JP2002081721A - Control device of air conditioner - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the control device of an air conditioner for easily rewriting an operation control program. SOLUTION: An external terminal machine such as a personal computer or an exclusive operation control program-rewriting machine is connected to an outdoor side ECU 71, and the latest version operation control program (the operation control program for an outdoor machine and for an indoor machine) is transferred to a flash memory at the outdoor side ECU 71, thus rewriting an old-version operation control program. Then, by restarting the outdoor machine, the versions of an operation control program for outdoor machine stored by the microcomputer of the outdoor side ECU 71 and the operation control program stored at each indoor machine that is connected via a communication line inside and outside a room are checked. When the versions differ, the most recent version operation control program stored at the outdoor machine is distributed on the microcomputer of each indoor machine via the communication line inside and outside the room, and the upgrade work is completed by rewriting the operation control program for indoor machine.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control device having a rewritable nonvolatile storage device, and more particularly, to a method of easily rewriting an operation control program stored in a nonvolatile storage device and improving workability. About the technology that brings.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, there are various devices whose operation is controlled by a control device having a nonvolatile storage device. For example, a large-scale air conditioner installed in a large store or an office building is taken as an example. Can be mentioned. In such an air conditioner, various operation control programs and operation control parameters (hereinafter referred to as operation control programs) are appropriately updated (so-called version upgrades) for the purpose of multifunctionality and improvement of controllability. It is often said. The operation control program is generally stored in a storage device (memory IC) mounted on a control board of each air-conditioning element (outdoor unit or indoor unit) via a socket. Was removed from the socket and replaced. However, there is a possibility that intermittent vibrations or sudden temperature changes may cause poor contact in the socket inside the air-conditioning element. In recent years, memory ICs have been securely fixed to the control board by soldering or the like. Is also increasing. In this case, since the entire control board must be replaced, there is a problem that the cost of parts and the number of steps required for upgrading are increased.

Therefore, as a storage device mounted on the control board, an EEPROM (electrically erasable / writable memory in units of bytes: electrical eras-
A rewritable non-volatile storage device such as a ble PROM) and an operation control program stored in the non-volatile storage device are becoming mainstream. In this case, for example, by using an external terminal such as a personal computer or a dedicated operation control program rewriter, the operation information in the nonvolatile storage device can be easily rewritten, so that the cost required for upgrading and the number of work steps are drastically reduced. . Normally, in an air conditioner adopting this method, information for version upgrade (hereinafter, referred to as version upgrade information) is transferred to an external terminal via a storage means such as a floppy disk, while a control board for an air conditioning element ( Alternatively, the housing) is provided with a communication interface, and an external terminal is connected to the communication interface via a communication cable.

[0004]

Even in the above-described air conditioner in which the operation control program is stored in the non-volatile storage device, it may not always be easy to upgrade the version depending on the region where the air conditioner is installed. Was. For example, if the air conditioner is installed in an area that is extremely far from its manufacturing plant (such as on an isolated island or abroad), a floppy disk containing the upgrade information must be used by sea or air to the installation location. Therefore, it takes a long time to carry, and the cost of carrying increases. Also, if the version upgrade requires urgency (resolving safety-related problems, etc.), the operation of the air conditioner must be stopped until the floppy disk etc. reaches the installation location. Will create an unbearable situation.

[0005] On the other hand, the rewriting of the operation control program by the external terminal is performed individually for each air conditioning element. However, in a large-scale air conditioner, the rewriting operation is extremely troublesome. For example, in a high-rise building or the like, one or a plurality of outdoor units are installed on a rooftop, and a large number of indoor units are installed separately on each floor (or each room). It takes a great deal of time and effort to rewrite the air conditioning element. In addition, when the indoor unit is a ceiling-mounted type, since work at a high place using a stepladder or the like is required, there have been many requests for improvement from the viewpoint of safety.

