JPWO2018029805A1 - Indoor unit of air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

The indoor unit of the air conditioner has a suction port and a blowout port, sends conditioned air based on the air sucked in from the suction port from the blowout port, is provided at the blowout port, Controlling at least one of the wind direction plate and the blower based on the wind direction plate to be adjusted, a fan for generating an air flow from the suction port to the air outlet, a sensor for acquiring temperature information in the air conditioning target space, and temperature information; And a controller for controlling the air flow of the conditioned air, the controller detecting the positions of the human body and the human body in the air conditioning target space and the characteristics of the human body based on the temperature information, and detecting the position and the characteristic of the human body In accordance with the above, at least one of the wind direction and the air volume of the conditioned air is controlled.

Description

  The present invention relates to an indoor unit of an air conditioner that performs indoor air conditioning.

  BACKGROUND Conventionally, an indoor unit of an air conditioner that detects a human body present in a room using an infrared sensor has been proposed and put to practical use (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In such an air conditioner, the position of the human body in the room is specified by an infrared sensor, and the air flow is directed toward the human body by adjusting the vertical wind direction and the horizontal wind direction.

JP, 2012-72965, A

  However, the human body present in the room has a feature of "height". Therefore, if the wind direction is determined based only on the detected position of the human body, the strength of the wind contact with the human body, the position of the wind touch, etc. may not be as intended.

  For example, the air flow by the wind sent from the indoor unit at the time of heating generally has the property of spreading in the vertical direction near the floor surface. Therefore, even if the vertical direction is set so as to warm the feet of a specific human body detected, the wind may hit the face directly if the height of the human body is small, such as a child. And, in such a case, an unpleasant state such as a feeling of cold wind due to strong wind and drying of the skin is caused.

  On the other hand, for example, the airflow by the wind sent from the indoor unit at the time of cooling generally has the property that cold air is lowered. In addition, the airflow of the wind sent from the outlet of the indoor unit diffuses little by little. Therefore, even if the up and down wind direction is set to send the air flow above the head of the specific human body detected in consideration of the decrease in cold air in this way, the air flow when the height of the human body is small. But it does not reach the head of the human body and can not cool effectively. Therefore, the user is forced to perform non-energy saving operation such as lowering the set temperature.

  The present invention has been made in view of the problems in the above-mentioned prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an indoor unit of an air conditioner capable of appropriately performing air conditioning in accordance with the characteristics of a human body present indoors. To aim.

  An indoor unit of an air conditioner according to the present invention is an indoor unit of an air conditioner having a suction port and a blowout port and delivering conditioned air based on air sucked from the suction port from the blowout port, A wind direction plate provided at a blowout port for adjusting a sending direction of the conditioned air, a blower for generating an air flow from the suction port to the blowout port, a sensor for acquiring temperature information in a space to be air conditioned, the temperature And a controller configured to control at least one of the wind direction plate and the blower based on the information to control the air flow of the conditioned air, the controller configured to control the human body in the space to be air-conditioned based on the temperature information. And detecting a position of the human body and a feature of the human body, and controlling at least one of a wind direction and an air volume of the conditioned air according to the detected position and feature of the human body.

  As described above, according to the indoor unit of the air conditioner of the present invention, by adjusting the wind direction of the conditioned air based on the position and the feature of the human body detected from within the space to be air-conditioned, Air conditioning can be performed appropriately according to the features.

5 is a perspective view showing an example of the appearance of the indoor unit according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is the schematic which shows an example of a structure of the infrared sensor of FIG. It is the schematic which shows an example of a circuit structure of the air conditioner using the indoor unit which concerns on this Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the indoor control apparatus shown in FIG. It is a functional block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the arithmetic processing unit shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the outdoor control apparatus shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the wind direction setting process by the indoor unit which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is the schematic at the time of producing | generating a thermal image in case a human body exists by the thermal image creation part of FIG. It is the schematic which shows the thermal image of the state which extracted the human body image from the thermal image acquired in the state of FIG. It is the schematic which shows an example of the distance table which shows the relationship between the position of the lower end pixel of a human body image, and the distance from an indoor unit to a human body. It is the schematic which shows an example of the attitude | position table which shows the relationship between the aspect ratio of the largest pixel count of the vertical direction and horizontal direction in a human body image, and the attitude | position of a human body. It is the schematic which shows the 1st example for demonstrating the air flow at the time of the up-down wind direction being set to the 1st up-down wind direction at the time of heating operation by the wind direction setting process of FIG. It is the schematic which shows the 2nd example for demonstrating the air flow at the time of the up-down wind direction being set to the 1st up-down wind direction at the time of heating operation. It is the schematic which shows the 3rd example for demonstrating the air flow at the time of the up-down wind direction being set to 2nd up-down wind direction at the time of heating operation by the wind direction setting process of FIG. FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a configuration of an arithmetic processing unit according to a second embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the air volume setting process by the indoor unit 10 which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. FIG. 17 is a schematic view showing an example of an air flow when the air volume is set to a second air volume during heating operation by the air volume setting process of FIG. 16;

Embodiment 1
Hereinafter, the indoor unit of the air conditioner according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described.

[Exterior example of indoor unit]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the appearance of the indoor unit 10 according to the first embodiment. The indoor unit 10 is, for example, a wall type indoor unit installed on a wall of a room. As shown in FIG. 1, in the indoor unit 10, a suction port 1 and a blowout port 2 are provided in a casing forming an outer shell. The suction port 1 is provided to suck air in a room which is an air conditioning target space. The blowout port 2 is provided for delivering conditioned air from the air conditioner 100 described later using the indoor unit 10 into the room.

  The air outlet 2 is provided with a vertical wind direction plate 3 and a horizontal wind direction plate 4. The up and down wind direction plate 3 is rotatably provided in order to adjust the sending direction in the vertical direction when sending the conditioned air. The left and right air direction plates 4 are rotatably provided in order to adjust the horizontal delivery direction when the conditioned air is delivered.

  Further, the indoor unit 10 is provided with an infrared sensor 5. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the infrared sensor 5 is provided at the lower portion on the left side when viewed from the indoor unit 10 side. The infrared sensor 5 scans the temperature in the room, detects infrared radiation emitted from the surface of the object, and acquires temperature information.

