Disinfection equipment system

Abstract

To provide a sterilization apparatus system not restricted on an installation location, capable of reducing a load of a user by changing an operation state automatically.SOLUTION: A sterilization apparatus system having a sterilization part for sterilizing in an external object range, includes an absent time acquisition part for acquiring an absent time when a user does not exist within a sterilization range, and a control part for controlling an operating capacity of the sterilization part based on the acquired absent time.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a disinfection device system including a disinfection unit that disinfects a target range outside the device itself, and particularly relates to an improvement in a technique for controlling disinfection depending on the presence or absence of a person, for example, in an office. Here, the device system is a concept including a plurality of devices or functional units connected by a communication path such as a network, and further includes a configuration in which a plurality of devices or functional units are formally housed in one housing.

Background Art

[0002] As a disinfection device, there is an air conditioner or the like provided with a generator that generates ions by discharge. In such devices, for indoor air purification, a human presence sensor, a timer, or the like is used to control the time for purifying the indoor air.

[0003] Regarding control by a human presence sensor, for example, the control disclosed in Patent Document 1 has been proposed. This technique changes the control of the air volume for a certain period when a person is detected by a human presence sensor.

[0004] On the other hand, as a technique for controlling a device having a function of collecting dust and pollen from indoor air and purifying the air with a timer, there is one disclosed in Patent Document 2. This technique is for a user to set a time and perform purification control according to the set time.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] By the way, according to the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, the system increases or decreases the airflow when a person is detected, so a motion sensor is an essential component. However, in indoor installations such as offices, the presence of obstacles such as bookshelves and printers can interfere with human detection, reducing the reliability of the device.

[0007] Furthermore, in Patent Document 2, the user sets the time on the timer, which can be cumbersome, and if there are changes to the schedule, it is necessary to change the set time, which is troublesome.

[0008] This disclosure was made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a disinfection device system that is not limited by installation location and can automatically change its operating status to reduce the burden on the user. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] To achieve the above objective, this disclosure provides a disinfection device system equipped with a disinfection unit that disinfects a target area of ​​a room where the time of entry and exit of people is managed, comprising: an absence time acquisition unit that acquires the absence time when no users are present in the area to be disinfected; and a control unit that controls the operating capacity of the disinfection unit based on the acquired absence time, wherein the absence time acquisition unit acquires the current time from a timer and, upon detecting that the day has changed, acquires entry and exit data indicating the entry and exit times of people into the room on the previous day, and the time other than the time from the earliest entry time T1 to the latest exit time T2 on the previous day is considered as the absence time death, The control of the disinfection unit's operating capacity includes interrupt control, which is performed when the motion sensor detects the presence of a person. This interrupt control stores the progress of the program execution process, stops further processing, and simultaneously shuts off the power to the ozone generator. It is characterized by doing so.

[0010] Here, the control unit can be configured to increase the disinfection capacity during the time the user is absent, rather than operating the disinfection unit at times other than the time the user is absent. Furthermore, the disinfection unit may be an ozone sterilizer. Furthermore, the control unit may define the time from the earliest entry time T1 to the latest exit time T2 as the manned time, and after the change of day, until a predetermined time earlier than the earliest entry time T1, it may increase the disinfection capacity compared to when the disinfection unit is operated during the manned time, and when the predetermined time earlier is reached, it may begin to decrease the increased disinfection capacity.

[0011] Furthermore, this disclosure relates to a disinfection system that inactivates bacteria and viruses floating or attached in a room by ozone disinfection, and is characterized by comprising: communication means for communicating with a specific device that operates depending on the presence of a person in the room; operating time acquisition means for acquiring the operating time of the specific device via the communication means; person-occupied time estimation means for estimating the occupied time from the acquired operating time; and mode change means for changing the operating mode of the disinfection unit according to the estimated person-occupied time.

