Air conditioner, air conditioning system, and sensor terminal position display method

Abstract

To present a position of a sensor terminal to a user.SOLUTION: An indoor unit 2 includes: an array antenna formed by regularly disposing a plurality of antennas; a measurement data reception section 200 receiving measurement data including a value measured by a sensor terminal measuring an air state of an air-conditioned area via the array antenna; an air conditioning control section 201 controlling air conditioning of the air-conditioned are on the basis of the received measurement data; a position estimation section 203 estimating a position of the sensor terminal on the basis of a phase difference of electric waves received by each antenna of the array antenna; and a position information transmission section 211 transmitting position information indicating the position of the sensor terminal to a user terminal when receiving a position presentation request of the sensor terminal from a user via the user terminal.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an air conditioner, an air conditioning system, and a sensor terminal position presentation method. [Background technology]

[0002] There is a well-known air conditioning system in which multiple sensor terminals that measure temperature, humidity, etc. are distributed in an area to be air-conditioned, and the measurement values ​​transmitted wirelessly from each sensor terminal are used to condition the area (for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] In the air conditioning system disclosed in Patent Document 1, the controller holds floor map information indicating the position of the air conditioner's indoor unit and the positions of each of a number of sensor terminals, as well as location information indicating the location where a user will be located when present in the room, and when a user is present in the room, controls the air conditioner based on the measurement values ​​taken by the sensor terminal closest to the user. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2020 / 012641 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The above-mentioned sensor terminals are generally small, so that it takes time for users such as maintenance personnel to find them when performing maintenance work such as charging, replacing, and inspection. In particular, when many sensor terminals are installed in an air-conditioned area, or when the installation location has changed since the previous work due to a layout change, the maintenance work becomes a heavy burden. For this reason, there is a demand for a proposal of a meaningful technology that can present the location of the sensor terminal to the user.

[0006] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above-described circumstances, and aims to provide an air conditioner, an air conditioning system, and a sensor terminal position presentation method that are capable of presenting the position of a sensor terminal to a user. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to achieve the above object, the air conditioner according to the present disclosure comprises: An array antenna in which a plurality of antennas are regularly arranged; a measurement data receiving means for receiving, via the array antenna, measurement data including values ​​measured from a sensor terminal that measures the air condition in the area to be air-conditioned; an air conditioning control means for controlling air conditioning of the air conditioned area based on the received measurement data; a position estimation means for estimating a position of the sensor terminal based on a phase difference of radio waves received by each antenna in the array antenna; The location presenting means is configured to, upon receiving a location presenting request for the sensor terminal from a user via a user terminal, present location information indicating the location of the sensor terminal to the user via the user terminal. Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to present the position of a sensor terminal to a user. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an air conditioning system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a structure of an indoor unit according to an embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of an indoor unit according to an embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the installation of an array antenna provided in an indoor unit according to an embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a sensor terminal according to an embodiment. [Figure 6]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a user terminal according to an embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a remote control according to an embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a sensor terminal according to an embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of an indoor unit according to an embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a user terminal according to an embodiment. [Figure 11] A flowchart showing a procedure of normal processing in an embodiment. [Figure 12] A flowchart showing a procedure of a maintenance process according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0011] 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an air conditioning system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The air conditioning system 1 is an example of an air conditioning system according to the present disclosure. The air conditioning system 1 is a system that performs air conditioning for a building such as a building or a store, and includes a plurality of indoor units 2, a plurality of sensor terminals 3, a user terminal 4, and one or a plurality of remote controls 5.

[0012] <Indoor unit 2> The indoor unit 2 is an example of an air conditioner according to the present disclosure. The indoor unit 2 is a ceiling-embedded indoor unit, and is communicatively connected to an outdoor unit (not shown) installed outdoors via an air conditioning network 6 or a transmission line (not shown), and is also connected by a refrigerant pipe (not shown) for circulating the refrigerant.

[0013] 2, the indoor unit 2 has a structure in which a square decorative panel 21 is attached to the underside (i.e., the indoor side) of a rectangular parallelepiped main body 20 that is embedded in the ceiling of the floor, which is the area to be air-conditioned. The decorative panel 21 has an intake port 22 in the center for drawing in air from the floor, and four air outlets 23 for blowing air onto the floor, surrounding the intake port 22. The decorative panel 21 also has detachable corner panels 24 attached to its four corners.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 3, the indoor unit 2 includes, as its internal hardware configuration, a first communication circuit 25, a second communication circuit 26, a main unit 27, an auxiliary storage device 28, and a control circuit 29.

[0015] The first communication circuit 25 is a circuit for communicating with other indoor units 2 etc. via the air conditioning network 6. The air conditioning network 6 is a network based on a well-known wired communication standard such as Ethernet (registered trademark) or RS-485.

