EP2060857A1 - Klimaanlage - Google Patents

Klimaanlage Download PDF

Info

Publication number
EP2060857A1
EP2060857A1 EP07806197A EP07806197A EP2060857A1 EP 2060857 A1 EP2060857 A1 EP 2060857A1 EP 07806197 A EP07806197 A EP 07806197A EP 07806197 A EP07806197 A EP 07806197A EP 2060857 A1 EP2060857 A1 EP 2060857A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
temperature
human body
control unit
air conditioner
detected
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Granted
Application number
EP07806197A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP2060857A4 (de
EP2060857B1 (de
Inventor
Hirotoshi Yano
Shoji Mochizuki
Makoto Hirano
Akira Hidaka
Masayoshi Sato
Shintaro Watanabe
Hiroshi Kage
Takashi Matsumoto
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Original Assignee
Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Mitsubishi Electric Corp filed Critical Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Publication of EP2060857A1 publication Critical patent/EP2060857A1/de
Publication of EP2060857A4 publication Critical patent/EP2060857A4/de
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP2060857B1 publication Critical patent/EP2060857B1/de
Active legal-status Critical Current
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical

Links

Images

Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
    • F24F11/00—Control or safety arrangements
    • F24F11/30—Control or safety arrangements for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
    • F24F11/00—Control or safety arrangements
    • F24F11/30—Control or safety arrangements for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
    • F24F11/46—Improving electric energy efficiency or saving
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
    • F24F11/00—Control or safety arrangements
    • F24F11/62—Control or safety arrangements characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values
    • F24F11/63—Electronic processing
    • F24F11/64—Electronic processing using pre-stored data
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
    • F24F2110/00—Control inputs relating to air properties
    • F24F2110/10—Temperature
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
    • F24F2120/00—Control inputs relating to users or occupants
    • F24F2120/10—Occupancy
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24F—AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
    • F24F2120/00—Control inputs relating to users or occupants
    • F24F2120/10—Occupancy
    • F24F2120/12—Position of occupants