An object of the present invention is to provide a control device such as an air conditioner which can easily rewrite an operation control program in order to solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a control device having an outdoor unit and a rewritable nonvolatile storage unit for storing an operation control program for the outdoor unit. An indoor unit, a control device having rewritable nonvolatile storage means for storing an operation control program of the indoor unit, and an indoor / outdoor communication line capable of transferring control information between the indoor unit and the outdoor unit. In the air conditioner provided, the nonvolatile storage means of the control device of the outdoor unit has an area for storing an operation control program of the outdoor unit and the indoor unit, and the nonvolatile storage means of the control device of the indoor unit has This is to have an area for storing the operation control program of the indoor unit.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the outdoor unit control device can store the operation control programs for both the outdoor unit and the indoor unit, thereby improving the degree of freedom in the operation mode of the device. It becomes possible.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the control device having the non-volatile storage means of the outdoor unit and the control device having the non-volatile storage means of the indoor unit according to the first aspect are configured such that, when the outdoor unit is started, Comparing the operation control program of the indoor unit stored in the non-volatile storage unit of the outdoor unit with the version information of the operation control program of the indoor unit stored in the non-volatile storage unit of the indoor unit; If the version information of the indoor unit is different, the operation control program of the indoor unit stored in the non-volatile storage unit of the control unit of the outdoor unit is transferred via the indoor / outdoor communication line, and the non-volatile Rewriting the operation control program of the indoor unit stored in the sex storage means.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the operation control of all the indoor units connected via the indoor / outdoor communication line is performed only by storing the latest indoor unit operation control program in the outdoor unit control device. The program can be rewritten to the latest version.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the control device having the non-volatile storage means for the outdoor unit and the control device having the non-volatile storage means for the indoor unit according to the second aspect comprise the operation control program for the indoor unit. Can be set so as not to perform the process of rewriting the operation control program stored in the outdoor unit into the operation control program of the indoor unit.

According to the third aspect of the invention, it is possible to select, as the operation mode of the air conditioner, a setting in which the operation control program of the indoor unit is not rewritten under specific conditions.

[0013] The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claims 1 to 3.
The control device having the non-volatile storage means of the outdoor unit and the control device having the non-volatile storage means of the indoor unit according to the above, can remotely rewrite the operation control program stored in the non-volatile storage means of the outdoor unit. It has a function of connecting an external device that can perform the operation.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the operation control program for the indoor unit and the outdoor unit can be rewritten by remote control.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an air conditioner according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an outdoor unit and an indoor unit. In these figures,
A solid line indicates a refrigerant circuit, and a dashed line indicates a control / communication line.

FIG. 1 shows an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention. The centralized controller 1 controls and controls the entire system, and the centralized controller 1 is connected to a non-polar two-core indoor / outdoor communication line 3. First to eleventh indoor units 5-1 to 5-11 and first and second outdoor units 7-1 and 7-2
It is composed of In the figure, 11 is a wired remote controller, and 13 is a wireless remote controller. Reference numeral 81 denotes a modem connected to the centralized controller 1 via a ribbon cable 83, and reference numeral 85 denotes a telephone line connected to the modem 81.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a gas heat pump type air conditioner using a gas engine constituting the air conditioner shown in FIG. The air conditioner of the present embodiment is a so-called multi-type package air conditioner,
On the 1-5-11 side, the indoor heat exchanger 21, the electric fan 2
3, the electric expansion valve 25, the electric heater 27, etc. are installed. In addition, the compressor 31, the outdoor unit 7-1, 7-2 side,
Electromagnetic four-way valve 33, outdoor heat exchanger 35, electric fan 3
7. An accumulator 39 and the like are provided. The equipment constituting the refrigerant circuit is connected by refrigerant pipes 41 to 47 provided for circulation of a gas refrigerant or a liquid refrigerant. In the figure, reference numeral 51 denotes a gas engine, which can
3, the compressor 31 is driven.

In each of the indoor units 5-1 to 5-11, a CPU (hereinafter, referred to as a microcomputer) having a built-in flash memory.
And an indoor control unit (hereinafter, referred to as an indoor ECU) 61 as a control means, which includes an input / output interface, a ROM, a RAM, and the like.
The indoor side ECU 61 includes first and second refrigerant temperature sensors 65 and 67 for detecting refrigerant temperatures Tfi and Tfo on the inlet side and the outlet side during the cooling operation of the indoor / outdoor heat exchanger 21 and the indoor heat exchanger 21, and a remote controller. The unit 11 and the like are connected.

