DESCRIPTION

AIR CONDITIONER

TECHNICAL FIEID

The present invention relates to an air conditioner in which an air-conditioned space recognizing device for recognizing a state within an air-conditioned space is provided in it indoor unit so that air-conditioning operation is performed by controlling wind direction changing blades in response to a state of the air-conditioned space recognized by the air-conditioned space recognizing device.

BACKGROUND ART

In conventional air conditioners, a distance to a room wall or floor IS recognized by a distance sensor provided on an air-conditioner main body and a set position of the main body is automatically detected, so that a comfortable air-conditioned space is realized by containing wind direction or wind velocity depending on the detected main-body position (see, e.g., PTL1).

In other conventional air conditioners, a distance from the air-conditioner main body to a room wall or an obstacle is grasped by a distance measuring part provided in the main body, or a state of a room is captured and recognized by using an image sensor, so that optimum air blowing is performed by controlling a wind direction changing blade depending on a state of the room (see. eg., PTL2).

Patent Literature

PTL1: Japanese Patent Publication No. 2723470 B2 PTL2:
Japanese Patent Publication No. 4106857 B2

SUMMARY OF INVENTION
Problems to be Solved by the Invention

In the case of the air conditioner described in PTL1, a left-right distance sensor, a front and lower-side distance sensor each formed of an ultrasonic sensor are provided below the indoor unit However, there is no description as to those distance sensors are set in the Indoor unit

Also, a left-right distance of the room and distances to the front wall and floor are recognized by a plurality of non-rotary distance sensors, so that the main-body set position is detected. However, in the room are various obstacles such as desks, chairs and racks, and when the distance sensors have detected any one of them, there is difficulty in discriminating the detected one from the wall or floor or as an obstacle, leading to a problem that a connect distance to the wall or floor cannot be recognized.

In the air conditioner described in PTL2, on the other hand, the distance measuring part for measuring a distance to an obstacle and the sensors for capturing images of the room or person are set in upper part of the indoor unit main body in an exposed state. This leads to a problem that sensing performance of the distance measuring part or the sensors may decline under influences of dust, tobacco smoke or the like.

Moreover, the distance to a wail or obstacle is grasped by rotating the distance measuring part up and down, left and right However, since the distance measuring part is provided in upper part of the indoor unit, there is another problem that the field of view for vicinities of immediately below the indoor unit main body is hard to obtain.

The present invention having been accomplished in view of these and other problems of the conventional arts, an object of the invention Is to provide an air conditioner capable of avoiding decline of the recognition performance of the air-conditioned space recognizing device due to influences of dust, tobacco smoke or the like so that a wide sensing field of view can be ensured by using one sensor.

Technical Solutions

In accomplishing the above object, an air conditioner according to the present invention includes an indoor unit, a suction opening mounted to the indoor unit to take in air, a heat exchanger mounted to the indoor unit to heat-exchange air taken in through the suction opening, a discharge opening mounted to the indoor unit to blow off air heat-exchanged by the heat exchanger, a wind direction changing blade mounted in the discharge opening to change a direction of blow-off air, and an air-conditioned space recognizing device mounted in the indoor unit to recognize a state within an air-conditioned space, wherein the air conditioner performs air-conditioning operation by controlling the wind direction changing blade in response to a state of the air-conditioned space recognized by the air-conditioned space recognizing device, and at least part of the air-conditioned space recognizing device is placed on a rear face side of the wind direction changing blade.

