Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Panasonic Corporation

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.

Masami Funakura

Masaaki Suzuki

Yoshikazu Tanaka

Yuji Yoshida

Etsuko Kanai

Koji Arita

Minoru Tagashira

Fumitoshi Nishiwaki

Kazuo Nakatani

Noriho Okaza

Yasutaka Maeda

Masataka Ozeki

Yuuichi Yakumaru

Shigeaki Matsubayashi

Wei Zhang

Tsuneko Imagawa

Takahiro Sugimoto

Sachio Nagamitsu

Yasuyoshi Watanabe

Satoshi Tsujimura

Yoshiaki Doyama

Kanji Haneda

Kei Mizuno

Tatsuya Mizobata

Makiko Noda

Koji Ebisu

Mitsuharu Matsuo

Masaaki Tanaka

Yoshihito Shigihara

A power supply and demand control method for a power storage system includes predicting a consumption power of a customer for each of time slots divided by a specific time interval, assigning one of a frequency control or a peak shaving control to each of the time slots based on the predicted consumption power, controlling the storage battery based on the assigned frequency control or the assigned peak shaving control in each of the time slots, wherein the peak shaving control is assigned to each of the time slots in which the predicted consumption power is higher than a contract power, and the frequency control is assigned to each of the times slot in which the predicted consumption power is equal to or lower than the contract power.

Power supply and demand control method, power supply and demand control device

An electric power control method for an electric power load and an electric power storage device including assigning one of a peak shaving control or other services to at least one of time slots that are divided by a specific time unit, obtaining a consumption power of the electric power load of each of the time slots, determining power-purchase electric power according to the consumption power of each of the time slots, restricting a consumption power of the electric power load at one or more peak slots where the consumption power of the electric power load is more than or equal to a target power-purchase electric power upper limit, restricting the restricted consumption power of the electric power load and discharging the electric power storage device at one or more peak slots if the restricted consumption power of the electric power load is more than or equal to a target power-purchase electric power upper limit and the peak shaving is assigned.

Electric power control method and electric power control device

A human fatigue assessment device capable of performing highly accurate fatigue assessment is provided. The human fatigue assessment device includes: a physiological signal measuring unit which measures a pulse wave signal of a user; a feature value extracting unit which extracts first feature values each of which is obtained from a systolic posterior component of the pulse wave signal measured by the physiological signal measuring unit; a storage unit in which the first feature values extracted by the feature value extracting unit are stored; and a fatigue determining unit which determines whether or not the user is fatigued, using the first feature values extracted by the feature value extracting unit, in which the fatigue determining unit compares a first feature value among the first feature values extracted by the feature value extracting unit and at least one of the first feature values stored in the storage unit, to determine whether or not the user is fatigued.

Human fatigue assessment device and human fatigue assessment method

A pulse wave detection device detects pulse wave data from a pulse wave obtained from a user. The pulse wave detection device includes: a pulse wave detection unit detecting the pulse wave data from the pulse wave; a pulse wave derivative unit calculating velocity plethysmogram data by temporally deriving the pulse wave data; a component extraction unit extracting maximum and minimum values in a current first time range of the velocity plethysmogram data, while shifting the current first time range in a time axis direction, the extraction being repeated in a next current first time range; a component ratio calculation unit calculating a component ratio the maximum and minimum values extracted for each current first time range; and a noise segment determination unit determining, as a noise segment, a segment in which component ratios calculated by the component ratio calculation unit are temporally inconstant.

Pulse wave detection device, device control device, and pulse wave detection method

Comfortable sensation of living bodies is estimated, considering individual differences in biological information on the living bodies staying or residing in a common space, and stimulation contents is properly controlled. A stimulation generator generates a stimulation to be applied to users. Biological information acquirers and acquire time-series data of biological information on the users. Parameter extractors and extract a parameter which is changed with a lapse of time by analyzing the time-series data. Thermal sensation estimators and estimate statuses of the users to the stimulation generated by the stimulation generator, based on the parameter extracted by the parameter extractors and. A multi-user thermal sensation processor integrates estimation results on the users estimated by the thermal sensation estimators and into a single estimation result. A stimulation controller controls the stimulation generator based on the integrated estimation result.

Environment control device, environment control method, environment control program, and environment control system

An environment control device, an environment control method, an environment control program, and a computer-readable recording medium containing the environment control program for enabling the user to actually have a comfortable feeling in a reliable manner and further to maintain such a comfortable state, are provided. A biological information measuring portion acquires time-series data of the biological information of the user. A chaos analysis portion calculates a parameter about the biological information through chaos analysis of the time-series data acquired by the biological information measuring portion. A state inferring portion infers a comfortable feeling of the user on the basis of the parameter calculated by the chaos analysis portion. A device control portion controls generation of a stimulus to be given to the user on the basis of the result of inference made by the state inferring portion.

