 17, 16 are closed in the reverse order.

The opening/closing signals of the photoelectric switches 16 and 17 are input to the microcomputer 1 via the process input/output device 2. In the microcomputer 1, when the opening/closing of the photoelectric switches 16 and 17 moves from the photoelectric switch 16 on the outside of the room to the photoelectric switch 17 on the inside after a predetermined period of time, it is counted as a presence of a person entering the room. On the other hand, when the pulse pulses from the inner photoelectric switch 17 to the outer photoelectric switch 16, it is counted as a person leaving the room. In this case, if a group enters and leaves the room, the photoelectric switch 16
．． The approximate number of people entering or leaving the room is calculated based on the closing time of 17. Note that the entry ratio α screen and the exit ratio α2 are for starting and stopping the operation of the air conditioner and do not require strict accuracy, so the accuracy of the estimation may be low to some extent.

The operation start timing and stop timing of the air conditioner in this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 consists of three graphs, with time t plotted on the horizontal axis.

Figure 5 (a) shows the temperature on the vertical axis, Figure 5 (→ shows the rate of people entering and exiting on the vertical axis, and Figure 5 (c) shows the presence or absence of air conditioner operation on the vertical axis. When the difference ΔT between the outside air temperature T a w and the set temperature T reaches a value within a certain range, the temperature detectors 5 and 13 described above automatically set the corresponding entry/exit ratio α1 and residual ratio α2. This αl is set to, for example, 30%, and α2 is set to, for example, 40%.

Therefore, if the number of people in the room is set to 100, the air conditioner will start operating if the number of people entering the room exceeds 30, and stop operating if the number of people remaining in the room exceeds 40. be done. In addition, there are two constant times t corresponding to the above-mentioned ΔT.
1 t* is automatically set. tl is, for example, 15 minutes, and t2 is, for example, 10 minutes.

First, at the start of operation, the scheduled room use start time t
For example, the photoelectric switches 16 and 17 start automatically counting the number of people entering the room from a fixed time of 1° (15 minutes) before 10 am. The air conditioner 3 starts operating when the number of people entering the room reaches 30 Å or more. This start time may be before 10:00 a.m., which is the scheduled room use start time t, or may be after 10:00 a.m. At this time, unlike the conventional example shown in FIG. 1, the warm-up time of the air conditioner is not considered;
Considering that the number of people entering the room is small (30 people) within the range of the difference ΔT between 6 B and the set temperature T, it can be said that no consideration is necessary.

Next, when the operation is stopped, the scheduled end time of the room use 1
6. For example, the number of people leaving from noon is determined by the photoelectric switch 16.
Counting starts automatically at 17. The number of people leaving the room is calculated from the number of people leaving the room, and when the number of people leaving the room becomes 40 Å or less, or the scheduled end of use time t. The operation is stopped when a certain period of time tz (10 minutes) has elapsed from noon.

The two constant times tl (15 minutes) t in this embodiment
The values of z (10 minutes), entry ratio αI (30%), and remaining ratio α2 (40%) are automatically changed depending on the external conditions at the time. In FIG. 6, a case where these values are changed will be explained. (a) in Figure 6
,(B)? The graph (c) is the same as (a) in Figure 5.
These correspond to graphs (b) and (c), respectively. In this FIG. 6, since the difference ΔT between the outside air temperature T 6 u and the set temperature T has become large, the certain period of time before the scheduled start time of the room is 1. / (25 minutes), a certain period of time after the scheduled end of use is tz' (2-o minutes), the entry ratio is α1' (10%), and the remaining ratio is α2' (35%).
By changing each value as shown above, when ΔT becomes large and the outside temperature becomes high in the summer season in this embodiment, the number of people who enter the room early increases, Furthermore, it is possible to cope with the case where the number of people left behind increases.

FIG. 7 shows a control flowchart of FIGS. 5 and 6 in the microcomputer 1. In FIG. This microcomputer 1 continues to operate throughout the day. First, a certain period of time t1 and t' before the scheduled start time of use of the room.
Using the larger value t□′, the current time is i s L
! ' Determine whether or not.