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an air conditioner that is equipped with temperature detection means and detects a heat source to detect the existence of a human or a heat generating apparatus, and that can carry out comfortable control.
  • an infrared sensing device that successfully secures the infrared ray sensing time by adopting a stepping motor which makes an intermittent drive as a motor that makes temperature detection means utilizing one pyroelectric sensor perform scanning, improves the spatial resolution and temperature resolution by this, and can achieve downsizing and low cost (for example, see Patent Document 2).
  • a human body detection device that measures a living space at one time by a plurality of thermopile elements disposed in a form of matrices, which correspond to plural regions configured by dividing the living space, finds out temperature of each region, and detects absence or presence of a human by the variation of temperature based on the difference from the reference temperature using thermistors (for example, see Patent Document 3).
  • thermo detection means thermos, pyroelectric sensor
  • a certain threshold value for example, see Patent Document 7
  • a conventional air conditioner shown in Patent Document 1 includes a switching mechanism such as a lens for limiting the detection range at a sensor unit of a temperature detector to determine a human detection area, but the mechanism is expensive and cannot be said practical for home electric appliances such as air conditioners, etc.
  • an air conditioner using temperature detection means that can detect the human body independently of the illuminance detects a human body
  • the air conditioner is unable to distinguish the ambient temperature from the human radiation heat and can not detect the human body.
  • the air conditioner When the human body is detected by the use of temperature detection means, the air conditioner is susceptible to noise of heat-generating apparatus and is likely to make false detection. Furthermore, once the air conditioner makes false detection, it is unable to determine the absence of a human, continues to make false detection to detect a substance as a human body, and consumes unrequired electric power by controlling air-stream operation or continuing operation in vain.
  • the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned situations, and relates to an air conditioner that can accurately detect temperature by inexpensive temperature detection means even for the edge portion of the detection covering section of a sensor where heat information is difficult to obtain, that accurately determines the absence or presence of heat sources to detect the existence of a human, etc., and that can achieve comfortable control.
  • the air conditioner according to the present invention includes temperature detection means that detects temperature while scanning a temperature detection covering range; a temperature detection means drive circuit that drives the temperature detection means; and a control unit that controls the temperature detection means drive circuit, wherein the control unit directs the temperature detection means drive circuit to allow the temperature detection means to scan in such a manner as to overlap a partial region of the temperature detection range of the temperature detection means, so as to detect temperature by overlapping the partial region.
  • the heat sources referred to here collectively means heat generators such as human body, heat-generating apparatus, etc.
  • the temperature detection means is allowed to scan in such a manner that the partial region of the temperature detection range is overlapped so as to detect temperature by overlapping the partial region, and therefore can secure satisfactory temperature detection accuracy by overlapping detection of the end portion of the range. This eliminates a portion where detection is degraded even if the kind of high-accuracy sensor, etc. is not chosen and permits accurate temperature detection and heat source detection.
  • the phrase “human body” may read “human” or “heat source.”
  • FIG. 1 is an illustration that shows the general configuration of an air conditioner 1 which shows a first embodiment of the present invention.
  • the air conditioner 1 includes an indoor unit 10 and an outdoor unit 20.
  • the indoor unit 10 includes a thermopile (infrared sensor) 11 as temperature detection means (temperature detector) in addition to regular devices required as an air conditioner indoor unit.
  • thermopile infrared sensor
  • temperature detection means temperature detector
  • a thermistor 12 is disposed close to the cold junction of the thermopile 11.
  • thermopile 11 may consist of multiple pieces or one piece so that a partial region of an air-conditioning scheduled range (hereinafter also called a detection covering range) can be detected or may be configured in a matrix so that the whole area of the air-conditioning scheduled range can be simultaneously detected.
  • the outdoor unit 20 is equipped with regular devices necessary as an air-conditioning outdoor unit as well as with a thermistor 21 as outside temperature measuring means. In place of the thermistors 12 and 21, other temperature sensors may be used.
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an indoor unit 10 in the first embodiment of the present invention, and the outdoor unit 10 includes a heat exchanger 13, thermopile drive circuit 102, thermopile drive motor 109, fan drive circuit 103, fan motor 104, fan 105, louver drive circuit 106, louver drive motor 107, louver 108, and others in addition to the thermopile 11 and the thermistor 12.
  • thermopile drive circuit 102 and the thermopile drive motor 109 are not required.
  • the indoor unit 10 further includes a control unit (controller) 101 that works on each device of thermopile 11, thermistor 12, temperature detection means drive circuit 102, and fan drive circuit 103, and controls their operations.
  • the control unit 101 imports (takes in) the information which thermopile 11 and thermistor 12 obtain and computes absence or presence and the position of a heat source based on these pieces of information.
  • the detected temperature imported by the thermopile 11 is converted into a thermal pixel image (also simply called a thermal image) and stored.
  • the control unit 101 which achieves the above-mentioned operations includes a microcomputer to which predetermined operations are programmed.
  • FIG. 3 is a general block diagram focused on the configuration of the control unit 101.
  • the control unit 101 includes a comparing unit 1003, A/D converter 1004, temperature converter 1005, human body detecting unit 1006, wind direction determining unit 1007, wind velocity determining unit 1008, and scanning direction determining unit 1009.
  • the scanning direction determining unit 1009 is not required.
  • the detection means including the human body detecting unit 1006, for detecting presence and absence of a heat generator may be collectively called a heat source detection unit, too.
  • the detected value of the thermopile 11 is imported into the control unit 101 via the amplifier circuit 1001 at predetermined intervals or continuously.
  • the detected value (or measured value) of the thermistor 12 serves as a reference value for the detected value of the thermopile 11, and it is imported by the control unit 101 via the amplifier circuit 1002 at predetermined intervals or continuously.
  • the comparing unit 1003 compares the value detected by the thermopile 11 with the value detected by the thermistor 12 and outputs the difference. This difference (potential difference) is converted into digital signals by the A/D converter 1004.
  • the temperature converter 1005 converts the digital potential difference signals to temperature information.
  • the human body detecting unit 1006 determines that a human body exists there, in the event that the difference between the previous temperature information and the present temperature information exceeds the preset human body detection threshold value. In the event that the human body is detected by the human body detecting unit 1006, the wind direction determining unit 1007 determines the direction (angle) of the louver 108 when it receives a notice of the human detection information that indicates the human body existing position. The wind direction determining unit 1007 controls the louver drive circuit 106 with the determined louver 108 direction used as a command value. By this, a command is sent from the louver drive circuit 106 to the louver drive motor 107, which is a stepping motor, and the louver 108 direction is controlled.
