WO2018029805A1

WO2018029805A1 - Air conditioner indoor unit

Info

Publication number: WO2018029805A1
Application number: PCT/JP2016/073572
Authority: WO
Inventors: 薦正田辺; 弘志 ▲廣▼▲崎▼; 淳一岡崎; 元志手塚
Original assignee: 三菱電機株式会社
Priority date: 2016-08-10
Filing date: 2016-08-10
Publication date: 2018-02-15
Also published as: JPWO2018029805A1; JP6625222B2

Abstract

An air conditioner indoor unit, having an inlet and an outlet formed therein and blowing out from the outlet conditioned air originating from air taken in from the inlet, comprises: a wind direction plate that is provided in the outlet and that adjusts the direction the conditioned air is discharged; a fan that generates an air flow from the inlet to the outlet; a sensor that acquires temperature information for the interior a space to be air conditioned; and a control device that controls the air flow of the conditioned air by controlling at least one of the wind direction plate and the fan on the basis of the temperature information. On the basis of the temperature information, the control device detects a body and the position of the body in the space to be air conditioned and the characteristics of the body and controls at least one of the wind direction and the air volume of the conditioned air in accordance with the position and the characteristics of the detected body.

Description

Air conditioner indoor unit

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

Conventionally, an indoor unit of an air conditioner that detects a human body existing indoors using an infrared sensor has been proposed and put into 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 airflow is delivered toward the human body by adjusting the vertical and horizontal wind directions.

JP 2012-72965 A

However, the human body in the room has the characteristic of “height”. For this reason, if the wind direction is determined only by the detected position of the human body, the strength of the wind against the human body and the position of the wind may not be as intended.

For example, the airflow generated by the air sent from the indoor unit during heating generally has the property of spreading in the vertical direction near the floor surface. Therefore, even if the vertical wind direction is set so as to warm the detected feet of a specific human body, if the human body is short, such as a child, the wind may directly hit the face. In such a case, an unpleasant state such as feeling of cold wind and dry skin caused by strong winds is caused.

On the other hand, for example, the airflow generated by the air sent from the indoor unit during cooling generally has the property that the cold air is lowered. Moreover, the airflow of the wind sent out from the blower outlet of the indoor unit diffuses little by little. Therefore, even if the vertical wind direction is set so that airflow is sent over the head of the detected specific human body in consideration of such a decrease in cold air, if the human body is short, such as a child, Cannot reach the human body and cannot be cooled effectively. Therefore, the user is forced to perform a non-energy-saving operation such as lowering the set temperature.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems in the prior art, and provides an indoor unit for an air conditioner that can appropriately perform air conditioning in accordance with the characteristics of a human body existing in the room. Objective.

An indoor unit of an air conditioner according to the present invention is an indoor unit of an air conditioner in which a suction port and an air outlet are formed, and conditioned air based on the air sucked from the air inlet is sent out from the air outlet, A wind direction plate that is provided at the air outlet and adjusts the delivery direction of the conditioned air, a blower that generates an air flow from the air inlet to the air outlet, a sensor that acquires temperature information in the air-conditioning target space, and the temperature A control device that controls at least one of the wind direction plate and the blower based on the information to control the airflow of the conditioned air, and the control device is based on the temperature information, and the human body in the air conditioning target space The position of the human body and the characteristics of the human body are detected, and at least one of the wind direction and the air volume of the conditioned air is controlled according to the detected position and characteristics of the human body.

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

It is a perspective view which shows an example of the external appearance of the indoor unit which concerns on 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 the 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. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of wind direction setting processing by the indoor unit according to Embodiment 1. It is the schematic which shows a mode at the time of creating 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 maximum 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 airflow when an up-down wind direction is 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 airflow when an up-down wind direction is 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 airflow when the up-down wind direction is set to the 2nd up-down wind direction at the time of heating operation by the wind direction setting process of FIG. FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of an arithmetic processing device according to a second embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of air volume setting processing by the indoor unit 10 according to Embodiment 2. It is the schematic which shows an example for demonstrating the airflow when an airflow is set to the 2nd airflow at the time of heating operation by the airflow setting process of FIG.

