JPS58163095A - Optical type multiple load centralized controller - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to an optical multiple load centralized control device.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a centralized control circuit for electric appliances such as lighting equipment installed in each room of a house, building, etc. as shown in FIG. In the figure, L is, for example, an electric light, R
is an operation memory relay, AC is an alternating current power supply, P is a low voltage control power supply that is not dangerous to the human body, C-1 and C-2 are living rooms,
Control box, SL, installed in the manager's room, etc.
~f9a, f31'~S3' are push-on switches, SlO is an on-site switch installed near the electric light, and each electric light is installed at the location where the control box is installed.
Flashing can be controlled centrally.

However, since the control is performed entirely using electrical signals, there are the following drawbacks.

(1) Even if the voltage of the control line is low, the number of wiring lines is more than three times that of the case where no centralized control is performed, and it is expensive in terms of materials and man-hours.

(2) Control lines must always be constructed in consideration of the risk of leakage from AC power lines, and all wiring and design restrictions must be met.

(3) As the number of control lines increases, the number of connection points and connection devices (connectors) also increases, reducing reliability.

In view of this point, the present invention uses an optical fiber as a control line and light as a control signal, and FIG. 2 shows a centralized control circuit of the present invention corresponding to the circuit in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of one circuit in FIG. 2. In both figures, 1 to 1// are light emitting elements such as light emitting diodes and laser diodes, 2 to 2'' are optical fibers, 31 are photoelectric elements (light receiving elements) such as CdS and phototransistors, and one The light emitting element 1 and the light receiving element 3 are optically connected to both ends of the optical fiber 2 so that the light from the light emitting element 1 efficiently reaches the light receiving element 3. 81 to 83'' etc. are optical switches ( (described later) is installed in the middle of the optical fiber 2~2'', and one source switch is operated in one circuit (for example, suppression).
When this occurs, it functions to block or reduce the amount of light passing through the optical fiber. C-1 and C-2 are control boxes in which optical switches 81 to 81'' and 82 to 82'' are concentrated in one place, respectively, and are installed in a manager's room or the like as in the conventional case. l(,,R//Harry unit, optical fiber 2~2/Idet.

It operates according to the transmitted optical signal and controls the power supply to the load (for example, electric light) LL'/. Relay Units l-
R'/ is installed near the load L-L''.

At Tt (Fig. 3), a strong and weak optical signal S transmitted by the optical fiber 2 (as shown in Fig. 9, the part where the signal decreases is a pulse-like signal generated by operating an optical switch). ) indicates the light receiving element 3
It is converted into an electrical signal by -3=, amplified by an amplifier circuit 4, passed through a memory circuit (for example, a bistable multivibrator) 5, and controls a power relay 6, and its contact points are The opening and closing pulses of C are switched and controlled every month, and the lights are all blinking. In addition to the electromagnetic relay, a semiconductor switch such as the current Iristor can be used as the power relay 6.Also, the entire Rin unit is composed of all semiconductor circuits, and it can be made into an IC or Hypritz) to make it smaller. It can be made lightweight.

Next, the principle of the optical switch f3s-83'' mentioned above will be explained. First, in FIG. 6 showing an enlarged view of the optical fiber 2, A is the outside air (refractive index no), the mouth is the cladding of the core (refractive index n1), C is the core (refractive index nz), and the refractive index of each part is fi2. > Hl) No 11 Normally, most of the light inside the optical fiber 2 is transmitted at an angle within the total reflection angle between the core 8 and the cladding opening, as shown by θ3, so It was said that it was impossible to control the optical sound inside the optical fiber from the outside at that part other than removing it partially. However, as shown in Figure 5, the optical fiber 2 was bent at a relatively small radius. This made it possible to control the light from the outside without leaving the cladding port attached. For example, if y5=o, s~2.0, rl-r2
==around 5x$, d-(0~30)x0 (however, d=0
is not practical. ).

Now, looking at plastic optical fibers, the core 8 is acrylic and has a frequency of 1.55 Hz, and the cladding is polyethylene and has a nt of 1.20. Air is HO=160
Therefore, the angle at which the light exits is d! In the middle 400 degrees, the angle of total reflection between the core 8 and the cladding opening is 03° and 56.5°, and in the angle range between 40 and 56.5°, the light moves from the core 8 to the cladding opening, and is reflected between the cladding opening and the cladding opening. It is totally reflected on the surface of the atmosphere and returns to Core 8. The optical switch used in this invention has a refractive index larger than the refractive index n2 of the cladding on the surface of the cladding, as shown in FIG. 7(2), in order to block or reduce the light returning to the core 8. Soft materials such as liquids, soft rubber, and plastics 10'Jk
Since they are brought into contact with each other to absorb all of the light, the amount of light that passes through the entire interior of the optical fiber 2 is reduced accordingly.

