JPH02183751A - Infrared detecting device for air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow the miniaturization by switching the detection zone by moving the light collecting means formed on the switching member along a circle with an infrared ray sensor as its center. CONSTITUTION:A switching member 6 is provided which moves in a circle with an infrared ray sensor 5 disposed at its center. The switching means 6 has light collecting means 8, 9 whose light collecting area is smaller than the area of incident infrared ray path from the room to the infrared ray sensor 5. The detection zone in the room where infrared rays are collected to the infrared ray sensor 5 through the light collecting means 8, 9 is successively switched as the switching member 6 moves. As the light collecting means 8, 9 moves and the detection zone in the room is successively switched, the change in the amount of incident infrared rays to the infrared ray sensor 5 for each segment of the room is detected so as to detect the temperature distribution or the position of occupants, etc., in the room. Since the required switching is performed by changing the position of the light collecting means 8, 9 relative to a plurality of detection zones in the direction of movement, the number of light collecting means 8, 9 can be made smaller than that of detection zones, and so, a miniaturization becomes possible.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) This invention improves air-conditioned comfort by controlling the direction of air blown from an air conditioner based on the temperature distribution in an air-conditioned room or the detection result of a person's position. The present invention relates to an infrared detection device for an air conditioner, which is used to detect the above-mentioned temperature distribution and the position of a person when trying to improve the temperature distribution.

(Prior art) As a conventional example of an air conditioner equipped with an infrared detection device,
For example, an air conditioner described in JP-A-61-195232 can be mentioned. In this device, the indoor unit is divided into multiple areas in the front, back, left and right directions from the indoor unit of the air conditioner installed on the wall, and multiple infrared sensors are installed inside the indoor unit to correspond to each area. ing. Then, the temperature of the floor surface, etc. in each area is measured using infrared rays arriving from each area, and based on the measurement results, the direction of the air blowing from the indoor unit is controlled to make the indoor temperature distribution uniform. is being done.

Incidentally, the infrared sensors used for temperature measurement as described above are relatively expensive parts, and the above device has a configuration in which multiple infrared sensors are provided, each corresponding to a compartmentalized area in the room, resulting in high manufacturing costs. There's a problem.

Therefore, the present applicant has previously proposed an infrared detection device that can detect infrared rays coming from a room in each section of the room by having a configuration in which - infrared sensors are provided (Japanese Patent Application No. 63-20
(See No. 0945). A schematic diagram of its configuration is shown in FIG. 9. In the figure, 41 is an infrared sensor, and a light condensing plate 42 is disposed close to this sensor 41, and further surrounds the sensor 41 and connects this sensor 41 and the above Light condensing plate 4
A drum 43 having a part of its cylindrical surface is located between the drum 2 and the drum 2 is provided. The light condensing plate 42 divides the floor surface of the room in which the air conditioner equipped with the infrared detection device is installed into two in the front and back direction and three parts in the left and right direction from the wall surface on which the air conditioner is installed.
A total of six small lenses R1 to R6 are formed in an array of two rows above and below and three rows on the left and right, corresponding to the six divided regions, and are directed from the indoor floor toward the sensor 41. For infrared rays, a small lens R1 corresponding to each region is used.
The light is focused on the sensor 41 through R6. On the other hand, on the cylindrical surface of the drum 43,
3, when rotating the upper small lens R1-[73
A position that crosses between each incident optical path where the light is focused on the sensor 41 through the sensor 41
An aperture 4 that transmits only incident infrared rays from one small lens is located at a position crossing each incident optical path to condense light into the
4.45 are bored at different positions in the circumferential direction. Therefore, by rotating the drum 43, the infrared rays incident on the sensor 41 are sequentially switched to the infrared rays for each of the divided areas in the room, so that infrared rays can be detected for each divided area. In the above, the infrared sensor 41 is configured to be sensitive to infrared rays equivalent to body temperature emitted from the human body, and as a result, it is detected whether or not there is a person in each area. The direction of the blowing air is controlled according to the position of the person.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) FIG. 1O(a) is a schematic plan view when the light condensing plate 42 in the above configuration is arranged parallel to the light receiving surface of the sensor 41 and centered in the left and right direction. It shows. In this case, the condensed infrared rays that pass through, for example, a small lens R1 that is far away from the center will be incident at an angle with respect to this small lens R1, so that the whole will undergo a large refraction toward the center when it passes through this small lens R1. The light then enters the light receiving surface of the sensor 41 at an angle. Therefore, taking into consideration the attenuation during refraction, the light gathering power of this small lens R1 becomes smaller than that of the small lens R2 located at the center position. In addition, in FIG. 10(b), the position of the light condensing plate 42 is changed from that of FIG. 10(a) to the position of the sensor 41.
In this case, the end side of the small lens R2 at the center position is located within the path where the light should be focused by the small lens R1, and as a result, the area within the shaded area in the figure is The infrared rays are not focused on the sensor 41, which further reduces the light-gathering power of the small lens R1.
From the above, in the conventional configuration described above, in order to reduce the difference in the amount of infrared light condensed by each small lens to the sensor 41 and provide stable detection performance over the entire indoor area,
The shape of the small lenses on both sides is enlarged, and the sensor 41
It is necessary to sufficiently space the light condensing plate 42 from the light condensing plate 42, and as a result, a problem arises in that it is not possible to achieve sufficient compactness. Furthermore, when creating a configuration in which the number of compartmented areas in the room is subdivided to improve the detection accuracy of people's positions, etc., the above configuration, which requires the same number of small lenses as the number of compartmented areas, has the problem of further increasing the size. be.

This invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide an infrared detection device for an air conditioner that can be made more compact.

(Means for Solving the Problems) Therefore, the infrared detection device for an air conditioner of the present invention includes one infrared sensor 5 into which infrared rays from the room are incident, and a circumference approximately centered around the position of this infrared sensor 5. A switching member 6 that moves along the switching member 6 is provided, and the switching member 6 is provided with a
The light collecting means 8.9 is formed with a light collecting area smaller than the light path area of the infrared light incident from the room to the infrared sensor 5, and is located within the light path of the infrared light entering the room. The detection area in the room that emits infrared light that is focused on the infrared sensor 5 via the switching member 6 is
It is composed of ``pe'' which is changed sequentially by the movement of .

In this specification, infrared rays with a wavelength of 1 to 15 μm are targeted, and words related to light are appropriately used to explain this infrared ray.

(Function) In the above-mentioned infrared detection device for an air conditioner, by moving the condensing means 8.9 formed in the switching member 6 in the infrared incident optical path from the room, the detection area in the room is sequentially changed. Changes in the amount of infrared radiation incident on the infrared sensor 5 are detected for each partial region in the room, and thereby the temperature distribution in the room, the position of a person, etc. are detected.

In the above configuration, the condensing means 8.9 is the infrared sensor 5.
Since it moves along the circumference approximately centered at the position of
The above-mentioned condensing means 8 and 9 are positioned sequentially on the condensing path from each detection area without causing the oblique incidence state in which the attenuation of the transmitted infrared rays becomes large in the small lenses on both sides in the conventional configuration. I will continue to do so. Furthermore, when reducing the separation distance between the condensing means 8.9 and the infrared sensor 5, there is no positional restriction from adjacent small lenses in the conventional configuration, and the condensing means 8.9 can be arranged in each detection area. It is possible to sequentially position the light focusing path with the center aligned on the light collection path from the Furthermore, in the above configuration, switching is performed by sequentially changing the position of the light focusing means 8.9 for a plurality of detection areas in the moving direction, and the number of light focusing means 8.9 is changed. Since the number of detection areas can be made smaller than the number of detection areas, further miniaturization can be achieved.

(Example) Next, a specific example of the infrared detecting device for an air conditioner according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, based on FIGS. 1 to 3, the configuration of an infrared detecting device M for an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which the wall-mounted part of the air conditioner is installed inside a shaped indoor unit, will be described. In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a substantially box-shaped casing, and an opening 3 is formed in the front surface (lower surface in FIG. 1) 2 of the casing 1. As shown in FIG. A thermoelectric infrared sensor 5 is attached to a circuit board 4 erected inside, with its light-receiving surface facing the opening 3. Further, within the casing 1, a cylindrical drum (switching member) 6 that surrounds the circuit board 4 and whose center axis is at the position of the infrared sensor 5 is provided upright. A step motor 7 is connected to the lower end shaft of the drum 6 as shown in FIG. It is designed so that it can be rotated around the center. As shown in FIG. 3, on the cylindrical surface of the drum 6, lens portions (condensing means) 8.9 are formed at two locations spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction and at different positions in the vertical direction. However, those functions will be explained later.