Effect of the Invention

According to the present invention, during halts of operation of the air conditioner, the air-conditioned space recognizing device is covered by the wind direction changing blade or by the movable front panel and the wind direction changing blade. Thus, the air-conditioned space recognizing device is less aftected by influences of dust tobacco smoke or the like, being enabled to suppress the decline of recognition performance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Rg. 1 is a front view of an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to the present invention;

Rg. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A of Rg. 1 ;

Rg. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A of Fig. 1 in a state that the movable front panel has its front suction openings opened while the vertical wind direction changing blade has its discharge opening opened;

Fig. 4 is a front view of an air-conditioned space recognizing device provided in the indoor unit of Fig. 1;

Rg. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line B-6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a front view of a horn provided in the air-conditioned space recognizing device of Fig. 4;

Rg. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line C-C of Fig. 6; and

Rg. 8 is a sectional view showing a modification of the indoor unit ofRg.2.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In a first aspect of the present invention, at least part of the air-conditioned space recognizing device is provided on the rear face side of the wind direction changing blade, so that during halts of operation of the air conditioner, at least part of the air-conditioned space recognizing device is covered by the wind direction changing blade. Thus, the air conditioner is less affected by influences of dust, tobacco smoke or the like, being enabled to suppress the decline of recognition performance.

in a second aspect of the invention, the entire of the air-conditioned space recognizing device to provided on the rear face side of the wind direction changing blade, so that declines of recognition performance can be suppressed.

In a third aspect of the invention, portions of the air-conditioned space recognizing device other than the part are provided on the rear face side of the movable front panel, by which similar effects can be ensured.

In a fourth aspect of the invention, the sensor part of the air-conditioned space recognizing device is provided so as to be directed diagonally downward, the field of view for vicinities of immediately below the indoor unit main body can be ensured, and moreover a wide sensing field of view can be ensured by using one sensor.

In a fifth aspect of the invention, the air-conditioned space recognizing device comprises a sensor part, an up-down drive motor to rotate the sensor part in an up-down direction, a sensor casing to house therein the sensor part and the up-down drive motor arrayed in a lengthwise direction, and a left-right drive motor to rotate the sensor casing in a left-right direction.

With such placement adopted, the compact recognizing device having wide rotational ranges both in the up-down and left-right directions can be provided.

Hereinbelow, the present invention will be described in detail by embodiments thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

An air conditioner for use in ordinary hornes is made up of an outdoor unit and an indoor unit connected to each other generally by refrigerant piping. Figs. 1 to 3 show an indoor unit of an air conditioner according to the present invention.

The indoor unit includes a main body 2, and a movable front panel (hereinafter, referred to simply as front pane O 4 which can freely open and close front suction openings 2a of the main body 2. During a halt of the air conditioner, the front panel 4 is in dose contact with the main body 2 so that the front suction openings 2a are closed. During operation of the air conditioner, the front panel 4 moves in a distance-increasing direction from the main body 2 so that the front suction openings 2a are opened. It is noted that Rgs. 1 and 2 show a state in which front suction openings 2a are closed by the front panel 4, while Rg. 3 shows a state in which the front suction openings 2a are opened by the front panel 4.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 3, provided inside the main body 2 are: a heat exchanger 6; an indoor fan 8 provided downstream of the heat exchanger 6 and serving for performing heat exchange of indoor air, which is let in through the front suction openings 2a and upper suction openings 2b, and for blowing out the air into the room: vertical wind direction changing blades 12 for opening and closing a discharge opening 10, which are provided for blowing out the heat-exchanged air, and then vertically changing an air blow off direction; and horizontal wind direction changing blades 14 for horizontally changing the air blow off direction. A fitter 16 is disposed between the front and upper suction openings 2a, 2b and the heat exchanger 6 to remove dust contained in the indoor air let in through the front suction openings 2a and the upper suction openings 2b.

Further, a blow off grille 18 is provided on the downstream side of the indoor fan 8. An air passage 20 and the discharge opening 10 are formed by the blow off grille 18 in the downstream side of the indoor fan 8.

An upper portion of the front panel 4 is coupled to an upper portion of the main body 2 via two arm is 22, 24 provided at both end portions of the front panel 4. The arm 22 is connected to a drive motor (not shown), and when the air conditioner is brought into operation, the front panel 4 is moved forward and obliquely upward from a position (where the front suction openings 2a are closed) during a halt of the air conditioner by driving the drive motor.

The vertical wind direction changing blades 12, which are swingably mounted to a lower portion of the main body 2, are connected to a drive motor (e.g., stepping motor) and angles thereof are controlled by a controller (not shown) accommodated within the indoor unit.

