Air conditioner and method for controlling an air conditioner

Abstract

An air conditioner and a method for controlling an air conditioner are provided. The air conditioner may include a case that forms a space therein with an open lower side; a panel that is disposed at lower side of the case, and has an inlet and a plurality of outlets disposed around the inlet; a fan that is disposed in the case; a plurality of wind adjuster that is disposed in each of the plurality of outlets, and adjusts a direction of air flowing through each of the plurality of outlets; a camera that obtains an image of an indoor space; and a controller that controls the plurality of wind adjusters based on image information obtained from the camera. The controller may divide the plurality of outlets into a first area outlet and a second area outlet, and adjust each of the plurality of wind adjusters so that airflows of air discharged through the first area outlet and airflows of air discharged through the second area outlet are formed differently.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An air conditioner, comprising:
 a case that forms a space therein with an open lower side;   a panel that is disposed at the lower side of the case, and has an inlet and a plurality of outlets disposed around the inlet;   a fan that is disposed inside of the case, and forms an airflow from the inlet to the plurality of outlets;   a plurality of wind adjusters that is disposed in each of the plurality of outlets, respectively, and adjusts a direction of air flowing through each of the plurality of outlets;   a camera that is disposed at one side of the panel, and which is configured to obtain an image of an indoor space; and   a controller that controls the plurality of wind adjusters based on image information obtained from the camera, wherein the controller divides the plurality of outlets into a first area outlet facing a living area and a second area outlet facing a non-living area based on accumulated data of the image information obtained from the camera, and selectively adjusts each of the plurality of wind adjusters so that airflows of air discharged from the first area outlet and airflows of air discharged from the second area outlet are formed differently.   
     
     
         2 . The air conditioner of  claim 1 , further comprising a temperature sensor that detects a temperature of the indoor space, wherein the controller selectively adjusts the plurality of wind adjusters to change the direction of airflow through the first area outlet, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor reaches within a predetermined temperature range. 
     
     
         3 . The air conditioner of  claim 2 , wherein when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor is outside of the predetermined temperature range, the controller selectively adjusts the plurality of wind adjusters so that the airflow discharged through the first area outlet is lower than the airflow discharged through the second area outlet. 
     
     
         4 . The air conditioner of  claim 2 , wherein when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor is within the predetermined temperature range, the controller selectively adjusts the plurality of wind adjusters so that the airflow discharged through the first area outlet is higher than the airflow discharged through the second area outlet. 
     
     
         5 . The air conditioner of  claim 2 , wherein the controller selectively adjusts the plurality of wind adjusters so that the airflow discharged through the first area outlet is discharged in a first direction, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor is within the predetermined temperature range, and selectively adjusts the plurality of wind adjusters so that the airflow discharged through the first area outlet is discharged in a second direction lower than the first direction, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor is outside of the predetermined temperature range. 
     
     
         6 . The air conditioner of  claim 5 , wherein the controller selectively adjusts the plurality of wind adjusters so that the airflow discharged through the second area outlet is discharged in a third direction between the first direction and the second direction. 
     
     
         7 . The air conditioner of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of wind adjusters each comprises a vane that is disposed in a respective outlet of the plurality of outlets, wherein a disposition of the vane is changed to adjust the direction of the air flowing through the outlet, and wherein the controller selectively changes the disposition of the vanes disposed in each of the first area outlet and the second area outlet, respectively. 
     
     
         8 . The air conditioner of  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of wind adjusters comprises a wind direction adjusting fan that is disposed at one side of a respective outlet of the plurality of outlets, wherein the direction of the air flowing through the outlet is adjusted by adjusting a rotational speed of the wind direction adjusting fan, and wherein the controller selectively adjusts the rotational speeds of the wind direction adjusting fans disposed in each of the first area outlet and the second area outlet, respectively. 
     
     
         9 . The air conditioner of  claim 1 , further comprising a timer that measures a time during which the camera obtains an image, wherein the controller classifies the living area from accumulated image information obtained from the camera, after a predetermined time measured by the timer. 
     
     
         10 . The air conditioner of  claim 1 , further comprising an output unit that outputs an image obtained from the camera, wherein the controller divides an image displayed on the output unit into a plurality of areas, and classifies the living area and the non-living area of an occupant. 
     
     
         11 . The air conditioner of  claim 10 , wherein the image displayed on the output unit is divided based on a direction in which the plurality of outlets face. 
     
     
         12 . A method for controlling an air conditioner having an inlet and a plurality of outlets disposed around the inlet, wherein the plurality of outlets discharges air to different areas, the method comprising:
 obtaining by a camera an image of a plurality of areas to which the plurality of outlets discharge air;   determining via a controller a living area and a non-living area based on accumulated data of image information obtained by the camera; and   selectively adjusting via the controller a plurality of wind adjusters disposed, respectively, in the plurality of outlets so that airflows discharged from each of a first area outlet facing the living area and a second area outlet facing the non-living area are set differently.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the selectively adjusting of the plurality of wind adjusters comprises:
 detecting by a temperature sensor a temperature of an indoor space; and   selectively adjusting via the controller the plurality of wind adjusters so that the airflow discharged through the first area outlet is varied based on a relationship between the temperature of the indoor space sensed by the temperature sensor and a predetermined temperature range.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein when the temperature of the indoor space sensed by the temperature sensor is within the predetermined temperature range, the plurality of wind adjusters is selectively adjusted to set the airflow discharged through the first area outlet to be higher than the airflow discharged through the second area outlet. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein when the temperature of the indoor space sensed by the temperature sensor is beyond the predetermined temperature range, the plurality of wind adjusters is selectively adjusted to set the airflow discharged through the first area outlet to be lower than the airflow discharged through the second area outlet. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the determining of the living area and the non-living area comprises classifying the plurality of outlets into the first area outlet disposed in the living area and the second area outlet disposed in the non-living area. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the determining via the controller of the living area and the non-living area comprises:
 dividing an area displayed on an output unit into a plurality of areas based on a direction in which the plurality of outlets faces;   accumulating the image information obtained by the camera over the predetermined time; and   determining the living area and the non-living area based on the accumulated image information obtained by the camera.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the selectively adjusting via the controller of the plurality of wind adjusters comprises:
 uniformly maintaining the air flow discharged from the second area outlet; and   setting the air flow discharged through the first area outlet to be higher or lower than the air flow discharged through the second area outlet.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the selectively adjusting via the controller of the plurality of wind adjusters comprises disposing vanes of the plurality of wind adjusters in the first area outlet and vanes of the plurality of wind adjusters in the second area outlet differently. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the selectively adjusting via the controller of the plurality of wind adjusters comprises adjusting rotational speeds of wind direction adjusting fans of the plurality of wind adjusters disposed in the first area outlet and wind direction adjusting fans of the plurality of wind adjusters disposed in the second area outlet to be different from each other.