JP2515413B2 - Outlet adapter - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an outlet adapter for home automation.

(Prior Art) Home automation is between an outlet adapter to which a load is connected and a home controller, via a power line, control information for each load and information about a usage state of each load (hereinafter referred to as adapter information). ) Is to communicate.

Conventional outlet adapters are "on" for each load,
The two-stage adapter information of "off" is transmitted to the home controller, and this adapter information is monitored on the screen of the television receiver, for example.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) However, with only such two-stage adapter information of "on" or "off", for example, "rice" and "heat retention" of a rice cooker are both "on". It was judged and it was not possible to distinguish between the two. Further, in the electric pot, even if the heat retention heater was energized after boiling, it remained "on", and the completion state of boiling water could not be determined.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is possible to transmit the usage status of a load connected to an outlet not only to “on” and “off” but also to the home controller as adapter information at a higher level. The purpose is to provide an outlet adapter that can.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention transmits adapter information relating to a usage state of a load connected to an outlet to a home controller via a power line or a dedicated information line, and In an outlet adapter that receives control information from a controller and opens and closes a load, a detection circuit that detects a change in power of the load as a change in AC voltage, and an AC voltage detected by the detection circuit is increased at different amplification rates. 3 or more amplification circuits, a rectification circuit that rectifies the output voltage of the amplification circuit into a DC voltage, a comparison circuit that compares the output voltage of the rectification circuit with a reference voltage, and a combination of the output of the comparison circuit. A control circuit for determining the power consumption of the load at three or more stages and transmitting this to the home controller as adapter information.

(Operation) According to the above configuration, the power consumption of the load is detected by the detection circuit as an AC voltage, the AC voltage is increased in three or more stages by the amplification circuit and rectified by the rectification circuit, and then the comparison circuit. Is compared with a reference voltage, and the comparison circuit outputs L ₀ or Hi. As a result, the control circuit outputs L ₀ , Hi from each comparison circuit.
It is possible to judge the power consumption of the load in three or more stages by the combination of the outputs.

(Embodiment) Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a home automation system provided with an outlet adapter 1 according to the present invention, 2 is a home controller, 3 is a monitor television receiver, and 4 is a remote control device for the home controller 2.

The outlet adapter 1 includes an outlet 11 to which an electric device serving as a load, for example, a rice cooker 25 is connected, a power detection circuit 12 that detects the electric power of the load, and a microcomputer 13
And a communication unit 14.

Current transformer 15 in the AC power line of outlet 11
Is provided, and the output voltage of the current transformer 15 is input to the power detection circuit 12.

The power detection circuit 12 includes three amplification circuits 16 for increasing the output voltage of the current transformer 15 at different amplification rates.
a, 16b, 16c, and rectifying circuits 17a, 17b, 17c for rectifying the boosting voltages from the boosting circuits 16a, 16b, 16c into DC voltages, respectively.
Rectifier circuit 17a, 17b, Hi if greater than the reference voltage by comparing the output voltage with each of the reference voltages from 17c, the input port P _1, P of the L ₀ is the smaller the microcomputer 13
Comparator circuit 18a which outputs a _2, P _3, 18b, and a and 18c.

The microcomputer 13 has its input ports P ₁ , P ₂ , P ₃
As shown in Table 1, based on the input signal of, the four power levels are judged, stored in RAM, and converted to the communication code based on the instruction from the home controller 2 and output to the communication unit 14. It is supposed to do.

The microcomputer 13 also has a function of opening and closing a load by turning on and off an open / close switch (not shown) provided in the AC line of the outlet 11 based on a command from the home controller 2.

The communication unit 14 receives the communication code from the microcomputer 13, converts it into a high frequency signal, superimposes it on the power line via the transformer 19, and transmits it to the home controller 2.

In the home automation system including the outlet adapter 1 having the above configuration, for example, when the rice cooker 25 is not connected to a certain outlet adapter 1, no current flows in the AC line of the outlet 11, so that the current transformer 15 Does not output AC voltage. As a result, the input signals of the input ports P ₁ , P ₂ , P ₃ are all L ₀ ,
As shown in Table 1, the microcomputer 13 determines that it is in the "off state".

Further, while the rice cooker 25 is connected and the rice cooker is not moving at all, the comparison circuit 18a to which the widening voltage with the highest amplification rate is input exceeds the reference voltage, resulting in the input port P _{1 of the} microcomputer 13 being increased. Only becomes Hi, and the microcomputer 13 determines that it is "connecting".