On the other hand, the horizontal wind direction changing blades 14, which are made up of a plurality of blades swingably mounted to a lower portion of the main body 2, are connected to a drive motor (e.g., stepping motor) and angles thereof are controlled by a controller accommodated within the indoor unit

Further, an air-conditioned space recognizing device 30 which detects a distance to the wall or floor of an air-conditioned room so as to recognize a state within the air-conditioned space is provided on the rear face side of the front panel 4 and the vertical wind direction changing blades 12 in lower portion on one side (left side as viewed from the front) of the main body 2. This air-conditioned space recognizing device 30 is described with reference to Figs. 4 and 5. It is noted here that tine term' obstacle' used herein refers generically to things that obstruct an air flow blown out from the discharge opening 10 of the indoor unit to offer a comfortable space to dwellers, generically including things, other than the dwellers, furniture such as tables and sofas, as well as televisions and audio equipment

The air-conditioned space recognizing device 30, although provided on the left side of the main body 2 in Fig. 1, may also be provided on the right side of the main body 2.

The air-conditioned space recognizing device 30 is made up as a sensor unit having: a sensor part 32; an up-down drive motor 34 for rotating the sensor part 32 in the up-down direction; a sensor casing 36 having a longitudinally-longer-cylindrical shape for housing therein the sensor part 32 and the up-down drive motor 34 as they are arrayed in the lengthwise direction; and a left-right drive motor for rotating the sensor casing 36 in the left-right direction. The sensor part 32 is made up of an ultrasonic sensor 40, a spherical-shaped support member 42 for rotatably supporting and holding the ultrasonic sensor 40, and a horn 44 formed integrally with the support member 42 positioned in a sonic-wave outlet direction of the ultrasonic sensor 40. The from 44 is provided for improving the sensitivity and moreover enhancing the directivity of ultrasonic waves transmitted by the ultrasonic sensor 40 so as to improve the air-conditioned space recognition precision.

The support member 42 has an up-down-rotation rotating shaft 46, and the sensor casing 36 has a left-right-rotation rotating shaft 48 extending in a direction orthogonal to the up-down-rotation rotating shaft 46. The up-down-rotation rotating shaft 46 is rotatably mounted to the sensor casing 36, and the left-right-rotation rotating shaft 48 is rotatablyounted to a housing 50 to which a left-right drive motor 38 is mounted. Further, the support member 42, which is coupled to the up-down drive motor 34 via a driving-force transmission means 52 such as a gear, is driven so as to rotate in the up-down direction. The sensor casing 36 is coupled to the left-right drive motor 38, and driven so as to rotate in the left-right direction.

In addition, the air-conditioned space recognizing device 30 is made up of a metal plate, a ceramic vibrating element attached onto one side of the metal plate, and a cone for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves fixed onto the opposite side of the metal plate. During operation of the air conditioner, since the air-conditioned space recognizing device 30 is exposed outside, invading human fingers or the like into the horn 44 may cause the cone or the like to be damaged. Therefore, in order for preventing damage of the cone or the like or for securing an insulating distance between the metal plate and fingers, the horn 44 includes a plurality of ribs for preventing invaders from the outside.

Further, in more detail with reference to Figs. 6 and 7, the horn 44 has a smaller-diameter throat portion 54 to which the ultrasonic sensor 40 is mounted, and an opening portion 56 larger in diameter than the throat portion 54, where the horn 44 has a generally conical shape gradually increasingly opening from the throat portion 54 to the opening portion 56.

Also, in the vicinity of the throat portion 54, a plurality of thin-plate like ribs protruding toward an axial center line of the horn 44 and extending in the axial direction are integrally formed at equal intervals, where the Inner edge of each rib 58 extends generally parallel to the axial center line of the horn 44.

