JP2007249771A - Central management system for showcase or the like - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a central management system allowing quick recovery work when communication failure occurs, when managing operation of a plurality of showcases or the like by data communication by use of crossover wiring. <P>SOLUTION: This central management system 1 consolidating the operation of the plurality of showcases S or the like has: a central management controller 2; and a plurality of terminal side controllers 3 respectively provided in the plurality of showcases or the like, capable of performing the data communication with the central management system through the crossover wiring 16 comprising a transmission wiring line 14 and a reception wiring line 15. The central management system has: a means registering a wiring path of the terminal side controller by the crossover wiring, and a means outputting the registered wiring path of each the terminal side controller. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a centralized management system such as a showcase for centrally managing the operation of a plurality of showcases.

  Stores such as supermarkets and convenience stores are equipped with multiple showcases, refrigerators, refrigerators, etc., but each showcase has been controlled individually by a controller consisting of a temperature controller and a defrosting timer. This is the current situation. Accordingly, various setting operations relating to the temperature of the showcase and the like and the defrost control must be performed individually at the place where the showcase and the like are installed. Therefore, when changing the setting according to the season or weather, the work becomes extremely complicated.

  In addition, in order to grasp the operating conditions such as various set values and the temperature of the showcase, etc., not only go to the place where the showcase etc. is installed and examine it individually, but also data on the operating condition of the showcase etc. There was a problem that could not be easily grasped.

For this reason, for example, in Patent Document 1, a plurality of (for example, 50) terminal-side control devices for showcases are sequentially connected to a centralized management apparatus installed in a management office of a store or the like by crossover wiring (signal lines). By making data communication between the management device and each terminal side control device, various setting work of data related to operation control of each showcase is performed in the central management device, and each of the central management devices based on the data A system is shown that transmits a control signal to a control device of a showcase and collects data related to the operation state of each showcase in a centralized management device and manages them collectively. According to such a system, operation control of a plurality of showcases and the like can be performed collectively, so that setting and management operations are significantly simplified.
JP 2002-303478 A

  By the way, when the terminal-side control devices of a plurality of showcases and the centralized management device are connected by crossover wiring as described above, the wiring order is conventionally managed based on the construction drawings when the showcase is installed. However, in the case of crossover wiring, if a communication abnormality occurs due to a disconnection or a short circuit in the middle of the wiring path, it is extremely difficult to identify the location where the communication abnormality has occurred from the construction drawing. In other words, if a disconnection occurs in the middle of the wiring path of the crossover wiring, communication with the terminal side control device of the showcase after the disconnection point becomes impossible. Further, when a short circuit occurs, communication with all the terminal side control devices becomes impossible.

  Therefore, in the case of a disconnection, the terminal-side control device that is unable to communicate must determine the showcase in which it is mounted, specify the location of the showcase from the construction drawing, and a short circuit will occur. If it occurs, all the crossover wiring in the store must be checked one by one according to the construction drawings.

  On the other hand, in the case of a large store, since the wiring route length ranges from several tens of meters to several hundreds of meters, this confirmation work becomes extremely complicated, and there is a problem that the centralized management function is stopped for a long time before recovery. there were.

  The present invention has been made to solve the conventional technical problem, and in the case where communication abnormality occurs in managing the operation of a plurality of showcases or the like by data communication using a jumper wiring The present invention provides a centralized management system that can perform work quickly.

  The centralized management system of the present invention collectively manages the operation of a plurality of showcases, etc., and is provided in each of the host controller and the plurality of showcases, and includes a transition wiring composed of transmission wiring and reception wiring. A plurality of terminal-side control devices capable of data communication with the host control device via the host control device, the host control device, means for registering the wiring path of the terminal-side control device by crossover wiring, And a means for outputting the wiring route of each registered terminal-side control device.

  The centralized management system of the invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the above, the host control device includes means for outputting information relating to an abnormality occurrence position in the wiring path of each registered terminal-side control device.

  The centralized management system of the invention of claim 3 is characterized in that, in the above, the higher-level control device outputs information relating to a disconnection occurrence point in the wiring route based on the fact that any of the terminal-side control devices has become unable to communicate. To do.

