Thermal-environment sensor with means to simulate emissivity of human body

Claim 2

A thermal-environment sensor for detecting the thermal environment in a room, which comprises: a heating element adapted for placement in said room and for being heated with a thermal quantity (M); a temperature detector adapted to detect the surface temperature (Tg) of said heating element; and a layer of radiant materials covering the outer surface of said heating element, having a spectral emissivity closely conforming to that of the surface of the human skin or clothes thereon, said layer of radiant materials comprising a metallic oxide pigment and a resin binder.

Claim 3

The thermal-environment sensor as claimed in claim 1, wherein said binder comprises synthetic resin.

Claim 4

The thermal-environment sensor as claimed in claim 2, wherein said resin is a fluorine containing resin.

Claim 5

The thermal-environment sensor as claimed in claim 1, wherein said metallic oxide pigment is titanium dioxide.

Claim 6

The thermal-environment sensor as claimed in claim 1, wherein said layer of radiant materials comprises titanium dioxide and tetrafluoroethylene.

Claim 7

The thermal-environment sensor as claimed in claim 5, wherein titanium dioxide comprises 20% to 50% by weight of the composition.

Claim 8

The thermal-environment sensor as claimed in claim 1, wherein said heating element comprises: an empty shell, the temperature of which is detected by said temperature detector; and an electric heater installed in said empty shell.

Claim 9

The thermal-environment sensor as claimed in claim 7, wherein the size of said empty shell of the heating element and the supplied thermal quantity (M) are determined so as to be equal to the thermal equilibrium of the human body with respect to evaporative heat loss.

Claim 10

The thermal-environment sensor as claimed in claim 8, wherein the size of said shell and said thermal quantity (M) to be supplied to the heating element are determined based on the following expressions; hr=hgr ti hgc=hc' M=Hsk/Fcl SET=Tg-Hsk/(Fcls·hs') wherein, (SET) is the new standard effective temperature defined by the American Society of Heating-Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) (hr) is the radiant heat transfer coefficient, (hgr) is the radiant heat transfer coefficient of the heating element, (hgc) is the convective heat transfer coefficient of the heat element, (hc') is the convective heat transfer coefficient of the human body with respect to evaporation, (Hsk) is the heat loss from the surface of the human skin under the optional variable temperature environment, (Fcl) is the coefficient of heat resistance of clothes, (Fcls) is the coefficient of heat resistance of clothes in the case where the thermal resistance of the quantity of clothes is 0.6 clo, and (hs') is the total heat transfer coefficient of the human body caused by convection, evaporation, and radiation under the standard air flow.

Claim 11

The thermal-environment sensor as claimed in claim 9, wherein said shell is spherical-shaped, the diameter (D) of which ranges from 100 mm to 140 mm, the thermal quantity (M) supplied to the heating element ranging from 76 W/m 2 to 93 W/m 2 .

Claim 12

The thermal-environment sensor as claimed in claim 9, wherein said shell is spherical-shaped, the diameter (D) of which is 60 mm, said thermal quantity (M) supplied to the heating element being 86 W/m 2 or 101 W/m 2 .

Claim 13

The thermal-environment sensor as claimed in claim 9, wherein said shell is column-shaped, the diameter (D) of which is 80 mm, said thermal quantity (M) being 80 W/m 2 .

Claim 14

The thermal-environment sensor as claimed in claim 7, wherein the shell is ellipsoid-of-revolution-shaped.

Claim 15

The thermal-environment sensor as claimed in claim 1, wherein said heating element comprises a heat insulator, and an electric heater installed on a part of said heat insulator, the surface temperature of said electric heater being detected by said temperature detector.

Claim 16

The thermal-environment sensor as claimed in claim 14, wherein said heat insulator is disk-shaped, the center of which is provided with said electric heater.

Claim 17

The thermal-environment sensor as claimed in claim 14, wherein the size of the heating element and the thermal quantity (M) to be supplied to said heating element are determined based on the following expressions; hr=hgr hgc=hc' M=Hsk/Fcl SET=Tg-Hsk/(Fcls·hs') wherein, (SET) is the new standard effective temperature defined by the American Society of Heating-Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), (hr) is the radiant heat transfer coefficient, (hgr) is the radiant heat transfer coefficient of the heating element, (hgc) is the convective heat transfer coefficient of the heating element, (hc') is the convective heat transfer coefficient of the human body with respect to evaporation, (Hsk) is the heat loss from the surface of the human skin under the optional variable temperature environment, (Fcl) is the coefficient of heat resistance of the clothes, (Fcls) is the coefficient of heat resistance of clothes in the case where the thermal resistance of the quantity of clothes is 0.6 clo, (hs') is the total heat transfer coefficient of the human body caused by convection, evaporation, and radiation under the standard air flow

Claim 18

The thermal-environment sensor as claimed in claim 14, wherein said heat insulator is formed into the shell, a part of which is cut off and this cut-off portion of the shell is provided with said electric heater.

Claim 19

The thermal-environment sensor as claimed in claim 17, wherein said shell is revolution-shaped, on each portion of which are installed a pair of electric heaters, said heaters having a phase difference of 180 degrees around the central axis of said shell.

Claim 20

The thermal-environment sensor as claimed in claim 17, wherein said electric heater is provided with a heat conductor at the outside thereof.

Claim 21

The thermal-environment sensor as claimed in claim 17, wherein a heat insulator is attached surrounding said electric heater.

Claim 22

The thermal-environment sensor as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heating element comprises a shell and a panel-shaped electric heater on the surface of said shell in a pattern providing a constant heat flux.