As described above, the horn 44 is provided to improve the sensitivity for ultrasonic waves and to enhance the directivity. However, the directivity weakens in directions in which the ribs 58 are present In the case of the air conditioner according to the present invention, since a lower end portion of the front panel 4 is boated near above the air-conditioned space recognizing device 30, there is a possibility that ultrasonic waves transmitted from the ultrasonic sensor 40 are diffusely reflected by the ribs 58 and the lower end portion of the front panel 4, causing an virtual image to be mis-detected by diffused reflection.

Therefore, it is preferable that the ribs 58 are provided at positions excluding the just-above position. In a case where two ribs 58 are provided, the ribs 58 are positioned horizontal. In a case where three ribs 58 are provided, two ribs 58 are positioned diagonally upward while the other one is positioned just below. In a case where four ribs 58 are provided, the ribs are positioned as shown in Fig. 6. in addition, the number of the ribs 58 is not limited to 2 to 4 and may be provided five or more in quantity.

More preferably, a net-like member (not shown) is placed forward of the ultrasonic sensor 40 thereby preventing invasions of things thinner than human lingers. However, the net-like member needs to be placed at a node position of particle velocity; otherwise, ultrasonic waves transmitted by the ultrasonic sensor 40 attenuate to larger extents. It is noted here that the node position of particle velocity refers to such a position corresponding to near a distance of (2n-1)/4xA from the cone, where the wavelength of ultrasonic waves is A.

The air-conditioned space recognizing device 30, adopting the above-described construction, becomes miniaturizable and has wider rotational range in both up-down and left-right directions.

Further, the air-conditioned space recognizing device 30, as shown in Fig. 2 or Fig. 3, is fixed to the main body 2 in such a manner that as in the forward direction, the left-right-rotation rotating shaft 48 is upwardly inclined while the sensor part 32 is directed diagonally downward. With such placement adopted, the field of view for vicinities of immediately below the air conditioner can be ensured, and for the up-down direction, a wide sensing field of view from generally horizontal directions to immediately-below vincinities can be ensured.

The drive motor for driving the arm 22 of the front panel 4, the up-down drive motor 34 for driving the vertical wind direction changing blades 12, the left-right drive motor 38 for driving the horizontal wind direction changing blades 14, the up-down drive motor 34 and the left-right drive motor 38 of the air-conditioned space recognizing device 30, and the like are electrically connected to a control section (not shown) provided in the indoor unit These driving means are controlled by the control section, by which operations of the front panel 4, the vertical wind direction changing blades 12, the horizontal wind direction changing blades 14, the horizontal wind direction changing blades 14, the air-conditioned space recognizing device 30 and the like are controlled.

Signals detected by the air-conditioned space recognizing device 30 are also processed by the control section, by which operation control of the air conditioner is fulfilled.

Next, operation of the air conditioner according to the present invention is described with reference to Figs. 2 to 5.

Fig. 2 shows a halt state of the air conditioner, where the front suction openings 2a and the discharge opening 10 are dosed by the front panel 4 and the vertical wind direction changing blades 12, respectively.

When operation d the air conditioner is started by using a remote control device (not shown), the arm 22 is driven by a drive motor as shown in F^. 3, while the front panel 4 goes on a furthering operation forward from the front suction openings 2a so as to be stopped at an arbitrary position. Concurrently, the vertical wind direction changing blades 12 are driven by another drive motor, being rotated and stopped at an arbitrary position, so that the sensor part 32 of the air-conditioned space recognizing device 30 is exposed from the main body 2. In this state, the air-conditioned space recognizing device 30 recognizes a distance to the wall or floor of a room, which is the air-conditioned space, as well as the presence or absence of any obstade to recognize the air-conditioned space.

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Signals detected by the air-conditioned space recognizing device 30 are also processed by the control section, by which operation control of the air conditioner is fulfilled.

Next, operation of the air conditioner according to the present invention is described with reference to Figs. 2 to 5.

Fig. 2 shows a halt state of the air conditioner, where the front suction openings 2a and the discharge opening 10 are closed by the front panel 4 and the vertical wind direction changing blades 12, respectively.

