Air-conditioning control system

Abstract

To provide an air-conditioning control system that can perform air conditioning in accordance with a metabolic amount of an object person.SOLUTION: An air-conditioning control system 10 includes: a task air-conditioning device 20 for conditioning air of a task region; and a control device 50 for calculating a metabolic amount from first prescribed time before in which an object person who has reached the task region reaches the task region to the time when the object person reaches the task region to control the task air-conditioning device 20 in accordance with the metabolic amount.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an air conditioning control system including a task air conditioner that air conditions a task area.

Background Art

[0002] An air conditioning control system is known as a system that controls the air conditioning of buildings such as office buildings and commercial buildings. Further, the air conditioning control system may have a task air conditioner that locally air conditions a task area (for example, Patent Document 1). The task area is a place where building occupants stay for a long time. For example, in an office building, the area around the desk where desk workers stay for a long time is defined as the task area.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] By the way, the task air conditioner is controlled so that the target occupants (hereinafter, the target persons) in the task area feel comfortable. At this time, it is assumed that the target person is sitting quietly on a chair. However, the target person may arrive in the task area in a state of high metabolic rate. A state of high metabolic rate is, for example, a state where the target person frequently walks around and returns to the desk, a state where the target person returns from the outdoors in summer, etc.

[0005] Here, when the control of the task air conditioner is performed on the premise that the target person is sitting quietly on a chair, if the target person arrives in the task area in a state of high metabolic rate, the target person may not feel comfortable.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an air-conditioning control system capable of performing air conditioning according to the metabolic rate of a target person.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] The air-conditioning control system according to the present invention includes a task air-conditioning device that air-conditions a task area, and calculates the metabolic rate of a target person arriving in the task area from a predetermined time before arriving in the task area until arriving in the task area, and controls the task air-conditioning device according to the metabolic rate. It is characterized by comprising a device.

Effects of the Invention

[0008] According to the air-conditioning control system of the present invention, air conditioning according to the metabolic rate of a target person can be performed.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. In the following description, specific shapes, materials, directions, numerical values, etc. are examples for facilitating the understanding of the present invention, and can be appropriately changed according to applications, purposes, specifications, etc.

[0011] [Air-Conditioning Control System] An air-conditioning control system 10 which is an example of an embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

[0012] The air conditioning control system 10 of this embodiment is a system for controlling the air conditioning of an office building. However, the air conditioning control system of the present invention is not limited to the air conditioning control of an office building, and may also perform air conditioning control of commercial buildings such as department stores and shopping malls, and public facilities. In the air conditioning control system 10, the actual state (temperature, humidity, etc.) is monitored from the signals of sensors such as thermometers, and operations such as heating, cooling, and ventilation are controlled so as to achieve the target air conditioning state.

[0013] The air conditioning control system 10 includes a task air conditioner 20, details of which will be described later, and a control device 50 (see FIG. 2) that controls the task air conditioner 20.

[0014] [Task Air Conditioner] The task air conditioner 20 is a device that locally air - conditions the area around the desk where the occupant sits in the office of an office building as a task area. The task air conditioner 20 of this embodiment includes an air conditioner 21 and a blowing blower 22, details of which will be described later.

[0015] The air conditioner 21 supplies cooled air to the blowing blower 22 during cooling, and supplies heated air to the blowing blower 22 during heating. In the air conditioner 21, the set temperature of the supplied air, the air volume of the supplied air, etc. can be adjusted. The blowing blower 22 is provided around each desk under the floor of each floor of the office, and is a device that blows the air - conditioned air from under the floor toward each desk. The blowing blower 22 can adjust the air volume, air direction, etc. of the blown air.

[0016] However, the task air conditioner of the present invention may be configured to blow the air - conditioned air from the ceiling toward the desk. Also, the task air conditioner of the present invention may be provided for each area where a plurality of desks are arranged. Furthermore, the task air conditioner of the present invention may locally air - condition the area around a standing desk, a meeting room, a rest area, etc.

[0017] [Control Device] The control device 50, which is an example of an embodiment, will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

[0018] The control device 50 controls the task air conditioner 20 according to the metabolic rate of the subject. Details of the "subject" and "metabolic rate" will be described later. According to the control device 50, since air conditioning can be performed according to the metabolic rate of the subject, the subject can be made more comfortable.

