JP5060534B2 - Air conditioner - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an air conditioner having a position detection function of a remote controller.

The air conditioner has a configuration in which an indoor unit and an outdoor unit are connected by a connection pipe. In the room, the user operates the function of the air conditioner using a separate remote controller (hereinafter referred to as a remote controller).
An air conditioner takes indoor air into a heat exchanger of the indoor unit, adjusts it by functions such as heating, cooling, and dehumidification, and blows out the adjusted air into the room to air-condition the room. At this time, the indoor temperature is controlled based on the set temperature set by the user with the remote controller and the temperature of the intake air detected by the intake temperature thermistor provided in the indoor unit body.

However, since the indoor unit in an air conditioner is generally installed at a high place in the room, the temperature is not necessarily the same as the space where the user is present, and a temperature difference occurs. In addition, depending on the indoor environment such as when an obstacle is placed in front of the indoor unit, a short circuit phenomenon occurs in which the air at the outlet that has been air-conditioned stays near the indoor unit and does not reach the entire room. There may be a large temperature difference from the temperature of the user's space.
Further, even when the user is in a space where there is a large temperature difference such as a window where the user inserts sunlight or a kitchen using a gas stove, there may be a large temperature difference from the intake air temperature.

On the other hand, in a conventional air conditioner, a room temperature thermistor that detects a room temperature is mounted on a remote controller that operates the air conditioner, and the room temperature at an arbitrary position of the user is detected. Then, a control method has been proposed in which the remote controller transmits the detected room temperature to the air conditioner, makes the remote controller position detection means recognize the user's arbitrary position, and corrects the temperature difference from the air temperature of the suction port. ing.
As a means for detecting the room temperature, a temperature thermistor whose resistance value changes depending on the room temperature is often used because it is inexpensive and sufficient detection accuracy can be obtained. Has been proposed.

Patent Documents 1 to 4 are known as conventional techniques for detecting a remote control position.
Patent Document 1 includes remote control communication means that performs bidirectional communication with an air conditioner and remote control control means that includes time measurement means that measures time, and transmits a command measured by the time measurement means. Has disclosed a technology of an air conditioning remote controller that calculates a distance to an air conditioner based on an elapsed time from reception of a processing result to reception of a processing result and promotes air conditioning control based on the distance.

  Patent Document 1 communicates an air conditioner body and a remote control bidirectionally using infrared as a communication medium, and measures a distance by measuring a time between transmission and reception during bidirectional communication. Since the communication speed of the infrared signal is the speed of light, the time required for the 1 m infrared signal to travel is only about 3.3 ns. Therefore, in order to detect the distance in the indoor space, a resolution of several hundreds p seconds is required at the minimum, but the timer accuracy of general-purpose microcomputers generally used in home appliances is several μs at most. For this reason, a very high-precision timer is required, which is unrealistic in terms of cost.

  In addition, it is necessary to consider false detection due to noise when actually used in home appliances. However, in order to detect a time difference of several hundred ps, addition of a noise-cut filter circuit is not permitted. As a result, the improvement of the S / N ratio cannot be expected, and there is a problem that it cannot be detected with high accuracy.

  Patent Document 2 is an environmental adjustment system having an environmental facility for creating an environmental condition in a closed space, and a remote controller with a sensor for giving an environmental condition command for the closed space to the environmental facility by wireless radio waves. A technology of an environment adjustment system for obtaining a distance from the intensity of a signal received by an attached remote controller or a transmission delay time is disclosed.

  Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 communicates bidirectionally between environmental equipment and a remote controller using radio waves as a communication medium, and obtains the distance from the signal strength or transmission delay time at the time of reception. In order to detect the direction of the remote controller, it is necessary to provide a plurality of antennas as receiving units, and there remains a problem in terms of cost. In addition, in order to obtain the transmission delay time, similarly to the infrared method disclosed in Patent Document 1, since radio waves are very high speed, there remains a problem in arithmetic processing. Further, since radio waves are subject to legal regulations, the signal strength cannot be set freely with respect to product specifications, and there remains a problem in versatility.

  Patent Document 3 includes two or more light receiving means for receiving infrared signals, and each light receiving means has a light receiving surface configured by arranging a plurality of light receiving cells on an M × N two-dimensional matrix. A detection signal corresponding to the received light intensity is output, and the light receiving position of the infrared signal on the light receiving surface is specified. The position detection means calculates the relative position of the remote control transmitter from the light receiving position according to the principle of triangulation or the like. Accordingly, a position detection system and a position detection method for detecting a relative positional relationship between a transmitter and a receiver of an infrared remote controller, and a technique regarding an infrared remote controller receiver are disclosed.

  In Patent Document 3, in order to calculate the position of the remote controller based on the principle of triangulation, a pair of light receiving units provided with a highly accurate optical system for forming an image of an infrared light source on a light receiving cell of a two-dimensional matrix is provided on the indoor unit side. Therefore, it is very expensive, and the size of the indoor unit that accommodates it is inevitably large, and it cannot be used for household appliances where cost competitiveness is important.

  Patent Document 4 transmits a signal transmission means for transmitting a signal to a remote control, a signal reception means for receiving a signal from the remote control, an input means that can be directly operated by a user, and a remote control position detection signal by the input means. An electric device main body, a signal receiving means for receiving a signal from the electric device main body, a signal transmitting means for transmitting a signal to the electric device main body, and a remote control position immediately upon receiving the remote control position detection signal. An electric device comprising a remote controller having means for transmitting a detection confirmation signal to the electric device body, wherein the electric device body transmits a remote control position detection signal and then receives a remote control position detection confirmation signal , Calculate the distance between the electrical device main body and the remote control based on the measurement time, send the calculated distance signal, the remote control received Electrical equipment technology is disclosed, characterized in that outputs an alarm based on the separated signal.

  Patent Document 4 communicates the electric device main body and the remote control bidirectionally as in Patent Document 1, and measures the distance by measuring the time between transmission and reception during bidirectional communication. Therefore, as in Patent Document 1, major problems remain in accuracy and cost.

JP 2008-309379 A JP 2007-127348 A JP 2001-197577 A JP 2004-304408 A

Conventionally, depending on the environmental conditions of the air-conditioned space in an air conditioner, there has been a problem that a large temperature difference occurs between the set temperature and the ambient space temperature where the user is present. For example, as described above, there is an environment where there is a large local temperature difference such as a window or a kitchen, or an environment where a short circuit phenomenon occurs in which air-conditioned blown air stays near the indoor unit and does not reach the entire room. is there.
Therefore, in order to solve this problem, as described above, the temperature at an arbitrary position of the user is detected using the remote control position detection means and the temperature thermistor provided in the remote control, and the detected position information and temperature information are air-conditioned. A method has been proposed in which a temperature difference is corrected by transmitting to a machine.

However, as described above, a dedicated remote control position detection device is required to detect the position of the remote control, and there are problems of increased costs and complicated devices.
The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and an object thereof is to provide an air conditioner capable of detecting the position of a remote controller at low cost.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is an air conditioner including a remote controller capable of bidirectional communication using infrared as a communication medium, and the main body of the air conditioner includes a first infrared light emitting diode and A first infrared light receiving element, and the remote controller includes a second infrared light emitting diode and a second infrared light receiving element, and an infrared signal transmitted from the first infrared light emitting diode is used as a pulse signal. The radiation intensity of the pulse signal is varied in a plurality of stages, the number of pulses of the infrared signal received by the second infrared light receiving element is counted, and from the result of the counting, from the main body of the air conditioner to the remote controller The distance is detected.

According to the present invention, the radiation intensity of the infrared signal transmitted as a pulse signal from the infrared light emitting diode of the main body of the air conditioner can be varied in a plurality of stages, and the infrared light receiving element of the remote controller can vary the radiation intensity in a plurality of stages. The distance from the main body of the air conditioner to the remote controller can be detected from the result of receiving the infrared signal (the result of counting the pulse signal) .

