JPH0394596A - Controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the power consumption of a power supply for a remote controller by respectively providing an apparatus main body to be controlled and a wireless remote controller with timer counting means to be reset in each transmission/reception of a signal between both the units and turning on a receiving part power supply in the remote controller only at the time of sending a signal from the body side. CONSTITUTION:When a switch input part 11 in the remote controller 2 is operated, an operation command signal for the body 1 is sent from a signal sending part 10 and the timer counting means 23 is reset. The operation command signal is received by a signal receiving part in the body 1, the timer counting means 21 is reset and the operation of the body 1 is started by an operation mode set up by the remote controller 2. Thereby both the counting means 23, 21 are almost simultaneously reset and their counting is started. After the lapse of X seconds from the reception of the signal outputted from the remote controller 2, the body 1 transmits a data signal or a data request signal to the remote controller 2 and resets the means 21. The remote controller 2 turns on a power supply circuit in a signal receiving part 9 by a receiving part power supply switching means 24 after X seconds from the preceding transmission of the signal from the remote controller 2, and at the time of receiving the signal, resets the counting means 23.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] This invention transmits and receives operation command signals, data signals, data request signals, etc. between the main body of a controlled device such as an air conditioner and a wireless remote control. The present invention relates to a control device configured as described above.

[Prior Art] FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a conventional air conditioner control device disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1-300150, and FIG. 9 is a block diagram. ) is the air conditioner main body (hereinafter simply referred to as the main body), (2) is the wireless remote control (hereinafter simply referred to as the remote control), (3) is the signal receiving section that receives the signal from the remote control (2), and (4> is the remote control (hereinafter simply referred to as the remote control). 2), a signal transmitter that transmits signals to the main body (1), (5) a microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as microcomputer) that processes control signals in the main body (1), and (6) that controls the operation of each device in the main body (1). (7) is a display unit that displays the operation command contents, operation status, etc. from the main body (1), (8)
is a buzzer output section that outputs a warning etc. in the event of a failure; (9) is a signal reception section that receives signals from the main body (1); (10) is a signal transmission section that sends signals to the main body (1); ) is a switch input section that inputs operation commands by user's operation, and (l2) is an indoor temperature sensor (l3) that detects room temperature.
) is a built-in room temperature input section that inputs room temperature signals, (14) is a microcomputer that processes control signals in the remote control (2), (1
5) is a display section that displays the contents of driving commands, driving conditions, etc.

Next, the operation will be explained. The driving command contents set by operating the switch input section (11) of the remote controller (2) are displayed on the display section (15) of the remote controller (2), and are also transmitted as a driving command signal from the signal transmitting section (10). The signal is transmitted to the signal receiving section (3) of the air conditioner main body (1). At this time, the room temperature detected by the room temperature sensor (l3) in the remote control (2) is input as an electrical signal to the microcomputer (14) of the remote control by the room temperature input section (12). Here, the room temperature data detected by this remote control (2) is
If the remote control (2) sends data to the main unit (1) one by one at regular intervals, such as when the room temperature changes, the number of transmissions will increase and the life of the battery that powers the remote control (2) will be shortened. I end up. Therefore, when new room temperature data is required by the microcomputer (5) on the main unit (1) side that controls relay output, etc., different temperature data is sent from the main unit (1) side to the remote controller (2) at regular intervals. ), and if the temperature data is equal to the room temperature data held by the remote controller (2), the remote controller (2) returns a data matching signal. As a result, the main unit (1) can reliably know the indoor temperature as soon as new room temperature data is needed. Furthermore, the number of times the remote control (2) is sent can be reduced, and the consumption of dry batteries can be reduced.

In addition, FIG. 10 shows a device that has a function of turning on the power to the display section only when the user holds the remote control in order to prevent the power consumption of the remote control. A conventional wireless remote control display lighting circuit diagram, Figure 1l is a front perspective view of the remote controller, Figure 12.
The figure is a perspective view of the back side. In the figure, (2) is a remote controller, and (11) is a switch input section. (14) is a microcomputer,
(l5) is the display part, (16) and (17) are the contact electrode parts that sense when a person's finger etc. touches the remote controller (2), and (18) is the contact electrode part that senses when a person's finger etc. touches the remote control (2). Part (1
6) and (17) are flip-flop circuits that memorize electrical connection, and (19) is a signal converter that converts the output signal from the flip-flop circuit (18) into a signal to the microcomputer (14). be.