When operation of the air conditioner is started by using a remote control device (not shown), the arm 22 is driven by a drive motor as shown in Rg. 3, while the front panel 4 goes on a furthering operation forward from the front suction openings 2a so as to be stopped at an arbitrary position. Concurrently, the vertical wind direction changing blades 12 are driven by another drive motor, being rotated and stopped at an arbitary position, so that the sensor part of the air-conditioned space recognizing device 30 is exposed from the main body 2. In this state, the air-conditioned space recognizing device 30 recognizes a distance to the wall or floor of a room, which is the air-conditioned space, as well as the presence or absence of any obstade to recognize the air-conditioned space.

Detection of the distance to an object is fulfilled depending on a phenomenon that an ultrasonic wave transmitted by the ultrasonic sensor 40, when impinging on an object, is reflected by the object and the resulting reflected wave is received by the ultrasonic sensor 40. Given a time t elapsing from the transmission to the reception as well as a sound velocity C, a distance D from the ultrasonic sensor 40 to the object can be expressed as D = Ct/2.

In addition. Figs. 4 and 5 show the ultrasonic sensor 40 in which its ultrasonic-wave transmitting part and receiving part are integrated together. However, cases in which the ultrasonic-wave transmitting part and receiving part are provided separate from each other may be adopted also in this embodiment without any differences In principle or function.

The recognition of the air-conditioned space is fulfilled by the steps of transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves at individual angles of angular intervals while the sensor part 32 is rotated in the up-down direction at specified angular intervals by the up-down drive motor 34 and while the sensor casing 36, in which the sensor part 32 to housed, is rotated in the left-right direction at specified angular intervals by the left-right drive motor 38, where signals of the removed and received ultrasonic waves are recorded and processed.

As an example, addresses that depend on an up-down direction angle and a left-4ight direction angle of the sensor part 32 are set in the air-conditioned space. Then, the ultrasonic sensor 40 performs measurement of the individual addresses as well as scanning of the living space, by which the recognition of the air-conditioned space is accomplished. In the case, the up-down direction angular range is set to 5 to 80 degrees as an example, and the left-right direction angle is set to 10 to 170 degrees as an example.

After the air-conditioned space is recognized in the way shown above, air-conditioning operation is performed with a power corresponding to the scale of the air-conditioned space. In the case where an obstacle is recognized, the direction of wind blown off from the discharge opening 10 is controlled by the horizontal wind direction changing blades 14 or the vertical wind direction changing blades 12, or wind velocity is controlled by the indoor fan 8, by which air-conditioning operation adapted for obstacle avoidance is performed. Thus, a high-efficiency operation can be performed while energy saving is accomplished.

The recognition operation for an air-conditioned space by the air-conditioned space recognizing device 30 can be done upon an operation start of the air conditioner. Otherwise, since the state of an air-conditioned space does not largely change with elapse of time, the recognition operation for an air-conditioned space may be done after each end of air-conditioning operation or at every regular period.

in the embodiment described above, the air-conditioned space recognizing device 30 is placed on the rear face side of the front panel 4 and the vertical wind direction changing blades 12, while the sensor part 32 is covered and hidden WITH the front panel 4 and the vertical wind direction changing blades 12 during an operation halt of the air conditioner. With this constitution, the ultrasonic sensor 40 is less affected by influences of dust. tobacco smoke or the like during operation halts of the air conditioner, so that decline of recognition performance can be suppressed.

However, it is allowable that as shown in Fig. 8, the front panel 4 is made shorter in the up-down direction length while the vertical wind direction changing blades 12 is made longer in the up-down direction length, where the entire air-conditioned space recognizing device 30 is placed on the rear face side of the vertical wind direction changing blades 12.

