Air conditioning system

Abstract

To achieve energy saving and comfort by performing air conditioning in an optimum manner according to the positions of persons in a plurality of areas where the persons are present.SOLUTION: An air conditioning system 1000 includes: a plurality of nozzles 300, 310, 320, and 330 provided in each of a plurality of work areas (A)-(D) where operators 40 are present for sending air sent from an air conditioner 200 to each of the plurality of work areas; and a control device 100 for controlling opening / closing and an air sending direction of an air flow control valve for each of the plurality of nozzles. The control device 100 includes a position detection part for detecting the positions of the operators 40 in the plurality of work areas, and a nozzle direction control part for executing control to open a damper of the nozzle in the work area where the operators 40 are positioned of the plurality of nozzles on the basis of the positions of the operators 40, and cause the air sending direction of the nozzle in the work area where the operators 40 are positioned to be directed toward the operators 40 in the work area on the basis of the positions of the operators 40.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an air conditioning system. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there is known an air conditioning system that includes an air conditioning unit installed in each air conditioning zone in an air conditioning area consisting of two or more air conditioning zones, a human detection unit that can detect at least the position of an individual passing through the air conditioning area, and a control unit that can control the air conditioning unit to provide localized personal air conditioning around the individual in accordance with the output of the human detection unit (Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2009-250589 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the technology described in Patent Document 1, the air conditioning unit is composed of an air outlet that opens to the floor and an air valve arranged upstream of the air outlet (under the floor), and is configured to open and close the air valve or adjust the amount of air blown out by commands from the control unit. For this reason, it is not assumed that the air blowing direction will be changed toward the position of an individual in each air conditioning zone, and there is room for improvement from the perspective of air conditioning directed toward the position of an individual in each air conditioning zone.

[0005] In view of the above problems, an object of the present disclosure is to provide an air conditioning system that can optimize air conditioning in multiple areas where people may be present according to the positions of people, thereby saving energy and improving comfort. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The gist of the present disclosure is as follows.

[0007] (1) A plurality of nozzles provided in each of a plurality of areas where people may be present, for blowing air sent from an air conditioner to each of the plurality of areas; a control device that controls opening and closing of an air flow control valve and an air blowing direction for each of the plurality of nozzles; The control device includes: a position detection unit that detects positions of people in the plurality of areas; an opening / closing control unit that opens an air flow control valve of a nozzle in an area where a person is located, among the plurality of nozzles, based on the position of the person detected by the position detection unit, and closes an air flow control valve of a nozzle in an area where a person is not located; and a direction control unit that controls the blowing direction of the nozzle in the area where the person is located so that the blowing direction is directed toward the person in the area based on the position of the person detected by the position detection unit. Air conditioning system. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide an air conditioning system that can optimize air conditioning in multiple areas where people may be present according to the positions of the people, thereby saving energy and improving comfort. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an air conditioning system according to one embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a building as viewed from the horizontal direction. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a controller and a nozzle and an anchor connected to the controller. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing functional blocks of a processor of the control device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, these descriptions are intended to merely exemplify preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention to such specific embodiments. In the following description, similar components are given the same reference numerals.

[0011] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an air conditioning system 1000 according to one embodiment. The air conditioning system 1000 is installed in a building 10, such as a factory, and adjusts the temperature inside the building 10. The air conditioning system 1000 includes a control device 100, an air conditioner 200, and a plurality of nozzles 300, 310, 320, and 330.

[0012] 1 shows a schematic view of the interior of a building 10 as seen from above. Inside the building 10, there are provided a plurality of work areas (A) 20, (B) 22, (C) 24, and (D) 26 where workers (people) 40 work.

[0013] The air conditioner 200 sends air whose temperature has been adjusted to each of the nozzles 300, 310, 320, and 330 according to the temperature inside the building 10. The air conditioner 200 is equipped with an inverter or the like that controls the output (airflow rate), and the output of the air conditioner 200 is increased or decreased based on commands from the control device 100.

[0014] The nozzles 300, 310, 320, and 330 are provided in each of a plurality of work areas where a worker 40 may be present, and blow air sent from the air conditioner 200 to each of the plurality of work areas. Specifically, the nozzle 300 is provided in the work area (A) 20, and the nozzle 310 is provided in the work area (B) 22. The nozzle 320 is provided in the work area (C) 24, and the nozzle 330 is provided in the work area (D) 26. The nozzles 300, 310, 320, and 330 are provided with dampers (air flow control valves) that change the flow rate of air, and can be set to a damper open state and a damper closed state. The nozzles 300, 310, 320, and 330 are configured so that the blowing direction can be changed by changing the direction of the nozzle tip.

