EP1567923A1

EP1567923A1 - Method for powering electronic control modules and corresponding installation

Info

Publication number: EP1567923A1
Application number: EP03812234A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Serge Bruno; Eric Cheron; Nicolas Vietti
Original assignee: Somfy SA
Current assignee: Somfy SA
Priority date: 2002-11-29
Filing date: 2003-11-28
Publication date: 2005-08-31
Also published as: FR2848034A1; AU2003302550A1; FR2848034B1; ES2245273T1; WO2004051389A1

Abstract

The invention concerns a method for powering remote electronic modules, among which at least one first module (ULT) is designed to control a load (RL) through a controlled switch (T1). A capacitor (C), powering the first module when the switch T1 is open, is pulse-charged, and a capacitor (C2), respectively several capacitors, powering a second module (ULT2), are charged with a voltage tapped from the terminals of a shunt (SH2) arranged in series, respectively with voltages tapped at the terminals of several shunts arranged in series, on the line powering the load (RL).

Description

Method and installation for supply control of electronic modules of a control device.

The invention relates to an installation comprising a first device for controlling an electrical load, comprising an electronic module for controlling the supply of the load, having a capacitor between its supply terminals, and a supply device by the electronic module sector comprising a module supply circuit when the load is supplied by the sector and a module supply circuit when the load is not supplied by the sector, the latter circuit comprising a controlled switch. The invention also relates to a method for supplying remote electronic modules.

Installations are known comprising a neutral wire connected to a terminal of a load, a phase wire connected to a terminal of a switch and a wire connecting the other terminals of the load and the switch.

The voltage at the terminals of the switch is equal to the mains voltage when the switch is open (the line current being zero, there is no voltage drop in the load) and is zero when the switch is closed (if this is perfect).

It therefore appears possible to use the voltage at the terminals of the switch to supply any electronic device, for example a radio wave receiver controlling the operation of the switch, provided that it is not in a situation of almost permanent absence of voltage across its terminals corresponding to its almost permanent closure. Many devices known in the prior art solve this problem of maintaining sufficient voltage across the terminals of the switch when it is closed to supply the load.

Apart from the trivial case of using an accumulator to cope with the closing periods of the switch canceling the voltage at these terminals, these devices known in general can be represented by FIG. 1 of the attached drawing.

An ESW electronic switch is placed in series with a load RL, the load being connected to a neutral wire N and the switch being connected to a phase wire H. The electronic switch ESW comprises a switch T controlled by an electronic module ULT. The purpose of such an assembly is to obtain at the terminals of a capacitor C, mounted between the supply terminals of the module, a voltage UC sufficient to supply the module, permanently and whatever the state of the 'switch T. The voltage required is of the One-way Very Low Voltage type. Its value is typically of the order of a few volts. A voltage regulator is generally placed in the ULT electronic module. Thus, the voltage applied to the power supply input of the electronic module can be higher than the operating voltage strictly necessary to allow its internal operation. For example, a module requiring an operating voltage of 5 V can be supplied without drawback by a voltage between 5 and 20 V.

For this type of application, it is to your advantage that the ULT module can operate with the lowest possible voltage. In some cases, a voltage just above the Volt is sufficient.

A shunt SH is arranged in series with the switch T. Thus, even when the controlled switch T is closed, the flow of current in the load, a voltage U1 appears at the terminals of the assembly formed by the switch T and the shunt SH. We choose the shunt so that this voltage is slightly higher than the necessary UC voltage.

The voltage U1 is used in two different modes to charge the capacitor C: the first mode implements a rectifying circuit D and a circuit S2 which is activated when the switch T is open and the second mode implements a circuit rectification D and a circuit S1 which is activated when the switch T is closed.

In the simplest embodiments, circuit S2 has a series resistance of very high value and circuit S1 has a series resistance of very low value.

To constitute the SH shunt, the desired voltage being unidirectional, it is preferable to choose asymmetrical devices such as a parallel mounting of five diodes in series in one direction with a diode in the other direction or a mounting based on transistor and diodes as shown in Figure 4. Such asymmetric devices allow on the one hand, to limit to the lowest possible value (eg 0.6 V in the case of a diode), the voltage drop in the shunt when the current in the load is in one direction and, on the other hand, to limit the voltage U1 to a predetermined value, practically independent of the value of the current in the load when it flows in the other direction (for example 3.0 V in the case of 5 diodes in series).