  Moreover, this invention is an air conditioner provided with the remote controller which can communicate bidirectionally using infrared as a communication medium, Comprising: The main body of the said air conditioner is comprised of several 1st infrared light emitting diodes and 1st infrared light reception. The remote controller includes a second infrared light emitting diode and a second infrared light receiving element, and varies the radiation intensity of the infrared signal transmitted from the plurality of first infrared light emitting diodes in a plurality of stages. Further, the radiation directions of the plurality of first infrared light emitting diodes are transmitted in different directions, respectively, and when the second infrared light receiving element receives an infrared signal whose radiation intensity is varied in a plurality of stages, From the radiation direction of the first infrared light emitting diode that has transmitted the infrared signal that can be received up to the weakest radiation intensity in the received infrared signal. Detecting the direction of the remote controller with respect to the main body of the air conditioner, and measuring the time during which an infrared signal whose radiation intensity has been changed in a plurality of stages is input to the second infrared light receiving element The distance from the main body of the machine to the remote controller is detected.

  According to the present invention, when an infrared signal in which the radiation intensity transmitted from the plurality of infrared light emitting diodes of the main body of the air conditioner is varied in multiple stages is received by the infrared light receiving element of the remote controller, The direction of the remote controller relative to the main body of the air conditioner can be detected from the radiation direction of the infrared light emitting diode of the main body that has transmitted the infrared signal that can be received to a weak radiation intensity. The distance from the main body of the air conditioner to the remote controller can be detected from the result of measuring the time during which the infrared signal varied in a plurality of stages is input.

  Moreover, this invention is an air conditioner provided with the remote controller which can communicate bidirectionally using infrared as a communication medium, Comprising: The main body of the said air conditioner is comprised of several 1st infrared light emitting diodes and 1st infrared light reception. The remote controller includes a second infrared light emitting diode and a second infrared light receiving element, and an infrared signal transmitted from the plurality of first infrared light emitting diodes is used as a pulse signal, and the pulse signal The radiation intensity of each of the plurality of first infrared light emitting diodes is transmitted in different directions, and the second infrared light receiving element can vary the radiation intensity in a plurality of stages. When the received infrared signal is received, the first infrared signal that has transmitted the infrared signal that can be received up to the weakest radiation intensity of the received infrared signal is transmitted. The direction of the remote controller relative to the main body of the air conditioner is detected from the radiation direction of the diode, and the main body of the air conditioner is counted from the counting result obtained by counting the number of pulses of the infrared signal received by the second infrared light receiving element. The distance from the remote controller to the remote controller is detected.

  According to the present invention, the infrared signal transmitted from the infrared light emitting diode of the main body of the air conditioner is changed into a plurality of levels, and the infrared light receiving element of the remote controller is changed into the multiple levels. When the received infrared signal is received, the direction of the remote controller relative to the body of the air conditioner is detected from the radiation direction of the infrared light emitting diode of the body that has transmitted the infrared signal that can be received to the weakest radiation intensity by the received infrared signal. The distance from the body of the air conditioner to the remote controller can be detected from the counting result obtained by counting the number of pulses of the infrared signal received by the infrared light receiving element of the remote controller.

  The present invention can provide an air conditioner that can detect the position of a remote controller at low cost.

It is a figure which shows the external appearance structure of the air conditioner which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a sectional side view of an indoor unit. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the indoor transmission / reception part provided in the indoor unit, and its periphery. It is a figure which shows the system configuration | structure of an air conditioner. It is a figure which shows the system configuration | structure as a remote control position detection apparatus by the side of an indoor unit. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the output operation | movement of the position determination signal from an indoor unit. It is a figure which shows the external appearance structure of a remote control. It is a figure which shows the system structure as a remote control position detection apparatus by the side of a remote control. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the drive current of an infrared light emitting diode, and radiation intensity. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the reach distance of an infrared signal, and radiation intensity. It is a figure for demonstrating the position determination signal transmitted from the indoor unit side. It is a figure which shows the receivable range of the remote control infrared light receiving element according to the radiation intensity of the position determination signal. It is a time chart for demonstrating the detection operation | movement of the distance from an indoor unit to a remote control. It is a figure which shows arrangement | positioning of the indoor infrared light emitting diode with which the indoor unit side was equipped. It is a figure which shows the directivity of an infrared light emitting diode. It is a figure which shows an example of indoor environmental conditions. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the output adjustment by the installation position of an indoor unit. It is a time chart for demonstrating the position detection operation of a remote control. It is a figure which shows the specific example at the time of using the pulse of the area from A to X. FIG. It is a figure which shows the specific example in the case of measuring t24 second from t1.

Hereinafter, an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
First, the whole structure of the air conditioner 1 which concerns on this embodiment is demonstrated using FIG. 1, FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an external configuration of an air conditioner 1 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the indoor unit 2 of the air conditioner 1.

  An air conditioner 1 shown in FIG. 1 is configured by connecting an indoor unit 2 and an outdoor unit 3 with a connection pipe 4 and air-conditions the room. An indoor transmission / reception unit 16 that receives an infrared operation signal from a separate remote controller (hereinafter referred to as a remote controller) 5 is provided at the lower right end of the indoor unit 2 shown in the lower right of the figure.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the indoor unit 2 is provided with a heat exchanger 7 at the center of the housing base 6, and a cross flow fan having a length substantially equal to the width of the heat exchanger 7 on the downstream side of the heat exchanger 7. An indoor blower fan 8 of the type is disposed, a dew tray 9 is attached, these are covered with a decorative frame 10, and a front panel 11 is attached to the front surface of the decorative frame 10.

  In addition, the decorative frame 10 is provided with an air inlet 12 for sucking room air and an air outlet 13 for blowing air with adjusted temperature and humidity. When the indoor air blowing fan 8 provided downstream of the air flow of the heat exchanger 7 is rotated, the indoor air passes through the heat exchanger 7 and the indoor air blowing fan 8 from the air suction port 12 provided in the indoor unit 2. The left and right airflow direction plates 14 disposed in the middle of the blowout air passage 8a flow in the blowout air passage 8a having a width substantially equal to the length of the indoor blower fan 8, and the right and left directions of the airflow are deflected. The vertical airflow direction plate 15 deflects the vertical direction of the airflow and blows it out into the room.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the indoor transmission / reception unit 16 provided in the indoor unit 2 and its periphery. The indoor transmitting / receiving unit 16 includes an indoor infrared light receiving element 18 that receives an infrared signal (operation signal) from a separate remote controller 5, and three indoor infrared light emitting diodes 32 and 33 for transmitting the infrared signal to the remote controller 5. , 34 are provided. As will be described later in detail, the arrangement of the indoor infrared light emitting diodes 32, 33, and 34 in the light distribution direction is predetermined, for example, such that the tip of the indoor infrared light emitting diode 34 is tilted to the right. .

The indoor transmission / reception unit 16 is provided with a light receiving cover 20 made of an infrared transmitting material.
Infrared signals transmitted from the indoor infrared light emitting diodes 32, 33, and 34 are transmitted through the light receiving cover 20, and therefore the light receiving cover 20 is made of acrylic, polycarbonate, high-density polyethylene, or the like, which easily transmits infrared light and is difficult to diffuse. The material is preferable, and the light receiving cover 20 in the present embodiment uses acrylic.

Furthermore, the light receiving cover 20 in the present embodiment uses acrylic having a filter performance that allows only infrared wavelength light to pass, and is configured to prevent disturbance light such as inverter illumination, thereby improving the reliability of reception performance. It is possible to prevent the reception performance from deteriorating.
The indoor transmission / reception unit 16 is provided with a display unit 17 that is integrally formed. The display unit 17 visually informs the user of the driving situation by turning on six display light emitting diodes 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d, 17e, and 17f provided inside.

