JPH0376701B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application This invention relates to an apparatus for evaluating the comfort to the human body in thermal environments such as offices, residences, and vehicles.

Configuration of conventional example and its problems Conventional environmental evaluation equipment of this type is shown in Figures 1 and 2.
As shown in the figure, the outer body A is made of materials such as copper or aluminum and has a hollow interior or is filled with heat insulating material, has an electric heater B that generates constant heat built-in, and is thermally independent with a temperature sensor C affixed to the surface. multiple parts A ₁ ,
A ₂ , A ₃ , A ₃ ′, A ₄ , A ₄ ′, A ₅ , A ₅ ′, A ₆ , A ₆ ′,
A ₇ , A ₇ ′, A ₈ , A ₉ , A ₉ ′ are combined to form a main body 1 having a configuration similar in appearance to a human body, and the electric heater B maintains a constant heat generation amount while By measuring the temperature of each part of the main body 1 with a temperature sensor C, the thermal environment in which the main body was placed was evaluated.

With this configuration, evaluation is possible when the environmental temperature conditions have become constant, that is, in a steady state, but it is possible to evaluate immediately after starting heating/cooling, or when turning on/off.
In a transient state such as the environment created by a device that performs OFF control, it is not possible to evaluate this because the thermal properties of the material that makes up the main body are different from those of the human body. In addition, in the actual human body, heat moves through blood flow, and its contribution to bodily sensation is very noticeable in a non-uniform temperature field relative to the human body, such as in a room with floor heating. Despite this, the configuration of the conventional example described above has a drawback in that it cannot take into account the effect of heat transfer due to blood flow in the human body.

Purpose of the invention The present invention solves such conventional problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a thermal environment evaluation device that can evaluate the thermal sensation of each part of the human body even in an environment where thermal environmental conditions fluctuate or in an unevenly formed temperature environment.

Structure of the Invention In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a main body formed of a resin having a shape having heat exchange characteristics equivalent to that of the human body, equipped with a temperature sensor, and having thermal characteristics equivalent to the human skin layer, The inside of this body is filled with a jelly-like substance that has thermal properties equivalent to the internal tissues of the human body.
In addition, a heat medium circulation circuit is provided, and a pump and a heater are provided for circulating the heat medium in the heat medium circulation circuit.

With this configuration, heat is supplied to the main body by circulating the heating medium inside the main body, and even when a portion is heated or cooled, the effect is not limited to the heated or cooled area. Heat transfer occurs between each part, and the temperature on the surface of the main body, which is formed by the heat balance between the main body and the environment, fluctuates in the same way as the human skin temperature even in a transient state.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be explained as shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5.
This will be explained using figures.

In Fig. 3, D ₁ , D ₂ , D ₂ ', D ₃ ,...,
Temperature sensors C _{1 ,} C ₂ , C ₂ ′,
A main body 2 composed of C ₃ ,..., C ₉ ' is shown.

As shown in Fig. 4, each part from D ₁ to D ₉ ' has silicone rubber piping 4 spirally installed inside a resin outer body 3 whose temperature propagation coefficient roughly matches the temperature propagation coefficient of the skin. The other space of D8 is filled with a jelly-like substance E whose temperature propagation rate roughly matches that of the muscular body of the human body, and inside _D8 , a pump 5 and a heating medium heater 6 which generates constant heat are installed as shown in Fig. 5. It is set up.

However, in FIG. 5, the jelly-like substance E is omitted.

Note that the same members are given the same numbers.

In the above configuration, the heating medium sent out by the pump 5 is heated by the heating medium heater 6 and then supplied to each portion D ₁ to _{D 9} ′. Each part is heated from the inside by a heat medium, which conducts through the jelly-like material layer and the outer body layer, and the heat balance between this and the environment creates a temperature on the surface of the body that corresponds to the skin surface temperature of the human body. However, at this time, the temperature propagation rate of the jelly-like substance etc. that makes up the main body and the outer body layer roughly matches that of human tissue, so when the temperature changes in the environment, the outer surface of the main body fluctuates accordingly. temperature closely matches the fluctuations in human skin temperature, which can be monitored with a temperature sensor. Therefore, the environmental conditions in which the main body is placed can be evaluated based on the temperature of the main body surface both in a transient state and in a steady state. Furthermore, since the heating medium is circulating, even if there is local heating or cooling, it can be reflected in the temperature of other parts.

In this embodiment, the pump and the heat medium heater are provided inside the main body, but they can also be installed outside the main body.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described using FIG. 6. The difference in FIG. 6 from the embodiment described above is that in addition to the heat medium heater, an individual heater 7 is provided in which the amount of heat generated can be set independently for each of D ₁ to _{D 9} '. According to D ₁ ~
Since the amount of heating can be changed for each part of _D9 ', it has the advantage that it can also be applied to environmental evaluations when people are performing localized exertion such as sitting work.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the environmental evaluation device of the present invention provides the following effects.

(1) The main body is made of a resin that has thermal properties equivalent to the human skin layer, is equipped with an internal heater, and is filled with a jelly-like material that has thermal properties equivalent to the internal tissues of the human body, so it is resistant to changes in environmental temperature. Since the surface temperature changes with the same time constant as the human body, it is possible to evaluate the temperature sensation of each part of the human body even in a transient state where the surrounding thermal environment conditions change over time. This method can be applied to evaluations of air conditioners under various usage conditions, which would otherwise be difficult.

(2) A heat medium circulation circuit is provided, and the structure includes a pump that circulates the heat medium in the heat medium circulation circuit and a heater, so heat is supplied to the main body by circulating the heat medium inside the main body. This is carried out by heating or cooling, and it has the effect of causing heat transfer between each part, not just locally heated or cooled parts, so it is possible to take into account the movement caused by blood flow inside the human body. The thermal environment can be evaluated even in environments where heat conduction from the feet cannot be ignored.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a conventional environmental evaluation device, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a conventional environmental evaluation device, and FIG. 3 is an external appearance of an environmental evaluation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway perspective view of an environmental evaluation device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a perspective sectional view showing the configuration of other portions of the environmental evaluation device; FIG. FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway view of a portion showing another embodiment of the present invention. 2... Main body, 3... Outer body, 4... Piping, 5...
Pump, 6... Heat medium heater, 7... Individual heater, C... Temperature sensor, E... Jelly-like substance.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. The main body is constituted by each part having a shape having heat exchange characteristics equivalent to that of the human body, equipped with a temperature sensor, and having an outer body formed of a resin having thermal characteristics equivalent to the human skin layer. A pump for filling the inside of the external body of each part with a jelly-like substance having thermal properties equivalent to the internal tissues of the human body, and providing piping for circulating the heating medium inside the external body, and for circulating the heating medium; An environmental evaluation device comprising a heater that heats the heat medium. 2. The environmental evaluation device according to claim 1, wherein the jelly-like substance is provided with an individual heater for heating it.