JP2002141175A - Electronic ballast for hid lamp and lighting system using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic ballast for HID(high-intensity discharge) lamp capable of being remotely controlled from the outside and monitoring the inside state. SOLUTION: This electronic ballast for the HID lamp is provided with an on/off means for turning on/off the HID lamp and/or a dimming means for dimming the light of the HID lamp, a receiving means receiving control data from the outside, a determination means determining whether the control data is the data related to itself, and a control means controlling the on/off means and/or the dimming means based on the control data determined to be the data related to itself.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an electronic ballast for an HID lamp for lighting an HID lamp and an illumination system using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, HIDs such as metal halide lamps have been used.
The electronic ballast that turns on the lamp controls turning on and off when the power is turned on and off, and the dimming function is performed by an external signal line.

In recent years, in factory lighting, sports lighting and the like, various patterns, for example, lighting control such as partially increasing brightness and the quality thereof have been required. Also, from the viewpoint of energy saving, there is a tendency that necessity such as partial darkening is generated.

[0004]

However, since individual controls could not be performed with the conventional electronic ballast, in order to cope with the above-mentioned demands, wiring was divided individually or for each block, and power was supplied individually or for each block. Or turning on and off, or controlling light from outside by individually drawing light control rays.

[0005] For example, FIG. 1 is a view showing a connection state of a plurality of metal halide lamps 10 using a conventional electronic ballast 12. In this conventional example, a metal halide lamp 10
Is divided into two blocks, and the lamp ON / OFF means 13
Is provided for each block, and the lamp is turned ON / OFF by the ON / OFF means. ON / O
A plurality of electronic ballasts 12 connected to the FF means cannot be individually controlled.

Although it is possible to provide an ON / OFF means for each ballast, not only is the overall configuration of the lighting device complicated, but it is very difficult to handle the individual ON / OFF means instantaneously. is there.

For dimming, for example, a dimming switch 14 is provided in the block 1 and the dimming switch is connected to the ballast 12 in the block.
And dimming is performed by the dimming switch 14. The ballast 12 connected to the dimming switch 14, that is, the lamp 1
Only 0 is dimmed uniformly. The individual lamps 10 cannot be dimmed.

As in the case of the ON / OFF means, it is possible to provide a dimming switch 14 for each ballast. However, the configuration of the entire lighting device becomes complicated, and individual dimming switches 14 must be handled. It is not practical to have to.

Further, the internal state of the electronic ballast is not known from the outside, and at most information on the turning on and off of the lamp can be obtained by visual observation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an electronic ballast and a lighting system for an HID lamp which can be individually operated remotely from outside and can monitor the internal state. The purpose is to provide.

[0011]

Means for Solving the Problems According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an on / off means for turning on / off a HID lamp and / or a dimming means for dimming the HID lamp. Receiving means for receiving control data from the outside, determining means for determining whether the control data is data relating to itself, and ON / OFF based on the control data determined to be data relating to self.
An electronic ballast for an HID lamp, comprising: an OFF means and / or a control means for controlling the dimming means.

According to the present invention, since the discriminating means for discriminating the data is provided, it is possible to individually control each electronic ballast from the outside with a simple configuration. And H connected to the ballast from a remote place
The ID lamp can be turned on or off, or light can be adjusted.

[0013] The second invention of the present application which solves the above-mentioned problems is H
ON / OFF means for turning on / off the ID lamp and / or dimming means for dimming the HID lamp; communication means for transmitting and receiving communication data to and from the outside; Control data received from the device and status monitoring data to be transmitted to the outside, the device having a determination unit for determining whether the control data is data relating to itself, and adding self-identification data when transmitting the status monitoring data. Control means for controlling the ON / OFF means and / or the dimming means on the basis of control data determined to be data relating to itself, and status monitoring for transmission to the outside. An electronic ballast for an HID lamp comprising a state monitoring means for acquiring data.

According to the present invention, it is possible to output from the electronic ballast via the communication means status monitoring data indicating the internal status of each electronic ballast or the status of the HID lamp connected to the electronic ballast. Because it is possible, it is possible to remotely monitor the normal / abnormal state of the electronic ballast, the lighting state of the lamp, and the dimming state, which cannot be understood from the outside.
Further, by feeding back the state monitoring data, more delicate control such as compensating for a decrease in illuminance due to an abnormal lamp with another normal lamp becomes possible.