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

[External appearance 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-hanging type indoor unit that is installed on a wall surface in a room. As shown in FIG. 1, the indoor unit 10 is provided with a suction port 1 and an air outlet 2 in a housing that forms an outer shell. The suction port 1 is provided for sucking indoor air that is an air-conditioning target space. The blower outlet 2 is provided in order to send out the conditioned air by the air conditioner 100 described later using the indoor unit 10 into the room.

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

In addition, 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 left portion when viewed from the indoor unit 10 side. The infrared sensor 5 scans the room temperature, detects infrared rays 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 should just be installed in the position which can acquire indoor temperature information. Also, 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 diagram showing an example of the configuration of the infrared sensor 5 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, a drive device 6 such as a stepping motor is attached to the infrared sensor 5.
The infrared sensor 5 is a thermopile sensor, for example, and detects the amount of infrared rays of the object and converts it into temperature information. The infrared sensor 5 is driven by the driving 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 a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a circuit configuration of the air conditioner 100 using the indoor unit 10 according to the first embodiment. 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 a refrigerant flows through the refrigerant pipe to form a refrigeration cycle.

In addition, 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. For example, one or a plurality of indoor units 10 may be connected to a 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 housed in the casing of the indoor unit 10.

The expansion valve 11 decompresses the refrigerant to expand it. The expansion valve 11 is configured by a valve capable of controlling the opening degree, such as an electronic expansion valve.

The indoor heat exchanger 12 is supplied with an air blower 13 that generates an air flow from the inlet 1 to the outlet 2 such as a fan, and the air in the air-conditioning target space (hereinafter referred to as “room air” as appropriate) and a refrigerant. Exchange heat with Thereby, 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 the cooling operation and cools the indoor air with 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 room air and condenses the refrigerant during the heating operation.

The indoor control device 30 includes, for example, software executed on an arithmetic device such as a microcomputer or a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and hardware such as a circuit device that realizes various functions. 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. The indoor control device 30 controls driving of the infrared sensor 5 when 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 device 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 various input information to the arithmetic processing device 32.

The arithmetic processing unit 32 performs various processes based on information received from the input circuit 31 using data stored in the storage unit 33 described later. For example, the arithmetic processing unit 32 creates a thermal image indicating the indoor temperature state based on the temperature information from the infrared sensor 5, detects the position of the human body existing in the room based on the created thermal image, and detects the human body. Processing to determine characteristics such as height is performed. Details of such processing by the arithmetic processing unit 32 will be described later.

Then, the arithmetic processing device 32 sends control information for the operation device provided in the indoor unit 10 and control information for the outdoor unit 20 so as to send conditioned air according to the detected position of the human body and the determined characteristics of the human body. Are generated and output to the output circuit 34. Examples of the control information generated at this time include information for controlling the air direction, information for controlling the air volume of the indoor blower 13, information for controlling the opening degree of the expansion valve 11, and the like.

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

For example, the storage device 33 stores a thermal image when no human body is present in the room. This thermal image is a thermal image serving as a reference (hereinafter referred to as “reference thermal image” as appropriate) 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 device 32 based on temperature information when it can be determined that no human body is present in the room, for example.

The output circuit 34 receives various control information from the arithmetic processing unit 32 and outputs it 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 this control information to a driving device (not shown) for driving the up and down wind direction plate 3 and the left and right wind direction plate 4. For example, when control information for controlling the air volume is received, the output circuit 34 outputs this control information to a drive device (not shown) for driving the indoor blower 13. Further, for example, when control information for the outdoor unit 20 is received, the output circuit 34 outputs this 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 other portions are omitted.

The temperature information acquired by the infrared sensor 5 is input from the input circuit 31 to the thermal image creation unit 35. The thermal image creation unit 35 creates a thermal image indicating 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 indicating the detected human body (hereinafter referred to as “human body image” as appropriate).

When the human body position detection unit 36 detects a human body from 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 characteristics of the human body detected by the human body characteristic detection unit 37. The human body information is information in which the position of the human body in the room is associated with the characteristics of the human body.

The wind direction determination unit 39a determines the wind direction of the conditioned air based on the human body information created by the human body information creation unit 38. Then, the wind direction determination unit 39a generates control information for controlling the directions of the upper and lower wind direction plates 3 and the left and right wind direction plates 4 so that the determined wind direction is obtained, and outputs the control information to the output circuit 34.