  The installation position of the infrared sensor 5 is not limited to the position shown in FIG. For example, the infrared sensor 5 may be installed at a position where the indoor temperature information can be acquired. Further, the shape of the infrared sensor 5 is not limited to the shape as shown in FIG. 1 and may be any shape as long as indoor temperature information can be acquired.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an example of the configuration of the infrared sensor 5 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, a driving device 6 such as a stepping motor is attached to the infrared sensor 5.
The infrared sensor 5 is, for example, a thermopile sensor, detects an infrared amount of an object and converts it into temperature information. The infrared sensor 5 is driven by the drive device 6 to scan a preset range, detect a temperature based on the amount of infrared rays in the range, and output it as temperature information.

[Circuit configuration of air conditioner]
FIG. 3: is schematic which shows an example of a circuit structure of the air conditioner 100 using the indoor unit 10 which concerns on this Embodiment 1. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the air conditioner 100 includes an indoor unit 10 and an outdoor unit 20. In the air conditioner 100, the indoor unit 10 and the outdoor unit 20 are connected by a refrigerant pipe, and the refrigerant flows in the refrigerant pipe to form a refrigeration cycle.

  Although the example of FIG. 3 shows the case where one indoor unit 10 and one outdoor unit 20 are connected, the number of indoor units 10 and outdoor units 20 is not limited to this example. For example, a plurality of indoor units 10 may be connected to one outdoor unit 20. Also, for example, one or more indoor units 10 may be connected to the plurality of outdoor units 20.

(Indoor unit)
The indoor unit 10 includes an expansion valve 11, an indoor heat exchanger 12, an indoor blower 13, and an indoor control device 30, which are accommodated in a housing of the indoor unit 10.

  The expansion valve 11 decompresses and expands the refrigerant. The expansion valve 11 is configured by, for example, a valve such as an electronic expansion valve capable of controlling the degree of opening.

  The indoor heat exchanger 12 is supplied by the indoor blower 13 that generates an air flow from the suction port 1 such as a fan to the blowout port 2 and air in the space to be air-conditioned (hereinafter referred to as "indoor air" as appropriate) Exchange heat between the As a result, heating air or cooling air, which is conditioned air supplied to the indoor space, is generated. The indoor heat exchanger 12 functions as an evaporator that evaporates the refrigerant during cooling operation and cools indoor air by the heat of vaporization at that time. In addition, the indoor heat exchanger 12 functions as a condenser that radiates the heat of the refrigerant to the indoor air and condenses the refrigerant during the heating operation.

  The indoor control device 30 is configured by, for example, software executed on an arithmetic device such as a microcomputer and a CPU (Central Processing Unit), hardware such as a circuit device that realizes various functions, and the like. The indoor control device 30 controls the overall operation of the indoor unit 10 based on, for example, settings made by a user operation on a remote controller (not shown), temperature information from the infrared sensor 5, and the like. Further, the indoor control device 30 controls the drive of the infrared sensor 5 when the temperature information is acquired by the infrared sensor 5.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the indoor control device 30 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the indoor control device 30 includes an input circuit 31, an arithmetic processing unit 32, a storage device 33, and an output circuit 34.

  The input circuit 31 receives setting information from a remote controller or the like, temperature information from the infrared sensor 5, control information from the outdoor control device 40, and the like. The input circuit 31 outputs the input various information to the arithmetic processing unit 32.

  Arithmetic processing unit 32 performs various processing based on the information received from input circuit 31 using data stored in storage unit 33 described later. For example, the arithmetic processing unit 32 generates a thermal image indicating the temperature state in the room based on the temperature information from the infrared sensor 5, detects the position of the human body present in the room based on the generated thermal image, and It performs processing such as judging features such as height. Details of the processing by the arithmetic processing unit 32 will be described later.

  Then, the arithmetic processing unit 32 sends control air to the operating unit provided in the indoor unit 10 and control information to the outdoor unit 20 so as to send the conditioned air according to the detected position of the human body and the determined characteristics of the human body. Etc. are generated and output to the output circuit 34. The control information generated at this time is, for example, information for controlling the wind direction, information for controlling the air volume of the indoor fan 13, information for controlling the opening degree of the expansion valve 11, and the like.

  The storage device 33 stores programs necessary for the processing performed by the arithmetic processing unit 32 and various data. The storage device 33 can also store data obtained by various processing in the arithmetic processing unit 32.

  For example, the storage device 33 stores a thermal image when there is no human body in the room. The thermal image is a thermal image (hereinafter appropriately referred to as a “reference thermal image”) which is a reference used when the arithmetic processing unit 32 detects the position of the human body in the room and determines the characteristics of the human body. The reference thermal image is created in advance by the arithmetic processing unit 32 based on, for example, temperature information in the case where it can be determined that there is no human body in the room.

  The output circuit 34 receives various control information from the arithmetic processing unit 32, and outputs the control information to the operation device provided in the corresponding indoor unit 10 or the outdoor unit 20. For example, when control information for controlling the wind direction is received, the output circuit 34 outputs the control information to a driving device (not shown) for driving the vertical wind direction plate 3 and the horizontal wind direction plate 4. Also, for example, when receiving control information for controlling the air volume, the output circuit 34 outputs the control information to a driving device (not shown) for driving the indoor blower 13. Furthermore, for example, when control information for the outdoor unit 20 is received, the output circuit 34 outputs the control information to the outdoor control device 40 of the outdoor unit 20.

  FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the arithmetic processing unit 32 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the arithmetic processing unit 32 includes a thermal image creation unit 35, a human body position detection unit 36, a human body characteristic detection unit 37, a human body information creation unit 38, and a wind direction determination unit 39a. In FIG. 5, only functional blocks for portions related to the features of the present invention are illustrated, and illustration and description of the other portions are omitted.

  The thermal image creation unit 35 receives temperature information acquired by the infrared sensor 5 from the input circuit 31. The thermal image creation unit 35 creates a thermal image showing the temperature distribution in the room based on the input temperature information.

  The human body position detection unit 36 detects a human body in the room based on the thermal image created by the thermal image creation unit 35 and the reference thermal image stored in advance in the storage device 33. Further, the human body position detection unit 36 detects the position of the detected human body based on the coordinates of the pixels in the thermal image (hereinafter appropriately referred to as “human body image”) indicating the detected human body.