Next, a system configuration in the air conditioner 1 will be described.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a system configuration of the air conditioner 1.
The indoor unit 2 shown in FIG. 4 includes a control board 21 in an internal electrical component box (not shown).
In FIG. 4, an inrush current prevention circuit 52, a power relay 53, and a control power supply circuit 54 constitute a power supply unit. A fan motor 56 is connected to the control power supply circuit 54 via a fan motor drive circuit 55, and a two-way valve 58 is connected via a two-way valve drive circuit 57. These are supplied with electric power from the AC power supply 51.

The control board 21 is provided with an indoor unit microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as an indoor unit microcomputer) 22. The indoor unit microcomputer 22 is connected to a reset circuit 59, an EEPROM 60, and a clock oscillation circuit 61 connected to the control power circuit 54.
Further, the indoor unit microcomputer 22 is connected to various sensors such as the indoor infrared light receiving element 18, the suction temperature thermistor 23, the heat exchanger thermistor 24, and the humidity sensor 25. Further, the indoor unit microcomputer 22 allows the user to sense the operating state of the air conditioner 1 according to the signals from the various sensors and the operation signal from the remote controller 5 received through the indoor infrared light receiving element 18 (visually). The lighting of the light emitting diodes (17a, 17b, 17c, 17d, 17e, 17f) of the display unit 17 is controlled so that the buzzer 26 rings.

Further, the indoor unit microcomputer 22 controls the rotation of the front panel motor 28, the up / down air direction plate motors 29a, 29b, 29c, and the left / right air direction plate motors 30a, 30b connected via the stepping motor drive circuit 27.
The indoor unit microcomputer 22 manages communication with the outdoor unit 3 via the indoor / outdoor communication circuit 30 and controls the indoor unit 2 in an integrated manner.

<Configuration of indoor unit remote control position detection device>
Next, the configuration of the remote control position detection device on the indoor unit 2 side will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a system configuration of the indoor transmission / reception unit 16 that functions as a remote control position detection device on the indoor unit 2 side. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining an operation of outputting a position determination signal from the indoor unit 2.
First, the remote control position detection device on the indoor unit 2 side includes the existing indoor infrared light receiving element 18 and the indoor infrared light emitting diode 32 that constitute the indoor transmission / reception unit 16 that performs bidirectional communication between the indoor unit 2 and the remote control 5 as described above. , 33 and 34 are used. With this configuration, the system is simplified and the cost is reduced.
“Position” is expressed by “distance” and “direction”.

In FIG. 5, a switching (SW) power source 70, 18.5 V power source 71, 12 V power source 72, 8.5 V power source 73, regulator 74, and 5 V power source 75 constitute a power source unit. These are supplied with electric power from the AC power supply 51. The indoor unit microcomputer 22 is connected to a 5V power source 75.
The indoor unit microcomputer 22 is connected to the switch elements 35, 36, and 37, and controls on / off of each switch element. Furthermore, a carrier frequency generation switch element 49 for generating a carrier frequency is connected to the indoor unit microcomputer 22 to control the generation of a carrier frequency (DUTY 50%) of 38 kHz. The indoor unit microcomputer 22 is connected to a DC / DC converter circuit 38 that receives a 12V power source 72 as input, and controls the output voltage of the DC / DC converter circuit 38.

The anode side of the indoor infrared light emitting diode 32 is connected to the output side of the DC / DC converter circuit 38 via the switch element 35, the anode side of the indoor infrared light emitting diode 33 is connected via the switch element 36, and the switch element 37 is connected. The anode side of the indoor infrared light emitting diode 34 is connected through the via.
The cathode side of the indoor infrared light emitting diode 32 is connected to one end of the carrier frequency generation switch element 49 via a resistor R1, and the cathode side of the indoor infrared light emitting diode 33 is connected to one end of the carrier frequency generation switch element 49 via a resistor R2. The cathode side of the indoor infrared light emitting diode 34 is connected to one end of the carrier frequency generation switch element 49 via the resistor R3. The other end of the carrier frequency generation switch element 49 is 0V.

  Although details will be described later, it is determined in advance which position (area) each of the indoor infrared light emitting diodes 32, 33, and 34 is in charge of detecting the remote controller 5 (see FIG. 3). For example, the indoor infrared light emitting diode 32 is for detecting the middle area, and transmits an infrared signal in the front direction (middle area) when the indoor unit 2 is viewed from the front. The indoor infrared light emitting diode 33 is for detecting the left area, and transmits an infrared signal in the left direction (left area) when the indoor unit 2 is viewed from the front. The indoor infrared light emitting diode 34 is for detecting the right area, and transmits an infrared signal in the right direction (right area) when the indoor unit 2 is viewed from the front.

In such a configuration, the output operation of the position determination signal from the indoor unit 2 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 6 (refer to FIG. 11 together).
When the indoor infrared light receiving element 18 receives a position detection request signal which will be described later from the remote controller 5, and the indoor infrared light receiving element 18 performs internal processing to convert it into a digital signal and output it to the indoor unit microcomputer 22 (S1: Yes). The indoor unit microcomputer 22 starts remote control position detection control in response to the received position detection request signal.
In this embodiment, in order to execute remote control position detection control, the direction and distance of the remote control 5 are detected using three indoor infrared light emitting diodes 32, 33, and 34.

First, the switch elements 35, 36, and 37 are turned on, and the infrared signal modulated (DUTY 50%) to the carrier frequency of 38 kHz by the carrier frequency generation switch element 49 is transmitted from the indoor infrared light emitting diodes 32, 33, and 34. (S2). This infrared signal is illustrated as a basic operation signal in FIG. In addition, operation information (suction temperature, humidity, etc.) of the indoor unit 2 is added to the basic operation signal.
Next, the position determination signal shown in FIG. 11 is transmitted from the indoor infrared light emitting diode 32 for detecting the middle area (S3). Thereafter, a position determination signal shown in FIG. 11 is transmitted from the indoor infrared light emitting diode 33 for left area detection (S4). Thereafter, a position determination signal shown in FIG. 11 is transmitted from the indoor infrared light emitting diode 34 for right area detection (S5).

  By the way, in S3, the indoor unit microcomputer 22 turns on the switch element 35 among the switch elements 35, 36, and 37, and switches from the indoor infrared light emitting diode 32 for detecting the middle area to the switch element 49 for generating the carrier frequency. To transmit an infrared signal of a position discrimination signal modulated to a carrier frequency of 38 kHz. At this time, the indoor unit microcomputer 22 outputs an output voltage command signal for varying the output voltage in a plurality of stages to the DC / DC converter circuit 38. As a result, the drive current flowing through the indoor infrared light emitting diode 32 is changed, and the radiation intensity of the position determination signal is changed from “strong” → “medium” → “weak” → “weak” as shown in FIG. Weakened.

In S4 and S5, the switch elements 35, 36, and 37 are sequentially switched, and the radiation intensity of the position determination signal is gradually reduced as in S3.
Details of these points will be described with reference to FIG.

  In the present embodiment, the drive current is varied by the DC / DC converter circuit 38, but the same effect can be obtained by providing a plurality of limiting resistors and switching the limiting resistors.

<Configuration of remote control position detection device on remote control side>
Next, the configuration of the remote control position detection device on the remote control side will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an external configuration of the remote controller 5. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a system configuration of the remote controller 5.

  FIG. 7A shows the display operation surface of the remote controller 5. As shown in FIG. 7A, the remote controller 5 receives light that performs bidirectional communication with the operation unit 48 provided with the operation buttons 65, the LCD module 50 on which operation information and the like are displayed, and the indoor unit 2. The remote control transmission / reception unit 40 is covered with a cover 40a. The light receiving cover 40a is provided with a ventilation hole 40b for a room temperature thermistor and a humidity sensor which will be described later.

FIG. 7B shows the back surface of the display operation surface of the remote controller 5, and includes a back cover 80.
FIG. 7C shows a state where the back cover 80 of the remote controller 5 is removed and the battery 44 is inserted. That is, the remote controller 5 is a wireless system using an infrared light emitting diode so that the user can operate the air conditioner 1 anywhere in the room, and a battery that supplies power to the remote control transceiver 40 and the LCD module 50 therein. 44 is built-in.