[0012] Here, the external equipment that operates based on the presence of a person in the aforementioned room is: (1) A device installed at the office entrance where the disinfection unit is located communicates the entry and exit times managed by IC cards as the operating time. (2) A device that records entry and exit times using a time card and communicates them as working time. (3) PCs and other devices that communicate using login time as operating time, (4) A device that records entry and exit times using an electronic key for an automatic locking door and communicates them as operating time. (5) A device that communicates the operating time of air conditioners installed in the office as the time of person being present. (6) Equipment that communicates the time the lighting towers installed in the office are on as the time the person is present, (7) A device that measures the time when there is human heat using a thermograph and communicates that time as the operating time. (8) A device that detects motion using a camera, measures the motion detection time, and communicates it as the operating time. (9) Devices that communicate schedule information from applications installed on PCs, etc., as operating time. It can be any one or a combination of any of the following.

[0013] Furthermore, the communication means may include wired or wireless one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many communication.

[0014] Further, the operation mode changing means switches between the operation mode when there is a person and the operation mode when there is no person, and can make the ozone concentration when there is no person higher than the ozone concentration when there is a person.

[0015] Also, the time for changing the ozone concentration of the disinfection unit can be changed.

[0016] Further, the disinfection unit includes concentration control means for detecting the ozone concentration and controlling it at a predetermined concentration, and the value of the predetermined concentration can be changed according to the operation mode.

Advantages of the Invention

[0017] According to the above configuration, the absence time when there is no user in the disinfection range is obtained, and based on that absence time, the operating ability of the disinfection unit is controlled. Therefore, it is possible to prevent detection errors due to obstacles as in the conventional method of detecting the presence of a person using a motion sensor, and it is also possible to save the trouble of manually setting the time.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0018] [Figure 1] A bird's-eye view of an office where the disinfection device system of the present disclosure is used is shown. [Figure 2] A diagram showing the entry and exit history for each day. [Figure 3] A diagram showing the configuration of the control panel 4. [Figure 4] A diagram showing the configuration of the disinfection unit. [Figure 5] A flowchart showing the absence time acquisition process. [Figure 6] A flowchart showing the concentration control process. [Figure 7] A flowchart showing the interrupt process. [Figure 8] As Embodiment 2, a diagram showing an office from above. [Figure 9] A diagram showing the circuit block of the air conditioner and the operation status detection box. [Figure 10]This flowchart shows the detection operation of the motion detection unit. [Figure 11] This diagram shows a modified portion of the flowchart shown in Figure 6. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0019] The disinfection apparatus system according to the embodiment of this disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 shows an overhead view of an office where a disinfection system is used. Although there are multiple employee desks in the office, they are not essential for implementing the invention and are therefore omitted, with only one shown. A laptop computer 2 is placed on this desk 1, and access control software is installed. The only other office equipment shown in the diagram is the disinfection unit 3, the control panel 4, and the MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) 5.

[0020] One of the walls of the office is equipped with an openable door 6 for entry and exit. Door 6 is fitted with a remote lock block 6a, which is an example of a digital key. The remote lock block 6a is linked to the lock inside door 6, and when an IC card, smartphone, or employee ID card 7 is held over the surface of the remote lock block 6a, it reads the security code and, if the code is already registered, unlocks door 6. Once unlocked, the door can be opened to enter or exit the room. When a person passes through to enter or exit, the door automatically closes and locks. Note that the remote lock block 6a is already in practical use under names such as digital key or electronic key and is publicly known, so a detailed explanation will be omitted.

[0021] The remote lock block 6a is equipped with a communication unit capable of communicating via WiFi or Bluetooth (registered trademark). Here, for example, communication will be enabled via Bluetooth. The communication destination is a personal computer 2 placed on a desk. Specifically, it communicates with access control software on personal computer 2 and transmits the names of those entering and leaving the room, as well as the entry and exit times, to the software.

[0022] The access control software creates and saves a daily access history, as shown in Figure 2, based on information from the remote lock block 6a. Note that the laptop 2 also has a built-in Wi-Fi transmitter / receiver (not shown) in addition to Bluetooth.