  When the human body position detection unit 36 detects a human body in the thermal image, the human body characteristic detection unit 37 determines whether the human body is an adult or a child based on the human body image corresponding to the detected human body. Detect features.

  The human body information creation unit 38 creates human body information based on the position of the human body detected by the human body position detection unit 36 and the feature of the human body detected by the human body characteristic detection unit 37. Human body information is information that associates the position of a human body in a room with the features of the human body.

  The wind direction determination unit 39a determines the wind direction of the conditioned air based on the human body information generated by the human body information generation unit 38. Then, the wind direction determination unit 39a generates control information for controlling the directions of the vertical wind direction plate 3 and the left and right wind direction plates 4 so as to be the determined wind direction, and outputs the control information to the output circuit 34.

(Outdoor unit)
The explanation returns to FIG. 3, and the outdoor unit 20 is configured by the compressor 21, the refrigerant flow switching device 22, the outdoor heat exchanger 23, the outdoor blower 24, and the outdoor control device 40.

  The compressor 21 sucks in a low-temperature low-pressure refrigerant, compresses the refrigerant to a high-temperature high-pressure state, and discharges the refrigerant. As the compressor 21, for example, an inverter compressor or the like capable of controlling the capacity which is the refrigerant delivery amount per unit time can be used by arbitrarily changing the driving frequency.

  The refrigerant flow switching device 22 is, for example, a four-way valve, and switches the cooling operation and the heating operation by switching the flow direction of the refrigerant. The refrigerant flow switching device 22 is not limited to the four-way valve described above, and may be used in combination with other valves, for example.

  The outdoor heat exchanger 23 exchanges heat between air and air supplied from an outdoor blower 24 such as a fan (hereinafter referred to as “outdoor air” as appropriate) and a refrigerant. Specifically, the outdoor heat exchanger 23 functions as a condenser during the cooling operation. Moreover, the outdoor heat exchanger 23 functions as an evaporator at the time of heating operation.

  The outdoor control device 40 is configured of, for example, software executed on an arithmetic device such as a microcomputer and a CPU, and hardware such as a circuit device that realizes various functions. The outdoor control device 40 controls the overall operation of the outdoor unit 20 based on various information received from each part of the outdoor unit 20. Specifically, the outdoor control device 40 switches the compressor frequency of the compressor 21 and the refrigerant flow path based on, for example, control information from the indoor control device 30 and information from various sensors (not shown) provided in the refrigeration cycle. It controls switching of the flow path of the device 22 and the like.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the outdoor control device 40 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, the outdoor control device 40 includes an input circuit 41, an arithmetic processing unit 42, a storage device 43, and an output circuit 44.

  The input circuit 41 receives control information from the indoor control device 30, information obtained by various sensors (not shown) provided in the air conditioner 100, and the like. The input circuit 41 outputs the input various information to the arithmetic processing unit 42.

  The arithmetic processing unit 42 performs various processes based on the information received from the input circuit 41 using data stored in a storage unit 43 described later. The arithmetic processing unit 42 generates control information for performing various operations provided in the outdoor unit 20, control information for the indoor unit 10, and the like, and outputs the control information to the output circuit 44.

  As control information generated by the arithmetic processing unit 42, for example, information for controlling the capacity of the compressor 21, information for controlling the air volume of the outdoor blower 24, information for controlling the flow path of the refrigerant, etc. It is. The storage unit 43 stores programs and various data necessary for the processing performed by the arithmetic processing unit 42.

  The output circuit 44 receives various control information from the arithmetic processing unit 42 and outputs the control information to the operation device provided in the corresponding outdoor unit 20 or the indoor unit 10. For example, when control information for controlling the capacity of the compressor 21 is received, the output circuit 44 outputs the control information to the compressor 21. Also, for example, when receiving control information for controlling the air volume, the output circuit 44 outputs the control information to a drive device (not shown) for driving the outdoor blower 24. Furthermore, for example, when control information for the indoor unit 10 is received, the output circuit 34 outputs the control information to the indoor control device 30 of the indoor unit 10.

[Operation of air conditioner]
Next, the operation of the refrigerant in the cooling operation mode and the heating operation mode in the air conditioner 100 having the above configuration will be described. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the state shown by the solid line of the refrigerant flow switching device 22 is the state in the cooling operation mode, and the flow direction of the refrigerant is shown by the solid line. Moreover, the state shown by the dotted line of the refrigerant flow switching device 22 is the state in the heating operation mode, and the flow direction of the refrigerant is shown by the dotted line.

(Cooling operation mode)
First, the operation of the refrigerant in the cooling operation mode will be described. In the cooling operation mode, the refrigerant flow switching device 22 is switched to the state shown by the solid line in FIG. Then, the low-temperature low-pressure refrigerant is compressed by the compressor 21 and discharged as a high-temperature high-pressure gas refrigerant.

  The high temperature and high pressure gas refrigerant discharged from the compressor 21 flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 23 through the refrigerant flow switching device 22. The high-temperature, high-pressure gas refrigerant flowing into the outdoor heat exchanger 23 exchanges heat with the outdoor air, condenses while radiating heat, and flows out of the outdoor heat exchanger 23 as a supercooled high-pressure liquid refrigerant.

  The high-pressure liquid refrigerant flowing out of the outdoor heat exchanger 23 is decompressed by the expansion valve 11 to become a low-temperature low-pressure gas-liquid two-phase refrigerant, and flows into the indoor heat exchanger 12. The low-temperature low-pressure gas-liquid two-phase refrigerant that has flowed into the indoor heat exchanger 12 exchanges heat with room air, absorbs heat and evaporates to cool the room air, and becomes a low-temperature low-pressure gas refrigerant. Flow out of

  The low-temperature low-pressure gas refrigerant flowing out of the indoor heat exchanger 12 passes through the refrigerant flow switching device 22 and is sucked into the compressor 21.

(Heating operation mode)
Next, the operation of the refrigerant in the heating operation mode will be described.
In the heating operation mode, the refrigerant flow switching device 22 is switched to the state shown by the dotted line in FIG. Then, the low-temperature low-pressure refrigerant is compressed by the compressor 21 and discharged as a high-temperature high-pressure gas refrigerant.

