Patent ID: 7185504

Claim:
An air conditioning apparatus comprising: an indoor panel ( 2 ) that is disposed at the bottom side of a ceiling ( 50 ), and is provided with an inlet ( 3 ) and a plurality of outlets ( 4 , 4 , . . . ) rectangularly surrounding the periphery of the inlet ( 3 ); detection means ( 51 ) comprising an infrared sensor ( 15 ) for detecting as a radiation temperature the temperature of an object in a space to be air-conditioned (W); air flow changing means ( 52 ) for changing the characteristic of an air flow discharged from each of the outlets ( 4 , 4 , . . . ); and control means ( 53 ) for controlling the operation of the air flow changing means ( 52 ) based on detection information detected by the detection means ( 51 ) and operation information concerning the operation of the air conditioning apparatus, wherein an operational air conditioning mode of the air conditioning apparatus is selectively switched between a temperature uniformization mode in which temperature distribution in the space to be air-conditioned (W) is uniformized, and a spot air conditioning mode in which the surroundings of a human body (M) present in the space to be air-conditioned (W) are intensively air-conditioned, the operational air conditioning mode being switched automatically by the control means ( 53 ) or manually.