[0016] The second communication circuit 26 is a circuit for short-distance wireless communication with the sensor terminal 3 and the user terminal 4. The second communication circuit 26 communicates with the sensor terminal 3 and the user terminal 4 by a short-distance wireless communication method conforming to Bluetooth (registered trademark), for example. The second communication circuit 26 is built into one of the corner panels 24. The second communication circuit 26 also includes an array antenna in which a plurality of antennas (antenna elements) are regularly arranged on the substrate. In the array antenna, the antenna elements are arranged so that there are three or more antenna axes (linear arrangement of antenna elements).

[0017] The reception sensitivity of the antenna element varies depending on the incidence angle due to its directivity. In this embodiment, since it is assumed that the sensor terminal 3 and the user terminal 4 are located below the indoor unit 2, it is preferable not to face the direction of the antenna element with low reception sensitivity toward the lower side (i.e., toward the indoor side). Therefore, in this embodiment, the array antenna is installed so that the direction with low reception sensitivity faces the ceiling surface. For example, when the reception sensitivity is low in the negative direction of the Z axis, as shown in FIG. 4, the antenna element 260 is arranged so that the negative direction of the Z axis of the antenna element 260 (i.e., the direction into the paper) faces the substrate 261, and the substrate 261 is built into the indoor unit 2 so that the positive direction of the Z axis (i.e., the direction toward the front of the paper) faces the vertical direction from the ceiling surface.

[0018] The main unit 27 is a component for realizing the essential functions of a general indoor unit, and includes, for example, a fan, an airflow adjustment plate, a heat exchanger, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a refrigerant temperature sensor, and the like.

[0019] The auxiliary storage device 28 is composed of, for example, an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), a flash memory, or other readable and writable non-volatile semiconductor memory. The auxiliary storage device 28 stores a program for realizing functions related to air conditioning (hereinafter referred to as an air conditioning program) and data used when the air conditioning program is executed.

[0020] The air conditioning program can be downloaded by communication with another device, such as a centralized management device that centrally manages the air conditioning system 1, or a cloud server. The air conditioning program can also be stored and distributed on a computer-readable recording medium, such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a magneto-optical disk, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), an SSD (Solid State Drive), or a memory card. When such a recording medium is directly or indirectly attached to the indoor unit 2, the indoor unit 2 can read and import the air conditioning program from the recording medium.

[0021] The control circuit 29 performs overall control of the indoor unit 2. The control circuit 29 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a RAM (Random Access Memory), none of which are shown in the figure. The functions of the indoor unit 2 realized by the control circuit 29 will be described in detail later.

[0022] <Sensor terminal 3> The sensor terminal 3 is an example of a sensor terminal according to the present disclosure. The sensor terminal 3 is installed at an appropriate location on the floor and is a device that measures the air condition in the area to be air-conditioned. As shown in FIG. 5, the sensor terminal 3 includes a communication circuit 30, a sensor circuit 31, an auxiliary storage device 32, a control circuit 33, and a battery 34.

[0023] The communication circuit 30 is a circuit for short-distance wireless communication with the indoor unit 2. The communication circuit 30 communicates with the indoor unit 2 by a short-distance wireless communication method conforming to Bluetooth (registered trademark), for example.

[0024] The sensor circuit 31 is a circuit for measuring the air conditions (for example, temperature, humidity, CO2 concentration, dust, odor, etc.) around where it is installed.

[0025] The auxiliary storage device 32 is composed of, for example, a readable / writable non-volatile semiconductor memory such as an EEPROM or a flash memory. The auxiliary storage device 32 stores a program for implementing the function of measuring the air condition and notifying the indoor unit 2 (hereinafter referred to as an air condition measurement program), and data used when the air condition measurement program is executed.

[0026] The control circuit 33 comprehensively controls the sensor terminal 3. The control circuit 33 includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, none of which are shown in the figure. The functions of the sensor terminal 3 realized by the control circuit 33 will be described in detail later. The battery 34 is a primary or secondary battery that supplies power to each component of the sensor terminal 3.

[0027] <User terminal 4> The user terminal 4 is a portable electronic device such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal carried by a maintenance technician of the air conditioning system 1. As shown in Fig. 6, the user terminal 4 includes, as its hardware configuration, a communication circuit 40, an operation reception unit 41, a display 42, an auxiliary storage device 43, and a control circuit 44.

[0028] The communication circuit 40 is a circuit for short-distance wireless communication with the indoor unit 2. The communication circuit 40 communicates with the indoor unit 2 by a short-distance wireless communication method conforming to Bluetooth (registered trademark), for example.

[0029] The operation reception unit 41 includes one or more input devices such as a push button, a touch panel, a touch pad, etc., receives an operation input from a maintenance technician, and outputs a signal related to the received operation to the control circuit 44.

[0030] The display 42 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display, etc. Under the control of the control circuit 44, the display 42 displays various screens and the like in response to operations by a maintenance technician.