  The central control system according to the invention of claim 4 is the central control system according to claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the host control device is arranged in the wiring path based on a delay time until the transmitted data is returned when a short circuit occurs in the wiring path. It outputs the information regarding the short-circuit occurrence location.

  The central control system of the invention of claim 5 includes a means for registering a delay time when a short circuit occurs in the wiring path at the position of each terminal-side control device. Based on the delay time when a short circuit actually occurs, information on the short circuit occurrence point in the wiring path is output.

  In the centralized management system of the invention of claim 6, in the above, the host control device automatically measures and registers the delay time at the position of the terminal-side control device for each terminal-side control device connected to the wiring path. It has the means to do, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  According to the present invention, in a centralized management system that collectively manages the operation of a plurality of showcases and the like, the host controller and the plurality of showcases are provided respectively via the transition wiring composed of the transmission wiring and the reception wiring. The host control device comprises a plurality of terminal-side control devices capable of data communication with the host control device, the host control device, means for registering the wiring path of the terminal-side control device by the crossover wiring, Means for outputting the wiring route of each registered terminal-side control device, so that the host control device by the crossover wiring can be registered in advance and output in the host control device Thus, when a communication abnormality occurs in the middle of the wiring route, the host control device can check the wiring route of each terminal-side control device and deal with it.

  As a result, recovery work in the event of a communication failure is facilitated, and recovery of the centralized management function by rapid communication recovery can be realized. In particular, if the host controller outputs information related to the location of occurrence of an abnormality in the wiring path of each registered terminal-side controller as in the second aspect of the invention, the host controller identifies the location where a communication error has occurred. This makes it possible to further improve the restoration work.

  Further, in the invention of claim 3, since the host control device outputs information on the disconnection occurrence point in the wiring route based on the fact that any of the terminal side control devices has become unable to communicate, the host control device In this case, it becomes possible to specify the disconnection occurrence location with high accuracy, and the workability is further improved.

  Further, in the invention of claim 4, the host controller outputs information on the short circuit occurrence location in the wiring path based on the delay time until the transmitted data is returned when the short circuit occurs in the wiring path. Therefore, the location where the short circuit occurs can also be specified in the host control device.

  Further, in the invention of claim 5, in addition to that, the host control device includes means for registering a delay time when a short circuit occurs in the wiring path at the position of each terminal-side control device, and the registered delay time and Based on the delay time when a short circuit actually occurs, information about the short circuit occurrence location in the wiring path is output, so it becomes possible to identify the short circuit occurrence location with high accuracy in the host controller, The workability is further improved. In this case, as in the invention of claim 6, the host control device automatically measures and registers the delay time at the position of the terminal-side control device for each terminal-side control device connected to the wiring path. By doing so, the setting workability for specifying the location where the short circuit occurs is also improved.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2 are configuration diagrams of a centralized management system 1 such as a showcase of the present invention. A centralized management system 1 according to the present invention includes a centralized management controller 2 as a higher-level control device that is a control master device composed of a microcomputer, and a plurality of showcases S (prefabricated) constructed by a microcomputer and installed in a store. Each of them is provided in a refrigerator, a refrigerator for supplying a refrigerant to the refrigerator, a distribution board, etc.) and is also used for transmitting data to the central control controller 2 (data transmission as viewed from the central control controller 2). A plurality of terminal side control devices serving as control slave units sequentially connected by a transition wiring 16 comprising a wiring and a receiving wiring 15 (wiring used for receiving data when viewed from the centralized management controller 2. FIG. 3). It is constructed from 3 ...

  The central management controller 2 is provided in, for example, an office of a store, and as shown in FIG. Transmission means 9, receiving means 11 as higher order receiving means, output control means 12 and input control means 13. The transmission means 9 and the reception means 11 are constituted by a serial interface. The transmission means 9 is connected to the transmission wiring 14 of the transition wiring 16 and the reception means 11 is connected to the reception wiring 15.