  The high temperature and high pressure gas refrigerant discharged from the compressor 21 flows into the indoor heat exchanger 12 via the refrigerant flow switching device 22. The high-temperature, high-pressure gas refrigerant that has flowed into the indoor heat exchanger 12 exchanges heat with the indoor air, condenses while radiating heat, and flows out from the indoor heat exchanger 12 as a supercooled high-pressure liquid refrigerant.

  The high pressure liquid refrigerant flowing out of the indoor heat exchanger 12 is decompressed by the expansion valve 11 to become a low temperature low pressure gas-liquid two-phase refrigerant, and flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 23. The low-temperature low-pressure gas-liquid two-phase refrigerant flowing into the outdoor heat exchanger 23 exchanges heat with the outdoor air, absorbs heat and evaporates, and becomes a low-temperature low-pressure gas refrigerant and flows out from the outdoor heat exchanger 23.

  The low-temperature low-pressure gas refrigerant flowing out of the outdoor heat exchanger 23 passes through the refrigerant flow switching device 22 and is drawn into the compressor 21.

[Wind direction setting process]
Next, the process of setting the wind direction when there is a human body in the room will be described. In the first embodiment, the presence or absence of a human body and the position of the human body in a room are detected, and features such as the height of the detected human body are detected. Then, the wind direction is set according to the detected position and feature of the human body.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the wind direction setting process by the indoor unit 10 according to the first embodiment. In addition, the process shown in FIG. 7 is shown about the case where a human body exists indoors. Moreover, this process shall be performed for every preset time. In the first embodiment, prior to the wind direction setting process, generation of a thermal image showing the temperature distribution in the room, detection of the position of the human body and the human body, and detection of features of the human body are performed.

(Creating a thermal image)
First, a method of creating a thermal image will be described. The arithmetic processing unit 32 of the indoor control device 30 causes the thermal image creation unit 35 to create a thermal image based on the temperature information from the infrared sensor 5. FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing a state in which a thermal image is created when a human body is present by the thermal image creating unit 35 of FIG. 5. The example shown in FIG. 8 shows the case where the child 60 and the adult 61 who are human bodies are present together in a room.

  The thermal image creation unit 35 creates a thermal image, for example, by arranging temperature values indicated by temperature information obtained by the infrared sensor 5 scanning the room at coordinate positions obtained when scanning. In this case, the surface temperature of the child 60 and the adult 61 present in the room and the ambient temperature are detected by the infrared sensor 5.

(Detection of human body)
Next, a method of detecting a human body based on a thermal image will be described. Arithmetic processing unit 32 detects a human body present in the room by human body position detection unit 36. When detecting a human body, a thermal image created by the thermal image creation unit 35 is used. Then, a human body can be detected by extracting a portion where the temperature has changed in comparison with the reference thermal image stored in the storage device 33 from this thermal image.

  Specifically, for example, when the difference between the thermal image in which the human body is present and the reference image is calculated, the difference value of the pixels corresponding to the human body becomes a larger value than the difference value of the other pixels. Therefore, in the first embodiment, a threshold value for the difference value is set in advance, and the pixel corresponds to the human body when the pixel difference value is equal to or more than the threshold value, for example, a temperature difference equal to or more than 3 ° C. It is assumed that the pixel The human body included in the thermal image can be detected by performing such processing on all the pixels. The threshold value may be, for example, a uniform numerical value set in advance, or may be a numerical value set according to the air temperature or the average temperature of all or part of pixels in the reference thermal image. Good.

  That is, the human body position detection unit 36 calculates, for each pixel, the difference between the indoor thermal image created by the thermal image creation unit 35 and the reference thermal image stored in the storage device 33. Then, for example, a pixel whose calculated difference is equal to or more than a preset threshold value is determined as a pixel corresponding to a human body, and a human body image formed by such pixels can be extracted.

(Detection of the position of the human body)
Next, a method of detecting the position of the human body will be described. The arithmetic processing unit 32 detects the position of the human body detected by the human body position detection unit 36. The detection of the position of the human body can be detected based on the coordinates of the human body image in the thermal image. The human body position detection unit 36 acquires coordinates of pixels forming the human body image from the thermal image. Thus, the position of the human body image relative to the thermal image in the room, that is, the position of the human body in the room can be detected.

(Detection of human characteristics)
Next, a method of detecting the feature of the human body will be described. The arithmetic processing unit 32 detects the characteristics of the human body detected by the human body position detection unit 36 by the human body characteristic detection unit 37. Here, the feature of the human body indicates, for example, whether the human body is an adult or a child. This can be determined, for example, by the size of the human body.

  The human body characteristic detection unit 37, for example, a human body image such as the posture, the lower end position, the number of pixels constituting the human body image, the aspect ratio of the human body image according to the number of pixels in the human body image corresponding to the human body detected in the thermal image. Based on the features of, determine whether the human body is an adult or a child.

  Here, the method of detecting the position of the human body by the human body position detection unit 36 and the method of detecting the feature of the human body by the human body characteristic detection unit 37 will be specifically described. When judging whether the detected human body is an adult or a child, for example, it is conceivable to judge by the number of pixels constituting the human body image. However, in such a thermal image, the number of pixels varies depending on the distance from the infrared sensor 5 to the human body even if the human body is the same. Therefore, in such a case, the size of the human body can not simply be determined by the number of pixels of the human body image. For example, when the human body approaches the indoor unit 10 equipped with the infrared sensor 5, the human body image included in the thermal image becomes large, and when it is far away, the human body image becomes small.

  Therefore, when estimating the size of the human body present in the room, first, the position of the human body, that is, the distance from the indoor unit 10 to the human body is calculated by the human body position detection unit 36. The distance between the indoor unit 10 and the human body can be calculated, for example, based on the position of the lower end pixel of the human body image in the thermal image.

  The relationship between the position of the lower end pixel of the human body image and the distance from the indoor unit 10 to the human body can be obtained from the viewing angle of the infrared sensor 5. Therefore, in the first embodiment, a table indicating such correspondence is prepared in advance, and the distance from the indoor unit 10 of the human body corresponding to the human body image is determined using this table.

  FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing a thermal image in a state in which a human body image is extracted from the thermal image acquired in the state of FIG. The example shown in FIG. 9 shows the case where all the pixels constituting the human body image are converted to black pixels. The “black pixel” refers to a pixel whose pixel value is a value “0” corresponding to black. That is, in the example shown in FIG. 9, the values of all the pixels constituting the human body image are “0”.

  FIG. 10 is a schematic view showing an example of a distance table indicating the relationship between the position of the lower end pixel of the human body image and the distance from the indoor unit 10 to the human body. In this distance table, the position of the lower end pixel of the human body image relative to the lower end of the entire thermal image and the distance from the indoor unit 10 to the human body are mutually associated. For example, when the position of the lower end pixel of the human body image is the first pixel from the lower end of the entire thermal image, it indicates that the distance from the indoor unit 10 to the human body is 0.5 m.

  In the first embodiment, the distance table is stored in advance in the storage device 33. The value of the distance from the indoor unit 10 to the human body may be, for example, a predetermined value regardless of the height of the infrared sensor 5 or may be a value different for each height of the infrared sensor 5.

  In the example shown in FIG. 9, the lower end pixel in the human body image of the child 60 is located at the third pixel from the lower end of the entire thermal image. Therefore, based on the distance table of FIG. 10, the human body position detection unit 36 can determine that the distance from the indoor unit 10 to the child 60 is 1.5 m. Further, the lower end pixel in the human body image of the adult 61 is located at the sixth pixel from the lower end of the entire thermal image. Therefore, the human body position detection unit 36 can determine that the distance from the indoor unit 10 to the adult 61 is 3.0 m.

  Next, for example, since the size of the human body image included in the thermal image is different between the case where the human body is sitting on the floor and the case where the human body is standing, it is necessary to estimate the posture of the human body. The posture of such a human body can be estimated, for example, by obtaining an aspect ratio n which is a ratio of the maximum number of pixels in the vertical direction to the maximum number of pixels in the horizontal direction in the human body image. The aspect ratio n of the maximum number of pixels in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction is calculated by “maximum number of pixels in vertical direction × maximum number of pixels in horizontal direction”.

  FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing an example of a posture table showing the relationship between the aspect ratio n of the maximum number of pixels in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction in the human body image and the posture of the human body. In the example shown in FIG. 11, for example, when the aspect ratio n is 0.2 or less, it can be estimated that the posture of the human body is “recumbent”. In addition, when the aspect ratio n is larger than 0.2 and smaller than 0.5, it can be estimated that the posture of the human body is "sitting". Furthermore, when the aspect ratio n is 0.5 or more, it can be estimated that the posture of the human body is "standing". In the first embodiment, the attitude table is stored in advance in the storage device 33.

  In the example shown in FIG. 9, the maximum number of pixels in the vertical direction in the human body image of the child 60 is 10 pixels, and the maximum number of pixels in the horizontal direction is 7 pixels. Therefore, the human body characteristic detection unit 37 can estimate that the child 60 is in the "standing position" since the aspect ratio n in the human body image of the child 60 is "10 状態 7 立 1.4". . Further, the maximum number of pixels in the vertical direction in the human body image of the adult 61 is 12 pixels, and the maximum number of pixels in the horizontal direction is 6 pixels. Therefore, the human body characteristic detection unit 37 can estimate that the adult 61 is in the "standing position" because the aspect ratio n in the human body image of the adult 61 is "12 ÷ 6 = 2.0". .

  The human body characteristic detection unit 37 determines whether the human body is an adult or a child by using the distance from the indoor unit 10 to the human body thus obtained and the posture of the human body. At this time, whether the human body is an adult or a child can be determined by the size of the human body image according to the distance from the indoor unit 10 to the human body, that is, the number of pixels of the human body image.

  As described above, the size of the human body image changes depending on the distance from the indoor unit 10 to the human body and the posture of the human body. Therefore, when determining whether the human body is an adult or a child, for example, a threshold is set in advance for each of the distance from the indoor unit 10 to the human body and the posture of the human body. Then, the human body characteristic detection unit 37 determines that the human body is an adult when the number of pixels of the extracted human body image is equal to or more than the set threshold value, and determines that the human body is a child when it is less than the threshold value. to decide.

(Setting of wind direction)
Next, the wind direction setting process of the indoor unit 10 based on the feature of the human body obtained as described above will be described. As shown in FIG. 7, in step S <b> 1, the arithmetic processing unit 32 creates human body information by the human body information creation unit 38. Based on the position of the human body detected as described above and the feature of the human body, the human body information creation unit 38 creates human body information in which these are associated with each other.

  Next, in step S2, the wind direction determination unit 39a determines whether the human body present in the room is an adult, based on the human body information generated in step S1. If it is determined that the human body is an adult, the process proceeds to step S3. On the other hand, when it is determined that the human body is a child, the process proceeds to step S4.

  In step S3, the wind direction determination unit 39a generates control information for controlling the vertical wind direction plate 3 so that the wind direction of the conditioned air sent from the indoor unit 10 becomes the first vertical wind direction, and this control information Control the vertical wind direction plate 3 based on

  The first vertical wind direction is the vertical wind direction when the human body present in the room is an adult. Therefore, for example, in the heating operation, the direction of the vertical wind direction plate 3 is set such that the wind direction is directed to the foot of the human body as in the conventional case. Further, for example, in the cooling operation, the direction of the vertical wind direction plate 3 is set such that the wind direction is directed to the head of the human body as in the conventional case.

  The orientation of the vertical wind direction plate 3 in the heating operation is set, for example, to be directed to the coordinate position of the lower end in the human body image of the detected human body. Further, the direction of the vertical wind direction plate 3 in the cooling operation is set to, for example, a coordinate position above the coordinate of the upper end in the human body image.

  In step S4, the wind direction determination unit 39a performs control for controlling the vertical wind direction plate 3 such that the wind direction of the conditioned air sent from the indoor unit 10 becomes the second vertical wind direction different from the first vertical wind direction. Information is generated, and the vertical wind direction plate 3 is controlled based on the control information.