In Figure 1, there is shown the ULT electronic module provided with a receiver of RX signals, such as radio signals. The device described may equally well be suitable for receiving infrared, ultrasonic signals and / or comprise contacts or control potentiometers. Many applications also relate to the case where the ULT electronic module contains a sensor, for example proximity or touch.

From US patent 4,678,985, a device is known in which the controlled switch is a triac. The SH shunt is symmetrical and used, with an isolation transformer. Circuit S2 uses a high value impedance to drop the voltage when the controlled switch is open.

From US patent 4,716,301, a very similar device is known in which the controlled switch is a relay. In a second embodiment, the controlled switch is a triac, while a circuit of the S2 type contains a thyristor which allows the charging of the supply capacitor C25 in an impulse fashion, at least when the mains voltage is positive.

From US patent 4,803,418, a device is known comprising for charging the capacitor two circuits of different impedance. The shunt is asymmetrical. If the controlled switch T is open, a high-value resistor is used to charge the capacitor.

In US patent 4,504,778, the controlled switch T is a triac. The shunt is replaced by the property of the triac to defuse each time the line current becomes lower than a low holding value, when the control current on the trigger is zero. When the load is said to be “supplied”, care must be taken to supply the triac trigger continuously. On each alternation of the sector, the triac is allowed to defuse then wait until the voltage has reached a sufficient value, before applying a priming pulse to the control triac. Thus, the load is not really supplied in full sine wave. The voltage peaks corresponding to the start of each half-wave supply sufficient voltage to charge a capacitor referenced 36. We note the presence of a high value resistor referenced 32: it is this which ensures the voltage drop when the triac is open . This resistance is short-circuited by a controlled switch 33 as soon as the triac is closed. A rectifier bridge 27 and the resistor 32 and controlled switch 33 assembly perform the same functions as the rectifier circuit D and the circuits S1 and S2 in FIG. 1 of the attached drawing. Although the term is not used, this patent describes a principle of use of a fraction of the supply wave called "switched leg theory" in many other later documents of the state of the art.

From US patent 5,552,644, a device is known whose internal structure uses this technique. It is noted that an assembly constituted by a resistor R1 and a transistor M1 makes it possible to drop the voltage, in particular when the controlled switch constituted by a triac SCR is open. In this application, the transistor M1 is not used in switching mode: it simply makes it possible to dissipate the power which would otherwise be dissipated in the resistor R1 and therefore to limit both the dimensioning of the resistor R1 and of a diode Z1 connected in series with the resistor.

From patent US Pat. It also includes an asymmetrical shunt made on the basis of diodes or on the basis of a transistor associated with diodes. The rectifying circuit D of FIG. 1 is separated into a diode D2, for the direct supply of the capacitor C by the shunt when the controlled switch conducts and into a diode D3 for the direct supply of the capacitor C when the controlled switch is open. The capacitor C is charged through impedance referenced 3 having a high value.

From US Pat. No. 5,907,198, a device is known which likewise uses a partial wave to charge a capacitor. This time, only one capacitor charging circuit is used. This charging circuit referenced 22 has sufficient dynamics to maintain the necessary output voltages when the alternating input voltage drops to 24 V instead of 80-160 V. The invention therefore consists in making sure to wait that the voltage across the triac reaches 25 V before starting it. The load then receives only 80% of the mains supply wave.

Also known, from application FR 2 785 735, is a circuit with controlled switch allowing the supply of an electronic circuit by a DC voltage from a rectified AC voltage of value greater than the DC voltage.

The object of the invention is to provide an installation making it possible to manually or automatically control a device known from the prior art. In particular, the invention proposes an installation making it possible to control the supply of the load automatically or manually by means of remote controls supplied by the same electric line as that which supplies the load. To do this, the invention also proposes a method for supplying remote electronic modules.

The method for supplying remote electronic modules is defined by independent claim 1. The installation according to the invention is characterized by the characterizing part of independent claim 2.

Different variants of the installation are defined by dependent claims 3 to 5.

The accompanying drawing shows, by way of example, two embodiments of an installation according to the invention.

Figure 1 is a diagram of a control device according to the prior art.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an embodiment of an installation implementing several control devices.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing two embodiments of shunt.