  The ROM 6 stores a communication protocol and a control program of the centralized management controller 2 itself, and the RAM 7 stores various data sent from each terminal-side control device 3 and various operation control data sent to each terminal-side control device 3, The control data of the centralized management controller 2 itself is stored, and the EEPROM 8 stores various settings and installation state data of each showcase S and the like, and is retained even when the power is turned off. A display unit (display) 17 as display means is connected to the output control means 12, and a switch 18 as high-order input means is connected to the input control means 13. The switch 18 sets data related to operation control such as temperature control and defrost control of each showcase S, or instructs the display unit 17 to display data.

  Next, the terminal-side control device 3 is provided in each showcase S or the like as described above, and as shown in FIG. 5, a microcomputer 21 as a terminal-side control means, a ROM 22 connected to the microcomputer 21, The RAM 23, the EEPROM 24, a transmission unit 25 as a terminal-side transmission unit, a reception unit 26 as a terminal-side reception unit, an output control unit 28, and an input control unit 29 are configured. The transmission means 25 and the reception means 26 are constituted by a serial interface, and the transmission means 25 is connected to the reception wiring 15 of the transition wiring 16 and the transmission wiring 14 is connected to the reception means 26.

  The ROM 22 stores a communication protocol and a control program for the terminal-side control device 3 itself, and the RAM 23 stores data (reception data) related to operation control such as the showcase S sent from the centralized management controller 2. . The EEPROM 24 stores data (internal holding data) relating to various operation controls such as the showcase S set in the terminal-side control device 3 by the setting switch 33, and is held even when the power is turned off.

  A display unit 31 and an actuator 32 are connected to the output control means 28. The actuator 32 means, for example, a compressor, an expansion valve (in the case of a built-in type) of the showcase S, a heater for defrosting a cooler, illumination, or the like. The input control means 29 includes a setting switch 33, a sensor 34 for detecting the inside temperature (storage room temperature) of the showcase S, the cooler temperature, and the like, and a changeover switch as an operation mode switching means for switching the operation mode. 36 is connected, and the data detected by the sensor 34 is also stored in the RAM 23.

  The setting switch 33 inputs data related to individual operation control such as temperature control and defrosting control (defrosting start time and defrosting cycle) of the showcase S provided with the terminal side control device 3 or the centralized management. An ID (A01 to A50 shown in FIG. 2) for identifying the terminal-side control device 3 to the controller 2 is set. The changeover switch 36 is a switch for switching whether the operation mode of the showcase S or the like is set to the refrigeration mode or the refrigeration mode, for example.

(1) Basic centralized management With the above configuration, the operation will be described next. First, the centralized management controller 2 will be described. For each ID assigned to each terminal-side control device 3 from the switch 18, various set values (defrosting start time and defrosting cycle) related to the inside (storage room) set temperature, various alarms, and the defrosting control of the cooler, etc. Data related to operation control such as showcase S is input. Data relating to operation control of each showcase S and the like input and set by the switch 18 is stored in the RAM 7 and the EEPROM 8 by the microcomputer 4.

  Further, the microcomputer 4 sends a control signal (including a defrosting cycle and a defrosting start signal) from the transmission means 9 based on the data input from the switch 18 to the showcases S and the like via the transmission wiring 14 of the crossover wiring 16. It transmits to the terminal side control apparatus 3.

  Next, the terminal side control device 3 will be described. First, when the microcomputer 21 of the terminal side control device 3 receives data (control signal from the centralized management controller 2) by the receiving means 26, the microcomputer 21 holds the received data as control data. That is, in the terminal side control device 3, when the reception signal means 26 receives a control signal addressed to its own ID from the transmission wiring 14, the microcomputer 21 stores the set data (received data) such as the internal set temperature in the RAM 23. Save as.

  Next, the microcomputer 21 executes temperature control and defrost control of the showcase S and the like based on the stored control data (received data). That is, the microcomputer 21 compares the output related to the internal temperature of the showcase S or the like from the sensor 34 with the internal set temperature in the set data transmitted from the central control controller 2, and the expansion valve as the actuator 32. And the compressor motor is controlled to control the internal temperature to the internal set temperature. In this case, when the refrigeration mode is set, the refrigeration temperature setting in the setting data is compared with the output related to the internal temperature, the internal temperature is maintained at the freezing temperature, and the refrigeration mode is set. In this case, the internal temperature is maintained at the refrigeration temperature as compared with the refrigeration temperature setting in the setting data.

