# US 11,306,934 B2 · Air-conditioning system control apparatus using degree of influence between air-conditioning indoor units > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,306,934 B2 - Document ID: US11306934B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/627,467 - Filed: 2017-08-30 - Published: 2021-01-07 - Granted: 2022-04-19 - Earliest claimed: 2017-08-30 - Assignees: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation - Applicants: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation - Inventors: Kazuki Hamada; Tomoo Nakano; Nobuaki Tasaki; Yasuomi Ando - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11306934B2 ## CPC - F24F 3/065: {with a plurality of evaporators or condensers} - F24F 11/30: for purposes related to the operation of the system, e.g. for safety or monitoring - F24F 11/46: Improving electric energy efficiency or saving - F24F 11/62: characterised by the type of control or by internal processing, e.g. using fuzzy logic, adaptive control or estimation of values - F24F 11/64: using pre-stored data - F24F 11/65: for selecting an operating mode - F24F 2110/10: Temperature - F24F 2110/20: Humidity - F24F 2140/00: Control inputs relating to system states - F24F 2140/60: Energy consumption - F24F: AIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING (removing dirt or fumes from areas where they are produced B08B15/00; vertical ducts for carrying away waste gases from buildings E04F17/02; tops for chimneys or ventilating shafts, terminals for flues F23L17/02) ## Abstract The air-conditioning system control apparatus includes an influence-degree calculation unit that calculates a degree of influence between two air-conditioning indoor units that are selected from a plurality of air-conditioning indoor units as a pair of air-conditioning indoor units, based on operation data on the pair of air-conditioning indoor units. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An air-conditioning system control apparatus comprising: an influence-degree calculation unit configured to calculate a degree of influence between air-conditioning indoor units that are selected from a plurality of air-conditioning indoor units, based on operation data on the selected air-conditioning indoor units; a room determination unit configured to determine whether the selected air-conditioning indoor units are present in the same space or not based on the degree of influence calculated by the influence-degree calculation unit; and a position estimation unit configured to estimate a positional relationship between the selected air-conditioning indoor units, which are determined by the room determination unit to be present in the same space, based on the degree of influence between the selected air-conditioning indoor units; wherein the air-conditioning system control apparatus automatically operates the selected air-conditioning indoor units based on the degree of influence and the positional relationship between the selected air-conditioning indoor units. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The air-conditioning system control apparatus of claim 1, wherein the selected air-conditioning indoor units are a pair of air-conditioning indoor units. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The air-conditioning system control apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a map creation unit configured to create a location map of the plurality of air-conditioning indoor units based on the positional relationship estimated by the position estimation unit. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The air-conditioning system control apparatus of claim 3, wherein the influence-degree calculation unit is configured to calculate degrees of influence between all possible pairs of air-conditioning indoor units of the plurality of air-conditioning indoor units, the position estimation unit is configured to estimate positional relationships between the all possible pairs of air-conditioning indoor units, and the map creation unit is configured to create a location map of all the plurality of air-conditioning indoor units based on the positional relationships between the all possible pairs of air-conditioning indoor units. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The air-conditioning system control apparatus of claim 4, wherein each of the positional relationships is a distance proximity between an associated pair of air-conditioning indoor units of the all possible pairs of air-conditioning indoor units, and the map creation unit is configured to plot positions of all the plurality of air-conditioning indoor units on a plane, based on distance proximities between the all possible pairs of air-conditioning indoor units. ### Claim 6 (depends on 2) The air-conditioning system control apparatus of claim 2, wherein the influence-degree calculation unit is configured to calculate the degree of influence between the pair of air-conditioning indoor units, using a machine learning method. ### Claim 7 (depends on 2) The air-conditioning system control apparatus of claim 2, wherein the influence-degree calculation unit is configured to calculate the degree of influence using a temporal correlation based on the operation data. ### Claim 8 An air-conditioning system control apparatus comprising: an influence-degree calculation unit configured to calculate a degree of influence between air-conditioning indoor units that are selected from a plurality of air-conditioning indoor units, based on operation data on the selected air-conditioning indoor units, wherein the degree of influence is a degree to which one of the plurality of air-conditioning indoor units is influenced by another one of the plurality of air-conditioning indoor units; and a rotation control unit configured to perform, based on the degree of influence calculated by the influence-degree calculation unit, a rotation operation in which one or some of the plurality of air-conditioning indoor units are kept in operation and an operation of a remaining one or ones of the plurality of air-conditioning indoor units is stopped, and also configured to stop an operation of one of air-conditioning indoor units that have the lowest degree of influence for each other among the plurality of air-conditioning indoor units. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The air-conditioning system control apparatus of claim 8, wherein the selected air-conditioning indoor units are a pair of air-conditioning indoor units. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The air-conditioning system control apparatus of claim 9, further comprising: a room determination unit configured to determine whether the selected air-conditioning indoor units are present in the same space or not based on the degree of influence calculated by the influence-degree calculation unit; a position estimation unit configured to estimate a positional relationship between the selected air-conditioning indoor units, which are determined by the room determination unit to be present in the same space, based on the degree of influence between the selected air-conditioning indoor units; and a map creation unit configured to create a location map of the plurality of air-conditioning indoor units based on the positional relationship estimated by the position estimation unit, wherein the rotation control unit is configured to stop an operation of one of two air-conditioning indoor units that are furthest away from each other on the location map created by the map creation unit, among the plurality of air-conditioning indoor units. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The air-conditioning system control apparatus of claim 9, wherein the rotation control unit is configured to stop next an operation of one of the plurality of air-conditioning indoor units that has the lowest degree of influence for another one of the plurality of air-conditioning indoor units that is in a stopped state. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The air-conditioning system control apparatus of claim 9, wherein the rotation control unit is configured to next stop an operation of one of the plurality of air-conditioning indoor units that is furthest from an other one of the plurality of air-conditioning indoor units that is in a stopped state, on a location map created by a map creation unit, among the plurality of air-conditioning indoor units. ### Claim 13 (depends on 9) The air-conditioning system control apparatus of claim 9, wherein the rotation control unit is configured to keep in operation, one of the pair of air-conditioning indoor units for which operation data is not sufficiently collected as compared with operation data on an other pair of air-conditioning indoor units, and stop an operation of an other of the pair of air-conditioning indoor units. ### Claim 14 (depends on 9) The air-conditioning system control apparatus of claim 9, wherein the rotation control unit is configured to keep in operation, when the plurality of air-conditioning indoor units are in automatic operation, one of the pair of air-conditioning indoor units for which operation data is not sufficiently collected as compared with operation data on an other pair of air-conditioning indoor units, and stop an operation of an other of the pair of air-conditioning indoor units. ### Claim 15 An air-conditioning system control apparatus comprising an influence-degree calculation unit configured to calculate a degree of influence between air-conditioning indoor units that are selected from a plurality of air-conditioning indoor units, based on operation data on the selected air-conditioning indoor units, wherein the degree of influence is a degree of similarity in temporal change of suction temperature data between the selected air-conditioning indoor units, wherein the air-conditioning system control apparatus automatically operates the selected air-conditioning indoor units based on the calculated degree of influence. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The air-conditioning system control apparatus of claim 15, wherein the selected air-conditioning indoor units are a pair of air-conditioning indoor units. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The air-conditioning system control apparatus of claim 16, wherein the influence-degree calculation unit is configured to change the degree of influence such that the higher the similarity in temporal change of suction temperature data between the pair of air-conditioning indoor units, the higher the degree of influence.