JP2002130800A - Remote controller of water heater - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a remote controller of a water heater, capable of legibly displaying a large amount of character information. SOLUTION: Diagnosis data groups as regards failures of the water heater are organized in a hierarchy and stored in an instrument diagnosis database 61. An operator can select the diagnosis data related to an object failure from the diagnosis data groups, by operating switches provided on an operation section 51 according to a specified procedure. A plurality of messages contained in the diagnosis data can be displayed sequentially on an LCD section 24.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a water heater remote controller, and more particularly, to a remote controller having a function of displaying character information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a water heater remote control displays information (water level, hot water temperature, etc.) relating to the operation of the water heater not only for operating the water heater main body, but also when an abnormality occurs in the water heater. It is also used to display information about the abnormality. The display of the information on the abnormality is, for example, using a 7-segment light-emitting diode to display a failure code of several digits, or a short message (a description of the failure, an instruction on a coping method, etc.) ) Is displayed.

Since the size of the remote controller cannot be increased due to its characteristics, the size of the character display section is necessarily limited. The smaller the displayed characters, the larger the amount of information that can be displayed at one time.However, this reduces the visibility of the characters.For example, when the user is elderly or has visual impairment, You will have difficulty. Under the circumstances described above, it is actually difficult to provide a character display unit on the remote controller that can display a message about a failure at one time. Therefore, when a long message is desired to be displayed on a small character display unit having a limited number of characters, a scroll display for displaying the message in a flowing manner on the character display unit is generally adopted.

[0004]

In recent hot water heaters, the types of equipment abnormalities have been increasing with the advancement and diversification of functions. The required information amount (for example, the number of messages and the number of message characters) is also increasing. If such a large amount of character information is scroll-displayed on a small character display unit, it takes time for the user to decode and understand all the information. The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and the purpose thereof is to
An object of the present invention is to provide a water heater remote controller capable of displaying a large amount of character information in an easily understandable manner.

[0005]

A water heater remote controller according to the present invention, which has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, has an operation unit having a switch, a display unit for displaying a character string, and a method for creating the character string. A data storage unit that stores a plurality of data to be used in a predetermined format that allows data search; and when a switch operation for data search is performed in the operation unit, a command related to data search according to the content of the switch operation. And a message creating unit that creates a character string using data retrieved based on the instruction and displays the character string on the display unit.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In a water heater remote controller according to the present invention, data for creating a character string (for example, a description of a failure) to be displayed on a display unit (for example, a liquid crystal dot matrix panel) can be searched. The data is stored in a data storage unit (for example, a semiconductor memory) in a predetermined format. Searchable data formats include, for example, linear list type, tree type,
A combination of these two may be mentioned. The instruction unit analyzes the contents of the switch operation in the operation unit, and outputs an instruction relating to the data search when it is a switch operation for data search. The command related to the data search is, for example, a command to search for data that is a starting point of the search, a command to search the next data or the previous data of the current data in the linear list, and the like. The message creating unit performs a data search in accordance with the command, creates a character string using the searched data, and displays the character string on the display unit.

[0007]

According to the present invention, necessary information can be retrieved from a large amount of information by a simple switch operation and displayed on the display unit. For example, by storing a message character string such as a description of a failure, a diagnosis, and an instruction on how to deal with the failure in the data storage unit according to the present invention, the user can not only quickly obtain information on the failure but also print the information. Even if the written manual is not at hand, appropriate measures can be taken for the failure.

