Air conditioner for providing sleep mode and method of controlling the air conditioner

Abstract

An air conditioner is provided. The air conditioner includes a detection sensor, an air conditioning module, a memory storing at least one instruction, and at least one processor comprising processing circuitry. At least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to execute the at least one instruction and to cause the air conditioner to: identify a location of a user in a target space using a sensor detection value of the detection sensor, enter a sleep mode including a sleep initiation mode, a deep-sleep mode, and a wake-up mode, in the sleep initiation mode, control the air conditioning module to blow a direct airflow to the user during a first time section, in the deep-sleep mode, control the air conditioning module to blow an indirect airflow to the user, and in the wake-up mode, and control the air conditioning module to blow a direct airflow to the user during a second time section.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An air conditioner comprising:
 a detection sensor;   an air conditioning module including at least one heat pump;   a memory storing at least one instruction; and   at least one processor, comprising processing circuitry, individually and/or collectively, configured to execute the at least one instruction and to cause the air conditioner to: identify a location of a user in a target space using a sensor detection value of the detection sensor, enter a sleep mode comprising a sleep initiation mode, a deep-sleep mode, and a wake-up mode, in the sleep initiation mode, control the air conditioning module to blow a direct airflow to the user based on the location of the user during a first time section, in the deep-sleep mode, control the air conditioning module to blow an indirect airflow to the user based on the location of the user, and in the wake-up mode, control the air conditioning module to blow a direct airflow to the user based on the location of the user during a second time section.   
     
     
         2 . The air conditioner of  claim 1 , wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to: in the deep-sleep mode, based on a distance between the air conditioner and the user being less than or equal to a first reference distance, control the air conditioning module to blow an upward airflow, and based on the distance between the air conditioner and the user being greater than the first reference distance, control the air conditioning module to operate air conditioning in a wind-free mode. 
     
     
         3 . The air conditioner of  claim 1 , wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to: in the first time section of the sleep initiation mode and the second time section of the wake-up mode, control the air conditioning module to perform an airflow direction rotation operation while blowing a strong airflow. 
     
     
         4 . The air conditioner of  claim 1 , wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to: in the first time section of the sleep initiation mode, control the air conditioning module to perform an airflow direction rotation operation within a first angle range including the identified location of the user, in the second time section of the wake-up mode, control the air conditioning module to perform the airflow direction rotation operation within a second angle range including the identified location of the user, and based on the airflow direction rotation operation being selected by the user, control the air conditioning module to perform the airflow direction rotation operation within a third angle range, and
 each of the first angle range and the second angle range is an angle range smaller than the third angle range.   
     
     
         5 . The air conditioner of  claim 4 , wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to: determine the first angle range and the second angle range as one of a plurality of sub-angle ranges that are specified for the airflow direction rotation operation, based on the identified location of the user. 
     
     
         6 . The air conditioner of  claim 4 , wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to: based on detecting two or more users in the target space based on the sensor detection value of the detection sensor, determine the first angle range and the second angle range to include locations of the two or more users. 
     
     
         7 . The air conditioner  claim 1 , wherein the first time section is a time section starting from a sleep initiation time,
 the second time section is a time section that starts before an expected wake-up time and ends at the expected wake-up time, and   each of the first time section and the second time section is determined within a range between 3 minutes and 20 minutes.   
     
     
         8 . The air conditioner of  claim 1 , wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to: in the sleep initiation mode, set a target temperature of the air conditioning module to be lower than a user-set temperature, in the deep-sleep mode, set the target temperature of the air conditioning module to periodically increase and decrease within a temperature range between the user-set temperature and a temperature higher than the user-set temperature, and in the wake-up mode, set the target temperature of the air conditioning module to be higher than the user-set temperature. 
     
     
         9 . The air conditioner of  claim 1 , further comprising a communication module, comprising communication circuitry,
 wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to: receive, from an external device through the communication module, sleep initiation information indicating that the user in the target space has begun to sleep, and start the sleep mode based on the sleep initiation information.   
     
     
         10 . The air conditioner of  claim 1 , wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to: start the sleep mode from a bedtime set by the user. 
     
     
         11 . The air conditioner of  claim 1 , wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to: receive a user input for setting a sleep duration, and calculate an expected wake-up time based on the sleep initiation time when the user begins to sleep, and the sleep duration set by the user, and
 the wake-up mode is a specified time section before the expected wake-up time.   
     
     
         12 . The air conditioner of  claim 1 , further comprising a communication module comprising communication circuitry,
 wherein at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to: obtain, from the external device through the communication module, wake-up alarm time information indicating set by the user, set the expected wake-up time using the wake-up alarm time information, and operate in the wake-up mode during a specified time section before the expected wake-up time.   
     
     
         13 . A method of controlling an air conditioner, the method comprising:
 identifying a location of a user in a target space using a sensor detection value of a detection sensor;   entering a sleep mode comprising a sleep initiation mode, a deep-sleep mode, and a wake-up mode;   in the sleep initiation mode, controlling an air conditioning module to blow a direct airflow to the user based on the location of the user during a first time section;   in the deep-sleep mode, controlling the air conditioning module to blow an indirect airflow to the user based on the location of the user; and   in the wake-up mode, controlling the air conditioning module to blow a direct airflow to the user based on the location of the user during a second time section.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 in the deep-sleep mode,   based on a distance between the air conditioner and the user being less than or equal to a first reference distance, controlling the air conditioning module to blow an upward airflow; and   based on the distance between the air conditioner and the user being greater than the first reference distance, controlling the air conditioning module to operate air conditioning in a wind-free mode.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising, in the first time section of the sleep initiation mode and the second time section of the wake-up mode, controlling the air conditioning module to perform an airflow direction rotation operation while blowing a strong airflow. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 in the sleep initiation mode, controlling the air conditioning module to perform an airflow direction rotation operation within a first angle range including the identified location of the user;   in the wake-up mode, controlling the air conditioning module to perform the airflow direction rotation operation within a second angle range including the identified location of the user; and   based on the airflow direction rotation operation being selected by the user, controlling the air conditioning module to perform the airflow direction rotation operation within a third angle range,   wherein each of the first angle range and the second angle range an angle range smaller than the third angle range.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising determining the first angle range and the second angle range as one of a plurality of sub-angle ranges that are specified for the airflow direction rotation operation, based on the identified location of the user. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising, based on detecting two or more users in the target space based on the sensor detection value of the detection sensor, determining the first angle range and the second angle range to include locations of the two or more users. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the first time section is a time section starting from a sleep initiation time,
 the second time section is a time section that starts before an expected wake-up time and ends at the expected wake-up time, and   each of the first time section and the second time section is determined within a range between 3 minutes and 20 minutes.   
     
     
         20 . A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program which when executed by at least one processor, causes an air conditioner to perform the method of  claim 13 .