FIG. 7D shows the configuration of the remote control transmission / reception unit 40. FIG. 7D is a view of the remote controller 5 shown in FIG. The remote control transmission / reception unit 40 is provided with a remote control infrared light receiving element 41 and a remote control infrared light emitting diode 42. In addition, the remote control transmission / reception unit 40 also functions as a remote control position detection device on the remote control side, and simplifies the system and reduces costs.
Further, a room temperature thermistor 43a for detecting the room temperature and a humidity sensor 43b are mounted next to the remote control transceiver 40 so that the room temperature and humidity around the remote controller 5 can be detected at any time.

As shown in FIG. 8, the remote controller 5 includes a remote control microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as a remote control microcomputer) 45.
The remote control microcomputer 45 is connected to a carrier frequency generation switch element 46 for generating a carrier frequency and controls generation of a carrier frequency of 38 kHz. Further, the remote control microcomputer 45 is connected to the switch element 47 and controls on / off of the switch element 47.

One end of the remote control infrared light receiving element 41 is connected to the battery 44 via the switch element 47, and the other end is connected to the remote control microcomputer 45. The remote control infrared light receiving element 41 receives the position determination signal transmitted from the indoor unit 2 and outputs it to the remote control microcomputer 45. The remote control infrared light receiving element 41 is turned on / off by the switch element 47.
The remote control infrared light emitting diode 42 has an anode side connected to the battery 44 and a cathode side connected to one end of a carrier frequency generation switch element 46 via a resistor R4. The other end of the carrier frequency generation switch element 46 is 0V.

  The room temperature thermistor 43 a has one end connected to the battery 44 and the other end connected to the remote control microcomputer 45, and outputs a room temperature information signal to the remote control microcomputer 45. Based on this room temperature information signal, the remote control microcomputer 45 transmits room temperature information as the ambient space temperature of the remote controller 5 to the indoor transmission / reception unit 16 of the indoor unit 2 via the remote control transmission / reception unit 40. When the room temperature information of the remote controller 5 is received via the indoor transmission / reception unit 16, the indoor unit microcomputer 22 compares the room temperature information of the remote controller 5 with the room temperature information from the suction temperature thermistor 23 of the indoor unit 2. The difference (temperature difference) is corrected as appropriate (see FIG. 4).

  The humidity sensor 43b has one end connected to the battery 44 and the other end connected to the remote control microcomputer 45, and outputs a humidity information signal to the remote control microcomputer 45. Based on this humidity information signal, the remote control microcomputer 45 transmits humidity information as the ambient space humidity of the remote control 5 to the indoor transmission / reception unit 16 of the indoor unit 2 via the remote control transmission / reception unit 40. When the humidity information of the remote controller 5 is received via the indoor transmitting / receiving unit 16, the indoor unit microcomputer 22 compares the humidity information of the remote controller 5 with the humidity information from the humidity sensor 25 of the indoor unit 2, and the difference in humidity. (Humidity difference) is corrected as appropriate (see FIG. 4).

  In FIG. 8, the remote control microcomputer 45 recognizes each operation mode when the user presses a predetermined operation button 65. When a remote control position detection command signal by operating an operation button (not shown) 65 is input to the remote control microcomputer 45, the remote control microcomputer 45 transmits the above-described position detection request signal to the indoor unit 2, so that the carrier The on / off control of the frequency generation switch element 46 is controlled to cause a drive current to flow through the remote control infrared light emitting diode 42, and the switch element 47 of the remote control infrared light receiving element 41 is turned on for a predetermined time. The reason why the remote control infrared light receiving element 41 is turned on for a predetermined time is to receive a position determination signal from the indoor unit 2 only for a predetermined time.

  Normally, the remote control infrared light receiving element 41 is turned off (switch element 47 is turned off) to eliminate standby power consumption, extend the battery life of the remote control 5 and malfunction in an environment where strong noise is radiated. I'm trying to prevent it.

<Remote controller distance detection>
Next, detection of the distance from the indoor unit 2 to the remote controller 5 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the relationship between the drive current flowing through the infrared light emitting diode and the radiation intensity. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the relationship between the reach of the infrared signal and the radiation intensity. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a position determination signal transmitted from the indoor unit 2 side. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a receivable range of the remote control infrared light receiving element 41 for each radiation intensity of the position determination signal. FIG. 13 is a time chart for explaining the operation of detecting the distance from the indoor unit 2 to the remote controller 5.

As shown in FIG. 9, the indoor infrared light-emitting diodes (32, 33, 34) have a characteristic that the radiant intensity of the infrared signal radiated increases as the drive current increases almost in proportion.
As shown in FIG. 10, the infrared radiation intensity is attenuated as the distance increases according to the inverse square law. Therefore, a signal with low radiation intensity can reach only a short distance from the indoor unit 2. On the other hand, a signal with high radiation intensity can reach a distance farther than a signal with low radiation intensity.

  The infrared light receiving element (remote control infrared light receiving element 41) cannot be recognized as a signal unless a signal having a radiation intensity exceeding a certain threshold value is input. For this reason, all signals from a weak radiation intensity signal to a strong radiation intensity signal can be received at a short distance from the indoor unit 2, but a weak radiation intensity signal cannot be received at a distance far from the indoor unit 2, and strong radiation is obtained. It happens that only strong signals can be received.

In this embodiment, the infrared attenuation characteristic is used.
As shown in FIG. 11, the indoor unit 2 transmits a position determination signal having a plurality of levels of radiation intensity such as “strong”, “medium”, “weak”, and “weak” to the remote controller 5. Corresponding to the position determination signal of the radiation intensity of the plurality of stages, the range that can be received by the remote control infrared light receiving element 41 provided in the remote controller 5 is “far”, “medium” according to the radiation intensity as shown in FIG. ”,“ Near ”,“ Nearly Near ”, and the range is almost four steps.

That is, if the remote control infrared light receiving element 41 can receive the position determination signal with the radiation intensity “weak”, the remote controller 5 is in the “closest” position of the indoor unit 2 and receives the position determination signal with the radiation intensity “weak”. If possible, the remote controller 5 is in the “near” position of the indoor unit 2, and if it can receive the position determination signal with the radiation intensity “medium”, the remote controller 5 is in the “middle” position of the indoor unit 2 and the radiation intensity is “strong”. If it is possible to receive only the position determination signal, it can be defined that the remote controller 5 is in the “far” position of the indoor unit 2.
From this, it is possible to detect the distance from the indoor unit 2 to the remote controller 5 if the remote control infrared light receiving element 41 can receive up to which radiation intensity of the position determination signal.

Therefore, the indoor unit microcomputer 22 uses bit information (radiation intensity information) such as “strong”, “medium”, “weak”, and “weak” for each radiation intensity in order to make the remote controller 5 recognize the radiation intensity at which stage. Is added to the position determination signal. Further, in order to make the remote controller 5 recognize which indoor infrared light emitting diodes 32, 33, and 34 are the position determination signals, bit information (area) such as “middle area”, “left area”, and “right area” Information) is added to the position determination signal.
With this configuration, the remote control microcomputer 45 receives which position determination signal transmitted from the indoor infrared light emitting diodes 32, 33, and 34 from the position determination signal received via the remote control infrared light receiving element 41 and which radiation. It is possible to easily determine whether or not it has been received up to the strong position determination signal. The remote control microcomputer 45 converts this determination result into an infrared signal (position result signal) and transmits it to the indoor unit 2 via the remote control infrared light emitting diode 42. The indoor unit microcomputer 22 of the air conditioner 1 can detect the distance (“far”, “medium”, “near”, “very close”) to the remote controller 5 from the determination result of the received infrared signal.
Incidentally, since radiation intensity information is added to the position determination signal, the remote controller 5 does not need a circuit for measuring and determining the radiation intensity of the position determination signal.

