U.S. patent application number 13/942211 was filed with the patent office on 2014-09-11 for method of controlling indoor temperature.
The applicant listed for this patent is GRAND MATE CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to CHIN-YING HUANG, CHUNG-CHIN HUANG, HSIN-MING HUANG, HSING-HSIUNG HUANG, KUAN-CHOU LIN, YEN-JEN YEH.
Application Number | 20140250924 13/942211 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 51486099 |
Filed Date | 2014-09-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140250924 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
HUANG; CHUNG-CHIN ; et
al. |
September 11, 2014 |
METHOD OF CONTROLLING INDOOR TEMPERATURE
Abstract
A method of controlling a temperature in a room includes the
following steps: 1) Sense a volume of sound in the room to obtain a
sensed volume; and 2) Control an output of an air conditioning unit
to keep a temperature in the room in a first temperature while the
sensed volume is higher than a volume value; or control an output
of the air conditioning unit to keep a temperature in the room in a
second temperature while the sensed volume is lower than the volume
value and lasts for a first waiting time. A power consumption of
the air conditioning unit to keep the temperature in the second
temperature is lower than a power consumption of the air
conditioning unit to keep the temperature in the first temperature
to reduce the unnecessary power consumption when there is nobody in
the room.
Inventors: |
HUANG; CHUNG-CHIN;
(Taichung, TW) ; HUANG; CHIN-YING; (Taichung,
TW) ; HUANG; HSIN-MING; (Taichung, TW) ;
HUANG; HSING-HSIUNG; (Taichung, TW) ; LIN;
KUAN-CHOU; (Taichung, TW) ; YEH; YEN-JEN;
(YUNLIN, TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
GRAND MATE CO., LTD. |
Taichung |
|
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
51486099 |
Appl. No.: |
13/942211 |
Filed: |
July 15, 2013 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
62/56 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F24F 2120/10 20180101;
F24F 11/30 20180101; F24F 2130/40 20180101 |
Class at
Publication: |
62/56 |
International
Class: |
F24F 11/00 20060101
F24F011/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 8, 2013 |
TW |
102108334 |
Claims
1. A method of controlling a temperature in a room, wherein an air
conditioning unit is provided to change a temperature in the room,
the method comprising the steps of: sensing a volume of sound in
the room to obtain a sensed volume; and controlling an output of
the air conditioning unit to keep a temperature in the room in a
first temperature while the sensed volume is higher than a volume
value; or controlling an output of the air conditioning unit to
keep a temperature in the room in a second temperature while the
sensed volume is lower than the volume value and lasts for a first
waiting time; wherein a power consumption of the air conditioning
unit to keep the temperature in the second temperature is lower
than a power consumption of the air conditioning unit to keep the
temperature in the first temperature.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein air conditioning unit has a
cooling module to lower the temperature in the room, and the second
temperature is higher than the first temperature.
3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of
controlling an output of the air conditioning unit to keep a
temperature in the room in a second temperature while the sensed
volume is lower than the volume value and lasts for a second
waiting after the first waiting time, wherein the third temperature
is higher than the second temperature.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the temperature is raised from
the second temperature to the third temperature in tiers.
5. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of
controlling an output of the air conditioning unit to change a
temperature in the room back to the first temperature while the
sensed volume is higher than the volume value.
6. The method of claim 3, further comprising the step of
controlling an output of the air conditioning unit to change a
temperature in the room back to the first temperature while the
sensed volume is higher than the volume value.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein air conditioning unit has a
heating module to raise the temperature in the room, and the second
temperature is lower than the first temperature.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of
controlling an output of the air conditioning unit to keep a
temperature in the room in a second temperature while the sensed
volume is lower than the volume value and lasts for a second
waiting after the first waiting time, wherein the third temperature
is lower than the second temperature.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the temperature is lowered from
the second temperature to the third temperature in tiers.
10. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of
controlling an output of the air conditioning unit to change a
temperature in the room back to the first temperature while the
sensed volume is higher than the volume value.
11. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of
controlling an output of the air conditioning unit to change a
temperature in the room back to the first temperature while the
sensed volume is higher than the volume value.