  • the wind velocity determining unit 1008 determines the wind velocity (or rotating speed) of the fan 105 when it receives a notice of the human body detection information.
  • the wind velocity determining unit 1008 controls the fan drive circuit 103 with the determined wind velocity used as a command value. By this, a command is sent from the fan drive circuit 103 to the fan motor 104, and the fan motor 104 rotates the fan 105 at a rotating speed that corresponds to the command value and wind is sent out from the fan 105.
  • the control unit 101 determines the heat source as heat generating device such as computer server, etc. on the basis of the threshold values that correspond to various heat generating devices, the control unit 101 cools the heat-generating device on the basis of the predetermined setting or air-conditions to prevent it from stopping due to overheating.
  • the control unit 101 periodically detects the temperature of the detection covering range by the use of the thermopile 11.
  • the control unit 101 drives a stepping motor to allow the thermopile 11 to scan and allows it to detect temperature at each predetermined point, so as to detect temperatures of all the regions of the detection covering range.
  • the control unit 101 allows the thermopile 11 to scan in such a manner that the thermopile 11 detects temperatures, respectively, by successively overlapping part of a temperature detection range in which the thermopile 11 detects temperature at one time. Examples of the mode of overlapping temperature detection ranges capable of temperature detection include overlapping the ranges shifted by 1/2.
  • the amount of overlapping the temperature detection range of the thermopile 11 may be suitably determined in accordance with the temperature detection accuracy.
  • the accuracy of detected temperature can be increased by the effect of overlapped measurements, and interference factors such as noise, etc. are dispersed, scarcelyexertingdetrimental effects on the temperature information. Consequently, it is possible to prevent deterioration of the accuracy at the end portions of the temperature detection range of the thermopile 11. The accuracy would be otherwise degraded if no measures are taken.
  • the temperature can be detected by the use of the sensor center part, highly accurate temperature detection is possible with an inexpensive sensor.
  • the values imported by successive overlapping as described above may be used as they are, but in the event that the position of the detection covering range is prescribed on the basis of the range where the thermopile 11 can detect temperature at one time, the detection range is shifted by 1/2. Therefore, in the event that the control unit 101 controls the air-conditioning air stream, etc., positional compensation such as coordinate transformation, etc. is necessary. In addition, temperatures of detected sections where the temperature detection range is overlapped and the imported value is overlapped may be averaged.
  • thermopile 11 detects temperature in the vicinity of human body radiation heat temperature with respect to the ambient temperature of the place where the thermopile 11 desires to detect a human body
  • the control unit 101 temporarily drives a fan 105 and allows air-conditioning control to take place until temperature lowers to a level in which the human body can be detected, or the control unit 101 identifies a place with a high probability of human body existence from one or more places detected, drives the louver 108 and the fan 105 to allow them to carry out air-conditioning control with a focus on the identified place, and resume human body detection after the ambient temperature reaches a level at which the human body can be detected.
  • allowing the control unit 101 to detect temperature at each point where the temperature detection ranges of the thermopile 11 overlaps by 3/4 can still more improve the accuracy of the detected temperature.
  • Step S1 to S4 of FIG. 6 the control unit 101 utilizes the thermopile 11 and imports temperature information of the air-conditioning scheduled space (room) at predetermined intervals.
  • the portions assumed to be the same temperature zone are grouped on the basis of the temperature information imported by the use of thermal pixel display as shown in FIG. 5 .
  • the control unit 101 compares sequential temperature information obtained, such as the first temperature information T1, next temperature information T2, following temperature information T3, etc., and detects the portions of the values within a range in which the temperature difference is assumed to be related to the human body.
  • the control unit 101 determines that there is a human body in the portions and outputs the human detection information that indicates the human body existing position. In addition, for the portion that continues rapid temperature changes (heat source), the control unit 101 determines from the ambient temperature, as to whether the heat source is a human body or a device by the use of the human body detection threshold values preset within a range in which the human body temperature changes could occur, and outputs the human body detection information, etc. For example, even if a human suddenly begins exercising, the temperature changes by only about 10°C at maximum with errors included.
  • the control unit 101 computes errors using the air-conditioner cooling air settings and fans and takes the computed errors into account, and in the event that the change is the temperature change or temperature zone outside the range of human body detection threshold values, the control unit 101 determines that it is a heat source other than a human body, that is, a device. This improves the accuracy of the human body detection information.
  • Step S8 in the event that regions judged to be a human body based on temperature changes are located close to each other (distance within the predetermined range), their regions are able to be considered as a same obj ect. Accordingly, their regions are grouped as the same object. This distance varies according to the circumstances taking the surrounding temperature information, etc. into account.
  • the control unit 101 is equipped with a mechanism to judge temperature changes caused by heat sources, etc. other than human bodies to be noises, based on the temperature variation and the size of groups at the time of grouping.
  • the human body detection information is like binary images which express the temperature information with images (thermal images by thermal pixels) distinguished by using different colors such as thermo-viewers and which set a flag in the human existing area by computing a temperature difference between the sequential images.
  • the air conditioner 1 conducts air-conditioning control, centering the human body existing are, with a predetermined mode.
  • multiple human body detection threshold values that correspond to multiple portions of a human body may be used.
  • the heat level is divided into multiple steps in accordance with the relevant threshold values that correspond to the human body portions and the human body detection threshold values are established.
  • human body detection is simply performed by the time difference with one human body detection threshold value established, the feet may be overlooked when grouping is carried out by binary-coding.
  • obj ects whose heat levels are adj acent from the vicinity of head to the vicinity of feet can be grouped as the same human body (same person), so that the human body can be clearly determined even up to the feet.
  • the difference assumed to be the vicinity of feet it may be regarded as noise and ignored or the accuracy of the detection may be improved by determining that the head portion is hidden and adding a process for determining whether the head portion would appear or not after plural cycles.
  • noise sources By increasing the number of human body detection threshold values in this way, high-temperature objects higher than the body temperature can be eliminated as noise (heat sources). This technique can be applied not only to the human body but also other heat source.
  • Step S9 of FIG. 7 the control unit 101 finds a predetermined positional distance, for example, a center distance or gravity distance between each group of relevant groups such as group A grouped from the T1 and T2 temperature information, and group B grouped from T2 and T3 temperature information, etc., then regards the objects as the same object (for example, the same person) in the event that such distances are within a predetermined range. Needless to say, the control unit 101 may determine it by finding out whether or not the number of places overlapped for each group is greater than a predetermined value.