The installation shown in Figure 2, mainly comprises an ESW2 control device or electronic switch as described above, mounted in series with an additional ETX control device for issuing orders or data and having a structure which differs from the ESW switch shown in FIG. 1 in that its circuit S2, active when the switch T1 is open, includes a switch T2 controlled by a device equivalent to a “Set-Reset” rocker RS. This switch T2 is synchronized with the mains frequency.

The input “Set” S of the flip-flop RS is connected to the output of a circuit Co1 comparing the voltage U1 across the terminals of the controlled switch T1 and of the shunt SH to a fixed voltage, for example equal to a lower value at one third of the maximum mains voltage. To do this, the inputs e1 and e2 of the circuit Co1 are connected to these voltages or to image voltages of lower value, each proportional to the mains voltage and to the chosen threshold voltage. The value of the S input of the flip-flop changes from the value "0" to the value "1" when the voltage U1 falls below the fixed threshold and from the value "1" to the value "0" when the voltage U1 exceeds this threshold. The “Reset” input R of the flip-flop RS is, in turn, connected to the output of a circuit Co2 comparing the voltage UC across the terminals of the capacitor C to a positive threshold voltage Us. To do this, the inputs e3 and e4 of the circuit Co2 are connected to these voltages. The threshold voltage Us is then typically chosen in a range between once and four times the operating voltage of the ULT module. The value of the R input of the rocker goes from the value "0" to the value "1" when the voltage UC crosses the voltage Us on the rise and from the value "1" to the value "0" when the voltage UC crosses the downward voltage Us.

The output Q of this flip-flop takes the value "1" commanding the closing of the controlled switch T2 when the input S changes from the value "0" to the value "1" and takes the value "0" commanding the opening of the controlled switch T2 when the input R changes from the value "0" to the value "1".

In this way, when the switch T1 is open, the capacitor C is charged with current pulses taking place in the vicinity of the zero crossings of the mains voltage, the conduction taking place when the mains voltage decreases and becomes for example less than a third, or at least half, of its maximum value, while switching off is consecutive to the growth of the voltage UC across the capacitor beyond a fixed threshold. The principle of these power supplies, synchronized with the mains frequency, is widely described in European patent application EP 1 283 590 by the applicant. The prior art presents numerous options for choosing threshold voltages and comparisons for optimizing the operation of such power supplies, the principle consisting in ensuring that the voltage of the capacitor C remains within a given range of variation. The preferred embodiment is that which has just been indicated, but it is possible to use any other option for choosing a threshold voltage, provided that the requirement of a limited range of variation for the voltage of the capacitor is satisfied. . The cited patent application also shows how a few discrete components make it possible to produce an operating device similar to the RS rocker and the comparators. It is also possible to use an impulse mode of operation linked to the sector without being rigorously synchronized with the sector, as described in the cited patent US Pat. No. 4,716,301.

During the closing phases of the switch T2, it is connected in series with the controlled load RL. The fact of having current pulses, therefore much greater intensity values than the average intensity necessary for the supply of the electronic module ULT allows the load RL to play an important role in the voltage drop, that -this can then constitute the only resistive element between the phase wire and the neutral wire.

Indeed, the maximum voltage drop that can be reached in the load RL is equal to R.lmax where R is the impedance of the load RL and Imax is the maximum intensity that can pass through the load.

For a given value of the average current lo and if the rectification circuit D is a diode bridge, we have for Imax: - in the case of the prior art where the voltage drop in S2 would simply be caused by a resistance R2: Imax = lo.π / 2.

- in the case of the invention where the current peak occurs for example only during one fifteenth of the half-cycle, approximately: Imax = 15.lo.

Thus, the voltage drop in the load RL is easily 10 times greater than that which can be obtained in a resistor R2 housed in the electronic switch according to the prior art.

If the load RL is a lamp of 100 watts, it is clear that a power of a few watts dissipated in the filament of the lamp the latter being extinguished has no consequence. It is preferable that this power is dissipated in the lamp rather than in the housing of the electronic switch.

Advantageously, an inductor placed in series with the load RL will make it possible to accentuate the voltage drop during these current pulses, while being transparent for the 50 or 60 Hz mains wave. When the load is a motor for example intended for the drive of a blind or a roller shutter, this inductive effect is naturally obtained by its winding.

The load RL thus has a significant role in the voltage drop required in the circuit S2 when the controlled switch T1 is open.