[0031] The auxiliary storage device 43 is configured with, for example, a readable / writable nonvolatile semiconductor memory such as an EEPROM or a flash memory. The auxiliary storage device 43 stores an application program (hereinafter, referred to as a maintenance app) that is executed during maintenance of the air conditioning system 1, and data that is used when the maintenance app is executed.

[0032] The above-mentioned maintenance application can be downloaded through communication with a server (not shown) or the like. The maintenance program can also be stored in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, DVD, optical magnetic disk, USB memory, HDD, SSD, memory card, etc. and distributed. When such a recording medium is directly or indirectly attached to the user terminal 4, the user terminal 4 can read and import the maintenance application from the recording medium.

[0033] The control circuit 44 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, etc., and performs overall control of the user terminal 4. The functions of the user terminal 4 realized by the control circuit 44 will be described in detail later.

[0034] <Remote control 5> The remote control 5 is a remote controller that receives operations related to air conditioning from a user who is a user of the floor, and is installed in a manner embedded in the wall of the floor. As shown in Fig. 7, the remote control 5 includes, as hardware configuration, a communication circuit 50, an operation receiving unit 51, a display 52, an auxiliary storage device 53, and a control circuit 54.

[0035] The communication circuit 50 is a circuit for communicating with the indoor unit 2 via the air conditioning network 6 or a transmission line (not shown).

[0036] The operation reception unit 51 includes one or more input devices, such as a push button, a touch panel, a touch pad, and the like, receives an input operation from a user, and outputs a signal related to the received input operation to the control circuit 54.

[0037] The display 52 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, etc. The display 52 displays various screens under the control of the control circuit 54. For example, the display 52 displays an air conditioning operation screen for accepting operations related to air conditioning from the user, such as switching between starting and stopping the operation, switching between operation modes such as cooling, heating, dehumidification, and ventilation, and changing the set temperature, set humidity, and air speed.

[0038] The auxiliary storage device 53 is composed of a readable / writable non-volatile semiconductor memory such as an EEPROM or a flash memory. The auxiliary storage device 53 stores a program for functioning as a user interface and data used when the program is executed. The control circuit 54 is composed of a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, etc., and controls the remote control 5 in an integrated manner.

[0039] <Functional configuration of the sensor terminal 3> Fig. 8 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the sensor terminal 3. As shown in Fig. 8, the sensor terminal 3 functionally comprises an air condition measurement unit 300, a measurement data transmission unit 301, a battery remaining amount detection unit 302, a battery remaining amount low notification transmission unit 303, and a position detection notification transmission unit 304. These functional units are realized by the CPU included in the control circuit 33 executing the above-mentioned air condition measurement program stored in the auxiliary storage device 32.

[0040] The air condition measuring unit 300 measures the surrounding air condition at regular time intervals. In this embodiment, the air condition measuring unit 300 measures temperature and humidity. The measurement data transmitting unit 301 broadcasts measurement data including values ​​measured by the air condition measuring unit 300 and an ID (identification) that is identification information for the sensor terminal 3, using the short-distance wireless method described above.

[0041] The battery remaining amount detection unit 302 detects the remaining amount of the battery 34. When the detected remaining amount of the battery 34 is less than a predetermined threshold, the battery remaining amount detection unit 302 notifies the battery remaining amount low notification transmission unit 303 that the remaining battery amount is low.

[0042] When the low battery notification transmitting unit 303 receives the above notification from the battery level detection unit 302, it broadcasts a low battery notification via short-range wireless communication, the low battery notification including information indicating that the battery level is low and the ID of the sensor terminal 3.

[0043] The position detection notification transmitting unit 304 periodically (for example, once a day at a predetermined time) broadcasts a notification for the indoor unit 2 to estimate the position of the sensor terminal 3 by short-range wireless communication. At that time, the position detection notification transmitting unit 304 transmits header information including information indicating that it is a position detection notification, information indicating that the sending device is the sensor terminal 3, and the ID of the sensor terminal, followed by a sine wave radio wave that enables the indoor unit 2 to accurately estimate the arrival angle of the radio wave.

[0044] <Functional configuration of indoor unit 2> Fig. 9 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the indoor unit 2. As shown in Fig. 9, the indoor unit 2 functionally includes a measurement data receiving unit 200, an air conditioning control unit 201, a position detection notification receiving unit 202, a position estimation unit 203, a sensor terminal list update unit 204, a sensor position notification transmitting unit 205, a sensor position notification receiving unit 206, a low battery level notification receiving unit 207, a low battery level notifying unit 208, a position presentation request notification receiving unit 209, a position information generating unit 210, and a position information transmitting unit 211. These functional units are realized by the CPU included in the control circuit 29 executing the above-mentioned air conditioning program stored in the auxiliary storage device 28.