The light control means is preferably a continuous light control means.
This is because the variation of light control is improved.

The transmission medium of the control data or the communication data is preferably a power line. This is because there is no need to separately lay out data transmission wiring.

Further, IPv4 (internet) is used as a protocol used for the receiving means or the communication means.
et protocol version 4) or IP
v6 (internet protocol versions)
ion 6) can be used. Particularly, IPv6 is preferable. Preferably, a global address is assigned to each electronic ballast. It is preferable to further use a private address in a closed network. IPv
6 is version 6 of the IP protocol used on the Internet. By using IPv6, which has a very wide address space of 128 bits, it is possible to individually assign addresses to a large number of electronic ballasts for HID lamps, and to monitor and control electronic ballasts for HID lamps. It can be performed for each ballast.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems, an HID lamp having the above-mentioned electronic ballast for a HID lamp and a user terminal for monitoring and / or controlling the HID lamp are connected via the Internet. It is a lighting system that is made.

According to the lighting system described above, the HID lamp can be remotely monitored and remotely controlled. In particular, it is preferable to use IPv6 as a communication protocol,
As a result, an individual IP address can be assigned to the electronic ballast provided for each HID lamp, and it becomes possible to monitor and control each HID lamp from a user terminal connected to the Internet.

The user terminal is not particularly limited, and a computer or a mobile phone that can be connected to the Internet can be used.
The number of connected terminals is not limited to one, and a plurality of terminals may be connected.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS (First Embodiment) An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a plurality of metal halide lamps will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a connection state when an electronic ballast according to one embodiment of the present invention is connected to a metal halide lamp and each lamp is controlled.

1 is an electronic ballast for an HID lamp of the present invention;
Reference numeral 6 denotes a coupler such as a coupler for connecting control data described below to a power line, and reference numeral 20 denotes a switch for turning on / off the power from the power supply 11. Reference numeral 21 denotes a control terminal for outputting control data of the electronic ballast 1 via the coupler 6.

The structure of the electronic ballast 1 is as shown in FIG. 2 is a ballast body, not shown
It has ON / OFF means for turning ON / OFF the ID lamp and continuous light control means. 3 is a coupler, 4 is a discriminating means, and 5 is a control means.

In turning on the metal halide lamp 10, first, the switch 20 is turned on in order to supply the power from the power supply. At this point, the lamp does not light unless control data for turning on the lamp ON / OFF means is output from the control terminal 21.

When control data for turning on the lamp is output from the control terminal 21, the control data is placed on a power line as a transmission medium via the coupler 6, and is transmitted via the coupler 3 of the electronic ballast 1. The control data is taken out from the power line by the reverse operation of the coupler 6 and transmitted to the discriminating means 4. At this time, since the control data is provided with identification data so that it can be determined that the control data is control data for a specific electronic ballast, the receiving means 3 of the electronic ballast 1 receives the control data. Thereafter, the discriminating means 4 discriminates whether or not the data is related to itself, and if the data is its own control data, the control means 5 controls the ballast body 2 based on the control data. For example, when lighting only a specific lamp, by inputting control data for lighting a specific lamp from the control terminal 21, only the ballast body of the corresponding electronic ballast among the received electronic ballasts is turned on.
N, and a specific lamp is turned on. In this way, a specific lamp can be controlled as needed.

The control data relates to turning on / off of the lamp or dimming.

By making the dimming continuous dimming, the dimming state of each lamp can be adjusted, so that illumination of any pattern can be realized, and the necessary illuminance can be provided to the required area, The location can provide energy-saving lighting that suppresses illuminance as much as possible, and lighting of all kinds of attractive patterns aimed at directing effects.

Further, in the case of an electronic ballast having communication means, in addition to the control of the electronic ballast as described above, it is possible to transmit the state of the electronic ballast or the metal halide lamp as state monitoring data. is there.

For example, the configuration is as follows. In FIG. 3, the coupler 3 is a coupler for extracting data from the power line and coupling data to the power line, and is provided with an unillustrated providing unit for providing self-identification data to the determining unit 4. 5 is provided with status monitoring means for acquiring status monitoring data of an electronic ballast and a lamp (not shown), and the coupler 6 in FIG. Other configurations are the same.