[0015] The control device 100 controls the opening and closing of dampers and the air blowing direction for each of the multiple nozzles 300, 310, 320, and 330. When a worker 40 moves along the path indicated by the dashed arrow in Fig. 1 in the order of work area (A) 20 → work area (B) 22 → work area (C) 24 → work area (D) 26, the control device 100 opens only the damper of the nozzle in the work area where the worker 40 is located as the worker 40 moves, and controls the air blowing direction of the nozzle to face the worker 40. Although one worker 40 is shown in Fig. 1, there may be multiple workers 40.

[0016] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the building 10 as viewed from the horizontal direction, showing a work area (A) 20 and a work area (B) 22. A plurality of anchors 400 are provided on the ceiling 30 of the building 10. The anchors 400 may be fixed to building pillars, beams, or the like. A tag 42 is attached to the worker 40. The tag 42 is attached to, for example, the hat or the collar of the jacket of the worker 40, and moves with the worker 40 when the worker 40 moves. The anchor 40 detects the distance to the tag 42 by transmitting and receiving UWB (Ultra Wide Band) radio waves between the tag 42 and the anchor 400. By using UWB radio waves, it is possible to constantly determine which work area the worker 40 is located in, and also to detect the distance from the anchor 400 to the tag 42 with high accuracy. When infrared rays or image data are used to detect the worker 40, the detection accuracy of the worker 40 decreases compared to when UWB radio waves are used. Furthermore, when infrared rays or image data are used to detect the worker 40, it is expected that the worker 40 may not be detected in a factory or the like where there are many obstacles such as production equipment and auxiliary equipment. By using UWB radio waves, the distance to the worker 40 can be measured more accurately, and the distance to the worker can be measured even if obstacles exist.

[0017] In FIG. 2, since the worker 40 is located within the work area (A) 20, the damper of the nozzle 300 in the work area (A) 20 is open, and the damper of the nozzle 320 in the work area (B) 22 is closed. Also, in FIG. 2, the manner in which the worker 40 moves within the work area (A) 20 is shown, and three airflow directions (arrows a, b, c) of the nozzle 300 are shown. When the worker 40 is located at position a, the airflow direction of the nozzle 300 is the direction of arrow a facing the worker 40. Similarly, when the worker 40 is located at position b, the airflow direction of the nozzle 300 is the direction of arrow b facing the worker 40, and when the worker 40 is located at position c, the airflow direction of the nozzle 300 is the direction of arrow c facing the worker 40. By using UWB radio waves, the distance to the worker 40 can be measured with high accuracy, and therefore the accuracy of detecting the position of the worker 40 is improved compared to the case of using infrared rays or image data. Therefore, the air blowing direction of the nozzle 300 can be directed precisely to the position of the worker 40 according to the position of the worker 40, improving the comfort of the worker 40.

[0018] In this manner, the control device 100 controls the opening and closing of the dampers and the air blowing direction of each nozzle 300, 310, 320, 330 according to the position of the worker 40, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the air conditioning system 1000 as a whole and improving comfort by blowing the air directly onto the worker 40.

[0019] 3 is a block diagram showing the control device 100, and the air conditioner 200, nozzles 300, 310, 320, 330, and anchor 400 connected to the control device 100. The control device 100, the air conditioner 200, the nozzles 300, 310, 320, 330, and the anchor 400 are connected via a network such as Ethernet.

[0020] The control device 100 has a processor 102, a memory 104, and a communication interface 106. The processor 102 has one or more CPUs and their peripheral circuits, and provides predetermined functions by executing a computer program that is executablely deployed in a working area of ​​the memory 104. The memory 104 has, for example, a volatile semiconductor memory and a non-volatile semiconductor memory. The communication interface 106 has an interface circuit for connecting the control device 100 to a network.

[0021] The nozzles 300, 310, 320, and 330 are provided with actuators for controlling the opening and closing of dampers and actuators for controlling the air blowing direction. The opening and closing of the dampers and the air blowing direction of the nozzles 300, 310, 320, and 330 are controlled by controlling these actuators in response to commands from the control device 100.

[0022] 4 is a schematic diagram showing functional blocks of the processor 102 of the control device 100 for implementing the above-mentioned processing. The processor 102 has a position detection unit 102a, a nozzle opening / closing control unit 102b, a nozzle direction control unit 102c, and an air conditioning output control unit 102d. Each of these units in the processor 102 is a functional module implemented by, for example, a computer program that runs on the processor 102. In other words, each of these units in the processor 102 is configured by the processor 102 and a program (software) for making the processor 102 function.

[0023] The position detection unit 102a of the processor 102 detects the positions of the worker 40 in the multiple work areas (A) to (D). Specifically, the position detection unit 102a calculates the position (coordinates) of a specific tag 42, i.e., the position of the worker 40 wearing the tag 42, based on the distances to the specific tag 42 detected by the multiple anchors 400. At this time, the position of each anchor 400 (defined by spatial coordinates of the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis) is stored in advance in the memory 104 of the control device 100. When the distances L1, L2, and L3 from the three anchors 400 are detected for a specific tag 42, the point where a sphere with the distances L1, L2, and L3 as radii centered on these three anchors 400 intersects is calculated as the position of this tag 42.