[0045] The measurement data receiving unit 200 is an example of a measurement data receiving means according to the present disclosure. The measurement data receiving unit 200 receives the above-mentioned measurement data transmitted from the sensor terminal 3. The measurement data receiving unit 200 supplies the received measurement data to the air conditioning control unit 201. The air conditioning control unit 201 is an example of an air conditioning control means according to the present disclosure. When the measurement data is supplied from the measurement data receiving unit 200, the air conditioning control unit 201 refers to the sensor terminal list stored in the sensor terminal list storage unit 220, and determines whether the sensor terminal 3 that transmitted the measurement data is a link target or not, and controls the air conditioning based on the contents of the measurement data, i.e., temperature and humidity, only if the sensor terminal 3 is a link target.

[0046] The sensor terminal list storage unit 220 is an example of a sensor terminal list storage means according to the present disclosure, and is a memory area provided by the auxiliary storage device 28. The sensor terminal list is data in which information (hereinafter referred to as sensor terminal information) about sensor terminals 3 that are likely to be present within the wireless communication range of the indoor unit 2 is registered for each corresponding sensor terminal. The sensor terminal information includes the following information:

[0047] Sensor device ID - Location of sensor terminal Linked or unlinked -The date and time when the last location notification was received

[0048] The position of the sensor terminal includes information indicating the distance (m) from the indoor unit 2 and the relative position with respect to the indoor unit 2. A linking target indicates a target for which air conditioning control is performed in coordination. That is, in this case, measurement data from the sensor terminal 3 is used for air conditioning control. A non-linking target indicates a target for which air conditioning control is not performed in coordination. That is, in this case, measurement data from the sensor terminal 3 is not used for air conditioning control. Whether the sensor terminal 3 is to be linked or not linked is determined by the sensor terminal list update unit 204 described later. The date and time when the last notification for position detection was received means, in other words, the most recent date and time when the position was estimated.

[0049] The notification receiving unit for position detection 202 receives the above-mentioned notification for position detection transmitted from the sensor terminal 3. Although details will be described later, during maintenance, the user terminal 4 also transmits a notification for position detection similar to that of the sensor terminal 3, and in that case, the notification receiving unit for position detection 202 receives the notification for position detection transmitted from the user terminal 4. The notification receiving unit for position detection 202 notifies the position estimation unit 203 that it has received the notification for position detection.

[0050] The position estimation unit 203 is an example of a position estimation means according to the present disclosure. When the position estimation unit 203 receives the notification from the position detection notification receiving unit 202, it estimates the position (distance from the indoor unit 2 and relative position to the indoor unit 2) of the device (sensor terminal 3 or user terminal 4) that is the source of the position detection notification. Specifically, the position estimation unit 203 measures the arrival angle of the radio wave based on the phase difference when the same radio wave is received by multiple antenna elements in the array antenna provided in the second communication circuit 26. Then, the position estimation unit 203 estimates the position of the sensor terminal 3 based on the measured arrival angle, the height of the indoor unit 2 from the floor surface (or the ceiling height may be) and the height of the sensor terminal 3 from the floor surface, which are respectively given as preset values.

[0051] In addition, if the sender of the position detection notification is a user terminal 4, the position estimation unit 203 estimates the position of the user terminal 4 based on the measured angle of arrival, the height of the indoor unit 2 from the floor (or the ceiling height), and the height of the user terminal 4 given as a default value.

[0052] When the position estimation unit 203 estimates the position of the sensor terminal 3, it notifies the sensor terminal list update unit 204 of the estimation result. Furthermore, when the position estimation unit 203 estimates the position of the user terminal 4, it notifies the position information generation unit 210, which will be described later, of the estimation result.

[0053] The sensor terminal list update unit 204 is an example of a sensor terminal list update means according to the present disclosure. The sensor terminal list update unit 204 updates the sensor terminal list stored in the sensor terminal list storage unit 220 based on the estimation result notified from the position estimation unit 203. For example, when the position of the sensor terminal 3 changes, the sensor terminal list update unit 204 updates the "position of the sensor terminal" of the sensor terminal information corresponding to the sensor terminal 3. In addition, based on the distance indicated by the updated "position of the sensor terminal", the sensor terminal is determined to be either a "linked target" or a "non-linked target". Specifically, the distance to the sensor terminal 3 is compared with the maximum distance to which the air conditioning effect of the indoor unit 2, which is given as a default value, is extended, and if the distance to the sensor terminal 3 is equal to or shorter than the maximum distance, the sensor terminal is determined to be a "linked target". On the other hand, if the distance to the sensor terminal 3 exceeds the maximum distance, the sensor terminal is determined to be a "non-linked target".

[0054] Furthermore, when the position of a new sensor terminal 3 that is not included in the sensor terminal list is estimated, the sensor terminal information corresponding to the sensor terminal 3 is additionally registered in the sensor terminal list. At that time, the sensor terminal 3 is determined to be either a "linked" or "non-linked" in the same manner as above.