  • a predetermined positional distance for example, a center distance or gravity distance between each group of relevant groups such as group A grouped from the T1 and T2 temperature information, and group B grouped from T2 and T3 temperature information, etc.
  • the control unit 101 determines an amount of activity on the basis of the traveling history and traveling time of the person, estimates how much the body temperature of the relevant person rose on the basis of the amount of activity, and allows the fan 105 to perform air-conditioning control on the basis of the estimated temperature information. For example, in a case when the body temperature of the user rises and the user feels extremely hot just after carrying out furious activity, if the clothing is thick and the body temperature does not appear on the clothing surface, keeping low temperature, it was unable to cope with the case by conventional methods.
  • the control unit 101 when the control unit 101 sets flags in the human body existing areas and performs the preset air-conditioning control, the control unit drives the louver 108 and directs the louver to the quadrangle base which is assumed to be the vicinity of the feet in the case of warming, and drives the louver 108 and directs the louver to the center of gravity of the quadrangle in the case of cooling.
  • the control unit 101 can conduct comfortable controls in accordance with the settings, such as performing air-conditioning with the air-conditioning air stream controlled, etc.
  • the human body detection threshold value for detecting the human body may be freely changed over in accordance with regions (Okinawa where it is warm even in the winter, Hokkaido where it is cool even in the summer, etc.) or to user's favorites. It is favorable that plural human body detection threshold values are stored in storage means (not illustrated) in advance. By change-over operation from the operation panel or remote controller by the user, the control unit 101 selects the corresponding human body detection threshold value from the storage means and operates the air-conditioner in accordance with the human detection threshold value thereafter. It is also possible to control the human detection sensitivity.
  • the human detection threshold value is set to be low to make the human body detection in the vicinity of the human body surface temperature (human body radiation heat temperature) more sensitive or by the use of the thermistor 21 of the outdoor unit 20 and the thermistor 12 of the indoor unit 10, the surface temperature of clothing of the user who returns home from a place where the user has gone is computed and the threshold value in the vicinity of the temperature can be lowered.
  • the threshold value in the vicinity of the temperature can be lowered.
  • variations in radiation heat by air-conditioning of the air-conditioner itself can reduce false detection.
  • the control unit 101 can vary the table of threshold values used for detection of heat sources, etc. in accordance with areas. For example, when the user operates to change a temperature setting from the operation panel or remote controller, the control unit 101 receives this setting through input means (not illustrated). The control unit 101 learns the human radiation heat and ambient temperature at the time when it receives the setting, finds the relational expression between the human radiation heat and the ambient temperature, and air-conditions so as to meet the relational expression. Because it means that there is a request for changing temperature by the user when the user changes the setting, the control unit 101 can achieve air-conditioning in accordance with users by learning how the temperature was set at the corresponding temperature of the human body radiation heat of the user.
  • the temperature settings are averaged so that air-conditioningwhich satisfies a certain level of temperature requests of all users can be achieved.
  • temperature raising setting and temperature lowering setting were learned in the past under the same condition, for example, at 28°C in the summertime and at 33°C for human body radiation heat, if the temperature information of temperature lowering setting is greater, it is considered that there is a strong temperature lowering request and the air-conditioning temperature is lowered. Taking such a case, in which the user may not want to be subject to air-conditioned air stream, into account, settings to direct the flap upwards and deceleration of the fan speed, etc. are carried out.
  • the human body detection threshold value and absence determination threshold value are changed on the basis of the average temperature of the temperatures detected by the thermopile 11 of the indoor unit 10 or the temperature detected by the thermistor 12.
  • the control unit 101 determines in which part of the room the air-conditioned air stream flows at the time of warming, applies the value set in advance at the time of initialization, and corrects the temperature which is susceptible to heat generation or air-conditioned air stream of the air conditioner.
  • the control unit 101 decides the human body detection threshold value and absence determination threshold, taking the temperature rise caused by them into account.
  • the control unit 101 gradually learns the temperature rising curve, computes the difference from the radiation heat at the time when the fan 105 is stopped, and modifies the human body detection threshold value and the absence determination threshold value to the values that meet the user room.
  • Step S10 to S14 of FIG. 7 when a human body is detected, the control unit 101 adds a preset value to the humanbody existence value for determining whether or not a human exists, based on the human body detection information. In the event that no human body is detected, the control unit 101 subtracts the preset value only in the range where the human body existence value exists. The control unit 101 subtracts the preset value from the human body existing value every time the temperature information is imported or each preset time, and when the human body existing value becomes less than the absence determining threshold value, the control unit 101 carries out absence determination only for the place where the motion is last detected.
  • the control unit 101 carries out absence determination to determine whether or not a human body exists, by the use of temperature change from grouped temperature information at the time when the human body is detected, as well as the temperature of the portion. According to this, it is possible to determine whether the person stops and does not move or the heat source is erroneously detected only at the place where the temperature is detected, and therefore, the absence determination can be reliably carried out.
  • the control unit 101 resets the flag of the human body existing area with the absence determination and stops air-conditioning control for the portion or carries out energy-saving operation when the flag is reset. Consequently, it is possible to eliminate wasteful air-conditioning and achieve energy saving and increased air-conditioning efficiency.
  • the control unit 101 does not perform human body detection unless there is any temperature difference (temperature change). In addition, because household electrical appliances, etc. gradually increase temperature, even when any heat source close to the human body temperature exists, the control unit 101 does not make false detection as with the conventional technologies. In addition, even when the heat-generating devices rapidly increase temperature, the control unit 101 can cancel erroneous detection by the absence determination.
  • the human body existence value is expressed by f(n) and is the value obtained by adding the product of multiplying the human body existence value f(n-1) computed last time by the human body existence coefficient ⁇ and the product of multiplying the human body detection function F(n) generated at the time when the human body is detected by the human body detection coefficient ⁇ .
  • the value greatly rises when the human body is found, and it gradually lowers when the human body is not found.
  • the human body existence coefficient ⁇ can be optionally changed by the user and it is possible to change the human body detection sensitivity, too. It is also possible to change or rewrite the method of computing the existence value in accordance with the types of air-conditioners, and servicing personnel and users can rewrite it via the network.
  • the control unit 101 performs specified controls such as energy-saving operation, etc. in the range where no human body is existent.