  The second vertical wind direction is the vertical wind direction when the human body present in the room is a child. Therefore, for example, in the heating operation, in consideration of the air flow spreading up and down in the vicinity of the floor surface, the up and down wind direction plate so that the wind direction is more toward the indoor unit 10 than the foot of the human body than the first up and down wind direction for adults. The direction of 3 is set. That is, when the second vertical wind direction is selected, the direction of the vertical wind direction plate 3 is set to be lower than the direction of the first vertical wind direction. Further, for example, in the cooling operation, the direction of the vertical wind direction plate 3 is set such that the wind direction is directed to the head of the human body.

  The orientation of the vertical wind direction plate 3 in the heating operation is set to, for example, a coordinate position below the coordinates of the lower end in the human body image. Further, the direction of the vertical wind direction plate 3 in the cooling operation is set to, for example, a coordinate position above the coordinate of the upper end in the human body image.

  Further, the left and right wind directions in step S3 and step S4 are set in the same direction according to the position of the human body regardless of the feature of the human body. That is, the left and right wind direction of the conditioned air in the first embodiment is determined only by the position of the human body regardless of the characteristics of the human body.

  FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing a first example for explaining the air flow when the vertical air flow direction is set to the first vertical air flow direction during heating operation by the air flow direction setting process of FIG. 7. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing a second example for describing the air flow when the vertical air flow direction is set to the first vertical air flow direction during heating operation. FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing a third example for describing the air flow when the vertical air flow direction is set to the second vertical air flow direction during heating operation by the air flow direction setting process of FIG. 7.

  In the first example shown in FIG. 12, the air flow of the sent conditioned air in the case where the adult human body 50 a exists indoors and the air conditioner 100 performs the heating operation to send the warm air from the indoor unit 10. 51 is shown. In the first example, by the wind direction setting process according to the first embodiment, the indoor unit 10 adjusts the direction of the vertical wind direction plate 3 according to the position and features of the human body 50a present in the room, and the vertical wind direction is the first. Set up and down wind direction. Thereby, the air flow 51 of the conditioned air is made to reach the foot of the human body 50a. At this time, the air flow 51 of the conditioned air is diffused near the floor surface, and a part of the air flow 51 a flows upward. Therefore, the human body can be appropriately warmed by the air flow 51a.

  In the second example shown in FIG. 13, the air flow of the conditioned air sent out when warmth is sent from the indoor unit 10 when the child's human body 50 b is present indoors and the air conditioner 100 performs a heating operation. 51 is shown. In the second example, as in the first example described above, the direction of the vertical wind direction plate 3 is adjusted to set the vertical wind direction to the first vertical wind direction. In this example, the position of the human body 50b with respect to the indoor unit 10 is equivalent to the position of the human body 50a in the first example. As described above, when the vertical air flow direction is set regardless of the characteristics of the human body existing in the room, the air flow 51 of the conditioned air is diffused near the floor surface as in the first example, and a part of the air flow 51a is upward. Flow to At this time, since the human body 50b present in the room is a child and the height is shorter than that of an adult, the conditioned air by the air flow 51a flowing upward directly strikes the face of the human body 50b.

  On the other hand, in the third example shown in FIG. 14, as in the second example, a human body 50 b of a child exists indoors, and the air conditioner 100 sends warm air from the indoor unit 10 by performing a heating operation. An air flow 52 of the conditioned air being delivered is shown. In the third example, unlike the second example, the wind direction setting process according to the first embodiment adjusts the direction of the up and down wind direction plates 3 according to the position and features of the human body 50b in which the indoor unit 10 is present indoors. , Up and down wind direction is set to the second up and down wind direction. As a result, the air flow 52 of the conditioned air is made to reach the near side of the foot of the human body 50b, that is, the indoor unit 10 side. At this time, the air flow 52 of the conditioned air is diffused in the vicinity of the floor as in the first and second examples, and although a part of the air flow 52a flows upward, the up and down wind direction is an indoor unit than the first up and down wind direction. Since it reaches the 10 side, the human body 50b can be appropriately warmed while preventing the air flow 52a from directly hitting the face of the human body 50b.

  As described above, in the indoor unit 10 of the air conditioner 100 according to the first embodiment, the suction port 1 and the blowout port 2 are formed, and the conditioned air based on the air sucked from the suction port 1 is discharged from the blowout port 2 It is to be sent out, is provided at the air outlet 2, and the up and down wind direction plate 3 for adjusting the sending direction of the conditioned air in the vertical direction, the infrared sensor 5 for acquiring the temperature information in the space to be air conditioned, and the up and down based on the temperature information An indoor control device 30 that controls the air flow plate 3 to control the flow of conditioned air is provided. The indoor control device 30 detects the position of the human body and the human body in the air conditioning target space and the feature of the human body based on the temperature information, and controls the wind direction of the conditioned air according to the detected position and feature of the human body. .

  Thus, the wind direction of the conditioned air sent from the indoor unit 10 is adjusted based on the position and the feature of the human body detected based on the temperature information in the air-conditioned space. Therefore, the air flow can be prevented from hitting the face of the human body, and the human body can be prevented from giving discomfort such as a feeling of cold wind and dryness of the skin to the human body, so that air conditioning can be appropriately performed. .

  Moreover, since the change of the setting temperature by the user who felt unpleasant can be suppressed by suppressing such discomfort, unnecessary energy consumption can be reduced and energy saving property can be ensured.

Second Embodiment
Next, an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in which the wind direction of the conditioned air is controlled in that the air volume of the conditioned air sent out from the indoor unit is controlled according to the detected feature of the human body. In the following description, parts similar to those in the first embodiment described above are assigned the same reference numerals and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

  The indoor unit 10 in the second embodiment has the configuration of FIGS. 1 to 4 as in the first embodiment, so the description will be omitted here.

[Configuration of processing unit]
FIG. 15 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the arithmetic processing unit 32 according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 15, the arithmetic processing unit 32 includes a thermal image creation unit 35, a human body position detection unit 36, a human body characteristic detection unit 37, a human body information creation unit 38, and an air volume determination unit 39b. In FIG. 15, only functional blocks for portions related to the features of the present invention are illustrated, and the other portions are not shown and described. Further, the description of the same parts as those of the first embodiment described above will be omitted.