Next, its operation will be explained. When a person holds the wireless remote control (2) to change the operation details of an air conditioner, etc., the contact electrode part (16) and the contact electrode part (l7) are electrically connected through the human body, and the signal is transmitted to the flip-flop circuit. (l8). The output signal from the flip-flop circuit (18) is input to the microcomputer (14) via the signal converter (19). And the display part (5
) is turned on, and various operation command contents from the microcomputer (l4) are displayed by lighting.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The conventional air conditioner control device shown in FIGS. The microcomputer (5) on the main unit side controls when the signal is sent, and the remote control side must be ready to receive the signal no matter when it is sent from the main unit, so the receiving section must be on at all times. There was a problem in that it was necessary to supply power to the circuit, and the dry cell battery was rapidly consumed.

In addition, in the conventional wireless remote control shown in Figures 10 to 12 above, the contents of various driving commands are not displayed unless a person touches the remote control, so simply looking at the wireless remote control does not display the contents of various driving commands. In order to eliminate this problem, if the contents of various operation commands were to be displayed by lighting at all times, the power consumption of the display section would be large, which would increase the consumption of the dry cell battery that is the power source for the remote control. A point occurred.

This invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to always receive signals from the main unit, and also to be able to see the contents of various driving commands displayed on the display section of the remote control. Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a control device using a remote control that can reduce the power consumption of the remote control power source, reduce the consumption of dry batteries, and make them last longer. [Means for Solving the Problems] A control device according to a first aspect of the present invention is provided with a timer counting means that is reset each time a signal is transmitted and received between the controlled device and the wireless remote control. ,
The main body includes a signal sending control means for causing the main body side timer counting means to send a data signal or a data request signal to the wireless remote controller every predetermined time count. A receiving section power opening/closing means is provided for turning on the receiving section power of the wireless remote controller only when a signal is sent out by the side signal sending control means.

The control device according to the second aspect of the present invention includes, on the surface of the wireless remote control, a display section that lights up and displays various driving command contents, driving conditions, etc., and a human body detection section that senses when a human body approaches the remote control body. , a display section lighting means is provided for lighting up the display section when the human body detection section detects a human body.

[Function] In the control device according to the first aspect of the present invention, a data signal or a data request signal is periodically sent from the main body at a predetermined time interval, and the signal sending timing is reset each time a signal is sent and received. This is detected by the timer counting means on the remote control side which is synchronized with the timer counting means on the main body side, and the receiving section of the remote control is powered on only at that point.

The control device according to the second aspect of the present invention uses a human body detection section provided on the surface of the remote control. The light is displayed only when a person is operating the wireless remote control or when approaching the wireless remote control to check the contents of various driving commands, M rotation status, etc. [Example] An example of the present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a general configuration diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the front side of a wireless remote control (1) in this embodiment. In the figure, (1) is the main unit, (2) is the remote control, (3) is the signal receiving section of the main unit (1), (4) is the signal transmitting section of the main unit (1), and (5) is inside the main unit (1). microcontroller, (6) is the relay output part for controlling the operation of each device in the main body (1), (7) is the display part in the main body (1), (8) is the buzzer output part in the main body (1), (9) is the signal receiving section of the remote control (2). (10) is the signal transmitter of the remote control (2);
(11) is the switch input section, (・12) is the remote control (2
) is the room temperature input section, (14) is the microcomputer in the remote control (2), (15) is the display section of the remote control (2), and the above is the 9th
This is similar to the conventional example shown in the figure. (20) is a temperature input section that detects the room temperature and the pipe temperature of the refrigerant circuit in the main body (1), and (21) is a timer that is reset every time a signal is sent and received in the main body (1) and counts the timing of transmission and reception. A counting means (22) is a signal sending control means for controlling the signal sending from the signal transmitting section (4) according to a signal from the microcomputer (5), and (23) is reset every time a signal is sent and received by the remote controller (2). timer counting means (24) for counting the timing of transmission and reception; and (24) a receiving section power supply opening/closing means consisting of a switching element such as a transistor that turns on and off the power supply to the signal receiving section (9) according to a signal from the microcomputer (14). ．． (25) is a human body detection unit that senses when a human body approaches the remote control (2), and (26) is a signal from the microcomputer (14) that lights up the display unit (15) when the human body detection unit (25) detects a human body. This is a display unit lighting means.