  • the air conditioner 1 performs absence determination only at the place where the human body is detected. Because in the conventional method, it is determined simply by the temperature difference and the temperature close to the human body temperature, objects having the temperature close to the human body temperature are erroneously detected, but in the present invention, the absence determination is added so that erroneous detection can be avoided. In conventional inventions, once a heat source having the temperature close to the human body temperature is erroneously detected, there is no mechanism to carry out re-determination and the erroneous detection is continued.
  • the present embodiment by carrying out absence determination and obtaining the difference from the temperature at the time when the human body is detected, it is determined that the human body is absent when the temperature change increases after a predetermined time. Consequently, because it is possible to reliably detect absence by avoiding the time of sudden temperature change, etc. caused by heat-generating devices, false detection does not continue and accurate human body detection can be performed.
  • the threshold value table for human body detection and the threshold value table for absence determination different tables are, in general, used. By doing so, the threshold value in the vicinity of the human body temperature can be made smaller and even with slight changes, the human body can be detected.
  • the user can set the human body detection sensitivity in several steps by settings.
  • absence is determined when the human body has not detected for a certain time at the place where the human body detection is carried out and appropriate air-conditioning is unable to be performed for a person who is standing still. In this embodiment, however, by carrying out absence determining processing, air-conditioning can be properly performed for a person who stands still.
  • control unit 101 can refresh (cancel) the information on the human body detection in a predetermined timing. By this, should any false detection be made, correct detection can be performed at the time of next refreshing so that continuation of false detection can be avoided. It is possible to refresh the information as needed from a remote controller.
  • the control unit 101 may drive a fan 105 to perform air-conditioning control and perform air-conditioning control temporarily to the detectable temperature or may learn the past human body detection information and temperature information to store the weighting in memory, so that the control unit 101 performs comprehensive control based on the weighting distribution.
  • wasteful air-conditioning can be suppresseduntil the temperature changes to the human body detectable temperature, and lowering of energy saving effects can be suppressed during the time until the human body is detected.
  • the behavioral patterns registered in advance on the basis of the studied behavioral patterns individual identification is performed as to which person and optimum air-conditioning may be performed for each individual. Once the behavioral patterns are studied, even if clothing is thick and temperature change is not markedly shown, the human body temperature increase is estimated from the amount of activity, and comfortable air-conditioning control can be performed.
  • the control unit 101 also may compute an amount of activities of the human body from a variation of the positions in which the human body was detected, and estimate the temperature rise of the human body based on the amount of activities, so as to conduct air-conditioning control based on the estimated temperature rise.
  • the control unit 101 judges it as a human body which stays in the vicinity and has a small amount of activity.
  • a human body detected in an area other than that in which the human body was previously detected is judged to provide a large amount of activity.
  • a person within a certain range can be determined as the same person, and the traveling region can be computed, so that the amount of activity can be easily determined.
  • this technique is effective.
  • the present technique adopts a method to add a value at the position where the human body was continuously detected, and to subtract the value from the place where any change is made.
  • the person who first appears provides a large amount of activity because the person enters from the outside, and the person who stays in the same place provides a small amount of activity. Even in the case that the person goes out of the room temporarily and returns to the room, if the person nearly stays in the place where the human body was detected, the amount of activity is small.
  • the heat source in the event that a human body is detected in a certain area, if the heat source does not move at the time when a thermal image is compared to a next thermal image, absence determination must be performed and the presence and the absence of a person must be determined.
  • a thermal pixel at the time before the human body is detected is overwritten as a background image to the thermal pixel portion of the human body detection range of the thermal image that expresses the temperature distribution.
  • the background temperature thermal pixel of a range other than the human body detecting range is overwritten as it is.
  • the human body detection threshold value is decided from the average ambient temperature by the previous thermal pixels when the human body moves newly, so that the accuracy of the detection results is thereby increased. Furthermore, since the average ambient temperature is computed in the human body detection area by the use of the ambient temperature and the last background temperature at the human body detection position, the optimum human body detection threshold value can be applied and the detection errors can be reduced.
  • the background temperature at the time before a person moves in is 10° and a person of 32°C moves in, and when the ambient temperature increases to 20°C thereafter and the person moves the difference between 20°C and 10°C may be detected as 10°C Therefore, in such event, based on the thermal pixels at the human body detection area or around the human body, the temperature corrections are added to the human body staying background temperature thermal pixel portion. By this, even if a person moves, it is not erroneously detected that the person stays and the presence and absence can be determined correctly
  • the air-conditioner carries out air-conditioning control as described above.
  • the air-conditioner 1 separately outputs the wind in, for example, 6 patterns (6 areas) only
  • each kind of the above information can be utilized through networks in addition to being utilized for automatic control of the air conditioner 1.
  • it is configured to separately provide the indoor unit 10 with radio communication means for making communications with cellular phones and to make communication between the cellular phones and the control unit 101 of the indoor unit 10 via the radio communication means.
  • it is configured to separately provide the indoor unit 10 with radio communication means for receiving signals from a remote controller and to make communication between the remote controller and the control unit 101 of this indoor unit 10 via the radio communication means.
  • the airconditioner can be used for crime-prevention or for monitoring the state of animal indoors. Furthermore, in the case of frequent remote control operation, it is possible to change the threshold values and settings preset in the memory of the air conditioner 1, or an optimum value can be chosen from the database through networks.
  • in linkage with other equipment for example, by setting the air-conditioning temperature to be slightly lower by judging the condition after taking a bath from the information from the water heater, still more energy saving can be achieved. Furthermore, based on the information from other equipment such as absence and presence information, etc. by room door open/close sensor or radio tags, still more accurate human body detection and comfortable control can be carried out.
  • thermopiles used herein but other temperature detection sensors which have similar functions may be used.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Fuzzy Systems (AREA)
  • Mathematical Physics (AREA)
  • Air Conditioning Control Device (AREA)
EP07806197.5A 2006-09-07 2007-08-29 Klimaanlage Active EP2060857B1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP2006243236 2006-09-07
PCT/JP2007/066720 WO2008029679A1 (fr) 2006-09-07 2007-08-29 Climatiseur