FIG. 4 shows an indoor unit 1 equipped with the above-mentioned infrared detection device M.
0 shows a schematic diagram of a room installed on one wall.

The indoor unit 10 has a suction port 11 on its front panel,
A blowout port 12 is formed below the suction port 11, and the blowout port 12 is provided with a horizontal flap 13 and a vertical flap 14 for controlling the blowing direction of air.

An infrared detection device M is installed on the side of the suction port 11.

Among the infrared rays emitted from indoor floors, furniture, and surrounding walls depending on their temperature, infrared rays directed toward the infrared detecting device M enter the infrared detecting device M through the opening 3. . For the incident infrared rays from the entire room, as shown in the figure, the room is divided into two in the front and back direction from the wall surface on which the indoor unit 10 is installed, and three in the left and right direction, for a total of six detection areas A to F. Each lens portion 8.9 is configured so that the amount of infrared rays can be detected by the infrared sensor 5. For example, as shown in FIG. 5(b), when the drum 6 is rotated and the lower lens part 8 on its cylindrical surface is located at the center position that matches the center of the infrared sensor 5 in the left and right direction. In addition, among the infrared rays coming from the room, only the infrared rays that pass through the lower lens part 8 from within the substantially central area B of the room are focused on the infrared sensor 5. Therefore, at this position, the output of the infrared sensor 5 corresponds to the infrared rays from area B in the room, and area B becomes the detection area. When the drum 6 is rotated counterclockwise from this position, the detection area changes from the above-mentioned HP area B to the area A adjacent to the left side of this area B.
At the position shown in FIG. 5(a), only the infrared rays that pass through the lower lens portion 8 from within the area A are focused on the infrared sensor 5. Therefore, at this position, area A becomes the detection area. Also the fifth
As shown in Figure (C), the detection area is changed to area C by positioning the lower lens 8 at a position to the right of the center position. Therefore, the drum 6 is
By rotating counterclockwise from the position shown in Figure (a), the detection area is sequentially switched to areas A, B, and C at each of the above positions. Then, by further rotating counterclockwise from the position shown in FIG. 5(C), the upper lens 9 is moved to cross the infrared light incident optical path from the room, and along with this movement, the same process as above is performed. , Figure 5 (d
), (e), and (e), the detection areas are sequentially switched in the order of area 1, E, and F.

Next, an example of wind direction control in an air conditioner having the above-mentioned infrared detection device M will be explained. FIG. 6 shows a control block diagram thereof, and as shown in the figure, on the circuit board 4 of the infrared detection device M, the rotational position control of the drum 6 as described above and the infrared rays incident on the sensor 5 are performed. Each area A from the amount
- Control circuit section 2 that detects the temperature of the floor surface etc. and people for each F
0 is configured. In this control circuit section 20, the output from the sensor 5 is subjected to signal amplification and correction in an amplifier circuit 21 and a correction calculation section 22, and then converted to a temperature signal in a temperature conversion section 23, which controls the function of the microcomputer. Is it a system to have one? Sequence processing unit 24 consisting of 1111C
is input. In addition to an emissivity correction circuit 25 and a temperature correction circuit 26 based on the ambient temperature of the sensor 5, the correction calculation unit 22 also includes a function that the angle of incidence of infrared rays incident on the light receiving surface of the sensor 5 is different for each area A to F. An infrared incident energy correction circuit 27 is provided to correct the fact that the distance to the floor surface is different for each area A to F. A correction constant corresponding to the area to be detected is inputted to the infrared incident energy correction circuit 27 and the distance correction circuit 28 from the sequence processing unit 24 at the start of the detection operation for each area A to F.

The sequence processing section 24 has the function of sequentially outputting an operation signal to the motor drive section 29 to thereby control the rotational angular position of the drum 6, and the function of controlling the rotation angle position of the drum 6 from the temperature signal in the temperature conversion section 23 for each region A to F. It has a function of performing temperature and human detection operations and storing the results in the storage unit 30.The control in the sequence processing unit 24 will be explained below with reference to the control flowchart in FIG. 7. .

Step S1 in FIG. 7 is a step for switching the detection area, in which an operating signal is output to the motor drive section 29, whereby the step motor 7 is operated, and the drum 6 is first moved to the lower lens section described above. 8 is rotated until it is located at a position where infrared rays from area A are focused on sensor 5. Next, in step S2, a correction constant corresponding to area A is output to the above-mentioned correction calculation unit 22, and then, in step S3
At this point, the timer tml starts counting time. This timer t
ml is the detection operation time tl per area (for example, 3
seconds) is set. Then, in step S4, the temperature signal inputted from the temperature converter 23 is read, and in step S5, the temperature difference ΔT and the reference value Tb, which will be described later, are compared until the timer tml reaches the set time t1. (Step S6) is repeated at every predetermined sampling time.