Note that the position result signal transmitted from the remote controller 5 to the indoor unit 2 includes the information shown in Table 1 below. That is, the position result signal includes (1) “remote control ID” for uniquely identifying the remote controller 5 and (2) “reception of the position determination signal with respect to the position determination signal transmitted from the indoor infrared light emitting diode 32 for medium area detection. “Result”, (3) “Reception result of position determination signal” for the position determination signal transmitted from the indoor infrared light emitting diode 33 for detecting the left area, (4) Transmitted from the indoor infrared light emitting diode 34 for detecting the right area Information such as “position determination signal reception result” for the position determination signal and (5) “temperature / humidity” detected by the remote controller 5 are included.
Incidentally, the indoor unit 2 (indoor unit microcomputer 22) that has received the position result signal of Table 1 from the remote controller 5 recognizes that the remote controller 5 is in a position where the distance of the middle area is “near”.

  In the present embodiment, the distances of four steps (“far”, “middle”, “near”, “very close”) are recognized, but a signal having a plurality of steps of radiation intensity is transmitted. Thus, it is possible to detect a finer distance.

  Next, a method for detecting the distance from the indoor unit 2 to the remote controller 5 will be supplementarily described with reference to the time chart shown in FIG. In this explanation, in order to make the explanation of distance easy to understand, directions such as the middle area, the right area, and the left area are not distinguished, that is, the distinction of directions is omitted.

First, the remote control microcomputer 45 transmits a position detection request signal from the remote control infrared light emitting diode 42 to the indoor unit 2 (time point ta). The position detection request may be transmitted by a user operation or may be transmitted as a function of the remote control microcomputer 45 regardless of the user operation.
When the indoor infrared light receiving element 18 provided in the indoor unit 2 receives the position detection request signal (time point ta ′ at substantially the same time as the time point ta), the indoor unit microcomputer 22 changes the diagram according to the received position detection request signal. 6 is performed to transmit an infrared signal (basic operation signal) of a predetermined transmission code from the indoor infrared light emitting diode 32, and then a position determination signal e, “ The “medium” position determination signal f, the “weak” position determination signal g, and the “weak” position determination signal h are sequentially transmitted (time tb). Here, since the direction is not distinguished, only the light emitting diode 32 is operated. The predetermined transmission code is, for example, in accordance with the format of the home appliance association.

When the remote control infrared light receiving element 41 provided in the remote controller 5 receives a position determination signal following a predetermined transmission code (basic operation signal) (time tb ′ substantially the same time as time tb), the remote control microcomputer 45 receives the position determination signal. From the position determination signal, it is determined to which signal the radiation intensity has been received among “strong”, “medium”, “weak”, and “weak”. Incidentally, although the indoor unit 2 and the remote controller 5 are placed in the same room, even in the same room, if the remote controller 5 is far from the indoor unit 2, only the position determination signal having the radiation intensity of “strong” can be received. On the other hand, when the remote controller 5 is very close to the indoor unit 2, the remote controller can receive a position determination signal having a radiation intensity of “weak”.
The remote control microcomputer 45 transmits a position result signal (see Table 1) as a determination result to the indoor unit 2 via the remote control infrared light emitting diode 42 (time point tc). For example, when the remote controller 5 can receive a position determination signal having a radiation intensity of “weak”, information “weak” is included in the position result signal.
When the indoor infrared light receiving element 18 provided in the indoor unit 2 receives the position result signal, the indoor unit microcomputer 22 determines the distance (“far”, “middle”, “near”, “remote” to the remote controller 5 from the received position result signal. "Nearest") is detected.

  As an example in FIG. 13, the remote control infrared light receiving element 41 receives the position determination signals e and f (time tb ′). On the other hand, the position determination signals g and h cannot be received. That is, the radiation intensity “strong” corresponding to the position determination signal e and the signal of the radiation intensity “medium” corresponding to the position determination signal f are received, and the position is determined as “weak” corresponding to the position determination signal g. Since the “weak” signal corresponding to the signal h cannot be received, it is determined that the distance to the remote controller 5 is “medium”.

Here, in order to simplify the explanation, the direction is not distinguished. However, in the case of the indoor infrared light emitting diodes 32, 33, and 34 having directivity (see FIG. 15) as in the present embodiment, The remote controller 5 receives the position determination signal transmitted by each indoor infrared light emitting diode 32, 33, 34, and transmits the resulting position result signal from the remote controller 5 to the indoor unit 2 as shown in Table 1, that is, By distinguishing the directions, the indoor unit 2 (indoor unit microcomputer 22) can detect a more accurate distance of the remote controller 5.
Of course, the description here is an example, and bit information (radiation intensity information) is added to the position determination signal in order to detect the distance from the indoor unit 2 to the remote controller 5, but as will be described later, It is not limited to examples.

<Direction detection of remote controller>
Next, a method for detecting the direction of the remote controller 5 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the arrangement of indoor infrared light emitting diodes provided in the indoor transmission / reception unit 16 used as a remote control position detection device provided in the indoor unit 2. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the directivity of the indoor infrared light emitting diode. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of indoor environment conditions. FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining correction based on installation position information. FIG. 18 is a time chart for explaining the position detection operation of the remote controller.

  As shown in FIG. 14 (a), the indoor transmission / reception unit 16 used as the remote control position detection device provided in the indoor unit 2 includes an indoor infrared light emitting diode 32 for detecting the middle area and an indoor infrared light emission for detecting the left area. The diode 33 and three indoor infrared light emitting diodes of the indoor infrared light emitting diode 34 for detecting the right area are provided. The indoor infrared light emitting diodes 32, 33, and 34 are arranged in different directions so as to spread in a fan shape (arrow directions). This arrangement point is as described above with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 14B, the indoor infrared light-emitting diode 32 for detecting the middle area transmits a position determination signal in the front direction (medium area) when the indoor unit 2 is viewed from the front, and detects the left area. The indoor infrared light emitting diode 33 transmits a position determination signal in the left direction (left area) when the indoor unit 2 is viewed from the front, and the indoor infrared light emitting diode 34 for right area detection is right when the indoor unit 2 is viewed from the front. A position determination signal is transmitted in the direction (right area).
It should be noted that the mounting angle of the left area detecting indoor infrared light emitting diode 33 and the right area detecting indoor infrared light emitting diode 34 is the same angle to the left and right when viewed from the middle area detecting indoor infrared light emitting diode 32. That is, in this example, the areas are arranged so that the overlapping of the areas is small and the areas are almost the same in size.

  FIG. 15 shows the directivity of the indoor infrared light emitting diodes (32, 33, 34). The indoor infrared light emitting diodes (32, 33, 34) have an optical axis at the substantial center of the lens, and infrared rays are radiated radially from the center. In addition, the emitted infrared light has a directivity such that the radiation intensity is attenuated and weakened as the angle increases to 10 ° and 20 ° with the optical axis being 0 °.

  Accordingly, the indoor infrared light emitting diodes 32, 33, and 34 are arranged in different directions and transmit (radiate) the position determination signal, thereby determining the position transmitted by the indoor infrared light emitting diode disposed in the direction in which the remote controller 5 is positioned. The attenuation of the signal radiation intensity is the smallest, and the attenuation of the radiation intensity of the position determination signal transmitted by the indoor infrared light emitting diodes arranged in the other direction is large. Therefore, if it is a position determination signal from the indoor infrared light-emitting diode transmitted in the direction in which the remote controller 5 is located, the remote controller 5 determines the position of the radiation intensity weaker than the position determination signal transmitted in the other direction. Even signals can be received. As a result, by changing the drive current flowing through the indoor infrared light emitting diodes 32, 33, and 34 in the same manner as the distance detection described above, the radiation intensity can be changed to "strong", "medium", "weak", "weak". Then, it can be determined that the remote controller 5 exists in the direction in which the indoor infrared light emitting diode that has transmitted the position determination signal that can be received up to the weakest radiation intensity is facing.