  Further, regarding the start of defrosting of the cooler, the microcomputer 21 starts defrosting based on the defrosting start signal transmitted from the central control controller 2 or executes defrosting based on the transmitted defrosting cycle. This defrosting is executed by controlling energization of a defrosting heater as the actuator 32 and defrosting a cooler (not shown) such as a showcase S, and is terminated when the temperature of the cooler rises to a predetermined end temperature. .

  Thus, when the microcomputer 21 receives a control signal from the centralized management controller 2, the microcomputer 21 controls the actuator 32 (device) based on the received control signal (received data). Centralized management of a plurality of showcases S and the like based on the control signal can be realized.

  Data relating to the operating state such as the internal temperature in the showcase S or the like is sequentially stored in the RAM 23 by the microcomputer 21 and updated. The microcomputer 4 of the central management controller 2 polls the microcomputer 21 of the terminal side control device 3 of each showcase S connected to itself once, for example, once per minute. When the microcomputer 21 of each terminal-side control device 3 is polled from the centralized management controller 2, the central management controller 2 sends data related to the operation state of the showcase S and the like stored in the RAM 23 together with its own ID from the transmission means 25. Send to.

  The central management controller 2 receives and collects data relating to the operating state by the receiving means 11 and stores the data relating to the operating state for each terminal-side control device 3, that is, for each ID, in the RAM 7. The data relating to the operation state in the RAM 7 is updated when data is transmitted from the terminal side control device 3 at the next polling.

  The centralized management controller 2 collects data related to the operating state of each showcase S and the like from each terminal-side control device 3 in such a procedure. The microcomputer 4 reads the internal temperature and the internal set temperature stored in the EEPROM 8 from the data collected in the RAM 7 by operating the switch 18 and displays them on the display unit 17 for each ID. Thus, the operation of a plurality of showcases S connected to the central control controller 2 is centrally managed.

(2) Registration of Wiring Route Here, the central management controller 2 is configured to be able to register the wiring route of the terminal side control device 3 of each showcase S. The wiring paths of the terminal-side control devices 3... Of all the showcases S... Are managed in the construction drawings, but the terminals of each showcase S are displayed on the wiring path registration setting screen of the display unit 17 shown in FIG. The wiring path of the side control device 3 is registered. That is, the wiring order of each terminal side control device 3 is as follows. In the installation work of the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the terminal side control device 3 with ID A50 is first, and then A21, A15, A1, A5, A45, .. And A10, A11, A22... And sequentially connected by crossover wirings 16.

  Therefore, after installing each showcase S ·· and sequentially wiring with the crossover wiring 16 ···, the switch 18 of the centralized management controller 2 is operated to display the wiring route registration setting screen of FIG. . On this screen, all IDs collected by the microcomputer 4 of the central control controller 2 polling the terminal side control devices 3 of each showcase S... Are displayed in numerical order from A1 to A50.

  Next, when the squares of the respective IDs are selected in the order of the wirings actually connected using the switch 18, the microcomputer 4 arranges the IDs in the actual wiring order and displays them on the display unit 17 as shown in FIG. , Registered in RAM 7 or EEPROM 8. The wiring path (wiring order) registered in advance in this way is displayed on the display unit 17 in the form of FIG. As a result, the central management controller 2 can check the wiring path of each terminal-side control device 3... Without seeing the construction drawings. For example, a communication abnormality occurs in the middle of the wiring path as described later. In this case, the central management controller 2 can check the wiring path of each terminal-side control device 3 and cope with it, facilitating the recovery work in the event of a communication error, and the centralized management function through quick communication recovery Recovery can be realized.