[0055] The sensor position notification transmission unit 205 is an example of a sensor position notification transmission means according to the present disclosure. The sensor position notification transmission unit 205 transmits a sensor position notification including the ID and the position of the sensor terminal 3 whose position has been estimated to each indoor unit 2 via the air conditioning network 6.

[0056] The sensor position notification receiving unit 206 is an example of a sensor position notification receiving means according to the present disclosure. The sensor position notification receiving unit 206 receives the above-mentioned sensor position notification transmitted from another indoor unit 2. The sensor position notification receiving unit 206 supplies the received sensor position notification to the sensor terminal list update unit 204.

[0057] When a sensor position notification is supplied from the sensor position notification receiving unit 206, the sensor terminal list updating unit 204 refers to the sensor terminal list stored in the sensor terminal list storage unit 220 and determines whether or not sensor terminal information corresponding to the sensor terminal 3 indicated in the sensor position notification is registered. If the corresponding sensor terminal information is registered, the sensor terminal list updating unit 204 further determines whether or not a period during which a position detection notification has not been received from the sensor terminal 3 exceeds a predetermined upper limit period. If the period during which a position detection notification has not been received from the sensor terminal 3 exceeds the upper limit period, it is highly likely that the installation location of the sensor terminal 3 has been changed and that the sensor terminal is no longer within the wireless communication range of the indoor unit 2. Therefore, the sensor terminal list updating unit 204 deletes the sensor terminal information corresponding to the sensor terminal 3 from the sensor terminal list.

[0058] If the corresponding sensor terminal information is not registered, or if the corresponding sensor terminal information is registered but the period during which a location detection notification has not been received from the sensor terminal 3 does not exceed the above-mentioned upper limit period, the sensor terminal list update unit 204 does not update the sensor terminal list.

[0059] The low battery notification receiving unit 207 is an example of a low battery notification receiving means according to the present disclosure. The low battery notification receiving unit 207 receives the above-mentioned low battery notification transmitted from the sensor terminal 3. The low battery notification receiving unit 207 supplies the received low battery notification to the low battery notification unit 208.

[0060] The low battery level notification unit 208 is an example of a notification means according to the present disclosure. When the low battery level notification is supplied from the low battery level notification receiving unit 207, the low battery level notification unit 208 notifies a maintenance person, a system administrator, or the like that the battery level of the sensor terminal 3 is low. In this case, the low battery level notification unit 208 may notify by blinking an LED (Light Emitting Diode) mounted on the indoor unit 2, or by emitting light in a predetermined color. Alternatively, the low battery level notification unit 208 may cause the user terminal 4 or the remote control 5 to display information indicating that the battery level of the sensor terminal 3 is low, or may notify a device such as a centralized management device or cloud server that centrally manages the air conditioning system 1 of information indicating that the battery level of the sensor terminal 3 is low, and the device may display the information to notify a maintenance person, a system administrator, or the like.

[0061] The position presentation request notification receiving unit 209 receives a position presentation request notification transmitted from the user terminal 4, and supplies the received position presentation request notification to the position information generating unit 210. Although details will be described later, when a maintenance person wants to know the location (i.e., the installed position) of the sensor terminal 3 within the wireless communication range of the indoor unit 2, the maintenance person can use the above-mentioned maintenance application to request the designated indoor unit 2 to present the position of the sensor terminal 3. When the maintenance person requests the presentation of the position of the sensor terminal 3, the user terminal 4 transmits a position presentation request notification and also transmits a position detection communication. Note that when the position presentation request notification is received, the operation mode of the indoor unit 2 is switched from the normal mode to the maintenance mode. When the operation mode is the maintenance mode, air conditioning is interrupted.

[0062] When a position presentation request notification is supplied from the position presentation request notification receiving unit 209, the position information generating unit 210 refers to the sensor terminal list stored in the sensor terminal list storage unit 220, and acquires the position of the sensor terminal 3 in each piece of registered sensor terminal information. Then, the position information generating unit 210 generates position information including the acquired positions of each sensor terminal and the position of the user terminal 4 estimated by the position estimation unit 203. The position information generating unit 210 supplies the generated position information to the position information transmitting unit 211.

[0063] The location information transmission unit 211 is an example of a location presentation means according to the present disclosure. The location information transmission unit 211 transmits the location information supplied from the location information generation unit 210 to the user terminal 4. When a certain period of time has elapsed after the location information is transmitted, the operation mode of the indoor unit 2 switches from the maintenance mode to the normal mode, and the previous air conditioning is resumed.

[0064] <Functional configuration of user terminal 4> Fig. 10 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the user terminal 4. As shown in Fig. 10, the user terminal 4 functionally includes a position presentation request receiving unit 400, a position presentation request notification transmitting unit 401, a notification transmitting unit for position detection 402, a position information receiving unit 403, and a position information display unit 404. These functional units are realized by the CPU included in the control circuit 44 executing the above-mentioned maintenance application stored in the auxiliary storage device 43.