[0023] Returning to Figure 1, the control panel 4 communicates with the laptop computer 2 to obtain all entry and exit history from the previous day and determines the earliest entry time and latest exit time from the previous day's entry and exit times. Figure 3 shows the configuration of the control panel 4. In this configuration, the calculation unit 4a determines the earliest entry time and latest exit time. The determined entry and exit times are stored in the storage unit 4b. The control panel 4 also includes a timer 4c, a communication unit 4d, and an ozone concentration control unit 4e.

[0024] Communication unit 4d is the part that communicates with laptop 2 via Wi-Fi. Timer 4c retrieves the entry and exit history from the computer at the start of each new day, specifying the entry and exit history from the previous day.

[0025] The ozone concentration control unit 4e controls the concentration of the disinfection unit 3 based on the entry and exit times stored in the memory unit 4b. Details of the control panel 4's processing are shown in Figures 5-6 and will be described later.

[0026] Figure 4 shows the disinfection unit 3. In this embodiment, an ozone generator is used as the disinfection unit. The ozone generator 3 has a raw material gas inlet 10a on the upper right wall and an ozone gas outlet 10b on the lower left wall of a hollow rectangular housing 10. Inside the housing 10, two partition walls 10c and 10d are installed vertically with a gap between them, dividing the internal space of the housing into three sections. Through holes H1 and H2 are provided at the right and left ends of each partition wall 10c and 10d, ensuring a flow path for the raw material gas to meander through the inside of the housing 10. Cooling water is circulated inside the plates of the housing 10 and the partition wall plates, and the structure is designed to absorb the heat generated when ozone is generated. Furthermore, ozone generators 11... are attached to the top and bottom surfaces of the gas meandering flow path in three stages inside the enclosure. The voltage V of the power supply 12 is applied to each ozone generator 11....

[0027] The power supply 12 has a variable voltage and is adjusted to a voltage corresponding to the control signal of the ozone concentration control unit 4e of the control panel 4. When a predetermined power supply voltage is applied to each ozone generator 11..., the raw material gas is activated as it flows through the flow path, generating ozone, and ozone gas is output from the outlet 10b at the bottom of the left wall. By switching the applied voltage to a high or low voltage, the amount of ozone generated can be increased or decreased, and the ozone concentration can be controlled. Note that the control of the ozone concentration is not limited to voltage; for example, it can also be done by increasing or decreasing the supply amount of raw material gas, or by switching the number of ozone generators 11... to which the voltage is applied. Furthermore, the ozone generator 3 may detect the ozone concentration in the office and control the applied voltage with feedback to maintain a predetermined ozone concentration in the office. In this case, the predetermined ozone concentration may be changed according to the operating mode.

[0028] Next, the control operations performed by the control panel 4 will be explained in accordance with Figures 5 and 6.

[0029] Figure 5 is a flowchart for controlling the ozone gas concentration. When processing starts, the current time is first obtained from timer 4c (S1). Then, it detects whether the day has changed based on the timer time, and if it has (S2), it communicates with laptop 2 to obtain the entry and exit data from the previous day (S3). For example, if today is November 2nd, the data to be obtained is the input and output data for November 1st (see Figure 2). Since there are records for multiple people for each entry and exit on November 1st, the earliest entry time needs to be determined by the time of the earliest person to enter among all entrants, while the latest exit time needs to be determined by the time of the latest person to exit among all entrants.

[0030] The process of finding the earliest and latest time from multiple time points is similar to the process of finding the maximum and minimum values. For example, for entry times, two entry times are compared, the earlier one is kept, and then compared with the next entry time. The earlier of these two is kept. This process is repeated for the remaining entry times, and the time that remains at the end is considered the earliest time.

