JPWO2018069961A1 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is an air conditioner capable of blowing conditioned air appropriately according to the age group of a user regardless of the height of the user. For this reason, in the air conditioning apparatus, a blower mechanism is provided in the housing, generates an air flow that sucks in air from the suction port and blows out the conditioned air from the blowout port, and can change the wind direction of the conditioned air blown out from the blowout port; From the distribution of the surface temperature detected by the temperature detection means, provided with a temperature detection means for detecting the surface temperature within a preset detection range, and a control device for controlling the blowing mechanism according to the detection result of the temperature detection means When the human body is specified, the wind direction of the conditioned air is set in the direction of the human body, and the wind direction of the conditioned air is held in the direction of the human body until the surface temperature of the human body reaches the reference temperature. The reference temperature is set according to the amount of change in the surface temperature of the human body.

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioner.

  Conventionally, there is known an air conditioner equipped with a situation recognition device and having an air conditioning control unit for realizing air conditioning control based on the situation recognition result identified by the situation recognition means. The foot position detection means for detecting the foot position of the person and the head position detection means for detecting the head position of the person are provided as the situation recognition means, and the foot position information and the head obtained by the foot position detection means It is known to use height estimation means for detecting the height of a person by using head position information obtained by the part position detection means (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japan JP 2013-024534

  The air conditioner in the related art shown in Patent Document 1 performs air conditioning control based on the result estimated by the height estimation means, and for example, the wind from the air conditioner is applied to a child having a short height. It is possible to perform air conditioning with a weak air volume without direct application, and directly apply air from the air conditioner to an adult with a sufficiently large height, thereby performing air conditioning with a strong air volume.

  However, in the conventional air conditioning apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, since it is determined whether an adult or a child is an adult or a child by age alone, that is, for example, a tall child or a short adult For this, the wrong age group is determined, and appropriate air flow control can not be performed according to the age group.

  This invention was made in order to solve such a subject. An object of the present invention is an air conditioner that can realize blowing of appropriate conditioned air according to the user's age group without depending on the height of the user, and can improve the user's comfort feeling. It is to provide.

  In the air conditioner according to the present invention, a housing provided with a suction port and a blowout port, and the inside of the housing are provided, and heat is exchanged with air sucked from the suction port to generate conditioned air. A heat exchanger, and a blower mechanism provided in the housing to generate an air flow that sucks in air from the suction port and blows out conditioned air from the blowout port, and can change the wind direction of the conditioned air blown out from the blowout port And temperature control means for detecting a surface temperature within a preset detection range, and a control device for controlling the air blowing mechanism according to the detection result of the temperature detection means, wherein the temperature detection means detects When the human body is specified from the distribution of surface temperature, the wind direction of the conditioned air is set in the direction of the human body, and the wind direction of the conditioned air is maintained in the direction of the human body until the surface temperature of the human body becomes a reference temperature. The reference temperature is configured to be set in accordance with the variation of the human body surface temperature.

  In the air conditioning apparatus according to the present invention, it is possible to realize blowing of the appropriate conditioned air according to the age group of the user regardless of the height of the user, and to improve the user's sense of comfort. The effect of being able to

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is an external appearance perspective view of the air conditioning apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the air conditioning apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure explaining the detection range of the human body sensor with which the air harmony device concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention is provided. It is a figure explaining the detection range of the human body sensor in the depth direction of the air conditioning device concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure explaining the detection range of the human body sensor in the horizontal direction of the air conditioning device concerning Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the control system of the air conditioning apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the control apparatus of the air conditioning apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a time-dependent change of the leg | foot temperature of the human body at the time of the heating operation of the air conditioning apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a time-dependent change of the head temperature of the human body at the time of heating operation of the air conditioning apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the ventilation control at the time of heating operation of the air conditioning apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the ventilation control at the time of heating operation of the air conditioning apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a change of the leg | foot temperature of the human body at the time of the heating operation of the air conditioning apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the ventilation control at the time of heating operation of the air conditioning apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention.

  An embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. In the drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and overlapping descriptions will be appropriately simplified or omitted. The present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Embodiment 1
1 to 10 relate to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an air conditioner, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the air conditioner, and FIG. 3 is a human body provided in the air conditioner. 4 illustrates the detection range of the sensor, FIG. 4 illustrates the detection range of the human body sensor in the depth direction of the air conditioner, FIG. 5 illustrates the detection range of the human body sensor in the horizontal direction of the air conditioner, FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system of the air conditioner, FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a control device of the air conditioner, and FIG. 8 is a foot temperature of a human during heating operation of the air conditioner. FIG. 9 shows an example of temporal change, FIG. 9 shows an example of temporal change of head temperature of a human body during heating operation of the air conditioning apparatus, and FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing air flow control during heating operation of the air conditioning apparatus. It is.

  An air conditioner 100 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention is, for example, an indoor unit of an air conditioner. Therefore, the air conditioning apparatus 100 is installed on the wall surface or ceiling surface of the room. Here, it is assumed that the air conditioning apparatus 100 is installed on the indoor wall surface.

  As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the air conditioning apparatus 100 includes a housing 110. The housing 110 of the air conditioner 100 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape that is horizontally long and has a smooth curved surface from the front surface to the lower surface. A suction port 111 is formed in the upper surface portion of the housing 110. The suction port 111 is an opening for taking in air from the outside to the inside of the housing 110. An air outlet 112 is formed at the lower front of the housing 110. The outlet 112 is an opening for discharging air from the inside to the outside of the housing 110. The front upper portion of the housing 110 is covered by a front panel 113.

  The air outlet 112 is provided with upper and lower wind direction plates 131, 132, 141, 142. These up and down wind direction plates are for adjusting the blowout angle of the air blown out from the blowout port 112 in the up and down direction.

  The up and down wind direction plates are installed on the front side and the back side of the front of the air conditioner 100, respectively. In addition, the vertical wind direction plates on the front side and the rear side are respectively divided into right and left. That is, the front-side vertical wind direction plate is divided into the left front-side vertical wind direction plate 131 on the left side and the right front-side vertical wind direction plate 132 on the right side toward the front of the air conditioner 100. Further, the back side vertical wind direction plate is divided into the left back side vertical wind direction plate 141 on the left side and the right back side vertical wind direction plate 142 on the right side toward the front of the air conditioning apparatus 100.

  The position where each vertical wind direction plate is divided into right and left is substantially at the center of the longitudinal direction (the left and right direction of the outlet 112) toward the front of the air conditioner 100. A slight gap is formed between the left front side vertical wind direction plate 131 and the right front side vertical wind direction plate 132. Similarly, a slight gap is formed between the left back side vertical wind direction plate 141 and the right back side vertical wind direction plate 142.

  The left front side vertical wind direction plate 131, the right front side vertical wind direction plate 132, the left back side vertical wind direction plate 141, and the right back side vertical wind direction plate 142 are plate-like members elongated in the lateral direction of the air outlet 112, respectively. In addition, the vertical wind direction plates 131, 132, 141, and 142 are curved such that a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction has an arc shape.

  The upper and lower wind direction plates 131, 132, 141, and 142 are attached to the housing 110 via support arms (not shown). Each support arm is rotatably attached to the housing 110. By rotating each support arm with respect to the housing 110, it is possible to change the direction of the upper and lower wind direction plates. And by changing the direction of the up and down wind direction plate, the air conditioning apparatus 100 can change the air blowing direction up and down.