(Outdoor unit)
Returning to FIG. 3, the outdoor unit 20 includes a compressor 21, a refrigerant flow switching device 22, an outdoor heat exchanger 23, an outdoor blower 24, and an outdoor control device 40.

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

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

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

The outdoor control device 40 includes, for example, software executed on a computing device such as a microcomputer or CPU, and hardware such as a circuit device that implements 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, for example, based on control information from the indoor control device 30 and information from various sensors (not shown) provided in the refrigeration cycle, the compressor frequency of the compressor 21 and refrigerant flow path switching. The switching of the flow path of the device 22 is controlled.

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 device 42, a storage device 43, and an output circuit 44.

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

The arithmetic processing unit 42 performs various processes based on information received from the input circuit 41 using data stored in the 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.

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

The output circuit 44 receives various control information from the arithmetic processing unit 42 and outputs it 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 this control information to the compressor 21. For example, when control information for controlling the air volume is received, the output circuit 44 outputs this control information to a driving device (not shown) for driving the outdoor blower 24. Further, for example, when control information for the indoor unit 10 is received, the output circuit 34 outputs this control information to the indoor control device 30 of the indoor unit 10.

[Air conditioner operation]
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 indicated 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 indicated by the solid line. Moreover, the state shown with the dotted line of the refrigerant | coolant flow path switching apparatus 22 is a state in heating operation mode, and the flow direction of a refrigerant | coolant is shown with a 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. The low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant is compressed by the compressor 21 and discharged as a high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant.

The high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant discharged from the compressor 21 flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 23 via the refrigerant flow switching device 22. The high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant that has flowed into the outdoor heat exchanger 23 is condensed with heat exchange with the outdoor air while dissipating heat, and becomes a supercooled high-pressure liquid refrigerant that flows out of the outdoor heat exchanger 23.

The high-pressure liquid refrigerant that has flowed out of the outdoor heat exchanger 23 is decompressed by the expansion valve 11 to become a low-temperature and low-pressure gas-liquid two-phase refrigerant and flows into the indoor heat exchanger 12. The low-temperature and low-pressure gas-liquid two-phase refrigerant that has flowed into the indoor heat exchanger 12 cools the indoor air by exchanging heat with the indoor air and absorbs and evaporates, thereby becoming a low-temperature and low-pressure gas refrigerant. Spill from.

The low-temperature and low-pressure gas refrigerant that has flowed 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 indicated by the dotted line in FIG. The low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant is compressed by the compressor 21 and discharged as a high-temperature and 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 and high-pressure gas refrigerant that has flowed into the indoor heat exchanger 12 is condensed while dissipating heat by exchanging heat with the indoor air, and flows out of the indoor heat exchanger 12 as a high-pressure liquid refrigerant in a supercooled state.

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

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

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

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of wind direction setting processing by the indoor unit 10 according to the first embodiment. Note that the processing shown in FIG. 7 shows a case where a human body exists in the room. In addition, this process is performed every preset time. In the first embodiment, prior to the wind direction setting process, a thermal image indicating the indoor temperature distribution, detection of the human body and the position of the human body, and detection of the characteristics of the human body are performed.

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

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

(Detection of human body)
Next, a human body detection method based on a thermal image will be described. The arithmetic processing unit 32 detects the human body existing in the room by the human body position detection unit 36. When detecting a human body, the thermal image created by the thermal image creation unit 35 is used. And a human body can be detected by extracting the part from which the temperature changed compared with the reference | standard thermal image memorize | stored in the memory | storage device 33 from this thermal image.

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

That is, the human body position detection unit 36 calculates 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 for each pixel. Then, for example, a pixel whose calculated difference is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value can be determined as a pixel corresponding to the human body, and a human body image formed by such a pixel can be extracted.

(Detection of human body position)
Next, a method for detecting the position of the human body will be described. In the arithmetic processing device 32, the human body position detection unit 36 detects the position of the detected human body. 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 the coordinates of the pixels forming the human body image from the thermal image. Thereby, the position of the human body image with respect to the indoor thermal image, that is, the position of the human body in the room can be detected.

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

The human body characteristic detection unit 37 is, for example, a human body image such as the posture of the human body, the lower end position, the number of pixels constituting the human body image, and the aspect ratio of the human body image based on the number of pixels in the human body image corresponding to the human body detected from the thermal image. Based on the above characteristics, it is determined whether the human body is an adult or a child.