More specifically, with the constution of Fig. 2, part of the air-conditioned space recognizing device 30 is placed on the rear face side of the vertical wind direction changing blades 12, while the rest is placed on the rear face side of the front panel 4. However, with the constitution of Fig, 8, the entirety of the air-conditioned space recognizing device 30 is placed on the rear face side of the vertical wind direction changing blades 12, and fixed to the main body 2 as it is, and the air-conditioned space recognizing device 30 is covered and hidden with the vertical wind direction changing blades 12 alone during operation halts of the air conditioner. This constitution is effective especially for air conditioners in which the front panel 4 is a fixed type one, where placing the air-conditioned space recognizing device 30 on the rear face side of the vertical wind direction changing blades 12 makes it possible to suppress declines of the recognition performance of the air-conditioned space recognizing device 30.

Further, in the constitution of Rg. 8 as well, as in the case of F^. 2, the air-conditioned space recognizing device 30 is fixed to the main body 2 in such a manner that as in the forward direction, the left-right-rotation rotating shaft 48 is upwardly inclined while the sensor part 32 is directed diagonally downward. Therefore, the field of view for vicinities of immediately below the air conditioner can be ensured, and moreover a wide sensing field of view from generally horizontal direction to immediately-below vicinities can be ensured by using one ultrasonic sensor 40.

As the air-conditioned space recognizing device 30, an ultrasonic sensor for detecting distances to the wall or floor within the air-conditioned space or to an obstade is used in this embodiment However, sensors that detect a person's state such as position or temperature of a person may also be used to fulfill optimum air conditioning. In addition, the wind direction changing blades may be either an up-down one or a left-right one, whichever it is.

The air conditioner according to the present invention, in which the air-conditioned space recognizing device is placed on the rear face side of the vertical wind direction changing blade or on the rear face side of the movable front panel and the vertical wind direction changing blade, is enabled to avoid declines of the sensor detection performance due to influences of dust, tobacco smoke or the like, and moreover a wide sensing field of view can be ensured by using one sensor. Thus, the air conditioner of the invention is useful as those for various uses including those for use in ordinary hornes.

CLAIMS

——

1.(Amended) An air conditioner comprising:

an indoor unit;

a suction opening mounted to the indoor unit to take in air;

a heat exchanger mounted to the indoor unit to heat-exchange air taken in through the suction opening;

a discharge opening mounted to the indoor unit to bbw off air heat-exchanged by the heat exchanger;

a wind direction changing blade mounted in the discharge opening to change a direction of blown-off air, and

an air-conditioned space recognizing device mounted to the indoor unit to detect a distance to a wall or floor, presence or absence of an obstacle, or a state of a person,

wherein the air conditioner performs air-conditioning operation by continuing the wind direction changing blade in response to a state of the air-conditioned space recognized by the air-conditioned space recognizing device, and at least past of the air-conditioned space recognizing device is placed on a rear face side of the wind direction changing blade in a lower portion of the air conditioner so as to be covered with the wind direction changing blade during an operation halt of the air conditioner.

2.(Amended) The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein an entirety of the air-conditioned ^ace recognizing device is placed on the rear face side of the wind direction changing blade so as to be covered with the wind direction changing blade during an operation halt of the air conditioner.

3.(Amended) The air conditioner according to claim 1, further comprising a movable front panel mounted to the indoor unit, wherein the rest part of the sur-conditioned space recognizing device other than the part is placed on the rear face side of the movable front panel in a lower portion of the air conditioner so as to be covered with the movable front panel during an operation halt of the air conditioner.

4. The air conditioner according to claim 1, wherein the air-conditioned space recognizing device has a sensor part and the sensor part is placed so as to be directed diagonally downward.

5. The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the air-conditioned space recognizing device comprises:

a sensor part

an up-down drive motor to rotate the sensor part in an up-down direction;

a sensor casing to house therein the sensor part and the up-down drive motor arrayed in a lengthwise direction, and

a left-right drive motor to rotate the sensor casing in a left-right direction.

6.(Added) The air conditoner according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the air-conditioned space recognizing device is mounted to side part of the discharge opening.

7.(Added) The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein during operation of the air conditioner, the wind direction changing blade is rotated so that at least part of the air-conditioned space recognizing device is exposed from a main today of the indoor unit of the air conditioner.