  Each support arm of the vertical wind direction plate is provided so that the angle can be adjusted by driving the vertical wind direction plate stepping motor. Specifically, here, the directions of the left front upper vertical wind direction plate 131 and the left rear vertical upper wind direction plate 141 are changed by the left upper vertical wind direction plate stepping motor 161. The directions of the right front vertical wind direction plate 132 and the right back vertical wind direction plate 142 are changed by the right vertical wind direction plate stepping motor 162.

  Thus, the blowoff angle (air flow direction) of the air blown out from the left side of the blowout port 112 and the blowout angle (air flow direction) of the air blown out from the right side of the blowout port 112 are separately adjusted. be able to. The left and right air flow direction plate stepping motor 161 and the right upper and lower air flow direction plate stepping motor 162 are not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

  On the back side of the up and down wind direction plates 131, 132, 141 and 142 in the air outlet 112, a left and right wind direction plate 150 is provided. The left and right wind direction plate 150 is for adjusting the blowout angle of the air blown out from the blowout port 112 in the left and right direction. The left and right wind direction plates 150 are configured by a plurality of plate members arranged in the longitudinal direction (the left and right direction of the outlet 112) toward the front of the air conditioning apparatus 100. Similarly to the vertical wind direction plates 131, 132, 141 and 142, the horizontal wind direction plate 150 is mounted so that the angle can be adjusted by driving the horizontal wind direction plate stepping motor 163 (not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) There is.

  Inside the housing 110, an air passage communicating from the suction port 111 to the blowout port 112 is formed. A heat exchanger 121 is installed on the downwind side of the suction port 111 in the air path. The heat exchanger 121 exchanges heat with the air flowing in the air passage to heat or cool the air flowing in the air passage. Whether the air is heated or cooled depends on whether the air conditioning apparatus 100 is in the heating operation or the cooling operation. Specifically, the heat exchanger 121 heats air during heating operation. On the other hand, the heat exchanger 121 cools the air during the cooling operation.

  The heat exchanger 121 adjusts the temperature, humidity, and the like of the air by heating or cooling the air flowing through the air passage, and generates conditioned air. Thus, the heat exchanger 121 exchanges heat with the air sucked from the suction port 111 to generate conditioned air. In the heating operation, warm air is generated as the conditioned air, and in the cooling operation, cold air is generated as the conditioned air.

  A blower fan 122 is installed on the downwind side of the heat exchanger 121 in the air path. The blower fan 122 is for generating an air flow from the suction port 111 to the blowout port 112 in the air path.

  When the blower fan 122 operates, an air flow from the suction port 111 to the blowout port 112 is generated in the air path, air is sucked from the suction port 111, and air is blown out from the blowout port 112. The air drawn in from the suction port 111 is an air flow passing through the air path inside the air conditioning apparatus 100 in the order of the heat exchanger 121 and the blower fan 122, and is blown out from the blowout port 112. At this time, the direction (blowing direction) of the wind blown out from the outlet 112 is adjusted (changed) by the up and down wind direction plates 131, 132, 141, 142 and the left and right wind direction plates 150 arranged on the downwind side of the blower fan 122. Ru.

  The blower fan 122, the vertical wind direction plates 131, 132, 141, 142, the horizontal wind direction plates 150, the vertical wind direction plate stepping motors 161, 162, and the horizontal wind direction plate stepping motors 163 are provided in the housing 110. Are configured. The blower mechanism configured as described above can generate an air flow that sucks air from the suction port 111 and blows out the conditioned air from the blowout port 112 and can change the wind direction of the conditioned air blown out from the blowout port 112.

  A human sensor 170 is attached to the center of the front of the air conditioner 100. However, the mounting position of the human body sensor 170 is not limited to the front center of the air conditioner 100. The human body sensor 170 may be attached to, for example, the left or right end of the housing 110 or the like.

  The human body sensor 170 includes, for example, a plurality of infrared sensors (light receiving elements) arranged in the vertical direction. Here, it is assumed that the human body sensor 170 includes, for example, eight infrared sensors (light receiving elements). Each of these eight infrared sensors is a detection element capable of individually performing infrared light reception and temperature detection. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, these infrared sensors (light receiving elements) are arranged linearly in the vertical direction inside the cylindrical metal can 171. Thus, the human body sensor 170 has a function of dividing and detecting the temperature in the room into eight areas having different heights.

  The detection range of each of these eight infrared sensors is set as a rectangular area having the same size, as shown in FIG. The light distribution viewing angle of one infrared sensor is, for example, set to 7 ° for the vertical light distribution viewing angle in the vertical direction, and to 8 ° for the horizontal light distribution viewing angle in the left and right direction.

  The light distribution view angle 173 of the entire human body sensor 170 obtained by combining the light distribution view angles of the respective infrared sensors is set as an elongated area in the vertical direction. The light distribution viewing angles (detection ranges) of the respective infrared sensors may not have the same shape and the same size. In addition, specific values of the vertical light distribution viewing angle and the horizontal light distribution viewing angle are not limited to the examples described above. Furthermore, the number of infrared sensors (light receiving elements) is not limited to eight, and the human body sensor 170 may include any number of infrared sensors (light receiving elements) of 7 or less or 9 or more. It is also good.

  The human body sensor 170 can change the direction of the plurality of infrared sensors arranged vertically by the sensor stepping motor 172 (not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) to the left or right within a preset angle range. By doing this, each of the plurality of infrared sensors lined up and down is scanned in the left-right direction, and within the preset detection range (hereinafter referred to as "temperature detection target range") in front of the air conditioner 100. Surface temperature can be detected.

  With such a configuration, the human body sensor 170 scans the temperature detection target range and acquires the surface temperature distribution (thermal image) in the range without contact. That is, the human body sensor 170 constitutes a temperature detection unit that detects a surface temperature within a detection range set in advance.

  The detection result of the human body sensor 170, that is, the surface temperature distribution (thermal image) data acquired by the human body sensor 170 is processed by the control device 180 or the like to be described later. It is possible to detect the presence or absence of a heat source, the position thereof, the surface temperature of the human body, and the parts of the human body (exposed and unexposed parts of the skin, the head, etc.).

  Further, based on the detection result of the human body sensor 170, it is also possible to obtain the sensible temperature of the person in the room. In this case, it is easier to detect the sensible temperature as the human body exposes the skin. The detection accuracy of the human body sensor 170 is higher as the number of pixels of the light receiving element used for the human body sensor 170 is larger. Specifically, for example, if a light receiving element having a pixel number of 30 pixels or more is used, the position of a person in the room and the distance from the human body sensor 170 to the person can be accurately detected.

  The human body sensor 170 detects the temperature of the temperature detection target while scanning the temperature detection target range to the left and right. In addition, right and left here are right and left when it sees from the air conditioning apparatus 100 side. When acquiring thermal image data (temperature distribution data) of the indoor wall and floor, for example, the direction of the human body sensor 170 is moved in the left and right direction by the sensor stepping motor 172 to rotate the sensor stepping motor 172 (ie, human body sensor The rotation in the direction 170 is stopped at a constant angle for a constant time. The fixed angle at this time is, for example, 1 to 5 °. Moreover, the fixed time in this case is, for example, 0.1 to 0.2 seconds. Then, after stopping the change of the direction of the human body sensor 170, the detection results of eight light receiving elements of the human body sensor 170 are waited for a time shorter than the predetermined time (0.1 to 0.2 seconds) Capture image data).