Then, when the rice cooker switch of the rice cooker 25 is turned on,
Since the rice-heating heater with large power consumption is energized, the amplification voltage exceeds the reference voltage in all of the amplification circuits 16a, 16b, 16c, and the input ports P ₁ , P ₂ , P _{3 of} the microcomputer 13 are all Hi. Become. As a result, the microcomputer 13 determines that "the rice is being cooked".

Further, when the rice is cooked and becomes warm, only the warm heater is energized, so that the boosting voltage in the boosting circuit 16c becomes equal to or lower than the reference voltage, and the input port P ₃ of the microcomputer 13 becomes L ₀ . Therefore, the microcomputer 13 determines that "the temperature is being maintained".

Since the four types of outlet information determined by the microcomputer 13 are appropriately displayed on the screen of the television receiver 3 via the home controller 2, not only “ON / OFF” but “during cooking”, "Insulated",
You can check the detailed status such as "Connecting". In addition, the time when the rice is cooked can be notified by newly storing the time when the rice is cooked as the information that "rice is cooked". Similarly, the electric pot can notify the completion of boiling.

2 and 3 show a plurality of outlets 21a, 21b, 21c for connecting a load to a single outlet adapter 20 and a plurality of external input terminals 22a, for connecting interphone switches and the like.
22b, 22c, outlets 21a, 21b, 21c and external input terminals
A dial switch 23 for determining the device number connected to 22a, 22b, 22c is provided.

The AC lines of the respective outlets 21a, 21b, 21c are provided with the same current transformer 15 and power detection circuit 12 as in the above embodiment, and the external input terminals 22a, 22b, 22c are provided with on / off detection circuits 24. Has been.

The dial switch 23 can select a number from 1 to 9, for example, and a numerical value x corresponding to the selected number.
Is output to the microcomputer 13 as a hexadecimal number.

The microcomputer 13 calculates the device numbers connected to the outlets 21a, 21b, 21c and the external input terminals 22a, 22b, 22c based on the numerical value x from the dial switch 23 as follows, It is supposed to be assigned.

xx10 + 0 = 10 → Outlet 21a xx10 + 1 = 11 → Outlet 21b xx10 + 2 = 12 → Outlet 21c xx100 + 0 = 100 → Terminal 22a xx100 + 1 = 101 → Terminal 22b xx100 + 2 = 102 → Terminal 22c This unit According to the one outlet adapter 20, since the outlets 21a, 21b, 21c and the external input terminals 22a, 22b, 22c are distinguished by the identification numbers, it is possible to independently control the electric equipment, the intercom, etc. connected to each of them. , Can be monitored.

Since the conventional outlet adapter was provided with only a single outlet, an outlet adapter had to be prepared for each electric device, but according to the outlet adapter 20 according to the present embodiment, a single outlet is provided. Since the outlet adapter 20 has a plurality of outlets 21a, 21b, 21c and external input terminals 22a, 22b, 22c, it is possible to connect a plurality of electric devices, for example, if one set in one room, It is economical, does not occupy a mounting space, and can be arranged neatly.

(Effects of the Invention) As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the state of the load connected to the outlet is judged not only in two stages of on and off but also in three or more stages. It is convenient because you can monitor detailed adapter information according to the power used, such as distinguishing between cooked rice and heat retention, and distinguishing boiling and heat retention with an electric pot.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a home automation system including an outlet adapter according to the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are block diagrams and perspective views of outlet adapters according to other embodiments. 1 ... Outlet adapter, 2 ... Home controller, 11 ... Outlet, 13 ... Microcomputer (control circuit), 15 ... Current transformer (detection circuit), 16a, 16b, 16c ... Widening circuit, 17a, 17b, 17c …… Rectifier circuit, 18a, 18b, 18c …… Comparison circuit, 25 …… Rice cooker (load).

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An outlet adapter for transmitting adapter information relating to a usage state of a load connected to an outlet to a home controller via a power line or a dedicated information line, and receiving control information from the home controller to open / close the load. , A detection circuit for detecting a change in power of a load as a change in AC voltage, three or more amplification circuits for increasing the AC voltage detected by the detection circuit at different amplification rates, and an output of the amplification circuit. A combination of a rectifier circuit that rectifies a voltage to a DC voltage, a comparison circuit that compares the output voltage of the rectification circuit with a reference voltage, and the output of the comparison circuit determines the power consumption of the load at three or more stages and An outlet adapter, comprising: a control circuit for transmitting to a home controller as adapter information.