(3) Communication abnormality due to disconnection Here, for example, when a disconnection occurs in, for example, the transmission wiring 14 of the transition wiring 16 between the terminal-side control device 3 with ID A45 in FIG. 2 and the terminal-side control device 3 with A10 ( The data transmitted from the microcomputer 4 of the central management controller 2 is the terminal side control device 3 after the terminal side control device 3 of A10, that is, A11, A22, A8. It cannot be sent to the terminal side control device 3. Similarly, when a disconnection occurs in the reception wiring 15, the microcomputer 4 of the centralized management controller 2 cannot receive data from the terminal side control devices 3.

  When such a communication abnormality occurs, the microcomputer 4 determines that a disconnection has occurred in the terminal-side control device 3 whose ID is A10, and displays the display unit 17 as shown in FIG. That is, in the embodiment, as in FIG. 7, the ID squares after A10 are highlighted in a state where the ID squares are displayed in the order of wiring. As a result, the administrator can easily confirm that the terminal-side control device 3 subsequent to A10 cannot transmit or receive data, so that the abnormality occurrence position can be specified as P1. Once the abnormality occurrence position P1 is known, the work can be performed after confirming the actual position in the store from the construction drawings, so that the restoration work can be performed quickly.

(4) Abnormal communication due to short circuit Here, when the transmission wiring 14 and the reception wiring 15 are short-circuited in the middle of the wiring path, they are sent from the microcomputer 4 of the centralized management controller 2 to the transmission wiring 14 as shown in FIG. Data returns from the receiving wiring 15 as it is. In such a case, data communication cannot be performed with all the terminal side control devices 3. On the other hand, there is a time delay until the data transmitted from the transmission means 9 at this time is returned to the reception means 11 after reaching the short circuit point (P2 in FIG. 9).

  The EEPROM 8 of the centralized management controller 2 records the data of the delay time with respect to the wiring length of the crossover wiring 16 (for example, the delay time at 500 m is 2.5 μs). Then, the time until the data sent from the transmission means 9 returns to the reception means 11 is measured, and the wiring length is calculated from the measured time and displayed on the display unit 17 as shown in FIG.

  Since the administrator only has to determine the short circuit location and the vicinity thereof based on the construction drawing from the wiring length of the connection wiring 16 to the short circuit location P2 displayed on the display unit 17, it is not necessary to check all the connection wirings 16. Recovery work will be greatly facilitated.

(4) Registration of delay time at short-circuit The above shows an example of displaying the wiring length to the short-circuit location, but the delay time generated at the time of short-circuit is registered in advance at the position of each terminal side control device 3 and actually The position at the time of short circuit may be displayed on the display unit 17 in relation to the terminal-side control device 3. In other words, in this case, the central control controller 2 is configured to be able to register a delay time when a short circuit occurs at a position on the wiring path in the terminal side control device 3 of each showcase S.

  In actual registration work, for example, each terminal-side control device 3 generates a short circuit between the transmission wiring 14 and the reception wiring 15 in a pseudo manner. Next, when the delay time registration operation is selected by the switch 18, the microcomputer 4 of the centralized controller 2 transmits data to the transmission wiring 14. Then, the microcomputer 4 measures the time until the reception wiring 15 returns, and registers it in the RAM 7 or the EEPROM 8 together with the ID of the terminal side control device 3.

  In this case, the microcomputer 21 of each terminal-side control device 3 may automatically generate a pseudo short-circuit state based on an instruction from the microcomputer 4 of the central management controller 2. In that case, when the delay time registration operation is selected by the switch 18, the microcomputer 4 of the centralized management controller 2 first sets a pseudo short-circuit state to the first terminal side control device 3 (ID is A50 in the embodiment). The microcomputer 21 of the terminal side control device 3 creates a pseudo short circuit based on this instruction. Next, the microcomputer 4 of the centralized management controller 2 transmits data to the transmission wiring 14. Then, the microcomputer 4 measures the time until the reception wiring 15 returns, and registers it in the RAM 7 or the EEPROM 8 together with the ID of the terminal side control device 3. The central management controller 2 sequentially executes such an operation for all the terminal side control devices 3... And registers the delay time when a short circuit occurs at the position of each terminal side control device 3 on the wiring path. Hold. With such a configuration, it becomes very easy to register the delay time.