The above-mentioned temperature difference ΔT is the absolute value of the difference obtained by subtracting the temperature read sequentially from the first read temperature immediately after the start of the detection operation for each area, and there is no person in area A. When only radiated infrared rays from stationary objects such as floors, walls, and furniture are incident on the sensor 5, there is almost no change in the amount of incident infrared rays during the detection operation time of several seconds, and therefore the above ΔT is It is kept close to 0.

- On the other hand, if a moving object such as a person is in area A and the infrared rays emitted from the human body also enter the sensor 5, the amount of incident infrared rays changes with the movement of this person, and the temperature converter 2
A change occurs in the temperature signal from 3 during the detection operation time.

From this, it is possible to determine the presence or absence of a person by comparing the temperature difference ΔT with a reference value rb that can identify the difference in the amount of change between the case of only a stationary object and the case of a person.

Therefore, when it is determined in step S5 that ΔT exceeds the reference value Tb, the process moves to step S7, and a confirmation signal indicating the presence of a person is stored in the memory corresponding to area A in the storage section 30. Then, the detection operation for area A is completed, and the process moves to step S9, which will be described later.

On the other hand, the timer tal is reached without ΔT exceeding the reference value Tb.
If the time measurement reaches the set time t1, then in step S8, the temperature immediately before the end of the detection operation for area A is determined as the temperature of area A, and this is stored in the storage unit 30. Then, the detection operation for area A is completed, and the process moves to step S9.

Step S9 is a step for determining whether or not the detection operation for area F has been completed, and the process returns to step S1 until the detection operation for area F is completed. Therefore, in step S1, the detection area is changed to the next area B, that is, the drum 6 is rotated so that the infrared rays from area B are focused on the sensor 5, and the process leading to step S9 is repeated. , Similarly to the above, the presence or absence of a person in area B or the temperature is detected. Subsequently, the same operation is repeated in the order of areas C, D, E, and F, and when the detection operation for area F is completed, the process moves from step S9 to step SIO.
Air conditioning operation control device 31 that controls the operation of the entire air conditioner
Then, the temperature of each area and the human discrimination result stored in the storage unit 30 are transmitted.

After that, the process returns to step S1 again, and therefore, the detection operation from area A to area F is repeated, and each time the operation up to area F is completed, the detection result at that time is sent to the air conditioning operation control device 31. Sent sequentially.

FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b) show an example of the above control results. In the figure (a), each detected temperature in the regions CSE and F does not change significantly during the detection operation time t1, and as a result, as shown in the figure (b), each of these temperatures Areas C, E, and F are determined as areas where no person is present, and the detected temperatures of the respective areas are determined as the respective area temperatures. On the other hand, in the area shown in FIG.
The same figure (
As shown in b), it has been determined that there is a person in this area.

The air conditioning operation control device 31 operates the horizontal and vertical flaps 13 and 14 provided at the air outlet 12 of the indoor unit 10 based on the detected position of the person and the temperature in each area as described above to control the air blowing direction. . For example, after starting heating operation, the air outlet temperature is 4.
When starting up until the temperature reaches 0"C, the blowing air does not hit people to prevent cold drafts, and the temperature of the blowing air reaches 40℃.
When the temperature reaches 15"C or above, the horizontal flap 13 is moved directly downward to warm the floor surface, and when the room temperature reaches 15"C or above, the blowing angle is changed to direct hot air to people. , rapidly warms the area around the person.In this case, if there is a low-temperature area remaining in the room, the cold radiation from this area will not provide a sufficient sense of warmth, so warm the area as appropriate. The airflow direction is controlled to provide a faster and warmer feeling while blowing out air and improving the temperature distribution throughout the room. Through such control, a more comfortable air-conditioned state can be achieved.