[0031] As described above, the earliest entry time T1 of the previous day is detected (S4), and the latest exit time T2 is detected using a similar method (S5). Next, the time when the office is occupied is determined based on the obtained entry time T1 and exit time T2 (S6). The time from entry time T1 to exit time T2 obtained through steps S5 and S6 is defined as the time when a person is present in the office, and the time outside of the occupied time is defined as the time when the office is unoccupied. These two times T1 and T2 are sent to the concentration control unit 4e (S6).

[0032] In this embodiment, since the inside of door 6 is the office, the operating time and the time the office is occupied coincide. For example, if the digital key is installed at a gate far from the office entrance, the time the office is occupied will not coincide with the time calculated in steps S4 and S5. In that case, it is necessary to adjust the time by the travel time from the office entrance to the gate.

[0033] Next, Figure 6 shows a flowchart of the concentration control process.

[0034] In concentration control, the timer is monitored (S11) to constantly update the current time T. In step S12, the concentration change time is determined based on the time information T1 and T2 obtained from the absence time monitoring flow, and set on the timer. Here, regarding the relationship between ozone concentration, absence time, and occupied time, since ozone is toxic to the human body, the ozone concentration is increased during absence time and decreased during occupied time. In this case, even if the ozone concentration is lowered immediately upon reaching the time T1 when a person enters the room, the ozone in the room will not decrease immediately. It has been confirmed that the ozone concentration in a room usually decreases to a predetermined concentration about 2 hours after the concentration of the ozone generator 3 is changed. Therefore, when lowering the ozone concentration, the switch is made at a time (T1-2) 2 hours earlier than the time T1 when a person enters the room. On the other hand, when increasing the concentration, the switch is made at the timing of reaching the departure time T2. This is because it is not a problem if the concentration does not increase immediately during absence time, and conversely, if the ozone concentration is increased 2 hours before the end of occupied time, the ozone concentration will rise during occupied time, which has an effect on the human body and is undesirable.

[0035] When the current time T reaches (T1-2) time (S13), the ozone concentration in ozone generator 3 is reduced (S14). The ozone concentration is changed by changing the magnitude of the voltage applied to the ozone generator. As long as the current time T has not reached (T1-2) time, the concentration is not changed and is maintained at a high concentration (S16).

[0036] Next, when the current time T reaches T2 (S15), the ozone concentration is switched to a high concentration (S16). Then the process returns and steps again from S11.

[0037] Through the above process, the ozone concentration in the office is maintained at a low level when people are present, and then increased to a high level when people are absent. This minimizes the impact on human health while inactivating viruses and bacteria in the room.

[0038] Next, Figure 7 shows the interrupt control in the concentration control flowchart. Regardless of which step the concentration control in Figure 6 has progressed to (S11-S16), if an interrupt occurs, the control in Figure 6 is stopped and the system is forcibly switched to the control in Figure 7.

[0039] Interrupt control occurs when a motion sensor, installed in a location with a clear view, such as the ceiling in the center of the office, detects the presence of a person (S21), and the ozone concentration in the room is high at that time (S22), triggering an interrupt (S23). When an interrupt occurs, the system remembers which step in Figure 6 the program execution process has progressed to and stops further processing. Simultaneously, the power to the ozone generator is shut off (S24). In Figure 7, if the motion sensor does not detect a person, or if the room concentration is low, no interrupt is triggered, and the processing in Figure 6 is not interrupted.

[0040] In the above embodiment, the disinfection unit 3 and the control panel 4 are housed in separate enclosures, but it is also possible to incorporate the components of the control panel 4 into the enclosure of the disinfection unit. ≪Second Embodiment≫ In the above embodiment, the user's absence time is obtained from a specific device. However, in this embodiment, the operating time of the specific device is obtained, and the user's absence time or time when the device is occupied is estimated from that operating time. In order to estimate absence time or time when the device is occupied from its operating time, the specific device must satisfy certain conditions. The second embodiment will be described below.