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP2060857A1 true EP2060857A1 (de) 2009-05-20
EP2060857A4 EP2060857A4 (de) 2012-01-25
EP2060857B1 EP2060857B1 (de) 2019-01-09

Family

ID=39157111

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP07806197.5A Active EP2060857B1 (de) 2006-09-07 2007-08-29 Klimaanlage

Country Status (4)

Country Link
EP (1) EP2060857B1 (de)
JP (2) JP4859926B2 (de)
CN (1) CN101490479B (de)
WO (1) WO2008029679A1 (de)

Cited By (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2194330A3 (de) * 2008-12-03 2012-05-16 LG Electronics Inc. Klimaanlage und Steuerverfahren dafür
GB2519769A (en) * 2013-10-29 2015-05-06 Cp Electronics Ltd Apparatus for controlling an electrical load
US9200813B2 (en) 2009-10-21 2015-12-01 Azbil Corporation Air-conditioning controlling device and method
EP2941008A4 (de) * 2012-12-25 2016-07-20 Mitsubishi Electric Corp Steuerungssystem, steuerungsverfahren und programm
GB2544072A (en) * 2013-10-29 2017-05-10 Cp Electronics Ltd Apparatus for controlling an electrical load
EP3040697A4 (de) * 2013-08-28 2017-07-19 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Wärmebildsensor und klimaanlage
US10053052B2 (en) 2013-06-04 2018-08-21 Denso Corporation Biological object detector, vehicle seat occupancy detector, and seat belt non-wearing warning system
US10641660B2 (en) 2014-05-30 2020-05-05 Panasonic Corporation Temperature sensor, device using same, and temperature measurement method
US11047589B2 (en) 2015-03-30 2021-06-29 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Air blower and air blowing system
US11802711B2 (en) 2020-04-28 2023-10-31 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Information processing device and air conditioning system

Families Citing this family (50)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP5107613B2 (ja) * 2007-05-31 2012-12-26 セコム株式会社 人体検知器
KR101645193B1 (ko) * 2008-10-31 2016-08-03 엘지전자 주식회사 공기조화기 및 그 제어방법
KR101569414B1 (ko) 2008-12-26 2015-11-16 엘지전자 주식회사 공기조화기 및 그 동작방법
JP2010181081A (ja) * 2009-02-05 2010-08-19 Panasonic Corp 空気調和機
JP5317883B2 (ja) * 2009-08-06 2013-10-16 三菱電機株式会社 空気調和機
JP5309102B2 (ja) * 2010-09-06 2013-10-09 日立アプライアンス株式会社 空気調和機
CN102759173B (zh) * 2011-04-26 2014-09-03 珠海格力电器股份有限公司 控制空调运行方式的方法和空调
CN102759177A (zh) * 2011-04-26 2012-10-31 珠海格力电器股份有限公司 一种空调
JP5948580B2 (ja) * 2011-09-05 2016-07-06 パナソニックＩｐマネジメント株式会社 空気調和機
CN103090503B (zh) * 2011-10-27 2015-08-05 海尔集团公司 一种空调装置及其控制方法
JP5890261B2 (ja) * 2012-06-21 2016-03-22 アズビル株式会社 温度検出範囲特定装置および方法
JP6001938B2 (ja) * 2012-07-09 2016-10-05 アズビル株式会社 温度分布検出装置および方法
CN104279689B (zh) * 2013-07-10 2017-03-29 海尔集团公司 多通道区域的背景温度更新方法、装置及空调设备
CN103727595B (zh) * 2013-12-19 2016-05-11 宁波瑞易电器科技发展有限公司 一种空调调节***
CN103727638B (zh) * 2013-12-19 2016-01-06 宁波瑞易电器科技发展有限公司 空调智能调节***
CN104896685B (zh) * 2014-03-03 2019-06-28 松下电器（美国）知识产权公司 传感方法、传感***及包含它们的空调设备
CN104913430B (zh) * 2014-03-11 2018-03-27 美的集团股份有限公司 空调器的控制方法、控制***、可穿戴电子设备和空调器
CN104033998A (zh) * 2014-05-27 2014-09-10 四川长虹电器股份有限公司 空调控制***
WO2015182061A1 (ja) * 2014-05-27 2015-12-03 パナソニック インテレクチュアル プロパティ コーポレーション オブ アメリカ 空気調和装置が実行するセンサの制御方法
CN104061662B (zh) * 2014-07-17 2017-02-15 珠海格力电器股份有限公司 一种人体检测方法、装置和空调
CN105352106B (zh) * 2014-08-22 2019-01-04 珠海格力电器股份有限公司 人体检测方法和装置、空调器及其控制方法和装置
CN105371421B (zh) * 2014-09-02 2019-04-23 青岛海尔空调器有限总公司 一种空调控制方法和空调器
CN105674471A (zh) * 2014-11-18 2016-06-15 青岛海尔空调电子有限公司 一种空调用人体探测定位方法及空调
CN205373891U (zh) * 2014-12-31 2016-07-06 广东美的制冷设备有限公司 红外传感器的成像装置及空调器
CN104697114B (zh) * 2015-03-06 2017-07-04 广东美的制冷设备有限公司 一种空调控制方法及装置
CN104879901B (zh) * 2015-06-11 2018-01-05 珠海格力电器股份有限公司 空调器的控制方法和装置
CN105910232B (zh) * 2016-04-29 2018-10-19 广东美的制冷设备有限公司 基于邻近空调设定学习的空调控制方法、***及空调
CN106091233A (zh) * 2016-05-31 2016-11-09 广东美的制冷设备有限公司 空调器及其控制方法和控制***
CN107588857A (zh) * 2016-07-06 2018-01-16 众智光电科技股份有限公司 红外线位置感测装置
JP6646549B2 (ja) * 2016-08-30 2020-02-14 アズビル株式会社 監視装置、監視方法、およびプログラム。
CN106247567B (zh) * 2016-09-18 2019-03-22 珠海格力电器股份有限公司 一种空调控制方法及装置
CN106440217A (zh) * 2016-09-30 2017-02-22 广东美的制冷设备有限公司 空调器的节能控制方法及装置、空调器
EP3527904B1 (de) * 2016-10-11 2021-09-22 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Klimatisierungsvorrichtung
CN106705356B (zh) * 2016-11-30 2019-07-16 广东美的制冷设备有限公司 空调器的运行控制方法、控制装置和空调器
JP6927752B2 (ja) * 2017-05-29 2021-09-01 アズビル株式会社 温度分布検出装置および方法
CN107504628A (zh) * 2017-08-01 2017-12-22 青岛海尔空调电子有限公司 设备检测方法及装置
CN108302698A (zh) * 2017-12-27 2018-07-20 青岛海尔智能技术研发有限公司 空调器控制方法、***和空调器
CN108180604A (zh) * 2017-12-28 2018-06-19 广东美的制冷设备有限公司 人体活动状态判断方法、装置及可读存储介质、空调器
CN109059223A (zh) * 2018-06-29 2018-12-21 广东美的制冷设备有限公司 空气调节设备及其控制方法和装置
CN109028505A (zh) * 2018-06-29 2018-12-18 广东美的制冷设备有限公司 空气调节设备及其控制方法和装置
CN109556253B (zh) * 2018-10-18 2020-01-17 珠海格力电器股份有限公司 一种天井机控制方法、装置及设备
CN113454403B (zh) * 2019-02-18 2022-10-28 三菱电机株式会社 空调装置
CN110332660B (zh) * 2019-06-25 2020-06-05 珠海格力电器股份有限公司 可提高温度场精度的温度场数据确定方法、装置及设备
CN110274367A (zh) * 2019-06-27 2019-09-24 珠海格力电器股份有限公司 空调控制装置、方法、控制器、空调以及存储介质
JP7286906B2 (ja) * 2019-09-10 2023-06-06 株式会社竹中工務店 パーソナル空調機器の制御装置、パーソナル空調システム及びプログラム
CN112303804A (zh) * 2020-10-27 2021-02-02 广东Tcl智能暖通设备有限公司 室内空调模式与照明模式的控制方法、***及存储介质
CN113686447A (zh) * 2021-07-30 2021-11-23 青岛海尔空调器有限总公司 用于人体识别的方法及装置、电子设备、可读存储介质
CN114251786B (zh) * 2021-12-11 2022-12-16 珠海格力电器股份有限公司 一种智能控制方法、装置、存储介质和空调器
CN114576816B (zh) * 2022-03-16 2024-06-14 武汉高德智感科技有限公司 基于红外传感器的空调调节方法及装置
JP2023174323A (ja) * 2022-05-27 2023-12-07 オムロン株式会社 環境制御システム、環境制御方法及び環境制御プログラム

Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2006226988A (ja) * 2005-01-24 2006-08-31 Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd 赤外線センサシステム

Family Cites Families (24)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPH0727027B2 (ja) * 1988-05-25 1995-03-29 ダイキン工業株式会社 人***置検知装置および該装置を備えた空気調和装置
JPH0730938B2 (ja) 1988-11-15 1995-04-10 ダイキン工業株式会社 空気調和機
JPH0675011B2 (ja) 1989-01-25 1994-09-21 ダイキン工業株式会社 赤外線検知装置
JPH02213635A (ja) * 1989-02-13 1990-08-24 Mitsubishi Electric Corp 空気調和装置
JP2792997B2 (ja) 1990-03-12 1998-09-03 三洋電機株式会社 空気調和機の制御方式
JP2921256B2 (ja) * 1991-11-14 1999-07-19 三菱電機株式会社 空気調和機の制御装置及び人体検知センサー及び空気調和機
JP2755031B2 (ja) * 1992-02-27 1998-05-20 ダイキン工業株式会社 空気調和機
JPH05260270A (ja) * 1992-03-13 1993-10-08 Ricoh Co Ltd デジタル画像形成装置
JPH0674524A (ja) * 1992-08-24 1994-03-15 Sanyo Electric Co Ltd 空気調和装置
JPH0682084A (ja) * 1992-09-02 1994-03-22 Daikin Ind Ltd 空気調和装置の運転制御装置
JPH06160507A (ja) * 1992-09-24 1994-06-07 Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd 人存在状況判定装置
JP3216280B2 (ja) * 1992-12-11 2001-10-09 松下電器産業株式会社 空気調和機の制御装置と画像処理装置の応用機器
JP3045904B2 (ja) * 1993-10-08 2000-05-29 三菱電機株式会社 人体検知装置及び空気調和機及び空気調和機の表示装置
JP3098677B2 (ja) 1994-07-14 2000-10-16 シャープ株式会社 人体検知装置
JP3260569B2 (ja) * 1994-10-31 2002-02-25 松下精工株式会社 空調制御システム
JPH08170930A (ja) 1994-12-19 1996-07-02 Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd 赤外線検出装置
JPH08178390A (ja) * 1994-12-22 1996-07-12 Sharp Corp 人体活動量算出装置、人体活動量着衣量算出装置およびそれを備えた空気調和機、人体異常通報機
JP3409497B2 (ja) 1995-03-31 2003-05-26 三菱電機株式会社 人体検出装置
JP3409538B2 (ja) * 1995-10-20 2003-05-26 日産自動車株式会社 人体検出装置
JP3210852B2 (ja) * 1996-01-10 2001-09-25 シャープ株式会社 環境制御装置及び環境制御方法
JPH09297057A (ja) * 1996-03-07 1997-11-18 Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd 焦電型赤外線センサと焦電型赤外線センサシステム
KR0182727B1 (ko) * 1996-10-08 1999-05-01 삼성전자주식회사 공기조화기의 풍향제어방법
JP4122562B2 (ja) * 1998-04-15 2008-07-23 株式会社デンソー 車両用乗員検出装置
JP3805165B2 (ja) 2000-04-26 2006-08-02 三菱電機株式会社 人体検知装置及び空気調和装置

Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP2006226988A (ja) * 2005-01-24 2006-08-31 Matsushita Electric Ind Co Ltd 赤外線センサシステム

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
See also references of WO2008029679A1 *