As described above, in the above embodiment, by rotating the drum 6, the infrared rays from the room that are focused on the infrared sensor 5 are switched for each area A to F in the room, and therefore - The infrared sensor 5 detects the temperature and the presence of people in each area. Since this switching is performed by moving the lens portion 8.9 along the circumference centered on the position of the sensor 5, as shown in FIG.
As shown in a) to (f), the lens portion 8
, 9 are located perpendicular to the straight line connecting the center of each detection area A-F and the sensor 5, and as a result, in the conventional configuration described above, variations in the amount of attenuation when transmitted through the small lens occur. The oblique incidence state to the lens portion does not occur when any of the areas A to F is used as the detection area. Also, in a configuration in which the diameter of the drum 6, that is, the distance between the lens portion 8.9 and the sensor 5 is reduced, the lens portion 8.9 is centered on each light condensing path from each detection area to the sensor 5. It is possible to sequentially position the
Since there is no positional restriction due to adjacent small lenses when multiple small lenses are arranged in a planar shape in the past,
Compared to the light-gathering power when the detection areas are the central areas B and E of the room, the light-gathering power decreases less when the detection areas are the areas A, C, D, and F on the left and right sides of the room, respectively. Become. Therefore, more reliable detection can be performed with a compact device configuration. In addition, in the above configuration, the detection areas can be switched by providing one lens section for each of the plurality of detection areas A-C and D-F in the rotational movement direction, and the number of lens sections can be changed depending on the number of detection areas. Since the number can be reduced, the configuration can be simplified, and as a result, the device can be made more compact.

In the above embodiment, the switching means is formed of a cylindrical drum 6, but the switching member can have any shape as long as it moves along the circumference centered on the position of the sensor 5. Further, the entire switching member as described above is molded from a material capable of transmitting infrared rays, such as polyethylene resin, and the shape of the position of the lens portion described above is set as a lens shape having a predetermined light condensing function, and the switching member and the lens portion are formed. It is also possible to configure it integrally. Furthermore, in the above configuration, the temperature of each area and the presence or absence of a person are determined from the output of the infrared sensor 5, but it is also possible to configure the device as a device that detects only one of them, and the sensor 5 can also be configured to detect only one of them. It can also be configured with a pyroelectric infrared sensor. Furthermore, although the above description has been given of an example in which the room is divided into six sections, the number of sections in the left and right direction of the room can be arbitrarily set by increasing the number of positions for positioning each small lens section 8.9.

Furthermore, it is possible to increase the number of corresponding lens sections in the front-rear direction of the room, thereby increasing the number of detection zones in this direction.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, in the infrared detection device for an air conditioner according to the present invention, the condensing means formed in the switching member is moved along the circumference approximately centered on the infrared sensor. At this time, even in a configuration in which the variation in the amount of attenuation of the condensed infrared rays in the condensing means is small and the distance between the infrared sensor and the condensing means is shortened, the detection area is switched by the conventional configuration. Since the variation in light gathering power that occurs in HE due to positional restrictions between adjacent small lenses does not occur, it is possible to construct a compact device with more stable detection performance. Furthermore, since switching between multiple detection areas in the moving direction is performed by moving the same condensing means, the number of condensing means can be smaller than the number of detection areas, which also makes it possible to achieve further downsizing. It is.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan sectional view showing the internal structure of an infrared detection device for an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line ■-■ in FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the drum, and FIG.
) is a schematic plan view showing the correspondence between the rotational position of the drum and the detection section area in the room, FIG. 6 is a control block diagram of the air conditioner, and FIG. control flowchart,
FIG. 8(a) is a graph showing an example of a change in temperature detected by the above-mentioned infrared detection device for each area in the room.
Figure 8(a) is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the determined results of the infrared detection device based on each detected temperature in Figure 8(a), Figure 9 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional infrared detector, and Figure 10(a) is b) is a schematic plan view for explaining the condensing path of infrared rays passing through the condensing plate in the conventional device. 5... Infrared sensor, 6... Drum (switching member),
8.9...Lens section (light condensing means). Figure 5 Figure 7 Figure 8] ○ (a) ^ ^ / (b) Pu41 i'/1

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. One infrared sensor that receives infrared rays from indoors (
5), and a switching member (6) that moves along a circumference approximately centered on the position of the infrared sensor (5), and the switching member (6) is provided with a switch that connects the infrared sensor (5). The light collecting means (8) (9) is formed with a light collecting area smaller than the light path area of the infrared light incident from the room, and is located within the light path of the infrared light entering the room.
) The infrared rays for an air conditioner are characterized in that a detection area in a room that emits infrared rays that is focused on the infrared sensor (5) via the infrared sensor (5) is configured to be sequentially switched by the movement of the switching member (6). Detection device.