For example, the abnormal state of the electronic ballast, whether or not each lamp is in the lighting state, and what the dimming state is, through the state monitoring means,
Obtain as status monitoring data. The control terminal 21 can monitor the status monitoring data by adding discrimination data to the status monitoring data and outputting it as status monitoring data via the coupler 3.

It is possible to monitor an abnormal state, a normal state of the electronic ballast, a lighting state of the lamp, and a dimming state of the electronic ballast at an external remote place. Can be done.

Further, an optical sensor 22 is provided at a predetermined location.
By providing, optimal illumination can be provided. That is, the electronic ballast, the metal halide lamp, and the like have the same configuration as described above, and the optical sensor 22 is connected to the control terminal 21. For example, in the daytime, when illuminance equal to or higher than the reference value is obtained by the light sensor by sunlight, control data is transmitted from the control terminal 21 to the electronic ballast 1 so as to turn off the lamp 10, and the lamp is turned on. It is turned off. When the illuminance equal to or higher than the reference value cannot be obtained due to a change in weather or time, control data is transmitted from the control terminal 21 to the electronic ballast 1 so that the lamp 10 is turned on, and the lamp is turned on.

As another embodiment, it is preferable that in an indoor lighting provided with a plurality of lamps, a plurality of the optical sensors are provided near a window or at a depth from a window. When the illuminance of some of the light sensors, for example, the light sensor provided at the back of the room, becomes lower than the reference, only the lamp near the light sensor is provided. Then, the control data may be transmitted from the control terminal so that the dimming of the lamp does not reach an illuminance higher than a reference value. The required illuminance can be provided to a required area, and illumination can be realized in which unnecessary illuminance by a lamp is suppressed by effectively utilizing external light.

As for the control of the electronic ballast, a control terminal, for example, a personal computer or the like can be used to create a control program and appropriately perform optimal control.

The transmission medium of the above control data or communication data is not limited to the above embodiment,
It is preferable to use a power line. That is, by using the power line transport technology as the data transmission means, the control line for the dimming or the like is not required, and data can be transmitted only by the power line. This technology is a technology for transmitting data by superimposing a high-frequency carrier wave on a commercial power supply line and applying modulation such as frequency modulation to the carrier wave.

Regarding the control of the electronic ballast for the HID lamp, it is preferable to adjust the output in accordance with the luminous flux maintenance rate curve of the lamp to be used. Usually, the luminous flux (brightness) shows a high value in the early stage of use of the lamp, and the luminous flux decreases with the lapse of the use time, and becomes almost constant after the lapse of a predetermined time in many cases. Therefore, in accordance with such a transition of the luminous flux maintenance ratio, for example, the output of 8
It is preferable to start the control from 0% and gradually increase the output as the use time elapses. (Second Embodiment) Hereinafter, an embodiment of a lighting system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0038] 101 and 102 use IPv6,
This is a metal halide lamp provided with an electronic ballast for a metal halide lamp to which an address is assigned. Each lamp 10
Numerals 1 and 102 are connected to the Internet using a power line as a communication data transmission medium. Lamp 101
Is the equipment owned by the company A's factory and has lighting inside the factory. The lamp 102 is owned by the company B road management office, and is a road light provided on a road in the management area.

A user terminal a using a personal computer for controlling the lamp 101 is installed in the factory of Company A, and is connected to the Internet through an in-house LAN and a dedicated communication line. A user terminal b using a personal computer is installed at the company B road management office and connected to the Internet.

At the company M, which is a manufacturer of the lamp, a user terminal m using a general-purpose computer is installed connected to the Internet.

Also, p is a mobile phone connectable to the Internet.

From the user terminals a and b, the lamps 101 and 102, which are owned by the company, can be turned on or off, or the brightness can be controlled for each lamp. More precise control, for example, control of the illumination pattern by time, is also possible by setting the user terminal. When the ballast is provided with communication means for transmitting and receiving communication data to and from the outside, it is possible to monitor the state of each lamp, such as the lamp state.