Next, the operation will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 to 7. Fourth
Figures 3 and 5 are flowcharts showing part of the subroutines of the program in the microcomputer (5) of the main body (1).
Figures 6 and 7 are the microcontroller (1) of the remote control (2).
4). FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the transmission subroutine in the remote control (2), FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the reception subroutine in the main body (1), and FIG. Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the transmission subroutine in the main unit (1), Figure 6 is a flowchart showing the reception subroutine in the remote controller (2), and Figure 7 is a flowchart showing the display subroutine in the remote controller (2). be.

To start the operation of the main unit (1), the user presses the switch input section (1) on the remote control (2) as shown in Figure 3.
The operation proceeds from step (27) to step (29) by the operation in step 1), and in step (29), a driving command signal to the main body (1) is sent from the signal transmitter (10), and in step (30)
The transmission/reception timer (timer counting means (23)) is reset. The operation command signal from the remote control (2) is received by the signal receiving section (3) of the main body (1), and as shown in FIG. ) to set the send/receive timer (
The timer counting means (21)) is reset, the operation command signal is processed in step (33), and the remote control (21) is reset.
) The operation of the main body (1) is started in the operation mode set by. As a result, the transmission/reception timers (23) (21) of the remote control (2) and the main unit (1) are reset almost simultaneously and start counting. The same operation as described above is performed when the operation command is changed by operating the switch input section (l1) of the remote control (2).

Next, while the main unit (1) is operating, the main unit (1) requests new data from the remote control (2).
) or to display the operating status of the main unit (1) on the remote control (2) will be explained. In this case, the body (1)
If it is not clear when the transmission will take place, the remote controller (2) must always be ready to receive it. To do this, the signal receiving section (9) of the remote control (2) must be powered on at all times. Then, since the power consumption of the signal receiving section (9) is large, the dry cell battery that is the power source is rapidly consumed. For this purpose, a receiving section power supply opening/closing means (24) is provided which opens and closes the power supply circuit of the signal receiving section (9) according to an output signal from the microcomputer (14) of the remote control (2). First, in the main body (1), as shown in FIG. 5, the process proceeds from step (34) to step (35), where the count of the transmission/reception timer (2l) is determined in step (36) and step (37). , when X seconds have passed since the signal was received from the remote control (2) or when Y seconds have passed since the previous signal was sent from the main body (1) to the remote control (2), proceed to step (38) and transmit the signal to the remote control (2). ), a data signal or a data request signal is sent to step (3).
9), the transmission/reception timer (21) is reset again.

As for the remote control (2) side, it was found that there was a transmission from the main unit (1) X seconds after the previous transmission from the remote control (2) or Y seconds after the previous transmission from the main unit (1). Therefore, it is only then necessary to turn on the power supply circuit of the signal receiving section (9) using the receiving section power switching means (24). Then, once the signal is received, the transmit/receive timer (23)
Reset. By doing this, the transmitting/receiving timers (23) (21) on the main unit (1) side and the remote control (2) side can be reset at almost the same time and can count up X seconds and Y seconds. However, since some errors occur in the timer count, a margin of ±Z seconds should be taken for X seconds and Y seconds as the power-on timing of the receiving section power opening/closing means (24).

That is, in FIG. 6, the process advances from step (40) to step (41), where the count of the transmission/reception timer (23) is determined in step (42) and step (43), and When the elapsed time from the signal transmission falls within the range of X+Z seconds, or when the elapsed time from the previous signal reception from the main body (1) enters the range of an integer (N) times y+z seconds, step Proceeding to (45), a power-on command is issued by the receiving section power opening/closing means (24).
At other times, the process proceeds to step (44), and the receiver power remains off. YI is the receiving unit power-on timing based on the elapsed time since the previous signal reception from the main unit (1) side.
The reason why it is set as an integer (N) times Z seconds is because there may be a case where the remote control (2) cannot receive the signal from the main body (1) for some reason. Signal receiving section (
When the power supply circuit 9) is turned on, step (46)
When the signal from the main body (1) is received, the transmission/reception timer (23) is reset in step (47), and the received signal is processed in step (48). That is, if the received signal is a data signal indicating a change in the operating status of the main body (1), the display on the display section (15) is updated, and if it is a data request signal, the process moves to the transmission subroutine shown in FIG. The process proceeds from step (28) to steps (29) and (30), where the data signal is again transmitted to the main body (1) and the transmission/reception timer (23) is reset. If the above operations are performed several times in a row, the remote control (2) and main unit (
There is a possibility that the transmit/receive timers (21) and (23) of 1) may be out of sync and the transmit timing of the main unit (1) and the receive timing of the remote control (2) may not match. If reception fails several times in a row, a signal may be sent from the remote control (2) to synchronize the timer again.