[0041] Figure 8 shows an air conditioner 31 installed in the room as a specific piece of equipment. The air conditioner 31 can be controlled by operating the remote control 32 to turn the power on and off, and to raise and lower the temperature. In addition, an ozone generator 3 and a control panel 4 are installed in the office room as a disinfection unit. These pieces of equipment 3 and 4 have the same configuration as in Embodiment 1, so a detailed explanation is omitted. An operating status detection box 33 is provided adjacent to the air conditioner 31.

[0042] Figure 9 is a circuit block diagram of the air conditioner 31 and the operating status detection box 33. The air conditioner 31 (more accurately, the indoor unit of the air conditioner; the outdoor unit is not shown) has a power supply board 31a, a control board 31b, a power relay board 31c, and a blower motor 31d installed inside. The power supply board 31a generates the voltage supplied to the other boards and the outdoor unit. The control board 31b is the main circuit board that controls the temperature according to instructions from the remote control 32. The power relay board 31c switches the power on and off to the outdoor unit.

[0043] Communication lines 31e and 31f are wired from the control board 31b and the power relay board 31c to the operating status detection box 33.

[0044] The operating status detection box 33 consists of an operating detection unit 33a and a communication unit 33b. The operating detection unit 33a monitors the power on / off status of the air conditioner via the communication lines 31e and 31f. The detection operation is shown in the flowchart of Figure 10.

[0045] In the detection operation, two variable buffers M1 and M2 are used. Buffer M1 is used to set the start time of operation, and buffer M2 is used to set the end time of operation. In addition to remote control operation, the air conditioner can be turned on and off automatically without remote control operation by setting the start and end times on a timer. In this embodiment, the start and end of operation are detected by detecting the ON edge and OFF edge of the power relay. ON edge and OFF edge refer to detecting the moment of ON and OFF.

[0046] At the start of processing, a timer is turned ON to read data for the start and end times of operation (S31). The communication line from the air conditioner control board is monitored to detect if an operation start operation has been performed (S32). If that operation is not performed, the communication line 31e from the power relay board 31c is monitored, and the timer detects whether the operation has started automatically (S33). If either step S32 or S33 is Yes, the time at that time is stored in the variable buffer (S34). Next, the system waits for an operation end operation to be performed (S35) or for the OFF edge of the power relay to be detected (S36). Once either operation or detection is confirmed, the time is stored in the variable buffer T2 (S37). Then, once the time has been stored in both buffers M1 and M2 (S38), the time is transmitted to the operation detection unit 33a (S39), and variable buffers M1 and M2 are reset. After this, the system proceeds to the detection operation for the next (usually the following day's) start and end times.

[0047] The control panel 4, having received communication of the start and end times of operation from the operation detection unit 33a, performs the same processing as shown in Figure 6. However, step S12 in Figure 6 is changed to the processing shown in Figure 11. That is, first, upon receiving the start and end times of operation from the operation detection unit 33a (S41), the control panel 4 estimates the time when the room is occupied and the time when it is unoccupied from those times (S42). The time received from the operation detection unit 33a is the time when the air conditioner is operating and does not necessarily coincide with the time when the room is occupied. If it is empirically known what percentage the time when the room is occupied is greater or less than the time when the air conditioner is operating, a coefficient can be calculated and the calculation (estimation) can be performed. Alternatively, it can be estimated by referring to the entry and exit history of past time cards.

[0048] Next, using the calculated or estimated manned and unmanned time, we return to Figure 6 and perform concentration switching control.

[0049] The above embodiment monitors the operating time of an air conditioner and estimates the time the unit is occupied and unoccupied from that time. However, it is not limited to air conditioners, and the operating time of various other devices can be used. However, the following conditions must be met for it to be usable. That is, It must be a specific piece of equipment that operates based on the presence of people in the room. Examples of such specific devices are listed below.

[0050] (1) A device that records entry and exit times using a time card and communicates the total time from entry to exit as working time. The communication destination is the control panel. Therefore, a configuration combining a time card system that records entry and exit times and a communication circuit is required.