  The air volume determination unit 39 b determines the air volume of the conditioned air based on the human body information created by the human body information creation unit 38. Then, the air volume determination unit 39 b generates control information for controlling the number of rotations of the indoor blower 13 so as to be the determined air volume, and outputs the control information to the output circuit 34.

[Air volume setting process]
Next, the process of setting the air volume when there is a human body in the room will be described. In the second embodiment, the air volume is set according to the position and the feature of the human body in the room detected in the same manner as the first embodiment.

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of air volume setting processing by the indoor unit 10 according to the second embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 16 shows the case where a human body exists in the room. Moreover, this process shall be performed for every preset time. In the second embodiment, prior to the air volume setting process, generation of a thermal image, detection of the position of the human body and the human body, and detection of features of the human body are performed by the same process as the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 16, in step S11, the arithmetic processing unit 32 creates human body information in which the human body information creating unit 38 associates the position of the human body detected as described above with the feature of the human body.

  Next, in step S12, the air volume determination unit 39b determines, based on the human body information created in step S11, whether the human body present in the room is an adult. If it is determined that the human body is an adult, the process proceeds to step S13. On the other hand, when it is determined that the human body is a child, the process proceeds to step S14.

  In step S13, the air volume determination unit 39b generates control information for controlling the indoor blower 13 so that the air volume of the conditioned air sent from the indoor unit 10 becomes the first air volume, and based on the control information The rotation speed of the indoor blower 13 is controlled.

  The first air volume is the air volume when the human body present in the room is an adult. Therefore, for example, at the time of heating operation, an air volume similar to that in the prior art is set. As for the wind direction, the direction of the vertical wind direction plate 3 is set to face the foot of the human body as in the conventional case.

  In step S14, the air volume determination unit 39b generates control information for controlling the indoor blower 13 such that the air volume of the conditioned air sent from the indoor unit 10 becomes a second air volume different from the first air volume. Do. The indoor control device 30 controls the number of rotations of the indoor blower 13 based on the control information. The second air volume is the air volume when the human body present in the room is a child, and is an air volume that can suppress the air flow spreading upward near the floor surface than the air flow for adults.

  Here, the relationship between the air volume and the air flow is considered. During the heating operation, the air flow of the conditioned air delivered from the indoor unit 10 spreads up and down in the vicinity of the floor as described above, but in general, the larger the air volume, the higher the wind speed. Therefore, the air flow spreading upward in the vicinity of the floor surface can be suppressed by increasing the air volume of the conditioned air to increase the wind speed. Therefore, in the second embodiment, the second air volume is set so that the air volume is larger than the first air volume, and the air flow spreading upward in the vicinity of the floor surface is suppressed. Also in this case, as in the case of step S13, with regard to the wind direction, the direction of the vertical wind direction plate 3 is set so as to turn to the foot of the human body.

  FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the air flow when the air volume is set to the second air volume during the heating operation by the air volume setting process of FIG. 16. The example shown in FIG. 17 shows the air flow 53 of the sent conditioned air when the human body 50b of the child exists in the room and the air conditioner 100 sends a warm air from the indoor unit 10 by performing a heating operation. .

  In this example, the air volume setting process according to the second embodiment sets the air volume according to the position and the feature of the human body 50b in which the indoor unit 10 is present indoors. In this case, since the detected human body is a child, a second air volume larger than the first air volume is set as the air volume of the conditioned air sent from the indoor unit 10.

  By setting the air volume in this manner, the air flow 53 of the conditioned air reaches the foot of the human body 50b, diffuses near the floor surface, and a part of the air flow 53a flows upward. However, since the conditioned air is delivered with the second air volume larger than the first air volume, the wind speed becomes larger compared to the case where the conditioned air is delivered with the first air volume. It can be suppressed. Thus, the human body 50b can be appropriately warmed while preventing the air flow 53a from directly striking the face of the human body 50b.

  As described above, in the indoor unit 10 of the air conditioner 100 according to the second embodiment, the suction port 1 and the blowout port 2 are formed, and the conditioned air based on the air sucked from the suction port 1 is discharged from the blowout port 2 The indoor blower 13 generates air flow from the suction port 1 to the blowout port 2, the infrared sensor 5 acquires temperature information in the air conditioning target space, and the indoor blower 13 is controlled based on the temperature information. And an indoor control device 30 for controlling the air flow of the conditioned air. The indoor control device 30 detects the position of the human body and the human body in the air-conditioned space and the characteristics of the human body based on the temperature information, and controls the air volume of the conditioned air according to the detected position and feature of the human body. .

  Thus, the air volume of the conditioned air sent from the indoor unit 10 is adjusted based on the position and the feature of the human body detected based on the temperature information in the space to be air conditioned. Therefore, the air flow can be prevented from hitting the face of the human body, and the human body can be prevented from giving discomfort such as a feeling of cold wind and dryness of the skin to the human body, so that air conditioning can be appropriately performed. .

  Moreover, since the change of the setting temperature by the user who felt unpleasant can be suppressed by suppressing such discomfort, unnecessary energy consumption can be reduced and energy saving property can be ensured.

Third Embodiment
Next, an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described. The third embodiment is a combination of the first embodiment and the second embodiment described above, in which the up and down wind direction and the air volume of the conditioned air delivered from the indoor unit according to the detected position and feature of the human body. Control both sides.

  Thus, the air flow can be more finely controlled by controlling the up and down wind direction and the air volume according to the detected position and feature of the human body. Therefore, for example, even when the human body existing in the room at the time of heating operation is a child, it is possible to prevent the conditioned air from directly hitting the face, and the human body can be appropriately warmed or cooled.

  Further, since the human body can be appropriately warmed and cooled, the setting temperature is not changed more than necessary, so unnecessary energy consumption can be reduced, and energy saving can be ensured.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 suction inlet, 2 blower outlet, 3 up-down wind direction board, 4 left-right air direction board, 5 infrared sensor, 6 drive device, 10 indoor unit, 11 expansion valve, 12 indoor heat exchanger, 13 indoor fan, 20 outdoor unit, 21 compression , 22 refrigerant flow switching device, 23 outdoor heat exchanger, 24 outdoor fan, 30 indoor control device, 31 input circuit, 32 arithmetic processing unit, 33 storage device, 34 output circuit, 35 thermal image creation unit, 36 human body position Detection unit, 37 Human body characteristic detection unit, 38 Human body information creation unit, 39a Wind direction determination unit, 39b Air volume determination unit, 40 Outdoor control device, 41 Input circuit, 42 Arithmetic processing device, 43 Storage device, 44 Output circuit, 50a, 50b Human body, 51, 51a, 52, 52a, 53, 53a Airflow, 60 children, 61 adults, 100 air conditioners.