  After the detection of the detection result by the human body sensor 170 is completed, the sensor stepping motor 172 is rotated again by the predetermined angle and stopped again, and the detection result (thermal image data) of the human body sensor 170 is taken in the same operation. Such an operation is repeatedly performed, and the detection result of the human body sensor 170 is acquired at, for example, 90 to 100 places in the left-right direction within the detection range. Then, thermal image data (temperature distribution data) of the temperature detection target range can be obtained from the acquired detection result of the human body sensor 170.

  Next, the detection range of the human body sensor 170 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. First, FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the detection range of the human body sensor 170 in the depth direction as viewed from the air conditioning apparatus 100. This FIG. 4 has shown the state which looked at the room | chamber interior in which the air conditioning apparatus 100 was installed from the horizontal direction. In FIG. 4, the air conditioner 100 is installed at a height of about 1800 mm, and the distance from the air conditioner 100 to the human body is about 3600 mm.

  The detection range of the human body sensor 170 is divided into a plurality of areas equal to the number (here, 8) of infrared sensors (light receiving elements) in the depth direction. That is, the indoor space is divided into eight regions corresponding to the light distribution viewing angles of the respective light receiving elements in the depth direction. Then, the size of the divided individual regions is set according to the spread angle of the light distribution view angle in the vertical direction.

  The lowermost light receiving element of the human body sensor 170 detects a human body in the near side area closest to the air conditioner 100. The light receiving element on the upper side of the human body sensor 170 is configured to detect a human body in a distant area.

  Next, FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the detection range of the human body sensor 170 in the left-right direction as viewed from the air conditioning apparatus 100. This FIG. 5 has shown the state which looked at the chamber | room in which the air conditioning apparatus 100 was installed from upper direction. The detection range of the human body sensor 170 is divided into a plurality of regions with respect to the predetermined angle when the human body sensor 170 is rotated by the sensor stepping motor 172 in the left-right direction.

  In this FIG. 5, the case where the detection range in the left-right direction of the human body sensor 170 is set to about 90 degrees is illustrated. The detection range in the left-right direction of the human body sensor 170 is not limited to this angle. For example, the human body sensor 170 can be rotated by one complete turn by the sensor stepping motor 172, and the detection range is set to 360 °. May be

  The human body sensor 170 may be swung in the vertical direction by another stepping motor or the like. By making it possible to change the orientation of the human body sensor 170 also in the vertical direction, it is possible to acquire detailed thermal image data not only in the horizontal direction but also in the vertical direction.

  In addition, the human body sensor 170 may be configured to use an infrared sensor and another detection device in combination. As a specific example, a camera, an ultrasonic sensor or the like may be used to detect the position and shape of the human body and the distance to the human body. That is, as the human body sensor 170, in addition to the infrared sensor, for example, an ultrasonic sensor capable of detecting an object may be further provided. In this way, the detection accuracy of the position and distance of the human body by the human body sensor 170 can be improved. Alternatively, a pyroelectric sensor using a Fresnel lens may be used to detect the position of the human body in the left-right direction in the room and in the depth direction (front-rear direction) as viewed from the air conditioner 100.

  Next, the configuration of a control system of the air conditioning apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. The air conditioning apparatus 100 includes a control device 180 and an operation display unit 190. The control device 180 is configured by an electric circuit including, for example, a microcomputer. When the controller 180 includes a microcomputer, the controller 180 includes a processor 181 and a memory 182. The memory 182 stores a control program. The processor 181 reads and executes the program stored in the memory 182.

  When the processor 181 executes a control program, the control device 180 executes a preset process to control the operation of the air conditioner 100. In particular, when the processor 181 executes the program stored in the memory 182, the functions of the human body detection unit 183, the part specification unit 184, the age group determination unit 186, and the air flow control unit 187 described later are realized. Ru.

  A sensor system including a human body sensor 170 and the like is connected to the input side of the control device 180. On the output side of the control unit 180, various actuators including a blower fan 122, left and right air flow direction plate stepping motor 161, right and left air flow direction plate stepping motor 162, left and right air flow direction plate stepping motor 163, sensor stepping motor 172 etc. Is connected.

  The operation display unit 190 is for the user to input various setting values, and is for displaying various information to the user. The operation display unit 190 is, for example, a remote controller (remote control) or the like. The operation display unit 190 is communicably connected to the control device 180. The user can operate the operation display unit 190 to turn on / off the power, switch between the heating operation and the cooling operation, and set the temperature, the wind direction, the air volume, and the like. In addition, the operation display unit 190 includes, for example, a liquid crystal display that displays various information. On the liquid crystal display of the operation display unit, for example, setting contents such as an operation mode, a temperature, a wind direction, and an air volume are displayed.

  The control device 180 drives the respective actuators based on the sensor system and the input from the operation display unit 190 to control the operation of the air conditioner 100. The control executed by the control device 180 includes, for example, control of a cooling operation, a heating operation, a blowing operation, a scanning operation of the human body sensor 170, and the like. That is, for example, the control device 180 controls the air blowing mechanism according to the detection result of the human body sensor 170 which is a temperature detection means.

  The control device 180 includes a human body detection unit 183, a part specification unit 184, a temperature storage unit 185, an age group determination unit 186, and an air flow control unit 187. The human body detection unit 183 detects a human body present in the temperature detection target range of the human body sensor 170 based on the detection result of the human body sensor 170 which is a temperature detection unit. The human body can be detected, for example, using the shape, distribution (relative positional relationship), area, and the like of each region whose surface temperature detected by the human body sensor 170 is equal to or higher than a preset reference temperature. The reference temperature at this time is specifically set to, for example, 30 ° C. in consideration of the human body temperature.

  The part specifying unit 184 specifies the determined part of the human body detected by the human body detecting unit 183. The determination part is a part of the human body for use by the age group determination unit 186 for determining the age group of the human body. It is designated in advance which part of the human body is to be the judgment part. In this specification of the determination site, first, after determining the entire shape of the human body, the determination site may be specified from the entire shape of the human body, or the determination site may be specified directly. .

  When specifying the entire shape of the human body, the part specifying unit 184 first specifies an area in which the human body detected by the human body detecting unit 183 is present. The region where the human body is present can be identified using, for example, the shape, distribution (relative positional relationship), area of the region where the surface temperature is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature, and the relative magnitude relationship of the temperature of each region. In addition, if the area | region where a human body exists is specified, the shape of the said area | region will also be specified, ie, the shape of a human body can be specified.

  In addition, when specifying the entire shape of the human body, the site specifying unit 184 may specify the entire area where the human body is present at one time, or the area where the human body is present individually for each part of the human body. It may be specified. In the case of individually specifying the region existing for each region of the human body, the region specifying unit 184 is, for example, each region for each region of the head, chest, arms, upper leg, lower leg, hand and foot of the human body. Each identifies the region where the exists. In addition, the "hand" here refers to the part by the side of the tip rather than a wrist. Also, the term "foot" as used herein refers to a portion on the tip side of the ankle.