Description
[0001] The current application claims a foreign priority to the
patent application of Taiwan No. 102108334 filed on Mar. 8,
2013.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Technical Field
[0003] The present invention relates to temperature of air
conditioner, and more particularly to a method of controlling a
temperature in a room according sound volume in the room.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] Air conditioners are widely used in air conditioning. Modern
air conditioners may provide hot air and cooled air so that no
matter what season it is, the air conditioner may provide a desired
indoor temperature. A conventional air conditioner provides user to
input a setting temperature, and the air conditioner provides
cooled air or hot air to change the temperature in the room to the
setting temperature. FIG. 1 shows a relation between the
temperature in a room, which is conditioned by the conventional air
conditioner, and time. The temperature is kept in constant all
time. FIG. 2 shows that the temperature in the room is conditioned
by another type of the air conditioner. The temperature is changed
in different periods of a day. For example, the temperature is
higher in the nighttime than in the daytime. User may input the
desired temperatures for different periods. However, these two
conventional air conditioners are running according to the setting
only. Sometime, it will waste the energy because the conditions in
the room changed, such as people leaving the room, but the sir
condition still is running according to the old setting.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] In view of the above, the primary objective of the present
invention is to provide a method controlling a temperature in a
room, which may reduce the unnecessary power consumption.
[0007] The present invention provides a method of controlling a
temperature in a room, wherein an air conditioning unit is provided
to change a temperature in the room, and the method includes the
following steps:
[0008] Sense a volume of sound in the room to obtain a sensed
volume; and
[0009] Control an output of the air conditioning unit to keep a
temperature in the room in a first temperature while the sensed
volume is higher than a volume value; or
[0010] Control an output of the air conditioning unit to keep a
temperature in the room in a second temperature while the sensed
volume is lower than the volume value and lasts for a first waiting
time.
[0011] A power consumption of the air conditioning unit to keep the
temperature in the second temperature is lower than a power
consumption of the air conditioning unit to keep the temperature in
the first temperature.
[0012] With the method of the present invention, it may reduce the
unnecessary power consumption when there is nobody in the room.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] The present invention will be best understood by referring
to the following detailed description of some illustrative
embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in
which:
[0014] FIG. 1 shows a relation of the temperature and time of the
conventional air conditioner;
[0015] FIG. 2 shows a relation between the temperature and time of
another type of the conventional air conditioner;
[0016] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the air conditioner of a
preferred embodiment of the preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
[0017] FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the method in the cooling mode of
the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0018] FIG. 5 shows a relation of the temperature and time, showing
the temperature change in the constant-temperature type of the
cooling mode of the preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
[0019] FIG. 6 shows a relation of the temperature and time/volume,
showing in the temperature change in the variant-temperature type
of the cooling mode of the preferred embodiment of the present
invention;
[0020] FIG. 7 is a flow chart of the method in the heating mode of
the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0021] FIG. 8 shows a relation of the temperature and time, showing
the temperature change in the constant-temperature type of the
heating mode of the preferred embodiment of the present invention;
and
[0022] FIG. 9 shows a relation of the temperature and time/volume,
showing in the temperature change in the variant-temperature type
of the heating mode of the preferred embodiment of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0023] FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of a method of controlling a
temperature of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
An air conditioning system is provided to change the temperature,
which includes a setting unit 10 and an air conditioning unit. The
air conditioning unit includes a cooling module 20 and a heating
module 30.
[0024] The setting unit 10 includes an electric control module 12,
an audio sensor 14, and a control panel 16. The audio sensor 14 and
the control panel 16 are electrically connected to the electric
control module 12 respectively. The audio sensor 14 is a microphone
in the present invention to sense a volume of sound in a room and
to obtain a sensed volume. A user may operate the control panel 16
to input some settings, including selecting a cooling mode or a
heating mode, and inputting a first temperature T1 and a volume
value dB, for controlling the air conditioning system (referring to
FIG. 5). In the cooling mode, the cooling module 20 is activated to
lower the temperature, and the heating module 30 is activated in
the heating mode to raise the temperature. The electric control
module 12 respectively controls the cooling module 20 and the
heating module 30 to provide hot air or cooled air. The first
temperature T1 is a desired temperature in the room, and is the
temperature that the air conditioning unit should give. The volume
value dB is given by user, which is the critical value to determine
if there is anyone in the room. If a volume sensed by the audio
sensor 14 is higher than the volume value dB, it indicates that
there is at least one man in the room. On the contrary, it
indicates nobody in the room when a volume sensed by the audio
sensor 14 is lower than the volume value dB. It should be aware of
the background volume in the adjustment of the volume value dB.