An indoor unit of an air conditioner according to the present invention is an indoor unit of an air conditioner having a suction port and a blowout port and delivering conditioned air based on air sucked from the suction port from the blowout port, It is provided in a blower outlet, adjusts the sending direction of the above-mentioned conditioned air, and the up-and-down wind direction board which adjusts up-and-down wind direction, the fan which generates the air flow from the suction inlet to the blower outlet, a sensor for acquiring temperature information, based on the temperature information, the controls at least one of the vertical airflow direction plate and the air blower, and a control device for controlling the air flow of the conditioned air, wherein the control device, wherein Based on the temperature information acquired by the sensor, a thermal image creation unit that creates a thermal image indicating the temperature distribution of the air conditioning target space, and the position of the human body and the human body are checked from the created thermal image Human body position detection unit, a human body characteristic detection unit for detecting a detected feature of the human body based on the generated thermal image, and a human body for creating human body information in which the detected position and feature of the human body are associated And a wind direction determination unit that determines a wind direction of the conditioned air based on the generated human body information, and the wind direction determination unit determines whether the human body is an adult based on the detected feature of the human body. Or a child, and when the human body is an adult, the up and down wind direction of the conditioned air at the time of heating operation becomes the first up and down wind direction directed to the detected foot of the human body Setting the direction of the up and down wind direction plate, and when the human body is a child, the up and down wind direction of the conditioned air at the time of heating operation is closer to the indoor unit than the first up and down wind direction. Above the above to be the up and down wind direction It is intended to set the direction of the wind direction plate.

Claims (12)

An indoor unit of an air conditioner having an inlet and an outlet, wherein conditioned air based on air sucked from the inlet is delivered from the outlet.
A wind direction plate provided at the blowout port for adjusting the sending direction of the conditioned air;
A blower for generating an air flow from the suction port to the blowout port;
A sensor for acquiring temperature information in the air conditioning target space;
A controller configured to control at least one of the wind direction plate and the blower based on the temperature information to control an air flow of the conditioned air;
The controller is
Based on the temperature information, a human body in the air conditioning target space, a position of the human body, and a feature of the human body are detected;
An indoor unit of an air conditioner controlling at least one of a wind direction and a wind volume of the conditioned air according to the detected position and feature of the human body. The controller is
A thermal image creation unit that creates a thermal image indicating a temperature distribution of the air conditioning target space based on the temperature information acquired by the sensor;
A human body position detection unit that detects the human body and the position of the human body from the generated thermal image;
A human body characteristic detection unit that detects the detected characteristic of the human body based on the generated thermal image;
A human body information creation unit that creates human body information in which the detected position and feature of the human body are associated;
The indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 1, further comprising: a wind direction determining unit that determines a wind direction of the conditioned air based on the created human body information. The wind direction determination unit
Determining whether the human body is an adult or a child based on the detected characteristic of the human body;
When the human body is an adult, control is performed so that the up and down wind direction of the conditioned air becomes a first up and down wind direction,
The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein when the human body is a child, control is performed so that the up and down wind direction of the conditioned air becomes a second up and down wind direction different from the first up and down wind direction. The first upward and downward wind direction during heating operation is a direction in which the air flow of the conditioned air flows under the foot of the detected human body,
The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein the second vertical air flow direction in the heating operation is a direction in which the air flow of the conditioned air flows downward below the first vertical air flow direction. The controller is
A thermal image creation unit that creates a thermal image indicating a temperature distribution of the air conditioning target space based on the temperature information acquired by the sensor;
A human body position detection unit that detects the human body and the position of the human body from the generated thermal image;
The human body characteristic detection unit that detects the detected characteristic of the human body based on the generated thermal image;
A human body information creation unit that creates human body information in which the detected position and feature of the human body are associated;
The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: an air volume determination unit that determines an air volume of the conditioned air based on the created human body information. The air volume determination unit
Determining whether the human body is an adult or a child based on the detected characteristic of the human body;
When the human body is an adult, the air volume of the conditioned air is controlled to be a first air volume,
The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to claim 5, wherein when the human body is a child, control is performed such that the air volume of the conditioned air is a second air volume different from the first air volume. The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to claim 6, wherein the second air volume during heating operation is larger than the first air volume. The human body position detection unit
The human body is detected based on the difference between the created thermal image and a reference thermal image created in advance and not including an image corresponding to the human body,
The indoor unit of the air conditioner according to any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein a position of the human body is detected based on coordinates of a human body image which is an image of a portion indicating the human body detected from the thermal image. The controller is
A storage device storing a distance table indicating a relationship between a position of a lower end pixel of the human body image with respect to a lower end of the thermal image and a distance from the indoor unit to the human body;
The human body position detection unit
The indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 8, wherein the position of the human body is detected based on the distance associated with the lower end pixel of the human body image with reference to the distance table. The characteristics of the human body indicate whether the human body is an adult or a child,
The human body characteristic detection unit
The method according to any one of claims 2 to 9, wherein it is estimated whether the detected human body is an adult or a child based on the feature of a human body image which is an image of a portion indicating the detected human body included in the thermal image. The indoor unit of the air conditioner as described in 1 paragraph. The controller is
A storage device for storing a posture table indicating a relationship between the aspect ratio of the maximum number of pixels in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction in the human body image and the posture of the human body;
The human body characteristic detection unit
Referring to the posture table to estimate the posture of the human body based on the posture associated with the aspect ratio of the human body image;
Detecting the number of all pixels constituting the human body image;
Based on the position of the human body detected by the human body position detection unit, the estimated posture of the human body, and the number of pixels of the human body image, it is estimated whether the human body is an adult or a child. The indoor unit of the air conditioner according to 10. The sensor is
The indoor unit of the air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 11, which is an infrared sensor that detects infrared radiation emitted from the surface of the object.

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