  Another reason for changing the radiation intensity is as follows. This is because if only a single infrared signal (position determination signal) having the same radiation intensity is transmitted, the infrared signal may be reflected and transmitted in different directions due to indoor environmental conditions such as walls and obstacles. .

  That is, as shown in FIG. 16, when the radiation direction A to the left area, the radiation direction B to the middle area, and the radiation direction C to the right area, the radiation to the right area is reflected on the indoor wall. Radiation to the left area (see reference C ′). For example, although the remote controller 5 is located in the left area (see the solid line remote controller 5), a situation occurs in which the remote controller 5 receives an infrared signal transmitted toward the right area and misidentifies the direction. . However, since the reflected infrared signal is attenuated when the transport path becomes long and collides with a wall or an obstacle, the reflected infrared signal is received with a lower radiation intensity than the directly received infrared signal. Therefore, by making the radiation intensity variable in a plurality of stages, a difference occurs in the radiation intensity of the received signal, so that the correct direction can be determined without erroneous detection.

  For example, when the remote control 5 (see the solid line) is in an area that can receive an infrared signal transmitted to the left area up to a signal of “weak” radiation intensity, the infrared signal (position determination signal) transmitted from the indoor infrared light emitting diode 33 ) Can be received up to “weak”, but the infrared signal transmitted to the right area, reflected and received at the left area is attenuated by the weak infrared signal and cannot be reached. Only certain “strong” signals are received. Therefore, it can be determined that the remote controller 5 is located in the left area where the position determination signal having the weakest radiation intensity can be received.

By the way, since the indoor unit 2 is generally installed at a position that avoids walls and windows in the room, it is often arranged near the corner of the room. For this reason, there are many situations in which the indoor environmental conditions in which reflection occurs as described above.
Therefore, in this embodiment, it is assumed that when the installation position of the indoor unit 2 is set, a setting can be made so as to correspond to the indoor environmental conditions.

This point will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
After installing the indoor unit 2, it is determined whether or not the installation position of the indoor unit 2 is set in the indoor unit microcomputer 22 (S11). In the present embodiment, the determination in S11 is a user's judgment. If no setting is made as a result of the user's determination in S11, an instruction "no setting" is given to the indoor unit microcomputer 22 as an infrared signal through the remote controller 5 in accordance with the user's operation (S12). The indoor unit microcomputer 22 performs normal determination as it is (S13). If the initial state of the indoor unit microcomputer 22 is “no setting”, this S12 can be omitted.

On the other hand, when setting is performed as a result of the user's determination in S11, an instruction “setting is present” is given to the indoor unit microcomputer 22 as an infrared signal via the remote controller 5 in accordance with the operation of the user ( S14) The next step is selected by the user.
That is, in the case where there is a wall on the left side of the indoor unit 2, an instruction “There is a wall on the left side” is given to the indoor unit microcomputer as an infrared signal via the remote controller 5 by the user's operation (S 15 ), The indoor unit microcomputer 22 performs an adjustment for correcting the output result information of the position result signal of the left area by an α step (S16), and performs a normal determination according to this adjustment (S17).

  Further, as shown in FIG. 16, in the case where there is a wall on the right side of the indoor unit 2, an instruction “There is a wall on the right side” by the user's operation is sent to the indoor unit microcomputer as an infrared signal via the remote controller 5. (S18), the indoor unit microcomputer 22 performs an adjustment for correcting the output result information of the position result signal in the right area by α steps (S19), and makes a normal determination according to this adjustment (S20). .

That is, the remote controller 5 ′ is located at the position indicated by the broken line in FIG. 16, and as a result, the remote controller 5 ′ has received the position determination signals transmitted from the indoor infrared light emitting diodes 32, 33, and 34 to “weak”. To do. For this reason, when the position result signal transmitted by the remote controller 5 ′ is as shown in Table 2 below, the indoor unit microcomputer 22 cannot determine the position of the remote controller 5 ′. However, if “there is a wall on the right side” is set in the indoor unit microcomputer 22 as in S18, the indoor unit microcomputer 22 outputs the output result information in the right area of the position result signal in Table 2 (in S19). (Radiance intensity) is corrected by two steps (α = 2) and is changed from “weak” to “strong”, so that the position of the remote controller 5 ′ can be recognized correctly. That is, when the remote controller 5 ′ is located at the position indicated by the broken line in FIG. 16, the position determination signal transmitted from the indoor unit 2 toward the right area is or cannot be detected by the remote controller 5 ′. However, the radiation intensity is up to “strong”. In the present embodiment, by setting this point (point with a wall on the right side) in the indoor unit microcomputer 22 (S18), the indoor unit microcomputer 22 has the remote controller 5 'positioned at the left of the middle area as shown in FIG. It can be correctly determined (S20) that it is in the direction near the boundary of the area.
The concept of this point is the same in S15 to S17 described above, although there is a difference between right and left.

  In the case where there is a wall near both sides of the indoor unit 2, an instruction that “there is a wall on both sides” is given to the indoor unit microcomputer by an infrared signal via the remote controller 5 by the user's operation ( In step S21, the indoor unit microcomputer 22 performs an adjustment to correct the output result information of the position result signal in the left and right areas by α steps (S22), and performs a normal determination according to the adjustment (S23). The idea of this point is also the same as the idea of S18 to S20 described above.

  That is, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 17, the air conditioner 1 is set to be near the wall by providing means for setting whether the left and right of the indoor unit 2 are installed on the wall or not. In such a case, the system configuration is such that adjustment is performed so that the output result information of the position determination signal is largely corrected at a predetermined stage, so that erroneous detection due to reflection does not occur.

In this embodiment, the indoor environment condition is set by the user via the remote controller 5. However, for example, the indoor unit 2 is provided with a dip switch (not shown), and the user The setting may be made without using the remote controller 5 by using a switch.
In the present embodiment, the output result information of the position result signal transmitted from the remote controller 5 is adjusted by the indoor unit 2 (indoor unit microcomputer 22) (see Table 2). This is also an example. For example, the position determination signal may be corrected (adjusted) when it is transmitted to the remote controller 5 so that the current values of the indoor infrared light emitting diodes 32, 33, and 34 are variable.
Further, the output result information (radiation intensity) in the position result signal shown in Table 2 is corrected by the remote controller 5 (remote control microcomputer 45) that generates the position result signal, and the corrected position result signal (the table below Table 2). Reference) may be transmitted to the indoor unit 2. In this case, the indoor environment condition is set for the remote control microcomputer 45 in accordance with, for example, the flowchart of FIG.
Further, for example, in the case of the setting “There is a wall on the right side”, the output result information (radiation intensity) in the right area of the position result signal received from the remote controller 5 is corrected by α steps large as in S19. For example, the distance associated with the output result information may be corrected without correcting the output result information. Specifically, in the case of the setting “There is a wall on the right side”, if the output result information in the position result signal received by the indoor unit microcomputer 22 is the radiation intensity of the right area “weak”, the output result information is The distance may be corrected and recognized such that the distance is “medium” without correction. That is, the correspondence relationship between the radiation intensity and the distance shown in FIG. 12 may be changed according to the setting of the indoor environment conditions. The idea of this point is the same for the setting of “there is a wall on the left side”.
Further, as shown in FIG. 16, in the case of an indoor environment condition in which the right area does not substantially exist, the operation of the indoor infrared light emitting diode 34 for detecting the right area may be stopped. This point of view is the same when the setting is “there is a wall on the left side” (that is, when there is substantially no left area).