The outdoor units 7-1 and 7-2 each include a CPU having a built-in flash memory, an input / output interface, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. , Outdoor EC
U) 71 are provided. The outdoor-side ECU 71 includes the indoor-outdoor communication line 3, the four-way valve 33, the electric fan 37, the gas engine 51, and the refrigerant pressure Pd on the discharge side of the compressor 31.
, An outside air temperature sensor 75 for detecting the outside air temperature Ta, and the like.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, a communication conversion interface 91 is provided in the centralized controller 1, and a ribbon cable 83 is connected to one end of the communication conversion interface 91.
The bus line 3 is connected to the other end. In the figure, reference numeral 93 denotes a centralized control unit (hereinafter, referred to as a centralized ECU) which is a control means of the centralized controller 1, and includes an input / output interface, a ROM, a RAM, and the like (both not shown), and a nonvolatile memory. A CPU (microcomputer) having a built-in flash memory 94 is provided. Reference numeral 95 denotes a microcomputer disposed in each indoor ECU 51, reference numeral 96 denotes a microcomputer disposed in the outdoor ECU 61, and reference numeral 97 denotes a control information rewriter existing in a remote place.
Note that 98 and 99 are RS232C (JISx510) provided in the modem 81 and the communication conversion interface 91.
1) Standard connectors, and these connectors 98 and 99
Are connected to both ends of the ribbon-shaped cable 83.

Next, the flow of the refrigerant during the cooling operation will be described.

In FIG. 2, in the outdoor units 7-1 and 7-2, the gas refrigerant sucked into the compressor 31 from the refrigerant pipe 47 becomes high temperature and high pressure by adiabatic compression and is discharged from the compressor 31, and the refrigerant pipe The refrigerant flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 35 via the four-way valve 41, the four-way valve 33, and the refrigerant pipe 42. The high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant is cooled by the outside air while passing through the outdoor heat exchanger 35, condensed into a liquid refrigerant, and then passed through the refrigerant pipe 43 to each of the indoor units 5-1 to 5-5- 11 flows into the electric expansion valve 25.

After the flow rate of the liquid refrigerant is adjusted by the electric expansion valve 25, the liquid refrigerant is vaporized while passing through the indoor heat exchanger 21 via the refrigerant pipe 44 to become a gas refrigerant. Cools the room air blown by. At this time, the indoor ECU 61 controls the rotation speed of the electric fan 23 based on the deviation between the set temperature Ts and the room temperature Tr, and also calculates the deviation between the inlet-side refrigerant temperature Tfi and the outlet-side refrigerant temperature Tfo of the indoor heat exchanger 21. Is a predetermined value (for example, 0 to 1 ° C.)
The opening degree of the electric expansion valve 25 (the number of steps of the stepping motor for driving the valve body) is controlled so that Indoor heat exchanger 2
The gas refrigerant vaporized in 1 flows into the accumulator 39 via the refrigerant pipe 46 and is sucked into the compressor 31 from the refrigerant pipe 47 again.

During the heating operation, the outdoor ECU 71
Thus, the four-way valve 33 is switched as shown by the broken line.
As a result, the high-temperature and high-pressure gas refrigerant discharged from the compressor 31 emits condensation heat in the indoor heat exchanger 21 to become a liquid refrigerant, and then flows into the outdoor heat exchanger 35 to remove vaporized latent heat from outside air. Will absorb.

Hereinafter, the operation of the present embodiment will be described.

In the air conditioner of this embodiment, each air conditioning element (centralized controller 1, first to eleventh indoor units 5-1 to 5)
-11, and the first and second outdoor units 7-1 and 7-2) in the assembling process, the respective control means (the central ECU 93, the indoor ECU 61, and the outdoor ECU 71) are controlled by a rom lighter or the like installed in the assembly line. ) Microcomputers 94 to 96
Various operation control programs (operation control programs and operation control parameters) are written in a flash memory built in the CPU. On the basis of these operation control programs, the indoor ECU 61 and the outdoor ECU 71 drive and control each device to perform a cooling operation or a heating operation as appropriate.
The central ECU 93 includes the indoor ECU 61 and the outdoor ECU 71.
And control.

