Air conditioner, control device, air conditioning system, and air conditioning method

Abstract

An air conditioner acquires an arrival required amount of time that is an amount of time required for a user to arrive at a building, calculates a time constant from when air conditioning of a room of the building is started until a temperature of the room reaches a target in-progress temperature that is a temperature reached prior to reaching a target temperature, the target in-progress temperature being determined based on a setting temperature of the room, calculates, based on the time constant, an air conditioning required amount of time from when the air conditioning of the room is started until the temperature of the room reaches the target temperature, and starts an air-conditioning operation when the acquired arrival required amount of time is equal to or shorter than the air conditioning required amount of time.

1 . An air conditioner, comprising:
 processing circuitry to
 acquire an arrival required amount of time that is an amount of time required for a user to arrive at a building; 
 acquire a first required amount of time from when air conditioning of a room of the building is started until a temperature of the room reaches a target in-progress temperature that is a temperature reached prior to reaching a target temperature, the target in-progress temperature being determined based on a setting temperature of the room, 
 acquire, based on the acquired first required amount of time, a second required amount of time from when the air conditioning of the room is started until the temperature of the room reaches the target temperature, and 
 start an air-conditioning operation when the acquired arrival required amount of time is equal to or shorter than the acquired second required amount of time. 
   
     
     
         2 . The air conditioner according to  claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry acquires the second required amount of time based on the first required amount of time, the target temperature, and a predetermined exponential function expression. 
     
     
         3 . The air conditioner according to  claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry
 derives, by learning, a first approximate expression for calculating the first required amount of time, the first approximate expression having, as parameters, the setting temperature and the temperature of the room at start of the air conditioning, and   acquires the first required amount of time based on the first approximate expression.   
     
     
         4 . The air conditioner according to  claim 3 , wherein the processing circuitry
 derives, by learning, a second approximate expression for calculating a correction value of a value derived by the first approximate expression, the second approximate expression having an outside air temperature as a parameter, and   acquires the first required amount of time based on the first approximate expression and the second approximate expression.   
     
     
         5 . The air conditioner according to  claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry
 measures an amount of time from when an air-conditioning operation is started to when the user arrives at the building,   acquires the temperature of the room at arrival of the user at the building, and   determines, based on the measured amount of time and the acquired temperature of the room, a correction value to be used when calculating the second required amount of time of a next time.   
     
     
         6 . A control device, comprising:
 processing circuitry to
 acquire an arrival required amount of time that is an amount of time required for a user to arrive at a building, 
 acquire a first required amount of time from when air conditioning of a room of the building is started until a temperature of the room reaches a target in-progress temperature that is a temperature reached prior to reaching a target temperature, the target in-progress temperature being determined based on a setting temperature of the room, 
 acquire, based on the acquired first required amount of time, a second required amount of time from when the air conditioning of the room is started until the temperature of the room reaches the target temperature, and 
 cause an air conditioner to start an air-conditioning operation when the acquired arrival required amount of time is equal to or shorter than the acquired second required amount of time. 
   
     
     
         7 . An air conditioning system, comprising:
 a terminal device, a server, and an air conditioner, wherein   the terminal device is configured to periodically send position data related to a position of terminal device to the server,   the server includes
 first processing circuitry to
 calculate, based on the position data, an arrival required amount of time required for a user to arrive at a building, and 
 send the calculated arrival required amount of time to the air conditioner, and 
 
   the air conditioner includes
 second processing circuitry to
 acquire the arrival required amount of time from the server, 
 acquire a first required amount of time from when air conditioning of a room of the building is started until a temperature of the room reaches a target in-progress temperature that is a temperature reached prior to reaching a target temperature, the target in-progress temperature being determined based on a setting temperature of the room, 
 acquire, based on the acquired first required amount of time, a second required amount of time from when the air conditioning of the room is started until the temperature of the room reaches the target temperature, and 
 start an air-conditioning operation when the acquired arrival required amount of time is equal to or shorter than the acquired second required amount of time. 
 
   
     
     
         8 . An air conditioning method, comprising:
 acquiring an arrival required amount of time that is an amount of time required for a user to arrive at a building;   acquiring a first required amount of time from when air conditioning of a room of the building is started until a temperature of the room reaches a target in-progress temperature that is a temperature reached prior to reaching a target temperature, the target in-progress temperature being determined based on a setting temperature of the room;   acquiring, based on the acquired first required amount of time, a second required amount of time from when the air conditioning of the room is started until the temperature of the room reaches the target temperature; and   starting an air-conditioning operation when the acquired arrival required amount of time is equal to or shorter than the acquired second required amount of time.   
     
     
         9 . The air conditioner according to  claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry
 derives, by learning, a first approximate expression for calculating the first required amount of time, the first approximate expression having, as parameters, the setting temperature and the temperature of the room at start of the air conditioning, and   acquires the first required amount of time based on the first approximate expression.   
     
     
         10 . The air conditioner according to  claim 2 , wherein the processing circuitry
 measures an amount of time from when an air-conditioning operation is started to when the user arrives at the building,   acquires the temperature of the room at arrival of the user at the building, and   determines, based on the measured amount of time and the acquired temperature of the room, a correction value to be used when calculating the second required amount of time of a next time.   
     
     
         11 . The air conditioner according to  claim 3 , wherein the processing circuitry
 measures an amount of time from when an air-conditioning operation is started to when the user arrives at the building,   acquires the temperature of the room at arrival of the user at the building, and   determines, based on the measured amount of time and the acquired temperature of the room, a correction value to be used when calculating the second required amount of time of a next time.   
     
     
         12 . The air conditioner according to  claim 4 , wherein the processing circuitry
 measures an amount of time from when an air-conditioning operation is started to when the user arrives at the building,   acquires the temperature of the room at arrival of the user at the building, and   determines, based on the measured amount of time and the acquired temperature of the room, a correction value to be used when calculating the second required amount of time of a next time.