[0008]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a water heater remote controller 10 of the present embodiment. The remote controller 10 is a bathroom-mounted remote controller used with a water heater (not shown) configured to be able to supply hot water to both a bathroom and a kitchen (both not shown). Referring to FIG. 1, a switch cover 12 that can be opened and closed about a lower end is attached to a lower front part of a remote controller 10. An operation key 14 is provided on the switch cover 12,
There are provided four operation keys: a hot water heating key 15, a priority key 16, and a call key 17. The functions assigned to these keys will be described later. On the other hand, an LED display unit 22 (7-segment light emitting diode; 2 digits × 2 sets) and an LCD unit 2
4 (liquid crystal dot matrix panel; 16 dots vertically x 8 horizontally)
A display unit 26 having 0 dots) and a speaker 28 are provided.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the remote controller 10 with the switch cover 12 opened. Various switches for controlling the operation of the water heater are provided below the switch cover 12. The operation switch 30 is used to switch on / off (operation / stop) the power of the water heater. The hot water switch 31 and the water switch 32 are used when the user wants to add hot water or water to a bathtub (not shown). The bathing switch 33 is used to raise the temperature of the hot water in the bathtub by a predetermined temperature (for example, 2 ° C.) from the temperature set by the remote controller when the hot water in the bathtub is tepid. 4 above
The three switches 30 to 33 are arranged so as to be directly below the four operation keys 14 to 17 when the switch cover 12 is closed, and when any one of the operation keys is pressed,
The switch immediately below is pressed by the convex portion 18 provided on the back surface of the operation key. Hot water supply temperature switches 34 (lower) and 35 (up) are used to adjust the temperature of hot water supplied to a shower or a curan in a bathroom, and bath temperature switches 36 (lower) and 37 (up) are supplied to a bathtub. Used to control the temperature of hot water. The bath level switches 38 (down) and 39 (up) are used to adjust the target water level for the automatic hot watering function to the bathtub. The voice switch 40 is used to switch on / off the output of the guide message by voice.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a control system of the remote controller 10. This control system is configured using a microprocessor, flash memory, etc.
Functionally, the central control unit 50 includes an operation unit 51, a cover switch 52, a communication unit 53, a signal analysis unit 54, a diagnostic data management unit 55, a character string image creation unit 56, and a sound output control unit 5.
7 and a display control unit 58.

When various switches described above are operated, the operation section 51 sends an operation signal corresponding to the operated switches to the central control section 50. Also, the cover switch 52
Sends a signal indicating the state (open / closed) of the switch cover 12 to the central control unit 50. The central control unit 50 includes an operation unit 51
When a signal is received from the cover switch 52, the state of the switch cover 12 is confirmed based on the signal from the cover switch 52.
When a signal corresponding to the switches 30 to 33 is received from the operation unit 51 with the switch cover 12 closed, the central control unit 50 operates the key 1 provided on the switch cover 12.
It operates to execute the functions assigned to 4 to 17.
It should be noted that the operation key 14 includes, like the operation switch 30,
A function of switching on / off of the power of the water heater is assigned, and a function of storing hot water in a bathtub to a predetermined water level and then keeping the hot water at a predetermined temperature is assigned to the hot water beam keeping key 15. The key 16 is assigned a function of causing the water heater to execute an operation of giving priority to hot water supply to the bathroom over the kitchen, and the call key 17 is provided through another remote controller (not shown) installed outside the bathroom. The function to talk to the outside is assigned.

The communication unit 53 sends a control signal to the water heater 60 in accordance with an instruction from the central controller 50, or receives a signal such as a monitor signal or a failure detection signal from the water heater 60 and sends it to the central controller 50, whereupon the central controller 50 50 sends the received signal to the signal analyzer 54. The signal analyzer 54 analyzes the signal, and if the signal is a failure detection signal, returns a failure code according to the content of the failure to the central controller 50. FIG. 4 shows the correspondence between the failure name and the failure code in this embodiment. As described above, in the present embodiment, a 3-digit failure code composed of alphanumeric characters is assigned to each failure content (failure name).

When the central control unit 50 receives the failure code from the signal analysis unit 54, it passes the failure code to the diagnostic data management unit 55. Using the data recorded in the device diagnostic database (DB) 61, the diagnostic data management unit 55 creates a character string indicating a diagnostic message corresponding to the failure code received from the central control unit 50 in a procedure described later. . FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the device diagnosis DB 61. The data recorded in the device diagnosis DB 61 is divided into a failure diagnosis data group and a failure diagnosis data group. In the present embodiment, a failure refers to a severe equipment abnormality provided with a failure code as shown in FIG. 4, and a failure refers to any failure although the water heater does not generate a failure signal. It is a minor device abnormality that can be considered.

