Air conditioning system

• US 8,280,555 B2
• Filed: 07/13/2006
• Issued: 10/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/13/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Masui, Hirotaka, Hayakawa, Hidesuke
• Primary Examiner(s): Ali, Mohammad
• Assistant Examiner(s): LAUGHLIN, NATHAN L
• Application Number:
  US12/304,338
• Publication Number:
  US 20090281667A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,273 Days
• Field of Search: 700276-278
• US Class Current: 700/276
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/30 for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/54 using one central controller connected to several sub-controllers
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/56 Remote control
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/62 characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 11/74 for controlling air flow rate or air velocity
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/10 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: F24F 2110/20 Humidity

Abstract

Even at spots, such as a window side and the back side of a room, where air conditioning loads are different from each other, comfortable air conditioning is obtained at low cost using a common air conditioning unit. One indoor apparatus and wireless transceiver having a ZigBee-compliant transmission device are installed in the room. Sensor units having temperature/humidity sensors and ZigBee-compliant wireless transceivers are installed at plural indoor spots where the air conditioning loads are different from each other. A controller in the indoor-apparatus receives sensor information (temperature/humidity information) via the wireless transceivers from the sensor units, and computes a weight average based on the sensor information and weight values that are pre-stored in the storing devices and that correspond to the sensor units. Using the computed value as a control value, the controller controls an air conditioning unit.

Claims

1. An air conditioning system comprising:

plural sensor units each having a sensor for detecting temperatures and/or humidities of space to be air-conditioned and outputting the temperatures and/or the humidities as sensor values, unit-identification setting means for generating identification information for identifying the corresponding sensor units, and first wireless transceiving means for modulating the identification information generated by the unit-identification setting means and the sensor values outputted by the sensors and transmitting the modulated identification information and sensor values; and

an air conditioning unit having second wireless transceiving means for receiving the identification information and the sensor values from the first wireless transceiving means in the sensor units and demodulating the identification information and the sensor values, and controlling means for adjusting the temperatures and/or the humidities of the space to be air-conditioned, based on a weighted average value tinged with weight values, relating to the sensor values of the sensor units identified based on the identification information demodulated by the second wireless transceiving means, the sensor values being demodulated by the second wireless transceiving means,

wherein at least one of the sensor units comprises a user controlled manual operation switch that is manipulated by a user to manually input information corresponding to user temperature sensation, the information corresponding to user temperature sensation being transmitted to the first wireless transceiving means and used to change a weight of the at least one of the sensor units.

2. An air conditioning system comprising:

plural sensor units each having a sensor for detecting temperatures and/or humidities of space to be air-conditioned and outputting the temperatures and/or the humidities as sensor values, unit-identification setting means for generating identification information for identifying the corresponding sensor units, and first wireless transceiving means for modulating the identification information generated by the unit-identification setting means and the sensor values outputted by the sensors and transmitting the modulated identification information and sensor values; and

an air conditioning unit having second wireless transceiving means for receiving the identification information and the sensor values from the first wireless transceiving means in the sensor units and demodulating the identification information and the sensor values, and controlling means for adjusting the temperatures and/or the humidities of the space to be air-conditioned, based on a weighted average value tinged with weight values, relating to the sensor values of the sensor units identified based on the identification information demodulated by the second wireless transceiving means, the sensor values being demodulated by the second wireless transceiving means, wherein

the air conditioning unit further comprises a louver, and

the plural sensor units are arranged in respective divided areas obtained by dividing a room area based on blowout directions of the louver, and the controlling means included in the air conditioning unit computes a weighted average corresponding to the sensor values from at least one sensor unit in each of the divided areas and pre-held weight values corresponding to the sensors and performs control of the louver based on a result of the computation.

3. An air conditioning system comprising:

plural sensor units each having a sensor for detecting temperatures and/or humidities of space to be air-conditioned and outputting the temperatures and/or the humidities as sensor values, unit-identification setting means for generating identification information for identifying the corresponding sensor units, and first wireless transceiving means for modulating the identification information generated by the unit-identification setting means and the sensor values outputted by the sensors and transmitting the modulated identification information and sensor values;

an air conditioning unit having second wireless transceiving means for receiving the identification information and the sensor values from the first wireless transceiving means in the sensor units and demodulating the identification information and the sensor values, and controlling means for adjusting the temperatures and/or the humidities of the space to be air-conditioned, based on a weighted average value tinged with weight values, relating to the sensor values of the sensor units identified based on the identification information demodulated by the second wireless transceiving means, the sensor values being demodulated by the second wireless transceiving means;

a louver, and

storing means for storing a table in which a direction of the louver, the sensor unit that exists in the direction, and a weight value thereof are associated with each other,

wherein, each time the direction of the louver is changed, the controlling means reads out the table stored in the storing means to obtain the sensor unit that exists in the direction of the louver and the weight value thereof, and computes a weighted average based on temperature information obtained from the obtained sensor unit and the obtained weight value.

4. An air conditioning system comprising:

plural sensor units each having a sensor for detecting temperatures and/or humidities of space to be air-conditioned and outputting the temperatures and/or the humidities as sensor values, unit-identification setting means for generating identification information for identifying the corresponding sensor units, and first wireless transceiving means for modulating the identification information generated by the unit-identification setting means and the sensor values outputted by the sensors and transmitting the modulated identification information and sensor values;

an air conditioning unit having second wireless transceiving means for receiving the identification information and the sensor values from the first wireless transceiving means in the sensor units and demodulating the identification information and the sensor values, and controlling means for adjusting the temperatures and/or the humidities of the space to be air-conditioned, based on a weighted average value tinged with weight values, relating to the sensor values of the sensor units identified based on the identification information demodulated by the second wireless transceiving means, the sensor values being demodulated by the second wireless transceiving means; and

a user-worn wireless transmitting device that transmits user position information to the controlling means, wherein the controlling means determines a sensor unit closest to the position of the user and calculates an increased weight for the sensor unit to enhance air conditioning at the position of the user by adjusting a blowout direction of a louver corresponding to the sensor unit closest to the position of the user.

5. The air conditioning system according to claim 4, wherein the controlling means is further for enhancing air conditioning in advance by increasing the weights of sensor units in a predicted user movement direction based on recently stored user position and time information acquired from the user-worn transmitting device.

6. The air conditioning system according to claim 5, wherein the user-worn transmitting device comprises an RFID device.

7. The air conditioning system according to claim 6, further comprising

a plurality of RFID readers positioned to track the RFID device, each of the plurality of RFID readers including a controller to generate and send RFID device time and position information to the controlling means to enable the controlling means to determine the predicted user movement direction.

8. The air conditioning system according to claim 4, wherein the user-worn transmitting device comprises an RFID device.

9. The air conditioning system according to claim 6, further comprising

a plurality of RFID readers positioned to track the RFID device, each of the plurality of RFID readers including a controller to send RFID device time and position information to the controlling means to enable the controlling means to identify the sensor unit closest to the RFID device and to intensively adjust the weight of the sensor unit closest to the RFID device to enhance the air conditioning at the position of the user.