Since it is not enough to bend the optical fiber 2 at just one place, it is desirable to make it into an S-shape as shown in Fig. 5, and further into a shape as shown in Fig. 8, and the bending can be done, for example, by thermal processing. .

FIG. 4 shows a principle diagram of the optical switches 81 to S3'' constructed on the optical fiber 2 which has been bent as described above.
0 is wired so that it does not come into contact with the optical fiber 2.

In this state, that is, the state shown in FIG. 7(1), the amount of light passing through the optical fiber 2 does not change, but when the soft material 10 is pressed and brought into contact with the optical fiber 2, the soft material 10 absorbs the light.

The transmitted light jill-' is reduced. Since the amount of passing light decreases each time it is pressed, a signal such as S shown in FIG. 9 is input to the light receiving element 3 at the end of the optical fiber 2, as described above. This is the principle of an optical switch, and it can be put to practical use by reducing the amount of light by about 1. As the soft material 10, a material having a light absorption coefficient of 7-1, such as black rubber, is suitable. Note that the optical switch is not limited to one in which part or all of the optical fiber is used as a constituent element as described above, but it is also possible to construct an optical switch independently using the above principle and optically connect the optical fiber i to this. You can do it like this. For example, a 7-shaped groove bent in a resin or metal plate is filled with a transparent resin with a high refractive index, and then covered with a transparent resin with a low refractive index. By bringing the rubber into close contact, the amount of light passing through the transparent resin can be cut off or reduced (see another application by the present applicant).

In the apparatus shown in Fig. 2 using such a relay unit R-R'/, optical fibers 2-2'', and optical switches S1-Sa'', each load L, L'' operates one of the corresponding optical switches. Each time, the amount of light passing through the optical fiber is cut off or reduced, and the resulting change in light amount is used as a control signal to connect/disconnect the power supply to the load via the relay unit, for example to turn on and off a light. In other words, if you operate F31f and the light turns on, then press Sl or S.
If you operate 2 or 83 (8-), the light will turn off.

As described above, the centralized control device of the present invention centralizes multiple loads by operating each party switch S, , , S2//=i at the location where the control box is installed, similar to the conventional device. It is possible to control the loads individually, and the loads can also be controlled individually by optical switches 83 to 83'' installed near the loads.The advantages compared to conventional ones are as follows. .

(1) Compared to conventional systems, the number of wiring (including optical fibers) can be reduced to about 50, so costs can be reduced in terms of both wiring work costs and material costs.

(2) When installing optical fibers, there is no need to consider insulation problems, and the work involved is extremely simplified, resulting in cost reduction.

(3) Since it is an optical type, there is no electromagnetic induction, crosstalk (interference), etc., and it is highly stable and reliable.

(4) Since optical fibers are used, there is no electric shock accident and no electric leakage fires, so safety is high.

(5) Since it is resistant to external noise, the signal level may be low and energy saving can be achieved.

(6) Optical switches used in low-level signal circuits have higher reliability than contact switches.

(7) When visible light is used as a light source, the signal circuit can be checked visually, making maintenance such as inspection easy.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a conventional load concentration control circuit, FIG. 2 is an optical load concentration control circuit of the present invention, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of one of the plurality of circuits in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is an optical load concentration control circuit. A schematic cross-sectional view of the switch, Figure 5 is a diagram of the optical fiber bent into an S-shape, Figure 6 is a diagram showing the state of refraction of light inside the optical fiber, and Figure 7 is a diagram showing how the light passing through the optical fiber is absorbed. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another example of bending the optical fiber, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the correspondence between the optical signal and the load switching signal. 1... Light emitting element 2... Optical fiber 3... Light receiving (photoelectric) element R...
......V-unit with operation memory L~L//
...Load 5x--33" ...Contact switch or optical switch C-1, C-2...Control box 11- JP-A-58-163095 (5)

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In a device that centrally controls multiple loads at one or more locations, for each load, the light receiving element (photoelectric element) and light emitting element in the operation memory relay unit are Optical connections are made using open optical fibers, and an optical switch that can cut off or reduce the amount of light passing through the optical fiber during operation is provided at one or more arbitrary locations on the optical fiber, and the optical switch for each load can be Optical multiple load centralized control device that is installed all at once in a control box installed in one or multiple locations. (2) The operation memory unit includes a light receiving element, an amplifier circuit, a memory circuit, and a power supply L/-. (3) An optical switch consists of a bent part of a single optical fiber between a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element, and a light-absorbing soft material placed on both sides of the bent part. An optical multiple load centralized control device according to claim 1 or 2.