As shown in FIG. 5, the failure diagnosis data group is a data structure composed of a large number of data hierarchically. Looking at the structure of this data in detail, the failure diagnosis data group includes a plurality of failure diagnosis data corresponding to each failure code and the number of failure diagnosis data (integer) as elements. Each failure diagnosis data includes a data index (integer) indicating an order in the failure diagnosis data group, a failure code (3
(Alphanumeric digits), failure name (variable length code string), details of failure (variable length code string), and diagnostic item data group are included as elements. The diagnostic item data group includes a plurality of diagnostic item data relating to the failure specified by the failure code and the number of diagnostic item data (integer) as elements. Each diagnostic item data includes an item index (integer) indicating an order in the diagnostic item data group and a diagnostic message (variable length code string). The number of diagnosis item data included in each failure diagnosis data does not need to be constant, and can be appropriately changed according to the content of the failure.

The fault diagnostic data group has no element corresponding to the fault name and a fault consisting of a two-digit number as shown in FIG. 6 instead of a three-digit fault code as shown in FIG. Except for including a code, it has the same hierarchical structure as the failure diagnosis data group.

(Message Display Processing When Failure Occurs) Next, a procedure for creating and displaying a diagnostic message by the remote controller 10 when a failure occurs will be described.

Now, it is assumed that a bath pump abnormality has occurred in the water heater. The diagnostic data management unit 55 includes a central control unit 50
When the failure code (632) of the bath pump abnormality is received from the device diagnosis data corresponding to the failure code 632 is read from the device diagnosis DB 61, a message explaining the content of the generated failure to the user (hereinafter referred to as a failure explanation message). ) Create a code sequence. The failure explanation message is
For example, as shown by reference numeral 100 in FIG. 9, the information includes a fault code, a fault name, and a fault description. In addition, the diagnostic data management unit 55 writes information on the data read position in the device diagnostic DB 61 into the read position instruction variable 62. The read position indicating variable 62 is a data structure including the elements as shown in FIG.
Alternatively, a value corresponding to any of the “failure diagnosis mode” is written, the data index of the read diagnosis data is written in the current data index, and the item index of the read diagnosis item is written in the current item index. Here, since the diagnostic item has not been read yet, zero is written in the current item index. The last failure code is the code of the failure that occurred this time (6
32) is written.

The code string created by the diagnostic data management unit 55 is sent to the character string image creation unit 56 via the central control unit 50. The character string image creating unit 56 converts the code string into a character string image that can be displayed by the LCD unit 24 based on the code conversion table 63. FIG. 7 shows a part of the code conversion table 63. In this embodiment, one code is represented by 2 bytes (16 bits). However, this is not a coding method in which one character is simply assigned to one code (ordinary coding method). A coding method is adopted in which character strings frequently used in messages such as "failure", "abnormal", "hot water supply", and "water level" are grouped together and one code is assigned to the character string. Therefore, for example, the code length of the message “the hot water level is abnormal” is 18 bytes according to the normal coding method, but is 12 bytes according to the coding method of the present embodiment. As described above, the remote controller 10 of the present embodiment employs a coding method capable of expressing a large amount of character information with a small number of bytes, thereby providing a storage medium (a semiconductor memory or the like) for the device diagnosis DB 61.
Is increasing the efficiency of use.