[0019] The "subject" is a person staying in the task area air-conditioned by the task air conditioner 20. The subject of the present embodiment is a person sitting on the desk air-conditioned by the task air conditioner 20. However, the subject of the present invention is a plurality of people sitting at each desk when the task air conditioner 20 is provided in an area where a plurality of desks are arranged. Further, the subject of the present invention is a plurality of people staying in the conference room or the rest area when the task air conditioner 20 is provided in the conference room or the rest area.

[0020] The "metabolic rate" is the amount of energy consumed by the subject. For example, if the metabolic rate of the subject during a certain period is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount, it can be said that the subject is not at rest during that period. In the present embodiment, although details will be described later, the metabolic rate of the subject is calculated based on at least the pulse, body temperature, or moving distance of the subject.

[0021] The control device 50 is connected to the above-described task air conditioner 20, a wearable sensor 51, and a monitoring device 52, details of which will be described later. However, the control device of the present invention only needs to be connected to at least one of the wearable sensor 51 and the monitoring device 52.

[0022] The control device 50 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) which is an arithmetic processing unit, and a storage unit such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) and a ROM (Read Only Memory), and performs signal processing according to a program stored in advance in the ROM while using the temporary storage function of the RAM.

[0023] The control device 50 includes a metabolic rate calculation unit 61, a thermal environment determination unit 62, and a task air-conditioning control unit 63, the details of which will be described later. The metabolic rate calculation unit 61, the thermal environment determination unit 62, and the task air-conditioning control unit 63 are realized by the CPU executing programs stored in the ROM or RAM.

[0024] The metabolic rate calculation unit 61 calculates the metabolic rate from a time 1 predetermined time before the subject sits on the desk until the subject sits on the desk. In other words, the metabolic rate calculation unit 61 calculates the metabolic rate retroactively from the time when the subject sits on the desk until 1 predetermined time before.

[0025] The "1 predetermined time" is the action time of the subject retroactively from the time when the subject sits on the desk, which affects the metabolic rate of the subject when sitting on the desk. In this embodiment, the 1 predetermined time is preferably 5 to 10 minutes.

[0026] The metabolic rate calculation unit 61 may detect that the subject has sat on the desk by means of a seating sensor. Also, the metabolic rate calculation unit 61 may detect that the subject has sat on the desk by analyzing the image of the subject from the monitoring device 52.

[0027] The metabolic rate calculation unit 61 calculates the metabolic rate of the subject based on at least the pulse, body temperature, or moving distance of the subject. More specifically, the metabolic rate calculation unit 61 may calculate the correlation between the pulse, body temperature, or moving distance and the metabolic rate in advance, and calculate the metabolic rate from the obtained pulse, body temperature, or moving distance of the subject and the correlation. The pulse and body temperature can be obtained, for example, from the wearable sensor 51 worn by the subject. The moving distance of the subject can be obtained, for example, from the monitoring device 52 provided in the office building. The monitoring device 52 is, for example, a device that acquires, accumulates, analyzes, etc., the position information of the occupants in the office.

[0028] The metabolic rate calculation unit 61 may calculate the metabolic rate of the subject from before the first predetermined time until arriving at the desk as the average value of the metabolic rate in the interval. Further, the metabolic rate calculation unit 61 may divide the interval from before the first predetermined time until arriving at the desk into shorter intervals, and calculate it as the integrated value of the metabolic rate in the divided time intervals.

[0029] When the metabolic rate calculation unit 61 can acquire a plurality of the subject's pulse, body temperature, or moving distance, it may add them together after weighting each, or may average the metabolic rates calculated from each.

[0030] The metabolic rate calculation unit 61 may calculate using an index for the moving distance. More specifically, the metabolic rate calculation unit 61 may calculate using an index obtained by summing an index representing the horizontal moving distance as it is, an index with a weight for the vertical moving distance, and an index added depending on whether there is movement from outdoors for the moving distance. Thereby, the metabolic rate can be calculated in consideration of vertical movement or movement from outdoors where the metabolic rate is high, and the metabolic rate can be calculated more accurately.