In the road management office of Company B, since the electronic ballast of each lamp is connected to the Internet, it is possible to turn on and off the lamp located far away from the management office where the user terminal b is installed. It can control or monitor the status of lamps and electronic ballasts.

As described above, the lamp 101 is used in the company A factory.
Company B road management office controls each lamp 102,
Alternatively, monitoring is performed.

On the other hand, the lamp manufacturer M Company records the IP address and delivery destination of each lamp. Then, using the user terminal m, the status of each delivered lamp and the electronic ballast provided on the lamp is monitored. Then, when data such as a lamp failure is received, the delivery destination of the lamp is notified using, for example, an electronic mail. Alternatively, based on the characteristics of each lamp and the monitoring data, the life of the lamp is predicted, and the delivery of the optimal maintenance to the delivery destination and the execution thereof are provided. Control from the manufacturer is also possible, but control can be disabled by setting.

By using the mobile phone p which can be connected to the Internet, it is possible to monitor or control the lamp from any place within the communication area.

By installing various sensors such as a light sensor for detecting the luminous intensity, which can be connected to the Internet, around the lamp and connecting to the Internet, it is possible to monitor the substantial luminous intensity, etc. supplied by the lamp from the user terminal. In addition, optimal lamp control can be performed based on the monitoring data.

[0048]

According to the electronic ballast for an HID lamp according to the present invention, the HID lamp can be individually turned on, off, or dimmed from a remote location. Further, individual abnormal / normal states of the electronic ballast, the lighting state of the lamp, and the dimming state can be monitored from an external remote place. By adjusting the dimming to continuous dimming, the dimming state can be adjusted individually. By using a power line as a data transmission medium, there is no need to change existing wiring or lay new wiring. As a protocol of the receiving means or the communication means, I
By using Pv6, an IP address can be assigned to each electronic ballast, and control and monitoring can be performed for each electronic ballast or each lamp including the electronic ballast.

According to the lighting system of the present invention, it is possible to remotely monitor or remotely control a lamp, and it is possible to share lamp monitoring data with a plurality of users.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a connection state of an HID lamp using a conventional electronic ballast.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a connection state of an HID lamp using the electronic ballast according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the electronic ballast according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a lighting system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electronic ballast 2 Ballast main body 3 Coupler 4 Discriminating means 5 Control means 10 HID lamp 11 Power supply 12 Conventional electronic ballast 21 Control terminal 22 Optical sensor 100 Internet

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04Q 9/00 321 H04Q 9/00 321E F term (Reference) 3K073 AA38 AA53 AA83 AA86 AB03 AB04 CB02 CC22 CC25 CE06 CE07 CE09 CE16 CF13 CG06 CJ00 CJ01 CJ02 CJ04 CJ08 CJ11 CJ16 CJ22 5K048 BA07 DC06 DC07 EB02 HA01 HA02 HA11 5K101 KK11 LL01

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An O for turning on / off a HID lamp.
N / OFF means and / or dimming means for dimming the HID lamp, receiving means for receiving control data from outside, and judging means for judging whether the control data is data relating to itself. , Based on the control data determined to be data relating to itself,
An electronic ballast for an HID lamp, comprising: FF means and / or control means for controlling the dimming means. 2. An O for turning on / off a HID lamp.
N / OFF means and / or dimming means for dimming the HID lamp; communication means for transmitting and receiving communication data to and from the outside; control data received from outside and transmission to the outside; It is state monitoring data to be performed, and has a determination unit that determines whether the control data is data relating to itself, and has an adding unit for adding self-identification data when transmitting the state monitoring data, A control unit for controlling the ON / OFF unit and / or the dimming unit based on control data determined to be data relating to itself; and a state monitoring unit for acquiring state monitoring data to be transmitted to the outside. Electronic ballast for HID lamp provided. 3. The electronic ballast for an HID lamp according to claim 1, wherein the transmission medium of the control data or the communication data is a power line. 4. The protocol according to claim 1, wherein a protocol used for said receiving means or said communication means is IPv6.
The electronic ballast for an HID lamp according to any one of the above. 5. An HID lamp provided with the electronic ballast for an HID lamp according to any one of claims 1 to 4, and a user terminal for monitoring and / or controlling the HID lamp via the Internet. A lighting system characterized in that the lighting system is connected.