Pleasant sound making device for facility apparatus sound, and pleasant sound making method for facility apparatus sound

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9704475-B2
Application number	US-201214416318-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 6, 2012
Priority date	Sep 6, 2012
Publication date	Jul 11, 2017
Grant date	Jul 11, 2017

Abstract

A pleasant sound making device processes temporal variation characteristics in nature such that a frequency component and a peak frequency component in a frequency band which coincide with or are approximate to a housing of an indoor unit provided with a driving part (a fan, a motor, etc.) do not coincide with or are not approximate to the housing, on the basis of subjective view and physiological response evaluations of humans, and operates the driving part with a signal based on the processed waveform.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A pleasant sound making device for a facility apparatus sound which makes a sound generated by a facility apparatus which operates a driving part which is a fan or a motor of the facility apparatus, into a pleasant sound, the pleasant sound making device comprising:
a filter processing unit, the filter processing unit is configured to:
suppress a portion of a frequency component of a temporal variation characteristic of a frequency of a sound existing in nature, which coincides with or is approximate to an eigenvalue of a housing of the facility apparatus provided with the driving part which is the fan or the motor of the facility apparatus, and

a signal processing unit, the signal processing unit is configured to:
select, in advance based on evaluation results of a subjective view and physiological response of humans with respect to the sound existing in nature when the driving part is operated, a signal obtained by the filter processing unit that suppresses the portion of the frequency component of the temporal variation characteristic of the frequency of the sound existing in nature, which coincides with or is approximate to the eigenvalue of the housing of the facility apparatus provided with the driving part, and
generate an operation signal based on the selected signal, and control the operation signal to drive the driving part which is the fan or the motor of the facility apparatus based on the selected signal.

2. The pleasant sound making device for a facility apparatus sound of claim 1 , further comprising
a sound emission device disposed inside the housing of the facility apparatus, wherein
the sound emission device includes a speaker or an ultrasonic emitter formed of a piezoelectric material,
the sound emission device emits a sound obtained by adjusting a sound pressure level and a period of the sound in nature using an average heart rate of the humans.

3. The pleasant sound making device for a facility apparatus sound of claim 2 , wherein a sound pressure level of the sound emitted by the sound emission device is lower by about 1 to 5 dB than a sound pressure level of an operation sound generated when the driving part is operated.

4. The pleasant sound making device for a facility apparatus sound of claim 2 ,
wherein the sound emission device further includes:
a signal generation portion including sound source data obtained by performing predetermined signal processing on the sound in nature;
an oscillation circuit portion which drives the sound emission device in an ultrasonic band; and
a modulation portion which superimposes a signal from the signal generation portion on a signal in the ultrasonic band from the oscillation circuit portion.

5. The pleasant sound making device for a facility apparatus sound of claim 4 , wherein
the driving part, which is driven by the operation signal generated by the signal processing unit, comprises a fan,
an air outlet is formed in the housing,
the sound emission device is installed at one end portion of the housing across the air outlet, and
the sound emitted by the sound emission device is repeatedly emitted and reflected between the sound emission device and another end portion of the housing opposite to the sound emission device, to form a wall of a sound.

6. The pleasant sound making device for a facility apparatus sound of claim 5 ,
wherein a sound which is modulated by the modulation portion and emitted by the sound emission device is demodulated and reproduced as a sound at the other end portion of the housing opposite to the sound emission device.

7. The pleasant sound making device for a facility apparatus sound of claim 4 , wherein a band of a frequency characteristic of the sound generated by the sound emission device is changeable in accordance with an age group.

8. A pleasant sound making method for a facility apparatus, the pleasant sound making method for making a sound generated by a facility apparatus which operates a driving part which is a fan or a motor of the facility apparatus, into a pleasant sound, the pleasant sound making method comprising:
suppressing and processing, by filter processing of a pleasant sound making device, a portion of a frequency component of a temporal variation characteristic of a frequency of a sound existing in nature, which coincides with or is approximate to an eigenvalue of a housing of the facility apparatus provided with the driving part;
evaluating, by the pleasant sound making device, a signal based on the processed variation characteristic of the frequency processed by the filter processing, based on evaluation results of a subjective view and physiological response of humans with respect to a sound existing in nature when the driving part is operated;
selecting, by the pleasant sound making device, the signal based on the processed variation characteristic of the frequency based on the evaluation results of the subjective view and physiological response of the humans;
generating, by the pleasant sound making device, an operation signal based on the selected signal;
controlling, by the pleasant sound making device, the operation signal to drive the driving part which is the fan or the motor of the facility apparatus based on the selected signal; and
emitting, by the pleasant sound making device, as an additional sound source, during operation of the facility apparatus, a sound obtained in advance by adjusting a sound pressure level and a period of the sound in nature with an average heart rate of humans.

9. The pleasant sound making device for a facility apparatus sound of claim 3 ,
wherein the sound emission device further includes:
a signal generation portion including sound source data obtained by performing predetermined signal processing on the sound in nature;
an oscillation circuit portion which drives the sound emission device in an ultrasonic band; and
a modulation portion which superimposes a signal from the signal generation portion on a signal in the ultrasonic band from the oscillation circuit portion.

10. The pleasant sound making device for a facility apparatus sound of claim 5 ,
wherein a band of a frequency characteristic of the sound generated by the sound emission device is changeable in accordance with an age group.

11. The pleasant sound making device for a facility apparatus sound of claim 6 ,
wherein a band of a frequency characteristic of the sound generated by the sound emission device is changeable in accordance with an age group.

12. The pleasant sound making device for a facility apparatus sound of claim 1 ,
wherein the subjective view and physiological response of the humans include an auditory impression on the subject when the subject hears a plurality of test sounds, and a physiological response of the subject when the subject hears an actual test sound.

13. A facility apparatus comprising:
a driving part; and
the pleasant sound making device for a facility apparatus sound of claim 1 .

14. The facility apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the driving part is at least one of a motor and a fan.

15. The pleasant sound making device for a facility apparatus sound of claim 1 , wherein
the filter processing unit includes a hardware filter circuit.

16. The pleasant sound making device for a facility apparatus sound of claim 1 , further comprising
a controller of the facility apparatus,
wherein the driving part is housed in the housing of the facility apparatus,
wherein the controller is configured to drive the driving part based on the operation signal.

17. The pleas

Assignees

• Fujiwara Susumu
• Morioka Reiji
• Mitsubishi Electric Corp

Inventors

• Fujiwara Susumu
• Morioka Reiji

Classifications

• A61M2021/0027

  by the hearing sense · CPC title

• F24F2011/0065

  Mechanical Engineering · mapped topic

• G10K15/04 Primary

  Sound-producing devices (G10K15/02 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61M21/02

  for inducing sleep or relaxation, e.g. by direct nerve stimulation, hypnosis, analgesia (for massage A61H; electrotherapy A61N, e.g. applying alternating or intermittent electric currents for producing anaesthesia A61N1/36021) · CPC title

• G10K11/175

  using interference effects; Masking sound · CPC title