If this time has come, then the difference Δ between the set temperature and the outside temperature
Determine whether T is larger than a certain value.

If it is larger, the above-mentioned α,', α2', and t□Ztyu' are set in consideration of the increase in the number of people who enter early and those who remain.

If it is smaller, set αl and α11 + 11 + j2. Next, the time for counting the number of people entering the room ta tl (t□
Determine whether or not it is a thorn. If this time has come, counting begins and it is determined whether the entry ratio αI (α□′) has been exceeded. If it exceeds the limit, the air conditioner is ordered to start operating. Next, when the operation is stopped, if it is judged too much whether the scheduled room use end time T, has passed, it is further judged whether or not the time T o +t z has passed. 'i' e
If the time +t2 has not passed, the photoelectric switch device 12 automatically starts counting the number of people leaving the room. Based on this, the number of people left behind is calculated, and the operation of the air conditioner is stopped when the ratio of people left behind becomes less than α2. In addition, if the remaining person ratio is less than α2, the count is continued and always T, +t
It continues to determine whether it is time 2 or not. As a result, the device ratio is α
Even if it does not become 2 or less, the operation is stopped at time T, +12.

[Effects of Examples]

0 or more, at the start of operation, the number of people entering the room is counted from a certain time ti before the scheduled start time of the room, and operation is started when the entry ratio exceeds a certain value α1 (α□′). Even if there are people who enter the room early and a large number of people enter the room before the scheduled time to start using the room, the comfort of the room is not impaired.

■In addition, when the operation is stopped, the number of people leaving the room is automatically counted from the scheduled end time of use of the room, and the number of people leaving the room is automatically counted for a certain period of time t.
Until (t,') reaches a certain value α2(
Since repeated operation will not be stopped unless the value falls below α ′),
It does not compromise the comfort of the room.

■Furthermore, even after the scheduled end time of use, if the number of visitors is small, operation will not start, so there is no risk that the air conditioner will be operated unnecessarily.

- In the case of cooling operation in summer as in this embodiment, when a large number of people enter the room early, the temperature of the room rises and the start time of operation needs to be brought forward. On the other hand, by automatically counting the number of people entering the room and setting the entry ratio αI to an arbitrary appropriate value, it is possible to quickly deal with this temperature rise in the room.

■In this embodiment, a certain period of time t! t2, admission ratio α
The external condition for setting the values of 1 and the residue ratio α2 is the difference ΔT between the outside air temperature T e a and the set temperature T.

And when ΔT is large, these values tt t2 α
By setting the value of 1α2 to be t□'t2'α1'αyu', it is possible to automatically cope with an increase in the number of people who enter the room early and the number of people who remain.

■ At the start of operation, the number of people entering the room is αl
(α1′) or more, the air conditioner will not start operating even if the scheduled room use start time t arrives. On the other hand, when the operation is stopped, even if the number of remaining workers does not become less than the residue ratio α2(αyu′), the number of workers remaining at a certain time (j, +t2(t
If the condition becomes y')), the operation will definitely be stopped. As a result, for example, those who act early in relation to the start time of the meeting are given preferential treatment, and those who continue to stay even after the meeting is over are treated poorly, thereby promoting prompt action by the meeting participants.

Next, the difference between the operation start time of the air conditioner in this embodiment and the operation start time in the conventional operation method shown in FIG. 1 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. Figure 8 is a graph when there are many people who enter the room early. In the figure, time is plotted on the horizontal axis. In the figure, (a) shows the ratio of people entering and leaving the room on the vertical axis.
(B) shows the temperature on the vertical axis and the temperature of the room in this example, (C) shows the operation of the air conditioner of this example on the vertical axis, and (2) shows the temperature on the vertical axis and shows the temperature of the room in this example. The room temperature in the conventional operating method shown in the figure is shown, and the air conditioner is operated in (E) and (Hani).