  Under the present circumstances, the part specific part 184 sets especially the part whose surface temperature detected by the human body sensor 170 is more than preset temperature as an area | region where at least any one of the head, the chest, and the abdomen of the said human body exists. It may be specified. Further, when specifying the region where each part of the human body exists, the part specifying unit 184 may also specify the temperature, the position, and the wearing state of each part. The "dressed state" is a state regarding whether the skin of the site is covered or exposed by clothes or the like.

  When the human body sensor 170 includes an ultrasonic sensor in addition to the infrared sensor for detecting the surface temperature, the part specifying unit 184 determines the human body based on the detection result of the infrared sensor and the detection result of the ultrasonic sensor. It is preferable to detect the area where the detected human body is present.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 4 again, the specification of the region where each part of the human body exists by the part specifying unit 184 will be described by giving a specific example. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the human body is detected in the detection area of the four light receiving elements from the top to the fourth.

  Specifically, first, the uppermost light receiving element detects the head of the human body. The head is exposed and has a higher skin temperature than other parts of the human body, for example, a skin temperature of 30 ° C. or higher. Therefore, the part specifying unit 184 can identify the region to which the head of the human body belongs based on the thermal image data acquired by the human body sensor 170. More specifically, the site identification unit 184 analyzes the thermal image data acquired by the uppermost light receiving element by scanning in the horizontal direction. Then, when the shape of the heat source whose detected temperature is 30 ° C. or more in the horizontal direction matches the shape (for example, the circular shape) of the human head stored in advance, this heat source is specified as the head.

  The second light receiving element from the top detects the chest and the arm of the human body. The chest is in most cases covered by clothing and skin is rarely exposed. The arms may or may not be exposed to the skin. The part specifying unit 184 can determine whether or not the arm is exposed based on the surface temperature detected by the human body sensor 170. Specifically, when the skin of the arm is exposed, a skin temperature equal to or slightly lower than that of the head is detected at a position corresponding to the arm. The arm may be cooler than the head, in which case the temperature of the arm is detected as a temperature lower than the head.

  The third light receiving element from the top detects the upper leg of the human body. The upper legs are often covered by clothes. For this reason, the surface temperature of the clothes is detected at the position corresponding to the upper leg. The surface temperature of the garment is lower than the temperature of the skin. In addition, when the hand is lowered to the side of the upper leg, a temperature equal to or less than that of the head is detected at the position of the hand. In addition, the hand may be colder than the head. In this case, a temperature lower than the head is detected at the hand position.

  The fourth light receiving element from the top detects the lower leg of the human body. When the human body wears a garment such as socks, the surface temperature of the garment is detected at the position of the lower leg. Further, when the foot is cold, a temperature lower than the surface temperature of the clothes is detected at the position corresponding to the lower leg regardless of whether or not the clothes are worn.

  As for the chest, arms, upper legs, lower legs, hands, and feet of the human body, the site specifying unit 184 also determines the shape of the region having a predetermined temperature or more in advance, as in the case of the human head. A region where each part exists is specified by comparing and matching the shape of each part stored.

  Description will be continued with reference to FIG. 7 again. The age group determination unit 186 determines the age group of the human body based on the surface temperature of the determination part of the human body. The determination part of the human body is a part specified as the determination part by the part specification unit 184 among the parts of the human body. Here, as the surface temperature of the determination part of the human body, one detected by the human body sensor 170 which is a temperature detection means is used. In the first embodiment, the age group determination unit 186 determines the age group of the human body based on the amount of change per unit time of the surface temperature of the determination part of the human body.

  The age group determined by the age group determination unit 186 includes at least an adult and a child. As an age group other than an adult and a child, an elderly person etc. can be considered, for example. In the following, an example will be described in which there are two age groups: adults and children.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of the time change of the temperature of the foot of an adult and a child after the start of the heating operation. Moreover, what is shown in FIG. 9 is an example of the time change of the temperature of the head of an adult and a child after heating operation start. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the heating operation is started, and as the room temperature rises, the temperatures of both the foot and head of the adult and the child rise. At this time, with regard to the temperature of the head, as shown in FIG. 9, there is not much difference in the amount of temperature change with the passage of time between adults and children.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8, with regard to the temperature of the foot, a difference is seen in the amount of temperature change with the passage of time between adults and children. That is, the time variation of the foot temperature in the case of a child is smaller than the time variation of the foot temperature in the case of an adult. The inventor conducted experiments on eight pairs of parents and children, and calculated the amount of change in foot temperature per unit time for each of the adults and children. A significant difference was found at a significant level of 1% for both. On the other hand, with respect to the amount of change in head temperature per unit time (FIG. 9), no significant difference could be recognized between children and adults.

  This is considered to be due to the fact that children have less thermoregulatory function by autonomic nerve than adults, and children are more susceptible to ambient temperature than adults. That is, although the temperature of the foot is susceptible to the temperature of the floor in contact with the foot, the floor temperature is lower than room temperature at the start of the heating operation, and thus children who are more susceptible to the floor temperature lower than this room temperature It can be considered that the temperature of the foot is harder to rise than the temperature of the adult foot.

  Therefore, in the first embodiment of the present invention, the foot of the human body is designated in advance as the determination portion. That is, the part specifying unit 184 specifies the part of the foot of the human body detected by the human body detecting unit 183. Then, the age group determination unit 186 determines the age group of the human body based on the surface temperature of the foot of the human body detected by the human body sensor 170. Furthermore, specifically, the age group determination unit 186 determines the age group of the human body based on the amount of change per unit time of the surface temperature of the foot which is the determination part.

  As described above, the time variation of foot temperature in a child is smaller than the time variation of foot temperature in an adult. Therefore, the age group determination unit 186 determines that the age group of the human body is a child when the amount of change per unit time of the surface temperature of the foot (determination site) of the human body is equal to or less than a preset reference value α. judge. On the other hand, when the change amount per unit time of the surface temperature of the foot of the human body is not equal to or less than the reference value α, the age group determination unit 186 determines that the age group of the human body is an adult.

  In the first embodiment, the control device 180 includes a temperature storage unit 185 in order to obtain the amount of change per unit time of the surface temperature of the determination portion. The temperature storage unit 185 stores the value of the surface temperature of the determination portion (here, the foot) of the human body detected by the human body sensor 170 for each unit time. The age group determination unit 186 uses the value of the surface temperature of the determination portion stored by the temperature storage unit 185 to calculate the amount of change per unit time of the surface temperature of the determination portion. Then, the age group determination unit 186 determines whether the human body is an adult or a child by comparing the calculated change amount of the surface temperature of the determination site per unit time with the reference value α described above. Do.

  Here, the case where the foot is specified as the determination part has been described. However, the portion of the human body to be determined is not limited to the foot. Specifically, for example, it may be considered to designate a hand as a determination site as a site where there are many capillaries and there are many temperature exchanges with the outside of the human body in addition to the foot.

  At the start of the cooling operation, the human body temperature decreases with the passage of time. Therefore, at the time of cooling operation, the age group determination unit 186 determines whether the age group of the human body is a child depending on whether the absolute value of the amount of change per unit time of the surface temperature of the foot of the human body is equal to or less than the aforementioned reference value α. It may be determined whether it is an adult or an adult.