  The microcomputer 4 measures the time until the data sent from the transmission means 9 returns to the reception means 11 when a short circuit actually occurs, and is registered in advance as this measured delay time. Compare delay times. Then, the terminal side control device 3 corresponding to the nearest delay time is displayed on the display unit 17. In the embodiment, for example, when it is determined that the connection wiring 16 between the terminal-side control device 3 with ID A10 and A11 is short-circuited, the microcomputer 4 displays a wiring path (wiring order) as shown in FIG. In A, the square of A10 and the square of A11 are displayed in reverse. As a result, the administrator knows that a short circuit has occurred between the terminal-side control devices 3 and 3 of A10 and A11, so the short-circuit occurrence location can be specified with high accuracy, and workability is further improved. To do.

  When the centralized management controller 2 and the terminal-side control device 3 cannot communicate with each other due to such communication abnormality, the microcomputer 21 of the terminal-side control device 3 uses the internally held data as control data. Then, the above-described temperature control and defrost control for the showcase S and the like are executed based on the internal holding data. That is, when data cannot be received from the centralized management controller 2, the terminal-side control device 3 such as each showcase S performs operation control independently in a so-called stand-alone manner.

It is a block diagram which shows the relationship between the showcase of centralized management systems, such as the showcase of this invention, and a centralized management controller. It is a block diagram which shows the connection relation of the terminal side control apparatus of the centralized management system of FIG. 1, and a centralized management controller. It is a figure which shows the crossover wiring between the centralized management controller of FIG. 1, and a terminal side control apparatus. It is a block diagram of the centralized management controller of FIG. It is a block diagram of the terminal side control apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the display state of all the terminal side control apparatuses displayed on the display part of the centralized management controller of FIG. It is a figure which shows the display state of the wiring path | route displayed on the display part of the centralized management controller of FIG. It is a figure which shows the display state of the communication abnormality by disconnection in FIG. It is a figure which shows the state which the short circuit generate | occur | produced in the crossover wiring of the centralized management system of FIG. It is a figure which shows the state by which the wiring length to a short circuit location was displayed on the display part of the centralized management controller of FIG. It is a figure which shows the display state of the communication abnormality by the short circuit displayed on the display part of the centralized control controller of FIG. 1 when the delay time for every position of each terminal side control apparatus is registered.

Explanation of symbols

S Showcase 1 Centralized management system 2 Centralized management controller 3 Terminal side control device 14 Transmission wiring 15 Reception wiring 16 Crossover wiring 17 Display unit 18 Switch

Claims (6)

In a centralized management system that collectively manages the operation of multiple showcases,
The centralized management system is provided in each of the host control device and the plurality of showcases, and a plurality of terminal-side controls capable of data communication with the host control device via a jumper wiring composed of a transmission wiring and a reception wiring. Comprising a device,
The host control device includes means for registering a wiring route of the terminal-side control device by the crossover wiring, and means for outputting a wiring route of each registered terminal-side control device. Centralized management system for cases, etc.   The central control system for a showcase or the like according to claim 1, wherein the host control device includes means for outputting information relating to an abnormality occurrence position in the wiring path of each registered terminal-side control device.   3. The showcase according to claim 2, wherein the higher-level control device outputs information related to a disconnection occurrence point in the wiring path based on the fact that any one of the terminal-side control devices is disabled to communicate. Centralized management system.   3. The high-order control device outputs information on a short-circuit occurrence location in the wiring path based on a delay time until the transmitted data returns when a short-circuit occurs in the wiring path. A centralized management system for a showcase or the like according to claim 3.   The host control device comprises means for registering the delay time when a short circuit occurs in the wiring path at the position of each terminal side control device, and the registered delay time and the delay when the short circuit actually occurs 5. The centralized management system for a showcase or the like according to claim 4, wherein information on a short-circuit occurrence location in the wiring path is output based on time.   The host control device includes means for automatically measuring and registering the delay time at the position of the terminal-side control device for each terminal-side control device connected to the wiring path. A centralized management system for a showcase or the like according to claim 5.

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