Next, the position detection operation of the remote controller 5 will be described with reference to the time chart of FIG. This time chart is in accordance with the flowchart of FIG.
First, the remote control microcomputer 45 transmits a position detection request signal to the indoor unit 2 via the remote control infrared light emitting diode 42 in response to the operation of the operation button 65 (time point tj).
When the indoor infrared light receiving element 18 provided in the indoor unit 2 receives the position detection request signal from the remote controller 5 (time point tj ′ at substantially the same time as the time point tj), the indoor unit microcomputer 22 receives the received position detection request signal. In response to this, internal processing is performed, and infrared signals of a predetermined transmission code are simultaneously transmitted from the indoor infrared light emitting diodes 32, 33, and 34 (time tk). As described above, this predetermined transmission code corresponds to the basic operation signal of FIG. 11, and is in conformity with the format of the Japan Home Appliances Association, for example.

The infrared signal of the predetermined transmission code is received by the remote control infrared light receiving element 41 at a time tk ′ substantially the same time as the time tk.
Subsequently, the indoor unit microcomputer 22 receives the radiation intensity “strong” position determination signal e, “medium” position determination signal f, “weak” position determination signal g, “ The “weak” position determination signal h is transmitted in order (time tm). Subsequently, the indoor unit microcomputer 22 sequentially transmits similar position determination signals (e, f, g, h) from the indoor infrared light emitting diode 33 for left area detection (time point tn). Subsequently, the indoor unit microcomputer 22 sequentially transmits similar position determination signals (e, f, g, h) from the indoor infrared light emitting diode 34 for right area detection (time point tp).

Further, in the position determination signal transmitted from the indoor infrared light emitting diodes (32, 33, 34), “middle area”, “left area”, “right area” so that it can be understood which indoor infrared light emitting diode transmitted. Such direction information (identification information) and radiation intensity information of “strong”, “medium”, “weak”, and “weak” are added so that which radiation intensity can be identified.
On the other hand, the remote controller microcomputer 45 on the remote controller 5 side, via the remote control infrared light receiving element 41, has a time tm ′ at substantially the same time as the time tm, a time tn ′ at substantially the same time as the time tn, and substantially the same time as the time tp. The position determination signal is received at time tp ′. In FIG. 18, the position determination signals e and f are received at time tm ′, the position determination signals e, f and g are received at time tn ′, and the position determination signal e is received at time tp ′.

Subsequently, when reception of all the position determination signals is completed at time tp ′, the remote control microcomputer 45 uses the received result of the position determination signal as a position result signal (see Table 1) via the remote control infrared light emitting diode 42. To the indoor unit 2 (time tr).
When the position result signal is received via the indoor infrared light receiving element 18 provided in the indoor unit 2 (time tr ′ at substantially the same time as time tr), the indoor unit microcomputer 22 reads “ It is determined which position determination signal is received among “strong to weak”, “left area strong to weak”, and “right area strong to weak”, and the distance and direction to the remote controller 5 (that is, the position is determined). )To detect.

  In the example shown in FIG. 18, the remote control infrared light receiving element 41 of the remote controller 5 receives “strong” and “medium” among the position determination signals transmitted from the indoor infrared light emitting diode 32 for detecting the middle area, and detects the left area. Among the position determination signals transmitted from the indoor infrared light emitting diode 34 for the right area, the “strong”, “medium”, and “weak” signals are received from the position determination signals transmitted from the indoor infrared light emitting diode 34 for the right area. "Strong" is received.

As a result, the remote control microcomputer 45 transmits the reception result of the received position determination signal as a position result signal to the indoor unit 2 via the remote control infrared light emitting diode 42 (time tr).
When the position result signal is received via the indoor infrared light receiving element 18 provided in the indoor unit 2, the indoor unit microcomputer 22 performs arithmetic processing based on the received position result signal. In the example shown in FIG. 18, among the three position result signals, the position determination signal transmitted from the indoor infrared light emitting diode 33 for detecting the left area is received up to the weakest radiation intensity. Is “Left Area”, the distance is “Weak”, so it is “Near”, the position of the remote control 5 is determined as “Left Area Near”, and the distance to the remote control 5 is “Near” Assuming that the direction is the “left area”, the position of the remote controller 5 is detected.

According to the present embodiment, in the air conditioner 1 that communicates the indoor unit 2 and the remote controller 5 in two directions, the drive current of the infrared light emitting diode can be made variable while using the existing infrared transmission / reception system. The remote controller position can be detected easily and inexpensively without providing a dedicated system.
Note that it is also possible to detect temperature / humidity information of an arbitrary space of the remote control user by the conventional bidirectional communication function.

Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the radiation intensity of the indoor infrared light emitting diodes 32, 33, 34 of the indoor unit 2 was made variable, the radiation intensity of the remote control infrared light emitting diode 42 of the remote controller 5 was made variable so that the indoor infrared light receiving element 18 The distance may be detected from the reception result.
Also, a plurality of indoor infrared light receiving elements 18 are provided, arranged in a predetermined direction like the indoor infrared light emitting diodes 32, 33, 34, and the direction of the remote controller 5 is detected from the reception result of each indoor infrared light receiving element. Also good.

  Further, in this embodiment, the radiation intensity information is added to the position determination signal as bit information. However, as another embodiment, a pulse in a section from A to X is prepared and a pulse in a section AB is radiated. Intensity is “strong”, pulse in CD section is radiant intensity “medium”, pulse in EF section is radiant intensity “weak”, pulse in GH section is radiant intensity “weak” Transmit to the middle area, send the pulse with the changed radiation intensity in each section from I to P to the left area, and similarly send the pulse with the changed radiation intensity in each section from Q to X to the right area. To do. And it is also possible to detect the radiation intensity for each area (middle, left, right) by counting (counting) up to which pulses can be received for each area.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a specific example in the case of using a pulse in a section from A to X.
For example, AB section, CD section, EF section, and GH section are fixed with 30 pulses of a fixed period, and transmitted to the middle area as a position discrimination signal with changed radiation intensity, Similarly, a pulse in each section from I to P is transmitted to the left area as a position determination signal with changed radiation intensity, and similarly, a pulse in each section from Q to X is transmitted to the right area as a position determination signal with changed radiation intensity. Send to. When the reception results on the remote control side of these infrared signals are transmitted to the indoor unit 2, the indoor unit microcomputer 22 determines the direction and distance of the remote control 5 according to the reception results for each area (middle, left, right) and for each radiation intensity. The position can be detected from Incidentally, if the remote controller 5 is near the indoor unit 2, many pulses can be counted.
The pulse at this time is a predetermined infrared signal such as 38 kHz and DUTY 50%.

  As still another embodiment, the time is measured from t1 seconds to t24 seconds. The radiation intensity is “strong” from t1 to t2 seconds, the radiation intensity is “medium” from t3 to t4 seconds, the radiation intensity is “weak” from t5 to t6 seconds, and the radiation is emitted from t7 to t8 seconds. Intensity “Slight” is transmitted to the middle area. Similarly, at each time from t9 to t16, the radiation intensity is changed and transmitted to the left area. Similarly, at each time from t17 to t24, the radiation intensity is changed to the right area. Send. Then, it is possible to detect the radiation intensity for each area (middle, left, right) by measuring how long the reception was possible for each area.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a specific example in the case of measuring t24 seconds from t1.
For example, the radiation intensity is changed at each time from t1 to t2, t3 to t4, t5 to t6, and t7 to t8 and transmitted to the middle area as a position determination signal. Similarly, the radiation intensity is changed at each time from t9 to t16. The position determination signal is transmitted to the left area, and similarly, the radiation intensity is changed at each time from t17 to t24 and transmitted to the right area as the position determination signal. When the reception results of these infrared signals on the remote control side are transmitted to the indoor unit, the indoor unit microcomputer determines the position from the direction and distance of the remote control according to the reception results for each area (middle, left, right) and for each radiation intensity. Can be detected. Incidentally, if the remote controller 5 is near the indoor unit 2, it can be received for a long time.
Note that the time measurement from t1 to t24 seconds starts with a stop bit time indicating the end of the basic information in the basic information added to the basic operation signal as t0 seconds.
As a signal to be timed, a predetermined infrared signal such as 38 kHz, DUTY 50% is used.