The character string image data created by the character string image creating unit 56 as described above is sent to the display control unit 58 via the central control unit 50. The LCD unit 24 provided in the remote controller 10 according to the present embodiment displays full-width characters of 16 dots by 16 dots. Therefore, the LCD unit 24 can display five full-width characters and ten half-width characters at a time, but the length of a message string relating to failure diagnosis is generally longer than this. Therefore, if the message character string is too long to be displayed on the LCD unit 24 at one time, the display control unit 58 transmits the message character string to the LCD unit 2.
In step 4, scroll the screen horizontally (right to left) or vertically (bottom to top). At this time, when the voice switch 40 is pressed, the display control unit 58 stops scrolling the message. When the voice switch 40 is pressed again,
The display control unit 58 restarts scrolling of the message.
As described above, with the remote controller 10 of the present embodiment, scrolling of the message character string can be temporarily stopped by operating the voice switch 40, so that the user can read a long message while checking the content.

If the bath temperature switch 36 (down) is pressed while the failure explanation message indicated by reference numeral 100 in FIG.
5 is a device diagnostic DB 6 with reference to the read position indicating variable 62.
1 is added to the current item index, and the diagnostic item data corresponding to the new current item index is used.
A code string of a diagnostic message as shown in FIG. This code string is converted into a character string image by the above-described procedure, and the character string image is displayed on the LCD unit 24. Then, when the bath temperature switch 36 (lower) is pressed again,
The next diagnostic message is displayed on the LCD unit 24. As described above, in the remote controller 10 of the present embodiment, a plurality of diagnostic messages (1
01, 102,..., 105) can be sequentially displayed on the LCD unit 24. If a large amount of information is presented at one time, the user may not be able to grasp the contents of all the information. However, the remote controller 10 of the present embodiment configured as described above does not have such a possibility, and a large number of diagnostic items are provided. Even if there is, the user can grasp all diagnosis contents without fail. Although FIG. 9 shows five types of diagnostic messages, it is needless to say that this number may differ depending on the type of failure.

A certain diagnostic message is displayed on the LCD unit 24.
When the temperature is displayed in the bath temperature switch 37 (up)
Is pressed, the reverse process is performed. That is, 1 is subtracted from the current item index, and the previous diagnostic message is displayed on the LCD unit 24. Therefore, even if the user sufficiently reads a certain diagnostic message due to an operation error of the switch, the next diagnostic message is changed to L.
Even if it is displayed on the CD section 24, the bath temperature switch 3
The previous diagnostic message can be easily displayed again by the operation of 7 (up).

A certain diagnostic message is displayed on the LCD unit 24.
If the hot water switch 31 is pressed while the message is displayed, the failure explanation message 100 is displayed again. Then, when the hot water switch 31 is further pressed, the diagnostic data management unit 55 adds 1 to the current data index. As a result, the target of the message display processing moves to the next failure diagnosis data (here, data corresponding to the failure code 650).

(Diagnosis Message Display at Any Time) In the remote controller 10 of this embodiment, a failure diagnosis message or a failure diagnosis message can be displayed on the LCD unit 24 at any time regardless of whether or not a failure has occurred. .

First, a procedure for displaying a failure diagnosis message will be described. When the operation switch 30 is in the "OFF" state and the hot water switch 31 is continuously pressed for a predetermined time (for example, 10 seconds) or more, the central control unit 50 instructs the diagnosis data management unit 55 to start the failure diagnosis mode. Upon receiving this instruction, the diagnostic data management unit 55 refers to the previous failure code recorded in the read position indication variable 62 and creates a code string of a failure explanation message corresponding to the failure code. This code string is converted into a character string image by the above-described procedure, and the character string image is displayed on the LCD unit 24. As a result, the user can confirm the content of the failure that occurred last time. If a failure has never occurred, a failure explanation message created based on the first failure diagnosis data in the failure diagnosis data group is displayed. After the failure explanation message is displayed, as described above, the operation of the hot water switch 31 allows the user to select diagnosis item data to be subjected to the message display processing, or to select the bath temperature switches 36 and 3.
The operation of step 7 enables the diagnostic messages to be displayed sequentially.