[0025] FIG. 4 shows the flowchart of the temperature controlling
method when the air conditioning unit is switched to the cooling
mode. The temperature controlling method includes the following
steps:
[0026] In the beginning, the electric control module 12 controls
the cooling module 20 to provide cooled air to lower a temperature
in a room to the first temperature T1, and keeps the temperature in
the first temperature T1.
[0027] The electric control module 12 controls the audio sensor 14
to sense a volume of sound in the room and to obtain a sensed
volume, and then the sensed volume is compared with the volume
value dB.
[0028] The electric control module 12 controls the cooling module
20 to keep the temperature in the room in the first temperature T1
while the sensed volume is higher than the volume value dB.
[0029] While the sensed volume is lower than the volume value dB
for a first waiting time, it indicates that there is nobody in the
room or people in the room are kept still. In this situation, the
electric control module 12 controls the cooling module 20 to raise
the temperature in the room to a second temperature T2. It may
reduce the power consumption of the cooling module 20. The change
of the cooling module 20 will be activated only when the volume
sensed by the audio sensor 14 is lower than the volume value dB for
the first waiting time. The reason of it is to avoid the cooling
module 20 from being changed repeatedly while people only leave the
room temporally.
[0030] After the temperature in the room is changed to the second
temperature T2 and the sensed volume still is lower than the volume
value dB for a second waiting time t2, the electric control module
12 controls the cooling module 20 to raise the temperature in the
room to a third temperature T3. In an embodiment, the temperature
is rising from the second temperature T2 to the third temperature
T3 in tiers. In other words, the temperature in the room is raised
for predetermined degrees per a third waiting time t3. If the
sensed volume is higher than the volume value dB, which means
somebody comes back, the electric control module 12 controls the
cooling module 20 to lower the temperature in the room back to the
first temperature T1.
[0031] FIG. 5 shows that the first temperature T is set to a
constant temperature (23.degree. C.). In the first 20 minutes of
FIG. 5, a volume sensed by the audio sensor 14 is greater than the
volume value dB, and the electric control module 12 controls the
cooling module 20 to keep the temperature in the room in 23.degree.
C. (the first temperature T1). Next, the sensed volume still is
lower than the volume value dB and lasts for ten minutes (the first
waiting time t1), the electric control module 12 controls the
cooling module 20 to raise the temperature in the room to
24.degree. C. (the second temperature T2). After the first waiting
time t1, the sensed volume is kept in a low value (lower than the
volume value dB) and last for another ten minutes (the second
waiting time t2), the electric control module 12 starts to control
the cooling module 20 to raise the temperature in the room to the
third temperature T3 (28.degree. C.). The temperature in the room
is raised from 24.degree. C. (the second temperature T2) to
28.degree. C. (the third temperature T3) by 1.degree. C. per ten
minutes (the third waiting time t3). Next, somebody is coming in
the room, the sensed volume is higher than the volume value dB and
the electric control module 12 controls the cooling module 20 to
lower the temperature in the room back to 23.degree. C. (the first
temperature T1). After that, the temperature will be conditioned by
the air conditioning system of the present invention in the same
way.
[0032] FIG. 6 shows that the first temperature T is set to
different temperatures in different periods of a day. In the first
ten minutes of FIG. 6, a volume sensed by the audio sensor 14 is
higher than the volume value dB, the temperature in the room is
conditioned to 23.degree. C. (the first temperature T1). In ten
minutes to twenty minutes, the sensed volume still is higher than
the volume value dB, but temperature in the room is conditioned to
21.degree. C. (the first temperature T1) because it comes to
another period of the day. In the twentieth minutes, the sensed
volume is lower than the volume value dB and lasts for ten minutes
(the first waiting time t1), the electric control module 12
controls the cooling module 20 to raise the temperature in the room
to 22.degree. C. (the second temperature T2). Next, the sensed
volume is kept in a low value for another ten minutes (the second
waiting time t2), the cooling module 20 starts to raise the
temperature in the room from 22.degree. C. (the second temperature
T2) to 26.degree. C. (the third temperature T3). It is clearly
shown that the temperature is raised for 1.degree. C. per ten
minutes (the third waiting time t3). The temperature will be
conditioned to the first temperature while the sensed temperature
is higher than the volume value dB. In practice, a limited
temperature TU is set in the air conditioning system of the present
invention. The temperature conditioned by the air conditioning
system does not exceed the limited temperature TU. As shown in 150
minutes to 210 minutes of FIG. 6, the first temperature T1 is
27.degree. C. and the limited temperature TU is set to 28.degree.