  The blower control unit 187 controls the blower mechanism described above based on the age group of the human body determined by the age group determination unit 186 as described above. The specific content of the control of the air blowing mechanism based on the determination result of the age group of the human body will be described next in each of the heating operation and the cooling operation. In addition, control of the ventilation mechanism based on the determination result of the age group of the human body demonstrated below may be performed only by one side of heating operation and cooling operation, and may be performed by both.

  First, the case of the heating operation will be described. When the temperature of the human body detected by the human body sensor 170 is lower than the heating reference temperature during the heating operation, the air flow control unit 187 controls the air flow mechanism so that the wind direction of the conditioned air is directed to the position of the human body. . Further, when the temperature of the human body detected by the human body sensor 170 during heating operation is equal to or higher than the heating reference temperature, the air flow control unit 187 sets the air flow mechanism so that the wind direction of the conditioned air is different from the position of the human body. Control and perform so-called "people's ventilation".

  It is desirable to control the air blowing mechanism so that the distance between the human body and the air flow of the conditioned air is 0.3 m or more when the "human air blowing" is performed. It is preferable to set so that the distance between the air flow of the conditioned air and the human body is 0.3 m or more even at the closest position. According to this setting, in this way, even if the air flow of the conditioned air is diffused to some extent, the air flow can be sufficiently suppressed from hitting the human body.

  Next, the "heating reference temperature" used as a reference in such air flow control will be described. The “heating reference temperature” of a human body is a temperature serving as a judgment standard as to whether it is necessary to warm the human body.

  In the first embodiment of the present invention, the “heating reference temperature” is set according to the age group determined by the age group determination unit 186. That is, specifically, in the first embodiment of the present invention, two of the adult heating reference temperature and the child heating reference temperature may be set as the “heating reference temperature”. The adult heating reference temperature is a reference value used when the age group determined by the age group determination unit 186 is an adult. The child heating reference temperature is a reference value used when the age group determined by the age group determination unit 186 is a child.

  Further, in the first embodiment of the present invention, each of the adult heating reference temperature and the child heating reference temperature corresponds to, for example, the head, chest, or the like of the human body when the site specifying unit 184 individually identifies each part of the human body. It is calculated using the temperatures of all or part of the arm, upper leg, lower leg, hand and foot. Under the present circumstances, you may make it use what was multiplied by the weighting coefficient preset about each of the temperature of each site | part for calculation. In this case, the weighting coefficients are set in advance and stored in advance in the memory 182 or the like of the control device 180.

  For example, the surface temperature of each part detected by the human body sensor 170 is used as the temperature of each part used to calculate the heating reference temperature. Further, the part and weighting coefficient of the human body used for calculating the adult heating reference temperature may be different from the part and weighting coefficient of the human body used for calculating the child heating reference temperature. Specifically, for example, the temperature of each part of the whole body of the human body is used to calculate the adult heating reference temperature, and each part of the upper body of the human body (the head, chest, arms and hands of the human body is used to calculate the child heating reference temperature) The temperature of) may be used.

  Thus, the air flow control unit 187 sets the heating reference temperature according to the age group determined by the age group determination unit 186 and controls the air flow mechanism. That is, the air flow control unit 187 controls the air flow mechanism described above based on the age group of the human body determined by the age group determination unit 186.

  If a plurality of human bodies are detected indoors and the temperatures of two or more human bodies are lower than the heating reference temperature according to the respective age groups, the air flow control unit 187 determines that the human body temperatures correspond to the respective age groups. The air blowing mechanism may be controlled such that the wind direction of the conditioned air is directed to the position of the human body at the middle point between two or more human bodies lower than the heating reference temperature. The plural human bodies referred to here include both combinations of the same age group (adult and adult, children and children) and combinations of different age groups (adult and child).

  Next, the case of the cooling operation will be described. When the temperature of the human body detected by the human body sensor 170 is equal to or higher than the cooling reference temperature during the cooling operation, the air flow control unit 187 controls the air blowing mechanism such that the wind direction of the conditioned air is directed to the position of the human body. . In addition, when the temperature of the human body detected by the human body sensor 170 during the cooling operation is less than the cooling reference temperature, the air flow control unit 187 sets the air flow mechanism to direct the air direction of the conditioned air to a direction different from the position of the human body. Control and perform so-called "people's ventilation". Under the present circumstances, it is desirable to control a ventilation mechanism so that the distance of the said human body and the air flow of conditioned air may be 0.3 m or more similarly to the case of heating operation.

  The “cooling reference temperature” of a human body is a temperature that serves as a determination reference of whether or not the human body needs to be cooled. In the first embodiment of the present invention, the “cooling reference temperature” is set according to the age group determined by the age group determination unit 186. That is, in the first embodiment of the present invention, specifically, the adult cooling reference temperature and the child cooling reference temperature may be set as the “cooling reference temperature”. The adult cooling reference temperature is a reference value used when the age group determined by the age group determination unit 186 is an adult. The child cooling reference temperature is a reference value used when the age group determined by the age group determination unit 186 is a child.

  Each setting of the adult cooling reference temperature and the child cooling reference temperature is performed in the same manner as the adult heating reference temperature and the child heating reference temperature. That is, each of the adult cooling reference temperature and the child cooling reference temperature uses, for example, all or part of temperatures of the head, chest, arms, upper legs, lower legs, hands and feet of the human body. It is calculated. Under the present circumstances, you may make it use what was multiplied by the weighting coefficient preset about each of the temperature of each site | part for calculation. And the part and weighting coefficient of the human body used for calculation of the adult cooling reference temperature may be different from the part and weighting coefficient of the human body used for calculation of the child cooling reference temperature.

  Thus, the air flow control unit 187 sets the cooling reference temperature according to the age group determined by the age group determination unit 186 and controls the air flow mechanism. That is, the air flow control unit 187 controls the air flow mechanism described above based on the age group of the human body determined by the age group determination unit 186.

  Next, an example of the flow of the heating operation of the air conditioning apparatus 100 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. When the air conditioning apparatus 100 starts the heating operation by the operation of the operation display unit 190 by the user, etc., first, in step S1, the human body sensor 170 starts detecting the surface temperature, and the human body detection unit 183 starts the human body sensor 170. Start detection of the human body based on the detection result of In the following step S2, the human body detection unit 183 confirms whether or not the human body is detected based on the detection result of the human body sensor 170. If the human body is not detected, the process returns to step S1. On the other hand, when the human body detection unit 183 detects a human body, the process proceeds to step S3.

  In step S3, the air flow control unit 187 controls the air flow mechanism to blow the conditioned air toward the position of the human body detected by the human body detection unit 183. Since the heating operation is performed here, the conditioned air to be blown is warm air. After step S3, the process proceeds to step S4.

  In step S4, first, the part specifying unit 184 specifies an area in which the human body detected by the human body detecting unit 183 is present. Then, the part specifying unit 184 specifies the determination part of the human body from the area where the human body detected by the human body detecting unit 183 is present. Here, the determination part of the human body is the foot of the human body. When the part specifying unit 184 specifies the determination part of the human body, that is, the foot, the human body sensor 170 starts detection of the temperature of the foot of the human body (determination part). The human body sensor 170 detects the temperature of the foot (determination part) of the human body at predetermined time intervals, for example, every unit time. The temperature of the foot (determination part) of the human body detected by the human body sensor 170 is stored in the temperature storage unit 185 as time-series data.