[0051] (2) Devices such as PCs that communicate using login time as operating time. PCs can be set up on each desk in the room. Users entering the room will log in and log out to the PC on their desk. Each PC in the room will determine the login time and notify the control panel via the internet or Wi-Fi through its built-in communication unit.

[0052] (3) A device that records entry and exit times using the electronic key of an automatic locking door and communicates them as operating time. This can be realized by using the same configuration as described in (1) above.

[0053] (4) A device that communicates using the input / output time of office equipment such as MFPs as its operating time. Input / output refers to the operations of office equipment such as image formation and reading. If the office equipment is an MFP, the operating time is calculated from the first input / output time and the last input / output time of the day. This is transmitted from the communication unit inside the MFP to the control board via the internet.

[0054] (5) A device that communicates the lighting time of lights installed in an office as the time when an office is occupied. This device must include a lighting time management means that detects and records the lighting time of the lights, and a communication means that communicates the time from the start to the end of the day when the lights are turned on as the operating time to the control unit.

[0055] (6) A device that measures the time when there is a person's body heat using a thermograph and communicates that time as the operating time. Similar to the lighting above, it requires a management means to measure and record the time when there is a person's body heat, as well as a communication means.

[0056] (7) A device that detects motion using a camera, measures the motion detection time, and communicates it as operating time. Similar to the lighting fixtures mentioned above, it requires a management means to measure and record the motion detection time, as well as a communication means.

[0057] (8) A device that communicates schedule information from an application installed on a PC, etc., as operating time. Since the operating time can be obtained by the application, it can consist of a means for reading the operating time from the application and a means for communication.

[0058] In all of the above embodiments, the control panel 4 is configured to communicate with one personal computer or operating status detection box. However, it is also possible to configure the system to receive operating time information from multiple personal computers to a single control panel, or, if the office is divided into multiple rooms and each room has a disinfection device, it is possible to configure the system to communicate with multiple personal computers and multiple control panels in a many-to-many manner. In short, the form of communication is not limited to one-to-one, and it can be implemented using either wired or wireless methods. [Industrial applicability]

[0059] This disclosure concerns a device that controls the concentration of a disinfectant based on operational information from other devices, minimizing the burden on users through settings and other configurations, making it a potentially highly valuable piece of equipment. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0060] 2. Laptop 3 Disinfection section 4. Control Panel 4a Ozone concentration control unit 6 Opening and closing doors 6a Digital Key 6. Air conditioners (specific equipment)

Claims

1. A disinfection device system equipped with a disinfection unit that disinfects a target area in a room where the time of entry and exit of people is controlled, An absence time acquisition unit that acquires the absence time when no user is present in the area to be disinfected, Based on the acquired absence time, a control unit controls the operating capacity of the disinfection unit. Equipped with, The absence time acquisition unit obtains the current time from the timer, and when it detects that the day has changed, it acquires entry and exit data indicating the entry and exit times of people into and out of the room on the previous day, and considers the time excluding the period from the earliest entry time T1 to the latest exit time T2 on the previous day as the absence time. The control of the operating capacity of the disinfection unit includes interrupt control, which is performed when the motion sensor detects the presence of a person. This interrupt control stores the progress of the program execution process, stops further processing, and simultaneously shuts off the power to the ozone generator. A disinfection device system characterized by the following features.

2. The disinfection apparatus system according to claim 1, characterized in that the control unit enhances the disinfection capacity during the time the user is absent, rather than operating the disinfection unit at times other than the time the user is absent.

3. A disinfection apparatus system according to either claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the disinfection unit is an ozone sterilizer.

4. The control unit is characterized in that it sets the time from the earliest entry time T1 to the latest exit time T2 as the manned time, and after the change of day, for a predetermined time earlier than the earliest entry time T1, it increases the disinfection capacity compared to when the disinfection unit is operated during the manned time, and when the predetermined time earlier is reached, it starts to decrease the increased disinfection capacity, as described in any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The disinfection apparatus system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the disinfection unit has a variable level of ozone concentration generation.

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