[0065] The position presentation request receiving unit 400 receives from a maintenance technician a designation of an indoor unit 2 and a request for presentation of the position of a sensor terminal 3 corresponding to the designated indoor unit 2, i.e., a sensor terminal 3 that is within the wireless communication range of the designated indoor unit 2.

[0066] When a request for location presentation is accepted by the location presentation request accepting unit 400, the location presentation request notification sending unit 401 transmits a location presentation request notification including information indicating the request for location presentation and the ID of the user terminal 4 to the specified indoor unit 2.

[0067] After the above-mentioned position presentation request notification is transmitted, the position detection notification transmitting unit 402 broadcasts a position detection notification for the indoor unit 2 to estimate the position of the user terminal 4, similar to the sensor terminal 3. At that time, the position detection notification transmitting unit 402 transmits a sine wave radio wave that enables the indoor unit 2 to accurately estimate the arrival angle of the radio wave, after header information including information indicating that it is a position detection notification, information indicating that the transmission source device is the user terminal 4, and the ID of the user terminal. Note that the position detection notification transmitting unit 402 may transmit the position detection notification before the above-mentioned position presentation request notification is transmitted.

[0068] The location information receiving unit 403 receives the location information sent from the indoor unit 2 in response to the above-mentioned location presentation request notification. As described above, the location information includes the location of the sensor terminal 3 and the location of the user terminal 4.

[0069] The position information display unit 404 displays on the display a screen based on the position information received by the position information receiving unit 403. Specifically, the position information display unit 404 displays a screen on which the relative positional relationships between the indoor unit 2, the sensor terminal 3, and the user terminal 4 can be seen.

[0070] <Normal operation of indoor unit 2> FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the procedure of normal processing, which is processing executed by the indoor unit 2 in the normal mode.

[0071] (Step S101) The indoor unit 2 determines whether or not measurement data has been received from the sensor terminal 3. If measurement data has been received from the sensor terminal 3, the process of the indoor unit 2 transitions to step S102. On the other hand, if measurement data has not been received from the sensor terminal 3, the process of the indoor unit 2 transitions to step S104.

[0072] (Step S102) The indoor unit 2 determines whether the sensor terminal 3 that transmitted the measurement data is a linking target. If the sensor terminal 3 is not a linking target, the process of the indoor unit 2 returns to step S101. On the other hand, if the sensor terminal 3 is a linking target, the process of the indoor unit 2 transitions to step S103.

[0073] (Step S103) The indoor unit 2 controls air conditioning based on the contents of the measurement data (i.e., temperature and humidity). After that, the processing of the indoor unit 2 returns to step S101.

[0074] (Step S104) The indoor unit 2 determines whether or not a position detection notification has been received from the sensor terminal 3. If a position detection notification has been received from the sensor terminal 3, the process of the indoor unit 2 transitions to step S105. On the other hand, if a position detection notification has not been received from the sensor terminal 3, the process of the indoor unit 2 transitions to step S108.

[0075] (Step S105) The indoor unit 2 estimates the position of the sensor terminal that transmitted the notification for position detection. After that, the process of the indoor unit 2 transitions to step S106.

[0076] (Step S106) The indoor unit 2 updates the sensor terminal list based on the estimated positions of the sensor terminals. After that, the process of the indoor unit 2 transitions to step S107.

[0077] (Step S107) The indoor unit 2 transmits to the other indoor units 2 a sensor position notification indicating the estimated position of the sensor terminal 3. After that, the processing of the indoor unit 2 returns to step S101.

[0078] (Step S108) The indoor unit 2 determines whether or not a sensor position notification has been received from the other indoor unit 2. If a sensor position notification has been received from the other indoor unit 2, the processing of the indoor unit 2 transitions to step S109. On the other hand, if a sensor position notification has not been received from the other indoor unit 2, the processing of the indoor unit 2 transitions to step S110.

[0079] (Step S109) The indoor unit 2 updates the sensor terminal list as necessary. In detail, if the sensor terminal information corresponding to the sensor terminal 3 indicated in the sensor position notification is registered in the sensor terminal list, and a predetermined upper limit period has passed since the date and time when the indoor unit 2 last received a position detection notification from the sensor terminal 3 (i.e., if the upper limit period has passed since the date and time when the position of the sensor terminal 3 was most recently estimated), the indoor unit 2 deletes the sensor terminal information from the sensor terminal list. After that, the process of the indoor unit 2 returns to step S101.

[0080] (Step S110) The indoor unit 2 determines whether or not a low battery level notification has been received from the sensor terminal 3. If a low battery level notification has been received from the sensor terminal 3, the process of the indoor unit 2 transitions to step S111. On the other hand, if a low battery level notification has not been received from the sensor terminal 3, the process of the indoor unit 2 transitions to step S112.