[0031] When the task air conditioner 20 conditions an area where a plurality of desks are arranged and a plurality of subjects arrive at the area simultaneously, the metabolic rate calculation unit 61 may calculate the metabolic rate of each subject, and calculate the maximum metabolic rate among the calculated metabolic rates of the plurality of persons as the metabolic rate. Further, when the task air conditioner 20 conditions an area where a plurality of desks are arranged and a plurality of subjects arrive at the area simultaneously, the metabolic rate calculation unit 61 may calculate the metabolic rate of each subject, and calculate the average of the calculated metabolic rates of the plurality of persons as the metabolic rate.

[0032] The thermal environment determination unit 62 calculates the difference between the current thermal environment index and the target thermal environment index around the desk. In other words, the thermal environment determination unit 62 determines whether the area around the desk is comfortable before the subject sits at the desk.

[0033] The "thermal environment index" is an index indicating the thermal environment. The "thermal environment" in this embodiment may be composed of elements such as temperature, humidity, air flow, radiation, the activity level (metabolic rate) of the subject, and the clothing amount of the subject. In this embodiment, SET * index or PMV (Predicted Mean Vote) thermal sensation index may be used

[0034] The thermal environment determination unit 62 sets a target thermal environment index range, which is a range of thermal environment indices in which the subject is comfortable in advance. Further, the thermal environment determination unit 62 calculates the thermal environment index around the desk of the current subject. Furthermore, the thermal environment determination unit 62 determines whether the thermal environment index around the desk of the current subject is within the target thermal environment index range

[0035] The thermal environment determination unit 62 may calculate the thermal environment index around the desk using a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, or a solar radiation amount sensor provided around the desk. Also, the thermal environment determination unit 62 may calculate the thermal environment index around the desk using the monitoring device 52. Note that when calculating the thermal environment index, the thermal environment determination unit 62 acquires the metabolic rate, clothing, etc. of the subject assuming that the subject is in a resting state and calculates the thermal environment index

[0036] When the metabolic rate calculated by the metabolic rate calculation unit 61 is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount and the thermal environment determination unit 62 determines that the thermal environment index around the desk of the current subject is not within the target thermal environment index range, although details will be described later, the task air conditioning control unit 63 controls the task air conditioning device 20 so that the perceived temperature of the subject decreases (hereinafter referred to as perceived temperature decrease control). Thereby, since task air conditioning according to the metabolic rate of the subject can be performed, the subject can be made comfortable

[0037] When the task air conditioning control unit 63 performs the body-sensation temperature reduction control, if the task air conditioner 20 is cooling, it increases the cooling load, and if the task air conditioner 20 is heating, it reduces the heating load. More specifically, when the task air conditioning control unit 63 increases the cooling load, adjustments such as lowering the set temperature, increasing the air volume, and directing the air flow towards the target person may be made. When reducing the heating load, adjustments such as lowering the set temperature, decreasing the air volume, and directing the air flow away from the target person may be made.

[0038] When the second predetermined time has elapsed since the target person sat down at the desk or when the target person leaves the seat, the task air conditioning control unit 63 terminates the body-sensation temperature reduction control of the task air conditioner 20 and performs normal control. Thereby, it is possible to avoid the target person feeling uncomfortable due to the task air conditioner 20 performing the body-sensation temperature reduction control for a long time.

[0039] The "second predetermined time" is the time when the metabolic rate of the target person has sufficiently decreased and become comfortable after adjusting the task air conditioner 20 since sitting down at the desk. In this embodiment, the second predetermined time is preferably 10 minutes. Also, the second predetermined time is preferably arbitrarily settable between 5 minutes and 15 minutes.

[0040] The flow of task air conditioning control will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

[0041] Task air conditioning control controls the task air conditioner 20 according to the following procedure based on each function of the control device 50 described above.

[0042] In step S11, the metabolic rate calculation unit 61 calculates the metabolic rate of the target person from the time before sitting down at the desk until sitting down at the desk. In step S12, if the calculated metabolic rate is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount, the process proceeds to step S13.

[0043] In step S13, the thermal environment determination unit 62 calculates the current thermal environment index around the desk. In step S14, the thermal environment determination unit 62 determines whether the current thermal environment index is within the range of the target thermal environment index. If it is outside the range, the process proceeds to step S15.

[0044] In step S16, the task air conditioning control unit 63 executes the control for reducing the perceived temperature of the task air conditioning device 20. In step S17, when the second predetermined time has elapsed since the subject sat down at the desk or when the subject leaves the seat, the control for reducing the perceived temperature of the task air conditioning device 20 is terminated.