Here, the human body position detection method by the human body position detection unit 36 and the human body feature detection method by the human body characteristic detection unit 37 will be specifically described. When determining whether the detected human body is an adult or a child, for example, it may be determined based on 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 for the same human body. Therefore, in such a case, the size of the human body cannot be simply determined based on the number of pixels of the human body image. For example, when the human body approaches the indoor unit 10 including the infrared sensor 5, the human body image included in the thermal image becomes large, and when the human body moves away, the human body image becomes small.

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

By the way, 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 a correspondence relationship is prepared in advance, and the distance from the indoor unit 10 of the human body corresponding to the human body image is obtained using this table.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a thermal image in a state where a human body image is extracted from the thermal image acquired in the state of FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 9, the case where all the pixels which comprise a human body image are converted into a black pixel is shown. The “black pixel” refers to a pixel having a pixel 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 diagram showing an example of a distance table showing 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 with respect to the lower end of the entire thermal image and the distance from the indoor unit 10 to the human body are associated with each other. 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 the storage device 33 in advance. Note that the value of the distance from the indoor unit 10 to the human body may be a predetermined value regardless of the height of the infrared sensor 5, or may be a different value 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, 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 based on the distance table of FIG. 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, when the human body is sitting on the floor and when standing, the size of the human body image included in the thermal image is different even if the human body is the same, so it is necessary to estimate the posture of the human body. Such a posture of the human body can be estimated by, for example, obtaining an aspect ratio n that is a ratio of the maximum number of pixels in the vertical direction and 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 “the maximum number of pixels in the vertical direction ÷ the maximum number of pixels in the horizontal direction”.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram 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 illustrated in FIG. 11, for example, when the aspect ratio n is 0.2 or less, it is possible to estimate that the posture of the human body is “the supine position”. 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 position”. 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 posture table is stored in the storage device 33 in advance.

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, since the aspect ratio n in the human body image of the child 60 is “10 ÷ 7≈1.4”, the human body characteristic detection unit 37 can estimate that the child 60 is in the “standing position”. . 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, since 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 can estimate that the adult 61 is in the “standing position”. .

Using the distance from the indoor unit 10 thus obtained to the human body and the posture of the human body, the human body characteristic detection unit 37 determines whether the human body is an adult or a child. At this time, whether the human body is an adult or a child can be determined by the size of the human body image corresponding 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 varies 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 greater than the set threshold value, and determines that the human body is a child when the number is less than the threshold value. to decide.

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

Next, in step S2, the wind direction determining unit 39a determines whether the human body existing in the room is an adult based on the human body information created in step S1. If it is determined that the human body is an adult, the process proceeds to step S3. On the other hand, if 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 such that the wind direction of the conditioned air sent from the indoor unit 10 becomes the first vertical wind direction, and this control information Based on the above, the vertical wind direction plate 3 is controlled.

The first vertical wind direction is the vertical wind direction when the human body in the room is an adult. For this reason, for example, during the heating operation, the direction of the vertical wind direction plate 3 is set so that the wind direction faces the feet of the human body, as in the conventional case. For example, during the cooling operation, the direction of the vertical wind direction plate 3 is set so that the wind direction is over the head of the human body, as in the conventional case.

In addition, the direction of the up-and-down wind direction board 3 at the time of heating operation is set so that it may face the coordinate position of the lower end in the human body image about the detected human body, for example. Moreover, the direction of the up-and-down wind direction board 3 at the time of air_conditionaing | cooling operation is set so that it may face in the coordinate position above the coordinate of the upper end in a human body image, for example.

In step S4, the wind direction determination unit 39a controls the vertical wind direction plate 3 so that the wind direction of the conditioned air sent from the indoor unit 10 becomes a second vertical wind direction different from the first vertical wind direction. Information is produced | generated and the up-and-down wind direction board 3 is controlled based on this control information.

The second vertical wind direction is the vertical wind direction when the human body existing in the room is a child. Therefore, for example, in the heating operation, considering that the air current spreads up and down near the floor surface, the up-and-down wind direction plate is set 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 up-and-down air direction is selected, the up-and-down air direction plate 3 is set to be lower than the direction in the first up-and-down air direction. For example, during the cooling operation, the direction of the vertical wind direction plate 3 is set so that the wind direction is directed above the human body.

