Air conditioning control system and air conditioner

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11708992-B2
Application number	US-201816962957-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 31, 2018
Priority date	Jan 31, 2018
Publication date	Jul 25, 2023
Grant date	Jul 25, 2023

Abstract

An air conditioning control system includes: an air pressure measurement unit ( 111 ) configured to measure an air pressure value; an air conditioning unit ( 136 ) whose wind direction and airflow volume are changeable; a wind velocity calculation unit ( 132 ) configured to calculate a wind velocity of wind received by a portable terminal ( 110 ) from a variation in a plurality of atmospheric pressure values and to specify a presence direction that is a direction in which the portable terminal ( 110 ) is present with respect to the air conditioner ( 130 ); an air conditioning control determination unit ( 134 ) configured to determine a wind direction and an airflow volume of the air conditioning unit ( 136 ) in accordance with the wind velocity and the presence direction; and an air conditioning control unit ( 135 ) configured to control the air conditioning unit ( 136 ) so that the determined wind direction and airflow volume are obtained.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An air conditioner to communicate with a portable terminal including an air pressure sensor to measure an air pressure value and to change a wind direction and an airflow volume, the air conditioner comprising:
a network interface card to receive a plurality of air pressure values from the portable terminal by communicating with the portable terminal; and
processing circuitry
to calculate a wind velocity of wind received by the portable terminal from a variation in the plurality of air pressure values received by the network interface card;
to specify a presence direction that is a direction in which the portable terminal is present with respect to the air conditioner;
to determine the wind direction and the airflow volume of the air conditioner in accordance with the wind velocity and the presence direction; and
to control the air conditioner so that the determined wind direction and airflow volume are obtained.

2. An air conditioner to communicate with a portable terminal and to change a wind direction and an airflow volume, the portable terminal including an air pressure sensor to measure an air pressure value, a temperature sensor to measure a temperature, and a humidity sensor to measure a humidity, the air conditioner comprising:
a network interface card to receive a plurality of air pressure values, a temperature, and a humidity from the portable terminal by communicating with the portable terminal; and
processing circuitry
to calculate a wind velocity of wind received by the portable terminal from a variation in the plurality of air pressure values received by the network interface card;
to specify a presence direction that is a direction in which the portable terminal is present with respect to the air conditioner;
to specify a sensible temperature of a user of the portable terminal from the wind velocity, the temperature, and the humidity;
to determine the wind direction and the airflow volume of the air conditioner in accordance with the sensible temperature and the presence direction; and
to control the air conditioner so that the determined wind direction and airflow volume are obtained.

3. An air conditioner to communicate with a portable terminal and to change a wind direction and an airflow volume, the portable terminal including a sound collector to output an output value indicating a noise amount, the air conditioner comprising:
a network interface card to receive an output value from the portable terminal by communicating with the portable terminal; and
processing circuitry
to specify a wind velocity of wind received by the portable terminal from a variation in a plurality of output values received by the network interface card;
to specify a presence direction that is a direction in which the portable terminal is present with respect to the air conditioner;
to determine the wind direction and the airflow volume of the air conditioner in accordance with the wind velocity and the presence direction; and
to control the air conditioner so that the determined wind direction and airflow volume are obtained.

4. The air conditioner according to claim 1 , wherein
the processing circuitry specifies the variation by using a target difference that is a difference between a first air pressure value and a smallest value in a plurality of second air pressure values, the first air pressure value being measured by the air pressure sensor with a current wind direction and a current airflow volume of the air conditioner, the plurality of second air pressure values being measured a plurality of times by the air pressure sensor with a wind direction of the air conditioner being changed in a horizontal direction by the processing circuitry.

5. The air conditioner according to claim 4 , further comprising a memory to store angle information and efficiency information, the angle information associating an angle at which wind hits the air pressure sensor with a difference between a maximum value and a minimum value in air pressure values measured by the air pressure sensor at the angle in a case where a wind direction of the air conditioner is changed in the horizontal direction by the processing circuitry, the efficiency information associating the angle with an efficiency that is a value obtained by dividing an air pressure value measured by the air pressure sensor at the angle by the maximum value in the air pressure values measured by the air pressure sensor in a case where the angle is changed, wherein
the processing circuitry specifies an angle corresponding to the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value in the plurality of second air pressure values by referring to the angle information, specifies an efficiency corresponding to the specified angle by referring to the efficiency information, correct the target difference by dividing the target difference by the specified efficiency, and uses the corrected target difference as the variation.

6. The air conditioner according to claim 5 , wherein
the processing circuitry corrects the target difference in a case where wind from the air conditioner hits the air pressure sensor, and
the processing circuitry does not correct the target difference and uses the target difference as the variation in a case where wind from the air conditioner does not hit the air pressure sensor.

7. The air conditioner according to claim 6 , wherein
the processing circuitry determines that wind from the air conditioner hits the air pressure sensor if the target difference is larger than a predetermined threshold and the plurality of second air pressure values include one local maximum value.

8. The air conditioner according to claim 1 , wherein
the processing circuitry calculates the wind velocity by using a square root of a value obtained by dividing a double of the variation by an air density.

9. The air conditioner according to claim 8 , wherein
the portable terminal further includes a temperature-sensor to measure a temperature, and
the processing circuitry calculates the wind velocity by using the air density corresponding to the temperature.

10. The air conditioner according to claim 2 , further comprising an opening/closing device including an opening/closing unit configured to open and closes a target, wherein
the processing circuitry determines an opening/closing degree of the opening/closing device in accordance with the sensible temperature, and controls the opening/closing unit so that the determined opening/closing degree is obtained.

Assignees

• Mitsubishi Electric Corp

Inventors

• Kimura Aki
• Tsuda Yuka
• Shida Tetsuro
• Baba Masataka
• Miki Satoko

Classifications

• F24F11/74 Primary

  for controlling air flow rate or air velocity · CPC title

• F24F11/79

  for controlling the direction of the supplied air · CPC title

• F24F11/62 Primary

  characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values · CPC title

• F24F2110/40

  Pressure, e.g. wind pressure · CPC title