Patents by Inventor Yoshikuni Kataoka

Yoshikuni Kataoka has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 9435558
    Abstract: Disclosed is an air conditioner with spatial recognition and detection functions for deciding room shape by determining, based on temperature difference information between the floor and walls occurring during air conditioning operation, a human body detection position log, and a capacity zone of the air conditioner. In an embodiment, an infrared sensor detects a temperature of an area of the room by scanning the area and a control unit acquires thermal image data of the area scanned by the infrared sensor and then calculates a temperature of a wall of the room from the acquired thermal image data. The control unit detects a human body in the room from the thermal image data, calculates a distance between the body and the wall, and calculates a radiation temperature from the wall for the body based on the calculated temperature of the wall and the distance between the body and the wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2016
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takashi Matsumoto, Shintaro Watanabe, Hiroshi Kage, Yoshikuni Kataoka, Hiroshi Hirosaki
  • Patent number: 8826678
    Abstract: In an air conditioner according to the present invention, an indoor unit includes an indoor air temperature detection unit to detect an indoor air temperature, a floor/wall/ceiling temperature detection unit to detect a floor and wall temperature and a ceiling ambient temperature, and a control device including a microcomputer in which a program relating to control of the air conditioner is embedded, wherein, in heating operation or ventilation operation, the control device performs circulator operation of moving air accumulating near a ceiling to a floor when the ceiling ambient temperature detected by the floor/wall/ceiling temperature detection unit becomes higher, by a predetermined threshold value or more, than an indoor air preset temperature set by a user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Hidetomo Nakagawa, Yoshikuni Kataoka
  • Patent number: 8392026
    Abstract: Disclosed is an air conditioner with functions for deciding room shape by determining, based on a temperature difference, information between the room's floor and walls occurring during operation, a human body detection position log, and a capacity zone of the air conditioner. In an embodiment, an infrared sensor detects a temperature of an area of the room by scanning the area and a control unit acquires thermal image data of the area scanned by the sensor and then controls the air conditioner based on the thermal image data. The control unit sets a boundary line between a wall and floor of the room at a position on the thermal image data, calculates a temperature difference between vertically adjacent pixels located above and below the boundary, corrects a position of the boundary based on temperature difference, and determines that areas parted by the boundary correspond to the wall and floor, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2013
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Takashi Matsumoto, Shintaro Watanabe, Hiroshi Kage, Yoshikuni Kataoka, Hiroshi Hirosaki
  • Publication number: 20120123593
    Abstract: Disclosed is an air conditioner with functions for deciding room shape by determining, based on a temperature difference, information between the room's floor and walls occurring during operation, a human body detection position log, and a capacity zone of the air conditioner. In an embodiment, an infrared sensor detects a temperature of an area of the room by scanning the area and a control unit acquires thermal image data of the area scanned by the sensor and then controls the air conditioner based on the thermal image data. The control unit sets a boundary line between a wall and floor of the room at a position on the thermal image data, calculates a temperature difference between vertically adjacent pixels located above and below the boundary, corrects a position of the boundary based on temperature difference, and determines that areas parted by the boundary correspond to the wall and floor, respectively.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 15, 2011
    Publication date: May 17, 2012
    Applicant: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takashi MATSUMOTO, Shintaro WATANABE, Hiroshi KAGE, Yoshikuni KATAOKA, Hiroshi HIROSAKI
  • Publication number: 20120123732
    Abstract: Disclosed is an air conditioner with spatial recognition and detection functions for deciding room shape by determining, based on temperature difference information between the floor and walls occurring during air conditioning operation, a human body detection position log, and a capacity zone of the air conditioner. In an embodiment, an infrared sensor detects a temperature of an area of the room by scanning the area and a control unit acquires thermal image data of the area scanned by the infrared sensor and then calculates a temperature of a wall of the room from the acquired thermal image data. The control unit detects a human body in the room from the thermal image data, calculates a distance between the body and the wall, and calculates a radiation temperature from the wall for the body based on the calculated temperature of the wall and the distance between the body and the wall.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2011
    Publication date: May 17, 2012
    Applicant: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takashi MATSUMOTO, Shintaro WATANABE, Hiroshi KAGE, Yoshikuni KATAOKA, Hiroshi HIROSAKI
  • Patent number: 8103384
    Abstract: An air conditioner provided with a spatial recognition and detection function for deciding the room shape by integrally determining based on a temperature difference information between the floor and the walls occurring during the air conditioning operation, a human body detection position log, and a capacity zone of the air conditioner. The air conditioner provides an infrared sensor and a control unit that controls the air conditioner by detecting a presence of heat generating device and human with the infrared sensor, wherein the control unit acquires a thermal image data of the room by scanning with the infrared sensor, and integrates to calculate a floor dimension inside the air conditioning area, and calculates the wall position within the air conditioning area on the thermal image data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2012
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Takashi Matsumoto, Shintaro Watanabe, Hiroshi Kage, Yoshikuni Kataoka, Hiroshi Hirosaki
  • Publication number: 20120012297
    Abstract: In an air conditioner according to the present invention, an indoor unit includes an indoor air temperature detection unit to detect an indoor air temperature, a floor/wall/ceiling temperature detection unit to detect a floor and wall temperature and a ceiling ambient temperature, and a control device including a microcomputer in which a program relating to control of the air conditioner is embedded, wherein, in heating operation or ventilation operation, the control device performs circulator operation of moving air accumulating near a ceiling to a floor when the ceiling ambient temperature detected by the floor/wall/ceiling temperature detection unit becomes higher, by a predetermined threshold value or more, than an indoor air preset temperature set by a user.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 15, 2011
    Publication date: January 19, 2012
    Applicant: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Hidetomo Nakagawa, Yoshikuni Kataoka
  • Publication number: 20100063636
    Abstract: Disclosed is an air conditioner provided with a spatial recognition and detection function for deciding the room shape by integrally determining based on a temperature difference (the temperature unevenness) information between the floor and the walls occurring during the air conditioning operation, a human body detection position log, and a capacity zone of the air conditioner. The air conditioner of the present invention provides an infrared sensor and a control unit that controls the air conditioner by detecting a presence of heat generating device and human with the infrared sensor, wherein the control unit acquires a thermal image data of the room by scanning with the infrared sensor, and integrates three information indicated below to calculate a floor dimension inside the air conditioning area, and calculates the wall position within the air conditioning area on the thermal image data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 4, 2009
    Publication date: March 11, 2010
    Applicant: MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takashi MATSUMOTO, Shintaro WATANABE, Hiroshi KAGE, Yoshikuni KATAOKA, Hiroshi HIROSAKI