Environment control device, environment control method, environment control program, and computer-readable recording medium containing the environment control program

A control unit is provided which is capable of estimating a user's environment based on time and temperature before entering an air-conditioned room, and reflecting a result obtained from the estimation in the control of air-conditioning equipment. An interface sectionreceives user information indicating the state of a user in a first area and temperature data in the first area; a temperature-data recording sectionrecords a period of time when the user has stayed in the first area, and by relating the temperature data to the period of time clocked by a timer section, records this temperature data as a temporal change in the temperature of the first area; a special-mode reference sectionstores control information for changing the contents of a setting in air-conditioning equipmentprovided in a second area; a special-mode time calculation sectioncalculates an execution time to execute a control operation of the air-conditioning equipmentbased on the control information, using the period of time when the user has stayed in the first area, the temporal change in the temperature and a reference temperature which is a predetermined temperature; and an operation-data generation sectiongenerates operation data for operating the air-conditioning equipmentduring the execution time based on the control information.

Control unit, control method, control program, computer-readable record medium with control program, and control system

A fuel-cell power generation system includes a fuel-cell power generator, a power measurement section for measuring an actual power-consumption value in a household appliance, and a power-consumption estimation section for estimating a future power-consumption value over a given time-period after a given time point, in accordance with the actual power-consumption value measured by the power measurement section. Moreover, the system includes a power-generation instruction section for determining the need of startup/stop of the fuel-cell power generator in accordance with the estimated power-consumption value from the power-consumption estimation section.

Fuel-cell power generation system and control method therefor

In a refrigerating cycle device using carbon dioxide as a refrigerant, there exists a problem that the provision of a receiver at a low-pressure side increases cost and volume due to a pressure resistance design necessary for ensuring safety. By adjusting a refrigerant holding quantity of a first heat exchanger in such a manner that a refrigerant pressure of the first heat exchangeris changed by operating a first decompressorand a second decompressor, an imbalance of a refrigerant quantity between time for space cooling and time for heating or dehumidifying can be alleviated and hence, it is possible to perform an operation of the refrigerating cycle device with high efficiency with a miniaturized receiver or without providing the receiver.

Refrigerating cycle device

An operating condition determiner compares an operation starting time (t) of network-connected first consuming apparatuses received by a schedule information receiver and a consumption starting time (t) predicted by a predicting system based on a total consumption amount of the first consuming apparatuses and a second consuming apparatus, which is not network-connected, and determines the operation starting time (t) as an operation starting time of a fuel cell if the operation starting time (t) is earlier than the consumption starting time (t) while determining the consumption starting time (t) as such if the operation starting time (t) is later than the consumption starting time (t), so that the fuel cell can stably generate power. The fuel cell can stably supply power at a time when the consuming apparatuses start consuming power. The merit of introducing a cogeneration facility can be sufficiently exhibited even if both consuming apparatuses provided with a network connecting function and those provided with no such function exist.

Cogeneration system, operation controller for cogeneration facility, and operation program for cogeneration facility

Refrigeration-cycle equipment wherein an oil separator is installed as a refrigerant vessel in a part of the high-pressure-side circuit. A linear compressor of an oil-less type or an oil-poor type is used. Alternatively, the quantity of the COrefrigerant filled in the circuit is 0.25 kg or less per liter on the basis of the total internal volume of the circuit.

Refrigeration-cycle equipment

To provide a refrigerating cycle apparatus which uses carbon dioxide as a working medium, in which a problem associated with reliability arisen from introduction of water into a refrigeration cycle has been solved. Carbonic acid produced by a reaction of carbon dioxide or a mixed refrigerant including carbon dioxide and water is efficiently removed by providing a flow channel of the refrigeration cycle with a carbonic acid trapping agent, and consequently, the refrigerating cycle apparatus with high reliability which can prevent deterioration of a carbon dioxide refrigerant, decomposition of a refrigeration oil, corrosion of metal components or the like is constructed.

Refrigerating cycle apparatus and method

A mixed working fluid having almost no influence on stratosphere ozone layer and capable of being a substitute for R22, comprising 15 to 90% by weight perfluorodimethylether and one or two selected from fluorinated dimethylethers consisting of exclusively two carbon atoms, one oxygen atom, hydrogen atoms and fluorine atoms, said fluorodimethylether being selected from the group consisting of 85% by weight or less pentafluorodimethylether, 50% by weight of less dimethylether, 60% by weight or less trifluorodimethylether, 60% by weight of less tetrafluorodimethylether, and 50% by weight or less difluorodimethylether.

Working fluid containing perfluorodimethylether

The present invention provides an apparatus for charging a three-component mixed refrigerant substitutable for R22 or R502 and a method for charging the three-component mixed refrigerant. A high-boiling point refrigerant container and a metering device for the high-boiling point refrigerant and a container for an azeotrope-like mixed refrigerant lower in boiling point than said high-boiling point refrigerant and a metering device for the azeotrope-like mixed refrigerant are connected to one pipe line having a refrigerant charging port, and a given amount of the high-boiling point refrigerant and a given amount of the lower boiling point azeotrope-like mixed refrigerant are metered and charged in this order in a heat pump apparatus.

Apparatus and method for charging three-component mixed refrigerant

A working fluid containing chlorotetrafluoroethane and at least two fluorinated hydrocarbons having a boiling point of not higher than -40.degree. C. under atmospheric pressure selected from the group consisting of methane derivatives and ethane derivatives which consist of one or two carbon atoms, hydrogen atoms and fluorine atoms, which has very small influence on the ozone layer in the stratosphere and decreased flammability and is suitable as a substitute working fluid for chlorodifluoromethane.

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Osaka, Japan

Masami Funakura