[0081] (Step S111) The indoor unit 2 notifies a maintenance person, a system administrator, etc., that the remaining battery power of the sensor terminal 3 is low. After that, the processing of the indoor unit 2 returns to step S101.

[0082] (Step S112) The indoor unit 2 determines whether or not a position presentation request notification has been received from the user terminal 4. If a position presentation request notification has not been received from the user terminal 4, the process of the indoor unit 2 returns to step S101. On the other hand, if a position presentation request notification has been received from the user terminal 4, the process of the indoor unit 2 transitions to step S113.

[0083] (Step S113) The indoor unit 2 switches the operation mode to the maintenance mode and ends the normal processing.

[0084] <Operation during maintenance of indoor unit 2> FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the maintenance process which is the process executed by the indoor unit 2 in the maintenance mode.

[0085] (Step S201) The indoor unit 2 determines whether or not a position detection notification has been received from the user terminal 4. If a position detection notification has been received from the user terminal 4, the process of the indoor unit 2 transitions to step S202. On the other hand, if a position detection notification has not been received from the user terminal 4, the indoor unit 2 continues to perform the determination of step S201.

[0086] (Step S202) The indoor unit 2 estimates the position of the user terminal 4. After that, the processing of the indoor unit 2 transitions to step S203.

[0087] (Step S203) The indoor unit 2 acquires the position of the sensor terminal 3 from the sensor terminal information registered in the sensor terminal list. After that, the process of the indoor unit 2 transitions to step S204.

[0088] (Step S204) The indoor unit 2 generates position information including the acquired positions of each sensor terminal and the estimated position of the user terminal 4. After that, the processing of the indoor unit 2 transitions to step S205.

[0089] (Step S205) The indoor unit 2 transmits the generated location information to the user terminal 4. After that, the process of the indoor unit 2 transitions to step S206.

[0090] (Step S206) The indoor unit 2 determines whether or not a certain time has passed since transmitting the location information to the user terminal 4. If the certain time has not passed, the indoor unit 2 continues to perform the determination in step S206. On the other hand, if the certain time has passed, the process of the indoor unit 2 transitions to step S207.

[0091] (Step S207) The indoor unit 2 switches the operation mode to the normal mode, and ends the maintenance process.

[0092] As described above, according to the air conditioning system 1 of this embodiment, the indoor unit 2 presents the position of the sensor terminal 3 that is within its own wireless communication range to the maintenance person. This allows the maintenance person to easily find the sensor terminal 3, significantly reducing the burden of maintenance work.

[0093] Furthermore, since the indoor unit 2 retains the corresponding sensor terminal information for a sensor terminal 3 from which it has stopped receiving a notification for position detection, it is possible to present the position of a sensor terminal 3 to a maintenance technician even if the battery is dead or the sensor terminal 3 is broken. Furthermore, when the position of a sensor terminal 3 from which it has stopped receiving a notification for position detection is estimated by another indoor unit 2, the indoor unit 2 deletes the sensor terminal information corresponding to that sensor terminal 3 from the sensor terminal list. Therefore, the indoor unit 2 can appropriately delete from the sensor terminal list the sensor terminal information of a sensor terminal 3 that is not within its own wireless communication range, i.e., that does not need to present its position to the user.

[0094] (Variation 1) Instead of or in addition to transmitting location information to the user terminal 4, the indoor unit 2 may blow air in the direction in which the sensor terminal 3 is installed, thereby presenting the location of the sensor terminal to the user.

[0095] (Variation 2) In addition, the remote control 5 may be configured to have functions similar to the location presentation request receiving unit 400, the location presentation request notification sending unit 401, the location information receiving unit 403, and the location information display unit 404 (see FIG. 10) in the user terminal 4, so that the maintenance staff can receive the location of the sensor terminal 3 from the indoor unit 2 via the remote control 5.

[0096] (Variation 3) Furthermore, a centralized control device or cloud server that centrally manages the air conditioning system 1 may be provided with at least some of the functional parts (see FIG. 9) of the indoor unit 2. In other words, the functions shown in FIG. 9 may be realized by sharing the functions between the indoor unit 2 and the centralized control device or cloud server.

[0097] (Variation 4) In addition, the sensor terminal 3 is not limited to a battery-powered type, and may be a sensor terminal that is powered by receiving a supply of power. In this case, the above-mentioned battery remaining amount detection unit 302 and battery remaining amount low notification transmission unit 303 (see FIG. 8) are not necessary.

[0098] (Variation 5) In addition, construction personnel, maintenance personnel, system administrators, etc. may be able to set information regarding the height of the indoor unit 2 from the floor (or ceiling height), the height of the sensor terminal 3 from the floor, and the height of the user terminal 4 from the floor in each indoor unit 2 as appropriate via the user terminal 4 or remote control 5.