In addition, the direction of the up-and-down wind direction board 3 at the time of heating operation is set so that it may face the coordinate position below the coordinate of the lower end in a human body image, for example. Moreover, the direction of the up-and-down wind direction board 3 at the time of air_conditionaing | cooling operation is set so that it may face in the coordinate position above the coordinate of the upper end in a human body image, for example.

Also, 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 characteristics of the human body. That is, the right and left wind directions of the conditioned air in the first embodiment are determined only by the position of the human body regardless of the characteristics of the human body.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating a first example for explaining the airflow when the vertical airflow direction is set to the first vertical airflow direction during the heating operation by the airflow direction setting process of FIG. FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating a second example for explaining the airflow when the vertical airflow direction is set to the first vertical airflow direction during the heating operation. FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating a third example for explaining the air flow when the up / down wind direction is set to the second up / down wind direction during the heating operation by the wind direction setting process of FIG. 7.

The first example shown in FIG. 12 is a flow of conditioned air sent when an adult human body 50a is present in the room and warm air is sent from the indoor unit 10 by the air conditioner 100 performing a heating operation. 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 characteristics of the human body 50a existing in the room, and the vertical wind direction is set to the first level. Set up and down wind direction. Thereby, the air flow 51 of the conditioned air reaches the feet of the human body 50a. At this time, the air flow 51 of the conditioned air diffuses near the floor surface, and a part of the air flow 51a flows upward. Therefore, the human body can be appropriately warmed by the airflow 51a.

The second example shown in FIG. 13 is a flow of conditioned air sent when a child's human body 50b exists in the room and the air conditioner 100 sends warm air from the indoor unit 10 by performing a heating operation. 51 is shown. In the second example, as in the first example described above, the case where the vertical wind direction is set to the first vertical wind direction by adjusting the direction of the vertical wind direction plate 3 is shown. In this example, it is assumed that 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. In this way, when the vertical wind direction is set regardless of the characteristics of the human body present in the room, the conditioned air flow 51 is diffused near the floor as in the first example, and a part of the air flow 51a is upward. Flowing into. At this time, since the human body 50b existing in the room is a child and is shorter than an adult, the conditioned air generated by the airflow 51a that flows upward directly hits the face of the human body 50b.

On the other hand, in the third example shown in FIG. 14, similarly to the second example, a child's human body 50 b exists in the room, and the air conditioner 100 performs a heating operation to send warm air from the indoor unit 10. In the case, the conditioned air flow 52 is shown. In the third example, unlike the second example, the direction of the vertical wind direction plate 3 is adjusted by the wind direction setting process according to the first embodiment in accordance with the position and characteristics of the human body 50b in the room. The up / down air direction is set to the second up / down air direction. Thereby, the air flow 52 of the conditioned air reaches the front side of the human body 50b, that is, the indoor unit 10 side. At this time, the air flow 52 of the conditioned air diffuses in the vicinity of the floor surface as in the first and second examples, and a part of the air flow 52a flows upward, but the vertical air direction is higher than the first vertical air direction. Since it reaches the 10 side, the human body 50b can be appropriately warmed while preventing the airflow 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 Embodiment 1, the suction port 1 and the air outlet 2 are formed, and conditioned air based on the air sucked from the air inlet 1 is supplied from the air outlet 2. An up-and-down wind direction plate 3 that adjusts the vertical direction of the conditioned air, an infrared sensor 5 that acquires temperature information in the air-conditioning target space, and an up-and-down direction based on the temperature information. And an indoor control device 30 that controls the wind direction plate 3 to control the airflow of conditioned air. The indoor control device 30 detects the human body and the position of the human body in the air-conditioning space and the characteristics of the human body based on the temperature information, and controls the wind direction of the conditioned air according to the detected position and characteristics 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 characteristics of the human body detected based on the temperature information in the air-conditioning target space. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the airflow from hitting the human body face, and to suppress discomfort such as feeling of cold air and dry skin from the airflow to the human body, so that air conditioning can be appropriately performed. .

Moreover, since such discomfort can be suppressed, a change in the set temperature by a user who feels uncomfortable can be suppressed, so that unnecessary energy consumption can be reduced and energy saving can be ensured.