[0024] The nozzle opening / closing control unit 102b of the processor 102 opens the dampers of the nozzles of the multiple nozzles 300, 310, 320, 330 in the working area where the worker 40 is located, and closes the dampers of the nozzles of the working areas where the worker 40 is not located, based on the position of the worker 40 detected by the position detection unit 102a. Here, coordinates indicating the ranges of each of the working area (A) 20, the working area (B) 22, the working area (C) 24, and the working area (D) 26 are stored in advance in the memory 104 of the control device 100. If the worker 40 is located only within the range of the working area (A) 20, based on the position of the worker 40 detected by the position detection unit 102a, the nozzle opening / closing control unit 102b opens the dampers of the nozzles 300 in the working area (A) 20, and closes the dampers of the nozzles 310, 320, 330 in the other working areas (B) 22, the working area (C) 24, and the working area (D) 26. The range of the work area (A) 20 may be a range in which the air blown from the nozzle 300 of the work area (A) 20 can reach the worker 40. The same applies to the ranges of the other work areas.

[0025] As a result, even in a large area such as the inside of a factory building, by simply installing one air conditioner 200, air conditioning can be achieved with one nozzle for each worker, thereby realizing energy savings.

[0026] The nozzle opening / closing control unit 102b may open the nozzle in the work area where the worker 40 is expected to be located in the future. For example, in FIG. 1, when the worker 40 is located on the work area (B) 22 side in the work area (A) 20 and it is expected that the worker 40 will move from the work area (A) 20 to the work area (B) 22, the nozzle opening / closing control unit 102b may open the nozzle 310 in the work area (B) 22 before the worker 40 moves to the work area (B) 22. This allows the work area (B) 22 to already be air-conditioned when the worker 40 moves to the work area (B) 22, thereby improving the comfort of the worker 40.

[0027] Furthermore, the nozzle opening / closing control unit 102b may control the opening degree of the damper when opening the damper of the nozzle in the work area where the worker 40 is located. For example, the nozzle opening / closing control unit 102b may increase the opening degree of the damper as the distance from the nozzle to the worker 40 increases.

[0028] The nozzle direction control unit 102c of the processor 102 controls the air blowing direction of the nozzle in the work area where the worker is located so as to face the worker, based on the position of the worker 40 detected by the position detection unit 102a.

[0029] The nozzle direction control unit 102c may control the air blowing direction to a direction in which the worker 40 is expected to be located in the future. For example, in FIG. 1, when the worker 40 is located on the working area (B) 22 side within the working area (A) 20 and the worker 40 is expected to move from the working area (A) 20 to the working area (B) 22, the nozzle direction control unit 102c may direct the air blowing direction of the nozzle 310 in the working area (B) 22 toward the worker 40 before the worker 40 moves to the working area (B) 22.

[0030] The air conditioning output control unit 102d of the processor 102 controls the output of the air conditioner 200 according to the number of nozzles with open dampers. The air conditioning output control unit 102d controls the air conditioner 200 so that the output becomes smaller the fewer the number of nozzles with open dampers. Simply reducing the number of nozzles with open dampers will only increase the air volume from the other nozzles and will not provide a sufficient energy saving effect, but energy savings can be achieved by controlling the output of the air conditioner 200 to become smaller the fewer the number of nozzles with open dampers.

[0031] As described above, according to this embodiment, the opening and closing of the dampers and the air blowing direction of each nozzle 300, 310, 320, 330 are controlled according to the position of the worker 40, thereby reducing the energy consumption of the air conditioning system 1000 as a whole and improving comfort by blowing the air directly onto the worker 40. [Explanation of symbols]

[0032] 20,22,24,26 Working Area 40 Workers 100 Control device 102 processors 102a Position detection unit 102b Nozzle opening / closing control section 102c Nozzle direction control unit 300,310,320,330 nozzle 1000 Air Conditioning System

Claims

[Claim 1] A plurality of nozzles are provided in each of a plurality of areas where a person may be present, and the nozzles blow air sent from the air conditioner to each of the plurality of areas; a control device that controls opening and closing of an air flow control valve and an air blowing direction for each of the plurality of nozzles; The control device includes: a position detection unit that detects positions of people in the plurality of areas; an opening / closing control unit that opens an air flow control valve of a nozzle in an area where a person is located and closes an air flow control valve of a nozzle in an area where a person is not located, based on the position of the person detected by the position detection unit; and a direction control unit that controls the blowing direction of the nozzle in the area where the person is located so as to be directed toward the person in the area based on the position of the person detected by the position detection unit. Air conditioning system.

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