C. If the sensed volume is kept in a low value for a long time, the
temperature in the room should be conditioned to the second or the
third temperature T2, T3, which is/are higher than the limited
temperature TU. However, the highest temperature will be limited in
28.degree. C. (the limited temperature TU).
[0033] In the cooling mode, the air conditioning system of the
present invention may change the output of the cooling module 20
according to a volume in the room. When the volume in the room is
low, which indicates nobody in the room, the output of the cooling
module 20 is reduced to reduce the power consumption, and when the
volume in the room is high, the cooling module 20 is switched to
the normal output.
[0034] FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of controlling the air conditioning
system of the present invention in the heating mode. The procedures
in the heating mode is similar to that in the cooling mode, except
that the reduction of the output of the heating module 30 will
lower the temperature in the room, which means that the first
temperature T1 is higher than the second temperature T2, and the
second temperature T2 is higher than the third temperature T3.
[0035] FIG. 8 shows that the first temperature T is set to a
constant temperature (23.degree. C.). In the first 20 minutes, a
volume sensed by the audio sensor 14 is higher than the volume
value dB, and the electric control module 12 controls the heating
module 30 to keep the temperature in the room in 23.degree. C. (the
first temperature T1). Next, the sensed volume is lower than the
volume value dB and lasts for ten minutes (the first waiting time
t1), the electric control module 12 controls the heating module 30
to lower the temperature in the room to 22.degree. C. (the second
temperature T2). The volume in the room is kept in a low value for
another ten minutes (the second waiting time t2), the electric
control module 12 starts to control the heating module 30 to lower
the temperature in the room to the third temperature T3 (18.degree.
C.). The temperature in the room is lowered from 22.degree. C. (the
second temperature T2) to 18.degree. C. (the third temperature T3)
by 1.degree. C. per ten minutes (the third waiting time t3). In the
100th minute, somebody is coming in the room, so that the sensed is
higher than the volume value dB, and the electric control module 12
controls the heating module 30 to raise the temperature in the room
back to 23.degree. C. (the first temperature T1). After that, the
temperature will be conditioned by the air conditioning system of
the present invention in the same way.
[0036] FIG. 9 shows that the first temperature T is set to
different temperatures in different periods of a day. In the first
ten minutes of FIG. 9, a volume sensed by the audio sensor 14 is
higher than the volume value dB, the temperature in the room is
conditioned to 23.degree. C. (the first temperature T1). In ten
minutes to twenty minutes, the sensed volume still is higher than
the volume value dB, but temperature in the room is conditioned to
25.degree. C. (the first temperature T1) because it comes to
another period of the day. In the twentieth minutes, the sensed
volume is lower than the volume value dB and lasts for ten minutes
(the first waiting time t1), the electric control module 12
controls the heating module 30 to lower the temperature in the room
to 24.degree. C. (the second temperature T2). Next, the sensed
volume is kept in a low value for another ten minutes (the second
waiting time t2), the heating module 30 starts to lower the
temperature in the room from 24.degree. C. (the second temperature
T2) to 20.degree. C. (the third temperature T3). It is clearly
shown that the temperature is lowered for 1.degree. C. per ten
minutes (the third waiting time t3). The temperature will be
conditioned to the first temperature while the sensed temperature
is higher than the volume value dB. In practice, a limited
temperature TD is set in the air conditioning system of the present
invention. The temperature conditioned by the air conditioning
system does not exceed the limited temperature TD. As shown in 170
minutes to 220 minutes of FIG. 9, the first temperature T1 is
19.degree. C. and the limited temperature TD is set to 18.degree.
C. If the sensed volume is kept in low value for a long time, the
temperature in the room should be conditioned to the second or the
third temperature T2, T3, which is/are lower than the limited
temperature TU. However, the lowest temperature will be limited in
18.degree. C. (the limited temperature TD).
[0037] In the heating mode, the air conditioning system of the
present invention may change the output of the heating module 30
according to a volume in the room. When the volume in the room is
low, which indicates nobody in the room, the output of the heating
module 30 is reduced to reduce the power consumption, and when the
volume in the room is high, the heating module 30 is switched to
the normal output.
[0038] In conclusion, the air conditioning system of the present
invention may change the output of the cooling module 20 and the
heating module 30 according to the volume in the room to reduce the
unnecessary power consumption.
[0039] It must be pointed out that the embodiments described above
are only some preferred embodiments of the present invention. All
equivalent methods which employ the concepts disclosed in this
specification and the appended claims should fall within the scope
of the present invention.
* * * * *