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

Since the indoor unit 10 in the second embodiment has the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 as in the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted here.

[Configuration of arithmetic processing unit]
FIG. 15 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the arithmetic processing device 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 parts related to the features of the present invention are illustrated, and illustration and description of other parts are omitted. Further, description of portions common to the above-described first embodiment will be omitted.

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

[Airflow setting processing]
Next, processing for setting the air volume when a human body exists in the room will be described. In the second embodiment, the air volume is set according to the position and characteristics of the human body in the room detected in the same manner as in 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. Note that the processing shown in FIG. 16 shows a case where a human body exists in the room. In addition, this process is performed every preset time. In the second embodiment, prior to this air volume setting process, the creation of a thermal image, the detection of the human body and the position of the human body, and the detection of the characteristics of the human body are performed by the same processing as in the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 16, in step S <b> 11, the arithmetic processing unit 32 uses the human body information creation unit 38 to create human body information that associates the position of the human body detected as described above with the characteristics of the human body.

Next, in step S12, the air volume determining unit 39b determines whether the human body existing in the room is an adult based on the human body information created in step S11. If it is determined that the human body is an adult, the process proceeds to step S13. On the other hand, if 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 fan 13 so that the air volume of the conditioned air sent from the indoor unit 10 becomes the first air volume, and based on this control information. Then, the rotational speed of the indoor blower 13 is controlled.

The first air volume is the air volume when the human body in the room is an adult. Therefore, for example, at the time of heating operation, an air volume comparable to that in the past is set. In addition, about the wind direction, the direction of the up-and-down wind direction board 3 is set so that it may face to the leg of a human body like the past.

In step S14, 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 a second air volume different from the first air volume. To do. The indoor control device 30 controls the rotational speed of the indoor blower 13 based on this control information. Note that the second air volume is an air volume when the human body present in the room is a child, and is an air volume that can suppress an air current spreading upward near the floor surface relative to an air current for an adult.

Here, consider the relationship between air volume and airflow. The airflow of the conditioned air sent from the indoor unit 10 during the heating operation spreads up and down near the floor as described above, but generally the wind speed increases as the air volume increases. Therefore, by increasing the air volume of the conditioned air and increasing the wind speed, it is possible to suppress the airflow spreading upward near the floor surface. 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 near the floor surface is suppressed. In this case as well, as in step S13, the wind direction is set so that the wind direction plate 3 is directed toward the human foot.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example for explaining 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 exists in the room and the air conditioner 100 sends warm air from the indoor unit 10 by performing the heating operation. .

In this example, the air volume is set according to the position and characteristics of the human body 50b in which the indoor unit 10 exists indoors by the air volume setting processing according to the second embodiment. 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 way, the air flow 53 of the conditioned air reaches the feet 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 sent with a second air volume that is larger than the first air volume, the wind speed increases compared to the case where the conditioned air is sent with the first air volume. Can be suppressed. Accordingly, the human body 50b can be appropriately warmed while preventing the airflow 53a 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 Embodiment 2, the suction port 1 and the air outlet 2 are formed, and conditioned air based on the air sucked from the air inlet 1 is supplied from the air outlet 2. The indoor blower 13 that generates airflow from the inlet 1 to the blowout outlet 2, the infrared sensor 5 that acquires temperature information in the air-conditioning target space, and the indoor blower 13 are controlled based on the temperature information. And an indoor control device 30 that controls the flow of conditioned air. The indoor control device 30 detects the human body and the position of the human body in the air-conditioning target 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 characteristics 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 characteristics of the human body detected based on the temperature information in the air conditioning target space. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the airflow from hitting the human body face, and to suppress discomfort such as feeling of cold air and dry skin from the airflow to the human body, so that air conditioning can be appropriately performed. .

Embodiment 3 FIG.
Next, an air conditioner indoor unit 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, and the up and down wind direction and the air volume of the conditioned air sent from the indoor unit according to the detected position and characteristics of the human body. Control both.

As described above, the airflow can be controlled more finely by controlling the vertical wind direction and the air volume according to the detected position and characteristics of the human body. Therefore, for example, even when the human body that is present in the room during the heating operation is a child, the conditioned air can be prevented from directly hitting the face, and the human body can be appropriately warmed or cooled.