  In the subsequent step S5, first, the age group determination unit 186 calculates the change amount of the foot temperature per unit time based on the time-series data of the temperature of the foot (determination region) of the human body stored in the temperature storage unit 185. Do. Next, the age group determination unit 186 confirms whether the calculated change amount of the foot temperature of the human body per unit time is equal to or less than the reference value α described above. If the amount of change in foot temperature of the human body per unit time is equal to or less than the reference value α, the process proceeds to step S6.

  In step S6, the age group determination unit 186 determines that the age group of the human body is a child. Then, the process proceeds to step S7. First, the air flow control unit 187 calculates a specific value of the child heating reference temperature, and sets the calculated child heating reference temperature as the heating reference temperature. Next, the air flow control unit 187 checks whether the temperature of the human body is equal to or higher than the child heating reference temperature. If the temperature of the human body is not higher than the child heating reference temperature, the process proceeds to step S8.

  In step S8, the air flow control unit 187 controls the air flow mechanism so as to blow the conditioned air toward the position of the human body. After step S8, the process returns to step S7, and air blowing toward the human body is continued until the temperature of the human body reaches or exceeds the child heating reference temperature.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S5 that the amount of change in foot temperature of the human body per unit time is not equal to or less than the reference value α, the process proceeds to step S9. In step S9, the age group determination unit 186 determines that the age group of the human body is an adult. Then, the process proceeds to step S10, and the air flow control unit 187 first calculates a specific value of the adult heating reference temperature, and sets the calculated adult heating reference temperature as the heating reference temperature. Next, the air flow control unit 187 checks whether the temperature of the human body is equal to or higher than the adult heating reference temperature. If the temperature of the human body is not higher than the adult heating reference temperature, the process proceeds to step S11.

  In step S11, the air blowing control unit 187 controls the air blowing mechanism so as to blow conditioned air toward the position of the human body. After step S11, the process returns to step S10, and the air flow toward the human body is continued until the temperature of the human body reaches or exceeds the adult heating reference temperature.

  If the temperature of the human body becomes equal to or higher than the child heating reference temperature in step S7, the process proceeds to step S12. Also, in step S10, if the temperature of the human body is equal to or higher than the adult heating reference temperature, the process proceeds to step S12. In step S12, the air flow control unit 187 performs so-called person air flow. That is, the blower mechanism is controlled to blow the conditioned air in a direction different from the position of the human body detected by the human body sensor 170. Then, although the series of operation flow ends, the above steps S1 to S12 are repeatedly executed until the heating operation of the air conditioning apparatus 100 is stopped.

  The operation described above is the operation of the heating operation, but the same is true for the cooling operation. That is, the operation when the air conditioning apparatus 100 starts the cooling operation by the operation of the operation display unit 190 by the user is the heating shown in FIG. 8 for steps S1 to S6, S8, S9, S11 and S12. Same as driving.

  And, in the case of the cooling operation, only the steps S7 and S10 are different from the heating operation. That is, in step S7 of the cooling operation, the air flow control unit 187 first calculates a specific value of the child cooling reference temperature, and sets the calculated child cooling reference temperature as the cooling reference temperature. Next, the air flow control unit 187 confirms whether the temperature of the human body is equal to or higher than the child cooling reference temperature. If the temperature of the human body is equal to or higher than the child cooling reference temperature, the process proceeds to step S8. On the other hand, if the temperature of the human body is not higher than the child cooling reference temperature, the process proceeds to step S12.

  In step S10 of the cooling operation, the air flow control unit 187 first calculates the specific value of the adult air cooling reference temperature, and sets the calculated adult air cooling reference temperature as the air cooling reference temperature. Next, the air flow control unit 187 confirms whether the temperature of the human body is equal to or higher than the adult cooling reference temperature. If the temperature of the human body is equal to or higher than the adult cooling reference temperature, the process proceeds to step S11. On the other hand, if the temperature of the human body is not higher than the adult cooling reference temperature, the process proceeds to step S12.

  The air conditioning apparatus 100 configured as described above detects a human body based on the surface temperature detected by the human body sensor 170, and a part that specifies a previously designated determination part of the detected human body. An air flow control unit that controls the air blowing mechanism based on the identification unit 184, the age group determination unit 186 that determines the age group of the human body based on the surface temperature of the determination part of the human body, and the determined age group of the human body And, and.

  Therefore, it is possible to accurately determine the age group of the user regardless of the height of the user, and it is possible to blow the conditioned air appropriately according to the age group of the user. As a result, the comfort of the user can be improved. Further, at this time, it is possible to accurately determine the age group of the user using the human body sensor 170 such as an infrared sensor without capturing the face image of the user and using image recognition technology etc. Therefore, the cost required to manufacture the product can be kept low.

  Children and adults may have different thermal sensations, even within the same environment, because they have different amounts of metabolism and heat production. In general, children are hotter than adults (especially women), and when there are children and adults at the same time in a heating operation room, adults who feel warm at the set temperature according to the children, conversely Children often feel hot at temperatures set for adult women. According to the air conditioning apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the reference temperature at which “fan-friendly air blowing” can be changed based on the age group of the human body determined by the age group determining unit 186. Therefore, even when children and adults of equal height are in the same room, conditioned air can be appropriately blown to each of the children and adults, thereby improving the user's sense of comfort. it can.

  Specifically, during heating operation, it can be suppressed that an adult determined to be a child as a child does not reach a sufficiently warm state and becomes a windbreak and feels cold. In addition, during cooling operation, it is possible to prevent a child who has been erroneously determined as an adult from becoming windy and feeling hot despite having not reached a sufficiently cool state. Further, for example, in the case of heating, after the temperature of the human body rises sufficiently, the wind direction of the conditioned air can be switched to a direction other than the human body to shift to heating of the entire room. Furthermore, by reducing the air volume, an effect of reducing noise can also be obtained.

  The configuration described above determines the age group of the human body based on the amount of change per unit time of the surface temperature of the human body, and sets the heating reference temperature or the cooling reference temperature according to the determined age group. It was a thing. However, in this regard, in the first embodiment, the heating reference temperature or the cooling reference temperature may be set directly from the change amount of the surface temperature of the human body without determining the age group of the human body.

  That is, when the air conditioning apparatus 100 specifies the human body from the distribution of the surface temperature detected by the human body sensor 170 which is the temperature detecting means, the air direction of the conditioned air is set in the direction of the human body and the surface temperature of the human body is The wind direction of the conditioned air may be held in the direction of the human body until the reference temperature is reached. The heating reference temperature or the cooling reference temperature, which is the reference temperature at this time, is set according to the amount of change in the surface temperature of the human body.

  In this case, for example, the control device 180 stores in advance a table of the heating reference temperature or the cooling reference temperature corresponding to the amount of change per unit time of the surface temperature of the human body. And the control apparatus 180 sets heating reference temperature or cooling reference temperature from the detection result of the human body sensor 170 with reference to the content of this table.

  Even in such a configuration, the age group of the human body is determined, and the heating reference temperature or the cooling reference temperature is set according to the determined age group, regardless of the height of the user. It is possible to realize the blowing of the appropriate conditioned air according to the age group of the person, and to improve the sense of comfort of the user.