Next, a remote control (2
) will be explained with reference to FIG. First, in step (49), it is determined based on the signal from the human body detection section (25) whether a human body approaches the remote control (2) and is detected. If the approach of a human body has not been detected, the process returns to step (49), and if it has been detected, the process proceeds to step (50), and checks whether the content of the driving command from the switch input section (11) has been changed or not. It is determined whether the data signal transmitted from 1) indicates a change in the operating status of the main body (1), and if it has changed, step (51) is performed.
), the display data on the display section (15) is changed, and the display is updated in step (52).If there is no change, step (50) directly advances to step (52), where the previous display is displayed as is. Ru.

Note that in the above embodiment, an air conditioner is shown as the controlled device, but it is clear that the control device is not necessarily limited to this. [Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the controlled device main body and the wireless remote control are provided with a timer counting means that is reset each time a signal is transmitted and received between them, The main body is provided with a signal sending control means for causing the main body side timer counting means to send a data signal or a data request signal to the wireless remote controller every predetermined time count. Since the receiving unit power supply opening/closing means is provided to turn on the receiving unit power of the wireless remote controller only when a signal is sent by the side signal sending control unit, a control device that can extend the life of the battery that is the remote control power source can be obtained at a low cost.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the surface of the wireless remote control is equipped with a display section that lights up and displays various driving command contents, driving conditions, etc., and a human body detection section that senses when a human body approaches the remote control body. Since the human body detection section is equipped with a display section lighting means that lights up the above display section when a human body is detected, the display on the remote control display section is automatically displayed only when necessary, without any operation, and the remote control power supply is turned on. This has the effect of prolonging the life of the battery and providing a control device with an easy-to-operate remote control.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the front side of the wireless remote control in this embodiment, and Figs. 3 to 6 are an embodiment according to the first invention of the present invention. In the flowchart for explaining the operation of the example, the third
Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the transmission subroutine on the remote control, Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the reception subroutine on the main unit, Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the transmission subroutine on the main unit, and Figure 6 is a flowchart showing the reception subroutine on the remote control. The flowchart shown in FIG. 7 is the second flowchart of this invention.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a conventional air conditioner control device; FIG. 9 is a block diagram; The figure is a display lighting circuit diagram of another conventional wireless remote control, FIG. 11 is a front perspective view of the remote control, and FIG. 2 is a back perspective view. In the figure, (1) is the main body of the controlled equipment (air conditioner),
(2) is the wireless remote control, (3) is the signal receiving section of the main unit, (4) is the signal transmitting section of the main unit, (9) is the signal receiving section of the remote control, (10) is the signal transmitting section of the remote control, (l5)
is the display section of the remote control, (2l) is the timer counting means (transmission/reception timer on the main body) of the main body, (22) is the signal exit control means, and (23) is the timer counting means (21) of the remote control.
(24) means for opening/closing the power supply for the receiving section of the beam remote controller, (25) a human body detection section, and (26) a means for lighting the display section. The same reference numerals in the figures indicate the same or corresponding parts. 2. Figure 1. Figure 2: Remote controller. 3. Figure 4. Figure 6. Figure 5. Figure 7. Figure 8. Figure 10. Figure 9. Figure 6. Figure 1.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Between the controlled device and the wireless remote control,
In a control device configured to send and receive driving command signals, data signals, data request signals, etc., the main body and the wireless remote controller are provided with timer counting means that is reset each time a signal is sent and received between them, The main body includes a signal sending control means for causing the main body side timer counting means to send a data signal or a data request signal to the wireless remote controller every predetermined time count. 1. A control device characterized in that a receiving section power opening/closing means is provided for turning on the receiving section power of a wireless remote control only when a signal is sent out by the signal sending control means. (2) Between the controlled device and the wireless remote control,
In a control device configured to send and receive driving command signals, data signals, data request signals, etc., there is a display section on the surface of the wireless remote control that lights up to display various driving command contents, driving status, etc., and a display section that displays various driving command contents, driving status, etc. 1. A control device comprising: a human body detection unit that detects a human body; and display unit lighting means for lighting the display unit when the human body detection unit detects a human body.