JP2000133106A - Solar time switch - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a solar time switch enabling a precise control according to sunrise and sunset without increasing memorized data. SOLUTION: Changes in sunrise time and sunset time for every week are memorized in a memory 4. The sunrise time and the sunset time on the day of setting is entered through an input switch 2. A CPU 3 calculates a sunrise time and a sunset time for every week based on the memorized data of changes with the sunrise time and the sunset time entered as base times, and turns on and off an output relay 7 to control a connected load according to the calculated times.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to
The present invention relates to a solar time switch that controls connection load on and off according to sunset time.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An external plan view of a conventional solar time switch is shown in FIG. In FIG. 3, 1 is a display unit, 2 is a setting switch, 2a is a setting button for setting the date and time, 2b is an operation changeover switch for turning on / off the output, 2c
Is a rotary switch for switching settings and starting a control operation. Reference numeral 8 denotes a connection terminal for connecting a power supply and a load. Such a conventional solar time switch divides the whole of Japan into 10 to 12 districts, stores weekly sunrise / sunset time data of each district in an internal memory in advance, and stores data of the selected district on the same day. It is common to take out the sunrise / sunset data and perform control. Table 1
Shows an example of such a conventional division, and shows a case where it is divided into ten.

[0003]

[Table 1]

In the case of Table 1, the data amount for one period (one week) in one district is 8 nibbles (sunrise time 4 + sunset time 4), and the data amount for one year in ten districts is stored. Used 8 nibbles x 52 weeks x 10 districts = 4160 nibbles.

[0005]

However, in the above-described conventional configuration, since the entire area of Japan is as small as 10 to 12 and the area of one area is wide, all points in one area are stored in the sunrise. -Control could not be performed accurately at sunset time, and adjustments of about ± 100 minutes were provided in order to correct variations. But,
Such an adjustment method can increase the accuracy, but the setting is complicated and troublesome, and if the division is made finer and, for example, 10 districts are changed to 50 districts to improve the accuracy, 4160 nibbles × 5 = 20800 nibbles, and a memory amount of 20800 nibbles is required, and the memory becomes insufficient.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a solar time switch capable of controlling sunrise / sunset with high accuracy without increasing the amount of data to be stored.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a solar time switch, comprising: storage means for storing a change amount of a sunrise / sunset time of each of a plurality of districts for a predetermined period; Setting means for selecting one district from the plurality of districts, and setting the sunrise / sunset time on an arbitrary day according to the district as a reference time, the set sunrise / sunset time and the sunrise / sunday Time deciding means for deciding the sunrise / sunset time for each fixed period based on the change amount of the sunset time is provided, and the output is turned on and off according to the decided time.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram showing an example of a solar time switch according to the present invention. Reference numeral 3 denotes a one-chip CPU, which internally includes a memory 4, a central processing unit 5, and an I / O unit 6. , 7 indicate output relays. The same components as those in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, 1 is a display unit for displaying the date and time and the setting status, 2 is a setting switch, and has the same appearance as that of FIG. Then, as shown in Table 2, the data to be stored in the memory 4 is divided into 50 districts nationwide, and data on the amount of change in sunrise and sunset every week is used. It calculates and controls the output relay 7.

[0009]

[Table 2]

If the amount of change is stored in this manner, the data amount for one period (one week) in one district is 2 nibbles (change in sunrise time 1 + change in sunset time 1). The memory capacity is about one-fourth that of the 50 districts, and the total data volume per year for 50 districts is 2 nibbles x 52 weeks x 50 districts = 5200 nibbles.

Next, the operation of the time switch will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, in S1 (step 1), the mode is set to the setting mode, the process proceeds to the setting routine (S3), the date and time and the like are input by the setting switch 2, the district number is selected, and the sunrise and sunset times of the set day are input as reference times. When the setting is completed, the process proceeds to S2, S4, S5, and the time counting operation is started. Note that the reference time need not be the time of the set day, but a specific day may be selected and sunrise / sunset times of that day may be input.

Next, in S6, it is determined whether the time is midnight, and if so, the process proceeds to S7, and the date is updated. Then, in S8, it is determined whether one week has elapsed, and when it has elapsed, the process proceeds to S9, in which the change amount of sunrise / sunset of the next week is read from the data of the set area, and the change amount is added to the current sunrise / sunset time. Alternatively, subtraction is performed, and the sunset / sunrise time of the next week is calculated and stored (S10). Then, when the stored sunset time comes, the output relay 7 is turned on (S13), and when the sunrise time comes, the output relay 7 is turned off (S14).

If it is not midnight in S6, S11, S1
Then, the process proceeds to step S2, where it is determined whether it is the sunset time or the sunrise time which is already stored, and the output relay 7 is operated in the same manner as described above. Then, the process returns to S1, and the above-described series of operations is repeated.
For example, in district 1 in Table 2, the setting date is April 3,
If the sunset time of the day is set to 6:15, the control is performed at the set time of 6:15 until April 8, and the above value (−3) is set from April 9 of the next week. As a result, the sunset time is advanced by 3 minutes, and control is performed at 6:12. The output may be turned off at sunset time and turned on at sunrise time according to the load to be controlled.

As described above, even if the amount of change in the sunrise / sunset time is stored, the control based on the sunrise / sunset time is possible. In the above-described embodiment, the number of districts is five times as large as the conventional one. Even the same memory can be divided and stored about four times, and fine management is possible. In addition, the setting of the reference time can be changed by setting the actual solar time switch installation location,
Alternatively, it can be set according to the sunrise / sunset times of the control location, and if such a reference time is input, it is possible to perform more precise control. The sunrise / sunset times input as reference times may be actual sunrise / sunset times, or may be different times, such as dawn times and sunset times.

[0015]

As described above in detail, according to the solar time switch according to the first aspect of the present invention, only the amount of change between the sunrise and sunset times is stored, so that the storage amount is smaller than when all times are stored. It can be reduced to almost 1/4. Therefore, it is possible to obtain approximately four times the time of sunrise and sunset in a district with a memory capacity for storing all times, and it is possible to perform highly accurate control without increasing the memory amount. If the sunrise / sunset time of the actual time switch installation location is input as the reference time, the sunrise / sunset time of each week is calculated based on the time, so that more accurate control can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit block diagram of a solar time switch showing one example of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart of the solar time switch of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an external plan view of a conventional solar time switch.

[Explanation of symbols]

2. Setting switch, 3. CPU, 4. Memory, 5
..Central processing unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A storage means for storing a change amount of a sunrise / sunset time of each of a plurality of districts for a predetermined period, and selecting one district from the plurality of districts, and selecting a sunrise / sunset of an arbitrary day according to the district. Setting means for setting the sunset time as a reference time, and time determining means for determining the sunrise / sunset time for each fixed period from the set sunrise / sunset time and the variation of the sunrise / sunset time. A solar time switch that turns on and off the output according to the determined time.