  In the above configuration, the determination result of the age group determination unit may be displayed on the operation display unit 190. That is, the air conditioning apparatus 100 may include a display unit that displays the determination result of the age group determination unit. By doing this, the user can know how the user's own age group has been determined by the air conditioning apparatus 100 by confirming the display on the operation display unit 190.

Second Embodiment
FIG. 11 is a flowchart relating to the second embodiment of the present invention and showing air flow control during heating operation of the air conditioning apparatus.

  In the second embodiment described here, in the configuration of the first embodiment described above, the determination of the age group of the human body based on the height of the human body is used in combination. That is, the height of the human body detected by the human body sensor 170 is detected, and the age group determination unit 186 first determines the age group based on the height of the human body, and the age group can not be determined only by the height. As described in the first embodiment, determination of the age group based on the temperature of the determination site of the human body is performed. Hereinafter, the air conditioning apparatus according to the second embodiment will be described focusing on differences from the first embodiment.

  First, the basic configuration of the air conditioner 100 according to the second embodiment is the same as that shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 of the first embodiment. Further, the configuration of the control device 180 provided in the air conditioning apparatus 100 according to the second embodiment is also basically the same as the configuration of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 7.

  However, in the second embodiment, the function of the age group determination unit 186 is different from that of the first embodiment. That is, in the second embodiment, the age group determination unit 186 first detects the height of the human body based on the shape of the human body specified by the part specification unit 184. Then, the age group determination unit 186 determines the age group of the human body based on the detected height of the human body.

For example, when the detected height of the human body is equal to or less than the height reference value, the age group determination unit 186 determines that the age group of the human body is a child. The height reference value is set in advance after considering individually according to the setting place, use, and the like of the air conditioning apparatus 100. As a specific example of the height reference value, a value such as 130 cm can be mentioned. On the other hand, when the detected height of the human body is not equal to or less than the height reference value, the age group determination unit 186 determines the age group of the human body based on the surface temperature of the determination part of the human body. The determination of the age group of the human body based on the surface temperature of the determination part of the human body is exactly the same as that of the first embodiment described above.
Further, the other configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the detailed description thereof is omitted.

  Next, an example of the flow of the heating operation of the air conditioning apparatus 100 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. In the flowchart of FIG. 11, steps S1 to S3 are the same as steps S1 to S3 of the flowchart of FIG. Then, in the second embodiment, the process proceeds to step S21 after step S3.

  In step S <b> 21, the age group determination unit 186 detects the height of the human body based on the shape of the human body specified by the part specification unit 184. After step S21, the process proceeds to step S22.

  In step S22, the age group determination unit 186 confirms whether the height of the human body detected in step S21 is less than or equal to the height reference value. If the height of the human body is equal to or less than the height reference value, the process proceeds to step S6, and the age group determination unit 186 determines that the age group of the human body is a child.

  On the other hand, if the height of the human body is not smaller than the height reference value in step S22, the process proceeds to step S4. Then, after step S4, the age group determination unit 186 determines the age group based on the temperature of the determination part of the human body. Steps S4 to S12 are the same as steps S4 to S12 in the flowchart of FIG.

  The air conditioning apparatus 100 according to the second embodiment configured as described above first attempts to determine whether the age group of the human body is a child based on the height of the human body. Then, if it can be determined that the age group of the human body is a child based on the height of the human body, then it is assumed that the age group of the human body is a child at that time. On the other hand, when it is not possible to determine that the age group of the human body is a child based on the height of the human body, the age group is determined based on the temperature of the determination part of the human body as described in the first embodiment.

  For this reason, in addition to the same effects as in the first embodiment, in the case where it can be clearly determined as a child from the height of the human body, it is based on the identification of the judgment region of the human body and the temperature of the judgment region The age group of the human body can be determined without determining the age group. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the processing load in the control device 180. In particular, when the human body sensor 170 detects a plurality of human bodies, by reducing the processing load in the control device 180, it is possible to expect a significant improvement in the processing speed of the control device 180.

  In the above, the case where the height reference value is set to a value that can be determined to be a child, and first it is determined whether the age group of the human body is a child based on the height of the human body. However, in this regard, the height reference value may be set to a value that can be determined to be an adult, and first, whether or not the age group of the human body is an adult may be determined based on the height of the human body. .

  In this case, a value such as 170 cm may be mentioned as a specific example of the height reference value. Then, when the detected height of the human body is equal to or greater than the height reference value, the age group determination unit 186 determines that the age group of the human body is an adult. On the other hand, when the detected height of the human body is less than the height reference value, the age group determination unit 186 determines the age group of the human body based on the surface temperature of the determination part of the human body.

  As described above, by performing the determination as to whether or not an adult is under the height condition first, the wind does not reach the adult, which is generally colder than the child, more quickly, especially in the case of the cooling operation. Can be realized. On the other hand, in the case of heating operation, it is generally carried out that the wind does not hit the child who is generally hotter than the adult more quickly by determining whether or not he is a child under the height condition first. Control can be realized.

Third Embodiment
12 and 13 relate to Embodiment 3 of the present invention, and FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a change in foot temperature of a human body during heating operation of the air conditioner, and FIG. 13 is heating of the air conditioner. It is a flowchart which shows the ventilation control at the time of driving | operation.

  Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2 described above determine the age group of the human body based on the amount of change per unit time of the surface temperature of the determination part of the human body. On the other hand, Embodiment 3 described here is based on the amount of change in the surface temperature of the determination part of the human body when the room temperature changes by the unit temperature in the configuration of Embodiment 1 or Embodiment 2 described above. The age group of the human body is determined. Hereinafter, an air conditioner according to the third embodiment will be described focusing on differences from the first embodiment, taking an example configured based on the first embodiment.

  First, the basic configuration of the air conditioning apparatus 100 according to the third embodiment is the same as that shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 of the first embodiment. Further, the configuration of the control device 180 provided in the air conditioning apparatus 100 according to Embodiment 3 is also basically the same as the configuration of Embodiment 1 shown in FIG. 7.

  However, in the third embodiment, the function of the age group determination unit 186 is different from that of the first embodiment. That is, in the third embodiment, the age group determination unit 186 determines the age group determination unit 186 based on the amount of change in the surface temperature of the determination part of the human body when the room temperature changes by the unit temperature. Determine the age group.

  FIG. 12 shows an example of the relationship between the room temperature and the temperature of the foot of an adult or a child after the start of the heating operation. The heating operation is started, and as the room temperature rises, the temperature of the feet of adults and children rises. In this case, as shown in FIG. 12, the inventor has compared the amount of change in foot temperature in the case of a child with the change in temperature of foot in the case of an adult when the room temperature changes by a unit temperature. I found it to be smaller.

  Therefore, in the third embodiment of the present invention, as in the first embodiment, the foot of the human body is designated in advance as the determination portion. That is, the part specifying unit 184 specifies the part of the foot of the human body detected by the human body detecting unit 183. Then, the age group determination unit 186 determines the age group of the human body based on the amount of change per unit time of the surface temperature of the foot which is the determination part when the room temperature changes by the unit temperature.

  Specifically, when the change in the surface temperature of the foot (determination part) of the human body when the room temperature changes by the unit temperature is equal to or less than a preset reference value β, the age group determination unit 186 Determine that the age group of the human body is a child. On the other hand, the age group determination unit 186 determines that the age group of the human body is an adult when the amount of change in the surface temperature of the foot of the human body when the room temperature changes by unit temperature is not less than the reference value β. .