Cited By (13)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP2194330A3 (de) * 2008-12-03 2012-05-16 LG Electronics Inc. Klimaanlage und Steuerverfahren dafür
US9200813B2 (en) 2009-10-21 2015-12-01 Azbil Corporation Air-conditioning controlling device and method
EP2941008A4 (de) * 2012-12-25 2016-07-20 Mitsubishi Electric Corp Steuerungssystem, steuerungsverfahren und programm
US10053052B2 (en) 2013-06-04 2018-08-21 Denso Corporation Biological object detector, vehicle seat occupancy detector, and seat belt non-wearing warning system
EP3040697A4 (de) * 2013-08-28 2017-07-19 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Wärmebildsensor und klimaanlage
GB2519769B (en) * 2013-10-29 2016-09-28 Cp Electronics Ltd Apparatus for controlling an electrical load
GB2544072A (en) * 2013-10-29 2017-05-10 Cp Electronics Ltd Apparatus for controlling an electrical load
US9795005B2 (en) 2013-10-29 2017-10-17 Legrand Electrics Limited Apparatus arranged with plural diverse-type detectors for controlling an electrical load
GB2544072B (en) * 2013-10-29 2018-06-20 Cp Electronics Ltd Apparatus for controlling an electrical load
GB2519769A (en) * 2013-10-29 2015-05-06 Cp Electronics Ltd Apparatus for controlling an electrical load
US10641660B2 (en) 2014-05-30 2020-05-05 Panasonic Corporation Temperature sensor, device using same, and temperature measurement method
US11047589B2 (en) 2015-03-30 2021-06-29 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Air blower and air blowing system
US11802711B2 (en) 2020-04-28 2023-10-31 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Information processing device and air conditioning system

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JP5452550B2 (ja) 2014-03-26
CN101490479B (zh) 2010-12-15
WO2008029679A1 (fr) 2008-03-13
EP2060857A4 (de) 2012-01-25
EP2060857B1 (de) 2019-01-09
JP2011208936A (ja) 2011-10-20
JP4859926B2 (ja) 2012-01-25
JPWO2008029679A1 (ja) 2010-01-21
CN101490479A (zh) 2009-07-22

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
EP2060857B1 (de) Klimaanlage
JP2009092282A (ja) 空気調和機
JP6650583B2 (ja) 空調制御装置
JP6046579B2 (ja) 空気調和機
CN106440245A (zh) 一种人***置获取方法和装置
US20150028114A1 (en) Apparatus and method for controlling a heating ventilation and / or air conditioning system utilizing an infrared sensing or imaging device for determining radiated temperature of one or more objects or occupants in the conditioned space
US20090281667A1 (en) Air conditioning system
CN110749061A (zh) 空调器及其空调控制方法、控制装置和可读存储介质
CN105423502A (zh) 空调送风控制方法及装置
CN105465966A (zh) 空调送风控制方法及装置
CN105546747A (zh) 空调送风控制方法及装置
CN106196481B (zh) 基于冷热感值的导风条调节方法及装置
JP2006226988A (ja) 赤外線センサシステム
US11359969B2 (en) Temperature regulation based on thermal imaging
US12011970B2 (en) System and method for estimating climate needs
JP2012141104A (ja) 空気調和機および空気調和機の運転制御方法
JP3260569B2 (ja) 空調制御システム
JP2015021666A (ja) 空調システムおよび自走式機器
CN106288145A (zh) 空调控制方法及装置
CN105864962A (zh) 一种空调温度可视化方法、***及空调器
CN116772389A (zh) 空调控制方法、装置、电子设备及存储介质
JP3314137B2 (ja) 空気調和機の制御装置
US11306937B2 (en) Temperature detecting device and air conditioner
CN112696785A (zh) 空调器控制方法、控制***和空调器
CN108195042B (zh) 空调器控制方法、装置及计算机可读存储介质

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PUAI Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012

17P Request for examination filed

Effective date: 20081215

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: A1

Designated state(s): AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MT NL PL PT RO SE SI SK TR

AX Request for extension of the european patent

Extension state: AL BA HR MK RS

DAX Request for extension of the european patent (deleted)
RBV Designated contracting states (corrected)

Designated state(s): ES IT

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: DE

Ref legal event code: 8566

A4 Supplementary search report drawn up and despatched

Effective date: 20111222

RIC1 Information provided on ipc code assigned before grant

Ipc: F24F 11/00 20060101ALI20111216BHEP

Ipc: F24F 11/02 20060101AFI20111216BHEP

17Q First examination report despatched

Effective date: 20170720

REG Reference to a national code

Ref country code: DE

Ref legal event code: R079

Free format text: PREVIOUS MAIN CLASS: F24F0011020000

Ipc: F24F0011000000

RIC1 Information provided on ipc code assigned before grant

Ipc: F24F 11/00 20060101AFI20180604BHEP

GRAP Despatch of communication of intention to grant a patent

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOSNIGR1

INTG Intention to grant announced

Effective date: 20180727

GRAS Grant fee paid

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOSNIGR3

GRAA (expected) grant

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009210

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: B1

Designated state(s): ES IT

PG25 Lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: ES

Free format text: LAPSE BECAUSE OF FAILURE TO SUBMIT A TRANSLATION OF THE DESCRIPTION OR TO PAY THE FEE WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIME-LIMIT

Effective date: 20190109

PLBE No opposition filed within time limit

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009261

STAA Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent

Free format text: STATUS: NO OPPOSITION FILED WITHIN TIME LIMIT

26N No opposition filed

Effective date: 20191010

P01 Opt-out of the competence of the unified patent court (upc) registered

Effective date: 20230512

PGFP Annual fee paid to national office [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo]

Ref country code: IT

Payment date: 20230711

Year of fee payment: 17