As can be seen from this figure, in the conventional operating method, regardless of the number of people entering the room, the scheduled room use start time I11. Since the system is operated so that the temperature of the room reaches the set temperature T, it impairs the comfort of the room for those who have already entered the room. However, according to this embodiment, operation is started at the time when the entry ratio reaches αl, and the comfort of the guest room is not impaired. In addition, in this embodiment as well, the warm-up time of the air conditioner (b in (b)
), but the number of people entering the room is still small at this time, so the comfort of the room is not affected. Therefore, compared to the conventional operating method, there is a difference in whether or not the person entering the room can be made comfortable during the time C.

Next, FIG. 8 is a graph when there are many people left behind.

(a), (b), r>, ni), and (e) in the same figure are the seventh
These correspond to (a), (b), (c), (ni), and (e) in the figure, respectively. According to conventional operating methods) and (e), when the scheduled room use start time t arrives, (a) the air conditioner starts operating even though the number of people entering the room is small. On the other hand, according to the present embodiment (→, (c)), even when the scheduled use start time t comes, the number of people entering the room is still the same as the room entry ratio α1 (α'
) or higher, operation will not start. Therefore, the air conditioner is prevented from being operated unnecessarily during the time d, which is useful for energy saving.

(Other embodiments) ■In the above embodiments, a certain period of time tt for counting
tz, entry ratio αK (α□′) and residue ratio α2 (α
The difference ΔT between the outside air temperature and the set temperature was used as the external condition for determining the value of 1), but in other examples, the value may be changed as all conditions such as weather conditions such as wind and rain, conditions due to illuminance, etc. It is possible to

■Also, as for the types of values that can be changed, only two sets of values, ts txαlα2 and 11/1s'α1''', were used in the above embodiment, but in other embodiments, more sets of values are used in stages. Furthermore, it can be a fine value that changes continuously rather than stepwise.

(2) Although the above embodiments have been explained using summer cooling as an example, other embodiments may also be implemented for winter heating. In this case as well, the effects (1), (2), (2), (2), and (3) described in the effects of the above embodiment can be similarly expected.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the air conditioner operation method for rooms that are used intermittently according to the present invention, even when there are many people who enter the room early or when there are many people who stay behind, the comfort of the room is not impaired, and the room It is possible to prevent the air conditioner from being operated unnecessarily even if there are few people entering the room even after the scheduled start time of use.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a graph showing a conventional operating method of an air conditioner, Fig. 2 is a system configuration diagram related to the operating method of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is an operating method according to an embodiment of the present invention corresponding to Fig. 2. FIG. 4 is a layout diagram of the photoelectric switch used in FIG. 3; FIGS. 5 and 6 are graphs illustrating the start and stop timing of an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing changes in the operating conditions shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, and FIGS. 8 and 9 show the differences between one embodiment of the present invention and the conventional operating method shown in FIG. This is a graph representing DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Microcomputer, 2... Process input/output device, 3... Air conditioner, 4... Room, 5... Temperature detector, 11... Keyboard, 12... Photoelectric switch device , 13...Temperature detector, 14.15...Light emitting element, 16°17...Photoelectric switch, t,...Scheduled time to start using the room, t,...Scheduled time to finish using the room , a... Operating curve of the air conditioner, b... Warming up time of the air conditioner. Agent and patent attorney Tatsuyuki Unuma also has 1 drawing and 8 drawings of my stomach and stomach.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an air conditioner operating method for a room that is used intermittently and accommodates multiple people with a set usage time, at the start of operation, a certain period of time (of the scheduled start time of the room) tl) Automatically counts the number of people entering the room from the beginning,
Operation starts when the number of people entering the room exceeds a certain entry ratio (αI), and when the operation is stopped, the number of people leaving the room is automatically counted from the scheduled end time of use of the room, and the number of people remaining is calculated as the remaining room ratio (αI). The operation is stopped when the temperature drops below α2), or when a certain period of time (tz) has passed from the scheduled end of use, and the two specified periods (ts) (tz), entry ratio (αri), and residue ratio A method for operating an air conditioner for a room that is used intermittently, characterized in that the value of (α2) is automatically set according to external conditions during standby.