  In the third embodiment, in order to obtain the amount of change in the surface temperature of the foot (decision site) of the human body when the room temperature changes by a unit temperature, the air conditioner 100 is provided with a room temperature detection means for detecting room temperature. ing. As a room temperature detection means, for example, a temperature sensor may be provided in the housing 110 of the air conditioner 100, the suction port 111, and the like. A temperature sensor may be provided at a location different from the housing 110 of the air conditioning apparatus 100, and the temperature sensor and the air conditioning apparatus 100 may be communicably connected.

  Further, when the floor surface or the wall surface is included in the temperature detection target range of the human body sensor 170, the temperature of the floor surface or the wall surface in the room detected by the infrared sensor provided in the human body sensor 170 may be used as the room temperature. In this case, the human body sensor 170 serves both as a temperature detection unit that detects a surface temperature within a preset detection range and a room temperature detection unit that detects a room temperature.

In the third embodiment, the temperature storage unit 185 sets the value of the surface temperature of the determination part (here, the foot) of the human body detected by the human body sensor 170 and the value of the room temperature detected by the room temperature detection means for a fixed time. Remember every time. The age group determination unit 186 uses the value of the surface temperature of the determination site and the value of the room temperature stored by the temperature storage unit 185 to calculate the amount of change in the surface temperature of the determination site when the room temperature changes by unit temperature. Do. Then, the age group determination unit 186 determines whether the human body is an adult or a child by comparing the calculated change amount of the surface temperature of the determination region with the reference value β described above.
The other configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the detailed description thereof is omitted.

  Next, an example of the flow of the heating operation of the air conditioning apparatus 100 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. 13. In the flowchart of FIG. 13, steps S1 to S4 are the same as steps S1 to S4 of the flowchart of FIG. Then, in the third embodiment, the process proceeds to step S31 after step S4.

  In step S31, the age group determination unit 186 determines that the room temperature is only unit temperature based on the time-series data of the temperature of the foot (determination site) and the room temperature stored in the temperature storage unit 185. Calculate the amount of change in foot temperature when changing. Next, the age group determination unit 186 confirms whether or not the calculated change amount of the foot temperature of the human body is equal to or less than the reference value β described above. If the amount of change in the foot temperature of the human body is less than or equal to the reference value β, the process proceeds to step S6. On the other hand, when the amount of change in the foot temperature of the human body is not equal to or less than the reference value β, the process proceeds to step S9. Steps S6 to S12 are the same as steps S6 to S12 in the flowchart of FIG.

  The air conditioner 100 configured as described above is configured to determine the age group of the human body based on the amount of change in the surface temperature of the determination portion of the human body when the room temperature changes by the unit temperature. . When the amount of change per unit time of the surface temperature of the determination site of the human body is used as in the first embodiment, the amount of change in temperature per unit time decreases when the set temperatures for heating and cooling are close to room temperature. Therefore, there is a possibility that the situation is unsuitable for the determination of the age group. On the other hand, if the amount of change in the surface temperature of the judgment site of the human body when the room temperature changes by the unit temperature, this is not the case, and in many cases the age group based on the surface temperature of the judgment site A decision can be made.

  In the configurations of Embodiment 1 to Embodiment 3 described above, only one of the air flow control during heating operation and the air flow control during cooling operation may be adopted, or both may be adopted. It is also good. Furthermore, air flow control during heating operation and air flow control during cooling operation of different embodiments may be combined and adopted.

  Further, when air is blown toward the human body, air may be blown toward a specific part of the human body instead of the whole human body. Specifically, for example, the air may be intensively blown toward the foot of the human body. Alternatively, for example, the air may be intensively blown toward the hand of the human body.

  Furthermore, air flow control may be performed using temperature information such as the room temperature, the temperature at the suction port 111 of the air conditioner, the temperature at the blowout port 112, etc. in addition to the floor temperature and the skin temperature. At this time, it is also possible to use the amount of change or the rate of change per unit time of the temperature information.

  The present invention can be used for an air conditioner provided with a blower mechanism capable of changing the wind direction of the conditioned air blown out from the outlet.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Air conditioning apparatus 110 Casing 111 Suction port 112 Air outlet 113 Front panel 121 Heat exchanger 122 Blower fan 131 Left-hand front up-down wind direction board 132 Right-hand front up-down wind direction board 141 Left back side up-down wind direction board 142 Right back side up-down wind direction board 150 Left / right air direction plate 161 Left / right air direction plate stepping motor 162 Right / right air direction plate stepping motor 163 Left / right air direction plate stepping motor 170 Human body sensor 171 Metal can 172 Sensor stepping motor 173 Light distribution angle 180 Control device 181 Processor 182 Memory 183 Human body detection unit 184 Part specification unit 185 Temperature storage unit 186 Age group determination unit 187 Air flow control unit 190 Operation display unit

Claims (8)

A housing in which an inlet and an outlet are formed,
A heat exchanger which is provided inside the housing and exchanges heat with air sucked from the suction port to generate conditioned air;
An air supply mechanism provided in the housing to generate an air flow that sucks in air from the suction port and blows out conditioned air from the blowout port, and can change the wind direction of the conditioned air blown out from the blowout port;
Temperature detection means for detecting a surface temperature within a preset detection range;
And a controller configured to control the blower mechanism according to the detection result of the temperature detection unit.
When the human body is specified from the distribution of the surface temperature detected by the temperature detecting means, the wind direction of the conditioned air is set to the direction of the human body, and the wind direction of the conditioned air is measured until the surface temperature of the human body becomes a reference temperature. Hold in the direction of the human body,
The air conditioning apparatus, wherein the reference temperature is set according to the amount of change of the surface temperature of the human body. The controller is
A human body detection unit for detecting a human body based on the detection result of the temperature detection means;
A part specifying unit for specifying a pre-specified judgment part of the detected human body;
An age range determination unit that determines an age range of the human body based on a surface temperature of the determination portion of the human body;
The air conditioning apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a blower control unit configured to control the blower mechanism based on the determined age group of the human body.   The air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein the age group includes at least an adult and a child.   The age group determination unit determines that the age group of the human body is a child when the amount of change per unit time of the surface temperature of the determination part of the human body is equal to or less than a preset reference value. The air conditioner as described in. It further comprises room temperature detection means for detecting room temperature,
The age group determination unit determines that the age group of the human body is a child when the amount of change in the surface temperature of the determination site of the human body when room temperature changes by unit temperature is equal to or less than a preset reference value. The air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein the air conditioner is determined. The age group determination unit
When the detected height of the human body is equal to or less than a preset height reference value, it is determined that the age group of the human body is a child,
The age group of the human body is determined based on the surface temperature of the determination part of the human body when the detected height of the human body is not less than the height reference value. The air conditioner of description. The age group determination unit
When the detected height of the human body is equal to or greater than a preset height reference value, it is determined that the age group of the human body is an adult,
The age group of the human body is determined based on the surface temperature of the determination part of the human body when the detected height of the human body is not equal to or greater than the height reference value. The air conditioner of description.   The air conditioning apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 7, further comprising a display unit for displaying the determination result of the age group determination unit.

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