The invention takes advantage of the fact that the line is traversed by current pulses when the switch T1 of the ESW2 control device is open to allow the supply of a device additional ETX control devices, or even several additional ETX control devices in series on the line.

This additional ETX control device comprises an electronic module ULT2, at the power supply terminals of which a capacitor C2 connected via a rectifier circuit D2 and a circuit S3 (similar to circuit S1) is connected by a current caused by the voltage U2 aux terminals of a SH2 shunt. This voltage U2 is due to the current IL flowing in the load RL and the shunt SH2. This current is sinusoidal rectified when the controlled switch T1 is closed and is composed of pulses caused by the switch T2 when the switch T1 is open.

Thus, we understand the interest in using the structure of Figure 2, rather than a high value resistor, for the circuit S2 supplying the capacitor C when the switch T1 is open: a pulse current d 'large amplitude can create at the terminals of a shunt SH2 a voltage U2 sufficient to supply C2, which would not be the case for a current flowing through a circuit S2 purely resistive and of high resistance.

The additional ETX control device, put in series with the electronic switch ESW2, presents a reduced cost. It is thus possible to have one or more additional ETX control devices in series with the electronic switch ESW2. Such an installation makes it possible to replace two-way switches to benefit, for example, from two control points by touch button and from a radio receiver, the latter being used both for receiving orders received from the control devices. additional ETX but also control orders from a control unit nomadic control or a general control automation, not shown.

This embodiment can also be used in the case where the electronic switch ESW2 and the load RL are arranged in the same location, inaccessible to the user. In this case, the additional ETX control device replaces a simple switch.

As shown in FIG. 2, the modules ULT, ULT2 have functions for receiving radio waves RX and functions for transmitting radio waves TX. The ULT2 electronic module presents, for example, a TX command transmitter. By these functions, the ULT2 circuit can control the ULT circuit. The electronic modules can likewise contain bidirectional elements ensuring the transmission and reception of any other signal.

The ULT, ULT2 modules can also have any other electronic function. Thus, the ETX control device can in fact contain a sensor whose measurement data are transmitted regularly by the TX command transmitter and can be used both by the ESW2 load control device RL and by any other device having nothing to do with the load RL.

Finally, it is clear that the rectifying circuit D can be replaced by two rectifying circuits, one directly connected to the circuit S1, the other directly to the circuit S2. In this case, the mesh comprising the capacitor C, the circuit S1 and one of the rectifying circuits and ensuring the supply of the electronic module when the load is supplied can be directly connected to the shunt SH without including the controlled switch T. The installation described has the advantage of resolving in an extremely simple manner the placing in series of control devices on the same supply line.

Claims

Claims:

1. Method for supplying remote electronic modules, at least one first module of which (ULT) is intended for controlling a load (RL) by means of a controlled switch (T1), in which a capacitor ( C), supplying the first module when the switch T1 is open, is charged in an impulse fashion, and in which a capacitor (C2), respectively several capacitors, supplying a second module (ULT2), respectively several modules, are charged by a voltage taken from the terminals of a shunt (SH2) arranged in series, respectively by voltages taken from the terminals of several shunts arranged in series, from the load supply line (RL).

2. Installation comprising a first control device (ESW2) for an electrical load (RL), comprising an electronic module (ULT) for controlling the supply of the load (RL), having a capacitor (C) between its terminals supply, and a device for supplying power from the electronic module (ULT) comprising a circuit (S1) for supplying the module when the load is supplied by the sector and a circuit (S2) for supplying the module when the load is not supplied by the sector, the latter circuit (S2) comprising a controlled switch (T2), characterized in that it comprises at least one additional control device (ETX) comprising an electronic module (ULT2) supplied by the voltage (U2) across a shunt (SH2) on the load supply line (RL).

3. Installation according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the controlled switch (T2) is controlled by the output (Q) of an assembly equivalent to a “Set-Reset” (RS) lever whose inputs “ Set ”(S) and“ Reset ”(R) are activated by comparing the mains voltage, and / or the voltage (UC) at the supply terminals of the electronic module, with threshold voltages.

4. Installation according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the electronic module (ULT) comprises a command receiver (RX).

5. Installation according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the additional control device (s) (ETX) comprise an electronic module (ULT2) provided with a command transmitter (TX).