Now, after the air conditioner is installed, to increase the functionality and controllability, replace a part of the system with a new model, or to solve a problem that could not be predicted at the time of manufacturing. The operation control programs in the microcomputers 94 to 96 (see FIG. 3) are rarely upgraded. In this case, the service technician who performs maintenance of the air conditioner can perform the version-up operation by two methods described later.

As a first version upgrade method, an external terminal such as a personal computer or a dedicated operation control program rewriter is connected to the outdoor ECU 71,
The latest version of the operation control program (the operation control program for the outdoor unit and the indoor unit) is transferred to the flash memory of the outdoor ECU 71, and the old version of the operation control program is rewritten. Next, by restarting the outdoor unit, the operation control program for the indoor unit stored in the microcomputer of the outdoor ECU 71 and the operation control program stored in each indoor unit connected via the indoor / outdoor communication line If the version is different, the latest version of the operation control program stored in the outdoor unit is distributed to the microcomputer of each indoor unit via the indoor / outdoor communication line, and the operation control program for the indoor unit is updated. The renewal completes the version-up operation.

As a second version upgrade method, the communication conversion interface 91 and the modem 81 are connected via the ribbon cable 83, and then the telephone line 85 is connected to the modem 83. The connector 99 of the communication conversion interface 91 is provided on the outer surface of the housing of the centralized controller 1 and can be easily accessed by opening a service panel (not shown).

When the connection of the telephone line 85 is completed, the service worker contacts a remote air conditioner manufacturing factory to request a version upgrade. Then, an engineer or the like at the manufacturing factory operates the control information rewriter 97 to transmit the upgrade information. The upgrade information flows through the telephone line 85 in the form of an analog signal, and is converted into a digital signal in the modem 81.
3 to the communication conversion interface 91.
Since the control information rewriter 97 of the present embodiment has a built-in modem, it outputs an analog signal to the telephone line 85.

After the version upgrade information is input to the communication conversion interface 91, it is converted therein into a signal format used by the control means of each air conditioning element, and the individual control means (the central ECU 93) is connected via the indoor / outdoor communication line 3. And the indoor ECU 61 and the outdoor ECU 71).

FIG. 5 is a ROM map showing the program storage area of the microcomputer according to the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the program rewriting control.

In FIG. 5, A is an area for storing the control program of the outdoor unit in the flash memory of the microcomputer on the control unit of the outdoor unit (128 Kbytes of addresses 0 to 1FFFFh), and B is the control unit of the outdoor unit. An area for storing the control program of the indoor unit in the flash memory of a certain microcomputer (128 Kbytes at addresses 200000 to 3FFFFh), and C is an area for storing the control program of the indoor unit in the flash memory of the microcomputer on the control device of the indoor unit ( 128K bytes of addresses 0 to 1FFFFh).

FIG. 6 shows the operation of the program rewriting control of the present invention. In step S1, the program rewriter requests the version information of the stored program from the outdoor unit, and in step S2, stores the version information in the outdoor unit. Check whether the version of the program is old, and if the version is not old, terminate the processing. If the version of the program stored in the outdoor unit is old in step S2, a program rewriting start command is transmitted to the outdoor unit, and the outdoor unit starts the rewriting program and updates the program of the outdoor unit (step S3 → S4).

In step S5, it is checked whether the rewriting of the program of the outdoor unit has been completed. If the rewriting of the program has not been completed, the process returns to step S4. In step S6,
Restart the outdoor unit and request the indoor unit for version information of the program stored in the indoor unit (step S
7).

In step S8, it is checked whether a program rewriting prohibition mask has been set in the indoor unit. If the program rewriting prohibition mask has been set, the process ends. If the program rewrite prohibition mask is not set, the version information of the program stored in the outdoor unit and the version information of the program stored in the indoor unit are compared in step S9. The process ends. If the version information of the two programs does not match, the program of the indoor unit is updated in step S10.

In the present embodiment, by adopting such a configuration, even if the air conditioner is installed in an area far from the manufacturing plant, the operation control program can be upgraded immediately and in a short time. It became possible. In addition, even when the air conditioner is installed in a high-rise building or the like, the service worker does not need to go to the installation location of each air conditioning element. Even when the machine is a ceiling-mounted type, work at dangerous high places is not required.