Also, since the human body can be appropriately heated and cooled, the set temperature is not changed more than necessary, so that unnecessary energy consumption can be reduced and energy saving can be ensured.

1 inlet, 2 outlet, 3 vertical wind direction plate, 4 left and right wind direction plate, 5 infrared sensor, 6 drive unit, 10 indoor unit, 11 expansion valve, 12 indoor heat exchanger, 13 indoor blower, 20 outdoor unit, 21 compression Machine, 22 refrigerant flow switching device, 23 outdoor heat exchanger, 24 outdoor blower, 30 indoor control device, 31 input circuit, 32 arithmetic processing device, 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.

Claims

An air conditioner indoor unit that forms a suction port and a blow-out port, and sends out conditioned air based on the air sucked from the suction port from the blow-out port,
A wind direction plate that is provided at the outlet and adjusts the delivery direction of the conditioned air;
A blower that generates an airflow from the suction port to the blowout port;
A sensor for acquiring temperature information in the air-conditioned space;
A control device for controlling the airflow of the conditioned air by controlling at least one of the wind direction plate and the blower based on the temperature information;
The control device includes:
Based on the temperature information, the human body in the air conditioning target space and the position of the human body, and the characteristics of the human body are detected,
An indoor unit of an air conditioner that controls at least one of a wind direction and an air volume of the conditioned air according to the detected position and characteristics of the human body.
The control device includes:
Based on the temperature information acquired by the sensor, a thermal image creation unit that creates a thermal image indicating a temperature distribution of the air-conditioning target space;
A human body position detecting unit for detecting the human body and the position of the human body from the created thermal image;
Based on the created thermal image, a human body characteristic detection unit that detects the detected characteristics of the human body,
A human body information creation unit for creating human body information in association with the detected position and characteristics of the human body;
The indoor unit of an 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
Based on the detected characteristics of the human body, determine whether the human body is an adult or a child,
When the human body is an adult, the vertical air direction of the conditioned air is controlled to be the first vertical air direction,
The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to claim 2, wherein when the human body is a child, the air conditioner indoor unit is controlled such that the up and down air direction of the conditioned air is a second up and down air direction different from the first up and down air direction.
The first up-and-down wind direction during the heating operation is a direction in which the air flow of the conditioned air flows under the detected foot of the human body,
The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to claim 3, wherein the second up-and-down air direction during the heating operation is a direction in which the air flow of the conditioned air flows below the first up-and-down air direction.
The control device includes:
Based on the temperature information acquired by the sensor, a thermal image creation unit that creates a thermal image indicating a temperature distribution of the air-conditioning target space;
A human body position detecting unit for detecting the human body and the position of the human body from the created thermal image;
Based on the created thermal image, the human body characteristic detection unit that detects the detected characteristics of the human body,
A human body information creation unit for creating human body information in association with the detected position and characteristics of the human body;
The air conditioner indoor unit according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising an air volume determining unit that determines an air volume of the conditioned air based on the created human body information.
The air volume determining unit
Based on the detected characteristics of the human body, determine whether the human body is an adult or a child,
When the human body is an adult, the air volume of the conditioned air is controlled to be the first air volume,
The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to claim 5, wherein when the human body is a child, the air volume of the conditioned air is controlled to be 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 the heating operation is larger than the first air volume.
The human body position detection unit is
Based on the difference between the created thermal image and a reference thermal image that is created in advance and does not include an image corresponding to the human body, the human body is detected,
The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein the position of the human body is detected based on coordinates of a human body image that is an image of a portion showing the human body detected from the thermal image.
The control device includes:
A storage device for 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 is
The indoor unit of the air conditioner according to claim 8, wherein the position of the human body is detected based on a distance associated with a 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 is
10. The method according to claim 2, wherein the detected human body is an adult or a child based on a feature of a human body image that is an image of a portion indicating the detected human body included in the thermal image. The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to one item.
The control device includes:
A storage device for storing a posture table indicating a relationship between an aspect ratio of the maximum number of pixels in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction in the human body image and a posture of the human body;
The human body characteristic detection unit is
With reference to the posture table, the posture of the human body is estimated 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,
The human body is estimated to be an adult or a child 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. The indoor unit of the air conditioner according to 10.
The sensor is
The indoor unit of an air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the indoor unit is an infrared sensor that detects infrared radiation emitted from the surface of an object.