Next, a procedure for displaying a fault diagnosis message will be described with reference to FIG. Operation switch 3
If the water switch 32 is kept pressed for a predetermined time (for example, 10 seconds) for more than 0 while “0” is “OFF”, the central control unit 50 instructs the diagnostic data management unit 55 to start the failure diagnosis mode. Upon receiving this instruction, the diagnosis data management unit 55 reads the first failure diagnosis data from the failure diagnosis data group in the device diagnosis DB 61 and creates a code string of a failure code and a failure description message including a description of the failure.
This code string is converted into a character string image by the procedure described above,
The character string image is displayed on the LCD unit 24. When the water switch 32 is pressed during the display of the failure explanation message, the diagnostic data management unit 55 adds 1 to the current data index. As a result, the target of the message display processing moves to the next fault diagnosis data. After the message for explaining the intended problem is displayed on the LCD unit 24, the diagnosis messages can be sequentially displayed by operating the bath temperature switches 36 and 37, as in the case of the failure diagnosis mode.

When the operation switch is turned on while the remote controller 10 is operating in the failure diagnosis mode or the failure diagnosis mode, or when the switch is not operated for a predetermined time (for example, 20 minutes), the central control unit 50 ends the failure diagnosis mode.

While the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above, and it goes without saying that various other embodiments can be considered. For example, in the above embodiment, the scrolling of the character string can be temporarily stopped by operating the voice switch 40. However, by operating the bath water level switches 38 and 39 during the pause, the message can be scrolled forward or backward by one screen. You may make it scrollable. In the code conversion table 63 of the above embodiment, a 2-byte (16-bit) code is assigned to every character or character string. For example, a code with a smaller number of bits is used for a frequently used character or character string. , A so-called variable length coding technique may be applied. Further, even information other than the information on the diagnosis of the failure or the malfunction can be displayed in the same procedure as in the above embodiment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a water heater remote controller according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the remote controller of FIG. 1 with a switch cover opened.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a control system of the remote controller shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a table showing a correspondence between a failure name and a failure code in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a device diagnosis database of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a table showing a correspondence between a defect code and a description of a defect in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a part of the code conversion table of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a reading position indicating variable in FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is a transition example of a message display according to a switch operation at the time of failure diagnosis.

FIG. 10 is a transition example of a message display according to a switch operation at the time of failure diagnosis.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Remote control of a water heater 24 ... LCD part 30 ... Operation switch 31 ... Hot water switch 32 ... Water switch 36, 37 ... Bath temperature switch 40 ... Voice switch 50 ... Central control part 51 ... Operation part 55 ... Diagnostic data management part 56 ... Character string image creation unit 58 ... Display control unit 60 ... Hot water heater 61 ... Device diagnosis database 63 ... Code conversion table

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masahiro Imoto 43-1 Uozakihama-cho, Higashi-Nada-ku, Kobe Inside of Nippon Euro Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroki Kuwahara 43-1 Uozakihama-cho, Higashi-Nada-ku, Kobe Nippon Yu F-term (Professional) 3L024 CC06 EE02 EE08 FF04 FF15 FF18 GG46

Claims (6)

[Claims] An operation unit having a switch; a display unit for displaying a character string; a data storage unit storing a plurality of data used for creating the character string in a predetermined format that allows data retrieval; And a command section for outputting a command related to data search in accordance with the content of the switch operation when a switch operation for data search is performed in the section, and creating a character string using data searched based on the command. A water heater remote control comprising a message creating unit for displaying the message on the display unit. 2. The data according to claim 1, wherein the data includes data coded using a code table in which a single code is assigned to a frequently used phrase including a plurality of characters. Water heater remote control. 3. The water heater remote controller according to claim 1, wherein the data is data for creating a message character string relating to operation and / or operation of the water heater. 4. The water heater remote controller according to claim 3, wherein the data is data for creating a message character string relating to a water heater abnormality. 5. The water heater remote controller according to claim 1, wherein the display unit scrolls and displays a character string having a length exceeding the number of characters that can be displayed at one time by the display unit. . 6. The water heater remote controller according to claim 5, wherein scrolling of a character string is stopped when a predetermined switch operation is performed on said operation unit.