1 Air conditioner (the main body of the air conditioner)
2 Indoor unit 3 Outdoor unit 4 Connection piping 5 Remote controller (remote control)
16 indoor transmission / reception unit 17 display unit 18 indoor infrared light receiving element (first infrared light receiving element)
21 control board 22 indoor unit microcomputer (control means, switching control means, adjustment means, current control means)
23 Suction temperature thermistor (first temperature detection means)
25 Humidity sensor (first humidity detection means)
27 Stepping motor drive circuit 28 Front panel motor 29a, 29b, 29c Vertical wind direction plate motor 30a, 30b Left / right wind direction plate motor 32, 33, 34 Indoor infrared light emitting diode (first infrared light emitting diode)
35, 36, 37, 47 Switch element 38 DC / DC converter circuit 40 Remote control transmission / reception unit 41 Remote control infrared light receiving element (second infrared light receiving element)
42 Remote control infrared light emitting diode (second infrared light emitting diode)
43a Room temperature thermistor (second temperature detection means)
43b Humidity sensor (second humidity detection means)
44 Battery 45 Remote control microcomputer 46, 49 Carrier frequency generation switch element 48 Operation surface 50 LCD module 51 AC power supply 54 Control power supply circuit 65 Operation button

Claims (14)

An air conditioner including a remote controller capable of bidirectional communication using infrared as a communication medium,
The main body of the air conditioner includes a first infrared light emitting diode and a first infrared light receiving element,
The remote controller includes a second infrared light emitting diode and a second infrared light receiving element,
The infrared signal transmitted from the first infrared light emitting diode is a pulse signal, and the radiation intensity of the pulse signal is varied in a plurality of stages ,
An air conditioner characterized in that the number of pulses of the infrared signal received by the second infrared light receiving element is counted, and a distance from the main body of the air conditioner to the remote controller is detected from a result of the counting. Machine. In an air conditioner equipped with a remote controller capable of bidirectional communication using infrared as a communication medium ,
The main body of the air conditioner includes a first infrared light emitting diode and a first infrared light receiving element,
The remote controller includes a second infrared light emitting diode and a second infrared light receiving element,
From the result of varying the radiation intensity of the infrared signal transmitted from the first infrared light emitting diode in a plurality of stages, and receiving the infrared signal in which the second infrared light receiving element has varied the radiation intensity in a plurality of stages, the air wherein the body of the conditioner to a air conditioner that detect the distance to the remote controller,
A plurality of the first infrared light emitting diodes are provided, and infrared signals are transmitted by directing the radiation directions of the plurality of first infrared light emitting diodes in different directions,
When the second infrared light receiving element receives an infrared signal whose radiation intensity is varied in a plurality of stages, the first infrared light that has transmitted an infrared signal that can be received up to the weakest radiation intensity of the received infrared signal. from the radiation direction of the light emitting diodes, air conditioner you and detecting a direction of the remote controller relative to the body of the air conditioner.   The main body of the air conditioner includes a DC / DC converter circuit connected to the first infrared light emitting diode, and outputs a command signal to the DC / DC converter circuit to thereby adjust the radiation intensity of the first infrared light emitting diode. The air conditioner according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit that controls the air conditioner.   The main body of the air conditioner includes a plurality of resistors connected to the first infrared light emitting diode, and a switching control means for controlling the radiation intensity of the first infrared light emitting diode by switching the connection of the plurality of resistors. The air conditioner according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising:   The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein identification information for identifying the first infrared light emitting diode is added to the infrared signal transmitted from the first infrared light emitting diode. .   The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein radiation intensity information for identifying radiation intensity is added to an infrared signal transmitted from the first infrared light emitting diode. An air conditioner including a remote controller capable of bidirectional communication using infrared as a communication medium,
The main body of the air conditioner includes a plurality of first infrared light emitting diodes and first infrared light receiving elements,
The remote controller includes a second infrared light emitting diode and a second infrared light receiving element,
The radiation intensity of infrared signals transmitted from the plurality of first infrared light emitting diodes is varied in a plurality of stages, and the radiation directions of the plurality of first infrared light emitting diodes are transmitted in different directions, respectively.
When the second infrared light receiving element receives an infrared signal in which the radiation intensity is changed in a plurality of stages, the first infrared signal transmitted to the weakest radiation intensity by the received infrared signal is transmitted. The direction of the remote controller relative to the main body of the air conditioner is detected from the radiation direction of the infrared light emitting diode, and the time during which the infrared signal whose radiation intensity is varied in a plurality of stages is input to the second infrared light receiving element. An air conditioner characterized in that a distance from a main body of the air conditioner to the remote controller is detected from a measured time measurement result. An air conditioner including a remote controller capable of bidirectional communication using infrared as a communication medium,
The main body of the air conditioner includes a plurality of first infrared light emitting diodes and first infrared light receiving elements,
The remote controller includes a second infrared light emitting diode and a second infrared light receiving element,
The infrared signals transmitted from the plurality of first infrared light emitting diodes are used as pulse signals, the radiation intensity of the pulse signals is varied in a plurality of stages, and the radiation directions of the plurality of first infrared light emitting diodes are different from each other. Send to
When the second infrared light receiving element receives an infrared signal whose radiation intensity is varied in a plurality of stages, the first infrared light that has transmitted an infrared signal that can be received up to the weakest radiation intensity of the received infrared signal. The direction of the remote controller with respect to the main body of the air conditioner is detected from the radiation direction of the light emitting diode, and the number of pulses of the infrared signal received by the second infrared light receiving element is counted. An air conditioner that detects a distance from a main body to the remote controller.   The main body of the air conditioner includes adjustment means for adjusting a reception result of an infrared signal received by the second infrared light receiving element based on a setting corresponding to an installation position of the main body. The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 8.   The main body of the air conditioner makes the current value of the first infrared light emitting diode variable based on a setting according to an installation position of the main body. Air conditioner. An air conditioner including a remote controller capable of bidirectional communication using infrared as a communication medium,
The main body of the air conditioner includes a first infrared light emitting diode and a first infrared light receiving element,
The remote controller includes a second infrared light emitting diode and a second infrared light receiving element,
An infrared signal transmitted from the second infrared light emitting diode is used as a pulse signal , and the radiation intensity of the pulse signal is varied in a plurality of stages .
An air conditioner characterized in that the number of pulses of the infrared signal received by the first infrared light receiving element is counted, and a distance from the main body of the air conditioner to the remote controller is detected from a result of the counting. Machine. In an air conditioner comprising a communicable remote controller bidirectionally infrared as the communication medium,
The main body of the air conditioner includes a first infrared light emitting diode and a first infrared light receiving element,
The remote controller includes a second infrared light emitting diode and a second infrared light receiving element,
From the result of varying the radiation intensity of the infrared signal transmitted from the second infrared light emitting diode in a plurality of stages and receiving the infrared signal in which the first infrared light receiving element has varied the radiation intensity in a plurality of stages, the air wherein the body of the conditioner to a air conditioner that detect the distance to the remote controller,
A plurality of the first infrared light receiving elements, the plurality of first infrared light receiving elements are arranged in different directions, and the infrared signals whose radiation intensity is varied in the plurality of stages are arranged in different directions. first from the result infrared receiving element is received, air conditioner you and detecting a direction of the remote controller relative to the body of the air conditioner. The main body of the air conditioner includes first temperature detecting means,
The remote controller includes second temperature detection means,
The main body of the air conditioner corrects the temperature difference by comparing the temperature information detected by the first temperature detection means with the temperature information detected by the second temperature detection means. The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 12. The main body of the air conditioner includes first humidity detection means,
The remote controller includes second humidity detection means,
The main body of the air conditioner corrects the humidity difference by comparing the humidity information detected by the first humidity detecting means with the humidity information detected by the second humidity detecting means. The air conditioner according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

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