[0099] (Variation 6) Furthermore, the indoor unit 2 may estimate the distance to the sensor terminal 3 and the relative position based on the electric field strength (also called radio wave strength) measured by each of three or more indoor units 2, including the indoor unit 2, when receiving a wireless signal from the same sensor terminal 3. In this case, for example, each indoor unit 2 measures the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) of the wireless signal received from the sensor terminal 3.

[0100] (Variation 7) Furthermore, all or part of the functional units of the indoor unit 2 (see FIG. 9) may be realized by dedicated hardware, all or part of the functional units of the sensor terminal 3 (see FIG. 8) may be realized by dedicated hardware, and all or part of the functional units of the user terminal 4 (see FIG. 10) may be realized by dedicated hardware. The dedicated hardware is, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or a combination of these.

[0101] The technical ideas according to the above-described modified examples may be realized individually or in appropriate combination.

[0102] The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment and each modified example, and various modifications are of course possible without departing from the gist of the present disclosure. [Explanation of symbols]

[0103] 1 air conditioning system, 2 indoor unit, 3 sensor terminal, 4 user terminal, 5 remote control, 6 air conditioning network, 20 main body, 21 decorative panel, 22 intake port, 23 air outlet, 24 corner panel, 25 first communication circuit, 26 second communication circuit, 27 main unit, 28, 32, 43, 53 auxiliary storage device, 29, 33, 44, 54 control circuit, 30, 40, 50 communication circuit, 31 sensor circuit, 34 battery, 41, 51 operation reception unit, 42, 52 display, 200 measurement data reception unit, 201 air conditioning control unit, 202 position detection notification reception unit, 203 position estimation unit, 204 sensor terminal list update unit, 205 sensor position notification transmission unit, 206 sensor position notification reception unit, 207 low battery level notification reception unit, 208 Low battery level notification unit, 209, position presentation request notification receiving unit, 210, position information generating unit, 211, position information transmitting unit, 220, sensor terminal list storage unit, 260, antenna element, 261, substrate, 300, air condition measuring unit, 301, measurement data transmitting unit, 302, battery level detecting unit, 303, low battery level notification transmitting unit, 304, 402, position detection notification transmitting unit, 400, position presentation request receiving unit, 401, position presentation request notification transmitting unit, 403, position information receiving unit, 404, position information display unit

Claims

1. An array antenna in which a plurality of antennas are regularly arranged; a measurement data receiving means for receiving, via the array antenna, measurement data including values ​​measured from a sensor terminal that measures the air condition in the area to be air-conditioned; an air conditioning control means for controlling air conditioning of the air conditioned area based on the received measurement data; a position estimation means for estimating a position of the sensor terminal based on a phase difference of radio waves received by each antenna in the array antenna; an air conditioner comprising: a position presentation means for presenting position information indicating a position of the sensor terminal to a user via the user terminal when a position presentation request of the sensor terminal is received from the user via the user terminal.

2. The position estimation means further estimates a position of the user terminal; The air conditioner according to claim 1 , wherein the position presenting means presents information indicating the positions of the sensor terminal and the user terminal to the user.

3. a battery low level notification receiving means for receiving a battery low level notification indicating a low battery level from the sensor terminal; 3. The air conditioner according to claim 1, further comprising: a notification unit that notifies a user of a low battery level when the low battery level notification receiving unit receives the low battery level notification.

4. The air conditioner according to claim 1 , wherein the array antenna is built into a corner panel that is detachably provided on a decorative panel.

5. The air conditioner according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of antennas are arranged in the array antenna such that there are three or more antenna axes that are linearly arranged.

6. a sensor terminal list storage means for storing a sensor terminal list in which sensor terminal information including identification information, the estimated position, and the most recent date and time when the position was estimated is registered for the sensor terminal whose position has been estimated by the position estimation means; a sensor position notification transmitting means for transmitting a sensor position notification including identification information of the sensor terminal and the estimated position to other air conditioners when the position estimation means estimates the position of the sensor terminal; a sensor position notification receiving means for receiving the sensor position notification transmitted from another air conditioner; 6. The air conditioner according to claim 1, further comprising a sensor terminal list update means for deleting the sensor terminal information from the sensor terminal list when the sensor terminal information corresponding to the sensor terminal indicated in the sensor position notification received by the sensor position notification receiving means is registered in the sensor terminal list and a predetermined period has elapsed since the most recent date and time when the position of the sensor terminal was estimated.

7. A sensor terminal that measures the air condition in the area to be air-conditioned and transmits measurement data indicating the measured value; An air conditioning system comprising: the air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. An air conditioner equipped with an array antenna in which multiple antennas are regularly arranged, estimating a position of a sensor terminal that measures an air condition in an area to be air-conditioned based on a phase difference between radio waves received by each antenna in the array antenna; A sensor terminal position presentation method, which, when a position presentation request of the sensor terminal is received from a user via a user terminal, presents position information indicating the position of the sensor terminal to the user via the user terminal.

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