Although the present invention has been described based on the above-described embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the signal format of the upgrade information input from the modem is converted by the communication conversion interface. However, when the communication line is not used, as shown in FIG. After receiving the signal from the communication interface 100, the signal can be converted into a microcomputer 96 (in the illustrated example, the outdoor unit 7) having a built-in flash memory. In the above-described embodiment, a telephone line is used as a communication network. However, if an ISDN line, which is a digital communication network, or a Bluetooth (Bluetooth) specification line, which is a next-generation standard specification of a wireless communication network, is used, the time required for version upgrade is increased. And cost can be further reduced.

In the above embodiment, the flash memory is used as the non-volatile storage means.
An EPROM or the like may be used. In the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to an air conditioner including a plurality of outdoor units and a number of indoor units, but, for example, one outdoor unit and one indoor unit. May be applied to an air conditioner configured from. Furthermore, the specific device configuration and the like can be appropriately changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0042]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the control device for the outdoor unit can store the operation control programs for both the outdoor unit and the indoor unit, The degree of freedom of the operation mode can be improved, and the workability and reliability of the device can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the operation control of all the indoor units connected via the indoor / outdoor communication line is performed only by storing the latest indoor unit operation control program in the outdoor unit control device. The program can be rewritten to the latest version, greatly improving workability.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to select, as the operation mode of the air conditioner, a setting that does not rewrite the operation control program of the indoor unit under specific conditions. It is possible to cope with various usage forms.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the operation control programs for the indoor unit and the outdoor unit can be rewritten by remote control, and quick maintenance can be performed regardless of the installation location of the air conditioner. And the burden on workers can be greatly reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an air conditioner according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an outdoor unit and an indoor unit.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a communication system from an external communication network to a nonvolatile storage unit.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a communication system according to an embodiment in which a part is modified;

FIG. 5 is a memory map diagram showing a program storage area of the microcomputer according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of program rewriting control according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Centralized controller 3 Indoor / outdoor communication line 5-1-5-11 Indoor unit 7-1, 7-2 Outdoor unit 61 Indoor ECU 71 Outdoor ECU 94-96 Microcomputer 97 Control information rewriter 100 Communication interface

Claims (4)

[Claims] An outdoor unit, a control device having rewritable nonvolatile storage means for storing an operation control program for the outdoor unit, an indoor unit, and a rewritable nonvolatile storage for storing an operation control program for the indoor unit. A control device having means;
In an air conditioner provided with an indoor / outdoor communication line capable of transferring control information between the indoor unit and the outdoor unit, operation control of the outdoor unit and the indoor unit is stored in a nonvolatile storage unit of the outdoor unit control device. A control device for an air conditioner, comprising: a region for storing a program; and a non-volatile storage means of the control device for the indoor unit, having a region for storing an operation control program for the indoor unit. 2. The non-volatile storage device according to claim 1, wherein the control device includes a non-volatile storage unit for the outdoor unit and the control device includes a non-volatile storage unit for the indoor unit. The operation control program of the indoor unit stored in the means and the version information of the operation control program of the indoor unit stored in the non-volatile storage means of the indoor unit are compared, and when the version information of both programs is different, The operation control program of the indoor unit stored in the non-volatile storage unit of the control unit of the outdoor unit is transferred via the indoor / outdoor communication line, and stored in the non-volatile storage unit of the control unit of the indoor unit. A control device for an air conditioner, wherein the operation control program for the indoor unit is rewritten. 3. A control device having nonvolatile storage means for an outdoor unit and a control device having nonvolatile storage means for an indoor unit according to claim 2, wherein the operation control program for the indoor unit is stored in the outdoor unit. The control apparatus for an air conditioner, wherein the setting for not performing the process of rewriting the operation control program for the indoor unit is performed. 4. The control device having the non-volatile storage means of the outdoor unit and the control device having the non-volatile storage means of the indoor unit according to claim 1 are stored in the non-volatile storage means of the outdoor unit. A control device for an air conditioner, comprising a function of connecting an external device capable of remotely rewriting an operation control program.