[0045] [Summary] The present disclosure will be further described by the following embodiments. Configuration 1: A task air conditioning device that air conditions a task area, and a control device that calculates a metabolic rate from a time point a first predetermined time before the subject arrives at the task area until the subject arrives at the task area, and controls the task air conditioning device according to the metabolic rate. Comprising an air conditioning control system. Configuration 2: The air conditioning control system according to Configuration 1, wherein the control device calculates a difference between the current thermal environment index and the target thermal environment index of the task area, and controls the task air conditioning device according to the metabolic rate when the difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. an air conditioning control system. Configuration 3: The air conditioning control system according to Configuration 1 or 2, wherein the control device controls the task air conditioning device according to the metabolic rate from the time when the subject arrives at the task area until a second predetermined time. an air conditioning control system. Configuration 4: The air conditioning control system according to any one of Configurations 1 to 3, wherein When the metabolic rate is equal to or higher than a predetermined amount, the control device controls the task air conditioner so that the perceived temperature of the subject decreases. Air conditioning control system. Configuration 5: The air conditioning control system according to any one of Configurations 1 to 3, When the metabolic rate is equal to or higher than a predetermined amount, the control device increases the cooling load of the task air conditioner or reduces the heating load. Air conditioning control system. Configuration 6: The air conditioning control system according to any one of Configurations 1 to 5, The control device calculates the metabolic rate of the subject based on at least the pulse, body temperature, or moving distance of the subject. Air conditioning control system. Configuration 7: The air conditioning control system according to any one of Configurations 1 to 6, The control device sets the first predetermined time to be from 5 minutes to 10 minutes. Air conditioning control system. Configuration 8: The air conditioning control system according to any one of Configurations 1 to 7, The control device sets the second predetermined time to be 10 minutes. Air conditioning control system. Configuration 9: The air conditioning control system according to any one of Configurations 1 to 8, When a plurality of the subjects arrive at the task area simultaneously, the control device calculates the metabolic rate of each of the subjects and controls the task air conditioner according to the maximum metabolic rate among the metabolic rates. Air conditioning control system.

[0046] Note that the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments and their modifications, and it goes without saying that various changes and improvements can be made within the scope of the matters described in the claims of the present application.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0047] 10 Air conditioning control system, 20 Task air conditioner, 21 Air conditioner, 22 Blower, 50 Control device, 51 Wearable sensor, 52 Monitoring device, 61 Metabolic rate calculation unit, 62 Thermal environment determination unit, 63 Task air conditioning control unit

Claims

1. A task air-conditioning device for air-conditioning a task area, and a control device that calculates a metabolic rate of a subject arriving at the task area from a first predetermined time before arriving at the task area to the time of arriving at the task area, and controls the task air-conditioning device according to the metabolic rate. The air-conditioning control system is provided with: an air-conditioning control system.

2. The air-conditioning control system according to Claim 1, wherein the control device calculates a difference between a current thermal environment index and a target thermal environment index of the task area, and controls the task air-conditioning device according to the metabolic rate when the difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. an air-conditioning control system.

3. The air-conditioning control system according to Claim 2, wherein the control device controls the task air-conditioning device according to the metabolic rate from the time the subject arrives at the task area to a second predetermined time. an air-conditioning control system.

4. The air-conditioning control system according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein when the metabolic rate is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount, the control device controls the task air-conditioning device so that the perceived temperature of the subject decreases. an air-conditioning control system.

5. The air-conditioning control system according to Claim 4, wherein when the metabolic rate is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount, the control device increases the cooling load of the task air-conditioning device or reduces the heating load. an air-conditioning control system.

6. The air-conditioning control system according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the control device calculates the metabolic rate of the subject based on at least the pulse, body temperature, or moving distance of the subject. an air-conditioning control system.

7. The air-conditioning control system according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the control device sets the first predetermined time to 5 minutes to 10 minutes. an air-conditioning control system.

8. The air-conditioning control system according to Claim 3, wherein the control device sets the second predetermined time to 10 minutes. an air-conditioning control system.

9. The air-conditioning control system according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein when a plurality of the subjects arrive at the task area simultaneously, the control device calculates the metabolic rate of each subject, and controls the task air-conditioning device according to the maximum metabolic rate among the metabolic rates. an air-conditioning control system.

Images